Desirable Company [open]

[Sparrow Wrightworth]

    "Oh, you saw all of that, then..."

    Sparrow blushed slightly at his past being revealed. It was always awkward to have that incident revealed to others, what's more that he didn't have a choice in the matter. At least she had seemed to calm down, so that was something good. Receiving his jacket, the young man slipped it back on and rubbed his hands together through his finger-less gloves, breathing into them to remain warmer. While it wasn't absolutely frigid outside, there was still a noticeable chill in the wind. Looking ahead, the water remained calm, churning ever-so-slightly in the cold air.

    "So...was there any particular reason that you wanted to see the history of my daggers?"

    Sparrow gave a quick glance to Pan before turning back to the ocean, shrugging his shoulders, "I might have a general idea of why, but you can choose to tell me or not...."

    Another wind blew past the two youth and rustled the boy's hair. The gray clouds over head gave way to silver linings. It looked like it was going to snow again soon. It didn't feel very cold, so it would most likely be very soft.... Looking back to Pan, he noted her hair stood out brightly against the dark blacks and browns of the sleeping trees and the slumbering earth. As similar as the two looked physically, Pan and Sparrow were very different. Pulling out two lollipops from his pocket, the boy offered two choices. There was a blue raspberry flavor lollipop, and one with cherry flavor. The two candies were held between his two fingers and thumb, causing the frilly wrappings on the treats to shake slightly in a passing wind. "I'll let you have the first pick," Sparrow said with a smile, "I'm fine with either one."

[Pan Gomure]

Pan shrugged. She had seen a lot worse than his history and she wasn't about to judge him because of it. If she was going to judge him for anything it would be his thought process and the fact that he was a chaser. She had enough baggage of her own to judge somebody else based on theirs. When he asked if she had a reason for looking at the history of his daggers she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. She shrugged and looked out over the lake again. She could assume that he would guess why sooner or later, but it would only ever be a guess. "No." She told him in response to his questions. She felt she had told him enough about her already.

When Sparrow looked at her she stiffened a little, but he only noted something that she had thought earlier. Her hair stood out in the night. She didn't react to those thoughts as they didn't need an emotional or physical response.

Then Sparrow offered her a candy and Pan grew even more confused. Lolipops were not something she was used to being offered. She ran her gloved fingers through her wild hair and frowned at the sweets. "I don't want any." She stated coolly. She doubted that Sparrow would poison her, but she also didn't want him to feel that they were close enough to warrant him giving her things. Pan reached into her own bag and took a bite out of the beef jerky she had been munching on earlier. She had enough food in her pack to last her the weekend so she didn't need any of his hand outs. Pan wasn't even sure if she liked sweets, considering the rarity at which she had them. So she wasn't really interested in the lollipops.

[Sparrow Wrightworth]

    Seeing that Pan was satisfied with her beef jerky, Sparrow shrugged and put the blue raspberry candy back into his pocket. Unwrapping the cherry-flavored lollipop, the boy began to munch on the sweet. When Sparrow wanted to think he'd sometimes have candies. It was also a common occurrence for him to eat sweets when he relaxed as well. In general, the young man had a definite sweet tooth. The sucker tasted good, and a small smile crept across Sparrow's face.

    Looking back up at the moon, the boy sighed and laid back with his hands behind his head as a cushion. The clouds that shifted and changed in the sky were wisps that brushed past the giant glowing heavenly body. There wasn't much to say at the moment, and Sparrow was okay with that. Even if he wanted to talk, it wasn't very likely that Pan would want to continue the conversation for more than a few moments. Taking another quick look to see Pan continuing to enjoy her snack, the young man smiled again and continued to watch the night sky. Some of the stars peeked out behind the clouds, resting on the soft veil of black over all of the heavens. It was nights like these that gave a sense of awe for Sparrow, and an appreciation for scenes like this.

    At that moment, there was a peaceful serenity around the lake, as a shooting star passed over the two humans. Sparrow's eyes widened ever-so-slightly for a moment, and he decided to make a small wish. After finishing, he continued to gaze at the constellations and saw a zodiac or two.

[Pan Gomure]

Pan was sitting fairly straight. She was a little awkward around Sparrow considering how strange he was. She was acward around most people, but she could cover that with anger or fiegned confidence. Either of those things just made Sparrow more annoying so Pan decided instead that she would prefer to sit in silence and listen to his thoughts and the waves. She heard the thoughts of some Darkness peppering themselves along the tree line. There weren't enough for her to get distracted by their minds, but there were still a few. She brought out her sketch pad as Sparrow leaned back.

She put her body between him and it so that he couldn't see her drawing. She didn't mind people watching her draw at work, but her normal sketches were just for her. She was drawing Sparrow's thoughts. It was a thing she liked to do with people she met, even though usually it was pretty abstract. Almost all of her sketches were abstract, but this was different. Pan was sketching something that loosely resembled a few of the zodiac symbols when she looked back at Sparrow. She looked back to her sketch after her quick glance. "Your mother took out a lot of Darkness before she died." Pan stated in his mind. She was careful to keep her thoughts neutral, not wanting to betray her disgust that his family had killed so many Darkness, but still wanting to say something to him about what she had seen.

[Sparrow Wrightworth]

    Taking another glance while laying down, Sparrow noticed she was working away at something in her sketchbook. He didn't wish to pry more than needed, but was slightly curious. It was then that he heard Pan "speak" again. With a small laugh, Sparrow sat up and smiled. "Yes," he began, "That sounds like her. She was a very strong woman, always prepared to die for those she loved."

    A slight tinge of sadness crept across his face for a moment before he shook it away and smiled bitterly, "It's really funny how fragile humans truly are; to think that an entire family wiped from the Earth in a single day and night is extraordinary. How much planning would have gone into something like that? It makes sense, of course - Darkness hunters obviously have enemies."

    Still looking at the stars, Sparrow whispered under his breath, "I wonder if they're watching right now...."

    Shaking away the thought, the boy turned to Pan and asked, "Do you have or have you had family? I know that my family's traditions are definitely in opposition with your...associations, but I can't imagine someone like you was raised poorly."

[Pan Gomure]

Pan continued sketching as Sparrow talked. She supposed that he wasn't the worst possible person to show up. Many others would have tried to kill her when they found out that she could talk to Darkness. Pan pulled her knees up to her chest and let out a breath of air. People constantly trying to kill you could get old really quickly. She had to admit she wasn't the most sensational conversationalist, but it wasn't completely aweful being around Sparrow, despite how much he worried her. He was talking about his mom now and how his whole family had been whiped out in one night. She had to admit that sucked, but yet again she saw no reason to dwell on it too much.

When he asked about her she furrowed her brow and grew more annoyed. The way he asked it made it sound like it was impossible for her to be raised badly. She turned at looked over her shoulder at him. She sighed and then turned back to her drawing. "My moms died when I was young. Darkness killed them." she stated simply. Like a lot of people in this town her moms had died due to Darkness, but after that the Darkness had pretty much raised Pan so she found that it didn't really bother her anymore. She finished the drawing and closed her book. She turned to look at Sparrow again, wondering if he was going to say anything else.

[Sparrow Wrightworth]

    A sympathetic look came across Sparrow's face as he heard Pan's reply. To be orphaned already and yet survive what had seemed to be a great deal of adversity...to put it in perspective, it was a very impressive survival all the way through. There were many people in Argi City who had lost loved ones. The young man nodded solemnly as he looked to the ground, "I'm sorry to hear that. That must have been hard...do you ever resent the Darkness for doing something like that?"

    Sparrow had an idea of how she'd answer, but he didn't want to assume too much. It would be simply human nature to desire revenge or some kind of justice in the face of something like murder or harm. And yet, Pan seemed so calm about losing her mothers. Either she had fully come to terms with it, or she was concealing her feelings very well. Either way, it was slightly unsettling how calm she was about such matters, but the young man didn't dwell on the thought for very long. Looking up to the stars once more, he could see another constellation, "I suppose you already know my story, so you know how I've wanted to settle things...but I was wondering if something like that has ever crossed your mind."

    As the boy spoke, another shooting star passed by, giving a nice surprise in the relatively constant atmosphere. The conversation had taken a turn for more depth and complexity, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Sparrow continued to listen for Pan's reply as he quietly traced the stars into shapes and forms amidst the black curtains of night.

[Pan Gomure]

Pan had never been fond of appologies or pity so when Sparrow apologized to her she furrowed her brow and looked at the cover of her sketchbook. Did she resent the Darkness? She had never really understood what had happened to her parents until they had been taken by Oscura. So Pan didn't really resent the Darkness as they were just doing what they were made to, Oscura, however, Pan wanted dead. "No I don't resent the Darkness." She told him. She listened heard his thoughts wondering why she had so little reaction and she knew he was unsettled by her.

Most people were unsettled much earlier in meeting her, and he had lasted longer, but still it was annoying to her. Pan sighed when he asked his next question. She shrugged again. "I don't see the point in revenge for our people. It was never something I wanted." While Pan had never wanted revenge for her mothers that didn't mean she didn't want revenge for herself. She wanted Oscura dead for the two years of her life that the goddess had taken and maybe a part of her want for revenge contributed to the loss of her mothers, but Pan wouldn't admit that. She liked to think she was emotionless and everybody else had too many emotions, but she wasn't any different really. She was scared and angry and calm and there were many different emotions that Pan liked to avoid that she still felt.

[Sparrow Wrightworth]

    Hearing Pan's replies had always been peculiar ever since Sparrow began communicating with the girl. It wasn't the same as a voice that created vibrations in the air that he translated into feelings and opinions...it was something slightly different - a certain understanding that he received from Pan as she revealed those thoughts to him. As the boy listened to her response, he nodded. She seemed clear-headed enough to be mad at the person that incited what had happened to her. As he observed that little trait, something became apparent to him. It was a certain flash that had been there for only an instant before the same, calm expression returned to Pan's face; sadness maybe? Anger? The little expression had only lasted for so long to be noticed, but Sparrow couldn't confirm if he had seen something, or if it was just his imagination.

    After seeing that tiny detail, the young man became calmer for some reason. Ever-so-slightly, Pan became the tiniest bit more relatable to Sparrow. Breathing into his hands, a small white puff of his breath appeared in the air. It was getting a little chillier as the night went on. It was in that moment that Sparrow thought of something. Rubbing his hands together, the boy breathed on them again and then asked Pan a question: "You said that you never wanted to get revenge for 'our people'...does that mean you wanted to get revenge for a different reason? Yourself, maybe?"

[Pan Gomure]

As Pan continued hearing Sparrows thoughts she heard him notice her change in emotions and silently cursed herself. She had worked a long time concealing her emotions and to know that some of them still showed through the odd time was discouraging. She was still thinking on what could have slipped when she heard him ask her about revenge again. Yet another slip on her part, this time on her wording instead of her emotions. She should have just said she didn't feel the need for revenge. Now he was thinking that she didn't feel the need for revenge for the human race or some stupid thing like that. Poor wording on her part.

She rolled her eyes. He seemed to be getting more comfortable around her and that was unsettling in its own means. Pan shifted her body away from him slightly as her nervousness came back to her. The idea that she was slipping around somebody making her want to flee again, but she didn't she kept hold of her calm exterior this time. "My revenge is for me to know." She stated simply as she looked over at the far tree line where movement could be seen. She could tell it was a Razor, and those were often sporadic, but she managed to convince it to keep it's distance. At least she knew she had some backup if there was a fight. That being said having a Razor as backup often ended with her getting stabbed but that wasn't her biggest worry right now.

She turned her eyes to Sparrow again, this time they flashed with steel. "Or would you care to tell me about your revenge and how exceedingly well it's going? Of course you only have to think it and I know it." she meant for her words to cut him enough. The fact that he had killed many of the Darkness that she enjoyed and the fact that his thoughts were annoying to her.

[Sparrow Wrightworth]

    As Pan replied to Sparrow's question, he thought it fair enough that her revenge was her business. Although the response did suggest that he struck a nerve of some kind. Glancing at Pan, he noticed her gaze was focused on something else. Following her gaze, he saw some movement in the bushes near the treeline. His observation was interrupted as a very sharp response from Pan caught Sparrow by surprise. How his "vengeance" was going? From that moment forward, the young man did not even flinch as he turned to face her directly. His eyes were firm with resolve, not faltering in the slightest.

    As Sparrow looked into Pan's eyes, he smiled: "I may have wished to avenge my family at one time...no...I still do, even to this day. But I decided at some point that I wouldn't be satisfied with simply surviving in this world. I want to live, and I want the other humans in this world to live as well! So if killing your 'dear' companions is what it takes to ensure that people like us do not have to live in fear every day of their lives, then I lend my sincerest condolences."

[Pan Gomure]

As Sparrow though her annoyance with him came back. She wanted to punch him again and was seriously considering it as he started speaking like he was so high and mighty. He seemed to think that you couldn't live with fear in your life, that you couldn't just survive in a world. She stood up and glared down at him. "This is the problem with you chasers. You always think that there's one simple solution to a problem and when you think you've found it all you do is react to it. You think that the Darkness are the problems but haven't you realized that there are Darkness littering this forest and neither of us is dead yet? Who do you think programmed them to kill people? Not them! It's Oscura you should be fighting but instead you just kill the things she makes." Her voice was calm in his mind, but she was ready to start screaming had she been able to. Pan shouldered her bag and glared at the tree line.

"You're so much worse too. You say you don't want to fight me and yet you've killed so many Darkness who you yourself described as my companions and all you offer is sorry. You're such a hypocrite. You act like you could understand me and can be friends with me, but the only thing similar about his is our appearance and even that is different." Pan stopped projecting into his mind and took and few steps away from him. She stuffed her sketchbook into her bag and ran her fingers through her messy hair. Her many scars felt like they stood out more than ever. She could have almost forgotten about them, but memories she preferred to forget we're coming back to her, reminding her of how annoying and stupid it was for her to think of Sparrow of anything more than an enemy.

[Sparrow Wrightworth]

    Hearing Pan's response, Sparrow gave a low sigh and stood up. Taking a step back and collecting himself, he turned back around to the girl and looked at her. She was obviously upset, and some of what he had said may have been out of line. Regardless, she had a point. The goddess was responsible for the Darkness that attacked people. With a sad smile, Sparrow looked to the lake and said, "I suppose you are right about Oscura; she's the one that commands them..."

    Taking the other sucker out of his jacket pocket, Sparrow unwrapped the candy and popped it in his mouth as he began to think. "For months I've tried to figure out a way to bring down a deity, but with little to no results. It's a little difficult to kill something that is immortal. With that in mind, the only way I've found that I am able to make a difference besides trying to kill her, is to simply cut off the way that she affects the world. If there was another way to do this, I would be glad to hear it. From what I've seen with you, Darkness are capable of being somewhat tamed with a certain amount of persuasion, so obviously mankind does not know everything about them..."

    Taking out his lollipop for a moment, Sparrow took in a breath as a small breeze blew past, reddening his cheeks with the cold. Turning back to Pan, he gently pointed to the girl with his candy and spoke - "As soon as I decided that I wanted to try and be friends with you, I knew it would be difficult. You isolate yourself, you hide your emotions from others in fear of showing weakness, and you never talk about your issues with anyone else because you think they will somehow pass on their own!"

    The young man's breathing became slightly quicker as his anger was beginning to surface - "I would be delighted to be your friend - to be able to understand you and help you with whatever you may be going through. But I can't do that if you are not willing to try and trust someone other than yourself or the Darkness!"

[Pan Gomure]

Sparrow made her want to punch him so she crossed her arms and glared at him as he tried to explain how he had been trying to fight the goddess, but that killing an immortal was kind of hard. If he thought she didn't know that then he truly was an idiot. Of course Pan knew that Oscuroi was immortal, but there was always some kind of loophole to things. There had to be something that could kill the gods. Pan herself hadn't found it yet, but maybe eventually she would and the she'd kill Oscuro.

Pan's anger spiked as he started pretty much stating everything he thought he knew about her. She clenched her fists and glared at him. "Who ever said I wanted to be your friend? You assume I need to be sad and crying over my dead parents to have weakness and you assume that I actually like being around you! I have met you twice now and you expect me to trust you? I trust people who help me in some way and all you've done is pry at my secrets and be annoying." Pan projected into his head. She took a few steps towards him and pointed an accusatory finger at him. She could feel bristling consciousness against hers which meant that the Darkness felt her anger and had started to get angry.

She gestured to him. "You want me to state what I think I know about you? You're arrogant and a know it all. You've let you're past rule your future and although you think you've moved past it you really haven't. You think you're doing what's right for everybody and yourself and you can't even process that I don't want to be your bestest buddy after only meeting you twice! It's unbelievable." even her thoughts had let her anger creep into them, but she was still managing to keep it decently in check. More than the anger Pan was scared about him telling other people about her secrets. Perhaps he had also hit a few of her personality traits on the head, but that only made her angrier and more worried about everything.

[Sparrow Wrightworth]

    At this point, Sparrow saw no point in continuing the conversation. The girl clearly had a lot on her mind, and he wasn't helping. Popping the lollipop back into his mouth, the young man walked past Pan quietly without a word. His anger had gone from surfacing to being sealed just beneath a calm surface. With a deep breath, he rubbed at his temples and continued forward towards the city. Obviously this hadn't worked out for him again. Adjusting his finger-less gloves to be properly on his hands, he turned around and looked at Pan another time.

    With a few meters between them, Sparrow shook his head and spoke one last time, "I never expected to become best friends with you in this short amount of time. Frankly, I would call it progress for you to not completely and utterly despise me.... Perhaps I am a 'know-it-all' that hasn't moved on, and maybe you're a frustrating 'see-it-all' who is annoyed at how everything is so crystal clear, even when it isn't for others. However, I still hope that some day I might be able to help you and gain your trust. Until then, I'll help you with your silence and take my leave. Have a good evening, Miss Gomure."

    Finishing those words, Sparrow continued to walk away until he vanished from Pan's sight. Disappointed at how poorly the encounter was, he decided it was best to try again at a later time when she had calmed down. When he got back onto the highway, a black car was waiting for him. A sleek sheen rested on the metallic edges of the vehicle as the moon shone down upon the world. With one final look at the night's heavenly body, Sparrow climbed into the passenger seat and set a course for home....