She slams down another vodka when someone – a boy – sits down next to her.

"Aren't you a little young to be sitting at a bar?" she asks him, just drunk enough to allow herself to speak.

"I'm 19. That's plenty old enough, ain't it? And you can't be older than 20 yourself," he quips. He can't tell if the lilt in her voice is because she's foreign or because she's utterly hammered. He orders himself a gin and tonic. No, not on the rocks.

"It's rude to comment on a woman's age, you know."

He chuckles. "I guess it must be. I'm Gray, by the way."

"Sorry, I'm not here for the sex. I want to get drunk outside of my guild for once."

He bursts out laughing now. She notices how his hair is almost like feathers.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"Nej, I am Northern. My English isn't what it once was; forgive me." She apologizes for her accent as she has done a million times before.

"Nah, I like it. And I've heard it's beautiful up there this time of year."

"It's winter this time of year. Very cold." She could feel herself warming up to this stranger. Gray. Isn't that a color anyway? And his hair is black. Odd boy. She knocks back another shot.

"Well I like the cold. I'm an ice mage," he says proudly.

"Yeah? I am too. Can't fucking stand the heat. I wouldn't have come down here if I had a choice."

"Oh? Am I sensing a tragic backstory?" he asks, getting a little tipsy. She barks out a laugh.

"Maybe, and maybe you are not. Either way it is…" – she leans in close to him – "classified."

He grins. "You said you were in a guild."

"Ja. I hate it though. Only a few decent people there. Everyone else looks like a um…like a bad guy." What was that word? She couldn't remember it.

"Why don't you join my guild? The people there are good people. And we have a lot of really strong guys. It can get fucking wild, dude." Okay. Maybe he was getting wasted, too.

"Well, maybe I will make a deal with you," she drawls.

"Last call," the bartender shoots, glaring at the two.

"Shit" he hissed. "I was having fun talking to you." He snaps his fingers. "Let's go back to my place."

She suddenly realized two things. One, that she was really fucking wasted. Two, that she had nothing to lose by going with him. If he did something, like try to kill her, she could just kill him first. What did she feasibly have to lose?

"Sure," she says. "Let's do it"

xoxo

His house is…nice. Characteristic of a 19 year old boy with no cohabitants. A little messy, sure, but he didn't have anything awful looking. Although, she still has no idea if he's a murderer.

"So…so I was saying earlier," she begins, struggling a little bit to get the words out.

"Yeah?"

"I will make a deal with you. If you find me and my guild, and take them down, I will join your guild."

"Are you suggesting guild warfare?"

"I am saying that my guild does not have good people and you will have to deal with them sooner or later. If your guild is as good as you say."

"So… I have to come find you" he inquires. "What guild is it?"

"Won't say," she declares, smiling with a gleam in her eyes. "But you can see my guild mark."

"Yeah?" he asks, almost hungrily. "Where is it?"

She wraps her arms around his neck and quirks an eyebrow. "Why don't you find it?"

xoxo

He wakes up with a pounding headache and pressure on his chest. He looks down to see a mass of red hair. It all comes flooding back to him, but he really doesn't want to do damage control, so he waits for her to wake up. He falls back asleep.

When he wakes again, she is gone. Well, not gone per se, but not in bed. She is putting her clothes on and he sees the vague outline of a tattoo that covers her back. She turns, and he sees a sunflower on her shoulder. Her body is outlined by the soft tank top she wore. God her body had felt amazing under him. He'd never wanted a woman to stay the damn night before….

"See something you like?" She smirks at him, noticing him staring.

He grins devilishly. She took that as her answer. With great effort, he extracted himself from his bed, clothed himself, and showed her to the living room.

"I have to go. My sister will be annoyed. I told her I'd take a job with her today. But it was really…fun, Gray." She moved toward the door to leave.

"Wait."

She turns around. "Something wrong?"

"I never caught your name."

She laughs at this.

"I never threw it."

Hey guys

She's got a Swedish accent for reference

Just in case anyone was wondering

xoxo