stolen goods (amaranth)

[MERINA]

The odd duo's argument was so loud, Merina could swear even the long gone +anima could hear it. It sounded like they didn't bother to even try and conceal the fact they were at an intense disagreement. On the other hand, it was pretty funny to listen to Shakaya throw the truth in the man's truth who would toss about theories as to why 'Katrina' acted the way she did. Still, the man's silence at the end scared her, wondering if the woman actually managed to get something through that thick skull of his.

He came at her call and she took notice of his hesitance and obvious attempt at smiling. In some way, it was cute he tried to hide it. Cute in the sense she would always be able to see right through it, in the sense hiding anything from her was a mistake.

She cast her eyes down, playing with the food in her hands. "I could hear you two outside," she whispered. Pretending like she didn't hear it would get her nowhere. Besides, if he was starting to doubt her then not taking advantage of the situation would be rather stupid. "I-I... I don't know what to say. You believe her, don't you?" she asked. Playing innocent might work or it might fail miserably. At this point, anything would help because the rate at things were going, she'd end up back in prison. Or worse.

Merina sunk back into the bed, closing her eyes. "I just don't get it. What does she hate about me?" The idea of crying to gain sympathy came to mind, but she didn't put that into action. After all the lies she's strung to save her sorry hide, pretending the be the hurt victim wouldn't fit it. "Have I done something wrong, Amaranth?" she asked the man, finally opening her eyes to look up at him with. Katrina and Amaranth had some sort of traumatic childhood bond they shared. How could she play it up in a situation like this?

"Is she... jealous?" she added, hoping to put a bit of doubt in the man's mind. Jealousy couldn't be avoided anywhere and from what she's heard from him of this woman, she obviously had some type of thing for the idiotic man. And if he was at least half as smart as he thought himself to be, he would have noticed her feelings. From an onlooker's perspective, Katrina making this bond with Amaranth would be more intimate than Shakaya probably has ever been with the raven haired man.

"Sorry I've been ranting a bit," she apologized. "I guess I'm just scared of what might happen." Merina paused for a while, taking in a deep breath to calm the nerves. "Back in the square before... well, this happened, I wished I could have helped somehow. Bring those damned monsters down where they belong. But I just made things worse. I got in the way and that thing got away because of me." A few tears welled up in her eyes and she hoped he'd think they were from a guilty conscious of making a mess of things instead of the reality to her of speaking against those she looked up to.

"My mom..." she chuckled to herself lightly, "even though she never had a thought of her own, knew I was weak. I fell to thievery after they died because I couldn't find a job that I could do. Stealing became my only option. Up there, in the square... right now, I wish I could've died. Not only would I leave this crap life behind, but I'd see my mom and my sister. That is, if I don't end up in hell."

Her mind was tired, she was still low on blood and just had her side poked at with a needle and string for at least a half an hour. She just hoped what she said made sense and that he'd believe it.

[AMARANTH & SHAKAYA]

Amaranth said nothing as he watched Katrina look down and fiddle with the food in her fingers. So...she'd heard, huh? He supposed they hadn't done a good job of keeping quiet - they should've been more careful. Getting Katrina directly involved would only make the situation more awkward than it already was.

"You believe her, don't you?"

He stayed silent for a few heavy beats, his own eyes drifting towards the white wall. His heart and stomach felt thick and sluggish in his body, weighing down both his flesh and mind. He didn't like arguing with Shakaya - the one person who he considered his companion. Not at all. He didn't like being stuck between her and the wellbeing of a girl he felt at least partially responsible for. He forced himself to look back at Katrina, going through Shakaya's words once more. It was all circumstantial - none of it was evidence. ...And he couldn't truly have been fooled so easily, could he? He swallowed down his unease, grasping his elbow with his opposite hand. "No. There is no evidence behind her claims. I believe it is her paranoia over anything to do with +anima that's getting to her."

What was he going to do? Once Shakaya made up her mind about something, there was no changing it. He couldn't sacrifice a girl he believed was innocent, but at the same time...he couldn't lose his relationship with Shakaya. He needed her, in more ways than one. He knew that even through the haze of hot irritation prickling at the back of his consciousness. Anger was fleeting; it'd go away again. But...he desperately needed some way to smooth his over. There had to be some way!

His eyes sunk halfway closed as Katrina's did, again listening quietly as he struggled for words. ...Had she done something wrong? He hadn't been there when Shakaya had first spoken to the girl, so he couldn't say for sure what it was that'd rubbed her the wrong way to begin with. He just shook his head, opening his mouth to try and force something out when she spoke again.

...Jealous? He paused, letting his jaw close. ...Was that a possibility? Their relationship was something of an odd one. They weren't just friends and they weren't lovers. They simply were whatever they were - companions, partners. Two people who needed each other. He saw no need to complicate it with labels. But... He was well aware that if it was Shakaya's decision alone, they would've become something more concrete...and more intimate...a long time ago.

He swallowed hard, his gaze absently traveling towards the doorway. ...Would she really let such petty feelings put an innocent human girl at risk?

"And if you still believe her, then you're choosing to trust her over me."

He looked down, trying to suppress his guilt. ...Why did it feel like he was betraying her? In the end, he just shook his head. "I don't know, but it's not a concern of yours." His voice just briefly took on a harsher pitch - he wasn't in the mood to discuss their relationship with the girl.

He lowered it again after the girl finished speaking, her eyes starting to water. "You don't need to be afraid - I won't let your wellbeing be put at risk over a mistake. You did what you felt was right and what you needed to do to survive; there is no shame in that. The only shame is giving up on life while your heart still beats...so don't say that."

The girl was clearly exhausted. So was he, and he wasn't the one who'd just had stitches put in while awake. The longer this dilemma carried on, the harder it would be on everyone. He found his eyes wandering back to her bag. "She mentioned your bag. May I look inside? Perhaps there is something that can convince her, and put this to rest." In truth, he was going to search it regardless of what she said, but he decided to do the polite thing and try asking first. If nothing else, her reaction might be telling. After all, he couldn't make himself believe Shakaya's claims, but at the same time, he wanted to see those diaries she'd mentioned for himself.

[MERINA]

"Oh, good, at least someone believes in me," she said with sigh. Good. Even with Shakaya against her and the guards to back her up, she doubted that woman would do anything against Amaranth unless he was in immediate danger. Thankfully, Merina wasn't very intent on causing the man bodily harm. All this was, was a bit of deception and a difference in views. So what if she was a +anima sympathizer? To them, they should just be glad she's a boring ol' human! There wasn't much of a difference between human and +anima for her, but you never knew with crazies like that woman.

She nodded when he told her that what was going on with Shakaya was none of her business. "That's fair enough," she replied softly. Truthfully, she wished Amaranth was completely on her side and would be one of those types that would just tell her what she wanted to know and believed everything she said. She could only think how much easier that would be! Or, better yet, if that woman Shakaya wasn't here in the first place.

"Thanks," she muttered as she snugged herself deeper into the sheets and pillow on the bed, trying to avoid moving too much as not to irritate the newly stitched wounds.

When Amaranth asked to check her belongings, she almost shot up in her bed. Thankfully, she managed not to let her her fear give anything away. Her stuff in her bag. It wouldn't really be incriminating, would it? She had diaries, clothes, a few sentimental things like a stuffed bear and then Merina's "pay" which included stolen heirlooms and jewelry. The diaries would be the most suspicious, but it wouldn't possibly sway the researcher from her side, would it? After all, there was little written (she hoped) about the people being +anima. That was the whole reason she had came, because after their transformation they fled town, leaving everything behind. Still, she couldn't risk it.

"I would rather if you didn't. It's all I have. A little bit of privacy, please?" she said, hoping it would keep him from looking through her stuff. But for now... for now she desperatly needed to rest. Slowly, but surely, she did.

[AMARANTH & SHAKAYA]

Amaranth watched Katrina snuggle against the pillows as the conversation wound down - it seemed she'd calmed down for the time being, at least. Now if only Shakaya would follow suit...

She was quiet for a moment at his request, though.

"I would rather if you didn't. It's all I have. A little bit of privacy, please?"

Oh? Amaranth smiled, working to keep his slight surprise from reaching his face. "Of course; I understand." He turned back towards the door, pretending to lose interest in the bags. He scratched the nape of his neck. "It would likely take more than anything in there to convince her, anyway."

He was a bit stuck on what to do while he waited for her to fall asleep. It would be strange if he just stood there, so he wanted to say that he was going out to speak with Shakaya again. But on the other hand, if he did that, Katrina might wake when he opened the door to get back inside, and he didn't actually want to speak with his parter at that point in time, either - it was already perfectly clear that neither of them were thinking clearly enough to conduct a reasonable conversation.

In the end, he wordlessly meandered over towards the doctor's area of the building, hoping that she would assume that he simply wanted to speak to the other man if she noticed at all. The doctor gave him a strange look, but was too engrossed in his own work - filing papers and cleaning his supplies - to pay much notice. The scientist let his eyes run over the clinic's instruments, faking intrigue, until he heard Katrina's breath even out. She was motionless but for the rise and fall of her chest when he returned to the room. She was asleep.

Careful to keep his steps light, he padded up to her bag and took a long look at it, making sure to memorize the position it was in and the way the handle was tied. A tinge of guilt climbed up his ribs, but he had to do something to try and work through the situation, and the next course of action seemed obvious. He opened it up and started digging around inside as quietly as he could.

There wasn't anything of particular interest - it all matched up with what the two women had already told him. Jewelry and other items that meshed with the life of thief. Teddy bears, trinkets, and other items that seemed a bit on the odder side, but not suspicious. He stopped at the diaries. There were quite a few; he wouldn't have time to look over each of them thoroughly.

He skimmed the first few, not finding anything but a young woman ranting about her parents, a boy complaining about bullies, and a girl gushing about her first crush. He sighed - it was obvious that this was nothing but an invasive waste of time. But just as he was about to put the books down, something in the one he was holding caught his eye as he neared the end. A young girl talked about how she'd almost drowned in the lake outside her house, until she'd suddenly gained the ability to breath underwater and swim like a fish. It'd saved her life, but her parents got really mad when she told them. Amaranth tensed, skimming to the last filled page in the diary. There was no closure in the final entry, as if something had either happened to the writer or the diary had been lost.

He stared at it for a while. The writer of that diary had been, or at least become, a +anima...like Shakaya had expected. He quickly put it down and shifted again through the rest, anxiously wondering if he'd missed something. It didn't seem he had - there was only one that referenced +anima in any way, but they all seemed to cut off somewhat abruptly.

That one journal...was just a coincidence, wasn't it? After all, none of the other diaries or other contents of the bag were suspicious.

He needed to think it over later - not while he was standing by the open bag with the book in his hands, with the girl slumbering nearby. Things would only become even more awkward if she knew that he'd gone against his word and searched her things.

He moved to stuff everything back in the bag, just as it had been when he'd found it, when his fingers slipped and the diary he'd been holding fell to the floor. It smacked against the wood with a thud that sounded dangerously loud in the quiet clinic. Shit. He flinched, throwing his gaze in the direction of the bed to see if she'd woken up. ...He sure hoped she was a heavy sleeper.

[MERINA]

Sleep had been something her body ached for quite badly in the result of going in to a deep sleep, trying to let the rest of it's systems fix themselves while she lay restless in the bed. It was a miracle, really, that she had never been one to have troubles with her sleep, no tossing or turning or insomnia. The moving in her sleep wouldn't have helped the freshly stitched wound heal very quickly. Besides, Merina felt so tired when she was awake she doubted she even had the energy to move around in her sleep, not until she regained the blood she lost.

She slept and slept until the next morning when she woke up rather quickly to the growling of her stomach. Her hand moved to grasp her stomach only to have a shock of pain spread throughout her body from the wound she had forgotten about and accidentally brushed up against. Biting her lip was the only thing she could do from making a sound. Her stomach seemed to know she was out of energy, begging her for some sustenance. The food, however, was not by her bedside this time and the same lack of energy that made her stomach hurt kept her from getting up and finding some food.

The girl rolled onto her side, her head dug into her pillow and blanket laying flatly on top of her, the scratchy cotton tickling her legs and arms as she moved, lying in wait for something to happen. Even calling out for someone to bring her something felt somewhat of a chore at the moment, not to mention how it might seem to others. Though it wasn't in the best interest of her body just to wait, she doubted bringing any attention to herself would better the situation.

Her eyes were fixed on the door, studying the lines of the wood and the noticeable wear on the handle as it was the only thing she could do to entertain herself. Thankfully, someone came in just before she started to study the floor.

"Good morning," the doctor said as he strode into the room, in his hands carrying a bowl of soup and a slice of bread on a plate, though his voice made things seem anything but good. Only with his help did she sit up in the bed and begin to eat. With each spoonful of soup and bite of bread she felt a bit of energy come back to her. The man said nothing for the longest time, perhaps waiting for her to finish with her meal before relaying anything on to her or striking a conversation with his patient.

Suddenly, he said, "You're not a +anima, are you?"

Merina looked up from her food with wide eyes, the emotion in them in between surprise and concern. The man's somewhat monotone voice made it hard to tell if being a +anima was something bad, to him, but it wasn't like she had to hide anything. She was human after all.

"No, I'm not," she said softly, noticing how hoarse she was. The man left, minutes later returning with a full glass of water, handing it to her and taking his seat once more in the chair beside her bed though feet away.

"If you're not, what's the whole commotion about?" he asked, but she had the feeling he was talking more to himself than her at the moment so she kept silent. She sipped on the water, finding that the food and water were really going to be her only entertainment until Amaranth came back.

Oh, speaking of him, she wondered where he went. Seeing as she had slept through the night, had he left or stayed at a nearby hotel?

"Which commotion?" she bothered to ask, halfway through her glass of water.

"The guards, the ones the woman called."

"She thinks I'm a +anima sympathizer," she said with a shrug. Even if she was, was it really something to call the guards on? It wasn't like she helped them stage that coop at the market. If anything, she should have called the guards on her for breaking and entering other people's homes to steal their stuff. Wow, that really showed what priorities the blue haired woman had.

He left again without another word, making the silent statement that he was not going to take sides, leaving Merina on her own once more.

Sitting up, she could see her bag and her mind returned to the previous day right before she had fallen asleep. Had Amaranth looked through her things while she left? The contents of the bag wasn't seem, but from the position of the bag it looked untouched. A sigh escaped her lips. At least that was one thing she didn't have to worry about.

[AMARANTH & SHAKAYA]

Amaranth and Shakaya padded down the street, their boots clicking on the cobblestone. The city was loud and bustling, almost like the chaos at the square had never happened, but they walked silently, doing nothing but taking sips from their tea and picking at their bagels. They'd stopped at a bakery on the way, but Amaranth didn't feel all that hungry. His stomach was tied in too many knots. He forced himself to take a few bites anyway, knowing that he needed to keep his energy up. He caught a whiff of Shakaya's fruity, far-too-sweet tea as she swallowed down another gulp, not really eating either.

She always got the same type of tea every morning. Just like how she always wore the same white coat, carried the same solemn expression on her lips, spoke in the same flat voice, and talked about the same things. Sometimes he wondered if there was anything going on in her head at all that wasn't related to +anima. His eyes wandered in her direction, and the irritation must've been visible on his face - she caught the look and passed him a scowl, and he quickly looked away.

He took another sip of his own tea, instead - something bitter and caffeinated. He'd hoped it would wake him up, but unfortunately it didn't seem to be making much difference. He hadn't slept well at all that night. Staying at an inn not too far away from the clinic, the two of them had shared a bed as usual - just sleeping, that is; it was impractical to pay for two separate rooms or a second bed when one worked just fine. Usually he didn't mind, but it'd suddenly felt a lot more awkward last night.

Nonetheless, it was a sunny day that belied the unpleasantness of the night before. He forced a smile and turned in Shakaya's direction, trying again. "It's a lovely day, isn't it? Warm for this time of year." Talking about the weather - how uncreative could he get?

Shakaya didn't seem impressed, either. She didn't answer, not even looking his way. She took another bite of her bagel. "...Did you check her bag?" She spoke with her mouth full.

Ah. Amaranth tensed, scratching the back of his head. "Well..."

"What did you find?" The woman pressed when his voice trailed off.

"Not much." He answered, looking down in the hope that she wouldn't find his eyes. It was a half-truth. He'd found the one diary, but everything else had been clean. He didn't want to say anything about it to his companion, in case she overreacted and jumped off the deep end again. At least...not yet. He needed to think the situation through first.

She never answered, but whatever the case, they were nearly at the clinic, now. He quickly finished up what he wanted to of his bagel and opened the door. He peered in quietly, at first, wondering if Katrina might still be sleeping, but stepped inside when he saw her sitting up in bed. "Good morning." He forced the cheerfulness in his voice.

To his surprise, Shakaya followed him inside. His eyes moved back and forth between the two women. Shakaya leaned against the wall - like usual - with a blank, cold expression and narrowed eyes. She worked on what remained of her bagel, just watching. Amaranth grimaced, cheeks heating up in irritation as her eyes bore into him from behind. There was something he wanted to ask Katrina, and he wanted to bring up what he'd found in the bag, too - how he was going to, he didn't know; he had gone against his word and her trust after all - but with Shakaya standing right there...

Perhaps now wasn't the time for that yet, anyway. He placed a another cheerful smile on his lips. "Did you sleep well? How are you feeling?" He set down the brown bag he'd carried in his hands, also from the bakery. Inside was another bagel, a couple of cookies, and a cup of cinnamon tea. He was sure the doctor would've given her some kind of breakfast, but he'd wanted bring something, at least. Maybe it was the guilt from searching her things. He was just lucky she hadn't woken up - she didn't seem to have realized anything yet."I've brought some food from that charming bakery down the street, if you're feeling up to it."

[MERINA]

It wasn't long before Amaranth came, relieving her of pure boredom, a smile reaching a previously blank face though that quickly faded when she saw what came in behind him: Shakaya. For a moment, she scowled at the sight of the blue hair and cold expression but quickly changed it and forced herself to look at the man instead. At least he wouldn't make her blood freeze with such a look.

Still, he wasn't much of a sight to look at either. The man seemed to be something of a horrible liar because from what she could see on his exterior was a pathetic attempt at looking pleasant. At least this gave her something to hold on to, that it would be easy to tell when he was lying to her or not, being able to hold on to valuable information without him knowing he had given it away.

Mentally, she shook herself from such thoughts. She was acting like she was going to be around the two for a long time! Merina didn't have the luxury of wasting time when she had to get back to base. Sure it wasn't for anything important, but she just loved the look the +anima gave her when she did something nice for them. It was much more satisfactory than helping just an average person who expected people to do things for them with nothing in return. Utterly boring.

"Good morning," she replied nonetheless keeping her gaze fixed on him. That woman, she just felt if she looked at her that her gaze would come out and eat her alive. The woman even being in the same room as her gave her an annoying pang of anxiety in her stomach.

She nodded. "I slept like a log and I've felt better, to tell the truth, but better than yesterday for sure," she said, attempting to lighten the atmosphere or forget the woman in the room. At least it was a semi-successful attempt for her. Keeping her expression the same, she nodded once more. "Definitely. Thanks."

The girl reached forward to take the brown bag but her hand stopped inches short of it's destination when pain blossomed around the stitched region. The thought of something nice to eat was too good to pass up, though, so she dealt with it until she grasped the bag and was able to lean back once more.

"Oh! Cookies!" she exclaimed, a more child-like voice coming from her than she had expected merely from the surprise of a treat. Most of her childhood was spent in spite of her family and their distaste for +anima and the rest trying to fend for herself. Cookies and pastries weren't apart of her diet.

She took one bite of the cookie, savoring every second of it. It was great. "Thank you," she said with the first genuine smile towards a regular human in ages, crumbs around her lips. "Say, I know you said you felt about about... well, this," she gestured to the wounded area with her cookie-free hand, "but this isn't something you would normally do for... a stranger. What's going on?"

Suspicion. He already knew she was a thief, might as well not pretend she isn't and suspicion was how she managed to keep her head all these year. That and dumb luck.

[AMARANTH & SHAKAYA]

"Good." Amaranth nodded simply at the answer to his inquiry. "Sleep is one of the best medicines." Katrina seemed a little on edge - most likely due to a certain soldier standing against the wall - but took the bag regardless.

An excitement he hadn't heard before sparked in the girl's voice as she opened the bakery bag. She thanked him and smiled, looking up with crumbs clinging to her lips. He found himself grinning, even as something prickled at the back of his neck. Was he just imagining things, or was there something different in that smile than what he'd seen in hers before?

Either way, if she was that excited about a batch of cookies, he'd have to bring some more tomorrow. Something about that curve of her lips made his ribs feel warm.

His expression down-turned at her next words, though. He scratched the back of his head, trying to find an answer to that question, himself. Why did he care so much about Katrina? He hardly knew her, after all, and he already knew that she'd lied to him at least once.

He didn't really want to think about it, but an answer found him before he could stop it. Perhaps it was because his life was so cold.

He spent day after day in his labs, hurting +anima, and with little human contact. He did have colleagues, but he wasn't exactly the most well-liked scientist around, and had never wanted to be, either. He liked being alone. There was Shakaya, of course - in regards to everything but business, they were pretty much all each other had. But if his life was chilled, hers was frozen. The woman was as frigid as her icy blue eyes. Her job was hurting and killing - +anima, of course, but killing all the same - and she actually enjoyed it. She rarely smiled, and when she did it was always small and solemn. She did love him - he knew that - and in his own way, he did love her, too, but that didn't change the fact that his life was cold and somber.

There was something strangely refreshing about seeing someone grin at a bag of cookies, and even having the opportunity to show kindness, himself. There was a stark absence of it in the days at the lab.

Of course, there was a much simpler explanation, too, and the one he would give Katrina. "...I'm sorry." He mumbled quietly, hoping it wouldn't ruin her cheerfulness. Still, he'd been wanting to bring it up anyway, and now was the perfect time. "My curiosity got the best of me and I searched your bag last night, so I suppose I'm feeling guilty. Especially with that on top of...everything else. It was an invasion of privacy, and I apologize."

"And he found something, too." Shakaya all at once pipped up, startling the man in spite of himself. He passed her a confused gaze. ...Huh? He hadn't told her anything at all about what he'd seen! She ignored him, continuing. "There were mentions of +anima in the diaries you're carrying. You can't truly expect us to believe it's just a coincidence, can you?"

Amaranth opened his mouth, but managed only a stutter before a harsh glare from his companion silenced him. It was a bluff. He'd never told the soldier anything of what he'd found, and there'd actually only been one diary with any suspicious content, but Shakaya was testing Katrina, fishing for a response.

The man bit his lip, unsure whether or not to call out Shakaya's lie. In the end, he didn't dare. With his relationship with her already on the ropes, he couldn't risk it. ...And admittedly, he was a bit curious what sort of response she'd get.

He bit his lip, staying silent on the matter as he returned his gaze to Katrina. "I'm sorry." He repeated, looking down. "I shouldn't have looked."

[MERINA]

Merina did not like the look he was wearing when she asked why he was so keen on helping her. He was feeling guilty, she assumed. Which means she was wrong to believe that she could be a bit more lax in her lies around him. It was like she never got a break! Though she had to say she preferred this situation compared to them knowing the truth of who she was. As always, she wouldn't trust regular people, especially those that didn't like +anima.

She let her head tilt forward a bit so she was staring at her lap. "Thats fine, I guess," she said. Maybe a little guilt could come in handy here. "It's not like I've given you any reason to trust me, after all." Though she preferred to lie, she had to say that what she was telling him was the truth. She had lied to him - in fact, she was still lying to him. His concern was reasonable, though she didn't know why he wanted to look at a few diaries that badly. Just as she thought that, she remembered that he was curious by design: he was a scientist after all and she had kept something secret. Duh! How could she have not realized that before!

She was still recuperating from her wound, she supposed, deciding not to

What Shakaya said almost caught her off guard. Thankfully, the man's guilty look let her think on his actions long enough that it didn't surprise her. The woman was bluffing, she told herself. Even if I don't know Amaranth's behaviors exactly, there should be no reason she should know what was in her bag aside from the things she had told the duo.

"I honestly never knew that," Merina honestly said as she picked up her head, staring at the cold woman. "I just grabbed things I might be able to make a gillah or two off of- a lot of travelers pay to have journals. I could just rip out the used pages." Alright, so a little less honesty; now that she could deal with. Telling these strangers the real things made her uncomfortable. At least she hadn't been cornered into a situation to talk about her real family.

She turned to look at the man, taking a deep breath and letting it out, as if trying to calm herself from crying. "I get that you looked at my stuff, but," she looked back at Shakaya, "what are you accusing me of?" She paused for more than a moment, collecting her thoughts. Her head was getting too... messy and disoriented, like she couldn't keep one thought in place long enough to finish what she was saying. More sleep, she figured, or more food. I need more energy.

"You don't think I'm a +anima, do you?" she suspected, glaring at the both of them, though seriously not knowing what the woman was planning. "You can look over me all you want, but I don't have a mark anywhere."

[AMARANTH & SHAKAYA]

Shakaya waited quietly, crossing her arms and staring back at the girl as she waited for a response. The woman felt her fingernails dig into the skin of her opposite arm when she got it, grimacing in frustration. It wouldn't have been a reasonable response if the journals really had all contained references to +anima - it would be too unlikely of coincidence - but of course that wasn't true, and didn't seem to be from Katrina's reaction, so her answer made a lot of sense. Still, the soldier decided to keep up the bluff a little longer. "And what might the odds be that the majority of the journals you just so happened to pick up belonged to +anima? I find it hard to believe it was merely coincidence." Hopefully the girl wouldn't dig out the diaries and disprove her lie, but if she did, oh well. Amaranth already knew it was a lie.

She saw him shuffle uncomfortably, biting his lip as the girl looked his way again, but both of them were silent as she kept speaking. "No." Shakaya hurried to speak up before Amaranth had the chance to answer first and say something dense, but paused to think it through more thoroughly. If the girl were a +anima, it seemed odd that she hadn't exhibited any abilities during the fight at the square or when she were trying to escape, and odd as well that the doctor hadn't discovered any markings.

"No...I don't believe you're a +anima." She concluded. "But I believe you're involved with them in some way. You ran to the square to try and project the +anima, and were ultimately injured because you took a hit in the +anima's place. The oddities in your bag would fetch much higher prices with creatures who have nothing - +anima - than with humans. The journals contain numerous references to them." There was that bluff again. "You snapped when I baited you by going on about +anima, and it was after that that you tried to escape. Everything makes sense when you viewed through that lens." Her eyes narrowed. "As a soldier, I can't let anyone aiding them walk free - not even in Astaria." It was entirely frustrating. It was all so obvious, and yet she had no solid way to prove any of it.

Amaranth chewed on his tongue as his companion finished her rant. The rebuttal that he hadn't found any such thing in the journals, bar one, sat high in his throat, but in the end, he swallowed it down. It was probably best not to get between the two women at that point.

He looked back to Katrina and leaned close, speaking so quietly that he hoped Shakaya wouldn't hear. She'd probably be cross with him for whispering to Katrina, but he could explain it to his companion later. He'd decided to try a different tactic. "Is it true? If it is, you can tell me, and I won't be angry." Now that wasn't necessarily true - Shakaya was right, they couldn't allow someone aiding the enemy to go free...for their own sake, as well as that of both human army's - but it was a different kind of bluff. "Just don't let Shakaya know."

[MERINA]

Merina found herself anxious at the woman's accusations, wondering if she really had left behind too many clue, too many things not thoroughly disguised with lies and too many lies not properly thought through. She inwardly debated which was worse: to continue lying and be caught or to tell the truth. With these two, there was very little she could go on with what their reactions and responses would be aside from the fact Amaranth rarely stood in Shakaya's way. Almost anything the woman did could not be stopped by the man- what a pansy.

Her ear managed to catch onto words that came out of the woman's would. Things like "I believe" and obviously side stepping how many supposed references to +anima were in the diaries. The woman knew next to nothing- that was a relief. Shakaya's confidence on the matter had almost managed to fool the thief. But- lets be honest- fooling a tired, blood drained thief wasn't all that hard was it? And as if to make matters worse, Amaranth tries to ask for her confession in confidence. Ha! Did he really think that she would just tell him, oh so believing he won't actually tell Shakaya? She remembered his story about his brother, the +anima and what had happened to him.

If she confessed, then there was no hiding the facts. She couldn't let that happen.

"One," Merina began, malice in her voice, "I'm a human. I don't have any weapons or fancy techniques to fight with whatsoever, what good would I be to help anyone? I ran in there to steal- conflict is a great distraction. Anything I stole there, during that time, I could get away with scotch free. Two, Amaranth can vouch for me when I say I didn't jump in front- it pulled me in front of it and then ran off after he," - she looked over at Amaranth with her eyes full of frustration and anger - "stabbed me. If I was helping them, don't you think they would have helped me too? Three, I have no idea what's in those journals, as I've said before. Anything about those dairies, you two know more about than I do."

She paused, taking in a deep breath when she realized her voice had raised itself into something of a yell, accidentally getting caught up in her - "Katrina's" - frustration of the accusations. "Four," she said, her voice now lowered to a reasonable volume for the space they were in. "I didn't snap, mind you. The detail you were telling me made me feel sick- something that doesn't bode well with a hole in my side," the girl retorted with a final huff before laying back in the bed, her arms crossed over her chest. With all the anger and adrenaline in her veins, she didn't even notice the pain that came with moving around from her wound.

"You," she hissed, directing it at Amaranth but didn't bother to specify whom it went to for the moment. She only turned her head to look at him; moving the rest of her body seemed like too much of an effort than what she was willing to give him. "I can't believe you don't believe me. I told you everything." The man seemed to be driven by guilt easily; hopefully this ploy would work well.

Merina sighed, trying to think clearly: how could she contact the others? how could she get out of this? how could she stop this couple? when it finally hit her.

"If you don't believe me, don't let me go. Take me with you to Sailand. I'll help the both of you with whatever," she offered, not really liking the idea but if it ensured her safety as well as the +anima here, then she would go.

[AMARANTH & SHAKAYA]

Katrina was quiet for a while, almost looking uncertain. Shakaya's fingernails dug into her palms, the woman almost hoping for a moment that she might've gotten the upper-hand, but when the girl finally spoke, anger seeped into her voice.

Shakaya narrowed her eyes. Shit. The girl wasn't coughing up so easily, and the soldier still had no solid proof against her. If only those diaries really had had something more incriminating in them... It was true as well that she didn't have a clear idea of what exactly went on during the conflict, and the rest of her answers were frustratingly sensible. Lies, surely, but sensible enough. "You don't have to be able to fight to be an asset. Considering what you have in your bag, I'll bet you're a delivery girl." Her lips sharpened into a cold smile. "But I'll give you that I can't prove anything. You're quite the well-practiced little liar, aren't you? It's almost impressive!"

She took a step forward. "Just know that your sickeningly saccharine mask doesn't fool me." Even if she couldn't prove anything, their words had definitely gotten sweet little Katrina pissed off. Should she push her farther? Maybe if she pushed her far enough her facade would shatter completely. "It's quite sad, really. You clearly have talent - why waste it on beasts? No matter what sort of twisted loyalty you might feel towards them, they'll never feel anything back. They aren't human - they aren't capable of it. They'll betray you, one day. They'll wait until you aren't useful anymore, then they'll leave you to die like they would any other human." She laughed. "You'll regret it then, when you die alone in the company of animals."

"Shakaya!" Amaranth turned her way with the corners of his mouth set in a frown. "That's enough - for Heaven's sake." He'd been trying to keep quiet for the sake of their relationship, but she could be terribly cruel sometimes. She'd gotten caught in the web of her own hatred, and once it had a grip on her, there were times when she completely stepped out of reality.

Shakaya glared ice blue daggers into the back of his head, but he stared at the ground, flinching at Katrina's accusation. That hadn't gone well - not at all. It seemed there was no easy way out of this. Her demeanor had completely changed, her words hissed through clenched teeth. But he had stabbed her; hadn't he already put her through enough? "I-it's not that I don't believe you. It's just..." He swallowed hard.

Oh lord, what now? He was between two very angry women, with two very angry sets of eyes. He had to say something, but if he told Katrina that he believed her, that would be the same as saying that he didn't believe Shakaya, and if he did the opposite, then he would be betraying the girl he'd already harmed.

So...setting aside for a moment what they both wanted him to say, what did he believe? Shakaya had sharp instincts, but she was also paranoid, and while a lot of what she said made sense, so did most of Katrina's rebuttals. Could he let her paranoia risk the wellbeing of an injured young girl? But on the other hand, could he let the wellbeing of someone who was essentially still a stranger risk his relationship with the only real companion he had?

In the end, he just shook his head. His voice rose without his permission. "I don't know what I believe, all right?!"

Smooth. Now they'd all gotten some shouting in. If the doctor was listening, he'd probably transfer all three of them to a mental hospital soon.

He looked up again at Katrina's next words, glad for the distraction. "N-no...that won't be necessary." He hung his head, swallowing to quiet down his voice. "Regardless of what the truth is, I've already caused enough trouble." His eyes wandered to the wound. "Let's just let this whole thing go. Even if it is true - which, err, I'm not saying it is - then we'll just call it even."

Shakaya stepped forward, gaze narrowed into slits. "That's not how things work in the middle of war." She passed Amaranth a glare before directing it at Katrina. "Unless you can show me someone else who will vouch for your innocence, I'm afraid I'll have to take you up on that offer. It's my duty as a human soldier."