Ill-Met By Moonlight

[Sh4dE]

She stopped flailing his back and asked him for a truce. Whatever. He turned his back again to look into her eyes and let out a short and clear "Sure."

Sooner or later they would have to kill each other, but for now they could just leave each other.

Wait, what was he thinking? Not killing her?

Okay, okay, maybe he should listen to her first.

[MurderWeasel]

Sofia hadn't quite been expecting it to be that easy. It was a pleasant surprise, but not one she was going to take for granted; she relaxed her stance further and pushed herself back another couple feet, but she kept her hands ready. He'd gotten the jump on her once. She would not make the mistake of leaving herself vulnerable again.

The rags she'd wrapped around the bottom of her face had come loose early in the scrabble, and hung uncomfortably around her neck. She wanted to pull them back up, or off, or something, but right now all of her focus was on the boy in front of her. She could see him more clearly now, could make out his features. He was Hispanic, and occupied that weird zone of being half fit and half unfit. She had seen him around school plenty of times. She surely knew his name, but could not recall it. It was easier, though, to think now that the sparkles were fading from her vision.

She would try to keep this brief.

"You can fight," she said. "I can fight. I was actually going to jump you before you jumped me."

Her delivery was blunt, matter of fact, without any real judgment to it. What had happened had happened. She wasn't badly hurt, just a bit bruised and banged up. He was likely the same.

"We can fight more, but we'll both get hurt. It doesn't have to be like that."

She hoped he wouldn't get the wrong idea and think she was trying to sell him on some mission of peace. There had been options for that in other places, with other people, and Sofia had walked away. And now, as she spoke, her eyes traced from him to the floor, in search of her fallen flare gun. She couldn't see it. Her fingers tensed and loosened, her brow creased, half expecting him to dive for her again at any moment. But it was wrong, illogical. With what she knew of both of them, there was no reason for them to come into conflict at all.

"When I was little," she continued, "my mum had a lot of sayings. And one of my favorites was this:

"Wolves don't eat wolves."

[Sh4dE]

Sebbo could fight yeah. But after she claimed to him that herself could fight he could only think 'Pffffft' in his thoughts. What she called a fight wouldn't help her on the streets. You got to punch and kick hard. Not flailing her girly arms. He ignored her lack of self-reflection (she really called herself a wolf instead of a sheep) and then commented on the saying she recited shortly after.

"You mean like, dog eats dog?"

She has a point, doesn't she? If they would continue to fight he might get hurt? Sebbo was unsure of that statement, since he was convinced if he tried hard enough he could like kill her with his strength. But then what? He would finally have a kill on his hand, but that wouldn't help him at all. It would also make him kinda - not kinda - really would make him look like a dick. The whole world would hate him. He would be a villain. Who wants to sign a villain?

[MurderWeasel]

"The opposite, really."

Maybe this was going to be a little harder than Sofia had expected. In her head it made perfect sense, but she'd grown up with the saying, and so the concepts behind it came intuitively. More than that, she knew what she'd done and what she planned to do, while her companion did not. But he wasn't attacking her again. He was listening, and he was weighing her words. It was something. The idea in her head was solidifying, and while his inability to grasp it instinctually was a quick frustration, it didn't entirely put her off her stride.

"It means... wolves, predators, don't fight unless there's no other choice. We're not there yet. If we're doing more or less the same thing, we might as well work together instead."

She pulled herself up to her feet as she spoke, bracing herself on the fallen desk as subtly as she could. She felt a little unsteady, but that was probably in part the adrenaline subsiding. It might well spike again momentarily if this guy decided he didn't want what she was offering and she had to take him down for real, but she was feeling cautiously optimistic.

"Worry about what comes at the end when we get there. If. In the meantime, set ourselves up so we can have that problem."

Sofia nodded, confident in the logic of her plan, if not its immediate obviousness to her prospective ally and former foe. She glanced around as she spoke, still unable to figure out where the flare gun had gone, but at least reassuring herself that the hiding place where she'd stashed her bag was untouched. Not that anyone could've messed with it; she'd been here, alone, the whole time until this guy had showed up, but it still felt good to be certain.

[Sh4dE]

Sofia offered being more passive, but also to coorperate. She wasn't in his posse, so he couldn't trust her fully, but it did not sound too bad. Sebbo followed her motion and also stood up - without having to aid himself by using a nearby table or chair.

"That sounds like a good plan."

Sebbo simply smiled at Sofia, not voicing anything else. Sometimes it was better to keep quiet and observe.

[MurderWeasel]

There. That was more like it. Sofia wasn't about to fully trust this guy yet, but she was willing to offer him just a little confidence. He was smiling, so she smiled too.

Really, she was feeling pretty good. Odd as it was, the tussle here had brought her more than bruises and shortness of breath. The exertion, the thrill, the danger and physicality had all combined to settle her mind somewhat. She didn't exactly enjoy fighting for its own sake, per se, but sometimes a fight was just the thing to bring the world back into focus and make everything make sense and restore her confidence. Smacking Galahad had had a similar effect, but on a more muted scale. He'd posed no threat, not even the pretend sort, whereas Sofia's new partner had a little more going on.

She wondered whether Galahad and the others had moved on, or whether they were still hanging around the graveyard hoping that their boys would roll in and call the whole thing off. It was probably better to avoid going back there, just in case. Who knew how they'd feel about her having ditched? And who knew if her new companion would be as willing to listen to reason and not give the assembly any grief.

That was something to chew on a bit. Later.

She held out her hand towards him, giving him a nod. Best to start this off on the right foot, and if he sucker-punched her, she'd be ready to swing right back.

[Sh4dE]

Sofia held her hand out to him. Sebbo reacted by grabbing the hand and shaking it.

"Deal."

With that, he now was responsible to be a partner to Sofia - and all of Britain (and the Yanks) were witnesses of him having a truce. He wouldn't break it, unless of course if it was a decision between one of his boys and her. Or him or her.

But as she said, they could worry about it later.

[MurderWeasel]

"Deal."

Sofia shook, nice and firm, and nobody sucker-punched anybody else. It was more or less all she could hope for.

Of course, she wasn't stupid. She knew that a lot of her classmates were dishonorable dogs, and might well take a shot at her at just the wrong moment, but that was okay. Sofia was a dishonorable dog too, like, she wouldn't stab him in the back apropos of nothing or anything because there was dishonorable and then there was dishonorable, but if he started it she would finish it. Make him rue the day he crossed her.

She gave him a nod, pulled the improvised bandanna up over her face once more, and made her way to where she'd stashed her bag. Better to give him her back now, just as a little test. Still no sucker-punches, so she pulled her stuff free. While she was doing so, she caught sight of the flare gun again, finally, over by the door, catching just the faintest hint of moonlight. She walked over and scooped that up too. There would be time to reload it later.

"Alright," she said, slightly muffled but hopefully still clear enough. "Figure we can go see what we can find. Or maybe somewhere to sleep."

She shrugged.

"Either works for me."

[Sh4dE]

After sealing the deal, Sofia stepped outside, picked up the gun again and talked about future plans.

"Isn't this place good enough to sleep in? It has a roof, it's dark, so people would take more time to discover us."

Sebbo shrugged.

"Plus, I don't think there are beds anywhere in here."

[MurderWeasel]

For a moment, Sofia considered pressing the point. There were certainly no beds in here, but there was a whole wide town out there and surely somewhere more comfortable accommodations could be had. But just as quickly as that thought came to her, it was discarded for two different reasons.

First, Sofia had just secured this alliance, and part of working with a partner was that it meant compromise and taking feedback onboard. She didn't like either of those things one bit, but engaging in them now, when the stakes were incredibly low, meant she could kick them to the curb at a later, more serious juncture with fewer pangs of guilt. If she gave in now, and agreed to stay here, then in a day or two when she wanted something that her newfound partner did not, she could put her foot down and he would have to acknowledge the fairness of her position and deal, or else throw a tantrum and break off.

Second, Sofia wasn't a wimp. She didn't need a bed. She'd taken actual, literal, non-euphemistic dirt naps plenty of times before. It happened when you went roaming around, especially after a busy day when the world was sunny and beautiful and warm. They had a roof here, and a clean floor free of twigs and bugs, which made it more or less the height of luxury. She didn't want this guy to think she was soft, because she wasn't.

"Alright," she said, nodding. "Works for me."

They could pick up their activity in the morning, when more of their classmates would be awake and active. For now, Sofia was ready to hunker down. Though, she'd make sure to keep watch for a while, just in case somebody else was drawn to the flares or the sounds of conflict. Both had long since faded into the silent dark, but that was no reason to get sloppy.

((Sofia Chiles continued in And There'll Howl No Demon Louder))

[Sh4dE]

He also slept, though he slept poorly.

((Sebbo continued elsewhere))