Completed A Chance Encounter

[Arisa Lovelace]

"And if they do, good riddance!" she huffed, mirroring him by crossing her arms over her torso. Arisa shifted her weight, favoring the leg she didn't land on. "I did what I had to do to ensure another child didn't have to live his life the way his mother chose to, the way we chose to."

It was her way of admitting a small bit of remorse; she knew what she'd done was wrong, and were the roles reversed, she'd want herself apprehended or executed as well. Her nostrils flared painfully as she glared at him. She snorted as he referred to himself as a concerned lover.

"You haven't been a concerned lover in years, Willy," Arisa retorted, using the nickname in that familiar and bitterly condescending tone she often took when she was upset with him. "You can't dismiss me, complain about how burdensome I am, and then claim to be a concerned lover. Whatever we had wasn't meant to last, or we wouldn't have parted ways and I would be stealing to ensure my own child's future, not Qieane's."

 

[Smiling One]

"I never said that you were a burden Ari," he said ignoring what Ari said about mother's or children. "And now I'm curious to know what you were up to when we parted ways. Stealing to ensure your child's future instead of Qieane's."

Willis would never have guessed that Ari wanted children, she was like him live for the moment and go to place to place, drinking, smoking and fucking. But starting a family was something that caught Willis off guard. "So what did you do specifically Ari?" Willis said noticing her roundabout way of expressing guilt for whatever she's done.

"I want to help you Ari," he said. "But I need your cooperation we can end whoever is trying to kidnap you. Just tell me who it is."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa remained so silent that the ambiance of the woods around them was deafening. It wasn't a subject she wanted to discuss, especially not with Willis. It was the years between now and when they last saw each other, and a lot had happened. The thief had a chip on her shoulder, where before there was none to speak of.

"No," she answered finally. That single, firmly spoken syllable sharp against the relative quiet. Her arms fell back to her side and she began walking again, back toward Daybreak. She limped, still favoring her right leg as she followed the treeline.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis sighed heavily following Ari back to Daybreak Town, he noticed her limp and guessed that it was due to her spill when Ari let go of Willis' hand. "If she just tell me shit," Willis thought angrily. "She wouldn't get in half the trouble that she already is in! What's with women always having a tendency to fucking dance around the truth?!"

Not that Willis buries things that he finds painful to talk about, but at least those things didn't put his life in danger. The young man caught up with Ari and lifted her up into a bridal carry, "I'll take you to a medic at Daybreak," he said. "We'll have a healer take a look at that limp it looks bad."

Willis didn't want to piss off Ari further because he had a feeling if he kept pushing, she would shut him off for good. It may not happen, but given the circumstances that they've been in, Willis didn't want to press his luck. As he walked back to the hopefully quiet village, a part of Willis wondered what happened to that Bounty Hunter and the driver? Did they make it back in time for their sake they better given the increase in Displacer Beast activity lately.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa didn’t give a damn about who was after her. All she wanted was her bed at that point. When he hoisted her up, she threw her weight away from him in an attempt to force Willis to drop her.

“We are going back to my room, not to no damned medic. I don’t need help. Will you just fucking listen to me?” Arisa growled. “Please. I’m tired. I’m sober. And I’m hurting.”

When she rose from the ground a second time, she didn’t immediately walk away.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis gently placed Ari down as soon as she tried to make herself heavy. The young man sighed as Ari tried to convince Willis that she didn’t need help. “Well I know you’re hurting Ari,” Willis said wrapping an arm around her waist to allow Ari to have support on her hurt leg. Hopefully it was just sprain.

“which is why I’m here for you Ari,” Willis whispered. “You’ve helped me when I was a child and now I want to help you.”

And given the amount times Ari got in trouble, Willis was thankful that he kept tha t promise.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa didn't shirk the feeling of his arm as it slid around her waist. There was a warmth and comfort in his embrace that she hadn't felt in a long time, and had only accomplished with one other person in the entirety of her short existence. And Willis? He was the first. Sometimes, she wished he was the last too. But she'd never prepared for encountering him; she thought she'd never see or hear from the mercenary ever again.

"And how would you help me, Willy?" she asked, dark eyes fixed on his. "Follow me around? Save me? Be my personal guard?"

There was anger simmering in the depths of her stare, and hurt. Hurts she couldn't clearly vocalize to him, especially when there was still a feeling of some sort that threatened to burst from within her. Gods, she needed another drink, and she didn't have one.

"I won't do it again, Willy. I won't be with you, because I'm not going to love you again, and watch as you leave for work or whatever it is that you do. You're not my lover anymore, and you've no responsibility for my well-being."

The thief pulled away then, finally continuing on her way. They had neared the village by now, having not gotten far outside it before Willis overtook the carriage the bounty hunter tossed her inside. Willis could follow her if he wanted--there was nothing she could do personally to stop him--but Arisa's steps didn't slow until she reached the Blind Dwarf once more and upon stepping inside, the first thing she did was approach the bar.

"Well, you certainly look more rough than you did earlier," the barkeep said, a smirk toying with the corner of his mouth. He produced a bottle of whiskey, knowing already her preference by her gusto exhibited earlier. "And here's your key. Held it for you, just like I said I would. Judging by the looks of you, that was probably a good call, eh?"

"I suppose it was," Arisa mused, taking the bottle and reaching into a satchel at her belt to produce currency. Paying for it, she left, turning to ascend the stairs and make her way toward the room she'd booked earlier. It was while she was unlocking the door that she looked over her shoulder, wondering if Willis had followed.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis struggled to find any words to respond to Ari she was right, whenever he gets close to woman he often leaves because he didn't want to commit. Despite being friends, Ari was no different as soon as she and Willis slept with each which was repeatedly the young man disappears without a trace. Willis wasn't one to be saddled with attachments but it did cost him relationships with women that he genuinely loved.

He didn't want to lose Ari, she's one of the few people in his childhood that had been good to him. One of the few people who knew the boy before he left with Captain Davis to sail the seas as a Pirate. Willis continued to follow Ari to the Blind Dwarf where she was doing her usual thing of asking for drinks. The moment Ari turned around through Willis kissed her on the passionately on the lips.

At this moment he wanted to let Ari know that he cared, that he would always look out for her the same way she did for him. Not caring who was watching the young man released kiss on Ari and gave a rather awkward smirk. "In the heat of the moment," a blush came over his dark cheeks. "Forgive me."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa froze, his lips on hers a familiar and distant memory. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly as she tried to keep a stoic expression in the face of a former flame kissing her. When he drew back, blushing and apologizing, she fixed him with another stare.

“Why do you have to make my life so difficult, Willis?” she asked. The thief unlocked the door and stepped inside the room, but rather than close it in his face, she left it open.

Arisa half-heartedly tossed tossed the room key onto a nearby end table, her gaze sweeping over her lodging for the night. It was hardly worth the cost, if one were to ask her, but it was sufficient. A small, twin-sized bed lay against the far wall, adorned with a single pillow and a blanket spread neatly over it. A single, worn armchair sat cater-corner to the right, the end table the key was tossed onto between it and the door. A single oil lamp illuminated the room just enough that the shadow of a desk and chair was visible along the wall to the left.

She ached to drink from the bottle in her hand, but she was conflicted. That, like everything else, was Willis’s fault. Arisa sighed, setting down the bottle beside the key and turning toward him.

“You’re a fucking bastard, you know that right?” Arisa asked, approaching Willis. Her heart pounded in her chest for the second time tonight, though this wasn’t a kidnapping fueled sort of adrenaline that pumped through her this time. Closing the distance, she drew herself against him there in the doorway.

It was then that the thief returned his kiss, her head tilting upward as she pressed her mouth against his. The kiss was deeper than she intended, belying the truth behind her earlier words: she still loved the fool that stood in front of her.

 

[Smiling One]

The damn sun had to shine through the glass touching Willis' eyelids which forced him to open to more bright light. The young man groaned as he found himself naked on the twin sized bed, Ari lay beside him her naked breasts pressed against his side as she lay against his chest. It was a wild night full tangled limbs, messy sheets and drunken love making. In other words, It was a typical fucking for the two of them. Willis smiled watching her gently breathe in and out enjoying her whiskey induced breath. However he also noticed that like Willis, she had scars of her own notably a bite mark on her neck that resembled a Vampire's bite. The holes were small yet noticeable parallel to one another.

Willis grimaced a bit, Ari wasn't a Vampire she couldn't be. There was a full moon last night and if Ari was infected she would've submitted to the moonlight's rays and become a monster. She was also threatened with iron weaponry. A weapon like that would've seared her skin upon further examination, Willis saw that Vampire bite didn't go too deep not enough for the infection to enter her bloodstream. That explains why she was pissed about his comments about Vampires last night. Still not many people managed to escape a Vampire's bite. He wondered how she was able to escape.

"Good morning sweetheart," Willis kissed Ari on the forehead while rubbing her back gently. He felt a few light scars on her back but ignored as he continued to kiss Ari's forehead.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

The scars he felt, and the gnarled flesh of her throat, were only a portion of the many brutalities Arisa suffered beneath Djon’s hands. If he’d gotten his way, if he’d gotten to sire her as he intended, then the thief would have been forced to endure his abuse for eternity, unless she found the strength and wherewithal necessary to kill him. Escape wasn’t an option, she believed. He terrified her, with every kiss he took. Without Joseph... she’d be long dead, no thanks to Qieane.

Willis’s fingertips were more rough than hers, no doubt because of his use of weaponry. Arisa owned daggers, but she rarely used them; when a thief was as good at their profession as she was, there was usually little need to resort to violence. And Arisa detested violence. She always had. The feel of his hands rubbing the skin of her back and the warmth of his lips against her forehead stirred Arisa from her slumber. Dark eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, she was taken aback.

“Willy?” she asked, her voice belying her surprise. Arisa was still exhausted, and her body ached tremendously. Last night’s events weren’t a drunken nightmare or a sub-conscious desire to see Willis manifesting in the realm of inebriation. She leaned up slightly, propping her head on the palm of her hand as she placed her elbow on the pillow. Arisa’s free hand reached out, caressing the side of his face as she ran her thumb over his cheek.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” Arisa said quietly, already knowing that they’d part ways again soon. They always did, and it was the same agony that ripped her apart from the core every time.

It wasn’t that Arisa regretted their tryst,if it could be called that. She never did; Willis knew her body better than any one else ever had, and that knowledge no doubt played a role in why she returned his kiss. Arisa simply knew that by allowing him in like she did was a poorly made decision, especially in regards to matters of her heart.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis fought to keep his smile while Ari caressed his cheek with her thumb it felt smooth and soft registering a tingling sensation which went through out Willis' body. The young man in turn brushed her brown hair from her eyes and he saw pain within them almost as if she's reliving a memory that was too painful for her. Willis knew how that felt and didn't want to pry any further, it was for the best as much as Willis cared for Ari her business was her business. So why does he keep interfering with it?

"You could've stopped me," Willis adjusted himself to the point where he was sitting on his elbow. "Every time when I'm in a position where I have to use stealth I think of you Ari and your teachings." And a few other things but Ari was one of Willis' closest friends. One of the few who knew who the boy's name was.

"You want to stay here," Willis asked smiling. "While we remanence about our time away?"

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa furled her brow at him. That request, innocent as it was, pained her more than anything else. It was a taunt, a daring temptation that she wanted to indulge in, even though it would only make the pain she’d endure later worse. Either way, her body ached too much to jump back on the road immediately and she didn’t have any pressing matters to attend to.

She lowered her hand from his face, tracing the scars on his chest with the tip of her index finger. Some, if not most, were alien to her. Willis. It was always Willis. Even when he was gone, it felt like he wasn't sometimes. As if he were a dreamwalker, intent on haunting her subconscious. Blacking out helped with that, though.

"I think you'd be better off not knowing the parts of my life that you missed," she said quietly, but she made no attempt to get up. Instead, she leaned forward and laid her head against his chest, listing for the familiar beating of his heart.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis shivered a bit when Ari traced her finger through the long, jagged scar located on the left side of his abdomen. The young man remembered it quite well, that scar was courtesy of a Cockatrice from one of Willis' first contracts. There was a village in the Allrian Reach who claimed that they're crops and animals were being destroyed by what was described by eye witnesses as a Dragon.

Willis quickly crossed that off his list of possible Monsters. Dragons haven't attacked Allria in centuries and not only were Dragons extremely rare now and days, but also like to make their presence known as though the Dragon wanted to spread fear and terror. After some investigation, Willis quickly found the Cockatrice he couldn't blame the villagers on why they thought it was a Dragon. Cockatrice has a tendency to be confused with Dragons.

The young man defeated the Cockatrice but not without sustaining a scar. The Monster struck Willis with its talon while he was parrying. That wound nearly caused him to bleed out but thankfully the Village Elder took care of Willis' wounds. The young man sighed placing his chin on her head. "When you're ready," Willis murmured stroking her hair. "You can tell me."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

The youth didn't ask any questions, content to lay there with her cheek pressed against him. Arisa didn't want to think about the past. She always loathed the future and the lack of stability in her life, and the idea of breaking her heart open right here and now was more terrifying than she'd ever admit. Today, she had to get moving again, before another bounty hunter came for her. If she was lucky, she could possibly get away with staging her own death, but that was far more trouble than she wanted to deal with.

A rush of hot air left her mouth, drifting across his chest as she placed her palm flat against his skin. She swallowed hard, loathing sobriety. She turned her head, lifting to look toward the door where the bottle of whiskey she'd snagged before bed still lay. Its golden hue clouded from being left open, but it would go down all the same. Turning back toward Willis, Arisa looked at him. For a moment, she entertained the notion of kissing him; of snaring one more taste of his mouth, but Arisa didn't want to travel down that familiar path.

"Don't know about you, but I could use a hair from the dog," she said, dismissing his question entirely as she rose from the bed. The thief reached for the whiskey and brought it to her lips, unaware that the rest of the scars she bore were entirely visible. She'd grown used to them, by now. And though they reminded her of a more horrifying time in her life, they were every bit a part of who she was as any other part of her body was. Either way, it was a deliberately taken action to deter Willis from prying more than she was comfortable with revealing.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis almost forgot how much he missed Ari's touch, both of them grew up in harsh environments and neither liked to talk much about their childhoods except the memories they've created together. How Ari was the one who gave him the name effectively killing off the boy the day he set out with Captain Davis. How Ari and Willis would crave each other's touch. It seemed that it was never meant to be though, Willis had his own ambitions and didn't want to be tied down too much.

"You know drinking alcohol to get rid of a hangover isn't effective," he grinned sitting on the bed breathing bit as he touched the old wooden floor. "Try water."

The young man then saw new scars on Ari's naked body, scars that seemed to go beyond her usual drunken escapades. What mess did Ari get into the last time they saw each other? He did promise not to pry but with these scars, they're the type that Monster Hunters get. Getting up, Willis wrapped his arms around Ari kissing her on the cheek. "What are you going to do now?" he whispered.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

"Loop back around to Oriel, hang around some old haunts for a bit. Probably see what I can do to either clear my name, or look at packing it up and moving onward," she answered, lowering the bottle from her mouth. A moment later his arms wound around her, and she felt the warmth of his embrace as his lips brushed over her cheek. She steeled herself with another mouthful of liquor before she twisted around in his embrace to face him.

Her dark eyes roamed over his face in silence as she looked up at him, wondering if she could even stand to be around Willis for that long. It was painful enough to just standing here in front of him. She held the bottle up, pressing the mouth of the bottle against his lips in an offer of drink.

"Try to avoid running into questionable folk like you, too," she said, a grin teasing at the corners of her mouth. "Besides, shouldn't I be the one asking you that? All but once, I was close by the entire time I was gone. You... I thought you were dead."

 

[Smiling One]

"Vagabonds," Willis smirked kissing Ari on the lips passionately. "We're people who aren't shackled by duty or honor. Wonderers who go place to place enjoying the pleasantries of life." When he kissed Ari again Willis could taste some of her whiskey and for a brief moment, he thought he got a little woozy. "Doesn't take much for me get wasted," Willis said taking the liquor and taking a sip. "I bet it's something you wished you had."

Willis went to his and picked up his undergarments' and pants quickly slipping them on. "Nah you know me Ari," he chuckled. "Death is so boring but living on the brink of death..... Now that is some exciting shit it's only then you know you're alive."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

“What is? You, the whiskey, or being a lightweight?” she remarked, snatching the bottle back from him. Arisa watched as he dressed and sat on the end table. She didn’t seem shy about her body. At least, not in the same way she had once been when they first began their explorations of one another’s body. She tilted the bottle back, swallowing the liquor in a manner not unlike an infant at their mother’s breath. Hungrily, and as if that sweetened poison was a vital part of her existence without which she could not live.

“That still doesn’t tell me why I ought to spend the day talking about our past with you,” Arisa replied tartly once he’d finished his words. Her eyes narrowed slightly, thoughtfully. Finally, she stood and pulled on her own clothing before going back toward the bottle. “I think maybe I should go, Willis.”

 

[Smiling One]

"Being a lightweight sweetheart," Willis put on his pants and placed his red vest over his white shirt. "You're always frustrated at the fact that it takes a few drinks for you to get wasted. Yet for me 3 or drinks in my drunk ass is on the floor puking his guts out. Not exactly a party animal now am I?"

Ari was more confident in her body than she was when they first slept with each other. Willis had to be what? 14? 15? When he and Ari first had sex, you never forget your first and Ari always held a special place in the young man's heart as they explored their bodies. They were both trembling and shy with each other but eventually they began to get into it for a pleasurable experience.

"Well I don't have anything better to do," Willis smirked. "Why don't accompany Ari just for a little while?"

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa's expression was neutral at best; part of her had hoped that he'd have some sort of pressing matter he needed to attend to and that maybe she could go on her way and forget this encounter even happened. Perhaps she could convince herself it was nothing more than a drunken dream, but having to spend a day with Willis would make it harder to convince herself of those ideas. A resigned sigh left the youth's lips as she tugged open the door.

"Might as well start with breakfast then, I guess. Then I'm hitting the road. Follow as long as you want, but know that I have a schedule to adhere to still. In a week or two, I'll have to head back to Alliria. Arrangements are already being made for the bounty to be called off," the thief said. "The owner of the theater has graciously offered to pay some royalties on my behalf."

No doubt there was more to the thief's story then that, but she didn't seem to bent on going any further into explanation at that point. Instead, with another mouthful of whiskey, she left the room and trudged downstairs. She waved at the innkeeper, a half-hearted acknowledgment that she would follow in the footsteps of all that came before her: a greasy breakfast and coffee did wonders for a hangover. The whiskey she'd slip into the steaming hot cup, on the other hand, was just a bit of her own flair to a morning meal.

Arisa slipped into a booth in the near empty dining area, pressing her back against the wall and swinging her legs up onto the padded cushion beneath her. Her boots barely hung off the booth's entrance, reminding her of exactly how short she was.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis placed his red vest over shirt while he followed Ari downstairs. The mood in the Drunken Dwarf was mostly quiet as fitting for a place in Daybreak Village. A few travelers were entering the tavern getting morning breakfast and chatting about a Dwarven farmer who had his Horse stolen last night but found him wondering back home. The young man sighed a bit before sitting in front of Ari.

"Gimmie some toast and eggs," Willis muttered to the innkeep. "Along with some Apple Juice." something light for today. They were still on the Gold Road so it'll take a while before they're back in Allria. "So you already solved your bounty problem?" the young man smirked as his breakfast arrived and he began to nibble down on some scrambled eggs. "Back in the day I had to bail you out of your debts Ari. Who are you going to see for your arrangements?"

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

"Does it matter?" she asked, the juice and coffee the first of the things that were delivered to them. She dipped in that amber booze and took a swig of the steaming hot cup of java. "What I do isn't your business anymore."

She said nothing after that, letting the bitter words she spewed linger in the air between the two. Arisa had no desire to rekindle the ashes of the flame they once shared. The longer she stayed around him, the more of a bad choice it was. The woman sighed, leaning back in her chair as she made the coffee a little bit stronger.

"I'm doing fine, thank you. You really don't need to accompany me today," she stressed.

 

[Smiling One]

"Actually," Willis took a bite of the toasted bread while sipping on some Apple Juice. "It matters a hell of a lot who you gonna meet. Something stinks Ari I just have a feeling that the person you're seeing is trying to rip you off or scamming you."

It was a common tactic in the criminal underworld of Allria. There were people who had the right connections with the Allrian guards and the justice departments to where they can waive off bounties or criminal charges. The problem was that those same people would either demand an absurd price or make the person do some questionable things to satisify their demands whether it's business or pleasure. Given the kinds of thugs that Ari often pissed Willis hoped that she wasn't forced to do things against her will.

"Hey you're the one who offered," Willis shrugged taking another bite of toast. "I'll just be a bodyguard of sorts, I won't say anything while you do your negotiations. I'll just stand back and make sure that things go smoothly."

"Given our relationship," Willis thought. "Things always goes off the rails."

"I know you can take of yourself," Willis said. "But sometimes we all need help."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

“Well this isn’t one of those times,” Arisa replies smartly. Instead of bringing her coffee to her lips, she took a healthy swallow directly from the bottle; the thief was already back at it, as if her life were a party dancing at the edge of the veil. It was as if Arisa dared to push whatever gods there might be, eagerly tempting fate.

Why shouldn’t she? Arisa had nothing, considering that no amount of wealth (not that she had any) could replace the void left by a family that no longer existed. And that wasn’t to say that all her loved ones were dead—some of them were very much alive, and perhaps a bit too reliant on their (Qieane’s) vices to escape their pain. Arisa wasn’t too far from that point herself.

“I appreciate that you wish to see to it that I’m safe,” she said, watching as their food was brought out. Arisa caught her tongue between her teeth and waited for the woman that brought their meals to leave. “But I assure you, I am fine. Please, don’t do this to me again Willy.”

Her voice nearly cracked, and she cleared her throat to disguise the emotional stress she felt at that moment.