( Schattenkrieger and sassiechicka )

[sassiechicka]

Desirae smiled as she paid for some vegetables. Her favorite being green beans. She paid the vendor for the green beans. She walked down to the where the meats were on display. She carefully looked over the meat. She wanted only the best for her dinner with Vincent tonight. She picked out two nice looking steaks. Now she had to figure out whether to get potatoes and some bread or would that be too much for dinner. Desirae looked around for Vincent. She found him a little ways behind her.

" So steak and green beans. Do you think potatoes and bread would be too much? "

Desirae smiled as she figured he wouldn't care, so she went back to the vegetable vendor and bought two good size potatoes. She walked around to the bread makers and picked up a nice sour dough bread. It was her personal favorite and she figured it would work well with dinner. She finished her shopping and started heading back to her place. Desirae turned around to see if Vincent was behind her. She didn't see him. She wondered if he had gotten lost in the market. She stayed put where was at so that he could find her more easily.  

[Dante Rosaire]

When Desirae had asked him about getting the rest of the ingredients, he turned around to answer her, but she was nowhere in sight. He looked around from where he was but he still couldn't see her. This concerned him greatly, he was afraid that some other drunkard or womanizer may have gotten to her. So he was a bit paranoid as he began wandering around the market district. He still couldn't find her, and now he was getting frantic. He kept telling himself that he had nothing to worry about, but his years as a bounty hunter had taught him otherwise. He had his scarf pulled down again so he could see everything better. As he walked out past the very edge of the market, he finally found Desirae. She was standing still off towards the grass, looking around, probably for him.

A wave of relief washed over him as he breathed, apparently he had been holding his breath. It wasn't like him to worry so much, especially over a person. But she seemed to be different to him, different than anyone else. Now that he knew that she was ok, he felt a bit embarrassed for having gotten lost.

"Sorry about that!" he yelled as he ran over to her.

"I got distracted for a moment and then you disappeared. And like I said, anything that you make is fine. The fact that you're making it will make the food that much better." he added with a smile.  

[sassiechicka]

Desirae smiled back at Vincent. He generally seemed concerned for her well being. She didn't know what she did to get him to like her so much, but she wanted to keep it up. Desirae took his hand and led him to her place. It wasn't much. Just a one bedroom, a bathroom, a standard kitchen and living room. She hoped that he wouldn't mind the little space.

" My place isn't that big, but it's just me so it works I guess. When we get there make yourself at home. I plan on changing then starting your dinner. "

Desirae let him up the stairs in the back of the building. She still hadn't let go of his hand. She blushed a bit after realizing this as she fumbled around for her key. She found the key and somehow dropped it on the little deck that led to her apartment. She picked it up and bonked her head on the railing. Somehow she always seemed to get hurt around him. She thought that he made her nervous. She wasn't using to being around such a kind guy. She unlocked her door and let him go in first since he was her guest. She turned around and locked the door behind her more out of habit than anything else.

" Make yourself at home while I go change. "

Desirae went back into her room and put on more comfy clothes. She fumbled around in the kitchen and got out all her cookware that she would need. She quickly put everything together. She turned to him.

" It's not much, but dinner is ready. "  

[Dante Rosaire]

As Vincent was being lead by Desirae's hand through the streets and finally up to her house, he was finally able to let go of his worries and just enjoy the present, to just slow down and savor the small things. Like Desirae actually holding onto his hand and how happy it made him feel. When she opened the door to her house, it was small but cozy. But he felt that it was very inviting. To his horror, Desirae continued to hurt herself when she hit her head on the railing.

"The whole world is trying to hurt this poor girl." he thought to himself.

He was almost sad when she finally let go of his hand to go change. But when she did come back downstairs, she looked just as beautiful, if not more. As Desirae cooked their meal in the kitchen, Vincent waited politely and patiently. Making sure to take his shoes off and leave them in the corner, as well as removing his scarf and putting it in one of his pockets. But he still kept his blade sheathed over his back. He would take it off if Desirae asked him too, but he always tried to keep it on him, just in case. But after what seemed like a short amount of time, Desirae came back into the room with their food.

"Wow, it smells delicious." Vincent said with his first genuine smile in ages, "You didn't burn yourself cooking it did you?"  

[sassiechicka]

Desirae laughed. Her first real laugh in ages. She didn't often let any bit of emotions show. She smiled a bit as it seemed he was going to enjoy the meal.

" Not this time. I have burned myself before, but it's how you learn. "

Cooking was one of the few things she found herself enjoying to do. She had forgot the drinks to go with dinner. She went back into the kitchen and got some ice out of the freezer. She put the ice in their glasses and got some water.

" I hope you're happy with ice water. It's about all I afford around here. "

Desirae placed the glass down beside his plate. She waited on him to start eating first since he was her guest. As soon as he started eating, she slowly ate her food.

" So how did you come to this town? Well what got you started in the bounty business? I hear it's fairly dangerous sometimes. "

She was trying her best at small talk, but she wasn't used to interaction with much of anyone. Much less a handsome gentleman such as Vincent.  

[Dante Rosaire]

He couldn't help but admire the food as he ate it, it was delicious and Desirae had prepared it perfectly. Normally he was silent when he was eating, but apparently Desirae wanted to make small talk. He didn't mind too much because she wasn't trying to be rude or anything. So he finally decided to humor her and play along.

"Hmmm, well the reason I cam here is because I had heard a lot of rumors about this town. That it had a crime problem and that it was in desperate need of bounty hunters like myself. Yes I suppose it is dangerous, I've been injured many times."

But the other part of her question worried him. He wasn't quite sure how to answer it. He tried to make it look like he wasn't hesitating, but he had to think up some kind of fabrication.

"As to why I became a bounty hunter...the life that I lead before was boring, too structured, I had no control of my own life. So I left that life behind me so I could live the way I wanted to, on my own terms. Being a bounty hunter is an easy way to make money, and I despise criminals. So many officials are corrupt, they won't do anything about it. So people like me ARE the law in most cases."  

[sassiechicka]

Desirae smiled. She felt he didn't want to say much about his past, but that he had opened up a little. She went back to eating her dinner. She watched him a little trying not to draw too much attention to her starring at him. He was easy enough on the eyes in her opinion. He was much more handsome than the previous guys who had come to pursue her. She glanced up, but she kept her eyes on the plate.

" You can ask me questions if you want to know anything. Well if you feel like it. I figured I asked two questions that it was only fair. "

Desirae blushed at her poor attempt at small talk. She definitely wasn't used to having a handsome man in her apartment much less having dinner with her.

" Structured lives aren't fun at all. I would know all about that. That is why I like the unpredictability of my life here. "

She quietly went back to finishing her dinner. She took a sip of the water. Hoping that he wouldn't question too much about her not that she didn't want to let him in. This would be the first time she had let anyone in since she had run off.  

[Dante Rosaire]

It was good that Desirae stopped trying to probe into this past. He was afraid that if she found out who he really was, that she would stop being nice to him or something. He let out a sigh of relief only in his mind, he had to make it look like talking about his past wasn't a bad thing. But at least Desirae could understand where he was coming from. Apparently her life had been too structured as well. He wasn't much for unpredictability, the only wild cards that he couldn't plan for were the criminals her pursued. Like the thief's accomplice who tried to attack Desirae earlier this afternoon. He had had no idea that was going to happen or how to prepare for it.

"You call it unpredictability, but I call it dangerous. Every day it seems that you risk life and limb just by being yourself. How on earth did you keep yourself alive before I came here?" he said that last part with a playful smile.

"I'm not trying to imply that you can't take care of yourself or anything, it's just that the people in this town, they're so...what's the word i'm looking for? Chaotic, there's no sense of right and wrong here."  

[sassiechicka]

Desirae looked up from her plate and smiled. She wondered if he was joking with her or was her being serious about how clumsy she was.

" Well I went to the market, to work, and home. That is all I would allow myself. Most of the time no one paid much mind to me. Well unless you count the drunken soldiers around here. "

Desirae smiled as she got up from the table. She reached for his plate since
both were done. She turned the water on and did up the little bit of dishes that were dirty. She turned to look at Vincent.

" Would you like dessert? I can do a quick batch of cookies. "

She floated around the kitchen and gathered up the ingredients. She got down her baking pans and turned the oven on to preheat. She mixed up the ingredients and put them in the oven. She walked back into the living room and cleaned off the couch.

" Have a seat. I promise not to bite unless you like that kind of thing. "

She blushed at her comment and turned away from him. So he didn't see the blush that came to her cheeks.  

[Dante Rosaire]

Vincent couldn't help but chuckle at her comment. He knew she was kidding, but it still made him smile. He liked that Desirae felt comfortable enough with him to crack those kinds of jokes. But he did like cookies, so he smiled at the thought. It made him feel warm inside that someone cared about him enough to cook for him and put such care into all of it. But he still couldn't get that same thought out of his head: Why did she seem so familiar? It was even more so now, but he still couldn't figure it out. She reminded him of someone he used to know, he knew that much. But he just couldn't figure out who.

"That sounds lovely Desirae." he replied, "Is there anything I can do to help?"  

[sassiechicka]

Desirae giggled as he offered to help. She wasn't used to anyone being in her kitchen She smiled at Vincent even though he was looking more familiar as their dinner and dessert went on.

" Well you can mix the ingredients together. It's a bit of a strain and with my arm, I don't think I could do it. Just don't make a complete mess in the kitchen. "

Desirae put everything in the mixing bowl and handed Vincent a spoon. She watched as he started to mix the ingredients together.

" Remember to scrap the sides and make sure it's thoroughly mixed. We don't need under mixed cookies. I don't think t hat would be that good. "

Desirae laughed at the idea of the cookies not being mixed enough. She only hoped Vincent didn't think she was laughing at him.  

[Dante Rosaire]

With an embarrassed look on his face, he began to stir the ingredients together in the bowl. It wasn't very difficult, but he was glad to be able to help her out. He was starting to get comfortable but a loud knock suddenly came from Desirae's door. He could feel his other hand tighten around his sword as he walked to the other side of the room. Very cautiously, he formed his hand around the doorknob and opened the door in one swift motion. To his relief, it was only the enforcer who was standing in the doorway.

"Oh good, you really are here Vincent, thank god." he said, he looked very distraught.

"What's the problem?" he asked him.

"There's an emergency Vincent, down at the Gray Mare. One of the soldiers went berserk and is beating up the patrons. He's armed and i'm worried the situation might get worse."

This came at the worst possible time. A look of both anger and deep sadness spread across his face as he looked back over to Desirae.  

[sassiechicka]

Desirae looked a little sad, but she couldn't very well hold him from his duty to the town. She wasn't used to a solider going berserk.

" Go ahead. You can always come back afterward if you like. I'll be up for a bit more. "

Desirae took the bowl from him and started placing little small dough balls on the baking sheet. She smiled a little hoping that he would come back to her. She put the baking sheet in the oven and set the timer.

" Plus when you get back you can have cookies. "

Desirae looked at Vincent to let him know that it was okay and she didn't want him to leave but understand that he had to.

" I understand you have a job to do. I'll be fine. I'll be right here missing you until you come back. "

She blushed at her statement and turned away from him. She couldn't believe she was making a complete fool of herself for a guy. She had seen her sisters do it, but it came natural to them. Desirae was always uncomfortable and ackward around guys.  

[Dante Rosaire]

He could tell that Desirae did not want him to go, and he didn't want to go either, but he had a duty to this place. He seemed to be the only efficient law enforcer in this town, so he would have to do whatever it took to keep this town safe and free of danger.

"I'm sorry, i'll be back soon." Was all he said before he ran out the door with the enforcer.

The two of them took off running down the street, trying to get to the Gray Mare as quickly as they could. In a matter of minutes, they were outside the doors, and Vincent could hear quite a commotion going on in there. So he threw open the door and came upon a very hectic scene.

Chairs and tables were turned over and lying on the floor, 4 people were lying on the ground with black eyes or other bruised parts. And a soldier in full armor was running around the tavern like a mad man, wreaking havoc and destruction. He had to step in now before anyone else got hurt.

"Soldier, I order you to stand down!" The enforcer shouted.

"I don't have to take orders from you!" he shouted back.

As if to prove his point, he picked up another chair and threw it, almost hitting another patron.

"Calm down, there's no need for this!" Vincent shouted as he pulled up his scarf to cover his face.

"I'm sick of this place, day in and day out its the same boring thing!!"

"This guy has clearly lost his mind." Vincent thought to himself.

"Stand down soldier, or i'll be forced to set the bounty hunter on you!" the enforcer yelled again.

With a frantic a manic look on his face, he drew his sword and pointed it right at Vincent. A bit drunkenly and off balance, he lunged forward for an attack. But his armor combined with his condition made him slow, and it was easy for Vincent to dodge his attack. He jumped back to put some distance between the two of them so he could draw his blade. When the soldier lunged again, he sliced through his armor and severed his right leg. He fell to the ground and started howling in pain.

"Take this maniac to the prison." He told the enforcer.  

[sassiechicka]

Desirae paced around her place. She wondered when Vincent would return to her. He had said he'd back. She wasn't quite sure of what to think of that. She thought to herself, So he enjoys my company that much. I've never been around a guy that enjoys my company as much as he does. The next thing she knew the oven timer beeped and she took their cookies out. She let them cool then placed them on a plate. She was waiting to touch his cookies until he was here with her. She then went about picking up the place not that there was a lot to pick up. She kept everything fairly clean. Desirae made herself sit back on the couch and she waited on him to return to her. She was being rather impatient, but she understood that he had a job to do around here. She was thankful for all he was doing to the town. Most people were good people minus the doctor.