"I'm going down to the bar, Ruby!" Rock called obnoxiously from the second floor of the Inn. His mother looked up from the computer where she was checking me in for the night, her kind dark eyes full of concern for her only son.

"Rock, honey, it's getting late. Go to your room, please; I'll read you a bedtime story as soon as I help this young lady find a room."

"Mom!" He whined, stretching the word into two syllables. "I'm not- Young lady, you say?"

The blonde stampeded down the stairs with the grace of a drunken cow, a cheesy grin plastered across his face as he approached me.

"So we meet again. The name's Kelley. Rock Kelley. How 'bout you and I go somewhere more private?"

I groaned internally. He was pulling a James Bond. Wasn't there a limit to the number of egotistical jerks that could live in a town at once? "Fine by me. Know anywhere we can find a dark, abandoned alley?"

A look of utter confusion and shock passed over his face. "Erm... no. I don't do alleys. They're so dirty, and cold, and dark!" He shivered. "You wouldn't believe the things that would do to my hair."

I rolled my eyes. Did he not get that I just threatened him? "It's called sarcasm, Brock. Translation: I don't give two shits about your hair."

"It's Rock." He corrected cheerfully.

"Yeah, Crockpot, that's what I said."

"Break it up, you two! Rock needs to go to sleep now. Say goodnight, sweetie."

"But-"

"No buts, young man!"

Rock's shoulders drooped in defeat. "I gotta go, baby. I know it'll be torture to not be in the same room as someone as great as me for a while, but we can go on our date tomorrow, okay?"

"In case I was being too subtle for you, Rockhead, let me rephrase: I find you just about as attractive as a piece of crap that's been left in the sun too long."

"You find crap attractive?" He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Well, who am I to judge? You chose me, after all, so you must have pretty awesome taste."

"Has anyone ever told you that your skull is thicker than Gustafa's nose?" I asked the idiot casually.

"Nope. You're the first," Rock chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before his eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree. "How do you know how thick my skull is, anyway? You don't... you don't have X-Ray vision, do you? That is too cool!" He turned to his mother, who by now had given up on getting her son to go to bed and was now idly playing Solitaire on the computer. "Ha! I told you Superman was real!"

If only there wasn't a witness in the room. I needed a punching bag right about now, and Rock was the perfect candidate. Oh well. If I couldn't beat him up at the moment, I could do the next best thing and get him to leave me the hell alone.

"Hey, Shamrock, I'll meet you in your room in ten minutes."

His eyes widened to the size of his ego, and then he was up the stairs faster than Gustafa could clear a room.

"Thanks," Ruby sighed gratefully. "What was your name again? You look familiar."

"Pony." I admitted reluctantly. By now, the whole valley will have heard what Kai discovered earlier. I was probably the laughing stock of the town. I wasn't looking forward to it.

"Oh, right! Kai told me that you went to visit some distant relatives in Castanet. Takakura was worried sick- you really should've told someone you were leaving!"

I nodded, relieved being an understatement that my brother didn't blab to the first person he encountered as I expected. "I'll try to remember that."

The dark-haired woman smiled, tossing me my keys. "Alright then, you're all set. Up those stairs, second room to the left."

I caught the keys despite my recent lack of hand-eye coordination and headed up the stairs to my temparary room, where I carefully locked the door behind me and plopped down on the bed, burying my head in a pillow. I wished that I could've stayed with Vesta, but it was too late, almost one in the morning, and I didn't want to trouble her. This wouldn't be neccesary if that damn thief wouldn't have kidnapped me in the first place.

Skye. To be completely honest, I missed him. Rock just wasn't a suitable replacement. Not even close. There were no witty comebacks, no innuendos, no nothing. He didn't even understand half of the things I was saying to him in the first place. Though I'm sure it would be just as satisfying beating the shit out of the dimwit, it's no fun if I can't bruise his inflated ego. That's the best part.

Without removing my head from the pillow, I blindly reached over and turned out the lamp on the bedside table. Tomorrow, I'd find my house keys, and then I'd make the person who stole them regret being born.

A/N: I know, I know, this one's really short! I tried to drag it out as long as I could, believe it or not. Reviews would be awesome, if you've got a minute ;)