midnightstar | Shionne and Alphen in Menancia

They've all come a long way since Calaglia, both in terms of distance and... other things. Things Shionne was forcing herself not to acknowledge. Because what would the point be to acknowledge those thoughts when she couldn't act on them - when at the end of this journey, she had no future? Ah... but that was something she hadn't - couldn't - tell the others, who she's begun thinking of as more than just 'tools'.

Particularly Alphen.

It was the hardest to think of him when she knew how much she was keeping from him. Much to her frustration, however, the group had decided to take a break for a little while since Shionne's pace had been pushing the others quite a lot - and they did just gain two new companions. Shionne was avoiding them as much as possible, deciding to go for a walk through the city almost...baffled by how accepting the Dahnans and Renans were.

It was ... nice. But it felt so alien to her, at the same time.

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Rinwell certainly was watching Shionne and Alphen suspiciously, though she hadn't quite put it together yet. Kisara and Dohalim saw it VERY clearly - although they weren't quite on speaking terms yet on Kisara's side. At least unless she absolutely had to and it was with subzero temperature in her voice.

Law on the other hand, was blissfully obtuse, but as much as he would have liked to chat with Rinwell, Hootle was having NONE Of it (tm), so he meandered over to Alphen. "Hey Alphen, I was planning on getting some training in before we turned in for the night. Although I wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind showing me some more of your techniques?"

"Oh one last spar before the end of day huh? Sure I'll take you on. Looks like the rain's stopped just enough and the wet mud should provide a pretty good challenge for us both~" Alphen nodded before looking out the window and confirming it was not still raining cats and dogs.

Law beamed, resembling an excitable wolfdog about to go walkies. He practically had the tail wagging -- but they didn't get the attachment for him. "Great! I'd ask Rinwell or Shionne if they want to watch but--" He pauses, a sudden chill running up his spine, and he looked over his shoulder to see Hootle giving him a steady suspicious owleye stare. "... I uh.. I think Rinwell's busy." Also Hootle might peck his eyes out. "Do you want to ask Shionne if she wants to watch? I think she went outside to get some air, right?"

Normally Kisara would step in to offer to talk to Shionne so she would have someone to chat with, but Rinwell was busy chatting with her about Law's recent indescretion - gasp, FLIRTING WITH THE LIBRARIAN. And by chatting, she means complaining but it's not like she CARED or anything. This insistence only made Kisara hide her smile from growing in clear amusement. Seeing it from both sides - with Shionne's denial and Rinwell's denial was an easy source of entertainment, honestly.

"She'll probably say no" But watch them anyway since Alphen would be there. He leaves the second part unsaid for her sake and since Law would likely not get it anyway. Still the chances were high with her already being out there. Though the poor woman had gone out to escape him and now he was heading to her again. The worst in the most unintentional manner possible.

He knew her so well, and they had only known each other a short time. Law scratched his arm, "Eh.. Probably, but it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?"

Shionne was already standing under a tree nearby when the boys walked out of the inn, looking up at a squirrel that had been about to scoot into its little squirrel home. Her hand half raised like she wanted so desperately to touch it's fluffy fluffy fur - and at that moment Law raised a hand, "Ah, there she is. Hey Shionne!"

Immediately the squirrel darted away, and Shionne dropped her hand like she wasn't doing anything suspicious, glancing warily over towards to Law and... and Alphen. "What is it?" She grumped at the pair - Law scared away the cute animal :(

Law motioned to Alphen, "We were going to do some training. Want to watch?"

Shionne meanwhile, very much wanted to watch, but hesitated, "I.. I don't think so. I was going to head inside anyway." Where she'll lurk in the doorway and watch ._.a

Oh he CAUGHT that. Though it hurt his heart a little knowing that was a wish he couldn't grant her. Since animals felt pain just as much as people so her curse would affect them too. Well something else to do when she was finally free of it and alive and well.

After Law decided to ask his question he gave the lad a "see what I mean" look before smiling back to Shionne.

"Alright. We won't be out that much longer anyway so take care."

Caught what, nothing to catch here! She glanced at Alphen, and almost immediately the hostility melted away, though she tried to keep that guard up. Immediate failure there when he had gotten as close as he had though, so it just resulted in a shy glance away, "Don't stay out too late," she warned the pair in a much softer tone, padding inside.

Law eyed her for a second, considered, then glanced at Alphen. "Do you think..." Nahhhh.

He grinned, watching her off with a nod before turning his attention back to Alphen.

"Think what?" Law would do well to watch his next words very carefully...Oh wait it's LAW. Tact and finessse are even more foreign concepts than they are for Alphen.

Law, unfortunately, had not yet ret the age of maturity where 'tact' was a common concept. "Well," he threw a practice jab at his friend as they started training, "She seems a bit different from when we first met, don't you think? I mean you've known her longer than Rinwell or I, let alone Kisara an dDohalim so you'd probably know better than anyone else."

Oh good he had dodged a bullet by not assuming Shionne might be into him. Instead the topic got a soft smile to spread over ALphen's lips.

"No you definitely have a point. She's been opening up more and more since we met." More than anyone else in the group even realized but that was something between himself and Shionne.

It might be too early to celebrate Alphen! "Yeah, Kisara and Rinwell were talking about that earlier, actually. You probably didn't notice because you and Shionne were -- uh..." Well, very much focused on each other.

Alphen raised an eyebrow. "We were what?" He didn't feel like they were acting that out of the ordinary. The two of them had just been talking between eating.

Law pondered a moment, "I mean.. you know. You were pretty close .. I don't think you even noticed her thorns triggering around you. I don't think she did either. Kisara was getting worried until Shionne suddenly excused herself the way she did, and Rinwell was wondering if she was into you or something. Although with the way she is, there wouldn't be much point, right?"

Something about those last words ticked him off faintly and he drew his sword.

"I wouldn't say that. Besides there's nothing wrong with Shionne and me getting closer. Now are we sparring or not?"

See, THIS would be the moment an astute person might pick on that slight irritation and shut up. Law, however, is not such a person. At least not in this particular matter because he .. keeps talking. Open Mouth Insert Foot, right? "I guess not, but those thorns of hers are still going to keep you - anyone - from getting too close anyway, right? So you can't get -THAT- close." Oh right, the reason they came out here. "Oh yeah, I'm ready~!" Eager Puppy is going to be put on his ass isn't he?

"Those thorns never stopped me and I am not going to start letting them now." With that Alphen kicked off the ground into a dash right at Law, his blade cutting into an arch upwards into Law's side though still with the flat side since despite his annoyance he wasn't out to kill poor Law.

Yie! A little extra aggression there, Law hadn't anticipated that quick a move - though he should have - and quickly brought his arms in to quickly knock aside Alphen's arm, though he grunted at that initial hit. Even though it was with the flat of the blade, it still stung! "Oof -- sure you say that, but she probably doesn't want to hurt you."

He knew Law was right and that just annoyed him even more as he transitioned into a kick and aerial slam at Law.

"She's not hurting me. If anything she does the opposite since I tend to get wounded without noticing and she's always there to patch me up."

Law's air rushed out of him in an OOF as he hit the ground, though he quickly rolled to his feet and charged forward to break through and send a flurry of blows Alphen's way. Chaaaaaaarge~

He's also HIGHLY suspicious of that 'she's not hurting me' comment. "I mean.. sure, but that's only coz you can't feel pain right? Doesn't your body still get damaged from it?" Probably not as much as their sparring sessions tend to get.

"Not really. She always checks every time and she hasn't had to heal me whenever we touch." Alphen accidentally spilling the beans in the heat of the moment though Law does finally get a good hit in but not enough to achieve more than just pushing Alphen away and making some distance.

WHOoooooah, that threw Law off, and one of his swings went wide as he stared at Alphen, "Wait, what?" Did.. wait those two weren't.. he meant casual touches right? "You two .. I mean you're.. uh.." He skids to a stop for a second, trying to think of a *gasp* tactful -- oh hell it's Law we're talking about - "You got that far?"

"Far? What's that supposed to mean?" Alphen was a different kind of dense though he did see an opening so naturally he pushed forward to rush Law and keep him off balance which was not easy given his status as a martial artist.

Law swayed backwards, arms up in defense as he put his physical guard up, watching for a moment to get a hit in on Alphen. "You know.. i mean, you and Shionne.." A little awkwardly said, "You're. .. you know.. close. I mean that's great for the two of you, but I thought that kind of thing would be really hard for the both of you. But if you make it work, then that's awesome, congratulations~!" He just stammered through the misconceptions as quickly as possible.

He was not about to give him too much time to think as Alphen went for a sliding kick and slam of his sword aimed to sweep Law's legs out from under him.

"You're making it sound as if it's something strange to even try."

Crap, he was going full on aggressive - which was understandable when he was a front liner too. But he saw that sliding kick coming in and leapt upwards to dodge it, aiming to land behind Alphen for another chain of kicks and punches - although perceptive as he was he might see that one coming too! Either way he's a little out of breath after his attack, and huffed a bit,

"Well.. I mean.. it is, isn't it? A little? Shionne's great, but if I were in your position I wouldn't be able to do what you're doing. Probably a lot of people wouldn't - couldn't be with someone if they couldn't even touc-"

... and a flash of pink and white out of the corner of his eye drew his attention as he realized ...oops. Worse still, Rinwell had been watching through the window with Kisara and Dohalim and .. they probably all heard that too, judging from the assorted looks of annoyance and disappointment and judgment. :/ At least Kisara left the window shortly after, no doubt to check on Shionne, but Law felt many shades of uncomfortable from the glares. He didn't think he'd said anything -bad-!