Afternoon, Stranger. (Open)

[Zakari Skinner]

Five... Four.... Three... Two... One.

Charming demeanor engaged.

Zakari Skinner walked into the tavern, cape billowing after him. He had clearly made quite the entrance; the select few people in the bulding were all eying him suspiciously. With one bright, beautiful grin, he made his way to a table and sat down. It was quiet for a little while, and then people began to talk again.

The tall dwarf wasn't one to pass up a little extra attention. With a slight flick of his wrist, he flashed the hilt of his sword; he was never one to travel unarmed. In a few moment someone came over to take his order, a girl who seemed to be familiar. A warm smile graced his features as he told her exactly what he wanted.

"Brandy and bread."

The girl nodded and went off to retrieve his goods. Today was a good day. Now he just needed a woman to target...

[Caedis Clepta]

She's been there for hours. So long, in fact, that apparently her lingering was taken for being a prostitute and the man next to her had been buying her so many drinks that she had to slip them into his cup when he wasn't looking. Not that it was hard; the man was too far gone to even notice.

Nope, she wasn't standing at the bar to be alone or anything. The first free drink was nice. The tenth wasn't. Nor were his not-so-subtle movements closer to her.

He took the door opening and the tavern hushing as an opportunity. Completely ignoring the sword hanging from her waist and the other assorted weapons pockets, he had reached over and grabbed at her.

This bird wasn't going to fly.

As soon as people began talking, he got closer. To the point where she could feel his breath. Resisting the urge to shudder, she turned and looked at him, letting him get closer and closer...

In a quick movement Caedis got a good grip of his hair, pushed his head against the counter as hard as she could, and let him fall back onto the ground behind her.

The tavern quieted again and it took all she had to not laugh. Laughing, in this situation, would be bad. Instead she looked at him as innocently as she could and said a single word, "Oops."

[Zakari Skinner]

Screw those other people's opinions. Zakari Skinner wasn't some shy boy afraid to express his opinion. He was a happy-go-lucky moron that did nothing for society. So when that chick slammed the man's head against the counter, all he could do was laugh.

A for real laugh too, not just some chuckle. It was a full on, gut busting, somewhat charming guffaw that escaped him. It was rather contagious, setting a few others off as well. Why not make the best of the situation? It was, after all, rather hilarious. How often did you get to see such an act?

Slowly, Zak quieted and wiped a tear from his eye. That was probably the hardest he had laughed in quite a while. Shaking his head in silence, he took the brandy from the tavern wench and began to sip at it. Once he worked up his confidence (not that he needed to, of course) he fully intended to get his tan ass over there and speak to the daring woman.

"That was very funny." The statement was barely audible unless someone was really tuned in on him, but he couldn't help but to mutter it under his breath.

[Caedis Clepta]

Well, Caedis needed to correct herself. The silence only lasted until she spoke. The man who walked in and looked as if he were a proud male peacock (and she'd met one, so she knew what she was talking about) had promptly burst into laughter and the rest of the tavern followed suit. At least she wasn't going to be kicked out.

She finished her drink, savoring in the feeling of not having some guy invading her personal space, then looked back at the tavern with an almost uninterested eye. These weren't her people; her people were louder and rougher and many of them would have taken her fending off that guy as an invitation.

The only one who seemed to was Peacock, who was staring at her from his seat and... talking to himself?

With a raised eyebrow she made her way over. Her movements practically oozed a feline grace and a snake's control; fluid movements, slow enough to lure the mind into a false sense of security, but ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Without an invitation she plopped herself down in front of him, hands folded on the table in front of her.

"Sir, I think you may have a few problems. Talking to yourself isn't normal. Nor is flaunting yourself like you're some god's gift to humanity."

[Zakari Skinner]

The one who did the head smashing was clearly one who was not normal. Something inside Zak told him that she was probably not one to tease and pick on, like he commonly did most of the other females he associated himself with. He didn't really listen to his instincts when it came to that kind of thing, but he figured it would be best to keep his guard up and try not to let it down.

He studied the girl carefully as she sat herself rather assertively on the chair across from him. This one was clearly not one of the shy, innocent women that he rather enjoyed chatting with. This chick was probably going to be a fun-sucking wench who didn't really care for Zak's company.

Fine by him.

"Sir, I think you may have a few problems. Talking to yourself isn't normal. Nor is flaunting yourself like you're some god's gift to humanity." Zak quirked an eyebrow and gave the girl a crooked little smile. Brash was a good word to use to describe her. Rude and annoyingly concerned with other people were a few others he thought suited her. He knew he didn't have a problem talking to himself, nor did he simply believe he was some god's gift to humanity.

He knew he was God's gift to humanity, and he simply didn't talk to himself. I make brilliant comments that only people near me can hear. If she intended to inject his ego with poison and deflate, she was wrong. That kind of thing rarely happened to Zakari Skinner.

"Clearly you're confident, accusing me of having problems. That only leads me to believe you have plenty more yourself. And, for your information, I am a gift to humanity; by saying that, I mean more than just humans." He accompanied the statement with a dashing wink, and decided that was enough on that subject. Zak's main concern now was figuring out what she was and what she could do, as she was not one who had a particularly bright and friendly aura about her.

[Caedis Clepta]

Of course she was confident. She was practically the ruler of her trade and had skills to show for it. His confidence, however, was more arrogance and from the way he flaunted himself it seemed he was trying to compensate for something.

Caedis's only problem was deciding whether he was compensating for what was in his pants or his skills in battle.

Probably both.

"You're more arrogant than some of the peacocks I've met," she told him, dryly, and in a manner that was more observation than anything else. If he took it personally she was going to laugh. She took a moment to just look at him before going on. "My confidence is born of knowing and understanding my flaws and limitations. Yours seems to be born from wooing brainless women who don't know better."

[Zakari Skinner]

Zak shrugged her comment off and propped his feet up on a nearby chair. He was lucky they reached. Though he wasn't the tallest guy ever, he really tried to be the best he could be. Normally he succeeded, until someone was able to get in his way and stop him from achieving a goal.

To Zakari, that was this random girl who he was now having a casual conversation with. Someone who tried to aggravate people to their breaking point; a person who was irritating and observational. That only made it easier for them to weasel under someone else's skin.

The man gave her a very studious look, his warm brown eyes taking up a more serious tone. "That's quite the assumption to make. You really piss people off. Seems to me like you're one of the lonely geniuses that have never actually had a real friend. You're one of those people that go around stealing goods and random artifacts to assure yourself you've done your fill, giving you a false sense of accomplishment. In reality, you're lonely and just want someone to talk to."

Zakari was not done with his ridiculously long speel of ideas just yet, so he continued talking in his smoother timbre, "I am the kind of person who reaches out to other people, the one who listens and encourages others to be who they want to be. If that means making them feel beautiful, so be it."

Long story short, this was a couple of very different confident Caitlyns arguing about being negative Nancy and positive Polly.

[Caedis Clepta]

Oh this was great. What a load of rubbish this guy was telling her. And he actually believed it. Stealing to leave a mark and feel accomplished. Bitch, please. That was child's play; that was a hero who tried to convince themselves with every fiber of their being that they were the villain.

And she, definitely, knew her place in the moral scale.

It took all she had not to burst out laughing in his face, but she had a plan. Or, rather, Caedis wasn't going to let an opportunity to mock someone slip by.

"Oh, random sir, you have me figured out! Why had I not realized I have no one before? Oh whoa is me, I've been wasting my life. Sir, please take me to the house of your maker and allow me to wash away my sins and then tell you my entire life story!"

She kept a serious expression for about point five seconds afterwards. She didn't laugh -- that would have been a touch too rude for the situation, she thought, though she wasn't sure how it mattered much anyways -- but a cruel smile did spread across her lips.

Caedis leaned in a little, almost as if sharing a secret. "You need to work on your psychoanalyzing. I do it because it's fun."

[Zakari Skinner]

Dark brown eyes scanned the other in the bar. They all seemed to be minding their own business, but he could tell they were actually eavesdropping on the current conversation he was having. If it came to it, he could tell they'd be quick to choose a side.

Zak didn't bother to stop the brilliantly white smile from spreading across his face. This was priceless. "Pathetic, you know, the way you try to put me down." Pathetic, you know, what you just said. The tan man followed the annoying girl's lead and leaned in toward her as well. She was setting the mood, he was merely obliging to a silent command.

"You do it because you're annoying." That was it. End of discussion. He had other people to please, other things to see, and most definitely other females to speak with. Females who wouldn't drive him nuts. It was kind of sad that he was getting annoyed by her. He usually wasn't this easily aggravated, but this one was a special case.

Bashing him when he was in the mood to please other people wasn't something someone usually did unless they felt the need to be noticed and beat to a pulp. This one was a chick, and Zak wasn't going to be able to beat her up without someone else getting on his case.

[Caedis Clepta]

Awww, he thought she was annoying. That was cute. She would have pretended to care but she couldn't force herself to. If she'd ever met someone who was incorruptible, it would be him. Of course, then again, from his finery he was a member of some church.

Nope, not incorruptible at all.

"I can't help how other people see me. Of course, I tend to be much more pleasant when there's a bag of gold in front of me instead of someone that's trying to tell me how bad my life choices are." The biting, sarcastic edge to her voice had left, for the most part. Some still remained; after all, what could she say that wasn't sarcastic in some form or another?

Without waiting for much of a reply, she continued. "Pathetic? Possibly. I will admit that. You're smarter than the last person I had to verbally spar with and I think I'm still waiting for him to show up. He has an off knack for being places where I don't want to see people."

She leaned back slightly, tired of leaning forward (and the strain it put on her still slightly unwell leg). "I am going to make an educated guess here. From your finery, you're in the church. From the bad state of said finery and from that sword you can't resist showing off, I would guess you're not a priest. By the way, anyone can show off a sword it's not that impressive," to illustrate the point, she reached behind her, unsheathed a sword and placed it on the table. It had been cleaned up and sharpened since she recovered it from the temple and Caedis was aware just how pretty it looked now. "The point is, just because you're doing work for your all-mighty maker, don't pretend to know people. There are occupations where you need to learn how to know people. Like mine. You just need to learn how to wave that sword around and smite then with your holy energies."

There was a pause, in which she realized that the tavern was watching her. Namely, the hand still wrapped around the hilt of an ancient sword. Slightly amused she unwrapped her hand and brought it back down to her lap. An audience wasn't something she was used to, but it's not like she didn't enjoy it. After all, it wasn't like she was doing actual business.

Though, there was still something bothering her. For a moment she pursed her lips together, her brows unconsciously furrowing, and then she shrugged in an almost regretful manner. "You know, I have no idea what I was going to do with the last part. Maybe some lesson of 'don't assume because you're probably wrong' but I don't think I executed that right."

[Zakari Skinner]

Zak laughed at her adorable little assumption that he was from a church. Sure, he traded most of his supplies with church-goers and those who had access to holy talismans, but he was not a part of an actual church. As a matter of fact, he refused to go into the buildings in which people worshipped any god. He wasn't a fan of someone's religious beliefs being shoved down his throat. No one was, as far as he knew.

Yes, Zak was hypocritical. One of his many personality flaws. "I belong to no church. I slay demons to protect the people in which I serve." Zak figured she'd find a way to turn that against him or say something dumb, so he continued without giving her a chance to talk. "The people in which I serve are those who are too weak or too stubborn to protect themselves. I only slay demons who I believe to be a threat to others. I would kill another man such as myself if they were posing threats to those I protect."

Zak noticed the good boy vibe he was giving off, and he didn't mind. This was actually kind of fun, playing things out like some kind of scripted performance. "I don't really 'show off' my sword. I do it to let people know who I am." A tanned hand reached down and plucked the sword from its scabbard, laying it on the table. "This sword was magically enhanced to slay demons and those who mean others harm. There are few others with it's capabilities. See the runes and symbols engraved on the hilt?"

Zak's finger pointed at the hilt of the sword quietly, and then it pointed at the shiny, newly polished blade. "The marks on the blade haven't shown up yet because I haven't spoken the language required to activate them. Every one of these blades have a name. Everyone in league with me, my fellow demon slayers, have a different name for their sword. That name is translated to a different language, and magic is used to activate the sword's true abilities in battle."

Zak sheathed the sword. He was rambling now, he knew. It was senseless to do so, but the looks on the people around him's faces were priceless. He wanted to be adored, and he was working on getting to that social status. Sighing, Zak sat upright in his chair. "But, you're right. I don't think either of us actually did something with our points, we just babbled some nonsense. I try not to make too many assumptions, but I just can't help it."

[Caedis Clepta]

Was he really so... stupid about his own order? Paladins -- all of them -- were given power by the church. Where did he think that fancy sword came from? Where did he think it's abilities came from? One of the church's pet mages, probably, unless he happened upon one of the really old swords from when the Paladins had their own magics.

Those days were long over. As she was sure he thought his conversation was.

The lesson on his sword was dull, as was his pretending to mock her. If he was ignorant, she wasn't going to enlighten him any time soon. Just wait for the blow to come upon him when he least expected it.

"Really? I wasn't aware that dramatically throwing around your clothing to show that sword wasn't showing off. It's a logical assumption to say that you live in the spotlight and think that sword grants you some privilege." And he saved people. Pfft. Some people didn't want to be saved.

"And here we are, justifying our occupations to each other. Though, I wonder, if we are both not simply fate's fools for trying to have this debate. After all," Caedis's face broke into a large and amused grin, "there are tales of corruption and death in everywhere and everything, so you never know. A little thief could end up being more virtuous than some so called church pet."

She shrugged, noticing on how he seemed to love to have people hanging off his every word. They probably adored him for simply existing. Oh, how fun would it be to bring him down to her level. To show him that life gives only bad choices for some. Maybe, one day, she would show him.

But right now he was too busy thinking with his unjustified ego to actually see the world around him.

[Zakari Skinner]

"Clearly, you're not listening to me. A petty theif such as yourself should allow a great amount of time listening and plotting your next move, choosing to go spend your time on other, more 'important' things. So why do you dawdle with us lowlifes and insist upon harassing people who have done no harm to you? Surely you like watching people squirm, but for that no one wants to enjoy your existence. Perhaps you should just find a good man with stability in life and settle down with him," Zak hoped this would manage to strike a nerve. If not, oh well, "For then he could easily provide for you and all of the menacing little brats you would bear."

Quite content with himself, Zakari propped himself up on the chair's back two legs. He managed to maintain the position without much teetering and instability. Surprising to him, but most people could fufill the idea with ease.

It wasn't like Zak didn't have a great sense of balance, it was just that he wasn't all that great at doing the chair stunt. A long time back he had actually fallen out of a chair whilst teetering on the back two legs and it had more or less screwed him up.

Now he felt he was fine, and he didn't intend to let something like that happened ever again.