You’re not a person you’re a disease (Tag Syrene)

[Rei]

Cr’oph was bored. Bored and pissed off. His hair was noticeably shorter these days. All because S’rei was a strict asshole. Even the kohl that rimmed his eyes usually had been commented on. To the young bronzers benefit he was obeying…but only when S’rei wasn’t around. The red head still wore his trademark liner on a daily basis. Or did until Mavenath got the bright idea to convince Jiggles to hide it. The man had spent the entire morning looking for the stuff and failing. Not even bribing the chubby brown mandyr for the location had worked. His lovely bronze had bribed the mandyr with something better already apparently. Who’s side was Mavenath on anyway? Obviously not his. Stupid dragon.

As the weyrling strode through the hallways he tried to think of someway to get his liner back. Bribes hadn’t worked. Maybe force…so intent was he in his thoughts that Cr’oph almost ploughed into someone as he rounded the corner. Automatically his hand shot out and grabbed the woman’s elbow to keep her from biting it on the cold stone floor. “Excuse me.” He said in a monotone voice before raising one eyebrow slightly. Well what do we have here? A girl. Not a bad looking one either and low and behold Faranth must be smiling on him because she had enough kohl rimming her eyes for three girls. Hmmm. Well then maybe he wouldn’t have to pull off Jiggles’ tail.

Immediately his demeanor change and he gave Syrene an amused smile. “I should watch where I am going. Looks like I gave you two black eyes. Stupid me. Please take my sincere apologies.” His voice was warm and obviously amused as Cr’oph offered her a hand. He didn’t expect her to take it. Not at all. His clue in? The icy glare of death she shot his way. Sexy. Really. Still the bronzers words served as enough distraction that his other hand could carefully search her pocket and come up with…bingo! Kohl. Raising it to eye level he smiled. “Mind if I borrow this? I seem to have lost mine. You don’t mind surely? You’ve got enough on for a weeks use for me after all.” With a smirk he fisted the kohl. If she wanted it back she was going to have to fight for it. Possible playmate and kohl. Maybe today was worth waking up for.

[Shiny]

Scowling, Syrene prowled the corridors, black cloak rippling behind her like a cloud of doom. Her stomach squelched a demand - feed me! - resulting in a huff from the Candidate. She normally didn't eat very much, especially food that she had not made herself. She hadn't gone out to hunt in a while, and as a result she was out of meat; there was nowhere else to turn. Selenitas food, yum. Note the sarcasm. She had eaten here once before, and had had a Fortian-to-Fortian death-glaring match chat with Katar. Tch. What nimrod would she meet today?

Gliding around the corner, she was startled - yes, Syrene was actually, for once in her life, startled - by the wall of man she crashed into. How had she let down her guard? She should have seen this guy - the nimrod of the day - coming. Starting to fall backwards, a hand grabbed onto her elbow to steady her, and she hissed, almost letting herself react normally by drawing a blade. She didn't need help. She wasn't weak! (But really, she kind of was. Almost no muscles on the girl.)

Shifting her feet to take a grounded stance, she shoved Cr'oph's hand from her elbow, her narrowing dark eyes fixating icily onto the redhead's. Nimrod, he was. The cold expression she wore did not change in the least, even when Cr'oph excused himself. She pursed her lips, refusing to say anything polite back. It was his fault they had crashed, anyway. Why should she have to apologize for his idiocy?

Syrene didn't avert her soul-sucking eyes from his face, even when he extended his hand to her in greeting. Did he think she was friendly? Wanting to swat his hand away, she refrained. She was supposed to be blending in. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen.

Her scowl deepened, eyes glinting with cold fury, the wish for his violent and sudden death written clearly in them. This man was sourly testing her patience. Two black eyes? A corner of her mouth quirked, a nasty smirk starting to form on her lips. And now, after insulting her, he was pickpocketing. Well, she had refrained from violence, but he'd just given her the perfect excuse to get away with it. Surely the Weyr wouldn't kick her out for persecuting a thief, would they?

She could have cut off his hand, easily. But no, this was far too amusing to react in such a way. Perhaps she would have fun with this, let him pretend he was getting away with it. Get his hopes up high and then crush them brutally; yes, that sounded like fun to her. The villainous raccoon's lips showed the lightest hint of frigid amusement at Cr'oph's explanation. She did love her eyeliner, but on a man? The image her imagination conjured up of the redhead wearing eyeliner made her want to laugh. He couldn't be serious.

That was enough. With a speed that rivaled lightning, Syrene fluidly pulled out one of her many hidden blades and threw herself at Cr'oph, pressing him up against the wall. She was extraordinarily light, but her surprise attack and momentum would have had the power to knock him back. Incredibly fast reflexes was all she could rely on - she was not powerful in the least. Yes, she was decent with hand-to-hand combat, but because of her powerless build, she refrained from it. Blade held against his throat, she sneered at him with murderous eyes. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to not notice my possessions being stolen?" she hissed, voice laced with heinous amusement. Maybe today would prove to be interesting, or, dare she say it, fun. "And you? Eyeliner? Please."

[Rei]

Oh yay. Nasty girl was nasty~ It took almost all of Cr’oph’s resolve not to chuckle when Syrene slapped his hand away from her elbow. Oh pet had a little bite to her did she? That was beyond amusing. He towered over her after all. It was funny not to have a girl shrink away from him as his nervous female classmate did. Hmm. What else would the little slip darkness try? It was amusing to think of the possibilities and the possible outcomes. Sometimes the little nasty ones like this where right good in bed. He should know. The bronzer had pursued enough in his days at Benden. Willing partners where seemingly more lacking here at Selenitas but he attributed that to him being mostly busy. However when an opportunity presented itself far be it from the red head to turn his nose up at such a ‘gift’.

Grey blue eyes watched Syrene with amusement that Cr’oph refused to hide. Did she know how horribly funny and adorable she was being right now? Like a black cat with it’s fur all in a ruffle. The cold smirk she gave him was returned with an amused smile. The bronzerider wasn’t stupid, he could see the woman’s anger building and he was just waiting for Syrene to react. He wanted her to. Come on princess. Show me what your made of. When it happened finally Cr’oph was ready. For a tiny thing she was fast. Steel already hm? Now, now bad girl. That wasn’t very lady like at all~ Maybe he could teach her some manners later. That was bound to be fun.

The tall bronzer allowed Syrene to push him back against the wall even as he drew his own knife, slipping it up between hers and his throat to easily block her attempt at a pin. A laugh escaped his throat, the sound loud and mirthful perhaps slightly mocking. Turns of experience and training he had at Benden. Cr’oph wasn’t an easy one to get a jump on and he was good with a blade. Just ask M’kai. Besides even had the small slip of a woman gotten the jump on him the man was more than strong enough to easily overpower her. Instead he chose to humor her. Let her have a little bit of her win. Feed her ego a bit. Would be easier to manipulate her in the long run if she thought she had something on him.

As Syrene hissed at him he smiled at her. “Now, now pet shouldn’t play with things you don’t know how to use.” He was, of course, speaking of the knife and it was an easy matter to grab the wrist her knife was held in with his opposite hand. Automatically Cr’oph slid his hand up to seek the pressure point between thumb and index finger. Best disarm her first. At the same time he shifted his leg to press against hers in aid to force her to back off him. Not that he minded the contact. At all. But better safe than sorry at his point.

“Hmm don’t remember assuming you where stupid pet. I just thought I’d borrow. I wasn’t planning on keeping it. I’ll consider giving it back sugar. Such sweet words you gift me with.” The rider gave her a disarming smile. “Tell me pet or sugar which do you prefer?” Intentionally the bronzerider gave his voice a low seductive quality, just to see if he could spur Syrene to make a further attempt to strike back at him. Hmm yes she was fun.

((Shiny you godmoded a bit xP. Give me a chance to react hun. No way Cr’oph would stand there and let a woman half his size pin him and put a knife to his throat.))

[Shiny]

((I'm sorry Rei D: I was tired when I wrote it, so I guess I wasn't thinking... v_v I'm really sorry. I feel awful about it :( ))

Cr'oph was clearly trained in combat. Hm, so someone who wasn't useless in Selenitas. What a surprise. Amused, a small, cold grin spread on her face. She'd have to keep an eye on this one. He might actually be troublesome to deal with, if the need to ever arose. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at his words, watching the smile grow on his face. Oh, she was more than willing to show him how good she was with a blade. "Watch it, nimrod," she snarled, not knowing his real name. But nimrod suited him just fine. She watched his blade intercept hers and felt the force he exerted on her with his leg, pushing her away.

Growling, she shoved off him as she felt his hand come up to pinch a nerve and took a few steps back. He had intended on disarming her, but she wasn't going to let that happen. Syrene would never be disarmed, even if it killed her. She could tell he wasn't someone she could easily hurt. Especially up close, where he had all of the power and she was just a little Gothic leech hanging off him. There was nothing she could do that would catch him off guard, she could tell. The smirk on her face grew. Finally, someone who was worthy of attention.

But what pissed her off was his clear lack of respect for her. Pet? Sugar? What world was he from? Her cold smile disintegrated into a scowl again, her knuckles going white from her intensifying grip on the blade's handle (though you couldn't really see the difference - her skin was that pale on a regular basis). "Neither," she spat, glaring at the redhead. "Call me Syrene, or I'll gut you like a fish," the blade glinted in her hand as she held it up in a threatening manner. The black-cloaked figure was far enough away from him now that she'd have to take a few steps just to get to him, and vice-versa. Although the 20-turn-old sounded as though she meant every single one of the venomous words that came out of her mouth, she knew it was a false threat (although she wouldn't love anything more than to follow through with it). Cr'oph wouldn't let her get close enough to do damage. This infuriated her.

"Don't fuck with me." she growled at his seductive voice. And now he was mocking her. Fury started to simmer dangerously in her veins. It would take a lot more than that to get a stupid, uncontrolled violent reaction out of her. Even if he was just going to borrow the eyeliner, she wouldn't have it. He could very well go find his own or go get another one, one that wasn't hers. "Give it back." Syrene jutted her knife forward a little as she spoke monotonously, trying to look threatening. If only she could catch him off-guard somehow...

[Rei]

Cr’oph’s smile didn’t falter. Ah nimrod. Well that wasn’t the worst thing he had been called. Pretty girl was amusing and seemed to have at least a bit of fighting experience. Her accent screamed northern too. No wonder. Fort more specifically. Girl was very far from home and it seemed she had yet to learn the subtleties to living in the south. Needed a better education clearly. Blue grey eyes watched as Syrene shoved off him to get some distance. Smart. His hand dropped to hover above one of his own hidden knifes after his failed attempt to disarm her. Little darkling did have some speed. Lucky for her because she was far to breakable. The bronzer leaned against the wall seemingly unconcerned one eyebrow arching upwards to regard Syrene.

Her reaction to his nicknames had Cr’oph chuckling in amusement. “Neither? That’s a shame I would really have liked to call you pet. Maybe get you a collar and lead. Yank you around when you’re naughty~” His voice was purposely baiting. Her growls and snarls where cute. Reminded him of a nasty canine. And oh now he wanted her to attempt to bite. Fun came in all sorts and even if he never got a lay out of her she could be fun to throw around. Oh he’d never hurt her but it was always fun to show females just how out of their league they where in comparison to males. The frustration on their faces was always soooo worth it. “Gut me hmm?” The bronzerider purred before moving to lift his shirt a little and display a small section of the scar gracing his abdomen. “I’m afraid you’re a little late to that game Pet and I don’t think I’ll be letting anyone that close again. Sorry Syrene.” An amused smile was given the girl before he intentionally took a step towards her and her glinting knife.

Confidence the rider had in spades. Perhaps it was in a way supremely arrogant of him but well Cr’oph had never concerned himself with arrogance. “Don’t fuck with you? Don’t worry pet I don’t think you could handle me. Would be fun for you to try through hmm?” His eyes half lidded and he ran his tongue over his bottom lip before laughing. “Easy now. I’ll give it back. Why don’t you put that thing away? All kidding aside people don’t always react well to weapons being pulled like that. If you pulled that on one of the other northern riders they’d be sheathing it in your body. Come now Syrene put it away.” As he spoke the bronzer swiped her liner over his eyes with obvious ease, perfectly lining them before he tossed the kohl back at her. No way he was getting close enough to get bit just yet. “There you go. Told you I wasn’t planning on keeping it. Just borrowing~”

[Shiny]

Dark eyes narrowed as Cr'oph put on an unconcerned look. He was bigger and stronger than she was, but she could do a hell of a lot of damage if she managed to catch him off-guard. And he looked like he would be smart enough to know that. So why push her buttons with this acting? The answer was obvious: this guy was out looking for fun. And really, she was bored, too. Besides, what was the point in trying to attack him for real, here and now? There was no way she'd be able to scratch him.

The small, pale woman snorted at Cr'oph's teasing words. It wasn't so much at the naughty part - she was sure she could be quite naughty if she wanted to be - it was the fact that he was implying she'd be naughty with him. Not in a million turns. "In your dreams," she spat, cold eyes glued to him. Truthfully, if she had to admit it, Cr'oph was decent-looking. He did have nice blue-gray eyes. And his build was strong and tall - what most girls would go for. But Syrene had no interest in obtaining a lover. Having him on her side would be useful, however...

Her eyes sliced down his torso as he revealed part of a scar on his abdomen. Damn, she wouldn't be the first to try that stunt on him. The feel of protection from the knife in her hand seemed to lessen as she stared at that scar; it made him seem invincible. She readjusted her grip on the knife, the feeling of vulnerability making her a little bit more on edge than she was before. A flash of amusement lit up her soulless eyes. "I love how you assume I want to get that close." Oh hey, he'd used her name. Perhaps he'd stopped with the stupid Pet thing. Perhaps she'd scared him off it. Somehow that seemed unlikely but she let herself think it anyway. Nothing like boosting your own ego.

Both the back of her neck and the small of her back prickled when Cr'oph took a step closer towards the knife she was pointing at him threateningly. Was he stupid? He was putting himself at risk. Unfortunately, she couldn't back up more than half a step without running into the wall behind her. She took that extra half-step away from him anyway. She did want to have fun playing with Cr'oph, but his current atmosphere was making her feel vulnerable, and she hated that feeling. She needed to feel like she had control of the situation. The corners of her lips twitched in what was supposed to be a cold smile as she snorted at his playful, lusty facial movements. Men were such pigs. "I could handle you, but it wouldn't be worth it to waste my energy." Her demonic grin stretched slightly. "And here I thought you weren't going to let anyone get that close, Red." And yes, she'd nicknamed him Red. If he could have a nickname for her, she'd have a nickname for him, too. Besides, the idjit still hadn't given her a name. So he was stuck with Red, whether he liked it or not. It suited him anyway, and would probably - hopefully - get on his nerves. Syrene's eyes shifted from his slightly to the side, to stare at his hair. "Who would want to get so close with the split ends you have? Did someone sheer your hair off or something?" she sneered, tone just slightly playful.

At Cr'oph's cajoling, Syrene growled lightly. Did the redhead seriously expect her to put away her knife? It was really the only promise of safety she had. She was of such a small build, she wouldn't be able to defend herself against a fourteen-turn-old, nevermind a strong, adult Bronzerider. "How can I trust what you're saying? I come from the North. Weapon reactions are a daily matter there." She grunted, tilting her body a little and sliding her blade back into its hidden sheath, not wanting Cr'oph to see where exactly she had one of her weapons hidden. Syrene didn't like this much - he could just be setting a trap - but really, there would be no point in him trying to attack her. Plus, she had lots of other weapons she could easily access, including the blades strapped to her thighs. And with lightning-fast reflexes and a talent with aim, the dark girl doubted Cr'oph would want to attack her, even if she didn't have weapons in her hands.

A hand snatched out to catch the flying kohl, and she brought it to eye-level, inspecting it closely. Then, she lowered it. Usual frown gracing her mouth, she stared up at him and growled, "It has Red cooties now." Yes, she did have a sense of humor, though she seemed completely serious with that deadpan voice of hers. She took a step towards him, diminishing the space between them a little more. She ignored the vulnerability hovering heavily on her shoulders and let her braveness take over. The kohl was repulsively outstretched in her hand as if it was crawling with something disgusting. "Keep it." she commanded, waiting for a reaction from Cr'oph. Truthfully, she had lots more kohl - losing one half-used stick was not going to affect her much.

((So yeah, I'm assuming Cr'oph has split-ends, umm... If that's wrong, please let me know and I'll take it out~ ))

[Rei]

Again a smile graced Cr’oph’s features. “Only in my dreams hmm? Well then I have a feeling I’ll have some pretty good ones tonight.” He winked at Syrene then. Happy that he had finally gotten his hands on some kohl. It irritated Mavenath and that was almost more pleasing than the fact that his eyes where again lined. Her reaction to his small step forward wasn’t ignored and he actually titled his head as he considered it. To the bronzers mind it represented a small victory. The red head stood his ground now neither approaching or backing off. The distance they now stood at was acceptable. He could defend easily in the space should he have to. But Cr’oph was under the impression that he wouldn’t have to.

Still the little black cat continued her baiting. Eyeing her with amusement the bronze rider shrugged his shoulders. “I tend to assume a lot you’ll quickly learn. Suppose that makes me a bit of an ass.” The tall man shrugged and smiled at her as if inviting her to share in on his little joke. If she got the reference of course. He wasn’t sure she would. However the red head also didn’t offer to clear it up for her. Tapping the heel of his boot in the stone hallway he merely watched her amused at her sudden realization hat she had lost the upper hand. Idly Cr’oph wondered what she would do and was answered by another round of snaky baiting conversation. A wide smile graced his features at the nickname and he actually chuckled. Oh how he had forgotten how nasty some northern woman could be. He missed that truthfully. These southern mice where far to flighty for the most part. This one was worthy prey.

“To be honest yeah someone did. Knifed it actually. I fixed it kind of.” Cr’oph shrugged after that flicked at a stand of his hair. “Who indeed? I rather thought you wanted to. Kind of upsetting that you don’t. I’m wounded Syrene.” Placing a hand on his breast he gave her an amused look as she sheathed her weapon despite her words. “Trust me Pet. You won’t want to be pulling that stuff on some of the other northerners. Some of them really might return the favor and much as I bet your blood would be pretty I’d hate to see it spilled.” With a grin the bronzerider tapped his chest. “I’d have to be upset if you got knifed I think Pet.”

Almost lazily he watched as she caught the kohl and examined it as if it had a disease. Resisting the urge to laugh at Syrene’s expression and words Cr’oph raised an eyebrow in mild surprise as she approached him. Perhaps she was getting a bit more at ease? Nah she still looked pretty wary. Which really the bronzer could hardly blame her. As she held the kohl out to him he grinned and took it purposely brushing her hand with his. “Well thanks pet. I’ll treasure it. Even if it does have cooties.” Pulling his hand back he tucked the kohl into his pocket and stretched before leaning back against the wall. “So I’m curious now. Where exactly do you come from Syrene?” Her accent pegged her as coming from somewhere near Fort and he was curious to see if she would give it away nor not. Whether she liked it or not he was now interested. Poor Pet. Stepping forward Cr’oph grinned and extended a hand. “Perhaps we could chat over food?” That was where she had been headed right?

[Shiny]

((lulz I'm sorry if this is crap, but I wrote this entire thing out and left to go to a concert, and when I came back to edit and post it, it was gone. Sooo I hope it's okay~ probably won't be as good as the first version was though.))

Watching Cr'oph with a look of contemptuous disbelief, her frown was cold and solid on her dry lips. Was Cr'oph actually hitting on her? Was he insane or just plain stupid? "I only cause nightmares. Sorry to burst your bubble," she spat, nose wrinkling as he winked at her. It was decided - something was seriously wrong with this man. Warily, she eyed Cr'oph as he tilted his head a little, as if considering their physical distances. She probably didn't want to know what he was thinking - it might hurt her pride.

"You are," she agreed with a blank expression, eyes narrowing at the playful shrug of his shoulders. Clearly, she'd missed some kind of joke. He didn't seem like he was going to clarify it, but she didn't really care, as long as she got to call him an ass. She would take any opportunity to be nasty. Syrene watched Cr'oph chuckle at the nickname with a blank face. Well, if he wasn't annoyed by it now, he would be, eventually. That is, given they still talked to each other in the future, and -- why was she thinking about a future with him in it? As far as she was concerned, this had all just been one big accident, and she intended on staying far away from this man. Something about him made her feel like she was in danger. Perhaps it was because she was entirely powerless around him (don't go thinking Syrene's gone mushy - it's only because he's taller and much more muscular. Sheesh). And she detested being powerless.

A wide, cold grin stretched her dry lips at Cr'oph's response. That was freaking hilarious. She'd only meant her banter to be of a joking nature (not a joke, since Syrene doesn't do jokes) - the fact that she'd actually guessed right was just... extremely pleasing. If someone tried to knife her hair, she'd knife them. And she was fairly certain Cr'oph would have done the same, too. Perhaps the person who committed such a sin on his hair was higher-rank? Or perhaps he actually did knife them. Who knew. She actually liked Cr'oph's hair more than she let on - it was super straight, and such a nice colour, too. And really, the split ends weren't all that bad. She was just poking fun at him. Not that she'd ever, EVER admit to any of that.

"Tch," she said, a hand going to rest on her narrow hip as he gave her an amused look and put a hand over his heart. Expressionlessly, she listened to the advice he had to say, actually absorbing it and committing it to memory. She didn't often listen to people unless she felt she had reason to. And this Cr'oph seemed to be telling the truth - after all, she herself knew how violent Northerners could be. But what confused her most was the fact that he'd be quote upset unquote at her being hurt. What did it matter to him? They'd just met, after all. It wouldn't make a difference to the world if she died right here, right now. Just another mouth to feed, she was. Still, Syrene said nothing in response to him, watching him unblinkingly.

A small but smug grin twitched at her cold lips as she took a step towards him, amused by the surprise shown in his features. Finally, she'd caught him off-guard. Kind of. Feeling a little bit of her control coming back, her grin grew. "Your own cooties, Red," she said, not even registering that he might have been implying that the cooties had been hers. Bah, men were the ones with cooties. And women, too. Except her. She wasn't whiny and girly and weak like the rest of them. Humans, she thought in a dry, hateful tone. And like hell he'd better treasure that - a gift from Syrene was practically unheard of. As soon as Cr'oph had taken the kohl from her, she bristled like an angry/horrified black cat. It took all of her willpower to not back up as far as she could. He touched her. Her hand. Syrene's hand. Touched it. Touched her. Syrene. She HATED being touched by anyone, even if it was the lightest brush of hands. But she was not going to hand the control she'd just won back to him on a silver platter, so he could kiss her ass. She wasn't moving anywhere despite how clearly uncomfortable she was.

It didn't seem possible for her to scowl any harder than she had been, yet she pulled it off at Cr'oph's question. Why would he want to know? He seemed like a smart enough person, he could figure it out. His accent was Northern, after all--

Wait.

Northern accent... Her gaze turned much more sharp and hateful than it had been yet today as realization hit her. This man's accent sounded Northern but wasn't entirely like hers. Which meant... he was either from Benden, or the area around it. Assuming she was actually correct, that was probably the reason she'd disliked him right from the get-go (other than the fact that he'd crashed into her and stole her kohl). "Fort Weyr," she hissed in response to his question, "surprising you didn't already guess that from my accent, Bendenite."

He might as well find out where she was from now - he'd get the picture that he should stay far away from her, for both of their benefits. Being a weyrbrat of Fort inbred the strong hatred of Bendenites into her blood; it would take some serious work to get along with whom she automatically flagged the enemy. (Some people from Fort were not quite as extreme as her, but her parents had been loyal to Fort and had raised her to be a Fort protector. Her mother, despite having been a nasty woman her entire life, was killed in battle against Benden, and as far as Syrene was concerned, it was Benden's fault that she'd suffered through war. She did have her reasons.)

Syrene blinked at him, her anger and discomfort still clearly shown in her face. What was he doing now? Tilting her head down, she looked at... the hand he extended to her. What. The. HELL. was going on here? He was so clearly disrespectful of her and yet he was nice all of a sudden? And who in the right mind would extend a hand to Syrene? Like she'd actually take it. Especially since it was someone she just met, and someone (possibly) from Benden. She was right, then - he was clearly out of his mind. She looked back up at his face, then back down at the hand, then back up at his face again, and sharply turned so that he was facing her side.

And then, she began to walk. Not exactly as fast as she would normally go, but certainly not slowly. As if it had been listening to their conversation (or lack thereof), her stomach gave an appropriately-timed growl. She only hoped Cr'oph hadn't heard it. "Hurry up. I'm hungry." she said tonelessly, not bothering to look back at the Bronzerider.

They weren't going to eat together. They were just two individuals going to eat coincidentally at the same time, walking along the same corridor. The only reason she didn't flat out deny Cr'oph's proposition was because she was actually starving. Tch, got to be dying of starvation to go anywhere with a guy. And that mental proclamation did not bother her in the least.

[Rei]

Trust his new little black kitten to turn his dream comment into something relating to a nightmare. Cr’oph had to fight to keep a straight face when she made that comment. Unfortunately he couldn’t quite stop the smirk as the strange conversation continued. She had obviously missed his attempt at humor. Went straight over her little skull. Almost sad really. Oh well. She didn’t need to laugh to be amusing. She was doing a good enough job with the glares and bristling. Little black cat was fun to poke. Would she spit or claw? Depended it seemed. The bronzer liked to push buttons on occasion and this one made that almost to easy. It should have been a bit boring but it wasn’t. See he could make her spit on command!

Another cocky smile lit up Cr’oph’s face as she repeated her cootie comment. What she was thinking the bronzer couldn’t begin to guess. But if he had to he would bet it was along the lines of gutting him. Amusing really that she thought she could. The bronzer would have fun if she tried he was sure. The narrowing of her kohl rimmed eyes did not escape notice and he fought back an amused smile. Finally she noticed his particular accent. Heavy Benden. There went the inbred hate. So she was Fortian. Wonderful. It only made playing with her even more fun. Yes Cr’oph was born and raised Benden but he didn’t quite harbor the level of hate for Fort some bendenites did. In the end origins where origins after all. Here at Selenitas she would quickly learn that they where only good for first impressions. Beyond that thinks could be worked on. Built and fixed. Black cat had a lot to learn. Lucky that he had happened along.

Ah there she went. Saying Bendenite like it was some filthy word. “My apologies my dear Fortian pet.” Still Cr’oph looked anything but unapologetic. “You know us Bendenites are far lower in intelligence. I never guessed.” A huge lie and the man knew she would see through it. Yet Cr’oph wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t bait. He liked to see claws come out. It meant he could finish things if they started. It was how the bronzer worked. Pick and pick until you got a reaction. If they threw the first punch you could finish the fight with little blame in your corner. Question remained how much could kitty take. You could only pull a tail so many times before it got annoying.

As Syrene walked away and ahead Cr’oph marked it up as a silent victory and drew up beside her. Putting his hands in his pockets he strove to keep from whistling. Blue grey eyes examined her with interest. Demanding little thing wasn’t she? “Right behind you pet.” The bronzer chorused all to happily as his boots clicked against the stone floor. He busied himself with watching her rear as they walked. She really should wear tighter clothes. In this fashion they made the trip to the main hall and there the man waited to see where she would head off to. He intended to follow of course. A figurative thorn in her side.

[Shiny]

She hated Cr'oph.

He was constantly mocking her, trying to get a reaction out of her with that stupid face of his. Why was he so damn amused? Did she have mud on her face, or something? Her anger boiled in her veins, and yet she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of victory. No, he was going to have to try a lot harder than that to get her to seriously attack him.

"Don't you dare call me pet, you piece of filth," she hissed, knowing that he was just toying with her. And she hated it. She did indeed pick up on his sarcasm and as much as she despised admitting it, he was correct. Bendenites were not dumb. If they were, Fort would have wiped them off the map long ago. But if he had realized she was Fortian already, why wasn't he reacting to her the same way she was to him? "The south has softened you." she jabbed coldly. "Pathetic." All of that inbred hate was very clearly audible in her venomous words.

She silently bristled as she heard Cr'oph move up to walk beside her and made an effort to put on the coldest atmosphere she could. Maybe it would shun him away. She could feel his eyes on her. "I told you, Red. Don't. Call. Me. Pet." she hissed as they reached the main hall. She turned in the direction of the dining hall and quickly began to make her way toward it, knowing Cr'oph would follow. He was just having too much fun pissing her off to just leave her be.