There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch (Vivian/Ryuzaki C)

[Ryuzaki]

Ryuzaki stood up, stretching as he awoke from his nap. Vivian had promised to meet him in the tavern for his lunch, his 'reward' for doing the right thing. ...Which, although it seemed a bit ridiculous to him, he wasn't about to let disappear without him capitalizing on it. He was hungry, after all, and he had to eat somehow. The thief picked up his sword, sheathing it on his belt, and quickly made sure his various empty purses were still attached. Fastening his blue cloak over the top of his clothes, he hid his lockpick and other tools out of sight before throwing a hand through his hair quickly and leaving his room, locking the door securely behind him. Even if there wasn't anything in the room, it would still be stupid to leave it open.

As Ryu headed down the stairs and entered the tavern, he saw militiamen and civilians milling about, drinking and laughing about the victory. Through the window, he could see others at work rebuilding the home Elias had flattened with his flaming eruption, clearing bodies, and healing the wounded. It was a well-organized and peaceful scene. Perfect time for him to... No. He couldn't rob these people... Especially not after he put his neck on the line to save them. Damn, why did everything have to be so difficult to justify? The thief shook his head, sighed, and looked around for the young woman. She wouldn't ditch out on him, he figured, since she clearly had a much more defined moral scaffolding than his.

[Deleted]

Weeeeell, she certainly shouldn't have opened her big mouth earlier. Now she literally HAD to treat the guy to lunch now. Not like she disliked it, moreso that she was quite surprised that she actually forgot about it until he mentioned it after the battle. Not like she was broke or anything too. She still had quite the amount of gold left over from what her grandfather sent her recently, so there weren't any worries on what Ryuzaki wanted cost wise...whenever he decided to show up. The purple haired mage had already ordered her food and was just sitting there at a table by herself as she enjoyed the peaceful, yet active atmosphere of the tavern. The men and others were rejoicing very much to the point where she felt like jumping out of her seat and start dancing again! ...Ah, but she needed to pay more attention to her food than that.

And given how the entire town was in high spirits, she had plenty of time to celebrate with them before she decided on where she needed to go next. While she liked this town, she had to continue her little journey. Before she took another bite of her food, she spotted those blue clothes from a distance, no doubting who it was as he was walking a little closer, but seemingly not noticing her yet. Well, only one thing to do.

"Ryuki! Over here, dude!" She shouted out as she waved one arm. She actually had to shout pretty loud considering how noisy the tavern was.

[Ryuzaki]

Ah! There she was. Moving through the crowd, Ryu struggled to abstain from cutting the purses hanging out in the open. They were such easy pickings... Ah, well. Making his way to the table, Ryu stopped by the bar, ordered, and then sat down across from the purple-haired mage at the table.

"Hello, Vivi. How have you been?"

The thief tucked his cloak around him before speaking again. "Thank you for this; it's not only the food but also the company. We didn't have the... most favorable introduction, if you recall. It almost ended in blows. I'm quite glad it didn't."

[Deleted]

She only took a sip from her juice before hearing Ryuzaki out, placing her glass down and shaking her head. "Not a problem! And I would have felt bad to hit you with a fire ball anyway, since I already could tell right away that you weren't a bad person at heart. I would have smacked you with the magic without warning if I believed you were actually bad!" ...Scary thing was, she was telling the truth. When she tossed around her fire balls, half of the time some thought is placed behind the action, while the other half...not so much. And when she thought TOO hard, some other casuality would happen as a result...the result of Ryuzaki getting fried along with the mercenary as a great example! Not intentional, but devastating nonetheless if he actually died from that.

Buuuuut there was no need to drag the past into things. After a sigh, she rested her arm on the table as she decided to move the conversation along a little further. "That reminds me...why have you taken up thievery, anyway? If it's too personal, ya don't have to give an answer. I'm just curious, is all. You just don't seem like the type of person to steal from or hurt people." She realized her question may have been a little ignorant, but it was still an honest question she's been meaning to get off her chest.

[Ryuzaki]

The thief received his food graciously and ate quickly but neatly, efficiently consuming a good portion of the meal as Vivian spoke. Finally, after a pause, he began to speak, a bit of uncertainty and caution in his tone.

"Why I...Hmm. You certainly don't mince words."

Running his hand through his hair, the thief took out a coin and, quickly and furtively glancing at it, focused again on the mage and began to speak again.

"This coin represents our society, Vivian. Heads - the lords and nobles win. Tails - the common people win."

Ryu flipped the coin, and it landed on the table, glinting. Heads.

"The more we try, the more we see the truth."

The thief flipped the coin again. Heads. And again. Heads.

"See? It's rigged. The little man never wins. And so, if the system is broken... Why not cheat?"

[Deleted]

"Ah..." Vivian remained quiet while Ryu spoke, at first a little confused at what he was getting on about until she placed two and two together. While she didn't want to think about it like that, it was...true that higher society had the more comfy and more stress-free life than normal people like them who had to work hard to achieve their greatness. Of course, she's never been in the shoes of a noble or anything, but they seem to have it easier than most folk like she and Ryuzaki. She could empathize with him a little more, though she still had her morals that backed her up with not supporting the thievery altogether. It wasn't really something she could give a straight response to either considering something like this wasn't exactly new.

She felt like there could be something else he could do than to steal from people, but she had no ideas. Not like it was a lifestyle he could completely deviate from anyways. She was sure he had more personal reasons for why he did what he did, but it wasn't her place to dig THAT deep into the guy's personal life and past. She went back to eating her meal for a moment before looking the other way, finally coming up with something that might be useful to say. "I will say that it's true that it's quite unfair. How the less fortunate have to work so much harder than the fortunate ones, that is. My grandfather's nowhere near high society and he struggles to live. Yet he still sends me money when he could afford it. But I send some back in return when I gain something on my travels." Really, he should stop sending her that money, now that she thought about it. She had her own methods of getting gold, so he didn't have to go out of his way to make sure she was doing all right. She was a grown woman now!

She looked back towards Ryuzaki's coin, pondering her next response while keeping her lips moving. "...You know though, while I don't support thievery of any kind, wouldn't it be more...noble to steal from the rich as compared to everyone you can in general? I mean, what if you're stealing from someone who's also living a hard life? Sorta makes it even harder for them."

[Ryuzaki]

"Here, Vivian. You can have this to remember."

Ryu handed the young woman the two-headed coin, nodding as he listened to her speak about her family. It must be nice to have money in a pinch.

"...You know though, while I don't support thievery of any kind, wouldn't it be more...noble to steal from the rich as compared to everyone you can in general? I mean, what if you're stealing from someone who's also living a hard life? Sorta makes it even harder for them."

"Indeed, Vivi. Indeed. If I have the luxury, I do so. And I never steal from someone who is clearly less fortunate than I am. It's just that at this point, I'm still quite weak, and so I guess I take what I can get. Once I become stronger and more skilled, you can bet that I'll be bringing the nobles down a size and helping exalt the commoners. I think that would be my dream. A world where everyone has an equal opportunity for greatness."

[Deleted]

"Equality..." Something about that made her think. Hard. Okay, the fact that he was still going to commit robbery continued to make her feel uneasy about the whole situation, but everyone being as equals...it was a difficult, yet warm goal to follow. And she could definitely support it. She stared at the two-sided heads coin she was given, feeling a little tricked there, but at the same time, the reality of Ryuzaki's words caused that feeling to disappear entirely. To steal was to cheat...but for the greater good? And if this two-sided coin was reflecting on how the rich and more fortunate always won...or as how Ryu put it, "rigged"...then it was saddening to think about it like that. How was her life before her amnesia? Whoever her parents were, she wondered how they fit into the world. Did they struggle like grandpa did? Maybe that's why they're gone without a trace...?

While it was a sharp blow to her morals, she could see the light in Ryuzaki's actions. "It's still hard for me to accept thievery, but...that is the reality of it, isn't it?" That's not saying she was going to turn a new leaf and and be all, "Screw morals! Vivi the thief is born!". It just hurt to not know a better solution. She could say rich and big organizations could give more to the poor, as they had plenty to spare and would still end up diving in a pile of their gold. However, the possibility of that happening was slim to none.

"I just feel like there is another way out there. No one just hasn't found it yet. But, I dunno...is it really so crazy to hope for something like that? I just think there are methods that doesn't require anyone to suffer." It was a broken world, and a reality she already grew to acknowledge. But it didn't mean that she was forced to accept it. There had to be someone who believed in another path. Otherwise, who will?

[Ryuzaki]

"You don't have to accept my thievery, Vivian. You just have to realize that I have no choice in the matter at this juncture. I could try my luck at mercenary work, but I often detest the company of others. I prefer to remain alone, and, at my skill level, I wouldn't stand a chance on anything but a courier mission. I'm pretty much bound to my course for now."

Sighing, the thief ate a little more and then drank in silence. Why did this young woman make him think so much? What was it about her that made him consider himself so seriously?

"I wish there was a simple way, Vivian. One day, when I'm stronger, I will make a world where people can be equal. I'll cut the nobles down to size. I'll show them the error of their ways. I'll demonstrate that we common people have worth. That we are not merely pawns. One day..."

The thief had begun to gaze off into space, lost in his musings.

[Deleted]

Well, shucks. How was she supposed to respond to that one?

The young man seemed determined to follow his path no matter how dark it will be for him. At this point, she didn't care too much of a twinkling about his thievery now...more so on what kind of life-threatening danger he'd get himself into if he stole from the wrong person one day. Some people are very overprotective about their stuff and would resort to anything to make sure they keep it out of the clutches of envy and jealousy. Anything. Even killing someone in cold blood. So while she could see why Ryuzaki had no choice in the matter, he could be seeing even more darker days to come if he does begin to get bigger with the thefts. But she had this itching feeling that even if she told him what was on her mind, he'd still be willing to thrust himself into danger for the sake of his livelihood.

Even though she lacked any words for a proper response, she still had to say something. She stared down on her food, he plate almost cleaned off and her drink about halfway consumed. "...Man, that's pretty deep. Welp. At the very least, it's got me to understand yours and other's way a life better." She was also considered common-folk with the help of her grandfather, so she could understand his desires.

How to go about this now...at least Ryu didn't have to worry about anymore moral stories from her. Not only would they be a waste of time, but the depth of the situation went far beyond something like that. She took the double-sided coin and played around with it a bit, a little thought popping into her mind as she expressed it immediately with words. "You know, my grandfather told me before I left home that in his youth, he walked the path of a thief before he changed his ways and practiced archery. Not saying you have to do the same, but he's seemed to have walked in your shoes before." From her words alone, she was pretty sure the young man was catching on to what she was about to conclude with, but she continued on anyway just in case. "I'm sure he of all people could offer you advice towards your dream. He lives in Santaruz...really, not too far from here. I could take you to visit him if you're interested."

Yes, because she had to eventually go and pay him a visit anyway. How long has it been? A year or so? They've just been keeping contact via letters and the money he sends her. Even if Ryu didn't want to tag along, she was going to have to go back home to say hi regardless. That, and she never got the full story from grandpa on his thieving days. She just assumed he felt morally wrong about it after a while. But after hearing Ryuzaki's story, she had a feeling it may have been a little deeper than that.

[Ryuzaki]

"Hmm..."

An interesting dilemma. To go on with his travels... Or to visit Vivian's grandfather?

What a peculiar predicament. To trust Vivian would be probably putting himself in peril, but partaking of the pretty purple-haired mage's proposal might provide powerfully compelling information. Hmm. At the moment, his penchant was to pop in on the old man. Peruse Santaruz a bit, possibly pilfer some purses. Perfect.

But then again... The moralistic mage might abuse the opportunity and devise a dastardly scheme to turn him in to the authorities. What a devilish concept... She'd probably be delighted to demonize him and drop him in a dank cell somewhere. That would definitely be a downright terrible occurrence.

Now Ryuzaki was confused. Confound that cunning woman and her cool capitulation to his concepts! The craven cur had convoluted the matter and was cleverly crafting a trap! Vicious vixen, how dare she violate his vehement wishes for a veritable vineyard of happiness and hope! What to do, oh, what to do!

"All right. I will accompany you."

[Deleted]

Well, he was certainly thinking pretty hard over there...almost made her curious as to what. Though whatever he was pondering about, she guessed she could understand. Really, the grandfather visit really was a random suggestion, but...she's random in general. If he's around her long enough, she was sure the thief would be used to it after a while. However, he was in agreement, making her even more curious considering the small time it took to answer. She scratched her head in slight confusion for a bit, but just shrugged it off as she gave a nod and a big smile. "Awesome! While grandpa can be a little...crazy, he's pretty nice. But that's about the only warning I could give you." Where did you think SHE got her craziness from? He wasn't her birth parent, but the old coot raised her after the memory loss.

Guess it was time to get all excited about seeing him again, though. Knowing the old man, he was probably sitting down beside his coffee table and having a grand time drinking something so divine...he's ALWAYS drinking something so divine. Well, at least it's never alcohol. But she shook her head to expel such thoughts and went back to the subject at hand. "It shouldn't take no longer than a day to get there. I might stay here for the remainder of today and head out tomorrow. If that's all right with you, of course!"

[Ryuzaki]

"Crazy. Hehehe, that will suit me just fine."

A day's journey was no issue to the thief; he nodded his approval immediately. Visiting Vivian's grandfather might be a good journey after all, despite his doubts and uncertainties. Remembering his own family, Ryu's smile slowly faded as he remembered the years of peace and joy he had experienced with his parents. Riding through the grass... Hunting rabbits with small daggers... Cooking fresh game with his mother. A small sigh escaped the young thief's lips as he shook his head, clearing the memories.

"Hmm. I never knew my grandparents..."

[Deleted]

Guess it took a crazy person to be comfortable with another crazy. Maybe that's why Ryuzaki could tolerate her! ...Maybe.

"Oh? Irony...I've never known my parents. Or at least, I can't remember them." She never knew her grandmother, either. Just grand pappy was the only family in her life. All this talk about family was really making her more curious about them all than ever before. Maybe she could force that information out of grandpa one of these days, too. It wasn't of the utmost importance anyway, since it's people that haven't been in her post-amnesiac life. However, from how Ryuzaki spoke, it seemed like he at least knew his parents, so maybe he wasn't really all alone as he think he is. Unless something happened. She was going to open her big mouth and asked him where his parents were now, but it clicked in her brain the moment she moved her lips; slight chance that requesting that info would be inappropriate.

Hey! She's finally learning to stop herself from doing or saying something stupid! Something she should have learned when she was still a teenager! Kinda late to learn something like that at her age, though...

She didn't want to dig all deep into the guy's backstory, as she's already been doing enough personal digging on his motives for one day. Since there wasn't much left on her plate, the purple haired mage cleaned off what was left on it. It was a good meal! She looked back to the young with a look of satisfaction, belly full of great food. "Boy, that was delicious. Glad we were able to share a meal, dude!" Something else clicked in her mind as she narrowed her eyebrows accompanied with a smirk. "Aaaaand don't worry about paying...I'm a gal of my word. I've got both of our meals covered!"

[Ryuzaki]

"..." The thief looked down quickly, avoiding the mage's eyes. His parents were the only chink in his armor, still, and the pain he felt over the loss of his mother kept him from asking her about her family. Perhaps she too had lost someone dear to her.

As the silence stretched, Ryu returned to his meal to fill the gap, finishing his food as Vivian apparently did the same. Smiling and nodding, the thief nodded and rose, moving over to the mage's side and offering his arm.

"Thank you. And as you can see, while I may be a thief by trade, I can be a gentleman as well. I was raised with some knowledge of manners," he said, a small smile flickering over his face as he helped her up. "So... We set off tomorrow, then? When and where would you like to meet?"