[ooc: Yes, I know, Beatrid is in two threads at once. XD But this scene takes place a bit after the "Hittin' the town, Mordecai style" thread...whenever that thread finishes. XD]
If Beatrid was remotely religious or superstitious, she would have probably been convinced that some deity was out to get her today, for whatever reason. She didn't know, maybe it was some...magic-user evil God or something that she'd pissed off after arresting one too many mages. Bastard. Anyway, her first day off in a while, and she was being driven out of her fucking mind. By...just...people being people. Couldn't people for just, like, one day be <I>sane? God, why hadn't she locked her bedroom door today? If she had just remembered that one little detail, if she'd just remembered to lock her door, right now she would have probably still been lounging lazily in bed, maybe even finishing off that novel she'd started a few weeks ago. Really, she loved her line of work and she didn't ask for much...just a day or two off every now and then and some free time to herself. That was it. But she was human and she needed some selfish "me" time every now and then, too, to keep her own sanity in check.
Granted, if she had locked her door she probably wouldn't have met Hek until way later, which meant they wouldn't have gotten to have a random water war in the bathroom and she wouldn't have gotten to hear him play the violin. Granted, she had also ended up getting felt up (she still maintained that he did that on purpose) and Hek had ended up flashing her, but, whatever. Not to mention there was still that rumor...Beatrid could feel the muscles between her shoulder blades tightening and her jaw clenching, and she rolled her shoulders to keep them from cramping up. She was going to kill Yones. She didn't know exactly what kind of rumor he had started, but she was going to skin him alive. At least, in her dreams, and that was pretty satisfying. Killing your teammates was generally frowned upon, after all.
Right now, however, she was at her limit, so after dealing with those other people, she'd shoved some money in Hek's hand, pointed him in the direction of a shop, and marched off to take a breather and cool down after telling him that she'd check back with him in a few and he could take his time. Civilians. Why couldn't they behave? Especially on her day off! Just watch, tomorrow when she's on duty the day will pass without even the slightest fuss...it never failed.
Heading off for the forest, she headed down a random path. Really, she didn't care which way she went, as long as it was deep enough into the woods to be somewhere nice and quiet, save for the chirp of birds and rustle of wind through leaves, somewhere away from the drone of people. That always helped. It calmed her down, relaxed her, and she definitely needed that. She'd been pretty sleep deprived the last couple of days, and that generally made her far less than pleasant. Her patience was already threadbare, and coupled with a lack of proper rest...well, that could make her quite scary when she finally snapped. Though, perhaps she wasn't all that scary anymore, given the people she worked around were probably pretty used to Beatrid Bitchiness by now. Feh.
She didn't know how long she'd been walking, but the longer she walked, the calmer she grew, the drone of humanity fading away, replaced by birdsong and the faint trickle of water in the distance. Stretching her arms over her head and resting her hands on the back of her head, she yawned a little and headed toward the stream. Maybe she could fina a nice flat boulder by the stream to lay on and just...catch a quick cat nap or something. It would take Hek a while to shop around, right? Sure. And this place was the perfect spot for catching a few minutes of undisturbed shut-eye. Secluded. No one around. Heh, some women might even be nervous to come to such a spot alone. Wimps. Besides, Beatrid had a pistol tucked safely away at her belt. Really, she wasn't worried.
If nothing else, she was kind of thirsty anyway. She hadn't had anything to drink for a while.
Lowering her hands, she tossed her long, brown braid back over her shoulder and continued onward, until soon the sound of water was loud in her ears, the damp scent of earth and water a wonderful change to the stink of the streets. With a relieved smile, she picked up her pace and--
Stumbled upon not only the stream, but a very naked man.
And not just any man.
A naked KURO, of all the bloody men in the world! Bathing in the stream. The stream! Oh God, she would never drink from that stream again.
For a moment, all Beatrid could do was stare, blue eyes wide, mouth hanging open, back straight. Kuro. Naked. Two men in one day. Ahaha. First Hek, who she rather liked, and now...him. And then, promptly, she seemed to come to herself.
"KURO! What the HELL are you DOING?!" she demanded, her voice coming out more screechy and strained than she'd intended. Hell, she sounded almost offended. "What the fuck! Why...are...why can't you bathe in a bathtub like normal people?!" Indeed, her face at this point was quite red, the flush creeping up from her neck.
Of all people. Why, God. Just...why.