Show Me Your Teeth, Pike... Or not.

[Ari Branth]

She was looking for him, which was hard because he didn't have a set place he worked, or a place where she knew he lived -- none of those things. All she had was the memory of the faces of some boys she'd seen him with, and that wasn't much.

She'd put on a skirt for this, trying her best to look normal. The news had to be broken slowly.

After asking around for about an hour and a half, she finally found someone who could point her in a definitive direction. Thanking him, she headed for the tavern she'd been pointed at. She was strangely eager to see Pike -- it felt like forever since that disastrous meeting with Isa, and that was the last time they'd seen each other. She wondered how he'd been the past couple of weeks. Maybe he had some sort of news that would outweigh hers.

Opening the door, she leaned in, already a little put off by the loudness of the laughter. She slipped in, looking around.

It didn't take long to pick out his blonde mop of hair. It didn't take very long to see him lean towards a woman in there, looking smarmy -- winking, smiling. But it took a few moments to process it. Once that was done, she felt out of breath, as if she'd been punched in the stomach.

It was like all those days in the mess hall, when no one would talk to her, except a lot worse. Inhaling carefully, she took a step back towards the door.

Then she turned and opened it, fleeing the place.

[Pike Daw]

Jax had dragged him to another tavern.

And they'd gone through the usual process, though this time Pike didn't make Jax talk to any girls, considering last time...

He'd been purposefully destroying his chances with a girl when he saw someone out of the corner of his eye enter the bar. He didn't bother looking at first, until he noticed that the person was now leaving.

He glanced over, and recognized that hair. It was odd. He'd seen a couple of girls the past couple of weeks who had made him think of Ari, but this was different.

That was her.

He made a gesture at the girl, who was saying something about his rudeness or something like that and then he waved to Jax, and went after the girl.

When he came out of the bar, he looked both ways, seeing if he could see her. "Ari?" he called, tentatively.

He was wondering what was going through her mind. She was probably mad. They hadn't seen each other in weeks and then she sees him very obviously flirting with some girl? Not good.

Unless maybe that wasn't Ari? That would both be good and annoying. Because, if it wasn't her, then where the hell had she been?

[Ari Branth]

She stopped at her name. She'd pulled her braid over her shoulder, and was tugging on it, breathing a little too hard given the circumstances. What was she going to do? Should she turned around? Get his explanation?

What would it serve?

Isa was right, she thought, a little dully. I didn't listen. Stupid. Stupid. Then again, since when was Ari being stupid new?

Maybe it wasn't even him calling. Maybe she'd just wanted to hear her name so badly that she'd attached it to some random call out from some random person directed at someone else. She had to be sure, right?

Slowly, she looked over her shoulder. Her heart hammered in her chest suddenly -- it was definitely him, about thirty feet away, looking around.

She turned back to the front, mind racing, but unable to do anything proactive.

What a joke.

[Pike Daw]

He saw someone, and approached slowly.

"Ari?"

[Ari Branth]

Suddenly, she wanted to run, but it was too late for that. Summoning a stiff smile, she turned, unable to really look him in the face. "Hi, Pike," she said, still worrying at her braid.

[Pike Daw]

"Hi," he said, taking a couple more steps toward her.

[Ari Branth]

Isa's words were echoing through her mind. He'd called her foolish.

She remembered that time by the lake, when she'd kissed him, and lain on top of him -- that had meant something to her. She was such an idiot. "How are you?" she asked, eyes trained on his shoes.

[Pike Daw]

"You're prolly wondering about that, back there..." He gestured vaguely back at the bar.

[Ari Branth]

"No." She was, but she couldn't stand to hear it, not knowing if it would be a lie. "I'm not," she mumbled, turning away again.

[Pike Daw]

He reached out and grabbed her arm. "Wait. I... This is gonna sound like a lie, but it wasn't what it looked like. My friend Jax -- he's an idiot -- he likes to watch me make a fool o' myself around girls. It... doesn't mean anything."

[Ari Branth]

He was right. It did sound like a lie. "Why would he like that?" Disbelief was evident in her tone.

[Pike Daw]

"'Cause he's an idiot." Hadn't he already said that? "He thinks it's the funniest thing when I get rejected -- so I do it on purpose."

[Ari Branth]

She looked up at him, then, distrusting. "Why would you want to do that?" Did Jax really need the boost that badly? How was she expected to believe all of this?

[Pike Daw]

He shrugged. "It's kinda fun."

[Ari Branth]

"Pike... if you were trying to... whatever... with that girl, it's okay. Really," she sighed. It wasn't. Not at all. But what else could she say? "I need to go, anyway." She wondered if he'd even noticed that she'd been missing -- that she hadn't been at the spice stall in nearly two weeks.