paradisalost | LOG: A run in in the city [Allen & Teresa]

Entry tags:

LOG: A run in in the city [Allen & Teresa]

Who: Teresa (

ofthefaintsmile) and Allen Walker (

save_the_souls)
What: Teresa and Allen running into each other in the city
When: Friday night?
Where: The city
Rating: We'll stick with PG-13

Tonight was turning out to be a bad night at work.

It had started out well enough. There had been lots of people with lots of money that they were ready to depart from with a little bit of convincing. Like always, his young age, his manners and friendly demeanor distracted them from cards he'd slip into his hand or the bad cards they mysteriously always got. Many when they have realized they lost to a kid would laugh in good nature, shaking their own heads in amusement at their own shortcomings.

However there were always a few that didn't take losing so well. Or worst, overly observant people that were quick to voice suspicions and even quicker to cause an uproar even if they had no evidence.

So there he was, for what seemed to the thousandth time in his life, running from people who wanted money. He could hear them behind him as he ran, he needed to lose them fast. Turning into an alleyway, he started climbing the fence that blocked the way, his destination the alley on the other side and then to somewhere to hide.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Teresa didn't frequent the city often. There were simply too many people there--so unless someone she happened to be with wanted to go there, she avoided it. However, at night it tended to be less crowded and noisy, and Teresa found herself enjoying occasional walks down the streets and glancing through the windows of closed shops. It was peaceful.

But tonight, there was some sort of commotion. Once upon a time, Teresa would have ignored it. Yet curiosity got the better of her, and she started to walk towards the noise. Maybe it was the troublemaker from the journal. She didn't intend to play hero, but she might intervene if she saw mindless murder. She did have some morals, after all.

She stopped walking when she saw a white head of hair peek over a fence at the end of an alley as she passed. Teresa knew there was more than one person with such hair color, but as her luck would have it...

"Allen?"

He was very acrobatic. Climbing the fence, jumping off the top and landing on his feet was no great feat. However seeing Teresa caused him to falter a bit and stumble back a few steps.

"Ah- Teresa!" He gave her a very sheepish smile. "Um...lovely evening, isn't it?"

He could hear the people on the other side of the fence, he only had a couple minutes before they came around the block. And from the sound of it, their yells were getting even more angry.

"...I got to go." And with that, he attempted to run past her.

Edited 2009-03-07 06:35 (UTC)

A hand shot out to grab Allen by the collar. She could hear the yells very well thanks to her heightened senses, so the cries of that cheating brat didn't escape her.

"Busy night?" She asked, not looking at all concerned about the impending angry mob. She was giving Allen a look that a mother would give a child who clearly stole cookies from the cookie jar, but decided to humor him despite knowing damn well what was going on.

Despite the fact that he was caught by Teresa, that didn't stop him from trying to squirm out of her grip. Though at this point he wasn't sure what he'd prefer to face. Teresa or the angry mob.

"A-a little bit!" He squeaked. "Do you mind if I explained later!? I really have to go!"

With a single run in, this night had gone from bad to worse.

"I think I do mind," Teresa said slowly, as if she were coming to a conclusion right then and there. She kept her hold on Allen. This was all fun and games in Teresa's mind. If Allen weren't Allen, and just a normal boy, she might have been more alarmed at the angry yells and plans of what to do with the boy once he was caught.

But it was Allen. And Teresa didn't worry about his health when it came to normal humans. Even if they did have pitchforks and torches. This was just his luck.

"Now, what to do..." she continued, the voices growing louder.

There were some days Allen hated Teresa's sense of humor. This was definitely one of them.

"Teresa! Please!" He could hear the voices get louder and louder. Allen was running out of time, and he was terrified Teresa's sense of humor was similar to his Master's method of distracting a mob - kicking him to them.

"Can we get out of here at least?! Please?!" He knew that he'd probably be in for it with Teresa, but if he could he wanted to avoid losing his money and dealing with angry townspeople.

Teresa raised an eyebrow. The boy could fight monsters and take a broken arm easily, yet a handful of angry humans had him in a panic.

"I can take care of it, you know." Just like how she handled some of the people he had debts to some months ago. While people didn't know what Claymores were, Teresa nevertheless was an intimidating woman. With a big sword.

She smiled. She wouldn't dare to touch any of them, but getting reactions out of people was one of her favorite hobbies. Even if that reaction was fear.

He glanced up at Teresa. He knew she could be intimidating when she wanted to be...but it was more what methods she wanted to use that he was worried about. He barely had to close his eyes to see his Master's methods that were making the knots in his stomach twist and turn severally as he recalled.

But he didn't have any time, the villagers were very near. So he just gave a gulping noise as he reached up and pulled his hood over his head, trying his best to make himself look unnoticeable.

Taking that as a sort of permission, Teresa took a step around Allen and waited for the mob to turn the corner. They reminded her of squawking ducks. Of course, they had valid reason to be upset--they had apparently just been cheated by a boy--but Teresa didn't really care.

"My, you're awfully loud for such a late hour," Teresa said as the first few rounded the corner. They seemed surprised to be met with a woman instead of a white-haired kid. "Is there a problem?"

She didn't sound so much concerned as she did amused.

He hid behind Teresa, doing his best to conceal his smaller body behind her. His dark clothing made him hard to spot for the villagers, so instead they directed their demands towards Teresa - asking where the cheating white haired brat had gone.

Allen stood very still beyond the occasional tremor of fear. If this would go like his time with his Master did, he should expect to get kicked any moment now.

Edited 2009-03-07 07:49 (UTC)

Humans really were blind.

"He could have gone that way," She said, pointing to an alley on the opposite side of the street. It wasn't a lie. Allen really could have run that way if she hadn't bumped into him. "He's fast. You'd better hurry if you want a chance of getting your money back."

Teresa wondered if things were going to be that simple. How disappointing...

They seemed to believe her. There were some angry shouts of agreement in the crowd to go that way and try to get him. And from the horrible viewpoint that Allen had, they almost seem like they were about to leave.

Or they would have if Allen hadn't be overcome an overwhelming urge to sneeze loudly for no reason that he could discern.

He really did have no luck.

Teresa sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Really..." She muttered under her breath, the crowd coming to the slow realization that the kid was right there and that this woman was a liar.

They weren't happy at all. Teresa raised a hand.

"Come any further and you'll lose more than your money tonight." She smiled at them, but it was an empty threat. She wouldn't do anything. Allen would complain.

He watched anxiously as the townspeople considered her threat. Seeing her intimidating figure, her large sword, and the air that she gave off that seemed not quite human - it made them seem to take her threat seriously and a bit fearfully.

Much to Allen's relief, they back down. They knew they weren't capable of taking her if she insisted on protecting the brat. A few threats were yelled towards Allen as they walked away about if they ever see him again, but it was nothing he hadn't heard before.

He choose now to finally breath. "Thanks, Teresa..."

Once they were out of sight, Teresa turned around to look at Allen. She seemed to frown for a moment. Then, she laughed and shook her head.

"You're a little troublemaker." The cheating and gambling didn't bother her much. Money never held a lot of value to her. She was just finding herself increasingly amused at how much of a brat Allen really was.

And she had always pegged Naruto as the brat.

"It's not like I meant to cause that!" He protested indignantly. "They didn't even had evidence that I cheated! They only suspected and overreacted." Sure they were right, but that was besides the point.

He sighed. At least she didn't seem angry about what he was doing. Allen knew it was illegal, but he never saw the harm in it. It wasn't like stealing or conning innocent people. These people choose to play cards and gamble that money, Allen was simply taking advantage of that to pay debt money to the working class of the city.

Okay, a lot of those were prostitutes, but that was also besides the point.

She smiled at his protesting. He really was a child. He wasn't an exorcist or a mature individual at the moment. He was a kid trying to justify his actions. It was funny.

"You know..." Teresa began, looking thoughtful once again, "I always thought you were the good boy. Naruto always held the title of troublemaker in my mind." After all, Naruto tended to be louder and quick to anger.

"I think I might have been wrong." She smirked and moved to flick Allen in the forehead.

He made a small "ow" noise as he rubbed his forehead from the flick.

"I think you might have been..." he was forced to admit. Naruto was loud, temperamental and sometimes violent. But he never really got into the kind of trouble Allen did either here or at home.

Now the question that was sitting in his mind was if she was going to tell him to stop or worse, tell Naruto or Rinali about this. Naruto might find it amusing and would laugh at him for awhile.

Rinali...he didn't want to think about that one.

Edited 2009-03-07 08:58 (UTC)

Teresa had taken a sort of parental role with Allen, but she wasn't so far gone as to start lecturing him about scamming people. This was something Allen did, and he wasn't harming anyone or putting himself in harm's way.

"Try not to get caught next time, hm?"

Telling Naruto or Rinali... if she happened to remember during conversation with them, then maybe she would.

He nodded. He had no intention of getting caught again. "I won't." He would have to lie low for a few days now before risking gambling again. It was funny how unmemorable he seemed to the people he played poker with. A few days and its like they had forgotten entirely that they ever played with him.

If only the people who had debts would forget about those too...

He glanced up at Teresa, now curious. "What are you doing here, Teresa?" He knew she liked to stick to the forest, so this was a little unusual.

She shrugged. "Boredom," was her reply, and there wasn't really anything more to say about it. Most of what she did was driven by that now--90% of what she did was was for entertainment, something to keep her amused and distracted from other things.

"I didn't think I would run into you. Isn't it past your bedtime?" She teased.

He frowned slightly, even if he knew she was joking. "The best gambling usually happens around this time at night, not during the day. I'm out this late often."

He put his hands into his pocket, wondering for how long he will be hearing about this one. "Though I should probably head back to the castle now..."

"Pardon my inexperience in this area, Allen," She smirked, bowing just slightly. "I'll keep that in mind if I ever plan to swindle the locals."

Teresa turned towards the path that led back up to the castle. "That sounds like a reasonable idea. Shall we?"

Did she have to be so sarcastic about it? He gave a small huff that made the bangs near his face puff in the air a little before falling to his face again. But before he said anything, Allen again told himself that Teresa wasn't a bad person...

But he nodded. "All right." He started to step towards the direction of the castle.

"Oh."

Teresa didn't stop walking, but her tone lightened a little, as if she were surprised. She peered at Allen's face, her amusement clear.

"You're making that face I told you about."

"Ah!"

He quickly tried to change his expression even if he wasn't aware of what face he was making. But whatever that face was, it didn't sound like a good one.

"Is that better?"

The sudden expression change made Teresa laugh. It was quiet, but good-natured. She wasn't laughing at him, she was... well, he wasn't laughing, but she wasn't trying to be mean at all.

"Better? Did I ever say it was bad to begin with?"

"Ah...no, you didn't say bad exactly..." He was simply confused now. The way she had described it before, it sounded bad. So wasn't it good not to have that expression?

Sometimes it was hard to understand Teresa.

"It's amusing." 'Amusing' was sometimes a dangerous term when used by Teresa. Amusing for her used to be splattering yoma blood on humans, scaring them, and subtly threatening them. Now, 'amusing' was generally harmless.

... harmless for most, anyway. She was sure Naruto and Allen would protest that statement.

"Amusing..." He was worried to ask. Amusing could mean a lot of things, Allen knew this. But this was Teresa, so he knew for whatever reason it was amusing, maybe it wasn't a terrible one.

So he nodded yet again, and continuing walking in silence. He wasn't quite used to walking back to the castle with Teresa on one of these late night trips.

"Amusing," she echoed, "And I never said it was bad. So it's safe to assume it might be a good thing." These kids overreacted too much. After all, they made her genuinely smile. Perhaps they never caught on to it--but she didn't mind. There was affection beneath the teasing. Usually.

As for the silence, Teresa barely noticed it. It was just another walk for her. This time, it just happened to be with Allen at a late hour.

"I know that." He replied. It was simply a question of a good thing for whom...

It wasn't until they were at the entrance of the city, that was very quiet at this hour, did he speak up again. "How have you been, Teresa?"

"Fine." It was her usual reply. However, it was a reflexive response, or to spare any worry about herself--she was fine. No one was after her head, she had no pressing personal matters, or any current issues weighing down on her. Whatever that might have been in the back of her mind wasn't enough to change how she was at the moment. She was fairly boring, in her opinion.

She smiled over at him. "How have you been?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

LOG: A run in in the city [Allen & Teresa]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject