Cheers Darlin' [M][DragonSong]

[Lowen Thorn]

It was probably the first time he had properly seen her. Not inside the dimly-lit, smoky tavern and not under the shadows of the night sky. The lamp did a surprisingly good job of lighting the room well enough for him to make out her more distinctive features.

She had more freckles than he initially thought, her curves were even finer under the light, her hair was fire, and her scar - it was something else entirely.

"We were several hours outside of the village, I think. Maybe more than that. I remember the forest was thick enough for me to get lost in easily, and mountains."

Hopefully that would suffice, because that was the best he could do at that given moment.

"May I ask," he started before she had a chance to reply. "How did you get that? Your scar."

[DragonSong]

Robbery outside of town? She only knew a few gangs  who operated like that, which helped narrow things down.

Then she went very still, her expression closing down while every line of her body went hard and sharp. "You may not ask," was the only answer she gave him, cool and clipped.

Silence for a moment. Then she pursed her lips and tapped her fingers idly on her thigh. "So. What's the timeframe I'm working with?"

[Lowen Thorn]

Well, then. That was rude.

Noah let it slide. Not like he had a choice.

"Oh, um," he said, shifting his weight from one foot tot he other in nervous habit. "I really don't know. Just whatever time it takes, I s'pose, but.. the sooner the better."

[DragonSong]

"Alright then." She leaned back on the stool a bit until her shoulder fetched up against the wall. "You got a permanent address here in the city? Or should I be working out some other way to contact you when the job's done?"

She fully expected him to just fuck off while she did the dirty work. It was what made sense, and honestly even with what little she knew of him she thought such a decision would probably save his life.

[Lowen Thorn]

He cocked a brow just slightly. "I do, but," he started, still nervously pacing around. "I don't think I'll.. No, that won't work."

There was no way he could trust some thief he had just met with all of his fortune, as if she would just graciously return it to him after she got her hands on it.

"I'll have to go with you," he decided. "When do we leave?"

Hopefully in the morning, when it wasn't dark outside.

[DragonSong]

Jynx stared at him.

"Nope," she said bluntly, shaking her head. "No, you can't come with me. No offence--okay, full offence: you're an idiot. You're just going to get yourself killed."

Which...would me she could just take the money for herself, she supposed. But she quickly dismissed the idea; it left a bad taste in her mouth.

[Lowen Thorn]

Noah smirked and even rolled his eyes. Now he was just offended.

She did say "full offense," but still.

"I'm not as useless as I look," he replied flat. It was true, but he'd have a hard time proving that if she didn't bring him along.

[DragonSong]

She looked him up and down, slowly, then said flatly, "Really."

In a sharp, quick movement, she stood and tossed something toward him that glinted in the lamplight: a slightly worn dagger. "Alright. Prove it. Draw blood on me, and I'll let you come."

She stood back, arms spread wide and one corner of her mouth curled up in a challenge.

[Lowen Thorn]

He caught the dagger easily enough, not that it would do him a lot of good. He barely knew how to wield a weapon, and if he had to, he would much rather use his own dagger: one that was not so dulled from consistent use.

He took a lot around at the shack. It was open enough to the outside to where he could properly use his magic. If they were in an enclosed space, the best he could do was suck the air out of the room, but since she wanted him to draw blood... Well, he could do that.

Not that he wanted to. He really didn't want do any harm to a lady.

..If you could call her that.

He tossed the dagger back at her, summoning up the powers of the lingering air to throw a gust of wind, quick and forced enough to cut like knives, and it went just to the side of her enough to grave her right arm as it passed, blowing some loose items around in the process.

Really, with his skills, it didn't make sense for him to be robbed so much, but it was the element of surprise that he always fell victim to!

[DragonSong]

Magic. Huh.

Maybe he wasn't entirely useless after all.

Jynx felt the shift in the air just before the spell had completed and she whirled sideways, barely avoiding the sharp gust of wind. "Come on!" Her eyes glinted and she actually grinned at him as she baited, tossing the dagger aside so she once more stood unarmed. "You've got to do better than that, my love. You think every gang in Zantaric doesn't have a mordecai on the payroll?"

She jerked her chin at him. "Try again. No magic."

[Lowen Thorn]

That was against  the rules! She couldn't tell him what he could and could not use!

Maybe she could. This was a test after all, and he aimed to prove himself.

"You asked for it," he said pretty unconvincingly. With the might of a small cat, he lunged at her, reaching for the small switchblade buried in his pocket.

[DragonSong]

A firm shove to his shoulder and a slight twist in her stance was all it took to send him crashing to the floor over her hip. Jynx sighed and folded her arms over her chest, just looking at him for a moment.

"Look. The magic is fine. It's good, actually, you've got quite the gift. But if you can't even scratch me without it, then you'll be dead inside two minutes on those streets, you understand?"

She really wasn't trying to insult him, she was being honest. Well--maybe she was insulting him a little, but that didn't make her meaning any less true.

"Magic is a tool, not a crutch." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Can you stand without it?"

[Lowen Thorn]

Ow!

He landed rather hard on his shoulder, and he did his best to hide the wincing expression on his face. Despite that, he got back on his feet quickly, determined not to embarrass himself any further and to prove himself to Jynx. "Again?"

[DragonSong]

Her eyebrows crept up fractionally, the slightest movement, but other than that her expression didn't shift from that same smirk. "Again," she confirmed, once more stepping back and letting her arms hang loosely at her sides, palms turned out.

[Lowen Thorn]

He didn't move his hand to ignite the wind this time, and without warning it cycled around in different directions. The old stool she was sitting on hit her in the back, more debris was tossed about, and he didn't give her much time to react before he had side-stepped around, tackling her to the ground.

He sat on top of her, his knees on each side of her waist, pinning her to the ground with his hands on her arms, and blushing like the sun the entire time.

So what if he used his magic to aid him in a fight? He wasn't going to take lessons on how to be a good fighter from a thief. Thieves fought dirty, and so would he.

[DragonSong]

He actually managed to catch her off guard, which was no small feat itself. Still, Jynx wasn't about to waste energy being impressed.

She stared up at him when he pinned her, a slow smile curving at her lips. "That was against the rules," she purred, leaning up slowly onto her elbows to bring her face closer to his. "What did I just say about gangs here having mordecai?"

She paused when their noses were almost brushing, lips curled and just slightly parted--then she twisted her hips to knock him off balance, rolled them over, and slammed her knee into the fork of his legs all in one smooth motion.

Sitting back, she propped her hands on her hips and looked down at him. "Now. One last chance, and no magic. Playing dirty is one thing, and I can respect it, but if you really wanna come along you've got to prove to me that you could handle yourself if one of their mordecais shorted out your powers."

[Lowen Thorn]

What was black and blue and hurt like all hells? Everything. At the moment.

A heavy grunt escaped his lips when she kneed him, and was soon cradling himself on the floor until the pain began to ease. When it finally subsided, he got back to his feet. Uneasily. Wearily. Shakily. Back on his feet.

"Fine," he replied bitterly, before lunging at her again.

His lunge was much faster, more calculated, and more precise this time - probably because at this point he was just pissed off and didn't mind the idea of causing her a little discomfort. He grabbed her wrist before she could counter, spun her around to where his back was to her, pushed her against the wall, and held both of her hands behind her back as he put his body weight on her to keep her pinned to the wall.

[DragonSong]

He could move quick, when he put his mind to it.

Jynx didn't put quite as much effort into resisting as she would have normally, rather intrigued to see just what he'd do if he got angry enough. "Not bad," she laughed, twisting her head to look at him over her shoulder. "But I did say you had to draw blood."

She slammed her head back, aiming for his nose, and stomped down hard on his instep at the same time, using the momentum to twist out of his hold and grab his wrists in her own hands.

The shack was small enough that it only just a quick lunge to slam him back against the far wall, wrists pinned above his head. She tilted her head at him and her smile grew. "Go on then, pretty boy. Too scared to scratch little ol' me?"

How angry to you have to be to really fight back?

[Lowen Thorn]

Noah's face was redder than a beet, his breath a little ragged, and his eyes narrowed. He was so tired of this woman trying to test his limits, push him around, do to him what everyone else did to him. He was fucking sick of it!

He glanced down at the cleavage that was really the only thing separated his body from the rest of hers. "Not that little," he smirked, and then he smashed his skull into hers, headbutting her away from him.

[DragonSong]

"Shit!"

Jynx reeled away, surprised more than she was in pain. Genuinely surprised.

Huh.

One hand pressed to her nose, she looked him over from a few paces back--and laughed.

"Alright," she conceded, drawing her hand away to reveal crimson smeared across her palm. "Fair enough. I said you draw blood and you can come, so you can come."

Chuckling to herself, she crossed to the back corner of the shack and knelt to open the secret cache in the floor, pulling out a healer's kit she'd lifted some time back and pressing a spare cloth to her nose.

Not broken, somehow, but that was still almost impressive.

"You've got a spark hidden under all that stammering," she noted, glancing back over her shoulder at him as she finished cleaning herself up and got to her feet. She looked him up and down again, appraising, and leaned back against the wall.

Deadpan, she mused, "Y'know, if this job goes off alright, we should really have angry sex."