Creeping and Creeps

Tabitha had a great deal of confidence in her knife throwing skills, yes. That was because she had practiced for many years. Survival was a pretty good motivator. Sharaku was a good sport, and threw the knife how she showed him, but his lack of practice landed the knife off in the ground somewhere. How unfortunate. “That is why we practice. It makes us much better at what we’re doing,” she reminded him, knowing he was easily aware of that information.

Tabitha simply flicked her wrist at the knife, catching it with a string and pulling it back into her grasp. She let it tangle there, the knife now inches from her finger tips, swinging back and forth. “Do you find me dangerous? I’m just curious,” she asked. Explaining wouldn’t do. That would ruin the question. It was a question about how other people saw her. Either as dangerous, or weak. So she was curious about him. He probably didn’t. She held the knife at that point and put her hand in his. “So… how does your power work?” she rubbed her thumb over his hand slowly, “Does it involve physical contact or what? I figure it will help now,” she offered. It was quite a step for her to willingly let someone else have her magic. It was hers and she had worked very hard with it for years. She didn’t even like anyone to know what she could do, let alone do it for themselves.

Sharaku didn't just instantly take her powers when she made what was obviously an offer to do so. His hand went back into his pants pockets when she started playing with it. "If you weren't dangerous you wouldn't have a place in Shadow Heart," he reminded her coolly. "Besides, the way you wield knives, be it because of your 'mysterious' magic or because you have skill with knives make that more than just a littel bit obvious." Sharaku looked over at the target and back to the knife Tabitha had. “Touch,” he told her simply, reaching over and putting a hand over her hand that was clasped over the knife. With a thought, he took the use of her power.

She would know he did, though it would be neither pleasant nor unpleasant aside from whatever bias she had towards him doing it. Strings appeared as expertly as when she had done it, taking a knife as he brought his hand back to throw again. This time, as he through, a string stayed attached to the knife, and with the subtlest of jerks, the knife landed straight in the middle of the target with only slight less expertise than Tabitha herself would have had. “Not as refined, but the knowledge will be there for a short while.”

He just wanted to be difficult, yes? Duh. It wasn’t persona. It wasn’t business. It was life. You played the game of life, you won, you lost, but either way, you always player. Tabitha was what she was, and it was more than she let on, but she didn’t let on anything else. She played a game, and people she treat her like a player. She didn’t want special treatment. Never. Special might mean sensitive, it might mean emotions, it might mean… sincere. Tabitha was whatever she wanted, and nothing else. Sharaku just confused her, and she hated that… but she liked him… which only made her hate it more. What was he doing to her brain?

He said a lot of things, none of which quite answered her question, but she tried to push it aside. He could say what he liked, she supposed… “Obvious. So noted.” It wasn’t that she disliked appearing dangerous, but she loathed the word obvious. Was she so “obvious?” Obvious implied things were clear, yes? It implied understanding… She didn’t understand this boy, and he didn’t understand him. She didn’t think either of them were… obvious.

He finally, stubbornly, took some of her magic. She was irritated, sure, but she looked calm. An actual offer had been rejected, followed by him taking things how he saw fit. Oh, how. Lovely. He said something, but she wasn’t listening. Her mind wouldn’t let her. Tabitha had so much built up until a layer of control that too many pokes, from her or anyone else, could upset the order of it all. She wasn’t going to let that happen. She raised an eyebrow at his throw, “Impressive. In any case, its something I do to relax.” What did that even mean? Well, it was the truth, but she wasn’t in the mood for anything. It was just too complicated for her. “We can do something else if you like,” she said casually, throwing her knife again. She didn’t use the strings to guide her knives, simply to pull them back. She had long since learned that skill.

Sharaku was under the impression that Tabitha did a lot of things to relax. Flirting with random people (mostly him), throwing knives, going out drinking, and who knew what else? She didn’t show it, but he had the feeling she really didn’t like him borrowing her magic, even if she had offered it to him. He simply mentally shrugged though, not sure if it would be better for him to understand or not. She was very secretive. Even the fact that she kept her life a secret felt like a secret, and it got complicated quickly. He would rather just enjoy whatever for the moment.

Sharaku shrugged “I came out to follow you, Boss Lady,” he told her slightly playfully. “I’ve literally got nothing in mind at the moment… unless you wanted to order me to think of something, anyway.” It was a slight joke about him doing as she said. He had no idea if she’d appreciate it… but so far he’d had better luck with her than most women he spent thirty minutes with. She hadn’t slapped him yet. That was definitely a good sign for now. It wasn’t that he was rude… it was that with most women he became very uncomfortable when they focused on him and he actually cared that they were. Tabitha, for all of her flirting and messing with him, put him more at ease than many women for some reason.

Confusion was one of the names of one of the games that Tabitha played. Some of her games were innocent, believe it or not, and some were downright malicious. She wasn’t malicious with Sharaku, despite how frustrating he could be. She could be sincere, and he wasn’t interested. She could make an actual offer, and he had to work around that. She was more comfortable sprinkling sincerity in with lies. Vulnerability was a stupid idea, but at least if it was masked with control, it wouldn't necessarily get you killed. Tabitha confused a lot of people, she didn’t like when she confused herself.

He called her boss lady again and she smirked, rolling her eyes at him in slightly returned good nature. He was an odd one, sure. “Oh, Shar, I could think of a list of things I’d enjoy ordering you to do,” she said. She didn’t go with the optional looking him up and down. She could have meant anything, and she wasn’t about to clue him in to anything on her list. “But for now, I just felt like passing the time and relaxing. If you want a more practical answer, this is training for later. If not… take it however you will. I don’t often meet men worth this much of my time,” she said. She would be fine playing with her knives, maybe even talking, if need be, until dark, then heading back to the cemetery.

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Sharaku was glad she took his teasing well. It was another thing that was hard to tell with her. He was frankly used to angering women accidentally, and if he did anything she chose to seem displeased with, it came as no surprise, even when he was trying to do something nice. In this case, it didn’t matter, because she seemed amused by his calling her Boss Lady again. “So you want me to practice in case it comes in handy tonight?” he asked her for clarity. She seemed to both one him to practice and not care that much if he did…

“With, or without the strings?” he asked as he hesitated to throw again, not sure what she had in mind, and not really concerned which it was. Knives weren’t his thing, but it couldn’t hurt to have a skill if it would come in handy at some point. He was more rosy-cheeked than he wanted to be after her half-subtle flirting about what she could order him to do, but was doing his best to just ignore the comment anyway. Not that he expected her to let him get away with blushing. It was still a reaction and she seemed to love reactions.

It was true, Tabby loved reactions. Especially with the particular people who she wanted reactions from. “You really are cuter when you’re blushing,” she told him casually. “Sure, practice makes everything better. Especially if you’re practicing something you enjoy,” she said. Toying with people. Knives. Her violin that she was not going to mention. Those were things Tabitha enjoyed practicing. What was it Sharaku enjoyed? He seemed to be wandering through life bored, but she knew that wasn’t all there was. He just didn’t respond to the things she said in ways that gave her clues.

“With the strings and without are completely different skill.” She let her magic string wrap around her hand like a white glove, examining it before letting it shift back to individual strands, which allowed her knife to dangle from her fingers. Each finger with a string, back and forth, attaching to different strings to keep it swaying without her movement. “Throwing a knife is helpful, but it was my string that let me into Shadow Heart… well, and stabbing a man,” she shrugged. “Anyway, you should practice, before I take you up on some more creative orders. I’m not drunk on power yet,” she told him with a smile.

Sharaku watched Tabitha show off with no indication of interest. He understood how the skill worked, and despite having the same general power as her with this power, she had more practice, and it wasn’t often he took such a finely-tuned magic. It would take only a little less practice than the actual throwing knife skill for him to use in in the ways he would be inclined to use it, which was undoubtable his own take on magic that was not his own. “We’ll try it without the magic,” he said with a shrug. It would be more generally handy, and he could practice the string part a bit when retrieving the daggers.

Truthfully, her magic was rather interesting and unique, even to someone whose magic was based entirely upon taking the unique skills of other people. Neither of them was given to being especially expressive without reason though, so it was hard for the two of them to know what each other actually enjoyed or thought, though he was obviously a bit more transparent than her. Picking up the dagger, Sharaku flipped the blade to throwing position, tossing it and actually hitting the tree. He was a decently fast learner. The blade, however, was not the part that pinged off of the tree.

Sharaku was wrong to think Tabitha was showing off. This was idle play for her. She used her strings for things like this all the time when she was at home. Had she wanted to show off… she would be spinning the knife above her head or something that required more energy. No, she was much more in tune with her strings than she acted, in that she didn’t show people her magic unless she was attacking them. Or unless they were a pretty black haired boy, apparently.

“As you wish,” she said, watching him test the knife. He wanted to try without magic, so that’s what they would do. She was happy to play without her strings. Knives were a favorite toy even without magic. It was just that when they left her grasp, she lost her immediate connection with them. The string allowed them to be an extension of herself, more than just a weapon. That didn’t mean she couldn’t influence her knives after they left her hand though.

Sharaku made a throw, hitting the tree but only with the hilt. “You’re getting better,” she said sincerely. She slid a hand down to her leg and materialized a third knife. She was dominant with her right hand, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t spent endless hours practicing with her left hand to make up for that. She tossed a knife with her left, then her right, knocking the first into another tree before the second hit the target. She could do more, but she wasn’t using her string. Well, unless a flick of her wrist brought both knives back to her.

Tabitha spent a while practicing with Sharaku, mostly letting him work, and making comments. One of her favorites had been when she said “You’re a quick learner. It would be fun to see what else you can do with your hands.” Again, the needless flirting, but it amused her, and it was friendly. Though when it got to be dark she said, “Alright, let’s head back to the cemetery. I want to get paid.”

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Some practicing and one-sided flirting later, Tabitha informed Sharaku that while she would like to see what else he could do with his hands (Which received no verbal response from him, as usual), she thought they should get back to the cemetery so she could get paid. Sharaku didn’t mind the shift in focus from him to money. It made things less awkward. He wasn’t sure why she even liked flirting with him at all. There were a lot more responsive and decent-looking targets to flirt with, after all.

Sharaku nodded to Tabitha, returning her daggers to her. It had occurred to him that he might have learned how to throw the daggers better had they been actual throwing knives rather than daggers used for stabbing and cutting at close range, but obviously Tabitha was talented enough to use them in the way she intended, so he neither said anything aloud, nor did he complain in his own head. Adapting was kind of his thing, after all. It had simply been an observance he had had. “Time to go stop some grave robbers from stealing something that was so stupidly left with a body instead of a living person,” he agreed as the pair left the trees and headed back to their destination.

One sided flirting wasn’t as fun as mutual flirting, but Tabitha would deal. Sharaku was pleasant enough to flirt with, and she loved making him awkward. Otherwise why would she flirt? It wasn’t like he gave her alternative motivation. “Doesn’t that make us the grave robbers?” she asked, when he said they were stopping them. She was in good spirits, enjoying playing with Sharaku, with the knives of course.

As they walked she wanted to make smalltalk, but she shifted slightly into a more work-oriented mindset. They had to break into a cemetery, but then again… she didn’t have to be too serious. “After this you can meet the lady who hired me. Good looking, blond hair, red lipstick, dressed in white like she’s up to good. I doubt she is… but then again… good looking women rarely are,” she said that more for her own amusement. “Are there any things you actually like in women’s appearances?” It was simple curiosity, but she calmed down once they got close to the cemetery.

Tabitha slipped inside, letting Sharaku follow her. Her eyes peered around, before heading to the crypt. Wealthy family… she thought as she found the man’s tom and started pulling it open. Wealthy family who put too much security into guarding a dead guy… She looked at Sharaku to see if he was going to help without her prompting.

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Tabitha certainly seemed to turn more serious when she and Sharaku started back to their actual reason for being out for the day. Sharaku appreciated that she could take things seriously. Sometimes it was hard to tell, since she spent so much time toying with him and probably other people in their free time. Not that he minded that much so long as the toying was harmless. Sharaku could be pretty easygoing around people he liked. "Nothing specific. Different things work for different people," he told her honestly. features he liked on some women he found less appealing on others. He would have given a better answer if he had one.

Sharaku followed Tabitha into the tomb, looking around but not touching anything until Tabitha started pushing on the tomb of the recently dead man. Sharaku positioned himself beside her, pushing as well, and with a grunt and a few seconds of hard pushing from the both of them, the heavy sarcophagus lid shoved aside. He stopped before it fell to the ground; he preferred to put it back where it went after this. Looking at the corpse quickly, he saw the will in the man's hands. Reaching over, he easily snatched it with a small tug. "Easy enough so far," he told Tabitha.

Tabitha listened to Sharaku’s lack of specific likes in women. Well that was disappointing. Not overly so, and she didn’t look in any way disappointed. She perhaps looked playful. She felt more playful around him, perhaps because he didn’t seem to be a threat to her. If she wanted to really lower someone’s defenses, she would act helpless around them, sure. Sharaku lowered her defenses by seeming awkward, but he was also enjoyable company. She didn’t suspect anything from him, so that was fine. Still, she wanted to know what he liked in women, maybe she could find one for him, so all in all this was disappointing.

In the crypt Sharaku helped get inside the tomb. He reached in and pulled out the will. Tabitha reached over and took it from him, but didn’t yank it away. With minor examination to be sure they had the right thing, she nodded. “Alright, let’s get this fixed and we can go meet up with the client.” She almost called her Sharaku’s future lady friend, but she decided to maintain some greater sense of professionalism.

She worked with Sharaku to put everything back how it had been and left the crypt with him. Upon exiting Tabitha spotted a man in the moonlight. “Oh come on…” she said bitterly, her mumbling showing clear disdain for this man and whatever he wanted.

He had long black hair and wore a black suit. Just the kind of person who thought better of themselves than those around them. Oh, she was not looking forward to this. “I think you should give me whatever you took from inside.”

“How about not,” Tabitha said simply, her hand at her back, ready to slide a knife out in a second.

“Foolish,” he informed her. At that point a skeleton seemed to piece itself together from the ground, materializing a bow and firing at them. Tabitha tossed a knife at the arrow as it flew toward her, knocking it off the path and jerking her weapon back with a thin string.

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“Heh, not bad,” Sharaku told Tabitha as the knife knocked the arrow away. Unfortunately, his power he had gained from her had faded away a little while back. He didn’t keep what he had for long, and even what he could remember about it wasn’t nearly enough to give him what he needed to use her magic. Knowledge like that was burned from his mind when his own magic ended. He took off running at the skeleton, diving down and sliding into its leg. With a solid hit, the skeleton collapsed as its leg was broken away from the rest of it. He picked himself up as the skeleton started piecing itself back together. Well, that was going to be a problem.

He took off running again, this time for the puppet master, or whatever this man was, controlling the animated skeleton. An arrow flew at his back, but he dove out of the way the moment he’d heard the string pulled back. Being a skeleton it was accurate, but not the best at judging a person’s motions. A living archer would have probably hit him. His fist slammed into the surprised man’s face, sending him stumbling back as Sharaku shook his own fist. From behind, he heard the string pulled back again. Hopefully, Tabitha could take care of that arrow too…

Sharaku’s magic was so situational. Instead of using any he simply charged ahead. Sure, he gave her a bit of praise at first, and she took that, but she was focused more on the fight. Usually she was focused on teasing him, but not now, no, she was actually getting something done now. She would have hated to have a magic that changed on a whim. Her magic was an extension of herself, quick, almost invisible, and wielding of her knives. The knives were not magic, of course, but they were part of her. What did magic say about Sharaku? That he was merely a reflection of the things around him? Tabitha doubted that.

Sharaku slide into the skeleton, but quickly it started repairing itself. “How quaint..” Tabitha mumbled. Tabitha saw Sharaku rush the caster and she took off running to get a close vantage point. She didn’t feel like letting Sharaku get shot in the back. She had to get up close to the archer, and as he fired again, she launched one of her knives at it again, knocking this arrow away as well. Once close she pushed a hand out, string shooting from her fingers, wrapping thickly around the skeleton. His bow was dropped, and as the rope held him tight, a few of the bones dropped off, unable to properly connect back.

[140/150 MP](Tangle, being sustained)
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Sharaku heard the familiar twang of an arrow, followed by the clink of a dagger deflecting the arrow again, just like he had expected. This was Sharaku’s first mission with Tabitha, but ever since their first meeting when she’d played with her knives, he’d pegged her for being… well, a wizard with her knives, and her string magic made her doubly more so. The skeleton shattered behind him as the man in control gripped his face and glared, spewing curses and threats. “That will is rightfully mine! I will kill you for defiling that grave!” he bellowed mostly at Sharaku, but at Tabitha as well.

A glowing energy appeared in the man’s hand as he slowly raised it as if pushing something up. Suddenly, four skeletal arms burst from the ground, shortly followed by skeletons. At the same time, a large sword appeared in the man’s hand. Sharaku hadn’t waited for the man to finish, and grabbed the man’s free hand with a slightly cocky grin on his face. In his own hand, a large sword that matched the man’s appeared in his hand, and he promptly used it to deflect his attacker’s blade as he leapt back. Sharaku wordlessly turned the defense into an attack, kneeing the man in the gut and slamming the sword down at his head, only to have his own sword blocked. As he’d said before, weapons weren’t his specialty. Sharaku knew better than to attack a man with a large sword without adequate defenses, however.

Oh, he was annoyed about defiling graves, was he? Well maybe he should have thought about that a bit more. She went into a tomb, took out a paper, and put it back all nice and neat. This guy? He was starting a fight in a cemetery, and summoning skeletons. “That’s pretty hypocritical if you ask me,” Tabitha weighed in without caring if anyone was listening to her.

The skeleton she’d just bound shattered, and she glared. Waste of a perfectly good spell. Or perhaps the spell helped that, she didn’t know. She just knew Sharaku was having a blast fighting and Tabitha wanted things over quick. She enjoyed a good fight, but that didn’t mean she wanted to waste energy. Two new skeletons were appearing and Tabitha chucked two knives at once at one of them, crashing through it, then jerking them back with her strings to make sure she caused a bit more damage. Tabitha shot a string of poison at the man, hoping to slow him down and give Sharaku more of an advantage. Her cutting strike, lowering the man’s agility, was cast from one hand while she used a rope grab spell to trip the second skeleton. Then moving over and jumping on its chest in her boots. She backed off quickly though, knowing they were prone to re-animating in seconds.

[115/150 MP]
Words 5492/1000

Sharaku was too busy tangling with their target to have any fun with the skeletons. It didn’t matter too much though, because Tabitha seemed to have a handle on them. He was starting to wonder if she would have made quicker work of this guy than he was able to, parrying and swinging and being parried in turn. He was getting tired of this dance though, and just as he was supposed to parry yet another attack, he instead let the sword drop as the man struck it, making him stumble forward as his weight and momentum kept him going.

In the meantime, Sharaku let go, opting to punch the man in the gut and breaking his concentration. Both bone swords shattered as he interrupted the man’s concentration. The reassembling skeletons did the same as the man gasped for breath. Sharaku smashed a fist into the side of the man’s head, knocking him out cold before he could regain his senses and summon any more skeletons.

Sharaku popped his knuckles and his neck, grinning slightly as he looked to Tabitha, a sparkle of excitement and adrenaline in his eye. He did enjoy a good fight. “Thanks,” he told her with a nod. “It’s been a rather interesting day, if I do say so myself.”

The thing about bringing Sharaku along was that it wasn’t for convenience. It was for fun. Sure, she could have handled a simple job like this. She could even have showed up at nightfall and asked if he wanted to come along, but she hadn’t. She liked to keep her money to herself, so it took some ulterior motives. She just felt like having fun with the awkward stoic guy for a few hours. It had been fun.

Now the fight was winding down. Sharaku smashed the man’s head in and the summons seemed to fade out as Tabitha finished fighting. She looked to Sharaku and saw him smiling. She couldn’t help but smile, seeing him look suddenly woken up. Maybe they needed to do this more often. She laughed when he thanked her, “Well maybe I’ll just have to arrange getting into fights with you more often. You seem so fond of them,” she informed him with a maintained grin.

In any case, the fighting all seemed to be wound down, so she moved over to him, hooked an arm around his, and pulled him along. “We should make our exit. I’d like to deposit these items in the hands of a woman holding our payment… Then we can do whatever your little heart desires.” She suspected that would be something along the lines of… well… leaving, but she enjoyed teasing him. It was all in good fun at least.

Tabitha walked along with Sharaku until they found the woman. Just before walking up to her Tabitha had said, “Now, let me introduce you to another attractive woman you can practice flirting with.” She knew he wouldn’t, but she could absolutely not resist. She put on a lovely smile for the beautiful blond and her cold look.

“Did you get it?” she asked immediately.

“Of course,” Tabitha said, holding out the documents. Angelica took them, giving Sharaku only a passing glance. They must have been in order because she smiled.

“Good work. I trust you’ll take care of this as you wish,” she said before handing Tabitha a small pouch of money. She hastily took her leave from there. Tabitha shrugged.

“I guess we have no options but to go back to your room and sort the jewels.” Her tone was void of indications she was kidding.

Sharaku was, in fact, relatively happy after a good fight that wasn't just picking on an idiot who wouldn't leave him or someone else alone. He followed Tabitha back to the woman, who seemed very impatient for her deed. He hoped she was the one who rightfully should have it, but he supposed it didn’t matter. They were a dark guild, after all, and what they did wasn’t usually very romantic or pretty. It didn’t particularly matter to him, so long as he got what he wanted in the long run – power and revenge.

“W-wait… back to my room? Why?” Sharaku asked, raising an eyebrow at Tabitha. He’d been distracted by his thoughts on the job and wasn’t prepared for the teasing he was normally more prepared for. He blinked a few times, his normally blank expression slightly surprised for a a fraction of a second. He recovered quickly though. It probably wasn’t quickly enough for his tastes, though. He sighed, still in high spirits from their mission despite the teasing. “Better there than here, I suppose,” he nodded, turning to make his way towards his dorm room. He pushed open the door, letting Tabitha in first as he normally did.

Oh he couldn’t just do that and get away with it. Tabitha immediately smiled at his faltering. She enjoyed his awkwardness, and he was normally too good at hiding it. When this happened Tabitha stepped clover and latched an arm around his again. Like she was attached to him now, and he couldn’t go away. He could, easily. He could rebuff her need to tease him, but would he? They got along, and she was fond of him. If he was always pushed her back from her happy teasing, things wouldn’t be where they were. So with her arm holding his she was happy. He wasn’t bad to be next to, in any case.

“Oh come on, Shar. Don’t be so shy. Don’t you bring girls back to your room every night? It’ll be just like usual. Besides, intimate dealings need an intimate setting, right?” She didn’t mind being alone with him. She’d spent all day showing him something she loved, whether it meant anything or not. Of course, it was just money. Intimate to some people, but it was just money to her. He could take more than his fair share if he really liked. Except that would mean giving away some control, and that was where she found fault.

“You know you’re the only woman who makes her way into my room,” Sharaku insisted, sticking his hands in his pockets and trying to act nonchalant about it. He sighed silently as his cheeks turned slightly rosy. “Money is not intimate,” he countered, not really putting much effort into arguing despite his disagreement. He knew she was just teasing him with that. The problem was it worked, and it made him feel a little bit awkward. Maybe that was why he spent time with her. She had a way of pressing buttons that made him feel less bored or something.

Sharaku led the way to the dorm room, mostly silent unless Tabitha said anything. He still seemed to be in high spirits despite his silence, though. Once there, he opened the door with his key, thankful no idiot girls had changed his lock while he was gone. Once was enough. “Alright, I’ll take whatever’s fair,” he told her, not especially concerned. He needed the money, though he didn’t need it very badly so it didn’t matter to him what he got. He’d mostly come because she’d asked. He wasn’t actually sure she’d actually promised him *any* money at all, now that he thought about it.

“Well that makes me special then, right?” she asked with a pleasant smile. His hands were in his pockets, but she still had his arm, and he was still blushing. That meant she was getting what she wanted, and she didn’t mind that at all. Control, right? “Money can be intimate. Some people love it more than they like any living thing. I suppose that’s not you though. But being in a room with someone can be intimate for wholly other reasons.” She just had to remind him of that. She was a bit more vague, because she felt she should leave it be there. For her, being alone with a man usually didn’t mean much, but teasing Shar was too fun to pass up.

She didn’t know anything about some girl changing Sharaku’s locks. Some part of Tabitha’s mind was possessive of Sharaku. Most of it was fond of him, but the part that was possessive would not have liked some girl tackling him. At the very least Tabitha hadn’t tackled him. And even if she did, she’d known him for months. She was allowed. No, that was exactly how this thought worked. Actually she wasn’t allowed, and she knew it. Every time she pressed his buttons she knew he could press back. He didn’t, and she enjoyed that. When they got back to the room she sat on his bed. She began pulling money out with magical string. She gave him exactly half. “There, half for you, for being a good sport.”

After a bit more mostly friendly conversation, Tabitha was happy leaving and heading home. She had spent all day with the boy, she didn’t need to keep pestering him.

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