A Real Fan

The Mood is Write

Mom-de-Plume
Original poster
DONATING MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. Multiple posts per week
Online Availability
It varies wildly.
Writing Levels
  1. Advanced
  2. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Nonbinary
  3. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
I'm open to a wide range of genres. Obscenely wide. It's harder for me to list all I do like than all I don't like.

My favorite settings are fantasy combined with something else, multiverse, post-apoc, historical (mixed with something else), and futuristic. I'm not limited to those, but it's a good start.

My favorite genres include mystery, adventure, action, drama, tragedy (must be mixed with something else and kept balanced), romance (again must be mixed, and more.

I'm happy to include elements of slice-of-life and romance, but doing them on their own doesn't hold my interest indefinitely.
Vacation time. Finally, for two years, Crow was free of that wretched feline, of ungrateful Hunters, of rebellious dolls—for two lovely years, he could relax and take care of himself for once.

His first day, he slept until his joints hurt and he couldn't stand to lay down any longer. The second day, he lost hours to socializing among some of the elite, and the third day, he somberly toured the slums in the guise of his namesake, letting golden eyes take in the people of lesser social status as he plotted how he might aid them in gaining long-term assistance.

By the time he returned to his room and his true form, he chuckled quietly to himself as he realized his plans thus far.

"I keep forgetting I'm a busybody," he muttered helplessly as he donned his illusary guise of a human, and decided to investigate the market in the morning, just to see what he could find. In a place like this, he assumed he would be as unusual to the locals as their wares might be to him.

Morning came, and Crow rose with the sun. He dressed in matching kimono, hakama, tabi, and hooded haori all in black with white decoration. With the hood lowered, he let his long ponytail hang forward over one shoulder as he pushed his glasses up and checked the mirror.

Pleased with his orderly appearance and the lay of his clothing, he tucked his feathered fan into the front of his kimono, where it rested safely between skin and cloth, and as he departed, he donned his geta.

He was definitively overdressed, but he loved how humans reacted to unknown fashions. It was very endearing, and he could already see the stares as he made his way toward the market. The tengu couldn't help but swell with pride as he overheard whispers of his beauty, though his expression remained cool and humble, as though he felt such praises were of no importance.

In the market, he paused at each stall to chat briefly and inspect the goods. Some, he bought after brief and friendly haggling, but one stall caught his attention wholly. Staffed by a young-looking woman who appealed visually, and catering to goods that made Crow almost homesick for his childhood, he paused in his browsing to socialize, pausing whenever a customer approached the young lady.

Eventually, he agreed to show her his fan, and with a small flick of his wrist with it, he helped her peel an apple using only the wind. A wink, and the merchant reddened, only for a man Crow assumed was her father to charge forward.

The tengu dodged away, only to return and very quickly exchange some money for a wrapped onigiri that smelled of fish, egg, salt, and vinegar before he tucked himself out of the way to enjoy his prize and slip his fan back into his kimono.

Today, he decided as he bit through the nori-wrapped rice ball, was a lovely day. He decided next that he'd buy an apple to wash down his lunch, since it was a bit dry.
 
Ryn woke that morning feeling exhilarated. Today was going to be the day. She was ready, and she was set to impress!

Rolling out of bed she bounced right up to her feet, a smirk playing on her lips as she dug through her dresser drawers and picked out the perfect outfit. She would blend in today. She would make sure of it. Her clothes were brown, a drab color, for sure, but it was the color most people wore to the market. It was the color most people wore, period. Well, the lower classes at least. The women of the upper-class liked to dress-up wherever they went. They wanted all eyes on them, and to be fair, Ryn knew the draw of being recognized, but today was not a day for that. Today was the day that the Helio Street Guild would finally admit her. She was sure of it.

She glanced once in the mirror, stopping only long enough to run her fingers through her short chestnut hair and adjust the goggles on her head before bounding out of the door.

Ryn all but skipped down the road. Waving at every passerby and cheerfully smiling at everyone she met, that is until she met up with Robin. Her smile faded to a knowing smirk as she tried to sneak up behind him.

“Don’t even try it. You can stomping down the street like an elephant, everybody and their dog knows you’re here, Ryn.”

“I can’t help it, Robbie,” she scrunched her nose and slipped into the alley behind him. His dark cloak obscuring his slender frame as he led her through the shadows. “I just know today is my day.”

Robbie stopped, leaning back against the wall next to the alley’s exit. Beyond him the market was bustling with people. Women rushed this way and that, little motorized carts trailing next to them full of bushels of food and new fabrics.

He watched for a few minutes before finally speaking. “I know you say that, Ryn… but you say that every day and every day you bungle it. This is going to be your last chance. I’ve talked to Kelvin on your behalf too many times, and you’re making us look bad. Every time you get caught more and more people are watching their purses. You’re too much of a risk.”

“I’m not a risk, and you know it. I’m smarter than all them put together. Kelvin would be a dunce to pass up the opportunity to have me on the team, just because I’m really bad at the close and personal side of things... If he would just give me a chance with something bigger I could prove myself.”

“I’ll talk to him. But, seriously, this is the last time. If I get you a job and you screw it up, I swear to all that’s holy, we’re done, Ryn.”

“I know, I know… I won’t screw this up. Just get me a job.” It was then that her eyes ventured beyond where Robbie was standing in the shade and into the marketplace. Her gaze swept the place left to right and back again.

It was the strange clothing that caught her eye first, and she took a step forward. Robbie watching her followed her gaze and let out a low whistle. “Maybe today is your lucky day, Ryn.”

“I told you,” she muttered taking another step out of the alleyway and into the market. While the clothes definitely caught her attention, the fan in the man’s hand is what kept her focused. She stood back, watching, waiting, enraptured by the little show he put on. That fan was something special and it was going to be hers.

Knowing better than to try to pull it from his body, Ryn decided her best course of action would be to simply follow and wait. Patience was a virtue, and today of all days, Ryn was going to be patient. Keeping her distance, she followed the stranger through the crowd. She wasn’t the best at tailing someone, but she knew enough to look like she was merely browsing the market as well, and every now and then she’d stop at this stall or that and browse the wares. She even bought something once, a little tchotchke for her mother, to make her shopping trip believable.
 
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Once Crow bought his apple, he began to wander the market again, though he couldn't shake the tickle between his wings. When he did glance back, nothing seemed unusual, and nobody was too obvious. The scents mingled together too strongly for him to discern individuals easily.

Still, it was a lovely day, despite the nagging sensation he was being tailed. Under their illusion, his wings pressed tighter against his back. They felt cramped, held together as they were, but he didn't have space or privacy to stretch them, and that niggling watched feeling only made the flight limbs tense further.

Crow made a good show, though. He acted utterly at ease and soon enough, he relaxed. The tengu silently thrilled at the awe and attention given him, and kept up his friendly manner, growing more bold with buying souvenirs than he felt he should have: though it was only two items.

First was a lovely pair of heeled boots that stopped at the ankle with a loose-wrapped thong and attached bow. Their black color and low gloss polish looked lovely, and they seemed a good fit for Rare, picky about color as she was.

Little bitch.

Still, she would like the shoes, he was certain. The heels were her favorite height, and from the feel of the insides under his fingers, the shape of the arch was right for her, too.

At another stall, he came across a lovely comb. Carved from some black stone, a bird spread stylized wings forward to form the comb, while its body formed the handle. It was lovely, but...

Kyo lost her wings. He couldn't bring himself to rub it in her face in such a way. He placed the comb back onto he seller's stall and shook his head. "I will look at your other combs," he murmured.

The others were nothing short of disappointing, and he shook his head again as he departed the stall, mood soured by the reminder that one of his pets was crippled so horribly. It distracted him from feeling like he was watched, and in his eyes, the blue sky seemed faintly less vividly colored as he wandered toward the next stall, which offered rugs. One glance, and he shrugged, then wandered past. He kept his eyes open for a gift for his beloved Kyoko.

Something that would show her that even scarred, she had worth in his eyes, but that didn't remind her of her blemishes.

Eventually, he ran out of market, then turned to look back. The boots he bought weren't visibly in his hands: already stashed in a hidden pocket of his haori.

His eyes landed on a girl who was wandering through as well, and he watched for a few moments before he shrugged and began to make his way back through, one hand on his fan.
 
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Ryn followed the man for a long while. She watched carefully at the items he was buying and noted just how expensive everything was that he was looking at, and she knew that this was going to be her big score. This one man would wash all of Kelvin’s doubts about her away and she would finally prove to him that she was worth all the little annoyances that she caused.

Eventually, as fate would have it, Ryn found that she was growing tired of playing the cat in this game of cat and mouse. She was bored, and watching him buy the pretty items, probably for a wife or girlfriend, made her grow anxious to get on with it.

In her impatience she actually allowed herself to be seen once or twice before disappearing once again into the crowd.

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered to herself, all of sudden feeling sure that this man was never going to leave the marketplace.

Finally he exited and in her excitement she bounded after him, only to come to a stop at the edge as she noticed him turn and look back. She blinked in surprise as he headed back into the crowd, his hand hovering over where she saw him stash the fancy fan.

Ryn ducked away at the last possible moment and chose a stand to loiter by waiting for him to pass. The stand she chose had a variety of hair clips and a few designer goggles. Her attention focused on those for longer than it should have as she fingered the delicate designs sorely wishing she had the money to purchase something so wonderful, but knowing that until she could find her way she’d have to do without the finer things in life. With a twist of her mouth she placed the goggles back onto the table and frowned at the man.

“Maybe next time, yeah?” she said with a sad smile before turning her attention back to the marketplace behind her.

She’d lost him! He was gone, nowhere in sight. How that happened, she had no idea but Ryn spun in a circle and took two steps out before squarely knocking into the man she had supposedly been following.

“Oh hell,” she cursed grabbing onto his arm so she wouldn’t fall all the way to the ground. “I’m sorry. Super sorry. I just--- I guess I wasn’t paying attention. I thought-- I thought I saw someone I knew, and I wanted to catch up to … them, and I’m rambling and you don’t care. I’m terribly sorry again.”

She brushed the dust off of his shoulder and gave him an apologetic smile before ducking under the arms of a baker carrying a tray of fresh sweet rolls and bread and disappearing into the crowd. Her heart was pounding. And surprisingly enough her mouth hadn’t fouled up the excuses she had made. Everything sounded real enough and she didn’t pickpocket anything so he shouldn’t suspect her following him, anyway.

Ducking between two stalls on the left hand side of the market, she squeezed past the shops proper, keeping her eyes set to follow the man’s fancy clothes this time from a distance. She couldn’t make the same mistake again.
 
It wasn't uncommon to notice the same person twice in a marketplace like this, so Crow thought nothing of standing beside the girl he'd spotted as he inspected some hair clips, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He noticed her regretfully place a pair of goggles down and overheard her tone—she couldn't afford them. She seemed honest enough though, and to really like them.

He was about to ask her to help him pick a hair clip in exchange for him buying the goggles for her when the merchant's assistant showed him a lovely clip, and he turned his attention toward it. Did Kyoko like greens like this?

"Oh hell," he heard as he felt someone bump him, then grab his arm. He looked toward the girl and tilted his head, unbowed by her using him as a support.

She was rather cute, and the rambling added to her charm. His expression softened slightly, and he chuckled when she brushed him off. "No, no. It's fine—"

Before he could say anything further, she was gone. His smile dropped, and he absently checked his wallet. Still present. She was clumsy and a little high-strung, not a thief, it seemed.

The man sighed, then looked at the goggles the girl had been eyeing, lifting them to inspect. Kyoko never willfully wore anything elaborate. Perhaps...

"How sturdy are these? If I took a hammer to them, how much could they withstand?"

Apparently satisfied with the answer, he bought three pairs, similar in appearance, but with individualized and subtle differences. One had little flowers that resembled forget-me-nots. One was black, with shaded lenses. One was the one the girl had been eying.

It was always good to have an extra supply of gifts on hand, just in case, though he still needed to get something more for sweet Kyoko...

At long last, he left the market. Rare was so much simpler to buy gifts for than Kyoko, as were his coworkers. Damn his habit of buying souvenirs. The man stood before the place he was staying and looked up toward the sky before he sighed. "Well, I have a couple years. No need to rush," he assured himself before he rolled his shoulders and walked inside the front door, removing his geta at the door as he greeted his host.

"How did you find the market?"

"Oh, it was quite nice," Crow assured. "A little crowded for my liking, but that's simply how they are."

"Just don't go in the hour before midday—you missed it this time, but it gets so full people can barely walk."

The tengu closed his eyes. "Then how do they get anything done?"

"As people start to leave, the crowd gets less thick, and they can all move on. Most are just idling and eating lunch."

"Standing lunch, hm..." It sounded like what some of the other Councilmen did so they could get more work done.

Regardless, he returned to his room, enjoyed a lunch, then pondered what to do next. He opted for reading for a time before he became restless, needing desperately to stretch his wings. It was always like this—flying after a long time without made him hunger for the skies!

He left wearing plainer garb, taking his fan along with as he dressed as the locals did when they didn't feel the need to grab attention.

He just needed a place to transform. Leaving the window and entering it as a crow too often would be suspicious.
 
Following was easier from outside the market. She didn’t have to worry too much about being seen; the stalls and stands hid her from view well, and his clothes were unique enough that she could spot him through the crowd. He made his way out of the market, finally, and Ryn reminded herself to be more careful as they entered the less crowded streets. All went well. She didn’t blunder it like she half expected to and not once did the man look behind him to find her there gaping at him from several meters back. Not once did she have to duck into a side street or an alley to keep him from seeing her, not that she thought that would actually work.

Ryn watched closely as the man made his way into an inn, and in her rush to see this through she almost followed him into the building, but at the last moment she stopped and turned away from the door, opting to find a place across the street to sit and wait. She’d watch all day if she had to, and come back again tomorrow, but eventually the man would have to leave again, and maybe, just maybe, he’d leave the fan behind when he did. She knew it was unlikely, but a girl could hope.

Luck was on her side, so it seemed, and the man left the Inn once more this time much more plainly dressed. So plainly dressed in fact that Ryn almost missed him. She’d been expecting the fancy clothes once more, but this guy was just full of surprises. She watched until he disappeared down the street and then got up from her spot and stretched out her sore muscles before casually making her way across the street and into the Inn.

The proprietor eyed her, making her shift uncomfortably, but she just flashed him a smile and made her way up the stairs as though she knew exactly where she was going. She was getting good at this. Ryn shook the thought out of her head, now was not the time for self-congratulatory thoughts, there would be plenty of time for that later.

As delicately as she could she fell to her knees in front of the first door she came to and tried the handle. Sure enough, locked. The picks came out as though it was second nature and within a matter of moments the door swung open as though it was inviting her inside. Making her way into the room, she let her attention wander trying to pick up any noise on the stairs, but failing to hear anything she focused on the task at hand. At first she wasn’t sure she was in the right room, but as her gaze swept the area, she noticed the fancy clothes he’d been wearing that morning at the market. A sly grin pulled up the corners of her mouth and she set to work.

She opened drawers, looked through the wardrobe. Her hands felt up the fancy fabric as she looked for pockets. He’d bought enough that morning that even if that’s all she walked away with now it would be a decent haul. After several minutes she found where he’d left the gifts he’d bought, and her brown eyes immediately fell on the goggles. A choked sound rose from her throat as she leaned forward and fingered the delicate designs.

“Well, at least he has good taste,” she murmured to herself as she began filling her pockets with the stuff that was small enough to fit in there. She was totally engrossed in the task at hand and a herd of elephants could have made their way up the staircase and she wouldn’t have noticed at that point. Nope, she was lost to the elation and feeling like she’d already won.
 
Ryn would have had plenty of time to rob him blind and then leave, had she moved more quickly rather than admiring the man's belongings between stuffing them into her pockets. He could have been left red-faced and utterly bereft of all belongings at the hands of a rookie thief.

Instead, when she finally turned toward the door to depart, a man stood in her way. By his stance, he'd been there some time, and by his clenched jaw, he'd seen her stuffing her pockets with his belongings.

The moment he assumed she became aware of him, he spoke. "Apologize and return everything, Market Girl," he demanded.

Although corvids were usually scavengers, this one stared at the girl with eyes that threatened to devour every scrap of her. No threat was spoken, but as he took a single, quiet step toward her, head raised as he looked down on her, the man made no secret of his disapproval.

"What a waste of your life." His upper lip drew back as he clicked his teeth, then sighed as he looked up and to one side. "If you are truly regretful, I will not drag you before the authorities."

His yellow eyes returned to her quickly, pupils narrowing sharply as they locked onto her, but he made no aggression toward her. Fully confident in his ability to pluck her up mid-flight, he simply stood, one hand on his hip, and one hanging free at his side.

With the nice mood from his flight soured, he couldn't help but carve her face into his memory.
 
As Ryn turned her heart fell all the way to her knees. She’d been caught. Again. This wasn’t like getting caught trying to pickpocket some average Joe walking down the street either. This was a whole new level of trouble that she’d managed to find herself in. The look on the man’s face was enough to bring tears to her eyes. She didn’t want to get in trouble, and she didn’t expect that he would react so strongly. He obviously had enough stuff.

She took a step toward the bed, and away from the glaring eye of the man. Her bottom lip trembled, and her hands shook as she very carefully began to unload her pockets. Every bit and every bauble she had managed to grab was placed on the mattress. Laying them out, for him to see. As she did, her nerves kicked in and she started babbling. “Please don’t call the Guard, I’ll give everything back. I’m sorry. I just-- I don’t know what I was doing. You bought such pretty things and I-- I didn’t think you’d even notice. Please don’t call the guard.”

After the second plea, Ryn managed to shut herself up, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him in the eye either. Her head was cast down, and her gaze stayed on the ground. She couldn’t bear the look in his eye. She couldn’t bear the scrutiny.

Mentally she was berating herself for dallying, but what she should have done and what she did were two very different things and she couldn’t undo what was done. Shifting from one foot to the other she was unsure of what to do next. She could try to run past him out of the room, but she would have to get close, and she wasn’t sure he would let her go.

Instead she shrugged her shoulders and held out an empty pair of hands toward him, showing that she had nothing else. “That’s everything,” she muttered.
 
As she moved, his eyes remained on her, watching every movement. As she made her pleas, his pupils narrowed, then expanded rapidly before he took another step toward her. By the time she said that was everything, he stood beside her.

"I accept your apology. You will become an honest girl now, I hope?" One brow lifted as he continued to stare at her. He wasn't so naive that he would believe her, but it would be something to hold over her head if he caught her back in his room.

"If you are willing to atone properly, hold your hands out in front of you, palms down." From within an unusually dark-colored belt, he pulled a rod too long to have been held within.
 
Ryn's eyes widened as she looked at the rod he pulled from his belt. What if she didn't want to atone? Taking a step back away from him, she shook her head.

"Can't you just take me at my word," she asked, her hands trembling by her sides. "I'll be good from now on, I promise." A nervous smile pulled up the corners of her mouth. She giggled nervously as she looked up at him with pleading eyes, she saw though that he wasn't joking. This was serious to him, and he meant it when he suggested that she atone properly.

Looking at him she realized that if she wanted to get out of the room she'd need to do as he asked. It couldn't be that bad, could it? Ever so slowly, Ryn's shaking hands rose from her sides. Until they were out in front of her. They trembled and shook in the air, and her eyes closed as she leaned her upper body back away from him, away from her own hands, as though she could separate from them, allowing them to take her punishment for her. And she waited.
 
Crow watched for several moments as the girl held her arms out obediently, as she trembled and tried to pull herself apart from the hands to be punished. He closed his eyes briefly, but opened them again a moment later, certain of his actions. This young woman, he decided, should learn.

She would either become a better thief or she would become a better person.

He raised the rod, then drove it down onto the backs of her hands with enough force to leave painfully stinging red marks that threatened to bruise. He did this three times before he spoke.

"Now, go home."
 
The first hit caused her to cry out, mostly in surprise, but the pain was there too. Eyes widening she looked at the man as he hit her again and again. Her breathing was shaky, and her hands were burning by the time it was all said and done, but the look on Ryn’s face was no longer apologetic. Her brows were lowered and her eyes narrowed while her mouth was set in a defiant line.

Lowering her hands to her sides, she sniffled once and moved to inch past the man. She didn’t want to get to close to him. Unlike before when she was scared of what would happen, she now was too angry to want to get that close to him. Her whole body shook with the ire that she felt in that instant. But she managed to get around him and out of the door before anything else could be said or done.

Rushing down the steps of the inn and out the door, Ryn launched herself into the street nearly shoving a couple over. Her presence was met with hard looks and harsh words, but she ignored them. It was nothing like the humiliation of having her hands smacked like that. She made her way back into the alley across the street before finally allowing herself to stop. Leaning up against the back of a building she raised her hands in front of her once again and looked at the damage. They would bruise for sure.

“Damn, that doesn’t look like it feels good at all,” Robbie said, suddenly making his presence known.

“It doesn’t.” The words were barely audible.

“I take it that means you got caught?”

“Yeah, that’s what that means, Robbie. Are you here for a reason or just to rub it in some more?” Ryn snapped.

“Woah, relax a minute. I see you’re down enough you don’t need me pushing you down further. I was just coming to check up on you.”

“Well I don’t need you checking up on me,” Ryn retorted, knowing that she was acting completely out of character. She just couldn’t help it. The humiliation of having her hands smacked with that rod had her on edge. “I’m coming back tomorrow. I know where everything is now, I can get in and out without a problem.”

Robbie didn’t respond, instead he just nodded and reached out a hand. His hand went to Ryn’s wrists and he gently guided her hands back down to her sides.

It was quiet for a long moment. The silence between them thick and uncomfortable. “I’m sorry,” Ryn said finally. “I don’t know what got into me.”

“It’s fine, you’ve had a long day. Why don’t you just go home and get some rest.” Robbie shrugged off the apology like it really was no big deal and turned back in the direction that he’d come from. “I’ll catch you tomorrow,” he shot over his shoulder before disappearing once more into a crowd.

Ryn sighed and looked at her hands once more before turning away and heading home and promising herself that she’d be back the next day.
 
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(retconning his eyes to be black cuz I learned a thing)

Defiance. He knew that face well. He waited until she was gone for his neutral expression to become disappointment. That narrowed which possibility she would undertake with her life, and not in a good way.

It was a shame, but people made their own choices. He did not own this young thief, pretty though she was. He could only do so much to try to turn her toward a more constructive and fulfilling life.

Regardless, he began to re-organize the belongings she'd almost stolen, slipping several into his strangely dark belt, until it should have bulged, but instead it continued to lay flat.

The next morning, on his way out, Crow sought the innkeeper.

"A girl was robbing my room last night. I put a bell on my door. If you hear it, check please." An exchange of a small amount of money, and he spoke again. "Turn the thief over to me instead of law enforcement."

"Sir?"

"You won't get in trouble."

"Hn." The innkeeper looked doubtful, but Crow paid it no mind as he left.

Today, he wore a black yukata and short, single-toothed geta. It was a more casual look than at the market, but he still found it comfortable. With his hair tied out of his face, his dark-rimmed glasses peered around, curious if he could spot the girl from the previous night before he shrugged and made his way to a city hall meeting he'd heard about—one where the public could attend to listen.
 
Ryn was up before dawn, not like she had slept much the night before. It had been difficult to hide her bruised hands from her worried mother, but she’d managed by avoiding dinner and claiming a stomach ache. While she was supposedly in bed resting Ryn was instead pacing the floor of her room. She went over it again and again in her head. The look on the man’s face as he hit her was what hit her the hardest. He looked almost indifferent. It made her feel inconsequential.

Ryn frowned as she pulled on a clean outfit, this one in varying shades of grey and blue. Affixing her goggles to her head and tightening her toolkit around her waist she looked at herself in the mirror. Dark circles showed beneath her eyes, but aside from that she looked like she usually did. Nothing had changed, and yet she felt like a different person. There was a sense of determination that she’d never felt before boiling just beneath the surface.

Smoothing her outfit once more she turned and crept out of the house and into the shadows of the early morning. She stuck to side streets and alleyways as she made her way back across town. Not out of necessity; there were very few people awake so early. Instead, she did it because she felt it suitable to her mood and mission. It was more than just getting the stuff and proving herself today, it was a matter of pride now, a matter of principle.

In a short amount of time, she’d managed to make her way back to the alleyway where she’d spent a good amount of the previous day and she waited. She waited for the man to leave once again. If he didn’t well, she’d come back the next day, and the next if she had to, but eventually he would leave again. This time she would be quick. In and out. No dilly-dallying.

It wasn’t long that she had to wait. Eventually, the man emerged from the building across the way and headed off toward town center. A sneaky smile crept across Ryn’s face as she watched him until he disappeared and quickly she made her way across the street, dodging one or two carts and slipping in through the door.

The proprietor gave her a curious look but she didn’t pay it any mind. She acted like she belonged there, like she had a purpose. She purposefully made her way up the steps and quickly dug her tools out of her belt. The door was no trouble, once again, and she was soon inside the room. She was so lost in her small victory that the bell that sounded as she opened the door was ignored. Her grin spread further across her face as she set to work, but it was short lived. It was only moments after she got into the room that the owner of the place walked in and found her in the empty room.

He didn’t say much of anything as he snatched her up and dragged her downstairs. The whole way Ryn was pleading for him not to call the guard.

“Please, I’ll do anything. You don’t understand. I wasn’t going to take anything. The man he asked me to try to break in, you see. He wanted to make sure you were paying attention to his stuff.”

“Hn.” Was the only response she got as he shoved her down in a chair. The man was deft. He managed to hold her squirming figure down on the chair with one hand while his free hand removed his belt from his pants. It was wrapped around Ryn’s wrists and tightened in a matter of seconds. Ryn’s wide-eyed face paled. She couldn’t even begin to guess what was coming next.
 
Hours passed while she was restrained in the chair, until Crow arrived back, and the proprietor led him to the back room where he kept the would-be thief.

Quiet disappointment adorned the dark-eyed man's face, and he sighed. "Thank you," he murmured to the man as his eyes remained on Ryn.

Once the man was out of the room, Crow continued to stare at her for several long moments.

Finally, he spoke.

"Stubborn."

With that, he reached for her bindings.

"Come with me. If you run, you won't escape."

It was still early enough in the day that the nearest cafe was still open.

So, he removed the belt from her hands and raised a brow at her. "Do you like sweets?"

A simple question to entice her curiosity, and he began toward the door, glancing back to see if she was coming. He did not particularly want to drag her kicking and screaming. He got enough judgmental looks at home.
 
Ryn sat in silent discontent, refusing to say a word to the man that had, for all intents and purposes, made her a prisoner. Every time he neared her she turned her face the opposite way, not even willing to look in his direction. Her petulance continued until her target arrived and it swiftly turned to something between rage and fear. Her hands burned at the thought of another lashing and the one thing she settled on was that she definitely would not be experiencing that again. She’d talk her way out of it or something. But there was something about the way he looked at her that calmed her down. There was no anger in his gaze, nor was there apathy, instead she saw disappointment, which for some reason stung more than another lashing would have.

She swallowed hard as he spoke and moved for the bindings. Nothing was going the way she thought it would be. She was completely taken off her guard. His question only served to further knock her off balance.

“...Yeah?” she said, questioning everything about the situation as it stood.

She hesitated briefly before deciding to go along with whatever it was that was happening. Rubbing her wrists she stood and began to follow him out the door.

Before long they were seated at a cafe. Unease washed over her as she took her seat across from him, still waiting for him to make the first move.
 
He slid a menu toward her. "Order something," he urged as he waved over one of the young women who worked there. Once she arrived, he spoke quietly, adopting a polite tone.

"I would like a slice of the strawberry cake and some water, please."

With that, he shot an expectant look towards Ryn and a singular nod, prompting her to order.

He had no doubts about her confusion. He could smell it, and it was taking all his willpower not to smile.
 
Ryn pursed her lips, and considered taking the opportunity to continue her defiance, but her curiosity overpowered her and she found herself ordering. “A chocolate tart, please.” she said to the waitress while never taking her eyes off the man sitting across from her.


This was a first. She’d never even heard of something like this happening before. She’d tried to rob this man not once but twice now and here they were having an afternoon snack together. The very idea made her head spin. Still, she sat quietly awaiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. This couldn’t be all he had in mind.
 
"Water for her as well, please."

"Is that everything? We have an array of sweet drinks and teas, if you would like."

A pause. "Actually, perhaps cold milk instead of the waters, if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course, sir."

Crow nodded, and she departed. Finally his eyes returned to the girl across from him.

"We're going to talk," he said. "First, why." Those eyes bored into her, waiting and patient, but stern as he leaned back and crossed his arms, head tilted slightly.
 
Ryn didn't say anything for a long time. In fact, she didn't say anything until the waitress had returned with their orders and set them in front of them. She didn't look up at him either, but she could feel his eyes on her. It made her twitchy, nervous. She didn't really have a why. And for some reason she didn't think that answer would suit him so she kept her mouth shut a little while longer.

With the fork she crumbled the tart and pushed it around the plate a bit, her brown eyes focused on the food. "Why you? Or why again? Or why what?" she finally asked, hoping that playing stupid would get her somewhere. If anything it would give her more time to think of a good enough why to get her out of this mess.