A Chance Encounter

[Ivory]

Kathryn smirked at him.  "And I suppose you want to brag.  Well, go on, then."  She gestured for him to go on as she helped herself to the meal.  She had only one set of utensils as well, something she had purchased from a traveling merchant some time ago -- she had no desire to get her hands all greasy or burn herself.

In reality, she was curious to learn what he had stolen.  "Amy" was rather familiar with this neck of the woods -- and with the people who lived her.  She supposed she should be concerned, but there simply wasn't much here to steal!

[visualspice]

He wouldn't lie that he liked to brag, but there was also the sense that she just wanted to hear it. She seemed.. rather.... eager about a lot of things, which got him thinking.

Then He gave her the middle finger-

But he wasn't flipping her off..
His finger had the ring on it.
The ring with the crest from her duchy.

His hand,(and both hands at that), but the one he showed to her now was adorned with many rings. At least one on each finger, but for the most part, there was more than that- and the middle finger- it  held three. The top went barely crested his knuckle as he turned to her and smirked.

"The crest of Highheart," he said, his lips widened as turned around.  "Just another trinket I was meant to steal today. Was hoping for more but," he gave a shrug. "I've got resource out there. I know I can get some more." He removed it from his finger, letting it rest in his hand as he studied it.
"It ought to fetch a fine price," he slipped it back onto his hand and admired it up against the dim light from the stove's fire. "Or I could just wear it as another fucking trophy." he added with a single, dry laugh.

[Ivory]

Kathryn shot him a bland, unamused expression at the rude gesture -- until he pointed out his trophy.  Her food was, almost immediately, forgotten, as she rose to her feet and leaned in close to his hand to look at the ring.

It was, indeed, the Crest of Highheart.  "Where'd you get it?" she asked, unable to hold back her sense of dread.  Few people were privileged enough to wear such a ring, after all: only the most trusted and highest-placed servants, and, of course, the Duke himself.

[visualspice]

Dekka's grin widened.
He closed his fist and kept his hand against his side and brushed his bangs away from his face.
"Now, now, if I told you all of my secrets where would the fun be in that?" he offered her another smile.  "Perhaps that story is best left for another time."


OOC: Epic shorty :D

[Ivory]

Now, this was a game she didn't quite like!  Kathryn's look turned petulant as she regarded him, weighing her options.  The ring obviously belonged to someone -- and whoever that was could no longer be helped, be he alive or dead.  And she obviously couldn't bring it back to her father, even if she wanted to.

Indignantly, she sniffed softly, lifted her chin, and settled back down on the floor to eat.

"What else have you stolen from them?"

[visualspice]

"Maybe it's none of your fuckin' concern," he told her, another dry laugh as he stretched his arms above his head and studied the place.
Rain was pouring through the roof, the rains seeming endless as he watched them, then studied all of the pooling streams collecting on the floor.  The floor boards felt rotted- he wondered how much longer this place would hold? but perhaps it didn't matter.

"It's been raining for nearly three fucking days," he griped, his eyes going back to studying the rain.  "I wager most of the rivers are flooded and the flood plains." he wrinkled his nose, calculating something.  "Rain can always be a nuisance," he said, his fingers suddenly lapping with flames as he held his bangs over it, the water steaming away.
"Everything sticks to you, you get water in places and you prune like an old fuckin' fart," he knew he was in the presence of a woman, but his clothing was chaffing him.  He wasn't sure if he'd get the chance to dry any of his clothe elsewhere, and because he was getting cozy with her, enjoying some food, he worked at his clothing, slipped his shirt off to reveal a nicely sculpted body..
with scars, of course, a few tattoos here and there, none of any significance, as he had gotten them painted into his flesh when he was young.

He moved about, hanging his green tunic and white under shirt above the fire, adjusted it a bit before turning back to 'Amy'.
He eyed her up once as he went for his belt.

"How offended would you be if I took off my pants?"

He had to get them dry some way or another..

[Ivory]

Kathryn frowned at him, but she couldn't really push the topic, could she?  She couldn't explain to him that it was her father who governed Highheart -- not unless she wanted to be (probably) held for ransom or something...

When he started to strip, she caught herself staring and quickly averted her eyes with another blush.  Really, she had done some stupid things -- and some of those stupid things had been done in the nude -- but she had never had to watch a man strip...

Still, her eyes wandered back in his direction...

"You're going to take off your pants?" she blurted out, almost choking on her own tongue.  "You're making yourself right at home here, aren't you?"  How on earth was she going to slip out of here when it finally stopped raining?

[visualspice]

His hands left his belt as he raised his brows at her but couldn't help but smile.
Then his hands went to his belt again as he began to unbuckle.
"What's wrong with that?" Dekka hung the belt aside. "You seemed right at home in my little neck of the woods." He began unlacing and unbutton his pants.
"And you have *no* idea how it fucking feels to have your balls crammed inside a pair of soaking wet pants that stick to your skin and try to rub 'em raw."

he was moving to push them down, but paused, hesitating..

Wait- was this girl some sort of virgin?

[Ivory]

"Well," she murmured, "I certainly wasn't stripping in front of a complete stranger."  Picking up her plate and the pan, she moved them towards the dripping water.  She could clean them later, but at least, this way, nature would start the job for her.

"Anyway, what, exactly, are you going to do once you are completely naked?" she asked reasonably.  "Except just stand there."  Risking a peek at him, she added, "I'm certainly not going to share the fire with you.  You can stand there and freeze for all I care."  The corner of her mouth quirked upwards, and she added, "And I'm certainly not taking my clothes off for you."

Really, she wasn't that much of a prude!  ...Well, so maybe she was!  Just thinking about it seemed...so awkward...

[visualspice]

Dekka stared at her.

And just stared.


"You know I have under pants on, right?"
Though he gave a laugh, removed his pants and hooked them over the fire.
"I shared my fire with you, the least you can do is share yours with me."
He folded his arms over his chest, standing, mostly naked and glorious, inside her shack before leaning against the wall.
His boots were left beside the stove, pants over it, a tunic draped here.. the under shirt there...

Yep, all that's left on him were his wet socks and under garments, which he scratched at since they were itchy and wet.

"And I never asked you to take off your clothes. But it's fine by me if you want to share in my good idea," he jested, grinning over at her from where he leaned in the shadows.

[Ivory]

Kathryn gave him a skeptical look, deciding to turn her attention to the problem of her hair.  It was, indeed, frizzy and all over the place.  She tilted her head slightly as she ran her fingers through the thick locks, enjoying the smell of her soaps wafting into the damp air.  It was one of her favorite things about putting her hair down -- that sudden wave of sweetness...

...What she wouldn't give for a hot bath...  Unfortunately, to get there from here...  She eyed the intruder again, wondering what she could do or say to get him to go.

"You spend a lot of time alone, don't you?"  The question seemed to come out of the blue, but Kathryn had a reason for asking.  He seemed very lonely, somehow, standing against the wall like that...  That, and he had no manners whatsoever...

[visualspice]

Dekka raised his brows slightly at the question, and turned away, rubbing a hand across his goatee.
"You could say that," he said. "This profession doesn't offer a lot of room for parties or anything. Stealth operations are much easier when you only have to rely on getting your own ass in and out of any impractical situation."
He gave a dry laugh, then looked over at her.
"I suppose you're just some novice thief yourself, then?" he studied her. "Or perhaps something else?" he moved away from the wall, adjusting his damp, hanging clothing then moved to open the door for the fire and tending to it as the flames glow flickered and lapped light and shadows that hugged and danced across the muscles of his bare chest and arms.

[Ivory]

Kathryn caught herself staring, momentarily entranced by the network of scars and tattoos that covered his body -- and the patterns caused by the dancing shadows cast by the firelight.  With a bit of effort, she looked up to his face rather than averting her eyes once again.

"Something else?" she asked, amused at the notion.  "What do you think I am?"  He certainly would be nowhere near the truth of the matter...

[visualspice]

"A prostitute, or whore," he replied, seriously, staring at her, before giving way to a smirk.
"I don't think I've figured it out yet, but you seem spoiled to me. Perhaps you've been lucky in your life so far and want to dabble in something else, I don't know."
He shrugged and remained beside the fire, studying it, as it was his element.
He thought back to her comment about him being alone... and frowned.
Yeah, so he chose to be fucking alone. What the hell did that matter?

"Maybe you're some sort of a clever witch, or naive farm girl who got lucky with a nobleman pitying you and your beauty who wants to take you far from here, only, well, you realize it wasn't ll fun and games at the reception. The wedding night.." he could go on, poking at the fire with a knife, the fire sparks and settled, but remained healthy.  "Perhaps you weren't expecting what you got." He smirked darkly at the thought.

"Or perhaps you're just out here to harass me." he shrugged again. "I'd buy into any of those ideas."

[Ivory]

"This seems spoiled to you?"  The teenager stared at him, honestly taken aback by the statement.  The corner of her mouth lifted upwards, and then she laughed out loud.  "You are the strangest man I have ever met!"

Her usual grin was back and stronger than ever, accompanied by a light flush of her cheeks from the heat of the fire.  Or perhaps some of his insinuations...

"You're wrong on all accounts, by the way.  You may be a good thief, but you aren't very good at learning about people."

Her eyes fell to her hair, and she decided that it would be dry enough.  Carefully, with exaggerated weaves, she began to braid her hair up again.

[visualspice]

Dekka took a look around the leaking shack.

"It's.. cozy," he said with a smile, studying her as she spoke.  "And perhaps you're just crazy, either way, you should look into another shack." he said, moving away from the fire, so as not to keep her from the heat and leaned again against the wall.  "You should at least fix the roof. I could steal you some supplies or something."

Wouldn't that be interesting?

"Though, I think this place is nearly rotted through," he commented, his boot trying the floor, the boards squeaking before he heard a crack..a nd his foot was suddenly inside the board.
"Good shacks are so hard to come by," he said with a blushed smile and a shrug and went back to studying the rings on his finger, more notably, the one he had just stolen this morning.

[Ivory]

"Well," she answered, looking just a bit put-out he had just put a hole in her floor, "The only other shack I know of is occupied.  So unless you're asking me to move in..."

She flashed him a grin, letting her words die away as she concentrated on winding the braid back around her head.  She hoped it was straight; there was no mirror here for her to look into.  A tentative caress of the coiled hair seemed to verify that it would do.

He was looking at the ring again.  It was so irritating not to know whose hand the ring had come off of!  She exhaled and crossed the room to him, putting her hand out in front of him with her palm up.  "Can I see?  I still want to know how you got it..."

[visualspice]

Dekka raised a brow at the comment of her moving in. He lips only tugged leftward, then he watched her move forward a hand out. He looked down at it, then at the ring, then back up at her before he rested his hands at his side.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I haven't broken it in yet," he said, removing the ring and holding it out towards her, but then drew it back, kissing the ring with a sly smile before sliding it back onto his finger to admire.  "And I got it because I stole it." he said simply. She could salivate over the details later. He was curious why *she* was so curious on the methods on how he procured it, and peered over at her.  Maybe she was just a thief wanna-be. She had a lot of learning to do if that were the case.  He also wondered, perhaps, if she wasn't from that duchy.  Perhaps she just wanted him to be more specific so she could get a better sense at why he'd gloat.

"But if I were to say better, the Duke's steward should keep a better tab on his rings." and he produced a third ring from his pocket, a much smaller one with a large emerald set upon it as he held it up, admiring the way the green shimmering in the fire's glow.
"But then again, so should the Duke's wife." and his grin widened, the emerald ring could only belong to the dainty finger of a duchess...


Kathryn's mother.


Dekka, for now, would leave out the details that a few of the rings he had acquired happened to be gathered all at once-
and were being taken off to be polished and cleaned.
A devilish mistake when there were thieves about...

[Ivory]

The steward?  Kathryn blinked.  Like her father, he was a strict, unbending man -- but, unlike her father, he had, at least, always gone out of his way to be kind to her.  There were few enough such people in her life that she could pretend it was not simply the act of a servant trying to win favors from his superiors.  She had never known him to be a careless man -- and that made her wonder how, precisely, the infamous thief had come by the ring.

And then he brought out the second piece.  Kathryn recognized it immediately, of course; it was her mother's best ring, a piece commissioned by her father to celebrate his wife's birthday last year...and to flaunt how well their duchy was doing financially.  The emerald itself was huge and had cost a fortune, but it was surrounded by a series of smaller stones in the Highheart colors, and that, too, raised its value.

Kathryn paled visibly, then flushed with anger.  She didn't particularly care for her parents, it was true, but they were still her parents, and she had a duty to uphold.  Unfortunately, she could see no way to do that without getting herself, quite possibly, killed.  She set her jaw, as much to keep herself from speaking out of anger, then lifted her eyes to meet his.  "How?" she demanded.

[visualspice]

Dekka raised his brows again and couldn't help but smile. He moved away from her, repocketing all the treasures in question.
"My, my, aren't you a bit interested," he tilted his head to one side, examining her stern face. "Why are you so interested in how I got these, anyway?" He laughed a little. "Not that I'd fucking tell you, anyway."  He smiled and eased back into the corner, staring back up at the hole in her shack. Maybe she wanted that sort of money to buy herself a house. The Gods knew she could use it.