Desperation. (Phaedra.)

[Roy Atenwood]

Well, Roy was broke. Flat broke. He needed money, and fast, or else he wouldn't be able to afford to live on Babylos any longer. What was he going to do about it, you ask?

Well, in the two years he traveled before coming here, he was a thief. He stole food, mostly, just so he could survive, and this was the farthest he had ever gone before. He was standing in front of a very large house, just south of being a mansion, and he intended to steal valuables, and sell them.

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

With a sigh, he took a small metal hook from his pocket, and began to work at the lock. Usually, you needed more than one lockpick to pick a lock, an entire set, but this lock was deceptively simple. A single tumbler.

Seven seconds or so later, Roy was inside. He moved silently, padded leather boots muffling his movements, and his clothes were normal-sized instead of baggy, as usual. Instead of a t-shirt, he wore a black long-sleeve shirt, and had a black scarf wrapped around the bottom half of his face. His ears were visible, but they always were. He had left his spear at his dorm, along with his dagger, but he had his sword strapped to his back. It was something of a comfort, one must suppose.

This place is pretty big.......where's the insignificant. but valuable stuff? Like silverware?

Not being able to find the kitchen, he swiftly and silently shot up the stairs. His feet made no sound as he moved, and his breathing was quieted, as well. He opened a door, into a bedroom. Without searching the room, he silently opened drawers, looking for pendants, jewelry, anything of the sort.

When he found himself face-to-face with a picture of.....Phaedra?

He immidiately stopped what he was doing, turning on his heel and leaving the bedroom. He thought he heard someone downstairs, so he tried to turn again, and dart back into the room to hide, when his foot caught the rug.

Right in front of the first stair back down.

Before he even had time to let out a scream, he was falling backwards down the stairs, his left leg wrapped in a small throw-rug. Loud thumping echoed through the house as his head connected with the floor, and everything went black.

And to think that today was his eighteenth birthday.

[Phae]

Phaedra was in the library of her house. Yes her house. She was in the library of the house. It was one of those two story octoganal librarly with the spiral stair case going up and around as well as a balcony. The books were everywhere filling all the cases though there was some room to spare for expansion. She had a small lamp on the desk where she was reading and writing at the same time. She was doing some reasearch for homework and had decided to come to her house's library for just that. She had plans for this house. Plans that would be good and probably make her feel better in the end.

That was when she swore she heard the front door close. She cocked her brow and turned off her lamp standing up she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and headed out. She went through the house in the darkness and that was when she heard someone falling down the stairs. She ran over and stopped as the person came to a stop at her feet. It was dark and she couldn't see who it was so she wasn't going to take any chances. Stepping on his chest with one foot to keep him down she unsheathed her blade and pressed the point of her blade right into his throat.

"Who are you and why the hell shouldn't I cut you ear to ear right now?" she growled as she waited for him. She was wearing a short white ruffled skirt and a soft pink and white argile sweater as she glared at him. Waiting for his answer.

[Roy Atenwood]

He let out a groan, as a weight pressed against his chest. He shifted his head to te right slightly, and his left hand closed.

"Who are you and why the hell shouldn't I cut you ear to ear right now"

He recognized the voice. It was Phaedra. He had tried not to let this happen, had tried to leave without letting her know he had been here. How the hell was he going to talk his way out of this? With another groan, he loooked up toward her face. She was wearing rather odd clothing, in his opinion. Argile just plain weirded him out.

"Phaedra? Do me a favor and kill me. If I don't get five hundred dollars by next week, I have to leave Babylos. I'd rather die than live down there, back on earth, and I stooped to thievery. Do everyone a favor and just kill me."

He let out a sigh. He would have cried, if he had the abillity, or so he believed. Shifting slightly, he removed the scarf, exposing his throat. Hopefully, she wouldn't draw it out. If she did, he would likely make a mess, clawing at his neck until he bled out.

Letting out a sigh, he waited, eyes closed, until they snapped open and began to glow white.

Ok........what am I seeing here? Wait a minute.......

The vision wasn't horrible. In fact, it was quite funny, for him at least. He felt he would get out one more good laugh before he died, and blurted out, "You actually own a schoolgirl outfit?"

He began laughing uncontrolably. It was a good-natured sound, suprisingly. It was odd to hear, coming from someone who hated himself as much as Roy did.

[Phae]

Phaedra?

500 Dollars?

Kill me?

Well to say the least that was definatly not what she expected. She cocked her brow and wondered just who they were. It wasn't Jun she would have recognized his body shape not to mention his voice. Though this voice did sound awfully familiar she just couldn't exactly place it perfectly but she knew she had heard it somewhere before. It wasn't until the eyes began to glow white that suddenly she knew exactly who it was. She sighed and rubbed her eyes smiling softly.

Suddenly he blurted out something about her school girl outfit and she turned about as red as her hair. Thanking god he couldn't she suddenly stumbled back off and away from him.

"What? How'd you.. but.. DAMNIT ROY QUIT THAT!?" she said with a sigh. She clicked on a lamp that lit the entry way and she walked over to him offering him a hand up.

"Come on, lets go talk somewhere." she said with a sigh as she resheathed her blade and waited for him to take her hand. "You hungry?" she asked looking at him.

[Roy Atenwood]

Roy took her hand, his gloved hand not making skin contact, and not triggering a vision. He let out a sigh, ashamed at what he had blurted out, and the fact that he was here, in her house. He had stooped to petty thievery.

"I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot......I was desperate. I just don't want to go back to Earth."

Then she said she wanted to talk., and asked him if he was hungry. This was confusing. VERY confusing. He had broken into her house, to steal her valuables, and sell them. He haddn't known it was her house, but that diddn't make much of a difference. It diddn't make ANY difference.

"I.....no. I'm fine. I'll stay and talk, but I won't take your food. Not after I tried to steal from you. I'm sorry......I shouldn't have stooped to thievery."

[Phae]

Phaedra chuckled. Using her muscles she pulled the half elf up but didn't let go of his hand. She sighed as she walked with him into the kitchen and turned on the light. He was a cute guy but he had some serious issues he needed to address and get over because they really did make people want to pick on him and other things. But luckily for him, Phae might kid a bit, but she never picked on anyone that just wasn't her style. She sat him down at the glass topped table and in one of the chairs that had soft white cushions on it.

"Sit. I was going to cook anyway and Im going to make you eat whether you like it or not." she chuckled. "Think of it as payment for breaking into my house. Had I not been here.. well we shant think of that shall we?" she smiled.

Opening the fridge she began to get things out of it. It was something she enjoyed doing. Cooking. Something that made her smile and gave her something to do. She went to the granite countertops that were a smoothe sleek black granite and began cutting up things to make really good omelets for the both of them.

"So tell me then. You say that if you don't steal then you'll be sent back to earth right? Well, where did the money you came with come from? And.. have you thought about getting a job in the city? There are tons of places to work really and I think someone would take you. Even the teachers at the school might need research assistants from time to time. I should think there were a few more options rather that running straight to theivery." she said looking up at him as she got some butter and placed it in the skillet.

[Roy Atenwood]

"I've tried getting a job up here....but I always screw up. I can't do anything right when I'm pressured to do it. The money I came with was a gift from my aunt, but in a recent demon attack, her village and mine were destroyed. I was the only survivor of both villages. I have to use all my remaining money to pay for food and expenses, but if I don't pay the Elna, a race of dreamwalking elves, five hundred dollars a month..........then I have to fight for my birthright, so to speak."

Roy let out a sigh, and pushed his hair out of ihs eyes. A forlorn, meloncholy laugh filled the air, and he continued speaking.

"They DO need the money to conduct research, and I know they're working towards something that has to do with purging the astral plane of demons, but if I don't send the money, they'll force me to fight ten of their strongest warriors. Alone, and unarmed. I think I'm going to, though.......I need to stop running away."

He leaned foreward, his head in his hands, realizing he had just explained it all to her without a thought. Now he felt even worse, because he had just lumped all of his problems on someone who already had enough on her plate, with being pregnant and all.

"Umm....just forget I said any of that. These are my problems, not yours."

[Phae]

Phae continued cooking the omlets as Roy began to explain just how he had gotten himself upon such hard times as this. She smiled as he began to list all his problems she could understand not wanting to tell anyone about them but honestly she didn't mind knowing. She had her own problems, Roy had seen that back at the carnival on New Years night. As she she finished the omlets when he finished his story and began to appologize. Dishing them out on two plates she placed one in front of him and then one in the chair across from him. She got them both glasses of orange juice and then sat down.

"Well don't worry about telling me your problems. Honestly, it's kinda nice to know others have issues as well as I." she said sliding a fork in his direction. "Eat or I'll beat you up." she chuckled.

"Firstly, this is my house. Well, my ex-fiance bought it for me. When we were going to get married. So it's large and all filled with stuff as you can imagine. Now, I can imagine that it would make an easy mark, had you not fallen down the stairs." she chuckled. "However, I think, if you like, I can hook you up with a few things that could give you some money. I don't need everything that is here, I don't actually live here and I only came here to do some research in my library for a class of mine." she explained.

"So first lets eat and chat, get to know one another and then I'll let you pick out some things to sell. But really you should get a job. You are a seer, I mean.. it's a cheap excuse to use your magic but you could do that for your job. I don't know if you can see into the future or not but it's just a thought. Or one of the professors might be able to use a personal assistant. I bet there are tons of things you can do. The hospital wing is always short on staff." she told him as she ate her omlet quietly.