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 Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:04 pm
Rathian 1
It was a bright and shining day in Oba, he was at the market, bored as usual. He preferred to be in Matori where his family and friends were, this place was just a stir pot for trouble. He scowled..though he might be that trouble depending on who was the subject. He had scoped out the area and found a few pickpockets who's pockets he was looking to pick back, there was one that had stolen an old watch from a lady and she had not noticed yet.
His mom had given him this as a training exercise and to balance out the bad of stealing. Steal from a thief, give the mark back their item without their knowing.
His Mom trusted him or she would never have set him such an exercise. Thieves were aware of others in a way that the common lay person usually was not, for obvious reasons, no thief wanted to be stolen from and most kept their stuff in secret less obvious pockets. His heart raced this was going to be fun. He started to move in.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:14 pm
Gajeel 1
His mother had asked him to go buy some fabric for a project, he wasn't sure which project that sewing, knitting life just wasn't for him. It was too fiddly and he felt silly. Oh well, he would purchase what he needed.
He saw a figure that was vaguely familiar but he couldn't place it pass through the crowd heading for a known thief. Well this would be interesting. Gajeel propped a hip out to watch the goings on. People watching was always a good time. He smiled. Especially when there was good sport involved. Needless to say he forgot all about the boring fabric shopping and focused instead on the scene unfolding before him. Excellent.
The mixed boy got close and Gajeel watched him approach from the periphery, a common tactic, as people did not usually pay to much attention, the back being much more suspicious.
He took a biscuit from his bag and split it in half contemplatively watching.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:14 pm
Rathian 2
In the end he managed to get the item from the thief and back to the old woman. He had done what he needed to do and he was about to leave to report back to his mother. The square was crowded and he didn't want to risk anything. He moved off through the crowd, ducking and weaving while trying not to look hurried. His body language did the lie for him, displaying him as relaxed, nonchallant and unhurried. All for the better. Nervousness exposed more than one pickpocket and he was not about to do something so foolish.
He was nearly out of the crowd when a form, tall and dark loomed before him. He paused and looked up shading his eyes.
"Gajeel." Brother to Variel and part of the beast ranch conglomerate, just as his family were friends. He honestly liked Variel more, she was cool and tough, Gajeel was an arrogant pain.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:14 pm
Gajeel 2
"Rathian." Now he remembered the kid, he was a Darochduri, but one of the younger ones, he wasn't sure what was in the soil of Matori but the place tended toward larger families. His own was modest with a count of four, though he supposed that Variel had added grandkids to the mix for his parents. Them he liked as different as they were from each other it balanced out. Iorhel was a small Viltre and Tiahem was a small Variel and thus was the universe kept in balance. This little puke though had always been a trouble maker. Not that he himself wasn't he was far from the angel his father was but he still had pesky morals.
"Did you just steal someone's stuff back for them? How touching." His voice gripped with sarcasm. He was due for a rival and this fellow would do just fine, they were already prickly at each other anyway so why not make it official.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:14 pm
Rathian 3
He figured that the birth of an archenemy or nemesis might not always be quite this blatant but they were in an all out war now. How dare he point out his softness..it was a manipulation for....a way to change the rules...oh why bother explaining to this plebian. He rolled his eyes and started to walk away. He had stuff he had to be doing. Besides this was noble..apparently. And he was noble if not..neccesssarily in blood. Or at least so diluted as to make no nevermind...but what made you noble at the core? It was something he had been pondering lately. How did nobles become noble to begin with? Just because they were related through blood or through trade agreements which got them power..which made them noble somehow? Maybe Mom could explain it to him later. The street looked clear enough he would switch districts and see what he had been missing out on by wasting his time here with this buffoon.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:14 pm
Gajeel 3
Oh no, the little runt wasn't going to escape so easily, Gajeel ran up and caught his sleeve. His entertainment wasn't done. "Want to play a game?" He asked, brows arched in challenge.
He was into dangerous ish games, games that brushed the line of uncomfortable. And what better game for that than truth or dare. Pretty daring if he did say so himself. Which he did. He thought he was pretty darn cool. He wondered if his parents ever took part in games like this when they were young. Probably not they were so proper so suave in everything they did he was pretty sure they had always been that way. They were cool in their own right though he would not tell them that unless threatened.
Then he would loose some of his cool and that would be unkind fate.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:14 pm
Rathian 4
His eyes actually glittered. "A game huh? I'm in." Perhaps he was a fool but he could not resist the temptation. He wanted to kick this boys butt any possible way he could to maybe bring that supreme arrogance down just a knot. The stare they gave each other was all but sparking with electricity and animosity.
"Raise the stakes, whatever you are thinking, I want the loser to feel the burn." He was not just all talk he was pretty decent at just about anything. Whatever this boy would throw at him he would do his best and achieve whatever it was that the male hoped he would not. Punk, dare to challenge him huh? How dare he did he even know WHO Rathian really was? I mean the amount of mischief in his bloodline was palpable, put that together with a can do attitude and you approached the basic substance of his being.
"Bring it Punk."
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm
Gajeel 4
Fine then, bring it he would. "It is truth or dare, you must chose between the two, as I am sure you know, no lying, no backing out or you loose. The stakes to be chosen shortly." He looked around. "Public shaming for the looser, no pain but some great deal of embarassment." He grinned shark like and awaited a response getting none he carried on.
"In truth I ask a question and you must tell me if it is true or not, no backsies except that as in the other way you think you cannot complete it you can change to dare. It shows less face but it gets you where you need to be."
He wagggled a finger at the other.
"In dare, I pick a feat or something entirely uncomfortable and dare you to do it. Like in truth you can back out and chose the other option if the current one is unpalatable..and they will all be so. You can be sure. If you succeed, you challened me to something equally unagreeable. Agreed?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm
Rathian 5
He squinted and agreed to the terms. He thought long and hard about his choice and decided to go with something that would be easier for him. "Dare." He did not owe this boy a truth, not yet, and Gajeel might not like that truth when it came about. The slighter boy took on nearly the aspect of a fox. He was ready for whatever nonsense this Oban brat could spew and from the look in Gajeel's eyes spew was the right word for it.
This boy...had not had the same family life, he was sheltered...covered... or so Rath thought. In reality he had no idea how Gajeel had been raised and grown up, he knew Variel had turned into a well disciplined person but who knew where the foundation for that was laid.
He took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally, calming his mind, finding inner balance and peace, all the better to grab your nemesis by the jugular that way, at the height of your control and with all of your power and acuity present.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm
Gajeel 5
Hmm, the boy looked fit and very light on his feet. His Dad had told him to be watchful of body language and the clues about the person that used it. A physical feat would be easily one by this shrimp. But...psycologically he might get the advantage there...
"I dare you to kiss the first person who walks around the corner by that pottery stall." He waved a hand dismissively. What was it to him. He wasn't choosing dare on his turn, there were too many evil possibilities.
The kid was smart...but was he socially sound...
He waited in eager anticipation for the results of his challenge. Dare was a hard option...truth could be harder but he didn't really have anything to hide sooo.... truth for him when it was his turn.
They waited and waited...eventually footsteps could be heard approaching. His heart was racing as he anticipated the entertainment about to be bestowed on him.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm
Rathian 6
What happened next was absolutely hilarious..more so for him than for Gajeel. For a little girl was the first to walk around the corner she looked to be about 3 and a half. How perfect, at least it wasn't some fat merchant fresh from the bath house or gods forbid the docks or tavern.
He hoped the guardian wasn't going to beat him to death but he swooped down and pecked her on the forehead, "Arn't you just the sweetest!" He looked up at the Mother who's eyes were wide like saucers. "I'm sorry! She looks so much like my little sister.." He looked down at the child adoringly. "You have a good day now!" He walked back up the alley. "Cake~" He smirked.
"Your turn you dirty brat." He glared at Gajeel but couldn't keep his eyes from dancing with amusement while biting his lip so hard it nearly bled. "Truth or Dare." This would be interesting..what sort of opponant was Gajeel, what could he learn...
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm
Gajeel 6
Well, he had been called worse things.
"Truth." He said solemnly. That task was supposed to have been a lot harder than it turned out to be. How unfortunate. But as Dad said even the best made plans were apt to go awry. It was all in the reaction and adjustment. So long as you did your best with what you had it would at least give you a bit of a fighting chance. That was how he would overcome this coming challenge.
What would the boy ask..dare he tell the truth in truth or dare...was there anyway he could fact check if Gajeel had to lie...but where was the honor in that?
He liked to think he had some..and was trying to develop it. Honor in Oba was everything. His Dad had protected his children as much as he could but Oba was a complicated place to live, socially. Especially with a family in his' position.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm
Rathian 7
"Alright..." He was good at coming up with clever things and he was determined now to get the upper hand. If he won now he won it all. As Gajeel had never defined the terms of reward it would be a favor as per tradition.
That was amenable..even if he lost later in the game.. he just had to come up with something good.
"How do you feel about your older sister being so successful?" He was hoping to hit a nerve.. he thought the boy was in well enough with his parents but he knew what it was like having a well to do older sister and the comparisons that inevitably came up.
He took a deep breath and sat on his heels, "Well?" Hesitation was a poor mans game. He had Gajeel and he knew it. He kept his face bland though, he was learning. Experience was a good teacher and it hopefuly imparted as much wisdom as knowledge. That he was coming to find was important.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm
Gajeel 7
"I...I... I am jealous of her.." He looked down. How had the punk managed to land on the one weakness he had. Variel was successful, a hard worker, a darned good fighter and his older sister, directly comparable to him, though she was not a son, she did all the work of one plus had become a Mother.
She had looked out for him, but they had always competed..but he was too young to go properly toe to toe and it was that that goaded him to do better.
He didn't want to say more..so he disapeared into the alley. He had ran from a problem..Rathian had difinitively won this round and so darn fast that Gajeel was mad about that too. It seemed to be an emotion coming to him more and more, all the more startling for its intensity as well. He was becoming an angry person. He didn't like it but he had no way to fix it. Humiliated he went off to hide and lick his wounds and do some self examination on what he could do better to best his nemesis later.
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