Steal Any Love Lately?

Sharaku hadn’t exactly been slacking off. He’d been more than ready to defend himself upon seeing the masked strangers. Tabitha, however… she was suddenly like a demon – a whirlwind of wire and blades that lashed out at both opponents and they dropped before the mimic could act at all. He stood there, a surprised look on his face for a long moment before it returned to its normal expression and he resumed his ‘hands In pockets cool’ look. “Ready,” he echoed, not wasting time as he fell into step with his companion. She was stronger than he remembered. That was interesting.

As the pair passed through the city gates, the rebuilt Era greeted them. It looked a lot better than he remembered it, and for that he was glad. Now, as long as he didn’t run into his family, he would be all set. They couldn’t see him. They would ask questions, and those questions could be far more dangerous than they realized. He wasn’t on edge when it came to seeing them. Era was a big city, however smashed up it had been. The odds of seeing them on any given trip were actually rather low. “What was the address again?” Sharaku asked after a bit.

Tabitha wasn’t a demon, but she probably couldn’t have reasonably argued much with the comparison. She was just angry. She was a vicious woman, and right now she was very angry. It wasn’t that she was so much stronger, as she was going all out in a moment. She had trained, of course. She didn’t even mind Shar taking her magic right now. He was the only person she felt that way about. She didn’t like people to see her magic. In fact, no one else even knew about the spell she’d just used. Her new garrote spell. The one she’d learned while arguing with herself over liking Shar. Bleh. Life.

Sharaku walked with Tabitha, and she felt oddly different. They were in the same guild. He had his reasons. She had her reasons. His were based on some feeling of anger, fueled by some feeling of love. At least she felt that way. Hers were fueled by mere convenience and anger. Even in how they acted. She was… she didn’t know. She was not the same kind of person as Sharaku. She took a deep breath. She should get back into character, but she also didn’t think he’d want to be near her. Only crazy people did, when she acted crazy. “This,” she told him, showing him the letter before putting it safely back in her bag. “Can I have your arm?” It was honestly the first time she’d asked, but she felt like she should.

“Go For it.” Sharaku knew she was in a mood after her father. It had taken him a minute to figure it out, but that was when it had started, so it was logical. Sharaku let her take his arm, guiding him towards the house that was their destination. He wasn’t actually sure where it was. He wasn’t that familiar with the rebuilt Era, having not been here in several years. It felt even less like home than before, and was one more reason he didn’t want to look back now, after everything.

It would be up to Tabitha to find the house. She had the letter with the address, and it was basically her job anyway. He had decided to just play arm candy. He was quiet, though not because of her outburst. It was because of the town. He hadn’t thought he would react this way coming back, but he did. As they walked, they passed a few council members, though both of them knew enough to not make it obvious they were basically wanted criminals, so it wasn’t a big deal. If he hadn’t come to hate the council for letting it become corrupt, he might have admired these men and women like he did as a child. As it stood now, they were no better than Tabitha’s father in his eyes.

Tabitha had never been in the position to respect the council. She was a little girl with a sick mother, in a poor home. They were just some people who did some things. She was not their priority, and they were not hers. It was interesting to think that a little girl like her could become a real threat as an adult. She didn’t think they should regret not watching her at her weaker age, she just thought they should mind their own business. She didn’t like what had happened to Sharaku, just from hearing about it, but she was happy to have him here now.

She took his arm and walked next to him again. It helped her relax, just having someone there who she had a positive relationship with. Even if she was clearly not in a positive mood. This helped her calm down, and with some time she could be relaxed again.

It became cloudy as they searched for the address, and by the time they found the right house, it was raining. Tabitha was in a better mood by now. She kept holding Sharaku’s arm as she knocked on the door. “Hello,” she said when the man answered. She sounded chipper and pleasant again. “Are you Mark?”

“Um, yes? And you are?”

“I’m the delivery service. This is from Linda,” she said, holding out the letter for him. He looked surprised, but then pleased. It was a bit endearing.

“Oh, thank you! I have some jewels for your trouble…” he said, leaving for a moment. He returned with a bag of money. The rain was getting heavier. Tabitha supposed they shouldn’t stay for long.

“Well, thanks. Have a nice day…” she said. When they were far enough from house she told Sharaku, “Are you going to head back with me? Also… you make a good boyfriend. You should think about a career change.”

3679/500

As they dropped off the letter, sharaku let out a sigh. It was good to have that over with. He was finding himself ready to be out of the town he didn’t recognize, and yet it carried too many memories he didn’t want to have to deal with. He needed to forget about his family, just like they needed to forget about him. His older sister and mother were perfectly capable of being happier without him. He’d done a good job of ruining things after his father had died before.  Tabitha interrupted his thoughts telling him he would make a good boyfriend, which was tacked onto the question of whether or not he was going back with her. “Sure,” he nodded.

“I’m afraid I can’t take that sort of career change at the moment. It would break the hearts of too many young women who need to learn what good taste is,” he told her with a slight grin. “At any rate, let’s be off. Crocus isn’t too far of a walk from Era, after all.” With that, he semi-led the way back. It had been an interesting, mostly relaxing, yet somewhat long day of travel. At least there was someone fun to spend that day with.

3530/500 words