There it was again - the sensation of two conflicting emotions abruptly springing forth inside of him simultaneously, each one trying to fight the other for supremacy in a manner that only resulted in the Sheikah becoming more confused and uncertain than he had been five seconds ago. In the moment her questions had been asked - "What am I to you..? As in, what do you think of me?" - he'd experienced a rush of relief, summoned forth by the fact that her query was not concerning his past, coupled with an unexplainable sense of fear that accompanied what her questions actually were. It was really difficult to describe . . .

Which was also the answer that popped into his head: he couldn't really describe what he thought of Sakiko. He had no idea what she meant to him; he only knew that it was enjoyable being around her. He was acting carefree - or careless; that was probably how he'd have described it had he been looking on himself from a distance - for the first time that he could remember in his entire life. Even knowing the dangers that were always surrounding him remained, he wasn't glancing at every stray shadow, studying every face he passed by in a crowd, watching over his shoulder every moment. For some reason that he could only attribute to Sakiko, the past few hours had just been . . . peaceful.

That all flashed through his mind in an instant; his first visible reaction was to breathe a sigh of relief. Despite the confusion that her actual questions rose, it was still better than having to betray Sakiko's trust by responding to a question about his past - whether he answered it truthfully, with a lie, or not at all, it almost certainly would have shattered everything, including their friendship, respect, or affection for each other. At least with this question there was not a 100% chance of failure on his part.

He paused, biting his lip as he mulled over her words carefully, trying to figure out exactly how to respond to something like that. He'd never been in a relationship before, and so he hesitated to call what he was feeling 'love' . . . that kind of emotion was beyond his understanding. Beyond most people's understanding, from what he'd heard, but more so for him, a man who had only once experienced a childhood crush and then had his perception of women forever altered.

Still, he did think that whatever he was feeling might one day grow into love, if given the time . . . he just had to make sure he was able to get that time.

"I . . . I'm not sure," he finally admitted, an almost embarrassed grin creeping onto his face despite his efforts to keep it away. He shook his head slowly, glad that the words were coming at a more reasoned pace now; he was not long stuttering and frantically trying to cover for himself, but was coolly attempting to . . . explain something he had no comprehension of . . .

'Hm, maybe this effort's DOOMed to failure too . . .'

That thought notwithstanding, he forged ahead. "I know that I've sincerely enjoyed being with you today, Sakiko. Talking, walking, just enjoying ourselves . . . it was the first real fun that I can remember having in over a decade." He paused, the words he was considering saying getting choked up in his throat. He was immune to feminine wiles, not to the natural fear of rejection - though he wouldn't have been able to realize that that was what was causing his sudden halt.

"But . . . I don't know how to describe 'what you mean to me' . . . it's something more than a friend, something more than I've ever known before in my life." He looked back up, meeting her gaze strongly for the first time in what felt like hours. "But I do know that I'd like to take the time to figure out what exactly that something is. If you're up for it, of course."

He finally grinned again.

The silence between them grew to be almost like a candle right in front of her face. The heat of the flame burned at her skin with irritating sensation, and she began to regret asking the question. Besides, she was probably over interpreting everything. Alpha, a gentleman, a hero; why would he do anything of the sort that was lingering in her mind? She blushed, wondering if he was only being with her for the sake of pity. After her tearful tantrums earlier, that was highly likely… What was I thinking? He’s going to say something about my skills in magic or something, or an amusing diversion from his serious lifestyle. Courage failed her – the whimsical little thing! It had prompted her to speak, and now ran away to leave her a coward. She opened her lips to revoke her earlier question with a gauche, “I was merely jesting.”, when Alpha stammered, “I…I’m not sure.” Sakiko traced a pattern with her finger on the tablecloth, her gaze flickering to her white, chalk-like hand.

"I know that I've sincerely enjoyed being with you today, Sakiko. Talking, walking, just enjoying ourselves . . . it was the first real fun that I can remember having in over a decade.”

Sakiko’s heart sank, her eyes lowering to hide the dull light that now colored them. She suddenly felt like a washed out picture. The mage reprimanded herself, now her pathetic worries mocking her in her face. What a dirty minded little fool you are! She lowered her head further, shaking it so that her hair created a silvery curtain between herself and the rest of the world. It was a childish “I can’t see you so you can’t see me” psychology, but she had been thinking like a silly adolescent all along, so why not seal the deal with another? Alpha was so mature, so strong, so steadfast – she felt like a wilted weed next to him.

So it was friendship, then. She mentally beat herself, wondering if all the things that had been said in the skating rink had been out of pity. And had she been a fool to allow herself to admit that she…she… Sakiko coughed, not being able to think of the L word without fidgeting.

"But . . . I don't know how to describe 'what you mean to me' . . . it's something more than a friend, something more than I've ever known before in my life. But I do know that I'd like to take the time to figure out what exactly that something is. If you're up for it, of course."

Sakiko looked up, red blotches painting her cheeks unattractively. Her heart pounded crazily in her chest, until even her veins in her wrist pulsed with the same, strong rhythm. Then it wasn’t friendship or pity! A wave of quiet happiness washed through her being, and she silently offered thanks to the goddesses.

Nothing was definite yet, but there was enough that was known. First, Alpha had nothing in mind of which she was thinking of, and second, Sakiko had already decided that the attraction she felt for him was too strong to be ignored. And thus, she made two resolves. One, she was going to trust him. And two, she was going to trust herself and this new feeling that warmed her cold body. No more running away; with or without that capricious courage, she was going to control herself. No more crying, no more shifting back and forth. Although she didn’t know about Alpha, she knew about herself; she couldn’t deny this feeling inside her more than she could deny that there was a moon and sun. (ooc: What? Did that even make sense??) All that was left was exactly what Alpha had suggested; to find out precisely what he was feeling for her.

Sakiko nodded slightly, not entirely satisfied, but not disappointed either. It was the perfect vague response. She tried to grin back, her lips upturned somewhat. She sought to lightened up the mood with a pitiable attempt at a joke,

“I’m up for it…certainly. I merely fear for my life…from Shada, that is. But for now, we should order…I think I’ll get whatever you’re getting.”

In fact, she had lost interest in food; the day had been short and long at the same time, and she was tired. Sakiko rested her cheek on her hand, her elbow propped up on the table. Even though she knew that it was rude to do so – poor dining etiquette, that is – she felt exhausted from the emotional tornado she had been whipped into. Now that she had made her resolves, she concluded that it was sort of safe to let down her guard. Just let Alpha do all the thinking…he’s the one who needs to figure out what exactly is going on… Her eyelids closed halfway, and she gave Alpha an absentminded smile.

The Sheikah couldn't have stopped the smile from washing over his lips, even if he had wanted to. "I'm up for it...certainly." The words were music to his ears. He couldn't even describe why it made him feel a sort of warmth in his chest. It might have been pride . . . rejection wasn't something anyone liked to experience, and despite his best efforts and most logical thoughts he doubted he was immune to such emotions as well.

But that hardly mattered -- she had not subjected him to such rejection. The thought overjoyed him . . . of course, had he actually bothered to think about it, he'd have realized that he had no idea where they were supposed to go next or what he was supposed to do now. The only time he'd ever confessed to a girl before she'd refused him and then warped his mind and body to a state that made it so he'd never felt that way for a woman again. Not until now, anyway. His inexperience in relationships would probably catch up to him before the night was done -- heck, it could very well catch up to him in the next couple of minutes. But facts such as those didn't do anything to kill the mood welling up in his heart.

No, the honor of killing that mood went entirely to Sakiko's attempt at jest.

The mere mention of Shada crushed his happy emotions, the word invoking a number of thoughts that would have likely sent Sakiko running if she could have heard them. At least five of them involved murdering his childhood friend, two of which were done in decidedly gruesome ways. There were probably a dozen more than revolved around crippling or delivering some excessively painful injury to Shada, enough so that the girl would finally take the hint and leave him alone. Perhaps a hundred other thoughts flashed through his head, none of them boding well for Shada's fate should she try to interfere with this.

Finally, his shoulders slumped and his face exasperated, he brought up his hand and let his forehead rest against the palm. "You let me worry about that imbecile . . ." he muttered, struggling to keep his outrage at that worthless girl from creeping into his voice . . . and failing pretty badly. Even for Alpha, sometimes the mask just refused to sit right on his face.

Nevertheless, Sakiko's absentminded smile worked wonders, bringing something of his former cheer back. A small smile managed to even creep back onto his lips as he glanced back at the menus, wondering what exactly it was he felt like eating . . .

Sakiko watched Alpha's expression carefully, and it was almost like watching a play. Joy, anger, then amusement. Her gray eyes scanned his entire face, from the dark strands of his hair to his chin. It seemed to be ages ago when they had wandered the streets together - then, that spell. His scar had disappeared, back then. And how handsome he had looked; with that thought, she suddenly realized how evidently marring the feature was.

The mage tipped her head to one side, a cascade of silver falling from her shoulder.

"Al-"

She stopped herself just in time, remembering the trouble they had gone through just to dispel the curious crowd. The pale girl began again, her voice lowered so that any eavesdroppers would be left disappointed.

"...how did you get that...scar?"

Sakiko knew that men especially took pride in any unusual features, as they could prove to be excellent introductions for epic battle tales. She expected that there would be an interesting story behind it - I was fighting fifty stalfos, singlehandedly, of course... - something like that.

She wanted to know so much about Alpha, as she knew nothing about him. She wanted more than the surface; she was sure the things she would find beneath that smiling facade would spark her already existing affection for him. Of course, no one had clean history; but that was what gave more shape to a person.

The mage turned around to see the waitress making her way towards their table. She said smilingly,

"I'm sure it'll make a good dinner story."

The waitress now stood with a large grin on her face, her notepad in front of her to take the orders.

Ooc: eh... I couldn't think of anything dramatic. hahaha >__<

OOC: Haha, I think that could be plenty dramatic.

IC:
Alpha glanced over to his companion as she stopped suddenly in mid-word, his lips immediately smirking in gratitude for her catch. Part of him was pleasantly surprised she'd managed to remember not to say his name, at least not so loud. The other part of him wanted to turn it into a joke -- the words "My name's not Al," were a split second from leaving his lips when she continued.

"...how did you get that...scar?"

If Sakiko thought that he would enjoy regaling her in the story of how he got that mark, then she obviously didn't know him nearly as well as either of them might have thought.

Alpha's entire body immediately tensed up -- a motion that could not easily be seen beneath his robes, but the sudden stillness in his form was likely quite evident. His abrupt lack of breathing and the classic eyes-staring-off-into-distant-nothingness, though, were readily available to serve as proof that Sakiko might have just touched on a . . . touchy subject.

His scar . . . prominent as it was, it was a feature that he managed to forget about most of the time. He only considered it when it revealed his identity to the public -- or when it started to glow a bright azure, belying the presence of an evil being nearby and sending a stab of searing pain through his system. Were he not already frozen by the prospect of Sakiko confronting him about the subject, such memories would have made him shiver. None of those thoughts were pleasant ones.

The waitress' arrival seemed to work some sort of wonder, though -- his natural inclinations and defenses, the ones he had somehow dropped around Sakiko, shot back up the moment she entered his peripheral. His composure returned just as swiftly, but he shied away from his fellow mage's gaze in favor of gazing down and to the right. 'A good dinner story,' she had said?

"No," he slowly replied, his tone surprisingly soft. "I don't think it would at all."

Before she could respond he shifted his attention to the waitress and listed off a quick order: a well-done steak with some potatoes and beans. He handed her his menu, then turned back to Sakiko once more.

If she looked closely, she might have seen fear in those eyes.

Well.

Sakiko coughed dryly as Alpha seemed unpleasantly surprised by her attempt at a dinner conversation. Perhaps it was better for both of them if they should stay silent for rest of the evening? She had no problem with that...certainly; it seemed to her that people had too much to say about nothing in general too often. But frankly, she couldn't make rash decisions without knowing exactly who this man who sat facing her. Words, in this case, could be actually useful.

In any case, it was obvious that she had plucked the wrong note. Sakiko sighed lightly and looked off to the side as Alpha rejected her question. She respected secrets and Alpha's reason for not opening up to her yet. But he would...she hoped. If this night would extend further into anything at all, of course she should know about him. And if he asked, she would answer.

Lost in her own musings and feeling a little dreamy, she didn't pay close attention to Alpha's subtle change in his marble-like countenance. Sakiko also handed the smiling waitress the menu.

"Garden salad and potato soup."

When the waitress complimented both of them on their choices, went through all the tediously polite comments, and finally left, Sakiko turned back towards Alpha. She said gravely - more gravely than she had intended to make it,

"It's understandable."

Besides...she was a little too tired to really probe Alpha in all his glorious mysteriousness. (Ooc: ^_^;;) Sakiko again forced her eyes to open; it was rude to act like this at the dinner table. It really was...it...really...

...was....

Sakiko stifled a yawn and pushed herself back on the chair so she sat rigidly. She seemed dead most of the time, with her paleness and coldness, but really, she had all the characteristics to prove that she was alive. For one, she happened to have a limited energy source. She had been on her toes to keep in sync with Alpha, although she was sure she hadn't been too successful with that.

She closed her eyes, as they had begun to sting. Sakiko lowered her head and pretended to look at the tablecloth - it would only be a little while. If Alpha would choose to say something, she would be wide awake.

The pale girl waited awhile for Alpha to say anything at all. It might have been because of her semiconscious state that time seemed to have stretched, because silence ensued. Her thoughts began to drift into thin strings, dispersing throughout her mind and disappearing too quickly for her to dwell on them.

And soon enough, Sakiko had drifted off to sleep...with all due apologies to Alpha, of course.

The waitress' arrival had caused Alpha's mind to snap back into its standard defensive posture, and her departure was not enough to make those barriers drop once again. All the same, though, his eyes could only remain fixed on Sakiko's for a few seconds before shying away, ashamed at his inability to speak with her about this. Ashamed at his fear, and at the weakness that such fear called forth.

To anyone who knew the story - a rather small circle of beings - his hesitation would be perfectly sensible. After all, there was no way he could say, "Oh, it's a curse I received from Ganon back when I was his personal assassin," without destroying any sort of reputation and trust that he had spent so much time in Hyrule acquiring. Nevertheless, he probably spent the next ten or twenty seconds trying to come up with a way to communicate that without having to throw in a few lies. The best he could come up with was, "Ganon gave it to me when I was his personal assassin."

It was hard to hold back the truth without lying . . .

When he finally realized that he was not going to reach a point where he could tell her any time soon, he loosed a sigh. "I apologize," he muttered, still glancing to his side. "It's associated with some bad memories . . . easily repressed, but once I start thinking about it, they just love to come flooding . . . back . . ." He slowed to a stop as he turned back towards Sakiko. A smirk slowly formed on his face.

Had she actually fallen asleep?

She must have been quite exhausted to do something so rude; even so, Alpha felt more like laughing than anything else. Politeness and etiquette were much too overrated in his opinion, anyway; if she needed to sleep then far be it from him to feel insulted by such a thing. He glanced around the restaurant all the same - she'd probably like to be awakened before anyone else noticed. But it didn't appear that anyone else had realized her departure into the land of dreams, and the waitress wasn't coming anywhere near their table for the time being. For now, he could allow her a brief respite from the trials of being awake.

Heck, if he didn't want to allow his steak a chance to get cold, he might have even considered joining her.

"...love..."

Sakiko hadn't reached the state of full slumber yet; and so, she had the benefit of feeling like she was swimming inside a thick puddle of reality. Unfortunately, she had lost all conscious thought of what Alpha was saying, and only her subconscious caught a few words or two. However, at the word love, Sakiko was fished out of the ocean of dreaminess and into the dry land of reality.

Eyes opening slowly, Sakiko still held her head bowed so she wouldn't look too obvious jerking up her head and looking like she just had a nap. Instead, she held the silence a moment longer, as if she had been paying attention the whole time.

Now, what had he been speaking of? Love, for sure. Love for what? Whose love? Sakiko clenched her teeth, a little - no, much - annoyed that she had stupidly missed the opportunity. What if he had confessed...? No, no, that wasn't possible. Or could it? Just yesterday, picturing herself with Alpha at such an intimate setting would've been unthinkable. So now, the mission was to get Alpha to repeat what he had said without making it too obvious that she had fallen asleep.

The mage raised her head a little, slowly, gradually...ah, there. Her eyes met his, and she colored a little when she thought of the mission at hand. What should she say? I agree on your point, there, Alpha. Good. That was general. You couldn't go wrong there. I think that you can't be sure about love. Love is a fickle feeling, much like hate; you can love one thing one second and feel indifferent the other. Well.... what if he had been talking about her? That seemed too coquettish. But if he had been talking about food or an object, it could possibly seem normal.

Sakiko sighed inwardly, but her curiosity had already held her in full grasp. If he had made a confession about his feelings towards her, well...she must know.

So.

She smiled awkwardly, one side of her lips stretched slightly downward and the other hesitatingly upward. Without the advantage of a mirror, she had no idea that her attempt at a smile turned into a grimace. But without further ado, she said somewhat groggily,

"I agree on your point there."

Sakiko paused, eying his reaction with attentiveness. Then -

"Do you have a strong opinion of love? I think that you can't be sure of it. Love is a fickle feeling, much like hate; you can love one thing one second and feel indifferent the other. One moment, one action, one word can make you think you love."

And...just in case, to check his feelings...to make sure...

"...Do you think love it possible? For you, I mean."

"I agree on your point there."

The statement alone was enough to take Alpha completely off guard, and coupled with her expression (a sour grimace) and tone (grogginess served with a side of slurring) the Sheikah was completely surprised by it. He hadn't been intending to make a point of any kind; it was just supposed to be a simple reason for why he refused to explain about his scar. What was she -

Wait. What had he just been laughing about again? Oh, right. The fact that she'd fallen asleep. His smirk threatened to return, but he squashed that feeling when faced with the apparent seriousness she was approaching this subject with . . . of course, he still had no idea what exactly 'this subject' was . . .

"Do you have a strong opinion of love? I think that you can't be sure of it. Love is a fickle feeling, much like hate; you can love one thing one second and feel indifferent the other. One moment, one action, one word can make you think you love."

Love? Oh, joy, one of the many subjects that he was horribly unprepared to have a discussion of any kind about.

The last people he'd truly loved had died when he was seven years old . . . since then he might have been 'attracted' to a few girls, but never loved them, especially after Misty's spell was placed upon him. Even with Sakiko here, he only found her personality and approach to life appealing; her looks didn't hurt either, but again, Misty's spell made it so that he had hardly noticed those. Regardless of the reason, as he thought about it for a second, Alpha knew that he was only familiar with her exploits as a fellow Adventurer; he hardly knew her at all. He respected her for the former, but until the same could be said of the latter he couldn't call it 'love' in any sense of the word.

"...Do you think love it possible? For you, I mean."

Ah, there was the heart of his quick bout of soul-searching: was it possible for him to love at all, given Misty's spell and his own introverted tendencies? 'Yes' was the immediate answer that popped into his head, but that sprouted mostly from a refusal to think that he had lost all chance at some bit of happiness that many people enjoyed the world over. Honestly, though . . . there was nothing making him incapable of feeling the emotion . . . except himself.

And then there was the fact that . . . wait a second . . . yes, that was it. That was the answer that he was looking for. It wasn't exactly the one he wanted, and it likely wasn't what Sakiko was looking for. But it was true.

The Sheikah lowered his eyes to the table, mulling over the best way to say it. Eventually, Alpha just said it the way it had originally appeared in his head: "I'm sure it's possible for me to love . . . but if I ever did, I imagine I wouldn't be able to recognize it."

It was taking a long time for him to answer. She hadn’t expected a quick response, of course; it was a tough question, especially for someone like Alpha. Her eyes lingered on his face as he remained silent (hopefully he was thinking about something), and she couldn’t help wonder if her belief that she loved Alpha was only a fangirl mania. Besides, he was handsome, heroic, mysterious, gentlemanly, protective…everything she valued. Maybe she was just tricking herself, after all. But considering that she wasn’t at all emotional, she knew that Alpha was special – why else would he have such an effect on her? It gave her a pang as she admitted once again that she was attracted to the Sheikah. However, as she had repeated to herself almost subconsciously the entire afternoon (and now, night), things have already started. On her part, anyway.

Speaking of starting, Sakiko’s stomach started to churn. It was growling – not with hunger, but with…another…sort of pain. She supposed that the hotdog that she had eaten earlier wasn’t settling so well in her digestive tract. She needed to go.

"I'm sure it's possible for me to love . . . but if I ever did, I imagine I wouldn't be able to recognize it."

The mage sucked in her stomach further, but what Alpha was saying wasn’t having its proper effect due to her whimsical digestive system. Grimacing, Sakiko slowly got up from her chair and semi-limped a little further away from it.

“Excuse me for a second.”

Cold sweat broke down on her forehead, and it felt like slivers of ice on her now hot, red face. It was embarrassing, really. But what could she do? She scurried away quickly, hoping that she’d be out of earshot when she asked someone about the location of the bathroom.

When she had spoken to the waitress, she discovered to her dismay that a bathroom was only available in the inn section of the building. Desperate to the point of madness, Sakiko half-ran to the innkeeper’s desk, her brain screaming mayday. How excruciating it was that such a trivial thing could control every fiber of her being! It was annoying, truly!

“Do I need to check out a room to have access to the bathroom?”

Sakiko would have noticed the details about the innkeeper and would’ve taken note, but the emergency had her brain focused on the most important things. The man nodded, and muttered the price, and Sakiko paid the said price, and she grabbed the key from him, and she jogged down the long corridor until she got to the door, and she pushed the door, and….

….

After washing her hands, the mage pushed open the door. Now that her senses had been righted, she was disgusted with the innkeeper for having established a cheap system such as that. That was probably how the innkeeper reaped money from the poor victims whose digestive systems were being evil things. Anyhow, she made her way (glaringly) toward the innkeeper with an intent to return the keys.

As she stepped away from the long corridor, and nearer to the man with the keys, she could see the restaurant quite clearly. She peaked a glance at Alpha, hoping to see what he was doing. But due to the dim lighting, she could only see his lean outline. Just as she was handing back the keys –

“Why, HULLO! A table fer one, if ya please!”

Sakiko froze in her tracks, her arm suddenly going stiff. Even her face grew a gray shade of white, her expression twisting into a look of horror.

Only one person in Hyrule could have such an annoying, boisterous, loud, self-confident (…did she mention annoying?? ) voice like that. And indeed, the mage saw the bard saunter into the restaurant, already winking at everyone in it. How in Din’s name could she have gotten here?! Did she…stalk…no! That was impossible; she was so certain Zeze had gone shopping with the rest of those empty headed fools. But then again, many hours had passed since she and Sakiko had parted; it was possible she was wandering about, as usual. And by the look of unsuspecting innocence radiating from the bard’s face, Sakiko assumed that she had no idea that she was here, with Alpha of all people!!

She could imagine it now. Zeze would be making a mountain out of a molehill, and was probably going to ask when the wedding was to be. And besides, Sakiko didn’t want Zeze to know of her emotions toward Alpha; the bard would think that Sakiko hadn’t truly been hurt by Aurel.

The keys forgotten, Sakiko snatched a broom leaning against the innkeeper’s desk. Ignoring his exclamation of surprise and irritation, Sakiko inched toward Alpha carefully, keeping the broom’s head close to her face. She stood directly behind him, coughing softly to get his attention.

“Al-*cough*-*cough*-*cough*…hide…your…face…with the menu…don’t…*cough*..turn around, just… step backward, no sudden movements…follow…me…”

Sakiko backed away slowly, her face still covered entirely by the broom’s head. She knew they couldn’t go through the entrance, because then Zeze would see for sure. She just hoped Alpha wouldn’t be too freaked out. But all things considered, he probably would be. And him covering his face with a menu? Not likely. But she kept her hopes up.

Alpha wasn't sure whether his sigh was one of relief or worry, but the moment Sakiko was out of earshot he offered it up anyway. It certainly hadn't been the kind of response he'd expected; there was nothing in her expression or motions to even indicate that she had heard him. But she had gotten up and walked away the moment he'd finished speaking. Now, yes, that didn't necessarily mean anything bad . . . but it couldn't be anything good.

Several few moments after her departure, Alpha turned around, hoping to catch some sign as to her mood. Sakiko had just finished speaking with a waitress and was moving off to the inn part of the building. He arched an eyebrow but decided not to follow; whatever she was up to, her movements spoke of hurry, not anger or sadness. Alpha shook his head and dismissed the thought for now.

The next few minutes passed uneventfully . . . he sat there, patiently sipping from his glass of water every now and then . . . waiting for either Sakiko or the waiter to return . . .

"Why, HULLO! A table fer one, if ya please!"

The sudden cry drew the attention of several people, the Sheikah included -- though not because of its volume. He recognized the voice from somewhere, and while he couldn't put a name with the owner's face, he did indeed recognize said face. 'That was one of the girls with Arrika and Shada . . .' Alpha immediately went on high alert, his gaze darting all over the room, searching for Shada or her aura --

"Whaddya mean, one?! I'm the one with the money!"

Indeed, she was the one with the money -- his money, Alpha thought as Shada burst through the entryway. He hardly even heard Sakiko approach him from behind, and her instructions seemed quite repetitive. The menu was already covering his face completely by the time she finished talking.

But he wasn't going to do things exactly like Sakiko apparently had planned them. Grabbing his cape, he quickly unfastened it and hung it over an arm, even as the magic was flowing over his face once again.

After a few moments, he calmly lowered the menu once more, revealing quite the different image from before. Once again, his illusionary magic was present, now to a much higher degree than before. Gone was his scar, replaced with fresh pale skin. Gone were the crimson eyes that marked him as one of the Shadow Folk, giving off a dark brown reflection now. And gone was the pitch black hair, instead replaced with the color's polar opposite: a snow white. If one was to compare them, they might notice that Alpha had subtly altered his facial structure too, making his head look a bit longer.

'That should do it . . . I hope.'

"Right behind you," he muttered to Sakiko as he stood, trying to interpose his own form in between her and their . . . acquaintances. Maybe he could shield her from the sight of Zeze, Shada, and whoever else might be with them. Nevertheless, he quickly let her lead her away from that troublesome pair, hoping beyond hope that she had some real plan of escape.

Ooc: SHADA! O_O

IC: Sakiko nearly dropped the broom in shock when she saw the tall, graceful, hourglass figure of Shada through the broom. What in all of Hyrule is this madness??!! The consequence of Zeze finding out about this ‘date’ with Alpha paled to a shade of pure whiteness as Sakiko thought of what Shada would do. She thought grimly, Probably gut me alive, then eat me for breakfast. That wasn’t at all far-fetched, knowing Shada. Oh, no, it was probably way underestimating her spiteful jealousy. By now, the mage was getting quite very nervous. She couldn’t see very well with the broom covering her face and all, but she could see that Alpha was sitting calmly with a menu held high over his face. What is he doing?!

She gazed anxiously at the two figures as they were being led by the waiter. Zeze was rubbing her hand sheepishly, and laughing rowdily,

“Well, well! Sorry, m’dear. I quite forgot you were following me. Maybe if you were makin’ some noise, ya know…”

While Sakiko was watching the two, she hardly noticed Alpha get up from his seat. When her eyes travelled back to where he had been sitting, she almost jumped in surprise. One can hardly imagine her tremendous shock when –

“Right behind you.”

Her grip on the broomstick gently loosened, her eyes going wide in astonishment. You would think that she had gotten use to Alpha’s use of magic, but no – his complete transformation was totally unexpected and yet completely logical. But… Sakiko thought that black hair was more becoming on him, and so were his red eyes. It just didn’t seem like Alpha; but then that was the point. Nonetheless, she appreciated his flawless complexion – she lamented the man, monster, or woman who had given him the scar. He would’ve been so incredibly handsome. Not that he wasn’t with it, of course… Anyway, he was still very attractive with snowy white hair. It was astounding how he could pull it off - she had always found her hair color a burden; it just added to her jaded look.

While Sakiko had been mulling over these thoughts in her head, the innkeeper had huffed his way over to the two mages. He grabbed the broom from Sakiko’s hands, his face red with anger.

“Now, whatcha think yer doin’, runnin’ off with my prized possession like that? I’ll have you know this is from my GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT---!”

He trailed off, his voice growing louder and louder with each word. Sakiko didn’t dare to turn around and check if Zeze and Shada had noticed them. Thanks to Alpha’s transformation, hopefully they didn’t recognize the two mages had they taken notice. In any case, she couldn’t risk anything; her life was on the risk. There was only one way to escape: the corridor of the inn.

Sakiko grabbed Alpha’s hand, hoping he would excuse her desperation; he, of all people, who know why she was acting this way. Pushing aside the innkeeper (who was still going on about the broomstick) Sakiko dashed for the corridor, hoping Zeze wouldn’t –

***

“Hey, d’ya notice that odd couple with the innkeeper?”

The bard scratched her head, turning toward Shada with a quizzical look painted on her tattooed face. She wasn’t sure about the man, but the girl…her long, silvery hair…

Sakiko.

Definitely. No other woman would be crazy enough to let her hair grow that natural color and not dye it. Zeze’s face lit up, her lips spreading into a humungous grin.

“HEY!”

***

Sakiko heard it. For sure. She ran faster, her mind racing. Where to go..where to go…??!! The corridor where she entered had a dead end, with various doors on the sides. There was a staircase in the corner, and she was sure that if she and Alpha went back outside, Zeze and Shada would confront them. Suddenly, she recalled the key in her pocket, and she fished it out as quickly as lightning. Surely, the room number…oh yes! On the metallic key, several numbers had been imprinted on it: #455. In her desperation, the propriety of going into a room with Alpha totally bypassed her. She turned toward Alpha and showed him the key.

“We’ll hide until they go away.”

She hoped that he would understand; but this was no time to stand around asking for forgiveness. She dashed for the staircase, the key gripped tightly in her fist.

"Well, well! Sorry, m'dear. I quite forgot you were following me. Maybe if you were makin' some noise, ya know..."

Even as Alpha hurried after Sakiko, he could still hear Shada's response: "I'm a Sheikah, Zeze! Quiet is what we do!" It was swiftly followed by that infuriatingly innocent giggle, and it was all he could do to keep himself from just killing the innkeeper so they could just get past him. His disguise was effective at a distance, but if Shada got too close there'd be nothing to stop her from realizing who he was. She was . . . skilled like that (or, put another way, he was cursed like that).

"HEY!"

'Din's Fire, RUN!' his mind bellowed at him, taking only momentary solace in the fact that it was Zeze, not Shada, who had called out after them -- were it Shada the gig would already be up. And he felt no more like seeing that annoying witch than he ever did. Judging by her sharp burst of speed, though, Sakiko felt the same way towards Zeze. He grimaced at the realization -- they had another thing in common, then, but this commonality was more burden than blessing.

His thoughts drifted momentarily to his scar, specifically considering its power to open a portal into the Void. It would simple enough to escape using that . . . but then, that realm was dangerous, sapping the very life out of those who visited it. He had conditioned himself over the years to spend time in it, but . . . he glanced to Sakiko. For all he knew, it could kill her to enter it.

Very well. He would use it as the last resort.

Then Sakiko was shoving a key into his face, giving him sparse seconds to catch the number on it -- #455. Where on earth she had gotten the key from made no difference -- if it would enable them to escape their pursuers then it was nothing less than a goddess-send in his eyes. No need to use his scar then -- he just ran straight after her as she darted up the stairwell.

* * *

"HEY!"

Shada blinked as she gazed at the pair that were hurrying off into the corridors of rooms, trying to figure out what had caught Zeze's eye. The guy was pretty good looking -- at least, he looked good from behind; she hadn't gotten a chance to see the face -- but if Zeze was trying to hook up with someone then she should really look for someone without a date alrea--

'Saki?'

It took everything Shada had to keep from squealing in delight at the realization. She grabbed Zeze by the arm and smiled mischievously. "Is that Sakiko? She didn't tell me she had a boyfriend! A handsome one too! Oh, I've got to meet this guy!" Or did Zeze even know about the guy? Oh, of course! Sakiko wasn't ready for them to meet Mr. Special -- that must be why she was hurrying away!

Her smile grew even wider, until it matched Zeze's in size.

Too bad for Saki she'd been all out in the open like this! Now she was gonna have to pay for not introducing them! Without even waiting for Zeze to respond to her queries, Shada dashed after the fleeing pair, bubbling up inside with glee.

“WHOA, Shayyda! Hold’en a minute there. That’s not Saki’s boyfriend. He couldn’t be!”

Zeze added the last comment more to herself than the squealing Sheikah, but it was probably unheard anyway. Before long, Shada was ahead, her long legs carrying her quicker than lightning. Zeze threw out her arm, bellowing, “SHADA, WAIDUP!” It wouldn’t be fun if the girl got to the ‘couple’ first.

She didn’t even understand why Shada took deep interest in Sakiko, anyway; it wasn’t as if they were best friends or anything….they weren’t, were they? Out of jealousy, Zeze ran after Shada for all she was worth; if anyone was gonna see anything it was her.

***

“SHADA, WAIDUP!”

Zeze’s loud yell was carried up to the staircase, and Sakiko almost fell backward. So Shada was chasing them too?! Goddesses, she was DOOMED. The mage sped by the doors, skimming the numbers quickly.

445, 447, 449….451….453…455!

Her hands trembling, Sakiko shoved in the key, feeling the pieces of metal scrape against each other. She gave a quick turn, feeling a tide of relief wash over her as the door gave a ‘clack’ and clicked open. Sakiko grabbed Alpha’s wrist, almost hurled the both of them inside (OOC: forgive my godmodding…) and quietly shut the door closed. She stood on tip-toe, peering through the little glass hole at the top of the door. She didn’t see them yet, so she assumed that they were relatively safe…for now.

With a sigh of relief, the mage bolted the door locked, and slid the key into her robe pocket. All the running had gotten her flustered – it had been awhile since she got that much exercise – and she peeled off the heavy, cotton cloth and tossed it on a nearby table.

Now a little more relaxed, Sakiko took in her surroundings. It was a rather large but empty room, with one comfortable armchair and a small writing table near the doorway. Everything seemed to be made of stone, except for the furniture. A large window was at the head of the bed, lacey curtains gracing its wooden frame. She assumed that the door on the left led to the bathroom. Sakiko couldn’t help noticing that the bed was on one end of the room, while the chair and the table were at the other; was there a point in putting those three pieces of furniture so far apart? The mage also noted that the chair and table had been nailed down to the ground, as if the innkeeper had been afraid of them being stolen. But overall, the room was clean and satisfactory.

But then again, any hiding place was more than satisfactory. After checking the peep-hole once again, Sakiko sunk down on the chair, exhausted. She assumed that Alpha was probably even more tired out, considering he had performed yet another complicated and power-leeching spell of transforming his features. She managed an apologetic smile.

“That was unexpected. How long do you think it’ll take before they go away? If I know Zeze, I bet she’ll be knocking every door in the corridor to see where we had gone.”

Suddenly, she noticed that she was being rather impolite; how inconvenient that there was only one seat! She stood up abruptly, her face turning red. She gestured to the chair, and went to sit on the bed. It was too far away for ‘polite’ conversation, but she figured that Alpha probably wasn’t in the mood for rather formal conversation.

The bed was extremely comfortable. It was fluffy and hugged Sakiko as she sat down on it. She couldn’t help but lay down on it with her feet dangling over the edge. Her eyes closed half-way, Sakiko murmured softly,

“You know how you said you can’t recognize love? What if I told you how? Would you want to know?”

The cries from Zeze that followed her only affirmed Shada's suspicions -- Saki was hiding a boyfriend from them! Oooooh, that was awesome! Ever since the party in Ruto, she'd . . . well, to be honest, she couldn't really remember much from the party. She must have taken a drink too many that night; she didn't have much in the way of tolerance when it came to alcohol, so it was entirely understandable.

But whatever had happened, she clearly recalled a promise to herself to see Sakiko set up with some nice guy! Saki was such a sweetheart, inviting her and Alpha (well, mostly Alpha, but she'd been the one to drag him there!) to a party -- she deserved a good man in her life! And Shada had been so determined to make sure she got one, she'd never even considered that Sakiko might find one on her own!

She kept bounding up the stairs, letting her sharp Sheikah hearing determine if they were still climbing the stairs or not. 'Another floor up!' she realized as an almost predatory smile filled her lips. They had a head start, but unless they could get into a room they were just heading to dead ends!

That's why she halted at the top of the stairs when she reached the floor, glanced down the hall . . . and saw no one. 'Wha?! Where did they go?!'

* * *

Alpha was actually quite grateful when Sakiko yanked him into the room after her -- his energy, as she would suspect moments later, was sufficiently drained by this point (OOC: read: you are quite forgiven ). He could have probably dropped the magic once they'd ascended the stairs, but there was always a chance that someone else would have been on this floor. His distinctive scar would have been all Shada needed to figure out it was actually him.

If she hadn't already, of course . . . but if that had been the case, she'd have used her Sheikah training under Master Zaris. Even he would have trouble outrunning her if she did that. So . . . she hadn't seen past his mask. Most likely she, like Zeze, had simply recognized Sakiko and come running after.

Now that they were alone in a room, door closed and bolted shut, he finally let the magic go. His features swiftly returned to normal, and he lowered himself to the ground, panting deep breaths even while Sakiko spoke. "That was unexpected. How long do you think it'll take before they go away? If I know Zeze, I bet she'll be knocking every door in the corridor to see where we had gone."

Another few moments were needed before he had the breath needed to answer Sakiko, but still he stayed quiet a bit longer. It took him several moments more before he found the energy needed to hoist himself off the ground and into the chair's hold, finding it a bit too hard for his liking; still, for the moment it beat the stone floors.

But only for the moment, for he soon propped himself up with the seat and table and unsteadily rose to his feet . . . then wobbled slowly to the bed as well. He managed to make it just before his legs gave out from underneath him, twisting so that he was sitting just on the edge of it -- and my, that too was quite the improvement. The chair was stiff and hard; the bed gave way with a welcoming embrace that invited one to sleep the night away on it.

His quieted response belied his reason for moving from seat to bed: the chair was too close to the door, and if Zeze was as determined as Sakiko hinted then he didn't want to risk his voice being heard in the hall outside. "Can't say for Zeze. For Shada . . . I don't think she realized . . . it was me," he replied, still panting slightly. With every second that passed, though, his mental recovery from the spell continued; another minute or two and his mind should be back to full strength. "If she had, she'd bust down every door . . . in the building. As it is, she might . . . get bored after a bit of fruitless searching. If we stay . . . quiet, they might not realize anyone's in here and then they'll . . . leave." He could only hope that was the case, anyway.

He lowered his head, breathing in for a few moments more. Yes, as time passed, the stress from his spell subsided, and soon enough he was breathing regularly again. The exhaustion was fading, slowly but surely; he'd be back at full soon.

"You know how you said you can't recognize love? What if I told you how? Would you want to know?"

The question caught him off guard rather completely -- he hadn't even known if she had heard the comment, and now it seemed like, instead, she hadn't noticed any of the events in between his speaking those words and their current situation. Nevertheless, they certainly weren't going anywhere for a while . . . he really had nothing better to do than answer. And this time, the answer was a rather simple one:

"Yes."