Unattended Objects (Open)

"Really, if people wanted things so badly they wouldn't put them out in the open where anyone with a free hand can just run by and snatch it..." Laharl commented, holding up a recently acquired pearl necklace he'd found hanging out of the pockets of a blatantly wealthy woman. Her coat probably cost more than anything else within eye sight, including the buildings out in the distance. So what harm was it to her if she lost a few pearls she'd hanging out of her coat pocket? She didn't need it, and she hadn't come back to retrieve it, so she probably hadn't even noticed that it was missing yet.

Laharl rubbed his fingers on the sea foam colored spheres, rubbing off whatever substance was tarnishing it and allowing it to shine even more brightly. As it glittered in the sunlight, Laharl felt a sense of pride that he had been able to gain such a precious thing, precious and beautiful. He took one hand of the pearls and placed into the pocket of his shorts, pulling out a silver coin with two fingers and tossing it up into the air. When it fell, he caught it and threw it back up in a single fluid motion.

His legs were kicked out over a park bench, feet dangling over the arm on one end, and his head on the seat of the bench looking up at his recent find. The sun was bright and shining, and a few clouds moved through the sky, but they didn't look like much of anything, just little puffs of floating cotton. He'd managed to escape his training for today by slipping off into a crowd in the city and when he saw the wealthy woman in it, jewelry shimmering in the lights, he snatched it and brought it with him to the best place he knew to catch the sun rays.

The park was oddly devoid, though he hadn't really noticed, even if others were present the noise would be drowned out by thought, that was always how humanity worked. You only heard what you were listening to, and Laharl was listening to his own thoughts, paying little attention to the world that was around him. If it were a snake, he would've died from its poisonous bite by now.

Laharl yawned, stretching out his arms after his hand had caught the coin again. After the stretch, he placed the coin back in his pocket and slid the necklace onto his neck. He then pulled himself out to his whole body length and lay across the bench, feet underneath one arm rest, and head through the other. He closed his eyes and let one of his arms drape down onto the floor, touching the grass and snapping off a few blades before going to sleep.

Laharl, intently focused on a dream about wild geese and chasing them down with a flaming pitchfork and a gallon of milk, was enjoying the little bits of insanity that developed while one slept. In his home, such things would be common, and even in this new land, bizarre things occurred every so often with nothing to warrant or predict them. Such events made Laharl feel more at home than any trinket or phrase could, and were it not for the interruption of a new prescence that made itself known via a cast shadow, and the crunch of a leaf that was nearby.

He lifted his eyelids, looking directly at the intruder, red eyes running their way over the person presently before him a few short moments. Odd dress, especially for someone wandering around the park, and her hair seemed like a bother to arrange in the morning. Laharl noted the peculiarity of her and didn't bother moving from his position or so much as move his head away from the level it was at.

"Hello, what are you doing here?" Laharl inquired, he would've made a more sharp remark, he had little patience for women and their tedious habits, but he felt that in his current position it wouldn't be wise to provoke a fight. She was also too young to be too much trouble for him, only older women seemed to gain the habits and insecurities of the gender, so he could deal with someone who appeared too young to have them.

He wondered what kind of person stumbled over to sleeping people in the park, especially in such a peculair dress, what use was it to be waking up people in the park anyhow? He doubted it had been intentional, but what other goal was there? He then remembered the pearls around his neck and swung himself to a sitting position, placing one hand around the necklace, making it clear that he had no intention of relinquishing what he had taken. "These are mine, go find your own."

His scarf drifted behind him as his rose, drifting and twitching in the arrival of a mild breeze, though Laharl himself seemed little swayed. For his size and stature, he carried himself with a sort of strength and pride that made itself readily notable by those who encountered him. He was a prince, and he had no trouble making sure that everyone knew that, without so much as saying a word. His eyes were harsher than a child's should be, and his face left no room for a smile to creep in.

"This," Laharl said, moving one finger out of the fist around the pearls and tapping a single pearl in the necklace before reballing the finger, "belongs to me, Prince Laharl." He pushed his lips back to let his teeth show through, an action he hoped would either aid to his overall 'aura' or to repel her by itself. A prince had only need for vassals and riches, anything else was worthless too him, especially those flawed creatures known as women.

Spoiler:

Laharl cocked an eyebrow, was she serious? There was obviously something terribly wrong with her head if she was under the impression that he would relinquish anything that he had gone through the trouble of taking to anyone, let alone a girl. Her attitude was one he had little trouble disliking, and she didn't seem to have trouble disliking his either. He drew a coin out of his pocket and tossed it in his hand a few times, closing his eyes as he did so and responded to the girl, determined to prove his own arrogance and stature to be better than hers.

"I'm not from your lands, I'm from another place where I was, am, and will continue to be, their Prince. And as Prince, I have no need for anyone, much less a worthless girl, unless they're one of my vassals and serve me and my future reign. You're not my vassal and you haven't expressed an interest in being one, so you're not worth my time." Laharl said, snapping his hand around the coin mid-air and releasing it a fluid motion that sent the coin into the girl's forehead as he reopened his eyes.

"What kind of person are you, asking things from a Prince? Royalty have no use for a commoner who doesn't even have any feathers on their plume..." Laharl continued, crossing his arms and raising his chin so that she would be unable to do anything but look up if she intended to make eye contact. A simple tactic that he was unaware he even did, it simply came with the title, the eyes that stare onwards coldly, the stature of a marble column, the arms crossed tighter than the ropes of a bring, and the raised head and chin.

This had yet to deter her however, so Laharl felt it would be better to add to it, he had plenty of his own body's chakra, a trait he assumed that came from his family's power and wealth. It was a childish and foolish thought to assume that stature could directly influence the body, but he had no other explanation, so that thought was the most logical one he could form. He pressed his hand's together in the 'Tori' hand sign, named after the bird, and his abilities were heavily associated with birds, so it seemed only logical.

A plume of violet chakra rose from his back, three large feathers making themselves apparent in the air behind him and resemblant of the peacock, the bird commonly associated with vanity. Laharl stood firm as his feathers stood, neither swaying, nor moving, but flowing with pure violet chakra that was interrupted by highlights of lighter purple chakra, similar to a flame rather than feathers. "Where are your feathers?" Laharl taunted, smiling, head raised even higher by the pride in his abilities.

Spoiler:

Underneath the bickering duo, was a boy at rest. He had been hibernating in a small den under the park for a few days now, attempting to be more attuned with nature. However, something had awoken him, not something but somethings. Two people, arguing over something Malice couldn't hear in depth. " Well, I guess my nap is over.... so soon." He yawned as he stood up and faced the grass patch that was his exit. " What were they talking about.....feathers? I have feathers.." Malice said, still in a drowsy state. With a lazy hand he brought his hand up and reached into a leg quiver. Grabbing a couple of feathers, Malice withdrew his hand and climbed out of the den.

The sunlight was inviting on Malice's skin felt good after a long period of rest. " Whats going on up here? I he...." Was all Malice could say before hitting his head against the bench. A small moan escaped Malice's mouth as he tumbled from under the bench to the grass in front of it. " I have.... feathers..." Malice sighed as he raised his hands with the feathers. ' Owwwww...' He thought, rubbing his head where the bench had struck him.

Laharl tilted his head to one side so he could peer under the bench, the girl's words weren't very new to him, few people seemed to have the needed respect for royalty and everything that came from it. He didn't need people who weren't subordinate to him, such a concept was wholly alien to him, he'd always been a self sufficient being, what need did he have for others? It was simply for the commoner, the lower, the weaker, to need aid from anyone besides himself.

After noting the arrival of the new comer, and his 'joke', Laharl decided it wasn't worth his time to bother about him when he had more pressing matters to attend to. He kept his head high, but looked down in order to meet her eyes as he spoke. "Then laugh, laugh until you're sides split because it would be a thousand times better than if you came out unharmed after all that fun and I had to deal with you. I don't need a princess, and you're not much of one yourself, getting all ruffled up in the presence of royalty."

Laharl bent down so that they could meet eye to eye, his upper body lowering like a crane while the lower remained firmly planted on the bench. He put his face into a snarl and made sure to make his words every bit as painful as a kunai to the face. "Kunochi like you are no better than a gold sword. Sure, some people mind find you pretty to look at, but when you actually have to hit something, you break apart and crumble."

Spoiler:

All the talk of royalty and who is better then who was really starting to bug Malice, although he didn't show it on his smiling face. " I'm fine... and what is this nonsense here.. not that I care too much, but enough to call it nonsense." Malice sighed as he stood up and brushed his cape off. "I'm fine, thanks for the concern." He nodded to the girl before back stepping to create a conversation triangle. " I don't really care if you are a prince, theres nothing wrong with that. There is however, something wrong with your attitude... You won't get far acting like that...like plant without water, you'll wilt eventually.... plant..hmm..." Malice said slowly and rhythmically as if he was about to break into song any moment.

For a few seconds, Malice stood looking off into the distance before twitching a bit and stomping on the ground and pulling a piccolo from his pocket. A small thump sounded from the ground as a small sand worm emerged and crawled onto Malice's shoulder. " Tell me how this sounds Pang." Malice said to the worm before started to play a tune on his instrument. The notes he played seemed to be arguing with each other, yet they were harmonized well as the song continued.

Halfway through his song, Malice stopped and put his picallo away. " Sorry.. I got carried away.. My name's Malice Ongaku by the way, you can call me Luna if you like." Malice said as he bowed to both of them.

Laharl raised a finger within inches of the girl's lips, signaling that she should be quiet, though he doubted this would be an accepted request, she was already revealing a habit of quick temper so this would only further enrage her. Laharl was never one to get angry without a good reason, despite whatever words were thrown at him, he would remain firm, royalty was not allowed a chink. Any chink in the armor would be abused, and Laharl was the one who usually abused it, so he was very aware of the fact.

Now, he had before him a girl whose temper was incredibly easy to flare, and despite he fact that she was female, she was amusing all the same, even if her words were cutting into him deeper than he would've been comfortable with. He was well aware that he had no friends, he didn't even have a family left to speak of, but this, as he concluded through the various hours he'd spent dwelling on that thought, was to prepare him for things to come. A king who relies on others could not protect his vassals and subjects, and what good was a king who could not do those things?

He returned to his original thought, what to do with the girl. The other person nearby, who seemed very peculiar for a person, and the creature he had with him disturbed him. No such things existed in his home land, and it was repulsive at best. Laharl pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and come up with a retort for his comment at an equally delayed time. The thought came to him that he might as well prolong whatever company he had, no matter how dismal it was, and so he readied himself to speak.

"You," Laharl said, referring to the girl whose lips were presently before his finger, "have yet to prove yourself as anything but an excessively angry, short-tempered, brat. Why I even continue to waste my breath with you is an amazement, but maybe you'll depart from me with some incentive." Laharl reached around his neck, fidded with the clasp around the back, and removed the pearl necklace. He held it in his hand, dangling, as he continued speaking. "If you want this so badly, take it, but I'm sure that won't make you happy, so here's the deal Madaam Teapot. If you want to boil and blow out your steam, then you can bring that necklace with you to the Arena tomorrow morning. Prove me wrong that you're mouth isn't thrice as big as your abilities, and you can keep it along with whatever else I managed to grab on the way."

Laharl then turned to the new comer who had been playing some song to his pet the whole time he'd been speaking, which he found immensely distracting and tasteless. "As for you, some plants don't need much water, like the cactus. If you so wish, you can come be a spectator and proctor for tomorrow." Someone with his displayed behavior wouldn't likely refuse to do something, and someone so angry would not refuse a fight, so Laharl assumed he had effectively arranged for a meeting of the three in the near future. A meeting was a meeting, regardless of the intent of the people within it.

Spoiler:

(Topic Fin, Not Much Else to Post.)