Accidental Crimes [M][DragonSong]

[Lowen Thorn]

She's good.

He heard her movements before the naked eye would've been able to see it, and reacted accordingly. Her attempt to disarm was nearly successful, but he held it tight even as it shook violently from within his grasp, and threw himself backward as the staff knocked at the back of his knees.

Rolling backward and hopping up in one clean motion, he threw a vase at her. Literally. He swung his left hand as if he was chunking something heavy, and the giant clay vase that decorated one of the courtyard columns flew in her direction.

[DragonSong]

Irritating.

But impressive, she'd give him that.

The staff came up again, cutting sharply through the air to intercept the vase, which shattered into an explosion of clay around them.

"Seriously." Maka twisted, and the staff split into two in her hands, blades scraping together for just a moment. "Back down. I don't want to have to hurt you." Sure, he was wanted for murder, but only wanted. No "dead or alive".

The girl was still there. Fuck. She was hovering near the dog now, dead, flaming eyes locked on Maka's every movement. "Help me," she begged, over and over. "Help me. Help me!"

[Lowen Thorn]

"You started it," he replied with a shrug. Hey. It was the truth. He didn't ask for this. He was only here for Idara, who apparently wasn't taking her gods damned walk today.

"And I'd rather not hurt you either," he said flatly. "So let's just not. Tell me, what is she saying to you?"

[DragonSong]

Maka froze.

"...How in all hells did you know it was a she?"

[Lowen Thorn]

Aspen's smile was a smug one.

"I don't," he said. "But you just proved my point. You're distracted. You'll never be able to beat me like that, so why try? How much could I even possibly be worth?"

He let his cane drop back down to the ground, and he held up his other hand to halt any further action. "Tell me what she's saying," he said again. "Maybe I can help you. If not, you can take me in. I won't put up a fight. How does that sound?"

[DragonSong]

She hesitated, just staring at him. She wasn't actually convinced he could beat her--though he did have a hell of a punch, figuratively, for a blind man.

Still. If he was practically volunteering to just come quietly...

"Alright." She flicked her twin swords down to hand loosely at her sides, relaxed by ready. "She's saying help me." Her eyes flickered to the girl for the briefest moment. "So, professor. You've got two shots, or I take you in. How do I get her to stop?"

"Help me! the ghost wailed, suddenly in Maka's face. The bounty hunter flinched, then cursed herself.

"I know you can hear me! HELP ME!"

Maka's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't respond. Ghosts didn't...they shouldn't change like that, change what they said. Even though the girl knew she could see her now, she shouldn't have...

[Lowen Thorn]

He stroked his low-cut stubble in thought.

Help me. Help her with what, exactly?

"First we need to find out what help me implies," he explained. "I really know nothing about necromancy, so I don't know how this works. I can't actually hear what she is saying to you. Before I can determine how to help you, we have to determine how to help her."

He called Banks over who had been previously cowering in a corner when the two were fighting. What a guard dog he was.

"Is there somewhere you can take me that would be a little more private?" he asked. "I don't think I can stay out in the public for too much longer. I'm a wanted man, after all."

[DragonSong]

Maka opened her mouth to reply, but before she could the temperature in the air around them abruptly lowered from "cool night breeze" to "freezing tundra".

"Yes," a new voice encouraged behind her. Maka hissed, cursing herself internally. She'd been so focused on the ghost she hadn't been paying attention to the rest of their surroundings. Fuck. "How about we all just calm down and have a chat in private?"

The necromancer turned to find another of the professors, one she had seen in passing but had certainly left an impression, standing in the middle of the path with her hands raised, ice crackling around her fingertips. The earth around her had frozen solid; she was the source of the chill.

Idara quirked a small smile, though her eyes were hard. "Alright there, Aspen?"

"I am so not getting paid enough for this," Maka hissed, slowly bringing her twin blades up into a crossed guard stance in front of her body.

[Lowen Thorn]

Aspen knew he had the advantage well before the mercenary felt the chill of Idara's presence. His smile was less challenging and more of genuine delight when he heard her voice, staring in her general direction.

"Just fine, Idara," he replied. "Thank you for coming."

He looked back over in the woman's direction. "There's no need for that," he assured, sensing the drawn daggers. "I said I would help you, and I meant that. Of course, even if I fail and give you my cooperation, I can't guarantee my friend will let you take me in to the authorities."

A look to Idara again. "I'm a wanted man now," he said flatly. "Did you hear?"

[DragonSong]

Idara snorted. "I heard a lot of horse shit is what I heard," she grumbled "Figured I wanted information from a more reliable source."

Maka snorted. Reliable. Okay.

With a muttered curse, the bounty hunter lined up the two thin blades together and twisted, forming the staff again with a soft click. Just as dangerous, only slightly less deadly--but people tended to be more relaxed around a long stick than they were around two swords.

"I am really not getting paid enough for this," she grumped. "Look, just...leave off, alright? Maybe some other bounty hunter will have better luck with you, I'm off--"

Before she could take more than a step, the path beneath her feet morphed to ice and she nearly slipped onto her backside.

"You just hang on a minute there," Idara said sharply. "You think I'm stupid enough to let you go off and gather reinforcements?"

[Lowen Thorn]

"She's right," Aspen chimed in matter-of-fact. "We couldn't possibly let you go now, seeing as why we're here in the first place. I would think twice before trying to pull anything now. You struggled against a blind man, do you really think you stand a chance against an ice mage who has no problem at all seeing you?"

He walked casually over to the woman, looking just above her as she was on the ground. "Besides, I'm very much interested in your ghost problem now, Miss... I don't believe I caught your name."

[DragonSong]

"Bite me," the bounty hunter spat rather than supply her name.

Almost despite herself, Idara chuckled as she moved forward a few steps to stand above her. "If you weren't threatening one of my best friends, I may take you up on that," the mage said with a wink. Close enough to touch Aspen now, she clapped him on the shoulder and added, "She's kinda of a pretty thing, if you can get passed the permanent scowl."

Maka flipped her off--but to her surprise, the ice mage just chuckled and reached a hand down to pull her to her feet.

She tried to draw her hand back. Idara's grip tightened, as did her smile. "No ma'am. You're not going anywhere, we said."

"...Help me, please." Maka's eyes flickered toward the ghost almost against her will as she tugged her hand again. "Please. Please help me...."

"I don't need magic to beat your ass," she hissed at the two of them. Bluffing? Maybe. Probably. She honestly wasn't sure. But she'd be damned if she just went along with them quietly.

...How the hell had this job turned into her being dragged along somewhere?

[Lowen Thorn]

Aspen hide to his his mouth with his hand when he chuckled. That was funny. "Yes, her voice indicates that she is pretty, and her tone indicates the scowl," he said with a grin. "Of course I couldn't say for sure. I'm blind."

He never got tired of using that as an excuse for everything.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Bite me," he said. "My name is Aspen, as you already know, and this is my colleague, Idara. So, shall we go somewhere a little more private now?"

[DragonSong]

Maka continued to glare at him. "Do I have a choice?"

"Help me, please. Help me."

"Nope." Idara smiled at her cheerfully, but she did release her hand. "Don't go getting any ideas now; I hardly need to be touching you to stop you running." She turned her head slightly to glance at Aspen. "My place, then? Quickly, I should think."

[Lowen Thorn]

"You think right."

Considering the ice mage lived on campus, it didn't take them too long to get to her home, though they had to take the proper precautions to keep Aspen out of the public eye, and not draw any unnecessary attention to her way. Banks came along too, of course, keeping quiet and following his master with eagerness like the good boy he was.

Once inside, he let his fingertips touch the wall as he moved just a little bit further into the room, until he found a chair to sit it. "Idara," he said after making himself comfortable. "Do you have any coffee by chance? Tea?" He looked in the mercenary's direction. "How do you take your coffee?"

[DragonSong]

The reply up your ass was on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back. Her eyes flickered around the small space as Idara ushered her in--the mage had been barely two steps behind her the whole walk here.

"I can do tea," Idara responded. She crossed to the hearth, setting a kettle on to boil, and added over her shoulder for the bounty hunter, "Don't try the door or windows. You may be fast enough, but this whole place is warded."

Maka bared her teeth. "Of course it is." Running a hand through her head, she muttered, "Look, I don't really care what you two are about here, but Aspen killed someone. Now, maybe it was justified, I don't know, but that doesn't change the fact that he did it. I just wanted to make some coin bringing him in, though that clearly isn't going to happen. Why can't you just let me leave?"

[Lowen Thorn]

"I killed three people," he corrected her sharply. "And it was in self-defense. No one seems to care about that, though."

As the kettle began to boil, the soft bubbling of liquid and whistle cut through the silence, and the delicious aroma wafted into his nose. He smiled lightly. Idara always had the best tea, he thought, but he also associated it with their many cozy conversations they've had since his time at the Academy.

He let the silence sit for a while before he spoke again. "Is she here now?" he asked. "Ask her what she wants your help with. That would be a start."

[DragonSong]

"Self defense or not, that's three people dead because of you," Maka snapped, her expression hardening.

"Hey!" Idara turned from the kettle, starting to raise one hand, and the bounty hunter laughed at her. Actually laughed.

"Go ahead, professor, blast me. Freeze me solid, turn my blood to ice, do whatever you want. Doesn't change the fact that I'm right." She pointed at Aspen. "He killed three people. My job is just to make sure he answers for that. Which of us is really in the wrong here?"

She didn't bother to say anything about the ghost, who was currently standing in the window, silent and staring.

Idara's jaw clenched and she moved to stand closer to Aspen, but she didn't seem to know what to say.

[Lowen Thorn]

Though ice-cold from his blindness, Aspen's eyes showed a quick moment of fire and rage. His brows narrowed, his lips tight, and his posture defensive. "And just what exactly should I be answering for, mercenary?" he said sharply, his tone biting through the air. "It was me, or it was them. What would you have done?! Tell me, mercenary,," he bit down again. "How many people have you killed in your line of work? How many people died because of you? Who are you answering to?"

His breathing was ragged for the moment, but he soon let himself relax, sinking back into the chair that held him so delicately. "Your priorities are in the wrong place," he said. "And your morals are flawed."

[DragonSong]

Idara flinched, one hand going to Aspen's shoulder. "Hey, calm down," she whispered, trying to keep her voice even. "Listen, let's just--"

"I don't have to kill people to defend myself, professor," Maka snapped back, her eyes flaring dangerously. Outside, the ghost girl seemed to flicker, then almost solidify. "I'm not helpless without magic I clearly have no idea how to use properly. Maybe if you'd bothered to train yourself a bit more you wouldn't be wanted for murder right now!"

"Help me, help me--!"

"Oh for the love of all the gods will you just shut UP!"

The necromancer whirled to the window, bringing her staff around as though she intended to strike the ghost, pointless an effort as it would have been. Her eyes locked with the girl's, and with a sudden, sickening feeling of dread in her gut she realized she'd broken her most important rule.

Don't speak with them.

The girl smiled, and stepped into the room. Plague rotting her flesh away, she reached out. Maka was frozen, trembling. She couldn't move, couldn't fight, pinned in place by the empty fire of that gaze.

The girl's hand brushed hers and her eyes rolled back in her head. She collapsed.

It all happened in a few moments. Idara didn't have time to do anything more than try to place herself between the bounty hunter and her friend before the young woman just up and fainted, to all appearances.

"Gods!" The ice mage started forward instinctively, then paused. "What--she just keeled over! What the hells is going on?"