semi-closed (The Ellwood Forest) Missing Persons Report

[Outsane 418]

Marlo nodded at him. She knew it was good. The bread seemed made for the sole purpose of having it coincide with the honey. "What? You make enemies? But you got such a great wit and winning smile!" She joked, laughing lightly. "Ah, well. I suppose I can't blame you. I wouldn't want to mess up that pretty face too much. Maybe I'll just give you a nice little shiner to go along with my swollen cheek." Marlo quipped, then smirked at him. The silence settled between them again, but this time, Marlo didn't welcome it. Ever since he saved her, Marlo wanted to know more about Delgue. She made a snap decision about him and it seemed to be the wrong one. Well, to a degree. He was no longer a pawn to help her further her own agenda. There was worth to him as a person, and that she had to respect. What, though, could they discuss? She felt as though she had possibly ruined any chances they had at getting to know each other beyond strictly business. That was her guilt talking, however. He didn't exactly act differently towards her and his mannerisms weren't changed.

 

When he spoke up, she felt relieved. For the first time in a long while, the silence had felt heavy and awkward to her. She was so used to it that finding ways to break it was nearly impossible for her. Listening to his story, Marlo watched the road ahead, occasionally glancing beside her to watch him to show she was paying attention. A grin appeared on her face as he told of the beautiful woman who paid him a considerable amount of attention. As he finished his story, she laughed and shook her head. "C'mon, you should've known that kind of bait and switch trick!" Marlo replied. "No wonder you were so wary of me. At least you learned your lesson." Marlo walked along in silence. He seemed to have a lot of bad luck with things, but not too much bad luck. "The guys would have me do that sometimes. Except I was the bait and the switch. I'd take them to a back alley and rough 'em up and take what they had. Made sure they were made of money first, though, by letting them buy me a drink or two and made sure they were expensive. One time, I made the mistake of taking a captain back with me. Didn't know who he was, but as soon as one of the guys saw who he was, he flipped out and jumped in. He had a few hidden weapons I had no idea about. Just as I had started to fight him, he pulled a knife and cut my glove off, nearly got my arm. The four guys jumped in and saved me and I got a good smack from them all for going after the big hulking guys. Ha! Honestly, I was wanting to test and see if I could beat him. He had money, so that was sort of a bonus to me. Didn't work out how I had planned, though." Marlo stuffed her hands into her pants pockets and walked along. "I was the greenhorn and they took care of me. Eventually, I got better than them so they all learned to respect me. Our group functioned like clockwork. We were better than a family." She smiled proudly, recalling her good friends and their times together. They were irreplaceable.

 

"Did you have friends when you were doing your... shady work?" She asked while pushing up her glasses as she glanced back to Delgue.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue cackled at her accusation. "Well in my defense. Normally I would be more aware but I had a lot to drink at that point. I was feeling brasher than usual." he explained. Shortly after chastising him Marlo began a story of her own. He listened as they walked nodding his head every now and then. A smirk slithered across his features as she revealed her methods. He knew she liked getting into fights but he never pegged her as a criminal. Using her looks to get a few free drinks and then bleeding the guy dry, was simple yet elegant. Maybe they had more in common than he originally thought. "Hah! Now you're speaking my language Marlo." he responded with a cackle. "You know you've got quite the sadistic streak I've noticed. It seems you like hurting people maybe just a little too much." he teased.

Her next question caught him a bit off guard. "Friends...? Huh." he mumbled taking a moment to think it over. "No, not really. I've had to call in a few favors from time to time but I never really had a wing man." he explained. "I guess I've always liked working alone better when it came to the unsavory stuff. I felt it offered me a degree of flexibility that working with another couldn't." he continued. "I only ever wanted to watch out for my own ass." he finished. "But hey don't take that personally kid." he added with a cackle.The rest of the trip continued in a similar fashion with conversation starting and stopping in intervals. It was strange, he didn't really have it out for Marlo anymore but he wasn't exactly her friend. It made it difficult to carry a conversation effortlessly.

 

They arrived at their destination around mid day. Unlike all the other hamlets they had been to thus far this place was bustling. Various market stands had been set up around town, Merchants peddled goods, and people of all ages roamed. It looked like some sort of festival was going on today. "Well normally I'd suggest we split up to cover more ground but I think this time it'd be best if we stuck together." he said. "We could get picked off easily in a crowd if we're not careful, after what happened last night I'd rather not take any chances just yet." he explained.

[Outsane 418]

She carefully examined his expression as he went on to explain why he didn't want to have friends. Marlo could typically read people well, but Delgue was a whole other mystery to her. Content with his answer, she shrugged. "Maybe you just haven't found the right kinda thieves to get along with." She reasoned, then smirked lopsidedly at him. Marlo had never been alone or without some one watching her back. To imagine some one else would do it... and willingly, too. It didn't make sense, but she wasn't about to lecture him or pour her heart out about it. It was a lesson that was learned, not taught.

 

As they neared the city, Marlo ensured she had her hair tucked away and her hat was on tight. Her satchel was pulled underneath her cloak and she buttoned it up as well as pulled it to the front of her hip. She knew the tricks and no one was going to take her bag nor its contents from her. Marlo nodded to Delgue as he suggested sticking together. "Alright, sounds fair," she agreed while scanning the many groups of people and the shops. She could smell a slew of aromas that were pleasant, and a few here and there that were not so much. "There's a smithy in town." She murmured, a smile snaking across her lips.

 

Marlo walked through the stalls, looking at the wares everyone was selling as well as the surrounding shops. It would be easy to stop some one and ask where a smithy was, but she worried any form of contact would create a negative effect. The people who were out to get them would attack whomever she asked. Every now and then, Marlo stopped at a stall and stared at the items. Mostly candy. She had a sweet tooth and it was pining for something--anything! She was on a mission, however. Making her way through the throng, she finally caught sight of a pair of chimneys, a forge, and a burly man wearing an apron standing outside the mostly stone building. Marlo turned around and eagerly swatted at Delgue's arm while pointing with her other hand. "There! A smithy!" She exclaimed. Marlo ran ahead, eager to catch the man's attention before he went to work.

 

"Sir, excuse me," she called out to him, jogging up to the smithy. He turned away from the forge and gave her a quick look over before spotting her knife. "If we could have a moment of your time-"

 

"Well that's a fine knife there, lass," he pointed out, grinning. "Your family got a bit of money to spend on their girl?"

 

Marlo frowned deeply and furrowed her brows while placing her hand on the knife's hilt. "I have no family; I earned this on my own. It's good that you can tell fine craftsmanship from just a glance, we need that. Now, why don't you put that skill to good use?" Marlo glanced back to Delgue, waiting for him to take over. It was obvious by her expression that she didn't want the man to pry more. 

[Beedis 182]

As they walked through the festivities Delgue smirked. It had been a while since he had seen a gathering of people like this. The aroma of food in the air and the jubilant chatter of the crowd reminded him of his stomping grounds back home. As Marlo announced there was indeed a forge in town he looked around but couldn't spot anything that would give it away. "Good to know the innkeeper was honest. What tipped you off?" he asked his eyes still wandering. When he looked back to where Marlo was previously she had already left his side and was wading through the crowd. "Hold up!" he shouted picking up his pace and following after her.

As they slowly made their way through the festival his looked from stall to stall. Everything that one would expect to be sold in a small town festival was on display. Homemade treats, wines and spirits, crafts, tools, and weapons. The wares gave him an idea. He would buy a bottle of booze for the both of them to share. The gift would hopefully help move things between them along a little. He chuckled at the thought but he didn't get his hopes up too high. There was a good chance the plan would backfire. Marlo didn't seem the type to like drinking. He was interrupted when Marlo slapped his arm. He let her run ahead before quickly stopping at a nearby wine stand that had caught his eye. Quickly he made his purchase before stashing the bottle and rushing after Marlo to where the chimneys poked out.

Delgue arrived mid way through the conversation. It was clear Marlo had no interest in speaking to the man so he took over. "Afternoon, we were just on our way through and found this dagger on the road just out of town." he paused removing the blade from his pack. "We figured someone might have dropped it and we were just trying to find its original owner. We thought they would miss something this nice." he lied with a genuine looking smile. "Does it look familiar?" he asked before handing the shoddy weapon over.

The smith laughed heartily at Delgue's request clearly pleased with the compliment "Of course I'll take a look, it warms my heart knowing there are still good people like you folk in this world." he said before more closely examining the dagger. "Ah yeah this is mine I would recognize my craftsmanship anywhere." he mumbled taking a moment to think. "Hmm, I can't say for certain as I make a lot of these but I sold a dagger to one of the Palehelm boys a couple of days back." he explained. "He said he wanted it to help defend himself. Kid is afraid of his own shadow so he must have gotten terrified by a noise and dropped it in the woods." he reasoned. "The family lives in the red brick house, edge of town, old fence, can't miss it. Send my regards." he said before handing the dagger back to Delgue and sending the two off.

Delgue smirked as the walked away in the direction they had pointed them. "I still got it." he bragged. "Looks like the person who bought the dagger was a kid." he cackled. "Well it's too early to call it yet. He could have bought it for someone else. Once we get some answers then we call it" he explained. It wouldn't be long until they found the home they were looking for. Together they approached the door and knocked. There was no response. "I don't really know what I expected." he said sarcastically before walking around the home to try and find an alternate entrance, no such luck. "Well guess we are doing it the hard way." he said before attempting to bash the door down, it didn't budge. "Crap...I think something is in the way. Any ideas?" he asked.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

"Smells like a lot of coals and burning beeswax. I always slept outside a smithy because it was warm around there the longest," she explained casually. "Since the city regulated fires to only fireplaces, people like us couldn't have fires outside on the streets so we got creative on how to stay warm." Marlo then pointed to a crowd of people with swords that looked remarkably similar. "Plus, everyone's got a similar sword and I doubt they took a trip to Swordville to go get matching friendship blades." Marlo laughed, then continued on her journey.

Marlo remained politely quiet for Delgue's explanation of the situation. He was a good liar, she'd give him that much. To keep up with the good Samaritan charade, Marlo smiled pleasantly to the man, hands clasped before her as she listened to his explanation. She had to force the smile to remain as he went on to explain it was a kid that purchased the dagger. Her heart dropped. There was no way. If a kid bought it, then how did that rat bastard who spied on them in the middle of the night get it? Well, she didn't even know what the guy looked like so for all she knew, it could very well have been a child who had a sick sense of humour and got kicks out of creeping people out.

They left the smithy, Marlo so enveloped in through that she didn't realize Delgue was talking for a moment. She looked to him and suddenly realized her end of the bet. "Wh-whoa, okay, wait a sec," she tried to reason. "Let's look at some options here." Before she could even give other ideas, he already had thought of one very possible one. Marlo breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Delgue. That bet... can we agree that we uhhh... honour our deal in private? Not in front of everyone?" Now that things were looking grim for her being right, she didn't want to have to kiss him in public. That particular brand of display of affection made her the most squeamish.

When they arrived at the house and Delgue gave his token effort of knocking down the door, Marlo smiled fiendishly and rolled her shoulders and neck. "Yeah, I got an idea," Casting a quick glance around, Marlo ensured no one was spying on them. Didn't want to get the authorities involved unnecessarily. Once satisfied with the check, Marlo turned back around, approached the door, lifted her leg up, then firmly kicked it against the door, close to the handle.The gratifying sound of wood being forcefully pulled apart and the agonized creak of the metal hinges only further satiated Marlo's desire for busting something down. The door hit the wall with a bang and vibrated from the shock. After a couple hops on one foot and a hiss of pain--as she used her injured leg to do the job--Marlo turned back to Delgue and bowed while holding her hand out to the newly-opened entrance. "After you, my good sir." She said with a large grin.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue Couldn't help but cackle at how flustered the bet made Marlo and her subsequent request. "I don't know Marlo those are some tough conditions to meet." he teased. For someone so forward it seemed strange she was so reluctant to kiss somebody in public. Maybe she was more squeamish than he thought, or maybe she thought everybody would be able to see her shame. Either way there were more pressing matters at hand, he could ask later.

When Marlo announced she had an idea he turned to face her. "Alright what do you have?" he asked. He wouldn't get his answer as shortly after he asked Marlo walked to the door kicking it with brutal force. He flinched as the door crashed open snapping the board that held it shut in two before flying against the wall. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked watching as she hopped around on her leg. "We are trying to be just a little covert here! A nice couple looking to return a lost tool doesn't kick the person's door off the hinges." he reprimanded. His anger shortly faded to apathy, he sighed. "Well at least we are in, we are just going to have to fix the door before we leave." he mumbled before walking through the entrance Marlo had made.

As soon as they entered the home an offensive smell assaulted them. His nose wrinkled in response to the odor and he coughed. "Damn, that's ripe. Smells like rotting meat." he commented before covering his nose and mouth with a hand. The home looked to be in decent shape, it was certainly nicer than the first home they had visited in their investigation. The first floor was vacant and nothing looked out of place. It looked like the family had just left the home for the day. "Looks like nobody is home." he whispered looking around as they walked. The only place left to check was the second floor and he doubted they would find anybody up there at this point. "Ladies first." he offered with a wink before nodding his head towards the staircase.

As they climbed to the second floor the fetid odor grew stronger, it was becoming nearly unbearable at this point. "What the hell is that?" he asked as they inspected the upstairs rooms one by one until they opened a door to a gruesome sight. In the bedroom ahead of them lie a corpse strewn across the carpet. It was a man's body. Perhaps the father of the household. The corpse looked fresh. Its entrails were strewn about the room and it was heavily mutilated. With the door open the wretched odor now wafted freely through the home. "Gods above..." he mumbled but there was no time to stand around dumbfounded, they were on the clock now. "Quick look around for any clues you can find then we have to get out of here. Everybody is going to think we did this if we stay." he ordered his tone firm and urgent. "We were too slow here but whoever did this may have left something behind. The rest of the family could still be out there somewhere." he explained as he rummaged through the room.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

Marlo was still beaming at him despite his yelling at her. Ahh. His ire. She thrived from it. "Oh, Delgue. I know deep down you're pretty impressed. Besides, no one's around to watch. I did a quick check." She was only trying to get his goat some more, but he had already gone inside. Marlo followed shortly after and was instantly affronted by the stench. She grew tense and quiet. "The hell," she whispered, glancing around. Nothing looked out of the normal. Maybe there was just some sort of old meat that hadn't been thrown out. The thought did nothing to quell Marlo's paranoia. She remained pensive and alert, glancing around and taking careful steps as she walked. When he so graciously allowed her to go upstairs first, she faltered near the top. This wasn't just some old meat.

She searched each room, pausing before she opened the door. On the last few rooms left to inspect, they found the scene. Marlo's heart skipped a beat. Messy brown hair, male, plain clothes... was that an arm missing? "Oh fuck," she murmured urgently. Marlo disregarded the crime scene and ran over to the man and yanked on his shoulder, turning him over. She gagged a little and looked away, but turned back for a second look. Two arms. Tears had formed in her eyes as she gagged again and covered her mouth. "Thank the gods," she whispered. It wasn't him. As Delgue instantly began investigating, looking for clues, Marlo did the same. She quickly scanned the gore-covered room, then went to the next few rooms in search of more evidence. One room was locked, so she kicked that one in, too, only to find it was a child's room with the window opened. "They must've escaped..." she murmured. She looked out the window and saw that it faced the town. Whoever it was must've gone for help, if not ran away to escape death.

After examining every room quickly and even opening a few drawers here and there, Marlo went to the head of the stairs. "Delgue, I got nothing. Let's get the hell outta here." She shouted before jumping down the steps with reckless abandon. She wanted out of that place and away from the smell, away from the air of death. She still covered her mouth and nose with her hand and there were still tears in her eyes from the occasional gag. She darted outside and rested against a tree, breathing in deeply and shuddering. She had to mentally force herself to not vomit and to suppress the image of the man's disfigured face. His eyes were gone... tongue... She shuddered again and gagged. "Goddammit Marlo, knock it off." She hissed at herself. 

[Beedis 182]

Delgue searched through everything he could in the room. Rifling through drawers and closets and even checking around and under beds. Whoever was after them had been sloppy before and he was sure they would make a mistake again. If whoever killed this man left anything behind they would have a direction to go in. While he searched he glanced back over to Marlo who was still inspecting the body. "Hurry up!" he barked. "With that door knocked down it will only take one nosy neighbor to get the whole town after us." he warned before going back to his investigation.

After some more searching it seemed the scene of the crime wouldn't yield any clues. He rushed out of the room shutting the door behind him to close in the smell before moving to the other rooms on the opposite end of the hall that Marlo was searching. He tore every room up searching them as thoroughly as he did the scene of the crime. Most of the rooms seemed untouched, it looked as though the perpetrator didn't even visit them. Soon he exhausted all of his options. He met back up with Marlo on the second floor she hadn't found anything either. "Go on ahead I'm gonna do my best to cover our tracks." he ordered watching as Marlo darted out of the home. He Cursed their poor luck under his breath before he got to work straightening things out. He shut all of the upstairs doors, and fixed any decorations they had knocked over before running to the first floor. He hoisted the door up leaning it against the frame as he slipped out of the home. "Great plan Marlo." he mumbled angrily under his breath as he looked the home over one last time. Hopefully he had done enough for them to get clear before anyone noticed anything.

Happy with his results he walked around the house soon spotting Marlo leaning against a tree. He moved towards her tapping her back as he passed by. "Come on kid, we had better cut our loses here and get on the road. This is no time for a break." he said beckoning her.

When they had put some distance between them and the last town he finally spoke. "Well I guess we find a safe place to set up camp tonight and start over from square one tomorrow." he said. "Seems like the dagger is a wash, if we could find the rest of that family maybe we could get some answers, but we are going to have to cook up some convincing disguises..." he thought aloud. "Unless you have any better ideas?" he asked. "Heh...as much as I hate to admit it I think you might have won our little bet. Somebody really wanted to keep us from asking questions about the dagger. Now I'd love to keep playing it off but I don't know if I can any more." he admitted. "I always honor my bets, so go ahead I'm not yanking your chain this time. You hit like a girl anyways" he taunted with a cackle before patting his cheek.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

Marlo stood upright when tapped on the shoulder. The colour was coming back to her face and she was feeling more stable now. She was effectively able to push out the images of the man's mutilated face and continued on rather normally. As they made their way out of the town, Marlo kept her eyes on the trees and off the trail. She felt as though some one was watching them. The feeling passed, however, as her anxiety dropped and the sounds of nature soothed her nerves. "Don't forget we have this piece of cloth. I uh... might know some one who can help."  She offered hesitantly. She didn't want him to see that part of her life, but if it meant saving Kirin... Once again, there was a loss of words between them. The silence was defeated again by Delgue. She glanced at him and nodded. She wouldn't mind getting some rest now. She stopped dead in her tracks when Delgue finally conceded her theory was right. Turning around, Marlo looked him over, a brow piqued and her lips frowning. Was he just getting her hopes up? Her hands were placed on her hips as she stared at him and watched as he patted his cheek and goaded her on. A smile formed on her face and she laughed. "Oh. I hit like a girl, do I? I guess that lovely bruise on your arm hasn't taught you a thing." She replied while clenching her fists.

She brought one fist back, but hesitated, then pulled off her glove. "As much fun as it would be to break your jaw," she said while lifting her head back up to look at him after putting her gloves away in her satchel. "I can think of a few things that mouth of yours would be good for with a functioning jaw." She didn't let him linger on that statement for long. Her hand wound back again and she took aim. The same fiery look in her eyes as before when she hit him was there. Marlo smiled as she threw her punch right at his cheek. She didn't put all her weight into it, but enough for him to stagger back if he wasn't properly prepared. The sound of her fist connecting with his face was satisfying, but that feeling was only intensified with the knowledge that he would finally be taking this whole thing seriously. Marlo could finally get some ground on her theory. Bringing her hand back, Marlo shook off the pain a bit while laughing. "Ha haaa! Sooooo much better without the glove on. I could really feel your face take it!" With that, Marlo continued on walking.

It wouldn't be long before they ventured off the side of the road to find a safe place to stay. Spotting a cave, Marlo pointed it out and drew her dagger in case it was still inhabited, but judging by the lack of fresh footprints and the fact that she couldn't hear anything inside, there wasn't any sort of beast in this cave. "Seems safe enough, huh?" She asked while walking inside more. "I dunno abut setting a fire up, though. Maybe a passerby would just avoid this place and think that a bear's sleeping in here with how badly you snore." She teased him while smiling. Marlo had pulled off her hat, satchel and cloak at that time, leaving her with just her half-buttoned up fancy shirt and her pants. Now she was working on untying her hair.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue's eyes lit up a bit as she reminded him of the cloth. He had thought it so insignificant he pushed the clue out of his mind. He still couldn't put much faith in the scrap of cloth but Marlo seemed to know something. With a little prying he could hopefully find that out, and he had just the thing for that.

As Marlo returned his taunt a smirk crossed his features "Come on and hit me already I don't have all day." he quipped back. He braced himself as she pulled back but she stopped before throwing the punch to remove her weaponized gauntlets. "Boooooo!" he taunted. Marlo's next remark caught him off guard just in time for her to throw the punch. He rolled with the impact as best he could but the force of the attack still caused him to stagger back a bit. Recovering from the blow he stood up straight before placing a hand on his jaw. He let it clench a few times before he reached the conclusion that it wasn't broken. Sure there was no lasting damage but it sure stung like hell. "Of course you wouldn't trip on your face this time." he remarked as she teased.

With that taken care of he caught up with Marlo and they continued down the road. It had been a long day and once again daylight began to wane. They had to find a place to stay and sleeping out in the middle of the woods could very well be a death sentence. They veered off the road and luckily came across a small cave in a rocky outcropping. "Anyone home?" he bellowed inside the cave. This earned no response, not even the sound of something stirring inside. "Yup it's clear." he stated before they made their way inside. "Sounds about right to me. Making a fire in here would just be inviting trouble in; And hey at least I don' talk in my sleep." he remarked with a cackle.

He settled in alongside Marlo. Removing his sleeping mat from the bag before rolling it out on the cave floor. He took a seat and made himself comfortable before patting a spot on the mat next to him. While he was waiting he dug the bottle of wine out from his bag. "So you think you can tell me what you intend to do with that cloth?" he asked before handing the bottle to Marlo. "A gift." he said as she looked over the bottle of spiced wine. "I figured we should have a drink together after today. I don't have any glasses so this is the best we are going to do." he explained. "Don't be shy, pop it open." he urged her on.

[Outsane 418]

"I don't talk in my sleep," she retorted as she watched his face. "If you did, you'd know a little too much about my... personal affairs."  A mischievous grin formed on her face after that statement as she finally freed her hair from its ponytail, but she then proceeded to braid it down her left shoulder rather quickly. Marlo's eyebrows shot up as he offered up the drink to her. Wine? After tying up her hair at the end of the braid, Marlo took the bottle and examined it as best she could with the minimal light the cave granted. "Huh. Didn't take you for a wine guy. Figured you'd just like the hard stuff," she commented while pulling the cork out. She didn't want to accidentally shake the bottle, so she had to use a little more delicate methods to brute-force the cork out of the bottle. Once freed, she playfully flicked it at him. "You didn't swindle this one too, did ya?" She teased while dropping down on the mat beside him. Marlo avoided the question for now, not wanting to tell him just yet.

Just a few drinks, that wouldn't be so bad. She knew she was a lightweight so she'd go easy on herself. She didn't want to give Delgue any ideas, either. Marlo took a drink first, squeezing her eyes shut. After two gulps, she handed it over to him. "Not bad," she said. It burned like alcohol, but at least it didn't taste as disgusting... hell, it even tasted good. Better than she expected wine to taste. She had only had it once and that was when she was too young to remember since she stole a drink at one of her mother's parties.

She did her best to avoid the topic of the cloth and her source of information. Marlo mentioned her first time drinking wine as well as another story about how she used to trick men out of their money by pretending to be a weak girl who wanted to try and arm wrestle for their money. If she lost, they'd get a kiss--and maybe more. When it looked like she was about to lose, she'd pull a dirty trick like smooching the guy already or flashing off her cleavage a little, then pin him down. As they talked, she drank more, as she drank more, she began to get more open, and much more touchy. "Your hair isn't long enough, I couldn't braid it like mine." She said at one point, reaching up and combing her fingers through it. "Ahh, but it feels so nice. Your hair feels the nicest of all the guys' I've touched." She'd then stroke his hair a few more times before getting distracted with something else.

Before Marlo knew it, she had more than she anticipated. She hadn't had a drink the whole day and her thirst had got the better of her. Her cheeks burned and her ears did too. She knew she was drunk. "Just a sec. I need to try and fix this problem I've got," she abruptly said while standing up and wobbling a bit. She muttered a curse under her breath and quickly walked to the entrance of the cave and stare outside it. Marlo turned around the corner and quickly gave her cheeks a couple pats. "Nope. Too drunk." She said to herself. She'd regret this night tomorrow. Especially with not having any more water in her water skin. Walking back in, Marlo reached down, grabbed the bottle, then tapped his boot with her foot. "Open up." She said before kneeling down and forcing his legs to part so she could sit between them. Marlo turned her back to him and rested against Delgue and sighed before taking another drink. "I'm a little drunk." She explained, then chuckled and held out the bottle to him again. "And a little dizzy, so you get to keep me from falling over. You lucky boy, you." Marlo then laughed again and reached over to pat his cheek. She nicked his nose, then reached back more to finally pat his punched cheek twice before dropping her hand down to her lap.

After she heaved a sigh, Marlo dropped her head back against his shoulder and stared at the roof. On top of her face feeling like it was on fire, her lips burned too. What a strange thing alcohol was. She pursed her lips together before she spoke again finally. "So that fabric business... Haha... Uhh. My mother, that lady who disowned me? She owns a fabric trade in the area. Knows fabric inside and out and could tell where a thing was made just by the pattern of the threads. Freaky, right? She tried to force that shit style on me. Had to make her daughter the heir of her empire. I said, 'Hell no!' and got outta there. Told her she could shove every roll of fabric up her ass before I'd come take over her business after what she did to make papa run off and leave me. Of course, she got upset about it and said if I walked out those doors she'd declare me dead and I was all for it. Didn't want her in my life anymore, anyways. Uhhh... I got off track here. Anyways. Yeah. She'll help us out. She owes me one anyway. One of her idiot guards had a run-in with some of the gang members where I'm from and they ambushed the carts my mother was transporting to some rich noble's place. I managed to smooth things over and got the gang leader to let the carts go and just take the gold and a few of the horses.... fuck, I keep getting off track. I just... got so many stories! My life is interesting without having to be some goddamn business woman." Marlo stopped talking after that and sighed again, then turned her head to look up at Delgue. "Here's a question for you, handsome. I kinda wanted to ask this earlier but thought it wasn't any of my business, but I think we can agree we're both too drunk to give a damn now. Why are you always like this... asshole? Just a great big jerk. I mean, I proved myself. I was on the right track the whole time and you were so goddamn skeptical even though the evidence was so obvious. Yeah, I was a bitch, too, but only because you were the asshole first." She didn't sound angry, more curious than upset. It was in the past and she got her hit out of it all, but now her curiosity ate at her. She needed to know why.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue smirked as she called him out, she was sometimes more clever than he gave her credit for. As she commented on his choice he cackled. "I normally prefer the hard stuff but I didn't think you would be able to keep what I like down." he teased. He couldn't help but laugh as Marlo struggled to take her first few swigs from the bottle. Accepting the bottle he took a few swigs himself, downing the alcohol almost effortlessly before handing the bottle back to Marlo. "Glad the wine is to your liking princess Marlo." he teased. It was no surprise that he was a heavy drinker. He had built up quite the tolerance over the years. Wine was never his drink of choice but he was never one to turn any booze down.

As the two slipped further and further into a drunken stupor they swapped more stories. Marlo told him stories of her past exploits, using her looks and muscle to swindle men out of money. Delgue shared more tales of debauchery. How he once scammed his fellow squires out of their gear. Or how he had to sneak a girl he had slept with out of the barracks on more than one occasion. Or of the many days he spent scrubbing floors or taking inventory in the armory as punishment. As they talked Marlo got more and more touchy. Her sense of personal space seemed to disappear and she began to lean against him. As she did he wrapped an arm around her pulling her closer to him. As she stroked his hair he smirked, he was a little too drunk to find her compliments strange or out of place.

Before he could embrace her she rose claiming she had something to do. He watched in bewilderment as she rose wobbling to the edge of the cave. "Marlo be careful out there someone might see us." he warned but he didn't have the mettle to stand and try and stop her at this point. Luckily she turned right back around and approached him. He let loose a small sigh of relief and his smirk returned. When she got back to the mat she tapped his boot he didn't know why but he wouldn't get a chance to piece things together before she forced his legs apart sitting between his legs and leaning back against him. He cackled as she admitted she was drunk. "You don't say?" he teased before finishing the rest of the bottle and casting it aside. "What a coincidence huh? I think I just might be a little drunk myself." he admitted with a chuckle.

When Marlo admitted she needed his help to stay upright he wrapped his arms around her waist. As his partner began talking about the cloth again he found himself thoroughly distracted by their embrace. Leaning in he began to kiss her neck. As she spoke he continued lavishing her neck with kisses. It wasn't until she asked her question about him that he stopped raising his head from her neck his attention restored. The question was surprisingly hard hitting for how out of it Marlo was. He took a moment to ponder what she had asked, trying to concentrate despite his clouded mind. "You know I'm not sure I really know the answer myself..." he mumbled pausing for a moment before continuing. "I guess I act like an asshole because it makes it easier to distance myself from people..." he explained. It was clear he was having increasing difficulty holding his train of thought at this point. "Maybe it makes it easier not to worry about others..." he said growing quiet it seemed he had exhausted everything he had to say on the subject.

[Outsane 418]

Marlo had hesitated in her words as the first of the kisses came. She didn't think it was possible, but her face grew hotter. She breathed out a soft sigh before resuming speaking. She had no idea he was hardly paying attention. She had closed her eyes and leaned her head away, allowing him to continue. Once he had stopped kissing, Marlo opened her eyes and turned back to look at him. A frown formed as he answered her question. Not quite the answer she had expected. She had hoped he had just thought she was a bitch and thus acted accordingly. It seemed her question ruined the mood he was once in. She was enjoying those kisses. "I'm sorry," she said suddenly. "I used to think like that, too. There's some people that just get under your thick skin, though. Can't keep 'em out forever, y'know. And maybe," Marlo reached up and cupped his cheek. "Maybe I wanna be one of those people to you." She chuckled, then moved her hand away from him and she yet again pulled herself up and wobbled, holding her arms out to keep her balance. Marlo then walked over to her satchel while unbottoning her top and dropped it beside the satchel and grabbed her cloak and walked back over to Delgue.

Once in front of him again, she knelt back down and put the cloak over him, then pulled him towards her. Leaning down, Marlo pressed her lips against his. The connection stopped the tingling heat in her lips. One hand let go of the collar of her cloak around him and ran through his hair again before she gripped onto it and she pulled back while gazing down at him, a small, sly smile on her face. "Ahh. One of those better uses for that mouth of yours." She murmured to him before Marlo moved back down to resume kissing him. As she did, she let go of his hair, but kept her hand there. She was definitely more in to this kiss than the one before. She finally pulled away and gazed down at him, then lowered down and slid her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm tired. I'm gonna sleep with you tonight, Delgue." She stated, not really giving him a choice.

[Beedis 182]

Delgue had no snappy remarks for Marlo as she consoled him. It seemed the more he learned about her the more he realized they had in common. Her confession managed to lift his spirits back up a bit. As she rose from her seated position his eyes followed. As she returned with her cloak he gazed up at her smirking, there was a trace of hunger in his eyes. Soon his partner wrapped the cloak around and leaned down to kiss him. He quickly reciprocated the gesture letting her take the lead this time around hair pulling and all. "Aww shut up, you still should have hit me harder." he remarked with a cackle before she began kissing him again. When she pulled away a trace of disappointment could be seen on his face. "Normally I like my space but tonight I'll make an exception." he responded before wrapping his arms around her. In his drunken stupor it wouldn't be long until he lost consciousness.

He awoke to a dim light filtering in from the entrance of the cave. He had a splitting headache, nausea, and on top of that the cheek Marlo had punched the day earlier ached like hell. The events of last night were a blur to him at this point. He groaned trying to rise from his hunched over position against the wall. It was then his bleary vision cleared up enough to notice Marlo asleep atop him. It took him a moment to recall how they got into this position but after focusing he managed to piece together the events of the previous night. "Marlo." he whispered; she didn't stir. "Marlo!" he called raising his voice this time; that roused her.

"Comfortable?" he teased as she gained her bearings. "You drooled all over me by the way." he explained. A wet spot occupied his clothing around the center of his chest. He let her take her time getting off of him and when she did he rose taking a moment to overcome the nausea before doing a few stretches. "We should get that friendly more often. Think about how much better we would work as a team." he said before giving her a lascivious wink. He still had Marlo's cloak draped around his shoulders. After his stretches he moved around the cave picking up anything they might have left including the empty wine bottle before rolling up his sleeping mat and packing it. He then took a seat on the cave floor "I'm going to need a little while to let this headache sort itself out then we should really get on the road." he explained before reaching up to feel his cheek, he was sure a nasty bruise had formed by this point.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Beedis

[Outsane 418]

She awoke with a start. Once Marlo realized she was laying on a man's chest, she looked up to his face, a hint of hope in her eyes. When she saw it was just Delgue, the hope vanished and she grimaced once the headache set in. She pulled herself off him and smiled while wiping her face. "Good, now people will know you're mine." She teased, the smile vanished quickly when another throb from her hungover assaulted her brain. "Ffffuck." She hissed while clutching her head. Finally getting on her feet, she did a quick few stretches as well. There'd definitely be no workout this morning, not with her head feeling like... well, like she had punched herself. The thought reminded her of what she did yesterday and she glanced over to his cheek. A satisfying sight to see that big bruise forming on him now. She moved closer to him after he took a seat, then squatted down to inspect her handy work. "Oh yeah. That black and blue definitely brings out your eyes." She laughed.

Marlo stood up and grabbed a small bottle of a clear liquid from her bag. "I'm gonna go find a river or something to wash up in, then. Don't worry, I'll be careful and stay out of sight." She quickly added before leaving the cave. It wasn't hard to find the river that flowed nearby. It was loud enough to follow easily. There was a small cliff that made a pseudo cave around the running river. Marlo deemed that spot good enough for privacy and quickly stripped down to jump in. She'd be quick about it at least so Delgue didn't have to come looking for her. The clear liquid served to cleanse her hair as well as make it smell pleasant. She wasn't one for perfumes, but the smell reminded her of her time with her father. 

Amidst bathing, she tensed up, sensing eyes watching her. Her gloves were back at the cave and her clothes near the shore, but that's where she felt the presence. "Don't turn around," came the voice. Marlo scowled, instantly recognizing it. "I don't wanna see anything you don't wanna show."

"Really? You pick NOW to come talk to me?" She barked back. "What do you want, Swift?"

"Just giving a report on your mum."

"Great. What's she doing?"

"Vacationing around here, actually." Came his reply.

Marlo paused for a moment. She was in Ellwood? Now, of all times? "At the cabin?" She asked quietly. He grunted. "Alright. That's all I need to know. You should go home. Delgue and I can handle the rest of this."

"I can stick around at your mum's. She's got her entourage with her and you know they're all big fans of you there." Swift offered.

Marlo shook her head. "Delgue's good and reliable. We can take care of them if they get hostile. I trust him. Thanks for the offer, though. If I lost one of you guys to what's going on here... I dunno. I can't lose another one of the guys." She explained, combing through her hair and finishing washing it out.

"What did you find out?" He asked, suddenly very interested.

"Swift, the less you know, the better. Trust me. You guys are probably involved too much as is. Just go home and wait for me there. If I don't come back... don't come looking for me. Just assume I'm dead." She insisted, turning her head to look at him. He nodded and backed away. He knew when to not argue with her, too. Once he had left, Marlo climbed out of the water, pulled on her clothes and walked back to the cave while ringing out her hair. Once she entered it, she spoke up. "We should get some water in the next town before we go on to my mum's cabin... it's that time of year she usually vacations here. She should be around." She explained. It didn't occur to her that Delgue may have been a bit too preoccupied last night to have heard her plan. "She can get us some new clothes, too. A change of outfit might be good to keep those assholes off us."