Bottoms up! [Zoz!]

[kleineklementine]

Soren didn't usually hang around Ketra. Or any larger cities, really. Nowhere he couldn't easily get out if he - poof! - shifted. Normally just the thought of it was too embarrassing (not to mention dangerous!). But right now Soren wasn't really thinking about embarrassment or danger. He felt wretched. His conscious was still haunted by Pepper and the slave market and... Well, all of it. And what was the best remedy for a heavy conscience?

Drinking.

Sitting alone in a dingy Ketra bar, Soren finished what must have been this third - or was it fourth? - glass of spirits. He wasn't really sure what the stuff was. It was foul, that was for sure, and he grimaced as he drank the last of it and clank the empty highball on the bar counter.

Oh god, she'd just been a girl. Foul-mouthed, spunky, irreverent, rude, and most importantly young. She'd liked him. And what had he done with that entirely undeserved trust? Ugh. Now, if she were lucky, the best thing he could hope for was that she was someone's slave. How was that for a best case scenario?

Soren waved for the bartender. "Something stronger," he ordered. "And fouler-tasting, if you don't mind." This was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but he didn't really care one way or the other. Let it be fouler. What did he care.

The bar tender gave Soren a side-long glance. This wasn't the sort of bar where people came to have a good time, and he recognized the pattern of drink after drink ordered with no pause or rest. Classic signs of someone drinking to forget. Well, it was none of his business. Making money, that was his business. No fault of his if it was on other people's sorrows.

[zozee9]

Tanya burst into the bar, a smile on her face. She was buzzed, as usual, but not drunk... yet. She came to fix that. After glancing around, she walked towards a man with shaggy black hair and olive skin. He was pretty, and she liked pretty. Tanya walked with a bounce, causing her hips to sway and boobs to bounce in her tight, red-hot dress. She knew people were watching her, and many of the guys whistled as she walked by. But she wasn't interested in them—she had already chosen a target of the night. Of course, if he failed, she would have no problems taking one (or more) of the other men home.

Sitting down, Tanya crossed her legs and leaned towards the pretty man, showing off a fair amount of cleavage. Turning her head towards the bartender, she ordered, "I want something alcoholic, but not too concentrated. I can't be getting too drunk. After all, I want to have fun... all night long." She winked at the pretty man.

The bartender looked at her briefly before moving on to do as she said. He knew she had money, even if she had no bag. After all, she frequented this bar a few times a week. He was guessing it was because all the people here were normally pretty drunk and had no qualms over going home with a lady who looked like a prostitute.

"So," Tanya started, her gaze on the pretty man. "May I have the pleasure of knowing your name, handsome? Or should I guess it myself?" Checking him out (quite obviously), she put on a coy smile. She had chosen a good target. He had gorgeous eyes and a nice facial structure. Of course, once they were alone and in the dark, how he looked wouldn't matter much.

[kleineklementine]

A new drink arrived at the same time as Tanya, and Soren might have been the only man in the bar not to notice the woman's entrance. He heard the whistles, but they didn't really register. He was too busy being miserable, feeling terrible, and generally wallowing in the thought of what an awful person he was. And, of course, drinking those feelings away.

He'd already taken half of a long drink from the new glass when Tanya planted herself next to him - right next to him! - and ordered a drink of her own. With some interesting qualifiers. Soren nearly choked on the drink. 'All night long.' Oh boy. That snapped him out of his malaise. He swallowed the mouthful of spirits and slowly set the glass down on the bar as he turned to look at his new friend. And then he looked her over. He looked almost bewildered at the very attractive interruption to his drinking. He hadn't really had a plan for the night, but if he had, it probably would have involved a lot more drinking-until-he-couldn't-remember-why-he'd-come-in-the-first-place and a bit less extremely forward! vampy women.

Of course, it was true that girls were one of the primary reasons - let's be honest, the primary reason - Soren ventured outside of his life of forested seclusion and into the city, but he he wasn't really on top of his game tonight. He hadn't even really thought about it since... He lifted his glass and took another long drink, still just looking back at Tanya.

"Uh," he blinked at her, setting the drink back down. She was gorgeous, there was no denying that. But, when he looked at how she was dressed, he couldn't help but wonder if she was on the job, so to speak. Well, did it matter? At least, did it matter here in the bar? He ran a hand through his black hair and gave a self-conscious grin. "I suppose you could guess."

[zozee9]

Tanya flipped her hair over her shoulder as she smiled. His reaction to her had been simply sublime. She decided that he was probably more shy than the rest of the men in the bar, most of which were still ogling her. Either that, or he was just less drunk. Whatever the case may be, Tanya didn't plan on toning down her flirting. After all, he didn't back away.

The bartender set down her drink and she licked her lips. It was obvious that she wasn't just licking her lips because of the drink, however, given the fact that she did so while looking straight into the boy's eyes. She took a long sip of her drink and decided it was a aperitif cocktail. Leave it to the bartender to give her a fancy, expensive drink. Then, setting the drink back down, she licked her lips yet again.

"Hmm..." Tanya said, saucily. "Perhaps it's Cade? Delwyn? Or maybe Adonis?" The names meant shy, beautiful, and handsome accordingly. She had no clues of what his name might be, seeing as that she couldn't even guess his ethnicity. It seemed possible for him to be from Hyoite, given his dark hair, tan skin, and apparent cheekbones, but they were awfully far from there and his hair wasn't curly at all. Perhaps he was mixed race. That would make sense even if he was from Hyoite, given the fact that they came from all over the place. It was the society of rejects, in a way. But even still... his accent didn't seem like one from Hyoite, and she just got the feeling he was from elsewhere. In the end, she simply couldn't place her finger on his ethnicity and gave up. While thinking through all of this, she kept a flirty smile on her face.

[kleineklementine]

"'Delwyn?!'" he pulled a face at her guesses. "Are you even sure that's not a girl's name?" he asked her. He huffed a little sigh. "And here I thought you'd guess something strong and smart and manly, and I could just say, 'Oh yes, you're right, that's me!' But the way things are going, I'm guessing I'm not going to get that lucky." He kept his eyes on her as he took another drink from his glass. Hm. He set the glass down on the bar again. Maybe it should stay there for awhile. This one had a bit too much of a predatory feel and he had a hunch that, in this scenario, she was the wolf and he was the deer.

"So I guess I'll just have to come clean. As much as I'd like to be a Jack or Hunter or Cormac, I got stuck with 'Soren.' So we'll have to go with that." He reached instinctively to take another drink, but thought better of it. Instead he ran his hand through his hair again. Nervous tick. "I'm a rotten guesser, so I think it'd be easier on both of us if you just told me yours instead of turning it into, ah, a game."

That was all the self control Soren had for now and he took another long drink. He figured he might need the extra courage facing this one.

[zozee9]

Tanya shrugged as he ranted on and on about her guess. Maybe she should've guessed a manly name. That would've given him an ego boost... and guys always liked ego boosts. But she didn't really care that much—he would be hers anyway.

Her eyes watched as he resisted drinking, though she could tell he wanted to. Her smile widened as he said his actual name. Seemed like she was pretty far off, but at least it made him loosen up some. He ran his hand through his hair again, making Tanya bet it was probably just a habit of his. She twirled some of her hair in response.

Laughing, Tanya replied, "Soren... that typically means war and thunder. Are you a fighter, then? That would explain those muscles of yours." She winked at him. Then, leaning even farther towards him (and exposing more in the process), Tanya reached over and rested her left hand on his bicep. She gave it a light squeeze before backing up again and adding, "Yes, you must be a fighter." She gave a knowing smile before taking another sip of her drink.

Then, resting the drink back on the table, she said, "I'm Tanya. And, in case you're wondering, that usually means praiseworthy, or, in some cases, saint-like. But I don't believe myself to be either of those... except maybe praiseworthy."

[kleineklementine]

Soren's eyes followed Tanya's hand as it moved to, and then squeezed, his arm. If she was a working girl, she was a pretty determined one! And now that this thought occurred to him, he noticed how attentive to Tanya some of the other men in the bar were. No, if she were working, there were too many other sure-fire job opportunities here. She must just be the type that knew what she wanted, and not afraid to grab it.

Oh wait. That was him. He almost ran his hand through his hair again but, seeing Tanya mirror him, became suddenly conscious of the tick and stopped.

Wasn't he here to wallow and feel rotten and generally miserable? Sure, this - she - certainly took his mind off of... His memory flashed with Pepper, falling on top of him in the woods. Flush and flustered and embarrassed. Thinking about not thinking was certainly the most sure-fire way to think about something... He looked distant for a moment, and his eyes left Tanya's wandering hand to his drink again.

Empty.

That's all he wanted. That's all he came here to do. Drink.

"I, ah, haven't really given much thought to what it means," he admitted, watching her carefully again. "I like to think of myself as more of a gentleman than a fighter. But really I'm probably not much of either." If he'd still had a drink, and if he'd drank any of it when Tanya explained her own name, he might have choked on it. "I suppose that's praise for all your scholarly work on the meaning of names?" he asked hopefully.

[zozee9]

Tanya paused at Soren's last comment. Then, after a second of thinking it through, she burst out laughing. "I like you!" Tanya started, giggling. "Your mind is dirtier than I expected. When I said praiseworthy, I was actually talking innocent. I'm a scholar—though not of names. I take it upon myself to learn everything I can." Wiping the tears that had formed in her eyes, she added, "Though I am praiseworthy in other ways, too. In my ability to drink, for example. And," she winked, "definitely in the way you were thinking."

Satisfied with how things were going, Tanya leaned against the bar, her jaw on her palm. While she was still smiling on the outside, she was actually trying to figure out Soren. Before he had responded to her, there was a clear look of hopelessness in his eyes. He seemed to have been fighting something mentally, but she had no idea what.

Deciding to take a guess, Tanya sensitively asked, "Did you just have a bad breakup?" That would explain his shy behavior, the fact that he was at a bar, and how he got distracted after she unleashed her flirting techniques. Of course, Tanya saw nothing wrong with sleeping with mourners. In fact, she was perfectly fine with sleeping with people who were in relationships or even married.

[kleineklementine]

Soren's look was one of pure innocence when Tanya accused him of possessing a dirty mind. "I'm sure I don't' know what you mean," he said off-handedly while waving to the bartender for another drink. Sure, he'd meant to slow down, but the dual threat of resurfacing memories of Pepper and the (much more present threat!) of this predatory woman was leaving him pretty thirsty.

"What?" he asked, clearly caught off guard by her question. "What, um, no," he answered with a nervous laugh. "Nothing of the sort. Why," he somehow mustered a grin that, had he been on form, might have been disarming, "do I seem thrown over? Or do I just have a general air of loneliness clinging to me?"

When his drink came, he took a quick gulp of it. He was beginning to think that this night was not going to turn out the way he'd intended it to.

[zozee9]

Tanya snickered when Soren played innocent. While it was possible that he was telling the truth, she doubted it. But he continued on talking, so she let the topic rest.

Taking another sip of her drink, Tanya suppressed a smile when he said her guess was wrong. He was so shy. She loved it. And then that smile... that smile was so close to perfection. If only he didn't seem so nervous.

"Perhaps both," Tanya replied. "But the second best way to forget about things is to drink your way out of it." She moved her legs so that they were crossed the other way, then took a long sip of her aperitif cocktail. She then held it out to Soren and asked, "Do you want to try this? It's superb!"

[kleineklementine]

Soren laughed. "You're ruthless, you know that?" He took another long drink, shaking his head at her. Boy, this stuff was starting to go to his head. Nasty stuff. He vaguely wondered if it weren't medicinal alcohol. "I was really hoping for, 'Oh no, you don't look pathetic or lonely. You're so charming and vivacious!' Something like that." He wagged a finger at her. "You're not cutting me any breaks at all. 'Delwyn.' Pah."

Slowly Soren realized that he was warming up a bit to this woman, and he vaguely wondered if it was the drink or if she was disarming him. And whether or not he ought to be warming up to her. She still had that awfully predatory look about her. She might not be 'working,' but she clearly meant business!

He didn't want to admit that he had anything to try to forget. That might lead to her asking about it and that was the very last thing he wanted to talk about. "I'll pass on your drink, though," he told her with an overdone politeness. "It looks like it might actually be good, and I'm trying to stick to only lousy drinks for the night."

"Anyway," he added, looking her over and looking for any other direction to steer the conversation, "what are you doing in a dump like this? You're certainly not dressed for it."

[zozee9]

"I'm here to drink!" Tanya declared, raising her glass into the air. She was also there to find somebody to warm up her bed that night, but she left that unsaid.

"Savva, mix something foul into this!" she demanded before setting her drink on the table—there was no way she was letting an attractive guy deny a drink from her. Savva was the name that she had assigned to all bartenders, seeing as it meant wine. The bartender, who had heard her call him that long enough to know she was talking to him, glanced at her irritably before heading over.

Smiling at Soren, Tanya added, "Well, that makes two of us disappointed. I was really hoping for, 'And what's the first best way to forget about things?' So how about this: I'll do what you were wishing for, and you'll do what I was!"

She watched as Savva poured something into her drink. Then she picked it up, took a sip, and wrinkled her nose up. "Oh god, I think this was exactly what you were looking for. This tastes horrible." Tanya handed out the drink again for Soren.

"So, Hunter, do we have a deal? I know that you are SO stable and on top of it and I think you may be charming my clothes off, but I just wish you would spare me the time of day!" Tanya said, her voice as overdramatic as her words. Then she winked at him again.

[kleineklementine]

"I do hate to disappoint people," Soren agreed slowly, while taking the proffered drink and cautiously sniffing it. He didn't comment that she was awfully dressed up, so to speak, for someone who was just here to drink. After all, he was pretty sure he could figure out on his own what else she was doing here. "And if you've gone through all this trouble for me, the sad, pathetic, lonely sack that I am, ruining what looked like a perfectly lovely drink," he finished by taking a wary sip of the altered drink and immediately grimaced.

"Ugh," he finally let out after a moment, his face still screwed up in distaste, "I think it's quite horrid enough on its own. No need to mix it up like that." Still holding onto Tanya's drink in one hand, he picked up his own drink with the other and chased the awful mixed drink with the awful straight one. "On second thought, it might just be bad all the way around."

He set Tanya's drink down and took another, long drink of his own. Better to stick to one horrible flavor. When he set his glass back down, he vaguely realized it was empty. When had that happened? He felt alright at the moment - okay, maybe a little chatty, but alright - but he wondered if it wouldn't hit him once he got to his feet. He must make great efforts not to get to his feet. But still, he looked a little mournfully at the empty glass. He didn't want another drink so much as he wanted that one to still be full.

"Sorry, what were we talking about?" he asked after he'd recovered from the unpleasant surprise of Tanya's drink. "Oh, right. Forgetting. Well, I wouldn't know anything about it. I try very hard to live my life in such a way that I don't have pesky things to have to forget." This was, more or less, true. Or had been, until he'd actually let himself care about that girl. She had just been a kid. But even as he thought about this, with the warmth of the alcohol growing in his stomach, the thought of Pepper seemed awfully far away now, much less present, much less painful. Had it really happened? Really? "But, certainly during the trials of my youth - who didn't have things they'd want to forget when they were sixteen, am I right? - I suppose I usually... played a game of chess?" he offered with an innocent grin. "I haven't played in years now, but I'm sure we could find a board in a square somewhere, if that's what you had in mind?"

[zozee9]

Tanya eyed her drink with distaste. She got the feeling that Soren wasn't going to finish it, and she obviously couldn't let alcohol go to waste, meaning she'd have to drink it. Well, she had drank worse things in her life. But she was usually wasted during those times.

"Sixteen..." she repeated, her head still wrapped around that word. Leaning towards him and talking silently, so the rest of the bar (some of who were eavesdropping) couldn't hear, Tanya said, "You know, I'm going to tell you something I haven't told many people before. I don't actually have any memories from when I was sixteen. In fact, most of my childhood is a blur." Talking a tidbit louder, she continued, "I can make up stories galore, though. About the time I visited Fell or beat up a thug with my good looks or tricked a slave trader into thinking all his slaves had plague." She laughed, thinking of all those stories. Some people even believed her. In fact, most did. She was a good liar when she chose to be—drunk or not.

Returning back to her normal voice (though she was still probably in Soren's personal space), Tanya continued as if she hadn't just shared a secret. "Chess, huh? You know, that wasn't what I was talking about, but I'd gladly take you up on that offer! Chess is a game that a scholar like me just can't decline. It's basically a rule." She paused. "And we can do other, non-scholarly things afterwards," Tanya finished with a wink.

But while her words might have moved on, her thoughts still hadn't. In fact, she wasn't sure why she had told him about her forgotten past. That was one thing that stayed hidden no matter how drunk she was. It was like it was locked up in a little box in her mind. The only reason she kept it hidden was the illogical belief that somebody might know her past some day. Or even if they didn't, they might ask around and find somebody who did. And if she drank her way out of knowing it, then she sure as **** didn't want to remember it. But for some unknown reason, she had told Soren, a boy she had just met.

Figuring that it was the perfect time to do so, Tanya picked up her horrible drink and downed it as quickly as she could. Then, having noticed that Soren's drink was empty earlier, she exclaimed, "Savva, get me another one of these! Except as it normally is! And get this manly Hunter another one of whatever he had. In fact, I'll just pay a round for the whole bar!" A wide smile was on her face as the bar, easily hearing her shouting, cheered. Nothing made her happier than making a bunch of drunks happy... except when they made her happy in the only way they could.

[kleineklementine]

Soren suspected that Tanya's secret-sharing was primarily a way to bring him into her confidence, or appear to, and to get closer to him, and to whisper something that the rest of the bar wouldn't hear. But, perhaps it wasn't, and he tucked her story of having no childhood memories away in his mind like a folded up note. But he made no outward reaction to the claim. Instead, he smiled and said, "All the way to Fell, huh? You're certainly well-traveled."

But the comment about the slaves and the plague made him frown. Pepper was a slave now. Or dead. Suddenly he wasn't at the bar, but was flashing through all the other scenarios that could have played out. He could have never gone to that cursed town. And never met her. He could have, but he could have just escorted her back through the woods. Or even just left - letting her go on her own, maybe dangerous, but she would have ended up better than now. Was dead better than being a slave? Now she might be either. There were so many opportunities that seemed so obvious now that Soren had chosen not to see then.

Soren's didn't really return to the bar until the new drink - as awful and foul as the rest of them had been - clinked loudly as it was set in front of him. First he was aware again of the drink then, looking up, reminded of Tanya. Right.

"What?" he asked, distractedly, and looking a little ashen. He tried to remember what they were talking about. Oh right, chess. Well, sort of. "Oh no," Soren said quickly, balking. "I hate chess. I was just bluffing. My brothers were all fantastic at it and - me being by far the youngest and least legitimate - took great pleasure in forcing me to play for me 'edification' then thoroughly trouncing me. It wasn't a fun exercise." Though he told the little anecdote with as much off-handed, nonchalant humor as he could muster, it seemed forced and his eyes quickly returned to the distance.

Suddenly, with all the feelings of guilt and wretchedness that led him into the bar returned, Soren found that he no longer wanted to be here. He was crossing the border, maybe, from 'fun, distraction' - or at least distraction - drunk to sad, well-of-introspection drunk. But he rallied his spirits as best he could. This woman, after all, had just bought him a drink. Raising the glass to her, Soren drank half of it in one go. Yup, still foul, he confirmed for himself. Once the burning sensation was down his throat and into his stomach, though, his briefly raised spirits flagged.

"Well, you've been lovely," Soren said as he put his glass down and picked up Tanya's hand to kiss it. The gesture was, despite the drink and his intention to leave, more intimate than affected. "But I think I should probably go." A pause before he remembered that he should maybe give a reason. "Before I end up pickled in this awful liquor. Besides," he added, leaning in himself this time, and forcing a little knowing smile as he canted his head to indicate the rest of the men in the bar, "I think I've probably monopolized too much of your time. I'm getting the evil eye from at least one of these guys."

Soren kissed her hand, which he hadn't let go, again, then got up, releasing her. He paid his share of his drinks, gave Tanya another smile, then headed out of the bar, feeling - once again - awful.

[zozee9]

Tanya knew she must have brought up a touchy subject or word or something. That quick mood change couldn't have been completely from the drinking. His forced response started her suspicions which were only confirmed when he prepared to leave.

Even she was surprised when he kissed her hand—few men in a bar were that gentlemanly. But the way he did it and the fact that his hand lingered on her made her smile a little, knowing that she must have succeeded in catching him at least a little. While she hadn't planned on letting him go before, now she knew she had to have him. She didn't care about the evil eyes guys were giving him, he was going to be hers.

She waited for a few seconds after he left while quickly thinking up a plan. Then she pulled a few coins out of her corset (the best storage place ever), placed them on the bar, and headed out. The few men that had been making their way towards her gave up and instead returned back to their seats.

Half-running and half-walking in her high heels, Tanya managed to catch up with Soren. While she hadn't exactly been silent in her endeavors to get to him, she was willing to bet he was in his own thoughts enough that he hadn't heard her. So she slyly pulled his arm around her waist, making sure his hand brushed her butt on its way, and said, "You can't leave me just yet... it's ungentlemanly to leave a girl alone in the cold." Then she rubbed up against his side, warming herself up. It was chilly at night with barely any clothing on.

"If you're worried about drinking more bad alcohol, I can bring you to a high quality bar... or if you're worried about getting drunk, we can just skip all the formalities and I can show you around my"—she paused—"house." Well, technically it was a guild that she lived in. But she doubted anybody would bother her if she brought back a man. They all knew of her ways. Plus, she was the manager. She had more authority, oddly enough, than most of them.

[kleineklementine]

Tanya was right that Soren would be too lost in his own glummery to notice her approach, and he startled slightly when the woman snuck up on him and somehow managed to slip his arm around her waist. And he didn't miss the way she brushed his hand against her ass. "You might get yourself hurt," he chided to mask his surprise, "sneaking up on strangers like that." He looked down at her, considering what to do with the current situation. All he really wanted was to slip back into the forest and wallow. Why was this woman being so persistent? Couldn't she just leave him to his misery?

Soren exhaled. Well, if you can't beat them, join them, right? Plus maybe she was right. Maybe the best way to not think about things was to spend the rest of his night with an admittedly beautiful woman. Using the arm already around her waist, he turned Tanya to face him, leaving his hand on his hips. "You're awfully persistent, you know that? And a little," here he touched a finger to his nose and looked at her seriously, "forward. But," he heaved an audible sigh - his act was a little half-hearted, but he was trying his best - then he noticed something around corner, "I suppose if you're determined, one more drink won't hurt. I'm not sure about a 'quality bar,' though, full of pretentious muck-ups. I," he took a pin from her hair, "have a better idea." ((OOC: Not sure if Tanya would have any pins in her hair... hope that's okay!))

He moved his hand from her hip and grabbed her hand, leading her down a narrow, darkened alley. Before she could get too fresh, he let go of her hand and positioned her behind a shadowed stack of crates. "Wait here."

Soren moved away from Tanya to an old, nearby door. The back door, in fact, to the expensive-looking distillery he'd noticed only a few moments earlier. Using the pin he took from Tanya, he picked the door's aging lock and slipped inside. Once in the store, he shifted through the wares inside until he found what he was looking for. Carefully, he pulled a bottle of eighteen-year-old single-malt scotch from a crate. Then, thinking the better of it, he pulled out another one and slipped back out of small shop and into the narrow alley. With a wink, he handed the two bottles to Tanya and motioned for her to stay, then silently returned to close and lock the shop's door. Soren came back to Tanya and, first, replaced the pin in her hair and, second, took the bottles back from her.

"So, shall we? Maybe an empty park, under the stars, away from all the pompous muck-ups in the fancy bars and," he grinned, "the scary schmucky guys ready to kill me for each second I spent with you in the less-fancy bars?"

[zozee9]

Tanya laughed at Soren's worries of her possibly getting hurt. She had witnessed a dead body, the murderer, and her boss being possessed just a couple days beforehand. It was basically impossible for anything bad to happen to her for another week or so. That's how life worked... for Tanya, at least.

Of course, she wasn't going to mention that whole experience. A story for another time, perhaps.

She gladly turned to face Soren, and made sure to look straight into his eyes. Well, mostly. Her eyes may have wandered down to his lips a little, but they returned when he touched her nose. She giggled at his comment, knowing it was one hundred percent accurate. But he didn't seem to mind her forwardness, so she hadn't found any reason to hide it. Plus, his mood seemed to have changed for the better.

She held his hand tightly, swirling her fingers around in little circles along the bottom of his palm. Though her hopes were wishing for some action in the dark alley, she kept her expectations low. She was smart enough to know that the chances of something special happening was pretty low. That would be too easy. Plus, he took one of her hair pins... and she could think of nothing pleasant to be done with that. Not to say she wouldn't try anything if he wanted to.

So when he left her by a pile of crates, Tanya wasn't that surprised. She trusted he would come back. And she was intrigued with what he might come back with. Leaning forward, she saw him use her pin to picklock the door. A mischievous smile spread across her face—she didn't know he was a rebellious one. She had taken him to be more of a rule stickler with a charming personality. But this was more fun.

Leaning back against the wall of the tall building, Tanya waited for him to return. And when he did, a wide smile spread across her face. That was nice quality stuff he had stolen. The bottles were a nice weight and obviously well aged, given the amount of dust atop them.

"You," Tanya started when he returned, "are a romantic." Then she reached up and touched his nose, imitating what he had done to her earlier. Normally she would have gone on her toes but her heels prohibited this action. "I like that. Even if your romanticism involves robbery." She slid his arm around his torso and starting walking.

"You know... if the owners of that place come to my guild and place a job for somebody to find the thief that stole two bottles of their scotch, I'm probably supposed to report you," she added jokingly. "Alas, I have my priorities straight. Love over money, every time."

Tanya paused before saying, "That really does sound perfect though. Not lying to my boss. Drinking wine under the stars, alone. It's been a while since I've done something like that." She sighed before smiling at him. "But I get the feeling that this date will make up for all my other unromantic ones." Tanya winked and then laughed yet again.

[kleineklementine]

((OOC: I wrote ths on my iPad, so forgive any major typos or strange autocorrect choices, please!))

Soren gave Tanya a look of feigned offense. "Romantic? Me?" He repeated, looking at her agape. "Madam, you hardly know me. You shouldn't say such slanderous things! At least not on our first acquaintance. I'll have you know that I am quite the cad. A bounder, even. 'Romantic!'" He scoffed, then shook his head and looked to the heavens as if asking for patience. He'd noticed, during this overly dramatic tirade, her arm wrapping around his waist. He didn't move away; in fact, he leaned into her a bit, and began walking away from the shop as he continued. "But I suppose," he concluded with a resigned sigh, "I'll have to go ahead and be romantic now, if that's what you want. You seem to be the sort of girl who usually gets what she wants."

"I can assure you, though," Soren added earnestly as he carefully tucked one of the bottles under one arm and placed the other around Tanya's shoulders, "that all true romance involves robbery."

Soren steered the way down a narrow street where the lamps had long gone out. The buildings, crowded closely together, that lined the street were stately but fading. Their glory belonged to a bygone day. He didn't comment on the surroundings, however, instead he made a somewhat delayed observation. "Hey, I don't like all this talk about reporting me and guilds and bosses, though. Please tell me you don't actually work for the city guards? The last place I want to end my night is in a cell just for retrieving the drink that you wanted in the first place. Plus, I'm pretty sure I don't have anyone who would bail me out."

As Soren finished his sentence, they arrived at his intended destination. He hadn't been in Ketra for so long, he was uncertain the place in question would still be here. At the street, it was only an old and crumbling stone wall, with a narrow doorway carved into it. Nearby, the old iron gate rusted, long fallen from its hinges. Soren released Tanya - the gateway was only wide enough for one - and gestured for her to enter. Past the doorway it was revealed to be a long, narrow, walled sunken garden, squeezed between two old buildings. The garden was overrun with ivy and creeping myrtle that nearly swallowed the odd statues forgotten here. At the back of the garden was an old fountain, dry now: a leafed face mounted on the back wall once spouted water into the shallow pool below. Now he only stared, his face frozen with mouth agape, at any intruders. On either side of the dry pool that was lined with faded tile, were two stone benches, facing each other and nearly engulfed in ivy.

Sore stepped down into the garden behind Tanya and uncorked one of the bottles of scotch. His eyes swept across the half-remembered garden and hadn't yet returned to her when he offered her the bottle. "Ladies first."

[zozee9]

Tanya laughed at Soren's overblown monologue. He was such a romantic, whether he admitted it or not. And he was right—she did normally get what she wanted.

She compliantly followed him, curios as to just where they were going. Given how he was talking, she assumed it to be quite special. And then he mentioned her working for city guards. Her. Tanya Danes. The girl who had probably broken more laws than she could remember (literally, given that she blacked out from drinking too much). This time she laughed even louder, and was just about to respond when she was cut off by their arrival. It didn't look too impressive from the outside, but she was willing to give it a try.

She gasped when she entered. It was beautiful and seemed so ancient and fragile and precious... unlike the places she normally visited. The ivy growing over everything didn't take away from the mood. Instead, it added to the timeless feel.

And then there were the statues. Given their appearances, Tanya guessed they had to be about a hundred years old. It was a miracle that they were still holding together—and proof that someone used to take good care of this gorgeous garden.

It was all just so sublime. She could imagine spending days upon days in here, reading and drinking. She'd have her own well-paid servant who would fetch her booze and books whenever she wanted. And when she wasn't reading, she'd spend her time with a man or two...

Tanya turned towards Soren and realized that she already had the perfect man to go with this perfect garden. She smile on her face showed true giddiness. And, for once, the giddiness didn't come from having one too many drinks.

In fact, she was so overjoyed by everything that instead of drinking the fancy scotch like she normally would have, Tanya quickly wrapped her arms around him. After a second of this tight squeezing, she let go, looked up into his eyes, and ecstatically said, "This is so wonderful!" Then she took a deep breath to calm herself down a little, grabbed the scotch from his hand, and took a deep swig. "Ah, and so is this!"