Unintended Theft (Valtis/Miora)

[Ven]

"I wouldn't know if they deserved it." he glanced at the ground again, kicking a small pebble gently with the head of his foot. "I don't tend to dwell on such things. It's... not something  that's easy for me." This was true- despite Valit's willingness to kill. He tended not to think of it- it drove him insane. What if he was the vampire he just beheaded? What would happen to those who knew him? Would lives be destroyed? He hoped not- killing someone is enough damage. However, Valit was far from remorseful of his actions. He enjoyed the job well enough, the thrill of the fight. Warm red blood pooling the ground. "I'm a simple mercenary. Scum of Vasiliades." he gave a hesitant smile to the girl.

Valit rose an eyebrow, "I have no reason to hurt you. I'm plenty rich and I honestly do not intend on killing someone if I don't get something from it." he meant more money, of course, considering that's one of the few things he cherished in life. Money fed him, money bought him clothing and weapons. Money was simply the most delightful thing the vampire could even think of! "I doubt you have anything on you that makes up for the whole fleeing from the own thing."

Valit snickered, staring down at his hands. "I usually don't spend time with people. I supposed a small trinket of the sort would be useful, but I prefer just to wave my sword around."  he stuffed his hands into his pockets now, attempting not to move them about nearly as much. "Though the whole crowd thing isn't my usual scenery. I tend to stand out anyways." 

The man watched her deal with the spider so delicately, not used to someone even considering to be gentle with the creatures. He himself was known to smash the little buggers at sight- hating the idea of something crawling on him or his belongings. They were like little spies that wouldn't leave you alone. "I'm Valit. Valit Labriue." he gave a nod, "Nice to meet you, Miora." he let her name roll of his tongue. Valit knew not if he would ever utter the name once more, but it was certainly possible. The story of a young, water-drenched thief would be quite the party story. 

[Lisenet]

Miora eyed him, frowning with disapproval on his small smile. Not that she had the right to tell anyone how to live their life, but she often wanted to. Some fellows ought to pay more attention to their wives--this fellow ought to pay more attention to others. Why someone was wanted dead, what that someone was like, whether or not they deserved the chance to keep living it if the weight of his pocket book was more important to him than the happiness their families may have been robbed of. Of course most people didn't get into others' hit lists for good reasons, but there were still those who simply stumbled into the wrong person's games.

"I believe that for now," she agreed. "And I am fairly monetarily worthless. There's some safety in that actually. I rarely have the pleasure of being robbed, for example." One of the delightful things about robbing a thief though was the lack of guilt involved in the act. For one because it was hot money already, and for two because they could always just go steal themselves some more.

He was putting in the effort to appear normal now, and she noticed it. It made her a bit less fidgety herself, as he no longer appeared to be on the brink of grabbing her again. She still wondered why he felt he couldn't control that. They were his hands,weren't they? She stuck her nose in the air. "Well you can't wave your sword about in the middle of a market, so I simply offered a basic solution. I like being around people for the most part--they're interesting--but sometimes they can be a royal pain." As far as standing out went, she knew how that felt, though a variety of people were used to her and her curse by now.

"Is that a name you gave yourself?" she wondered. "Most street children don't have surnames. I have one because I was upper merchant class before my parents tossed me out, but I hardly use it." It really wasn't necessary for her way of living. "How did you get out anyway? You didn't just randomly start offing people. Yes yes I know there was hard work and perseverance involved. But I don't plan on living like this my whole life either. The curse is at the root of all my problems but I'll find a way to break it someday."

[Ven]

Valit's hesitantly given smile soon faded out when he saw her frown. He quickly came to the conclusion that this child, Miora,  wasn't one to take his acts lightly. This he understood. One of the few views that differ from his own that actually clicked in his head. Murder was wrong- this child must be into justice. Not something that mixed well with a wanted mercenary. Valit thought, for a heartbeat, of finally leaving the girl to carry on with her day. Something dug in his chest, and he decided against this. He was extremely curious about the cursed fellow. This kept him here, he supposed.

Valit gave a nod "Being the underdog gets a fair amount of advantages- though I certainly wouldn't say they out weight the negative aspects of such a life." he resisted the urge to tap his chin as he said that. He had to keep himself as still as possible. "If you were taken from I'd be concerned for what drove the person to do that. You're young, and certainly don't look like you have a pocket full of coins."

"I think I had a surname as a young one." He murmured, closing his eyes gently. "I don't remember it, however. This one was chosen because my father's name was Labre, and my mother Ruia." he spent a couple of seconds thinking upon what she had said after the remark about his surname, eyes opening once his though process on the topic was, in fact, complete. "If the curse is the problem then you should study how to break curses. Find people who specialize on such a thing, ask for help. This would probably involve leaving, or waiting for the right faces to appear in this city, I suppose."  he honestly hadn't a clue of what to say. How he got out of it? He considered it pure luck, with the help of his family roots of course. Valit spent all his time wandering, being the apprentice of warriors. He was often dropped as a student for being too distant, being too much of a trouble maker, or accidentally hurting someone while flaunting his new abilities.

"Or, alternatively, you could take on a job where a normal person would be getting wet anyhow." he suggested "Why are you asking me all of this?"

[Lisenet]

Seeing as the dirt at her feet had by now turned into mud, Miora hope up to sit on a half tired crate instead. "It's actually pretty fun to see how you can manipulate people's opinions of you when you work at it. If you're passing  for human, for example, it's okay to fidget so long as you don't flail  and stomp. That makes you look like a madman or someone on drugs. But holding too still makes you look anxious. Since I'm assuming you don't want to be readily identified for what you are, though why you told me still baffles me." No one ever expected advice from children, particularly those of her situations, so she wanted to see how he'd take it, more out of curiosity than anything else. That and she wanted to thank him for the food and for not doing her hand off for stealing from him, which most people would have done without a thought. But trying to nudge people's moods here and there was more than a hobby for Miora--it was a skill  she utilized more than she'd admit to honest people. They tended not to like finding out that she crafted her writers and actions to garner specific reactions from them. She'd hate it too, but with so few weapons in her arsenal she'd had to get comfortable with what was available to her.

He brought up a few good points. She hadn't considered looking for a job that wouldn't mind her being wet. Off the top of her head though she couldn't think of any. She'd come back to that later. "Because you got out," she replied, surprised he'd had to ask. "Almost no one actually wants to live on the streets their whole life. I want born to this and if I'm not careful I AM going to sure from it--how long do you think I'll last  with this curse when winter comes? I'm not ashamed to ask questions. If there's anything you know that help me get out I want to know so I can do it too." Miora wasn't if she was less tough than the others because she'd been born to better money or if there was some other influence, but she'd be damned if she had to live like this forever. She had better things to do than die of a cold.

Miora watched him a moment longer, thinking. Finally she jumped back down off the crate and trotted past him. "Come on I'll show you something. " She ran back out into the bustle of the street, trusting that he'd follow instead of looking over her shoulder. They weren't far from it here. After several quick turns and alleyways she stored set the gap between two buildings and peered out at the Puget blue and white house directly opposite them. "This is where I used to live. I don't know if you can see but on the west side of the steps there's a warped shoot in the wood where I used to sit before they turned me out completely. My family lives there still. I can't believe Father's made the money last this far to be honest. He's been going broke for years and all he's done to fix that is to charge people their own blood and children to artsy the houses he rents to them. Watch this, it's kind of fun in an awful way." One of the kitchen maids had just stepped out onto the porch to shake out a cloth of crumbs so Miora darted across the street and stood at the ends of the steps.

The maid noticed her in seconds. "Now don't you be coming in here, Miss Miora!" She warned. "You know I'll have to tell your father if you do."

"But I'm hungry!" Miora pled. "Don't you have any leftovers I can have?"

"Just what happened to those bits we gave you last week,eh?"

"I shared them with the other kids."

"Well that's your own fault then,isn't it? No no you can't come up here!"

Miora had taken the first step up, but when the maid dove for her, swinging the cloth, Miora bolted back to the alleyway. "See? Unless I can find a lake to go crab fishing in or a sorcerer who does charity work I can use all the helpful information I can get. So own up to any tricks you've got so I can have them."

[Ven]

Valit knew the answer why he had told her- he wanted to scare her. The young girl could've believed her, she could have believed the vampire simply wished to bluff. In a way, he was trying to bluff, but once you have done such cruel acts the bluff becomes truth and looses its meaning. In any case, frightening someone who had just taken from you tended to be his usual go to, and flaunting his criminal record was certainly an easy way to do so. "I wanted to scare you." he told her, and this was true, but he was never the best at being fearsome, considering the vampire was dwarfed by other of his race. He hated his height, a measly five foot two wasn't exactly a great height to be at. Especially if your motives are to scare one.

"Winter..." Valit repeated under his breath once she had said it. It struck him rather quick-like, she couldn't possibly live outside, drenched, in the tundra's winter. Valit gave a slow, understanding nod. Though he didn't understand. How could he? "I honestly wouldn't know the best route for you. I certainly wouldn't stay in a tundra if I dripped water." he mumbled, softly, under his breath. Voice full of both concern and guilt.

The man took off soon after she did, his city navigational skills lacking, however. He bumped into people here and there, whispering out a rushed apology before returning his focus to the girl. Where was she leading him? Why? He certainly didn't understand her at all. It wasn't something that bothered the young man that much, he couldn't spend all his time questioning others. When they made it to the building, he stared off into disgust. How could they have left the girl? Their own child?

Watching the girl speak to the maid, feeling a bit of dread inside him. "Y-yeah, that makes sense." he stuttered. Embarrassed by this, he covered his face with one gloved hand. "My situation was quite different that your own, but..." he trailed off into his thought, digging through his brain to try to find some hints or tricks he had used to get up in his life. "Blackmail and lying can get you anywhere, if you're good enough at it, but uh... That's not exactly the most ethical." he stopped for a moment, running the hand covering his face up into his hair and soon dropped it back down to his side.

"By the lord all mighty, I don't know. I inherited money from my father- I had a head start. Maybe if you learn a trick, or some magic you can preform on the street for money? For all things good and evil, and I honestly don't have much I can tell you. I had a good 30 coins when I was left alone, and connections! I was known as the little human boy who's father was a knight.." he felt extremely bad that he couldn't think of anything right now, closing his eyes tightly, as if that would up his chances of remembering what he had done.

[Lisenet]

Well, scaring someone was a fair use of information, and that information had done its job effectively. Miora knew how lucky she was to have thus far escaped a far worse fate than being gifted a handful of good food. She didn't begrudge him the use off his own arsenal.

"Hm." Miora pursed her lips. "Those do sound like entirely different situations. Alas." She worried her lips back and forth, still thinking. He was an interesting character this one; she didn't want to leave him just yet. He was curious. "So where else have you traveled?" she wanted to know, enjoying having a conversation with an adult who neither seemed eager to get rid of her not was shouting at her. Being better educated than most off the other street children They tended to think she was a snob and she tended to find them dull. "Do you ever settle down in one place or do you wander? How old are you?"

(I've got one more thing I can play on but I'm running out of things for them to talk about. )

[Ven]

(I don't really got anything over here I never really have ideas //sweats)
 
He smiled gently at the girl's curiosity, not entirely used to people questioning him, his life, or really even conversing with him. "I travel everywhere- I've explored the majority of Vasiliades at this point. I've never left the island, unfortunately." he dug through his small sack strapped to his side, knocking this and that around the inside. Soon he pulled out an dirty, crumbled map of the island. He pointed at a capital of Thymenos, Uli, and turned the sheet towards her "I started there- my house was just outside the borders, before my father died." 

Valit took a few heartbeats to find the his next destination, Peos. "I was sent to an orphanage there. Didn't stay long, though." he then dragged his finger down towards the river "Once I could, I visited Psoli and went up the river, visiting all the towns nearby once I was no longer a knight." he turned the sheet back towards himself, squinting at the page "My... Favorite was in here- Syncrosi's capital, Theos. The lights of the forest were gorgeous." he hummed, the face Valit put on was quite warm. Fond memories came from this town. "But no, I don't tend to settle anywhere. I own a small, small cabin in the forest where I store my belongings, however."

He grinned wider now, "I'm twenty seven. I got my current job at... nineteen? So I've been exploring for eight years. How old are you?"

[Lisenet]

Miora grinned the second she realized that the well used sheaf of parchment he'd produced was a map. She ADORED maps. Insects--and spiders in particular--as well, but they could only teach her so much. Maps were a luxury, and they were gorgeous and informative and even when they were awful she loved them. Hastily she shook of what dampness she could from her hands and very gently steadied the thinner edges of the parchment the better to absorb all that she could. She lightly touched one of the lakes marked on the map. "I've heard strange creatures live in this lake but am hesitant to believe it add anything more than just suspicion. Have you ever been there or heard anything about it? There are a lot of strange things in this world I wish I knew more about. Have you ever met a shapeshifter? They're nearly as poorly thought of as your kind of person, not that that necessarily means you all know each other. I doubt there's a club for the ostracized folks of the world. If they is though do tell me; I could introduce a few people."

On a completely different track she asked, "May I ask why you switched occupations? Better pay? At their root they don't seem all that different."

Valit's expression had softened from its previous, often inexplicable miens into something more nostalgic. "Do you know why the forest lights up?" she wanted to know. Her father had a book discussing the phenomenon but she hadn't had the chance to read it before being turned out. "Do you travel so you won't be noticed or recognized? Which place did you least enjoy?" Feeling a bead of water sliding down her brow Miora stepped back and wiped her face so she wouldn't drop on the precious map. "I'm nine," she answered. "Duo you stop aging when you become what you are? I've heard you do. Shit."

The cause of her sudden return to foul language was caused by her sudden spotting of one of her own city's orphanage matrons passing through, and as no one wanted to stay at the orphanage, not even her, she'd always tried to avoid those women. Miora whirled and was about to plunge back into the alley when the woman called out to her and Miora, still suffering a few habits of well raised children, couldn't find it in herself not to stop and let the woman speak, though Miora's hands were fisted with unease.

"Where do you live, child?" the woman asked, a distinct note of superiority in her tone.

"Nearby," Miora answered.

The woman didn't believe her. "With who?"

Miora grabbed a few of Valit's fingers. "My brother."

The woman eyed them both, scowling at her from where she'd eased to stand half behind the curious vampire,but she shook her head and moved along.

Miora sighed. "Is there such thing as an orphanage that's WORTH staying in?" she wanted to know. "They're all under staffed and overworked."

[Ven]

The amount of questions that flooded Valit almost overwhelmed the vampire, but he was happy that he got some time to tell a bit of his life story. The potential of this backfiring on him did frighten the man, though he simply hoped that she would have a shred of heart. Though, what could she do? He already was wanted in a few areas(not many- mind you). "A shape-shifter? Yes, I believe so. A while back. They aren't very many of them left, they're hunted down a lot more than vampires, or werewolves." he gave a laugh to her club joke, the man actually would like for there to be a place like that. It's possible, actually, now that he thought upon it.



"The switch happened almost a week after I was bit. I suppose it was a mix of rage, and the want to explore. The man who bit me was a knight. I was with them, and they couldn't control it." His eyes flickered from his hands, glancing at the tattered parchment that was inked with map of his island. "Mercenary let me move around- so I decided to go with that. It... wasn't like I didn't have to hurt people before, so I decided that it was the best choice. It pays well, so in my eyes it was certainly worth the switch. I'm free to do as I wish!" assuming he didn't get recognized on the roads, that is.



Valit let out a small squeak of surprise when she grabbed him, not expecting her to be anywhere near comfortable enough to do that. He flushed slightly, looking away. Once the women had left turned around, he let up one finger to her. Specifically, the middle finger. He returned back to the questions.



"I travel because I like to travel, though it does help to keep me out of a cell in some creaky old town. The lights have something to do with the plants biology, I believe. Though some folk try to link it to magic. It reminds me of a firefly on plants, I think its the same general concept. As for a least favorite town, most definitely Peos. The damned place was closed off and dangerous. Too many orphans and I had some god-awful memories from the damned place." So many words spewed out of the man's mouth, and he was almost surprised himself at how much he could say in one moment. He barely processed what he would be saying before he said it, his guard lowered. This was strange, for him at least.



"No, I do not believe so. The damned places are shit-holes, every last one of them. I'd like to imagine there being a nice one somewhere in a more remote town, but what is the possibility of that?" Valit grinned "We need to stop abandoning children, instead."

[Lisenet]

She was surprised to hear that shapeshifters were hunted more than vampires. "Really? All things considered I'd definitely consider you and yours more of a threat." But then the decisions of adults did not always strike her as logical. They were foolish creatures, adults. So busy criticizing others that they forgot to assess themselves.

It was unfortunate that it was one of his coworkers who had attacked him. "That
Ba-bad man," she hastily corrected with a clear of her throat, based on his opinion of rude language and his defense of the man. "He oughtn't have been playing with the humans if he couldn't handle himself." Miora placed a great deal of importance on one's control of themselves. Her adherence to discipline was dimming with her life on the streets but at least she wasn't yet a complete heathen. Whether or not she escaped the streets with any of her fine manners still intact remained to be seen.

It took all she had not to laugh when he jumped at her grasping of his fingers. She laughed outright at the gesture he made moments later though and released him. "You hypocrite!" she cried, still laughing. "You run about snatching at other people and get all worked up when someone else does it to you. Surely I didn't squeeze your fingers too hard did I?" But she was only teasing and she hoped he knew it. Out was just fun to watch the gamut off emotions this fellow could run through in a minute's time. His face must get tired from all that exercising.

"Oh yes, if we could just stop abandoning them that would solve a myriad of problems. There's too many idiots in the world though who don't want to face their own problems though. How do the fireflies glow then? I never quite understood that either. Is unpleasant being what you are or just another way of living that you had to get used to?"

[Ven]

Valit gave a boss, "of course! Shape shifters are capable of more damage than a measly vampire. They're much rarer than ones of my race." He shrugged, scratching his head "Do shifters ever come around here? I doubt that many races other than the regular do, but..." He trailed off, voice growing fainter and fainter before it no longer could be hearts by anyone.     

"He... Yeah." Valit agreed, he knew that his past partner was foolish for even daring to expose himself to so many humans, let alone accept one as a boyfriend. There was a lot wrong with him, Valit believed. But... He still felt a bit defensive of him. Even though valit was the one who cut it off, and anger filled him when hethought of the other vampire he once cared deeply for. "He, uh, was posing as a human the entire time."
"You're a child! He said, face flushing further or of embarrassment a"I.. Never said that I don't own a colorful vocabulary of my own." He scratched his head, avoiding eye contact with the girl. "Besides, the dried up old whore deserved it." He left or a weary smile, before laughing himself. "Do as I say, not as I do."

"I must admit, I'm not sure how fireflies let our their pleasant glow. Wasn't something I bothered to study, or more like I didn't have the time. Maybe I should look into that." He chuckled, embarrassed by his own ignorance on the subject. He could've made up some crazy story to tell-but she probably could've told he was making it up. "I tend to view it as a new lifestyle I get to experience. It gets horribly inconvenient at times, none the less."

[Lisenet]

Miora gave Valit a look that clearly expressed her disbelief and disagreement on the matter of shapeshifters versus vampires. "Yes but your sorry of people EAT people. What do shapeshifters do? Upset the yearly livestock census? To the best of my knowledge I haven't seen any but I'm evidently a poor judge of race or I'd never have tried to steal from you. "

To his exclamation of her youth she just laughed. "Sure and where do you think I learn it? I picked the language up from adults mostly. Why should you be allowed to say it and not I?" She liked hearing that he shared similar opinions to hers as far as the orphanage matron went. It was refreshing to be agreed with every now and again, and she'd gotten far too accustomed to arguing. "Well I'll try not to too closely follow your apparently poor example," she said with a last chuckle.


"Well if there were nothing left to learn in the world I'd be bored," she said, utterly nonplussed by his lack of explanation. "Do you age anymore?" she wondered then, never at a loss for questions to ask. "I'm sorry," she abruptly said. "You probably have someplace you need to go. I don't mean to harass you, and you don't have to answer all my questions." She took a step back and fidgeted,unhappy to think that she might have withheld him from something else he'd wanted to do. She was as surprised as he'd likely be if she told him, but she actually quite liked this fellow. He wasn't quite so horrifying now either since he wasn't flailing as much.

[Ven]

"Yes, we do in fact 'eat' people, but just think about it for a second. We have only a few powers a human cannot possess, but a shape-shifter can become anyone or anything they want. They have the potential to destroy a town if they wished." he stopped for a moment, a bit glad he could argue with her. This was one of his passions- fighting with words. Maybe because he had such strong opinions on nearly every topic imaginable, or the fact that he simply loved to talk. "Though maybe I'm just defensive now that I'm one of the damned suck-blooding monsters."

"I guess... That does make sense." he murmured. He left out a small chuckle, feeling bested when it came to that topic. Why should he care if she used foul language? It honestly started to concern Valit why he would. "I suppose because it's considered improper to speak in such a manner. Not that I, personally, have much concern over whether or not you speak in a proper way."

Valit's rose an eyebrow, a bit surprised by her sudden burst. He honestly didn't really have anywhere to go- he hadn't gotten a job in a while. That was concerning for him, but he knew that eventually he'd get one. If not, he could always do other jobs here and there. Murder wasn't his only skill- but it certainly was the one he was most comfortable with. He remembered how he ran into her- he was trying to find his way out of the house. "Currently I don't really have much to do- but if you'd like me to leave." he felt a bit awkward. He knew the chance of seeing the girl after today would be small, unless he purposely seeked her out.

[Lisenet]

"They can become other HUMANS?"she asked, aghast. "I thought they could only turn into animals!" She considered his impassioned argument for several moments as she played with the implications of it in her mind. "Yes I entirely agree with you," she said at last. "They are absolutely terrifying." She shuddered. Being able to impersonate an animal was one thing. Being able to walk around in the body of Another human was entirely another. That sort of ability could do awful things in the hands of the wrong type of person.

At the tone he took up at the last of his argument she found herself wishing to come to his defense herself. "What you NEED does not make you a monster," she said decisively. "How you choose to take it and how you live your own life is what decides." so he may well still be a monster, but if he was it was by his own choice, not due to the actions of others. Or at least not bound entirely by it.

"I learned to speak properly because of how I was raised but I'll admit it's remarkably fun to be able to say whatever I wish to now." She sit him a tiny smile. "Well, almost everything." Except when easily scandalized vampires had a say in the matter.

Hey head snapped up at his uncertainty. "No I don't want you to leave. You're the first long conversation I've had in months. I just thought you'd be getting bored of me and I don't want to home you back."

[Ven]

"The one I met could, at least." Valit noted, tapping his chin with his pointer finger gently. "He was a tall fellow- towered over me." he admitted, hand moving to scratch his head once again, as it has often in their conversation, before dropping to his side. "But they usually just want to survive, I hear. I think the rumor of only being able to take the form of animals came from the fact that being a bird or such is a lot safer." he made a lot of assumptions in this, but it made at least a small bit of sense.

"But what I need hurts people. I... try to only feed off of the people I've been paid to.." he stopped talking then, knowing the the girl will understand what the rest of the sentence would have been. "I also don't really like vampires, though. I just don't trust them." this was quite absurd coming from a vampire,  considering he should feel more connected to others. This was definitely not the case in Valit's life as of lately, although he seemed to avoid most social contact, despite race. He still was, in fact, much more upset over the presence of vampires over others.

Valit smiled warmly, hesitantly reaching his gloved hand over to ruffle her hair. He felt a bit jittery and warm, feeling glad that she was enjoying him. This was an odd phenomenon for him- having someone actually enjoy spending time near him. Or, perhaps, she just didn't want to upset him. He hoped the former was the truth, but who would know. Not him. "It's not like I get any decent conversation myself. Though a nine year old girl definitely isn't my usual crowd." he teased.