I Told You So

[Ethan Black]

They were back. Finally. After the voyage to the Shattered Isles, Ethan was more than happy to be back in Goldcrest. In a way, he missed it. And he never normally missed dry land too much. Yet there was a charm to this place. One he couldn't  quite describe. Even if he would likely be hung if his true identity was know. He found himself coming back.

But there were down sides. No place was perfect. Especially not Goldcrest. The only good thing he'd done was to bring  the minimum amount of coin with him. At least visibly. So when he suddenly felt it stolen from him, it wasn't too much. That didn't mean he let the thief go. Ethan was in hot pursuit to get the purse back, dodging and pushing people out of the way.

Unfortunately one quick turn had him bodily slamming into someone and going down with them. Even with his relatively fast recovery, he knew the thief was gone. "Damn it." It came out as a mutter as he looked up. Then he looked down to the unfortunate person he'd knocked over. "Sorry about that." He got up and offered a hand. "Thief made off with my coin."

[Astrid Brynn]

Once again, Astrid had managed to talk Severn into leaving her be for the day. She wanted to explore the city without having him looming over her. She didn't mind his company, of course, but people seemed to look at her differently when she wasn't being followed by a huge man who looked like he could kill just about anyone with his bare hands.

As Astrid rounded the corner, she felt a body colliding into her own, causing the pair to fall to the ground with a thud. It took the blonde a few moments to realize what had happened - her head dazed. Then there was a voice - and not just any voice, but his.

"That ought to be the worst excuse I've ever heard from someone wanting to grab a feel," she replied, her eyebrows raising as an amused smile danced on her lips. She took his hand though, using it to force herself up to her feet. "You could have just asked," she continued, "But then I suppose the answer would have been no regardless," she added with a smirk.

[Ethan Black]

A voice spoke up. Her voice. Ethan did a double take. He had given the worst excuse she'd heard to grab a feel. The remark earned a laugh from Ethan. She still accepted his hand with a smirk, and he pulled her to her feet. He could've just asked, but the answer would've still been no. Ethan rolled his eyes but smirked. "Oh please. You're cute, but I'm not that sort of man." Some of his associates might be a different story however.

He dropped his hand. Looked her over. He couldn't help but smile at seeing her again. Although the smile was mischievous. "See? I knew we'd meet again. I always find the odd people." He couldn't help but tease her. Yet he was genuinely happy to see her again. She had been fun company. Certainly better than some he knew, and wittier too. "At least we aren't meeting in a dingy alleyway this time." He added.

[Astrid Brynn]

"Well, I'll be the judge of that," she replied. Then again, it wouldn't be much of a contest. After all, Astrid was far too naive to think of anyone as bad until they're truly proven themselves to be. And even then she'd be tempted to give someone a second chance. She supposed that trait would one day come to be her downfall.

Looking around, Astrid took measure of the location they'd met the second time. "It's not Palladium square," she pointed out. Truth be told, though, that was probably for the best. There was a higher chance of someone recognizing her among the many nobles that traveled through. Here, well, at least the scope of different kinds of people were bigger.

Then the realization hit her. "Oh, but your money!"

[Ethan Black]

She'd be the judge of that. Ethan chuckled in response. He really wasn't that sort of man, for a number of reasons. But actions spoke louder than words in this case. That and he wasn't about to argue. She looked around. It was no Palladium Square. "Perhaps, but it's still an upgrade in my book." They were a lot less likely to get attacked. Although thieves were still a problem, evidentially.

His money. Ethan smiled ruefully and stared off to where the thief had ran. There was no findings them now. "It's a shame." He admitted with a shrug. Dark eyes turned back to her and smiled changed to smirk. "But it wasn't all of my money. Just the visible bits." The rest was hidden on his person. A sort of fail safe should something like this happen. But Ethan dismissed the subject with a wave of his hand. "Enough about that though. What brings you here? You went from a place most sane people never visit, to the most visited part of the city."

[Astrid Brynn]

Astrid couldn't say that money was ever a problem for her. Many would likely think of her as fortunate, but truth be told, having money was probably a worse curse than having none at all. "At least that's good," she said, offering him yet a smile. At least he was in high spirits. Perhaps money wasn't too important to him either. "That is an excellent question." And that was all she was going to give him on that. 

"Of course, said excellent question also has an excellent answer, but I dare not bore you with the details," she added quickly, swatting her hand dismissively. It was a shame she hadn't brought his clothes from the last time they'd met. Though, carrying around his stuff every time she went outside seemed rather... Well, foolish. She'd have to remind herself to arrange a meeting for that sometime. "I do have a better question to counter yours with, though. What does a guy like you do when he's not busy chasing after thieves and saving his friends from the brink of alcoholism?"

[Ethan Black]

He was offered a smile. At least that's good. He hadn't been bothered too much by it. Besides, he was distracted now. That was an excellent question. One that had an excellent answer, but she dare not bore him with the details. The remark earned an arched brow. More mysteries. It only reminded him of how little he knew about her. But that was half to fun. Filling in the blanks as they went along. She knew little about him didn't she?

She had a question. An better counter to his own. What did a guy like him do when not pursuing thieves or saving friends from alcohol. Ethan chuckled at the question and smirked. "That is an excellent counter." He agreed. But their was a gleam in his eyes. "However if you want my answer, you've got to tell me what it is you do when you aren't exploring alleys and asking clever questions. Deal?"

[Astrid Brynn]

Putting her hand to her chin, Astrid rubbed it as if contemplating his offer. Then, shrugging her shoulders, she let out a drawn, "Naaaah." As she swirled around, the blonde carried a mischievous smile of her own. She couldn't quite hide the amusement she felt. If he thought it was that easy to make her spill all her dirty little secrets, he was way out of his league.

"You're not interesting enough for me to be quite that curious." Well, naturally, she was curious, but that didn't mean she was going to let go of the opportunity of making fun at him. After all, he did that to her all the time, so it was only fair. Right?

[Ethan Black]

She put a hand into her chin as if in contemplation. But then she shrugged and rejected the offer with a swirl. Ethan had expected as much from her. It was to easy. If he wanted to learn anything, he'd have to find other ways of going about it. He wasn't that interesting for her to be that curious. A statement that brought about a scoff.

"Me? Uninteresting? Now I know you're lying." Came the easy retort. It was nice to have their teasing banter going back and forth again. He'd actually missed it without even realizing it. It was refreshing. Different. But he couldn't linger on the idea too much. The market was flowing around them, and they weren't in the best spot. "But how about we move our conversation elsewhere? Unless you'd like to get squished together again from all these people running about."