A crunchy outer coating....

[Vega]

5th Trial of Ymiden during Arc 718

Sweetsong Confections

Vega didn't like chocolate and confectionery. No, she loved it. So, she had plans for this evening. Arlo always did the cooking and she couldn't do the cooking for him because she was beyond crap at it. No matter how hard she tried, Vega was more or less able to burn water. So, she was buying things that were going to be their dinner, which didn't require her to be able to cook. That was the trick she had discovered. "Heya," she said to the woman behind the counter. The middle aged woman looked at her and Vega smiled.

"Ok. So, I'm half biqaj an' my fella an' I are gonna spend a romantic evenin' an' it's gonna involve chocolate. So, I need chocolate, candies, bars an' a few things that I can melt." Vega had no shame, and if the woman behind the counter asked her, she'd be more than happy to let her know that her plans for the evening started with oysters, then went on to cured meats and potato salad with speciality bread and ended with a number of chocolate delights, some of which were part of a very specific plan she had which the woman in question probably didn't want to know about.

Anyone who wore a bun like this woman did probably didn't do things like Vega had planned for that particular evening, and so Vega just focused on getting the items she wanted. "Yeah, no, not that one. Maybe somethin' with less crumbs?" Vega asked and she grinned at the woman who blushed slightly, suddenly well aware of the intentions of the redhead in front of her. Vega gave her a sassy beaming smile. Mia was suddenly very pleased that there was only one person in front of this red haired woman.

But then, someone else came in. A male, covered in a baggy outfit and with a hood which hid his face. He walked in, very calmly and raised a crossbow in the general direction of the three of them. The blonde with a bun behind the counter whimpered. The redhead who was in the process of buying chocolate, however, looked at the would be mugger / robber and she raised an eyebrow. "You know, yer not too bright. Drop the crossbow an' I'm not gonna kill you, jus' bend you five ways backwards." She smiled at him and then, out of the corner of her mouth to the complete stranger who just happened to be standing there, Vega spoke.

"Please, by Xiur the Immortal of Hope, tell me you're more use standin' than cooked an' in a pie?"

[Leeson Andaris]

It was a nice day, and Leeson was having a nice time.

It was just two trials after Leeson had met Vivian and accepted her charitable invitation to house and home. Since then, he had more or less turned his life around from what it was before they had met. No more sleeping on the streets, no more nights spent hungry, not as much fighting and losing for money, because, if he were being honest, Leeson still needed that money.

He, freshly bathed from earlier that morning, had finally taken it upon himself to explore the Glass Quarter. On his first impression, his expectations were completely shattered, whatever said expectations would have been. Now, however, in the broad daylight, the Glass Quarter shone like a work of art, and Leeson found it difficult to keep his eyes on the road in front of him and off of the buildings surrounding him.

Eventually he, and Kepler the Tortoise, who was tucked into the crook of his arm, decided to make something of their trip and, if they could muster up the coin, perhaps find a nice gift for her. Something in between being too cheap and being too responsibility-heavy. He had never understood the idea of giving someone something like a plant as a gift. It's more or less just the gift of one additional responsibility.

Just as Leeson had this thought, he noticed the perfect store. Chocolates. Vivian is smart. She'd be stupid to not like chocolates. This is perfect.

Leeson pushed in the door, using his arm not occupied by his beloved tortoise.

"Hello! I haven't been around much, but I'm looking fo- Shit." Leeson said noticing the armed assailant, as well as the hostage situation.

Leeson sighed.

"Shit..."

[Vega]

"Everybody be cool, this is a robbery!"

Those were the words yelled by the would-be robber and Vega looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you havin' a giraffe?" Did he think that sounded impressive or something? Frankly, she thought it was ridiculous, but there it was. "First off, no one's cool, it's well hot outside, or didn't you know? An' also, we know it's a robbery, we worked it out when you started pointin' yer tiny weeny at us. Right flibberties my gibbet it...ok.. ok." The last was her putting her hands up, moving them away from her sword as he pointed his pistol crossbow at the woman behind the counter who started to screech and beg.

Please, Xiur, Vega thought, if you're listening, ask her to tone it down, would you? "Alright... alright, yer in charge. No one needs to get hurt," but they were going to, Vega thought. The shop assistant was screeching and sobbing and the other customer was standing and his mouth was agape but he looked about as likely to do anything as Mia was to pull a sword from her belt and leap over the counter to fight him. Which was what Vega would be doing in an instant, if there weren't these two people here who might get hurt. Come to that, she could use her Immortal granted mark ability, but if he recognised it, one of these two could pay the price.

Vega's mind was working overtime, trying to work out what it was that she was going to do when XIur himself provided. The door opened and some dweeb of a kid carrying a turtle walked in. The robber turned in surprise and that was all that Vega needed. As Leeson proclaimed his word of wisdom, Vega literally leapt onto the robber. Redhead and would-be assailant tussled and then, the man with the crossbow got to have the wonderful and no doubt not at all embarrassing realisation that this woman was a lot, lot stronger than him. What she lacked in unarmed skill she made up for in, as Vega would be the first to admit, brute force and ignorance and within a few trill the man was laying face down on the floor, with the redhead kneeling on his back, pulling his head back by his hair and pinning his arms behind him with her knees. He was yelling and so Vega just smacked his head into the floor and he stopped. Thankfully, she was used to pulling her blows, but she didn't get off his back.

"I'll go get the Knights!" The customer who had stood there uselessly said and Vega nodded her head. Mia came rushing out and more or less smeared herself over Leeson with sobbing cries of. "You saved us!"

Vega, meanwhile, looked up from the floor where she was kneeling on the attacker and the biqaj woman's eyes swirled blue and orange and she grinned. "Yeah, thanks for that. My hero. Name's Vega. Good timin'," she said."You wanna grab his weapon an' make sure he's not got nothin' gnarly an' pointy hidden away in his unmentionables?" Motioning then to the thing in his arms, she added.

"Or you could send in yer attack turtle?"

[Leeson Andaris]

"Well, actually Ms. Vega, Kepler here is a tortoise, not a turtle. Tortoises are terran whereas turtles are semiaquatic reptiles." Leeson said, rocking himself back and forth on his heels, fairly proud of his clarification. "Oh! Oh, right, the weapon."

Leeson bent down to the robber, tucking Kepler into his shirt to keep him safe, taking his crossbow carefully, holding it away from his body, and setting it down nearby. In all honesty, Leeson wasn't completely clear on how crossbows work, strictly speaking, and didn't necessarily want to be mistaken for the criminal by time the authorities came to investigate.

As well as the crossbow itself, Leeson disarmed the robber's ammunition, which was hidden on his belt.

"Oh, um, Ms. Mia," he said, as he kneeled down to inspect the robber's shoes, "I don't think I'm particularly of that praise, although it's very, very sweet." He pulled a shoe off, shaking it out and inspecting the man's leg for any weapons. "I think Ms. Vega is a little more deserving of that glory than me." He pulled off the man's other shoe, finding a small knife strapped to his leg. He unsecured the blade and slid it on the floor across the room.

"Oh, um. I've been rude. Hi!" He said. "I go by Lee. This is my first robbery."

Leeson shifted himself, orienting in the opposite direction, patting down the robber's waist in search of more weapons.

"Has anyone ever told you that you sort of look like the lady in the painted glass windows everywhere?" He said, fairly thoughtlessly. It was at this point that the headrush of being part of a robbery was starting to get to him. His face flushed red, his ears hot, and he could begin to feel the panic he would have felt, were he to fully recognize the situation for what it was just moments ago. "Hey, y'know what I just realized? I'm pretty sure this guy was turning around to shoot me, and if you hadn't stepped in, I think that my twenty-four arc streak of not getting shot would probably be reset!" He laughed a bit, but that laughter quickly faded into worry.

Finding nothing on the assailant's belt, he started patting around the thighs. "Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me. I'm patting down your thighs and I forgot to introduce myself. What happened to the three date rule, am I right? You heard me introduce myself to Ms. Vega, but I go by Lee. How's your day going, sir?" Leeson said, more out of anxiety than anything else. Really what he was doing was burning time until the authorities arrived.

They couldn't arrive soon enough.

[Vega]

Ms Vega? Who in the name of Ilaren's armpit hair was this dweeb? Vega looked at him in stark disbelief as he proceeded to explain to her the difference between a tortoise and a turtle. "Look, love, I don't know if you noticed, but I'm kneelin' on a robber, an' it's givin' me a crick in my back." Her biqaj eyes swirled with a range of colours as she looked at him, though blue was prominent. "An' while I'm glad you've named yer sack in a shell, could you and Kelvin the Turtle move yer ass, please?" As he worked, Vega spoke to him, quietly enough. "I was raised on a boat. I've never seen one o'those things before, it's well weird-lookin'. " If he wanted to carry around a mutated turtle with him, that was up to him. And as for Ms Vega? "An' my name's Vega. Jus' Vega. Only Vega. Get it? Got it? Good." She grinned at him good naturedly as he divested the chap of his weapons and ammunition.

When Mia rushed to Leeson's side and he said it was Vega, the woman started to move towards her and Vega shot a glare which would have made any wizened and crotchety old crone proud. "Gerrof. I don't hug." Mia stopped in her tracks and frowned, then made her way back to the counter. Vega grinned at Lee when he offered his name, though and she seemed entirely genuine. "It's good to meet you, Lee. You an' Kelvin the.. tortull? Turtoise? What was it?" What in the name of all the Immortals was that thing, now she thought about it and she eyed it warily.

Then, he spoke to her and told her that she looked like a lady in a painted glass window. "Er. No. No one's ever told me that. Has anyone ever told you that yer well weird?" Somehow, she thought it more likely they had. "Why anyone'd wanna have a picture of a ginger girl who's all elbows an' knees in their window's beyond me, but no accountin' for taste. An' you know, he's unconscious." This she said while motioning to the robber. He was, and his nose was bleeding where Vega had hit his face into the floor. Looking at Lee with a sudden, beaming and wicked grin she added, "So, his trial probably ain't goin' great."

It wasn't long before the Lightning Knights arrived, taking the man away and taking statements from them all. The fact that Mia and the other customer were there helped, everyone was saying the same thing. One of the knights said to Vega, though. "We'd advise against attacking in defence in such a way, miss. Next time, wait until the law arrives rather than taking it into your own hands." Vega glared at him and replied quickly. "An' you lot spend a lot of time poppin' into candy shops in the wonderin' whether there's a robbery goin' on, do ya? It was a life threatenin' situation an' you know it." He couldn't argue with her, in fairness. Vega sighed as they left and turned to Lee.

"So, you wanna grab a cup of tea an' some chocolate cake? We busted a robber," she said with a grin. "An' it's my treat, so long as you don't expect me to talk to Kelvin."

[Leeson Andaris]

Leeson hadn't met many people in his life. Or, rather, he had met a great many during his work as a diplomat, but he hadn't met many people. His interactions with the general populace was less than familiar at most. Rarely, had he been able to advance past polite introduction. He found it was best, in most or all social situations, to act as if he anticipated any sort of relationship of meaning, but never expect one.

Then again, Leeson had also never been part of a robbery.

So perhaps there really was a first time for everything.

Due to his past tendencies to never quite acquaint himself with someone, however, he wasn't quite sure how to react to someone like Vega. Headstrong and ambitious. Loud and self-assured. These are the sorts of qualities that, although he had always admired in others, his upbringing had forced him to suppress. She wasn't the first Biqaj he had ever met. There were always a few down near the docks, trading in marketplaces. They always seemed like the liveliest kind of folk. He had met many in his life, but Vega was the first he had met without the crutch of the individual in question knowing what his last name was.

And suddenly, the reality of life and joviality was there, in front of him, loud and brash and ready for anything.

He watched quietly from a polite distance as Vega spoke to the Thunder Knights. He hadn't heard a word, but he could almost hear the crackle of her energy. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had apparently missed in his youth. This excitement, the outward expression. He was entranced by her every movement, exuding hints of a life of appreciated freedom.

"So, you wanna grab a cup of tea an' some chocolate cake?" She said, snapping him out of his romanticized delusions. "We busted a robber. An' it's my treat, so long as you don't expect me to talk to Kelvin."

"Well, um..." Leeson scrambled, trying to recollect himself both from the excitement of the robbery and from meeting Vega. "In all fairness, I'm not sure I did much of the busting. But yeah. I think..." His eyes flitted around the room, seemingly unable to bring himself to make direct contact with hers. "I think I'd like that."

"Oh! One second." He said, running over to the end of the store where he had thrown the dagger. He reached down, retrieved it, and tucked it into his satchel. "Never know when you're going to come across a robbery, I guess. You should know, though, Ms. Vega Just Vega Only Vega," he said, jogging back, retrieving his beloved pet from inside the well his shirt, tucked into his pants, created, cradling him in his arm once more. "His name is Kepler. But no I won't make you talk to him."

[Vega]

"Kepler, right. Kepler the tortull? Like a turtle but not. A terrain, not a semi-acrobatic reptile. I mean, in fairness," she said and her expression was entirely serious, "he don't look nimble. Not one bit. Not even semi-nimble. But then, I didn't know that turtles were." Shrugging slightly she looked at Kepler with a continued expression of distrust. "I mean, he looks well wrinkly. An' leathery. Is he?" She wrinkled her nose slightly at the thought of those thick little legs skittering around on the floor. "Is he like a really ugly, slightly deformed tortle? Do the other tortles laugh at 'im an' that's why you carry him round? Or is he the handsomest one in a bunch of butt-ugly leather softballs with half shells?" Evidently, charm and concern for his pets welfare really didn't rate high on Vega's agenda.

Once the Lightning Knights had cleared off, she sat down at the table with him and looked at the menu. "I'll 'ave some strawberry chocolate shortcake, please, an' a hot chocolate with cream?" Looking to Leeson, she waited till Mia had taken their order and then settled down. Her bow, which had been at her back, she put to leaning against an empty chair and she hung her sword belt on the back of her seat. "Honestly, sometimes I think that there's some Immortals up there havin' a right giraffe. I can't even buy chocolate without some steamin' pillock thinkin' it's ok to try an' duff up th'shop. It's gnarly, that's what it is."

She really didn't seem too bothered by this "gnarly" turn of events and she grinned as Mia brought over their cakes and drinks. "It's a biqaj thing, you know. Addicted to chocolate. I'm only 'alf but you know," she grinned as she scooped up some cream with a spoon and was, quite obviously, delighted. "So, anyhow, enough ramblin' from me," Lifting her cup and sipping the hot chocolate, she nodded slightly to Lee.

"Tell me about yerself? You from round here?" He didn't quite seem it, somehow. There was something about the Rharnians which was unique to them and Lee didn't have it. Mind you, she considered, neither did Arlo and he was born and raised here. "Or are you jus' visitin'?" She was visiting she told him. "You been to Mistral Woods? It's amazin' there. There's these right beautiful flowers, an' rivers an' stuff." She grinned. "An' adventures to be had an' weird creatures. It's not like.. I mean, I've been to Desnind an' Ne'haer an' gone explorin' in the woods in both those places, an' it's not like either of 'em. So come on then, what's the story with you and Kepler?"

Motioning towards the wrinkly football with chubby legs and a shell, Vega wondered. "you jus' a boy an' his tortle, fightin' off robbers an' doin' good deeds?"

[Leeson Andaris]

"Well, Ms. Vega Just Vega Only Vega, Kepler isn't semi-acrobatic. He's fully acrobatic. He's incredibly acrobatic, in fact." Leeson said, giving up on attempting to teach the woman precisely what Kepler was. He glanced down at Kepler, who had retreated into his shell, and looked back up at Vega, and said, with as much severity as he could muster, "Kepler is in fact the handsomest and most acrobatic tortoise that this planet has ever birthed."

And, as an afterthought, as he was sitting down at the table with Vega, he added "And he's very adept at triple backflips."

He sat and stared at the menu for a bit too long, not realizing that someone had come to take their order, and Vega had already done her part. "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, um... Could I get some chocolate fruit crèmes and an terbal hea please? I mean hertal betea, oops. Wait no herbal tea. I'm sorry. Thank you. I love you." Leeson cringed at himself, handing his menu to the likely very confused woman, refusing to make eye contact with her.

"Honestly, , sometimes I think that there's some Immortals up there havin' a right giraffe. I can't even buy choclate without some steamin' pillock thinkin' it's okay to try an' duff up th'shop. It's gnarly, that's what it is." Vega said.

Leeson shrunk, feeling small. Some Rynlist voice deep within him instinctively felt the need to argue incessantly about the nature of Immortals, and the rest of his internal voices were too intimidated by Vega to ask what a giraffe was.

When the server returned and set down their chocolates and drinks, Vega dug right in. "It's a Biqaj think, you know. Addicted to chocolate. I'm only 'alf, but you know." Leeson smiled as if he actually knew previously that an affinity for sweets was a Biqaj thing. He instead set the chocolates aside for Vivian and began steeping his tea. "So anyhow, enough ramblin' from me." Leeson chuckled slightly, unaware of the hellstorm of rhetorical difficulty that would be delivered with Vega's next line. "Tell me about yerself! Youfrom round here?"

Leeson froze, the smile from his face vanished. His face flushed red.

He was a very bad liar.

"Or are you jus' visitin'?" Vega continued. "You been to Mistral Woods? It's amazin' there. There's these right beautiful flowers, an' rivers an' stuff. An' adventures to be had an' weird creatures. It's not like... I mean, I've been to Desnind an' Ne'haer an' gone explorin' in the woods in both those places, an' it's not like either of 'em. So come on then, what's the story with you and Kepler? You just a boy an' his tortle, fightin' off robbers an' doin' good deeds?"

Leeson coughed awkwardly, trying to fill up space and take time to think of a response. He had almost forgot in the joy of meeting someone new why precisely he had avoided meeting new people in Rharne. He feared his enthusiasm had gotten better of him.

"Kepler's a rescue tortoise, actually." He said, avoiding the more pressing questions entirely. "I found Kepler when he was younger. A few dozen trials past being a hatchling. He was alone and I knew that tortoises had a pretty high fatality rate, so I uh... I started taking care of him. And we've been together since." He said, for a moment, just a moment, forgetting his anxieties reminiscing about his pet. But his anxieties soon returned. "But um... No, I've never been to the Mistral Woods. I'm not... To be honest with you, I'm not really the adventuring type. I don't think I've ever done something even close to a 'good deed', not due to any lack of trying, and I've certainly never once stopped a robber. That was all you. I was just the crossbow bait." He said, finally feeling confident enough to take a sip of tea.

He burned his tongue.

[Vega]

"Kepler the 'andsome?" Vega asked with a grin born of mischief. But when he said Keplar was able to do triple backflips, Vega's eyes widened slightly. "Really? I can do a double, an' Arlo can do a triple, but he's jus' amazin'. I mean, really." She looked at Keplar with a new appreciation of his leatheryness. She couldn't help but grin, though, at Leeson's terbal hea. That was the kind of thing which she did and she found it more than a little endearing. He seemed like a nice young man, she had to admit and she felt comfortable with him.

And his tortle.

But then, Vega asked him to tell her about himself and he looked not unlike a flunny staring down the arrow of a master archer. She raised an eyebrow, just slightly. He didn't need to spill his history to her, but she didn't say anything because she figured - in a rare flash of insight - anything she said would just make things worse. When he said that Kepler was a rescue turtois, Vega nodded and looked at the acrobatic little fella with a raised eyebrow. But then, he answered and said he'd never been to Mistral woods and wasn't the adventuring type. Vega smiled.

"I was wonderin' what in the name of Famula's knockers I were gonna do. I had Screamy McPant-an'-heave and Useless an' Slackjawed an' this guy pointin' his weapon. Dweeb." Vega chuckled. "Whether you did it on purpose or not, we did it as a team there. You know, you should come to our camp an' meet Arlo." She smiled in delight at the thought. "I'd bet he'd love to meet yer semi-acrobatic rescue turtoys, Kepler, the most 'andsome of them all. An' he's the most amazin' cook." With a grin and completely forgetting that she'd had plans of quite a different nature for the evening, she grinned at him. "Would you like to? We're jus' outside town an' it's always right nice to have comp'ny."

Nodding to the creature which had slithered up into it's own butt, as far as the redhead was concerned, and had pulled in its obviously folding legs, she made sure that he was clear. "Kepler can meet Zyqat, my pup. He's got mismatched eyes an' he's a nutter, but I love 'im. Zyqat means warrior in Rakahi." Vega explained. Then, she raised an eyebrow to Leeson, or Lee as she knew him. "So, Lee, you wanna?" Arlo would love to meet this interesting young fella, Vega was sure.

[Leeson Andaris]

"Oh! Zyqat! I actually remember that word!" Leeson said, enthusiastically. "Speaking I Rakahi small when I am young, cannot see back many the words, flowers." Leeson said, exercising his basic Rakahi skills. Leeson knew he butchered it. He smiled anyway.

At the mention of Arlo, however, Leeson was at a crossroads. He wasn't entirely certain what to do. One one hand, Vega was incredibly sweet. She was a bit loud, yes, but that added to the appeal. She was bold enough to act under pressure, she was humble (maybe just a bit too humble) and gave Leeson far too much credit with the incident, and she was kind enough to buy Vivian chocolates.

On the other, Leeson had to keep his social networking to a minimum.

Vega was an exception to a rule that he had never strictly defined but had always followed, being that, under no circumstances, should he at all put himself in any situation that could place his identity in jeopardy.

He feared that Arlo was potentially the beginning to that jeopardy.

Leeson cleared his throat, doing his best to think of an escape from the situation. "Or," he said, "you could join my roommate and I for dinner."

Leeson was almost positive Vivian was not making dinner.

He was also positive that, in the off chance Vega accepts his offer, Vivian would not be happy.

"Her name's Vivian. She'd be ecstatic to meet you." He lied. Or, he lied for all he knew. There was a solid, realistic chance Vivian and Vega would get along like rivers and streams. "P-Plus, yknow, I, uh... I've never left the gates of Rharne, really." He said, taking a moment to recognize the potential damage he had just put himself in. "Once I had arrived in Rharne, I mean, with the gates and the not leaving and such." He said, making the potential damage potentially worse, but saving himself from a fib.

Quickly, however, Leeson was learning that keeping up this private life of his was becoming increasingly difficult with every new person he met. For a moment, just a moment, he considered the possibility of coming clean to Vega.

But Leeson still had some selfish left in him.

"I'm not sure. I mean, thank you vastly for the invitation, but I'm not sure what I'd like to do." He leaned back in his chair. "Maybe I'll just enjoy the day a bit. If you would like to, yknow, join me, you're welcome to. But I'm not sure if I have any plans or... Anything of that sort for tonight. If that's okay."