Road to Magnolia[Open]

It is midday over the bustling port town, people cheerfully working there way through the day, merchants selling there wares, parents buying there children toys...
This is a really peaceful town, I like it here. Is what one particular individual raised by a Dragon would be thinking...
"Bleeegh!!" If he weren't quite busy as he drags himself out of a train shakingly, his face a green tint as he breathes out a shuddered breath..people making sure to step away from the strange man as he drags himself towards a bench, basically crawling at the point as he lays himself flat down upon the wooden surface. "....Trains....I hate trains..." He moans out pitifully whilst regaining his bearings..a nearby old man chuckles at the sight as he walks past, commenting on strange youngsters. Hargeon town! A port town with a train station...His destination of Magnolia, following a rumor about a Dragon being there..
However..he thinks he'll walk the rest of the way, his stomach can't handle all that! He whines as he dunks his head into the opening of a nearby trashcan, something gross follows, this is gonna take him a few minutes...

If all goes as planned, he stands up his sickness passing before he moves towards a few strangers, asking for directions to an Inn or a place he can stock up on food for his trip, no way Athest will stay in a place so crowded for too long! He should hurry, still...the help of a good samaritan would be appreciated.

Mari sets foot out of the train and slings her bag over her shoulder. Hargeon Town. She comes here sometimes. The last time she has entered the port town was a few weeks ago. She never intends to be away from Shadow Heart for too long but she has a mission to complete and it requires her to visit yet again. The dark mage walks smoothly towards her destination and notices through the corner of her eye, a young man around her age looking rather green. She assumes he has a case of motion sickness and chuckles slightly. She has never seen anyone get so sick just because of a train. She is some way behind him but catches up quickly. She notices he goes to a trash can and does his thing. This causes her to overtake him. While his sickness interests her, she doesn't stop to talk to him.

The young woman sees a sign and decides to go up to it. She is looking for a particular street name and places a finger on the map to help direct her attention. She finds her destination within minutes and is about to leave when she sees him, the man with the lethal motion sickness. She watches him curiously and sees him go to a group of strangers, seeming to ask for something. The strangers aren't very helpful and ignore him. She considers going up to help him but decides it would be a waste of her time. She is about to turn back around when she sees them leave. Against her better judgement, she walks up to the man. "Are you looking for something?" she asks. She notes that it is always good to have a healthy dose of being nice instead of being mean all the time which she guesses killing people for a living constitutes as.

Anubis approached a group of people, but after asking they simply gave him a rather withering look and then walked away with a scoff, causing the Dragon Slayer to flinch and take a step back. He frowns, almost pouting at the rather rude response...

Oh no is there something on his face...? He doesn't see anything on his shirt so he assumes that's fine! However he glances towards the people before sighing and running his right gloved hand through his hair in a slightly aggravated manner. Well, off to the next person he supposes..Maybe he'll run into an Inn on the way.

Turning towards the road he pauses when a voice calls out to him, he turns his head towards the owner of the voice and grins in a kind manner "Ah, yes!" He answers scratching the back of his head awkwardly "Do you happen to know where I can buy a room to sleep in? Or somewhere to eat?" He asks, his base needs are actually pretty simple, he'll keep traveling after a night of sleep and some food in his stomach.

Still, if it came down to it he could sleep in the park and eat some nearby shadows...
But they look kinda grimy so he's not too eager to do so...
But still, this woman helped him first so he should invite her to lunch or something right? That's what people do right? Even if his intentions might be misinterpreted it's still free food!

Mari saw the dark haired man turn around and grin at her. She smiled back and giggled slightly when he scratched his head. She found the gesture funny. He seemed nice, if only a bit awkward but still nice. "Most likely," she replied in kind. When she was in Hargeon Town she camped outside. She never liked running the risk that she would meet someone she knew from Shadow Heart. However, she did still know a fair bit about the town, like she did most places. "I'm guessing you've never been here before. haven't you?" she asked before gesturing to the map she had been just before. "As I like saying, if in doubt, look at the map of the town. It usually has restaurants and inns on it you know," she said smiling up at him, like she had to do with most people. Mari was either a short woman or a tall four year old depending on who someone talked to.

"But, that's for future reference," she continued, pulling his attention back to her, "Since you've asked me, there's a nice restaurant nearby. I think it's pretty famous in this area so I'd be a bit surprised if you didn't know about it. It's called 8-Island Restaurant," she pointed to a direction "That's it over there. As for an inn I'm afraid I've never stayed in one here so I can't tell you any good ones but there should be one next the restaurant. It can't be that bad if it's next doors I think," she finished before looking towards the sun. It was still high in the sky so she guessed she had plenty of time to finish her mission. Even if she failed to complete it, she doubted there'd be a huge problem. No one trusted her enough with the serious ones unless everyone in the guild was incapacitated or away. She decided she'd wait until the guy got the general gist of where he was going and then she'd leave. It was rude to take off after basically offering her help.

(OOC: I decided to switch to past tense (as you can probably tell :P) because I find present tense a bit hard to get inside her head...sorry about that, I hope you don't mind)

He finds the giggle elating, a sign he's not offended yet! That's a good thing, he's still not too, too sure how to talk to people considering his past 'antics' as he likes to call them in a slightly repressed manner, his grin widens at her question and he answers in a slightly enthusiastic manner "Nope! I've kept near the country-side! I'm looking for my Dad, I hear he's in Magnolia so that's where I'm headed!" He explains after she's done speaking, however he glances towards the places she's gestured towards, turning..much like a tourist...

He's obviously surprised by how much different the cities are compared to the farming communities he's been too...and trains...
He really, really hates trains..
After a moment the girl brings his attention back to her and he blinks before his grin returns, the curious look vanishing and his enthusiastic one returning. His eyes light up at the mention of food, eagerly turning his head towards the restaurant, his grin widening as he almost seems to vibrate with excitement, he does however, turn his head when she points out the hotel, to show he's still listening to her explanation and advice.

He turns towards the girl once more his grin still in place speaking "Hey! Thank you! I would have been lost for hours!" He says with a small chuckle, once again scratching the back of his head upon this admission, the city is just way too too big. But it's nice! It looks really nice, the people seemed nice..except for those other ones, they were a bit rude. He snaps the fingers of his right hand and raising his index finger "Oh! Oh!" He begins in an excited manner before aiming over his shoulder towards the restaurant "You hungry? It's the least I could do since you helped me out!" He states tilting his head questioningly "Names Anubis by the way! But I like Blake since it's not as hard to remember!" He rambles slightly, obviously still a bit new to long conversations like this.

[Nah, I find it hard too Dahahaha! XD]

Mari cocked her head slightly when the he said he'd kept near the countryside and was going to Magnolia to find his dad. The first part of his sentence wasn't strange, she knew lots of people stayed in the country. She did wonder what happened to his dad though. Were they separated? And why would he be in Magnolia? She guessed maybe he had never met his dad and was either an orphan or lived with other relatives previously. She decided that if she ever had a chance to talk to him she'd ask him further about it. She noticed him looking around the port city and felt her shoulders relax. She was surprised at the gesture but realised that it was probably because she hadn't fully trusted him before. She had a habit where she didn't trust people. That probably stemmed from being in a dark guild but the gesture of looking curiously and most likely comparing the city to the country made her believe that he was more trustworthy than others could be.

She was a bit concerned he hadn't been listening to her, that would have been a waste of breath, but he indicated otherwise when his grin widened at the mention of the restaurant. To Mari he seemed a bit like a puppy dog. She wouldn't tell that to his face ever but he seemed to get excited easily from her observations. "It wasn't a problem," she replied to his thanks, smiling calmly at him. At the back of her mind she found it hilarious how she could be act as excitable as a four year old when in reality, she was a pretty chilled person. Assured that he would find his way, she was about to make her exit when an excited exclamation from the boy next to her caused her to turn around.

"Hmmm?" She followed his finger to look at the restaurant. Her heart sunk slightly. She'd hate to have to turn down his offer. She listened to his rambling and smiled wanly. "Well..." she hesitated, while she had made a deal with herself that she shouldn't try and get herself kicked out of Shadow Heart, she wasn't particularly in the mood for killing...or anything like that "If you insist, I guess I could go," she said finally. There was time. There was always time. She wanted to enjoy her life and she would feel much better if she didn't get dirt on her hands for that day at least. "I like Anubis," she continued in a more friendly tone "So, I'll call you Anubis, 'kay?" she grinned cheerfully at him. That was her nature. To go against what people wanted. "You can call me...." she wondered what to tell him. Shadow Heart members called her either Marianne or Mari. Her family called her Mari. She didn't particularly want anyone to associate her with either name. "...Anna," she finished. Technically she wasn't lying, her full name had the word 'Anne' inside and Anna was a variation of that.

He chuckles in his victory in showing gratitude, it's one thing to always pay back favors, kindness should be rewarded and rewarded well. It's a rare trait, he doesn't see much of a problem for doing something kind, even for selfish reasons. And if it's mutually good, then it's even better isn't it?

Kindness is Kindness, even if done by someone one would consider selfish, even if they don't realize there being kind...
Well, that just means there not all bad right? Kindness is Kindness, Evil is Evil and Justice meets Injustice. He doesn't consider himself unselfish, he likes helping people sure but he's done good things hoping for a reward too, so he could eat, or sleep someplace safe and warm...for information regarding his Father Athest. All sorts of things, but he does believe in Good.
Even if Human Beings are inherently evil, they have the capability of doing great good..

So, when she accepts he nods happily, kindness should be encouraged after all. With a small chuckle he responds "If that's the case then I'll just insist!" He says jokingly, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he listens to her words, then pouts slightly at her insistence on calling her Anubis, but nods his smile returning a moment later.
Her name causes him to chuckle a bit "I like that name! Anna!" He says his grin widening as he turns pumping his right fist upwards enthusiastically "Let's get something! I'm starving!" He says as he begins leading the path towards the restaurant, he's gathered enough jewels to treat himself and the lady and if not, he'll simply send her on her way and wash some dishes for a bit..

Work for food if you can't pay and all that, that's still a policy around here right?

If Mari was debating the matter of kindness, she’d say no matter the intention, there would always be some selfish purpose. It didn’t mean it wasn’t kind; it just meant no one did anything without reward. She knew she liked being kind because other times she could be downright nasty. People who were kind because they wanted to help people were still selfish too. They got the feeling of being good and that was their reward. She didn’t believe in the concept of being selfless.

Her smile widened when he said he’d insist. She thought Anubis was a kind person. Even with a name befitting of the dead, he didn’t seem like that at all. She saw him pout and resisted the urge to sound like a maniac. She failed…but only a bit. She giggled again but in a good natured manner. No matter her persona, she couldn’t beat her love of rebelling. Her smile dampened a bit when he said he liked her ‘name’. He seemed so gullible. She wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. By this point in life, she found people usually had grown twisted in some way. It was funny too. Anna also happened to be the name of her pet so she could easily say she liked that name too. She shook her head out of her thoughts and grew determined to enjoy something about her day instead of regretting her trust issues. “Yes let’s,” she responded in kind, a grin returning to her face.

She followed him to the restaurant and entered inside. Her eyes scanned the interior immediately, partly because of habit and partly because she had never been inside before. She noted that it definitely wasn’t some cheap bar. After she had finished looking she returned her gaze to Anubis and flashed him a quick smile. “Sit down?” she asked, tilting her head and pointing to the free table next to them.

He chuckles happily as he leads the way towards the restaurant, if his eyes were glittering before, there practically GLOWING with excitement now, a wide grin spreading across his face as he observes his surroundings with the eyes of someone...who really HAS been in the countryside most of his life...
Also lived in a cave..but he hasn't brought that up, most people laughed at him when he said his Father was a dragon, he doesn't like that..It hurts in a way he can't stop, not as hard as when Kariya fell for the last time, but he misses his Father..and for people to just brush him off as a lie or a 'delusion' made him feel sad in a way that he can't really describe...
He misses them...He even kinda misses Zouken, seeing as the old bitter man finally passed a year or so back..He only returned every few months when he started traveling..and while Zouken was cruel, swearing at him never to return...

Anubis thinks the old man was happy to not be alone before he passed, he looked pleased when he did..
Still! No need to think on that currently! He finally has someone to talk to that isn't trying to rob him! A bit of food is a small price to pay for good company after all, he's practically vibrating with excitement his expression not showing his inner thoughts, however he's also distracted by all the shiny things...
When Anna offers him a seat, he blinks turning towards her before grinning and nodding before he pauses and blinks once, he then straightens slightly his fist hammering onto his palm lightly, as if realizing something. He then walks over and very slowly pulls the seat out for her, a grin on his face...

Manners are important, some lady named Marin from a village four years back taught him all about how to treat dinner guests! She was nice, her hugs hurt but in a nice way! He stuck around a bit longer in that village, the people were nice there, but as always..
He had to move on, still so many people hurting out there..
He can do something about it, so there's no reason for him not to.

Marianne didn't know whether to be charmed or wary by the young man in front of her. It was disarming to be treated so nicely compared to the usual brusque manner she came across. She watched him pull out the chair for her to sit in with a smile on her face, not letting her inner conflict show. He appeared to be taking his time with the action and in a joking manner, crossed her arms while lightly tapping with her fingers.  When he stopped moving the chair, the girl's smile widened into a grin and she stood for a moment longer. She cocked one eyebrow up and plopped her bag on the ground. "Finally," she said in amusement before slipping smoothly into the chair.

She was about to take the menu off the table when she had a better idea. The girl quickly ducked under the table and pushed the chair he was about to sit on out before Anubis sat down. "And there you go, dear sir," she said, popping her head out from under the tablecloth with a cheeky grin on her face "Chair out!" Mari was a bit of a curious child like that but she didn't mind about what other people thought of her. It was a bit inconvenient getting out from under the table since she was wearing a skirt. Thankfully, she managed to make her way out without knocking her head against the table or flashing. She wasn't against the idea of either but in the current situation, she didn't think it would be handy if she did.

After she sat back in her chair again, she noticed some people looking at her weirdly. Mari wasn't surprised. Not everyone in some fancy-ish restaurant would be used to seeing young women duck under tables in an unladylike manner. She also others looking at them with curiosity in their eyes. She wasn't that surprised either. It looked like they were going on a date with all the chair pulling and everything. Mari didn't take it as one though - he was just buying her lunch as a thanks. Besides, she didn't even think he knew that what he was doing was like a date.

He blinks in confusion, before pausing and chuckling the amusement in her tone causing him to dismiss the panic and apology that was about to slip out, he thought it did something rude at first!
Still turning around and moving back towards his seat he turns and attempts to plop himself down into it before blinking as he turns still in the motion of sitting down...
Where did Anna go- "WOAH!" He exclaims as he falls backwards landing quite firmly onto his backside with a slightly owlish expression, his head turns behind him to glance at the chair now far out of his reach before turning back and finding his guest grinning at him cheekily. He pouts slightly before smiling and chuckling at this little act, this was a good thing. He decides, he definitely wouldn't be having this much fun eating by himself! Still snickering to himself he stands up and pulls the chair underneath himself as she sits back down.

He's oblivious to the stares as he excitedly picks up the menu the grin returning to his face, he likes this. It's almost like he's made a friend, which is a nice feeling. His eyes scan down the menu and as expected of a town with several methods of trade, the food is of a wide variety, even a few of his favorites are on this menu! But this is his first time in the city, so he'll try something new this time around. Glancing up from the menu he pouts mockingly and says "That smart you know!" He complains, obviously struggling to keep the grin off his face in place of a mock stern expression, his eyes still twinkling with amusement. He gets out a lot, but people and how they act are still strange to him. Certain things he understands simply from books, but others he's had to rely on people to teach him.

He has no idea that this might be considered a setting for a relationship to blossom, he's just treating a good samaritan to lunch as a reward. Maybe even make a friend, but he has no other intention other then making sure that no good deed goes unrewarded.

She laughed at his expression upon having his seat taken away. She noted that he was quite cute when he was shocked. Not that he wasn't cute at any other time. She wasn't oblivious to people's looks and to say he was just average wouldn't give him any justice. He had a boyish charm to her face and Mari wasn't totally immune to it. She did ignore it as best as she could though. She still wasn't sure whether to trust him but in any case, she didn't think she'd be pouring out her life story to him just yet. If anyone asked her, she generally told them she couldn't remember which wasn't too far from the truth; she still did have gaps in her memory after all.

While he was looking at the menu, she decided to observe him. She liked observing people and places and she thought it'd be less rude to watch him while he didn't notice than to blatantly stare at him while engaging in conversation. So far, he seemed to permanently be happy. Even when he had pouted, there was always that twinkle of good humour somewhere in his eyes. She gathered from this that he probably had experienced some kind of hardship in his life. No one could be that happy and not. Of course that kind of hardship must have been the type one could recover from. Not everything had happy endings and she thought she was a prime example of that.

Because Mari was deep in her thoughts, she didn't pick up immediately what Anubis said. "Sorry, what?" she asked, her head cocked slightly while she tried to register what he said. "Don't worry," she continued after she figured it out, shaking her head at her slowness before grinning at him. "I know I'm smart," she teased, noticing his struggle to remain stern. At first she tried to suppress her laughter but ultimately failed, giggling a few seconds later. "You don't...can't pull off stern expressions," she explained in between her giggles. She didn't know why she was laughing. It was't even that funny. She probably was going crazy. Maybe from all that locked up emotions. After a few more seconds, she managed to stop and took a deep breath. "Sorry about that," she said, not even sure why she was apologising either.

A moment later a waiter came up and she gave an order. Nothing special or expensive. She made it a point when eating with others who wanted to pay for her to not eat lavishly. Not that she got invited to eat free meals very often. But besides that, she didn't need to eat lavish and she didn't want others to pay more.

He continues to stare, his lips quivering before he blurts out her cheeky response and he burst out into laughter a few moments after her his grin returning to his face upon her words, his laughter dies down into snickers and he answers with a "I tried my hardest though!" He counters with his grin widening as he attempts to get his sudden case of uncontrollable laughter under actual control. He wipes a laughter induced tear from his eye whilst grinning, he waves off her  apology and responds with a simple "Everyone needs to laugh once in awhile." he says whilst shrugging his shoulders, even in times of hardship, children need to play once in awhile, even in times of grief, you should gaze up at the sky and think of something that can make one smile...
Even when alone in this world, people can give you a reason to make friends.

Even harsh words can inspire something good, they can motivate someone..Even when trying to break someone down, you can build them up...Make them try harder, even if it's to show you up or something..
Something good from something bad, hope from pain....Pain is good, pain means you're still alive.
Human beings are evil, that is something the existence known as Anubis Blake firmly believes in, but he also believes that have the potential to be good..really good. Athest trusted him as his son, Anubis can make sure he at least spreads some of that good around...
He'd think about a guild, but he can't be tied down to one place and still help people all over can he? He's heading to Magnolia to find Athest, but who knows how long he's gonna be there!

He'll definitely have to head out first thing tomorrow.
The waiter arrives and Anubis's eyes light up with joy again as he eagerly returns to searching the menu, he then points out a steak that is served charred and rare, to preserve the flavor and the texture of the beef, he also orders a small plate of chocolate squares, kinda like cookies...and they have a minty flavor too!
He likes mint. Glancing up he blinks and speaks in slight confusion "Ehhh? That all you're ordering??" He asks tilting his head slightly and leaning down "You're hungry right? Might as well eat good while ya can you know!" He exclaims with his grin returning to his face.

Mari was glad that Anubis started laughing with her. Mainly because if he didn't, she'd be laughing by herself which she thought could get awkward fast. Not for her but for him. She didn't care whether she was ever in an 'awkward' situation. People would only think it was an awkward situation if she thought she was in one and she loved those kinds of things so most of the time, she didn't think it was. Mari's giggles only magnified when he said he tried his hardest. This prevented her from saying anything else. She had calmed down around the same time as Anubis and smiled without conviction at his response. "Yeah, that's true," she said, her voice trailing off. It was nice to laugh with a friend, if she could even let herself call him one that is.

Nowadays people became friends with anyone but most weren't true friendships. Most people she knew viewed them as conveniences and ways to get more power through connection. Plenty of people in Shadow Heart was like that. At least on the positive side, they were talking to others, never getting lonely. They'd have to tolerate all the backstabbing. Now that she thought about it, besides wanting to rebel, she probably also had her act to prevent others from bothering to be her friend because she appeared to know a high ranking person in the guild.

Mari watched Anubis order his food after while these thoughts were running through her head. She thought she was an optimistic person. She saw the pluses in life. She heard him order steak and chocolate and dryly thought he was an optimistic person too. Who could eat steak AND chocolate without vomiting? She shuddered. She wasn't a sweet tooth nor was she someone who liked eating that heavy meat. If she had her way, she'd be a vegetarian. As it was, wilderness survival often involved the targeting of edible animals and she needed to be able to survive out there.

Suddenly a big ehhhh? popped her mini bubble of thought. She laughed at his surprise, doing a wave gesture with her hand. "Don't be shocked! I like what I'm ordering," What she ordered was a toasted sandwich. Yup, she goes to some nice restaurant and she orders breakfast. It was still gourmet though! She was about to shoo the waiter off when she had a better idea stemming from Anubis's statement of enjoying food while she could. "Hey, can I change my order to a kid's meal so like, I get the sorbet and drink for like, cheaper?" she asked in an innocent voice. The waiter looked at her as if she'd asked whether she could jump off the roof. "Kid's meals are for kids and the meal becomes smaller," he said plaintively. She snorted and adopted her character more. "B-but I am a kid! I'm four! And a half! The half's very very very important," she said, pouting. He still stared at her weirdly. She didn't look four. "My birthdays on the 29th of February so it has only come four times so far," she added. When she acted like this, it wasn't hard to believe she was a really mature (body wise) twelve year old with the mentality of a seven year old. Her face looked young which helped. Finally the waiter relented. "O--okay," Mari didn't believe ever seeing someone run off that quickly.

She turned back to face Anubis and hoped he wasn't scared off. "There! I'm gonna enjoy my food more," She sat back into her chair with a grin on her face and folded her arms. Mission accomplished.

Anubis hums before shrugging, looking a bit unconvinced before he pauses and watches the interaction between Anna and the Waiter, his grin returns before vanishing and he blinks at the 'reveal' of her age and he blinks with a slight frown wondering about that statement and if it was true or not...He's naive but not exactly gullible, logically he can see maybe a younger pre-teen but she's actually fairly...well...ahem..well developed, so he can't say for sure.
Then she brings up her date of birth causing him to blink and look even more confused, then she speaks and he blinks before snickering again his grin returning to his face as he realizes what the exchange really entailed.

It was kind of mean, but not exactly unappreciated...there prices are fairly high, still he'll make sure to give that waiter a larger tip, he knows it's wrong but the grin on his face tells he did think it was pretty funny "F-four and a half?" He asks trying to keep from laughing as he glances towards where the waiter ran off to his eyes twinkling in amusement from the entire exchange that she just had, also the fact that the man went along with it..either that or went to go get the manager...He hopes it's the former, he's having a nice time with his new friend, it'd be a shame to be thrown out of the restaurant and have there time cut short.

Mari knew what she did was kind of mean but she accepted that as a fact of life. She thought of being mean as a survival instinct. People wanted to feel safe. Being mean sent others into submission. Submissive people equated to no danger thus safe. Her kind of mean was so that Anubis had to pay less. It was a bit unsettling to see him not running away from her and instead laughing. She was used to people giving her disapproving looks or asking why she had done it. Her previous action had been a bit on the impulsive side and had she thought it through, she might not have. She decided to put her thoughts in a musty old corner though. "Yep, four and a half. I'm actually 18 thus the half being important. Well I think I am 18, possibly older, possibly younger. I had amnesia so I'm not too sure." she affirmed. She was telling the truth on that one. She kept silent for a moment before she decided to ask how old he was. "How old are you?"

A minute later the waiter came back and put her drink down. "There you are Miss," he said politely before backing away. Acting on an impulse, she grabbed the waiter's arm and smiled. "Thank you," she said, letting him go soon after. To anyone else besides her, she appeared to be just thanking him. What she had done whilst thanking him was put some extra change in his pocket because it wasn't his fault she was cheating the restaurant of some money. He could decide whatever he wanted to do with it. Give it to the manager, keep it, she didn't care. As long as he didn't lost it. That would be a waste of money.

He blinks leaning up as she explains the 'half' and he finds himself tilting his head to the left thoughtfully as she mentions being an amnesiac, he nods in some understanding but he doesn't wish too delve too deeply into that. She brought it up as an explanation, but he does allow himself to simply smile instead of grin his eyes lidding as he allows a slightly melancholy look to spread across his face. He feels a bit of sadness for this fact, he'd hate to lose the memories he has, of Kariya, of Zoukens final months...Of Athest and what it's like to have a Father..

He blinks out of his revery looking slightly started, he then tilts his head to the left and furrows his eyebrows in thought at the question, tilting his head downwards he raises his hands and ticks down onto his fingers, counting backwards whilst his lips mouth the sequence before chewing on it softly in thought.. "Ummm..." He begins with an awkward grin and a nervous chuckle "Eighteen?" He says in a manner that can be construed as unsure if that's correct or not..
It appears he's lost track, but he figures he's pretty close! Maybe only off by one year or two!
Still he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck as he ponders this dilemma which is actually fairly embarrassing considering his own apparent age..Birthdays are weird too, Athest gave him a few but he couldn't remember when they were..

Glancing towards the waiter as he comes over he grins politely, his eyes flicking down as Anna grasps at his arm, he blinks in surprise at the action, he grins at her when she thanks him unaware of what just occurred if he did become aware..he'd probably buy her more food, since that was pretty nice. Still he grins at her "That was nice of you." He comments offhandedly, realizing that he didn't order a drink in the back of his mind..
He'll wait for the waiter to come back.

It was a good thing Anubis didn’t realise she had slipped the waiter money. The main purpose of doing her whole act had been to let him pay less. She noticed when she had said she was an amnesiac his face changed as if he was reminiscing. If she had known what he was thinking she would have disagreed greatly. While the memories she had lost were important, they were things she’d rather not know about. She always had that burning curiosity to find out what happened during those four years but yet, whenever she actually had those dreaded flashes, there was nothing more she wanted besides escaping the memory. She couldn’t escape it once it came. It was like seeing herself from outside her head. She could see what she was doing and she would try and yell at herself to stop. But she never would. She never could. However, she didn’t know that so instead, was wondering what he was thinking about.

A pang of jealousy hit her. He must have had some kind of good life unlike her. She turned her head to the side to hide her emotions, appearing to be gazing out of the window. She shouldn’t be jealous. She had her own family. One that loved her yet one she couldn’t be with for fear of letting them get involved in her affairs. She looked back shortly after, a smile still on her face and chuckled slightly at Anubis’s struggle to figure out his age. “Okay, we’ll just say you’re eighteen,” she agreed. Even for someone in the countryside to not know how to calculate their age easy was strange.

After Mari had thanked the waiter, she heard the boy across from her say that was nice. She looked down, not meeting his gaze. She had an ulterior motive in doing so. She didn’t think she deserved praise. She chose not to respond. She looked up and decided to change the topic. She recalled him wanting to go to Magnolia to find his father. “So, you’re going to Magnolia to find your father right? What happened?” she asked in a friendly tone, unconsciously placing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She didn’t mean to offend him.

The young mans cheeks manage to fill with color slightly in slight embarrassment as she agrees with him, how many years was he in chains...? How many years was he with Athest? How many years has he been searching now..? He misses his Father, he was all he had left to form a true bond with after Kariya and Zouken passed..He hasn't had much of a reprieve, he's got some friends sure..
But his family is gone, his only family left is gone...This is the only lead he's gotten in years, he hopes against hope that it yields results..
A Dragon in Magnolia, if that's Athest then he'll ask him to come home..He misses his Father.

Time flew by so quick, seasons passed him by and he grew taller..got stronger, how long has it really been? This question has caught him off guard a bit, not because it's startling but because he's been searching for such a long time now..
No need to worry his friend though, his thoughts are hidden behind a grin that looks a bit strained with these thoughts..
And it shrinks when she asks her question about his Father. He allows a small sad smile to cross his face "I'm not sure, one day we were talking...I went out to hunt..came back and he was gone..At first I thought he was just out to stretch his wings but..he never came back.." He says not even noticing the strangeness of that comment, Dragons had wings after all, he'd fly all the time if he could! Still...He doesn't like to think that he was abandoned...but sometimes the thought crosses his mind before he squashes it fiercely..
Athest taught him everything, this has to be some kind of...something! Maybe he's lost? Trying to look for him just as Anubis is searching for his Father..
He grins wide and says with a bit more excitement returning to his face saying "But I hear he might be in Magnolia!" He chuckles once leaning back in his seat in a manner that looks excited at the concept of reuniting with his father..

When Mari heard his response to her question, some of the blood drained out of her face. Wait...out to stretch his wings? Depending on the way she took that, she could either think Anubis was some kind of half beast or that he was one of the...fabled dragon slayers. Her thoughts raced around frantically. Did they really exist? It would make sense if he was. He had trouble calculating his age, he had never been to the city before...his curiosity at everything...he HAD to be a dragon slayer. She shook her head brusquely and closed her eyes. "Excuse me for a moment, I'm going to...the restroom," she said with a weak smile, pushing out her chair and walking in a daze towards her supposed destination.

Once inside, she entered a cubicle and leaned against the door. If what Anubis had heard was right, and what she figured out was true, then there was a dragon in Magnolia. A giant freaking dragon. Wouldn't Shadow Heart have been notified?...oh right. She didn't hold much of a great status. She wouldn't have been told even if they knew about it. She bit her lip. What was she going to do? She knew of her guild wanting to track down the dragon slayers and learn more about them but she didn't know why. It seemed a little dangerous to be spilling out that kind of information about one's self. She guessed Anubis could probably hold his own in a fight but from his previous actions, she didn't think he even knew what he said could sound suspicious.

The young woman gathered her thoughts and exited out of the restroom and back to the table where she hoped Anubis was. However, she remained standing by the side. "Can you come outside for a moment?" she asked softly, her gaze serious. She held out her hand for him to take.

His friends face loses some color and he frowns with a bit of worry at the sudden change in her demeanor, she seems to shake something off before standing and leaving abruptly towards the bathroom. He blinks and uses a single digit to lightly scratch his cheek in worry and a bit of confusion. Is she sick? Did he say something to upset her?
He sighs as the food arrives casting a polite smile towards the waiter, handing the man a slightly generous tip for his work...Also other reasons involving his guest but let's forget that.

The Shadow Dragon Slayer pouts slightly before he frowns and instead of focusing on his sadness..
Takes his emotions out on his steak devouring it at a rather fast pace, his fork and knife cutting a path of destruction across the plate, no morsel left untouched, no small amount of green bean or piece of corn left to live, complete food genocide occurs by the maw of the Dragon Slayer..!
He pauses mid-bite as his friend makes her reappearance, he raises an eyebrow and swallows as she asks him to step outside.

He nods, slowly looking a bit wary of the sudden serious expression on the woman's face, standing he plops down some money on the table before taking the woman's hand still looking a bit confused asking simply "What's going on?" He follows regardless but suddenly starts taking glances at the shadows around them, most would view this as a fear that something would jump out at them and Anubis simply being paranoid..
Unless they knew what type of Dragon Slayer he actually was.

As soon as Anubis took her hand she started to drag him to the back of the restaurant. She ignored his question and brushed past several customers giving them curious looks. Once, she glanced back at the boy behind her to see his expression. He seemed confused. She wasn't surprised. Once there were in a place where she deemed it safe to communicate without being heard she stopped walking and turned around to face him. "Are you a dragon slayer?" she asked, her eyes serious.

She wasn't sure what she expected his response would be. From what she had overheard, they were generally secretive...unless they were the Ice Dragon Slayer - the rumours surrounding them were many in number. While she looked at him in the eye, she gave a quick scan of the area through her peripheral vision. She was probably paranoid but she didn't want any Shadow Heart members or shifty people around. They'd probably attack him or something. She wasn't planning on attacking him so she hoped he wouldn't attack her. She noticed his gaze kept on darting to the shadows and wondered if he was paranoid as well. He didn't seem like the paranoid type if she went by his previous actions. Maybe...She shifted her gaze to the shadows, suddenly wary. He wasn't planning on...attacking her was he? Shadows. It made sense. There was the possibility she was completely wrong but she couldn't shake off her suspicion.

Mari really didn't know what she'd do if he said yes. Tell him to not go to Magnolia? Tell him to be less liberal with his descriptions? Tell him that a dark guild was investigating Dragon Slayers? She brushed off her concerns. There was always something she could do.

He's dragged along by the woman wondering what all this is about, his eyes still flicking around cautiously as she leads him into a rather secluded alleyway behind the restaurant, pushing past customers and annoyed looking patrons. However due to the strangeness of the situation he doesn't pay them much mind, this is troubling..

What's happened? What could have possibly brought up this strange reaction and sudden very serious shift in mood..? They stop and she turns and he waits for a declaration of some kind of trouble in any form, like a villain he has to fight or something..
Then a simple question pops out and he blinks in surprise at it, he tilts his head to the left looking a bit confused simply saying "Yes..?" He answering while raising an eyebrow in a bit of confusion over the strange reaction to this information being brought to light. He's confused about why this would matter to anyone, sure his magic is particularly powerful but his particular usage of his magic is less about overwhelming force and is a bit...
Shadier..Not much use or a threat to someone of overwhelming power..although his managing of bandits and certain crooks might sit bad with some people...But what can he do?

He had to help. That's all there is to it.

Okay so he said yes. Honestly Mari had no idea why she was even bothering so much. She practically met him only about an hour or so ago (or longer if being on the same train counted). Mari relaxed in her intensity level from about an 8 to a 4. She slumped her shoulders slightly. "Okay," she said on an instinct. If only she knew what her guild really wanted with Dragon Slayers then she'd be able to really know what to do. She hated being in the dark. She sighed and straightened up again, looking at the young man before her again. "You realise that being a Dragon Slayer is a big deal right?" she decided to say "And usually people don't mention having fathers out to stretch their wings?" She was about to continue on and say that many people would want having such a legendary mage on their side when she hesitated.

It struck her then why she was being a bit paranoid about him leaking his dragon slayer status to everyone. It was because of what happened to her. She didn't want him to conk out for who knows how long and then wake up to a living hell. She wanted him to stay as he was, all happy-go-lucky, and not turn all dark and twisted like she. She didn't want him to become wanted in a dark guild. She bet he didn't have allegiances to anyone and so if her guild found out about him they would most likely try and recruit him. She sighed. She was hardly going to tell him any of that. She didn't plan on spilling her secrets to protect someone else. She almost hated herself for having that thought. Almost.

Mari guessed she was probably undermining his strength by thinking thoughts like that. "I'm sorry for being overly paranoid, it's just..." she gestured helplessly, unsure of what she could say next.

Her shoulders slump as he gives his answer causing his eyebrows to furrow slightly in more confusion, his own frame loses it's tension slowly as no threat seems to be coming as she begins speaking still staring at him. His face returns to it's confused look with a small pouting frown his eyebrow raised in questioning and confusion as she simply begins explaining that being a Dragon Slayer is a big deal. He knew his type of magic was rare, that it was also very powerful...But isn't that also true for all sorts of magic?

He frowns a bit at the mention of his Father crossing his arms over his chest slightly before she pauses, his gaze softens and she apologizes...
He sighs slightly before smiling sincerely "You're a good person." He says simply before his grin returns full force "So why is being a Dragon Slayer a big deal?" He asks looking enthusiastic again while awaiting an answer from his friend, besides he'd like to know what it is he'd have to keep an eye out for. His Father, Athest always taught him to gather information when possible. Information is a weapon that can win a confrontation. It's a good idea to know why he should hide his particular brand of Magic. Not to mention Anna looks a bit sad, so making sure she's forgiven for whatever it is she thinks she did wrong and then pressing on with something that..well might actually be very important, is another good idea of his.