Closed Out in the Street [Ricky]

[Reign]

Summer, the 11th, 513 AV Around the Chime of the 15th Bell It was a truly nasty bruise, yellow and purple in color, its appearance similar to a poorly mixed batch of paint. And like paint, the contusion, which had been applied sloppy with a drunken hand, was splattered around the circumference of her eye, marring her face. Hideous, the gnarly mark failed to attract much pity; disgust was the usual reaction. The thief, not possessing ravishing beauty in the first place, found the swollen, throbbing eye to interfere with her work. Even drunks and pigs could not be seduced by her while the mark was stamped on her face. Often, she would find herself sneered at and roughly shoved aside. Hiding the misfortunate bash had found itself to be a futile task as well; for the painful colors made a startling obnoxious contrast to her already sickly looking sallow skin and could not even be erased with (purloined) cosmetic paints. Having little money was expected and not a concern of Reign’s; but ever since she had taken the wallop to the face, her already light pockets felt as though they were stuffed with feathers. Until the mark cleared up the thief had accepted she would have to ignore her growling stomach and lack of sufficient funds for a spell. If she dwelled in any other city, she would be haunting the local market, robbing produce from vendors was not an impressive ability. But, to her dreadful luck, shoplifting food in Zelvita was a lost cause. There was only one consistent option: fish. And there was only so much of that slimy, scaly stuff that Reign could tolerate. Her parent’s old chef used to tease Reign that the only reason she was so thin was her rancor towards fish. Well she had gained weight in Ravok… “Are you waiting for someone? Or are you going to get a drink?” a gruff voiced sounded overhead. Broken from her thoughts, she glanced around the room. She was sitting alone in the back of a dirty crowded bar. A group of men to her right were singing an off tune drinking melody. Looking up to face the speaker, Reign’s brown eyes met with the cloudy grey ones of the bar tender. Fat, but solid, he towered over the little thief. She could have fit, with room to spare, in his shadow. “No,” fishing in her pocket for absent coin, Reign shook her head, “neither.” “Then why are you-“ slamming a meaty fist onto the splintery wooden table, his thick brows furrowed together, “you’re that girl! You robbed the late night guy of his coin!” Nimbly leaping up to her feet, Reign backed away from the infuriated man, tripping over the back of her chair, “n-no you have no proof!” Before she could grab the opportunity to flee, the bartender hoisted her up by the scruff of her blouse and dragged her to the entrance of the bar. Kicking and squirming, she could hear other patrons of the bar jeering at her and murmuring amongst themselves. Opening the door, the enormous man ruthlessly threw her outside, yelling “come back here and I’ll whip you!” at her back. Landing face first, Reign yelped, inhaling a mouthful of dirt and mud. Her bruise throbbed.

[Ricky Maze]

The day was late as the evening sun died down slowly, yet no matter the amount of light that faded the warmth of humidity still somehow naturally clung to the winds that blew over Zeltiva. Thankfully though it was just plain warm so Ricky didn't have to deal with the sweat that came when he wore the Wave Guard uniform, the azure garb did get rather hot when weather like this hung around in the air. Yet not a single sign of rain had been present, as the clouds that Zeltiva once knew seemed to become strangers to the fair city. Hardly any could be seen in the sky of the dying evening as night fell on the defender of his home, but the night sky with it's stars and moon were still a welcome sight to behold. Ricky's patrol route today started at the Cerulean Pier, which then led him to watch the Fish Market, and finally the Docks were last on his route as the final bell started to come to the end. Just one more bell and he could return home, home to be with the beloved of his life.

As Ricky stood vigilant on the docks he hadn't the need to really watch them for too long, in fact he could probably head home early if they continued to show such little activity. When he turned around though the shouting that came from the Kelp Bar was clearly evident that trouble loomed, and when he finally faced the direction trouble sounded from he then saw the bar man had thrown a patron out. Unusual that he would do so without good reason, but then again he didn't recognize the guy anyway so the patron could've pissed him off for all Ricky knew. "And I thought I'd be checkin' out and headin' home early. Welp, I guess I better make sure the man ain't drunk." Ricky sighed with a scratch to the back of his head, the Gods and people of the city better praise the day he had such a heart, where as others would've surely just turned a blind eye. Ricky marched on over a bit confident to help this person out, which would take a chime before he finally got to him. Then he finally figured out that he was actually a she.

He could see it now, the slender frame that she held verified that she was in fact female. "Laviku's beard lass, what'd ya do to piss the bartender off?" Concern rose in his voice as he knelt down to help her up if she would allow it. He hadn't expected a woman of all people to be thrown out of the Kelp Bar, this certainly would make an interesting story to hear if he could get her to tell it.

"Ricky's words.", "Ricky's thoughts.", "Telion's words.", "Hannah's words.", "Other's words."

[Reign]

Maybe snagging something from the market wasn’t a bad idea after all. Propping herself up on one scraped elbow, the thief spluttered out a mouthful of damp dirt and rocks. What was she supposed to do now? The main source of her income came from out of the drunken pockets of bar patrons. She was going to starve, or worse, be forced to choke down a load of seafood. Her circumstances were just spiraling out of control; sometimes she wondered if the gods found joy in punishing her. Surely she had paid for the horrible deeds she had done! Shaking in frustration as well as revolted by the foul taste in her throat and tiny puddle of discolored saliva she had produced to her right, Reign held back a sudden surge of bile that threatened to escape her throat. Stupid dirt, stupid man, stupid fish, stupid…man… slamming her bony wrist down she could feel only enmity for the bartender. “I-I’m going to petching kill him!” She swore; voice edged with unmistakable malice. Using her fingers, she began to feverishly scape bits of mud from out of her mouth. Yah, yah, Muddied tongue protruding hideously from her mouth, right, you’re going to kill him. Like that could ever work out. Breaking the thief off from her thoughts was the sound of a man’s voice overhead."Laviku's beard lass, what'd ya do to piss the bartender off?" She noted, as he knelt down beside her, that he was fairly young, attractive enough, and strongly-built. It was as she was studying him that she noticed her tongue was still flopped out of her mouth, reddening Reign slowly pulled in back into the safety of her mouth. With a mischievous grin, Reign was about to enlighten him on her skirmish in the bar when she noticed his outfit. A Wave Guard, gulping, Reign scrambled up to her feet, stumbling over her unconvincing lie “u-uh I had…one to many, sir!” I can’t go to jail, t-they’ll tear me up in there. Oh gods, oh gods…

[Ricky Maze]

Since when has anyone, particularly a woman, had one too many to drink. It almost made Ricky scoff at her sudden attempt to hide behind such reason. Still he didn't think it mattered to pry into her business, not when it would only seem to be harrassment under a likely suspicion he really didn't have. Instead he just chuckled a bit while she worked to get the dirt out of her mouth, fortunate for her she didn't hit the solid concrete that Zeltivans walked everyday. He remembered his first time drunk he hit the cold stone hard because he fell out of the doorway. "Likely somethin' embarrassin', judgin' by the look of that bruise on 'er eye." He became intrigued that she had indeed received a swollen eye, likely from a bar fight if not some form of physical abuse. Ricky speculated the odds but didn't take any assumptions just yet, he did after all just happen to meet this lady.

"Aye, if that be the case then maybe I can escort ya home." He suggested with a warm hearty grin, a hand held out to help her on her feet should she take it. Of course his real intention was to see if he could learn the truth from her, she did after all cover it up with a possible ruse to avoid the chance of trouble, but then what trouble could someone like her have gotten into to begin with. "I'm close to bein' off duty anyway so the walk can pass what time is left. What is yer name lass? Ye can call me Ricky, and ya have my word nobody will hurt ya so long as I'm around." He assured her after his brief introduction, a humble attitude toward the lady as he waited for a response.

[Reign]

If the guard doubted her ridiculous lie he didn’t allow his face to show it. Instead he beamed down at her, offering a hand up and some company/protection on the walk back to her home. Feeling very much like a cornered rat, Reign’s insides squirmed with discomfort. Her head panging as though it would split from all of the idiotic ideas she was conjuring up for her escape. Overpowering the guard, or distracting him with a swift punch to the face was definitely out of the question; considering her feeble fists couldn’t even wound a child. And her chances of successfully turning tail and fleeing were exceptionally slim. While the man was bulky he could surely catch Reign, and her burnt out lungs, in a matter of mere seconds. Though, perhaps he was completely oblivious! And was simply a good nature that was the reason behind his offer. Biting hard on her lip, Reign allowed him the help her up. Contact with his hand causing prominent goose bumps to jump up her arms. It felt wrong to be so close to a man that symbolized law and order, ideals she repelled; darkness always burned was touched with light. Breaking her hand from his, she attempted to slow her panicky breathing, her heart thumping like a low steady drum against her chest. Imprisonment was a great fear of the thief’s; locked in a room with no hope of escaping. To go years without tasting the fresh free air on her tongue, wind caressing her face, the feeling of purloined coins rubbing against her finger tips, were all unbearable thoughts. Besides, while she felt comfortable and one with the alleys and foul streets; the scum dwelling in prisons would surely label her as an easy target. No, no she mustn't go to jail. Besides, what would Daniel do? She could visualize the enormous lump hunched over her tiny table (he always looked so ridiculous sitting near her small possessions, it made him appear like a stranded child in a doll house.) Knowing him, he'd wait for days, sit staring and wondering at the moldy ceiling until he collapsed from starvation. Either that or he would explode, and allow Aether to tear innocents to pieces, searching for his lost "sister." It would be a great shame if he was executed after all the hard work she had poured in to keep his...other side... in check. Snapping the thief from her thoughts, the guard introduced himself as Ricky. Reign forced herself to flash him a smile. Although, it most likely appeared much more alike a grimace. Cupping a slight hand over her throbbing eye, Reign began to lead the man up the unfavorable street. “Well, n-nice to meet you sir. I'd be happy to have some c-c-company for once. Folks call me Reign. I live down at the end of the street. Not too far of a walk.”

[Ricky Maze]

Ricky wondered if she had in fact had one too many to drink, but then again her withdrawn approach to him probably wouldn't be so if she were honestly drunk. People usually were far to lax and numb within the mind to pay attention to such things, this girl however seemed to try to remain uptight about something. He honestly didn't know for sure what it was but he figured she may have been startled by his appearance, he did after all just walk up to her out of the sudden blue like he knew her. "Maybe that's what threw 'er off..." He tossed the thought in his head for a bit, finally glad to see that his words got through to her as she introduced herself. "Reign eh? Not a bad name lass, rest assured nobody be givin' ya trouble tonight. Ye've got a Wave Guard escortin' ya home." He mused to her with a chuckle, a bit hopeful that she might feel more at ease now. He stuck close to her as she led on to where her house was, eyes more focused on the streets and corners around them as the walked. He specifically kept a close eye on alleyways that showed pitch black within them, the possibility of any bad characters about unlikely but still cautioned in his mind.

"What a day its been!" He cried a bit with of an exhausted cheer, an attempt to strike up a conversation with the girl as they walked. "After this I get to go home, and be with me fiancee soon enough. She's with child so o' course she's constantly on me mind, not that she usually ain't anyway." He erred without thinking on how far the topic had gone already, although to those that knew him it was no secret he was an expectant dad. Any body could even see that he had that sort of fatherly attitude going on lately and his child wasn't even born yet, nevertheless he was all the more excited to be on the road to parenthood. "But I worry 'bout 'er a lot cause the baby, I know it's tough to live takin' care of oneself but with another growin' inside of someone... that's gotta be stressful there." He admitted with a slight chuckle, a look to Reign to see how she would respond. He wouldn't focus on her too much as to avoid staring, but he would look only long enough to observe her motions. He would not however look her directly in the eyes, instead his peripheral vision wouls pick up movements in the face.

[Abstract]

Grade Awarded!

Ricky

Skills

~ Socialization - 1

Lores

N/A

Other

N/A

Notes

I gave you a point in socialization, for Ricky's attempts at a conversation, but since you're at expert, such points will be few and far between. Otherwise... there really wasn't much for this thread.