"Where are we going?"

By the time Sheena dared to ask the question that had been on her lips ever since they started out, it felt like they'd walked at least a mile since they'd doubled back to make sure Officer Aurion saw them Sheena's confusion, they didn't seem to have any problems traversing the busy streets side by side. It was less that people moved aside for them, and more that nobody got in their way to begin with.

"Ossa's," said Zelos promptly, as if he'd been waiting for her to ask. Though he had thankfully let go of her hand by now, his fingers instead rested on the small of her back as he guided her along. "Best restaurant I can think of offhand. Also, because I think a certain somebody should be on her shift right about now, which means I get to see her reaction." He laughed. "She's going to be so mad."

Sheena frowned. "Is this certain somebody like, your ex or something?" Honestly, she wasn't really sure she wanted to know, but it was the only conversation she could think to make on the spur of the moment.

Zelos shook his head. "I wish," he said, though his tone was so light that Sheena wondered if that was even remotely true. "Nah, she didn't even need to date me to hate me. Even though I asked her every chance I got." She would have expected Zelos to look sad or at least disappointed, but he didn't seem put out in the slightest.

"Maybe that's why," said Sheena, shaking her head, just as they arrived in front of an awning that probably read Ossa's (she had never really gotten the hang of reading cursive). As Zelos moved to nudge her inside, she spun away from him as something occurred to her, but she tangled herself in Corrine's leash for real this time, and her eyes widened as she realized she was falling backwards. Not again—!

Corrine had thankfully survived long enough in Sheena's clumsy company that he knew to get out of her way, but even if she wasn't going to squish her dog, colliding with the ground was still never fun. However, even as she squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for impact, someone caught her in a dip. A forearm supported her shoulder blades, a hand rested on her ribcage—and if the pressure on her lower back was anything to go by, she seemed to be draped across her savior's lap.

Brief and scattered applause from bystanders startled her, and Sheena's eyes snapped open. Of course it was Zelos, though it took her a second to recognize him because she'd never seen his face so close before (and, she added to herself, she never wanted to see it that close again). "I didn't know you liked dancing," he teased her, pulling her carefully upright again. "I should take you sometime."

Rather than acknowledge what had just happened, Zelos graciously helped Sheena disentangle herself from Corrine's leash. "I—I was just going to say," she hissed through grit teeth, feeling herself blush, "I should probably leave Corrine outside. He really needs a bath, and someone in there might be allergic, and… uh, dogs aren't usually allowed in restaurants anyway, right?"

But Zelos only smiled. "It's sweet of you to worry like that, honey," he said, waving a dismissive hand, "but it'll be fine. Now, come on, before you get yourself tied up again." And, before Sheena could so much as protest, he pulled her inside by the wrist, and Corrine trotted after them.

The hostess glanced up from arranging menus as they entered; recognition flashed on her face as she noticed Zelos, followed immediately by clear suspicion and dislike in her blue-gray eyes. This was probably that certain somebody, Sheena realized, if she was glowering at him like that. She had relatively short and somewhat unruly silver hair, and her half-rimmed glasses glinted in the light as her cool gaze swiveled over to Sheena.

"Hey, Raine," greeted Zelos. "Table for two, please."

"As usual," sighed Raine, shaking her head, and plucked up a single menu before looking Sheena carefully up and down. "Is this your latest victim? You must be getting desperate if you picked up someone this far outside your usual type. And there are no dogs allowed," she added, eyeing Corrine disapprovingly.

"Can't you make an exception?" asked Zelos, throwing his arm around Sheena's shoulder. She almost flailed as he pulled her off balance again, drawing her too close against his side. "She gets nervous without him."

Sheena shot him a glare, and Raine raised her eyebrows disbelievingly, looking over at her as if in search of an explanation. "I tried to leave him outside," explained Sheena awkwardly, but could not suppress a note of accusation directed at Zelos as she edged away from him.

This did not escape Raine's notice. She shook her head, her eyes flicking up to Zelos. "You've got to find other ways to show off for your girlfriends. Believe it or not, the rest of us aren't particularly thrilled when all you ever do is demonstrate that you can break the rules and get away with it."

"Oh, I only ever bend them, honey," Zelos assured her, brushing a lock of his hair out of his face. Sheena narrowed her eyes, unsure whether it was more reassuring or unnerving that he used 'honey' so indiscriminately.

"We can resume this argument later," said Raine, narrowing her eyes. "In the interest of not starting an altercation, I'll let the term of endearment slide for now. Right this way, sir," she continued, as another customer opened the door behind them. "Miss, please leave your dog outside." She took off through the maze of tables at a brisk pace, and Zelos hustled after her, tossing Sheena an amused yet apologetic glance.

Letting out a long sigh, she headed outside again, looping Corrine's leash around a lamppost and tying it securely in place. It wouldn't be enough to prevent someone from taking him if they really wanted him, but it was enough to keep him from running off, and that would have to do for now. After another moment's thought, Sheena drew his dish out of her satchel (Corrine wagged his tail in anticipation of a meal) and rested it before him, filling it with the last of her water.

"Sorry, Corrine," she whispered, resting her hand on his back, but he didn't seem any less pleased with something to drink. He was such a good dog, thought Sheena, smiling. What had she done to deserve him? "Don't worry, puppy. I'll be back soon." She moved her hand up to massage him reassuringly behind the ears. She never liked leaving him out on his own for longer than about half an hour, since he started acting out if he got lonesome.

Getting to her feet and glancing back once more, Sheena headed reluctantly back inside Ossa's. Raine had returned to the counter by the time she entered, and Sheena approached cautiously. If she was under the impression they were going out or something, she thought, she had to set the record straight. "Um, excuse me," she began, and Raine glanced over at her, not without some surprise. "I just wanted you to know, we're not… together. I only met him less than an hour ago."

Raine raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Well, that's unprecedented. Then again, I suppose it makes sense. You don't seem much like the fake and frivolous kind he usually goes for, anyway, if you were looking at him the way I do." She stuck her pen behind her ear, standing on one hip. "At least he almost never asks the same girl out twice, so you should be safe after tonight."

"What do you mean?" asked Sheena, frowning. Zelos had sounded proud enough about knowing all the girls that she doubted very much whether a majority of them were his exes. Then again, if Raine's persistent rejections hadn't even fazed him, Sheena supposed he just might be even stranger than she thought. It would certainly make sense why he'd wanted so badly to take her out, anyway.

Glancing around furtively, Raine beckoned Sheena forward, and leaned in as if to tell some sort of secret. "The first date is just a formality," she explained in a low voice. "He doesn't go out on dates unless there's some reason for him to put in the effort. Most of the time, he only does it to impress the girls he hasn't taken to bed yet. After that, he either drops them, or they end up in some sort of polyamorous… polygon."

"What?" gasped Sheena. Obviously, she'd realized that Zelos was a flirt, but his behavior was so exaggerated and ridiculous that she never would have guessed him to be some sort of contemporary Casanova, especially since he didn't seem that much older than her. Did so many girls really fall for that act?

Raine sighed, straightening up again, and shook her head as she busied herself once more with the register. "I swear, he's slept with half the girls in the city," she muttered, but as she observed Sheena's alarm, she offered a small smile of reassurance. "Oh, but you should be fine. He usually leaves them alone if he doesn't see any reason to wine and dine them. Like me, for instance."

"Then as long as I don't give him a reason, I should be fine," concluded Sheena, and Raine nodded—though her eyes slid to the door behind her as it opened to admit the next few customers. "Thanks for the advice, Raine. And, uh, sorry about the dog thing!" Not wanting to get in the way of Raine's job, Sheena didn't wait for a response, and departed in search of Zelos.

To her own surprise, it didn't take her too long to find him, sitting alone with a lethal-looking bright green beverage. At a distance, he seemed unusually serious (and looked all the better for it, in Sheena's humble opinion), but grinned as soon as he caught sight of her. "About time," he greeted her, letting out a sigh of relief. "I was starting to think you'd run out on me."

Sheena shook her head hesitantly and sat down, staring at her water. She was a terrible liar, and that unfortunately included omitting the truth. How was she supposed to treat him, now that she'd learned more about his womanizing? Come to think of it, how had she been treating him before? It had been a longer day than she'd had in a long time, and at this point, she was at the end of her rope.

Zelos let out a long breath, leaning back in his seat and watching her with guarded interest. "So, what did Raine tell you about me? Nothing good, I hope."

Disarmed by his nonchalance, Sheena jerked her head up to look at him. "Uh, pretty much. I mean, she did say you don't take girls out on more than one date before…" She trailed off, unsure how to phrase the rest of what she'd heard. Mostly because she didn't fully understand what 'polyamorous' meant. Wasn't that a little like cheating? But if that was a part of his reputation, then why would any girl go near him?

Zelos shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's not like there are any strings attached," he said, drawing her out of his thoughts. "If a girl doesn't want anything beyond dinner, then hey, that's her loss. That doesn't happen too often, though. You should check out the menu," he added, smiling, and gestured to it before Sheena could say anything. "I already know what I want, and so will they."

Jolting to action, Sheena opened the menu and scanned it quickly. Corrine could eat the leftovers if she had steak, so she closed her menu as soon as she established that Ossa's did in fact serve steak. That was all she needed to know. "That was fast," remarked Zelos, raising his eyebrows, and took her decision as a sign that he was allowed to talk to her again. "So, Sheila—"

"Sheena," she corrected him irritably. He'd specifically asked for her name, so it was the least he could do to remember it. Especially since it was all of two syllables.

"Yeah, that's what I said," returned Zelos a little too quickly, fluttering his pale eyelashes innocently. (Everything about him was beginning to annoy her. Why did he get to have such long eyelashes? It wasn't fair.) "Sheena. How old are you?"

"Fifteen," she told him shortly. Sixteen in a few more months, but still. The younger she made herself seem, the less likely he was to make any moves on her, unless he was some kind of sicko. Which, come to think of it, might not be so surprising. She made a mental note to watch his reaction carefully.

Fortunately for them both, Zelos raised his eyebrows in genuine astonishment. "Seriously? That young? I figured you were old enough for me to share my drink with you." He shrugged, giving her a mischievous smile, and took a long sip. "More for me."

Sheena narrowed her eyes. If Zelos could drink, that meant he was at least eighteen, but from the looks of things, he wasn't much older than that. She opened her mouth to tell him she didn't want his stupid drink anyway, but another voice cut her off. Not Raine's, to Sheena's disappointment—but service was service, and it was speedier than it should be in an establishment this busy.

Then again, Sheena would rather have been helped later by a friendlier waitress, because this Melissa seemed almost as though she was angry with her. She may have accepted Zelos's 'the usual' with a smile, but she had no such kind gestures for Sheena. After a series of terse and rapid-fire questions about her preferences, Melissa finally snatched up the menu and sashayed away.

"Hey, honey," Zelos called after her, "if you relay her order wrong, I'm calling off next Unday." His smile turned somewhat sharp, and the waitress almost stumbled as she disappeared around the corner. Zelos chuckled. "That should keep her in line. Melissa's one of the jealous ones," he explained, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "In fact, next Unday is actually the day I kick her out of the circle. It's about time someone takes her down a few notches."

Sheena scowled at him, shocked. Even if Melissa had been a little rude, that was no reason to talk so casually about dumping someone obviously invested in him. As he observed her outraged expression, Zelos's smile vanished altogether, and he looked at Sheena with that peculiar earnest seriousness again. These sudden shifts in mood had been more than a little jarring at first, but she was beginning to get used to them.

"Don't look at me like that," said Zelos, his tone turning slightly defensive. "I've had to put up with Mel trying to tie me down for years. Ever since we met, she's been taking out her frustration on every other girl I see. If she's got a problem with how I live my life, she should talk to me about it, not pick on all my other honeys." Sheena's frown deepened out of confusion. How could he have enough integrity to throw out a bully, yet have little enough of a conscience to have 'other honeys' in the first place? It didn't make any sense.

"But enough about her," said Zelos, waving his hand vaguely. "You're something of a traveler, right? How long have you been on the road?"

"A—a few years," replied Sheena evasively, caught off-guard that Zelos hadn't asked after the reason behind her travels. It had been almost three years exactly, to be precise, but there was no need for him to know that. As of five years ago, her adoptive family had blamed her for Grandpa's coma, to the point that everyone in the village had shunned her too. She'd run away as soon as she was reasonably sure she could survive on her own.

Zelos nodded slowly, humming faintly in understanding. "And are you gonna keep traveling?" he asked, sounding interested enough in her response that it might have made her want to talk to him. That is, if the rest of her interactions with him hadn't been so infuriating thus far.

"Yeah," said Sheena warily. "I think so, anyway." Honestly, she hadn't had a solid plan for years, other than to keep moving and avoid being sent back home. Even though living moment to moment was her modus operandi by now, it did get a little exhausting after a while. She wasn't even sure what she was looking for, only that she hadn't found it yet.

"You don't know for sure?" asked Zelos, tilting his head, and Sheena winced as she realized she'd said too much… again. That, or she just wore her heart on her sleeve; she'd never gotten the hang of hiding it like everyone else. Maybe part of the reason she kept traveling was because she embarrassed herself wherever she went, so if she didn't stay anywhere, she might be able to live down her many mistakes.

"I don't know if I can," said Sheena reluctantly. "Sure, I've run out of money a couple times before, but I can usually find some when I need it. I've never really had a problem pickpocketing till tonight." She stopped herself short. She was fatigued enough that she had to be careful not to volunteer more information about herself than necessary.

"So, you're telling me you're basically stranded," said Zelos, leaning forward again and touching his fingertips together with a faint smile. "In that case, why don't you stay here awhile? Aselia's a nice town."

"I could try stealing from someone else," countered Sheena, narrowing her eyes resentfully. Just because she'd failed with Zelos didn't mean she was incapable of succeeding. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but consider this unforeseen possibility. Staying? Anywhere? Her? That was a new one. Sheena encountered sympathy and suspicion in equal measure, but never open arms; of the people that ever talked to her, most just wished her good luck on her travels… right after they forced her on her way.

Zelos scoffed at her. "You really wanna risk that after the first encounter you had with our police department? I didn't think you were stupid. Klutzy, maybe," he added, looking her up and down with a glint of amusement in his bright blue eyes, "but not stupid."

"Hey!" exclaimed Sheena, glaring at him. "The first time was on purpose!"

"Yeah, yeah," laughed Zelos, dismissively enough that she wasn't sure whether he believed her or not. "The point is, if anyone catches you next time, Aurion probably wouldn't let you off again even if I paid him cash. I know, because I found out the hard way that he doesn't accept bribes. I've never met a less corrupt government employee in my life…"

Zelos's words no longer seemed to be addressed to her, and Sheena cleared her throat to draw his attention back to their conversation. "Even if I do consider staying, I just told you I don't have any money, which means I don't have anywhere to go inside the city, either. Besides, it'll probably take longer than I think to get back on my feet again."

And, Sheena added to herself, she didn't want to stay anywhere long enough to have to enroll in school. She had been homeschooled all her life, or at least for most of the twelve years she'd spent in Mizuho before she'd run away. Sure, she'd been a pretty quick learner and she'd also picked up a lot of street smarts during her years on the run, but the rough equivalent of a middle-school education probably wouldn't get her too far in a world like this, and she didn't want to be tied down to the system.

"Well, you need money regardless of whether you decide to stay or go in the end, right?" asked Zelos. "As long as you don't try anything illegal, the world is your oyster. Oh, and speaking of which, I actually have a contact who's in the market for an assistant right about now." (Sheena frowned; speaking of legality, or speaking of oysters?) "You should talk to him if you want to work. I think he'd hire Corrine at this point, if he'd pay attention."

Sheena narrowed her eyes. She'd learned over the years that there was no such thing as a free lunch—or, in this case, dinner. Or job. "Why are you trying so hard to help me?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking him in the eye. "You don't know me at all, and I know as much about you as I ever want to know. I tried to steal from you, for gods' sake!"

Zelos chuckled. "I can't say no to a pretty face, even if it's a little dusty," he said, giving her what he evidently thought was a winning smile, and tipped his chair back as if that was the end of the discussion.

"But I didn't ask for anything," snapped Sheena, struggling to find the words to point out that if she'd straight-up told Zelos to leave her alone, he'd almost certainly have said no. She gave up before too long and instead took to hoping he would fall over, but to her dismay, his balance and/or luck were apparently much better than hers.

"Call it intuition," said Zelos, tapping his temple with a finger and giving her a knowing smirk. "It's what makes me so popular with the ladies, you know. Well, that and my devilish good looks." He gave a mischievous wink and sat forward again, his smug grin widening, and Sheena looked him up and down skeptically. Yeah, sure, so he'd be superficially handsome if he'd just keep his mouth shut. So what? The only reason he looked like that was because he could afford to.

Sheena may have grown to value money a lot more since she'd run away, but it never really affected whether or not she liked anyone on a personal level. She'd never understood what made well-off women pursue rich men like Zelos when they could already buy everything they needed. Begging probably took less effort than pretending to like someone in the hope of getting favors. But regardless of whether Sheena understood it, that was almost certainly happening on a large scale here, even if Zelos preferred not to acknowledge it. "And your money, right?" she added pointedly.

Zelos's eyes widened slightly at the scorn in her voice, and his smile froze in place for a fraction of a second. He recovered quickly enough that Sheena could almost believe that nothing had happened, but upon paying closer attention to his mannerisms, she knew she hadn't imagined that momentary pause.

"Yeah," he agreed finally, but his aura of affable confidence seemed to have deflated a little; his smile turned slightly lopsided, and he spoke more slowly, as if his tongue was heavier. "And my money." As Zelos sipped at his drink quietly, staring at the light fixture, Sheena had to fight her instinct to feel sorry for him, even after everything he'd said. Maybe they'd had a point back home when they'd called her soft-hearted.

"Was that… supposed to be some kind of secret?" asked Sheena tentatively after an extremely awkward pause, swirling her straw around in her water, and Zelos glanced up at the clink of ice cubes. "I already told you, the reason I tried to steal from you in the first place was because you looked filthy rich."

He frowned slightly and opened his mouth as if to explain something, but Melissa returned with their food before he could say anything. Sheena intended to thank her for the prompt service, but her eyes landed on her steak and did not move, her stomach growling again in anticipation. She didn't even have the energy to be embarrassed this time.

By the time she tore her eyes away from her dinner, Melissa had already disappeared—and, even though she hadn't asked, her water had been mysteriously refilled. "Doesn't it take longer than this to cook a steak?" asked Sheena, frowning down at her dish. It couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen minutes since they'd first come in, and they'd already been seated and served.

"They probably just snagged a steak from someone who ordered it rare like you," said Zelos, shrugging, and Sheena scowled. This was thievery of a different kind. "And they already know me, so they probably started my pizza as soon as I came in." Sheena transferred her gaze to his plate to find him cutting into a square of deep-dish pizza with too many toppings to count.

Using a knife and fork to eat a pizza struck Sheena as a little odd, but she'd already inadvertently offended him once, so she kept quiet and settled for digging into her steak instead. They did not speak again for the rest of the meal—but with any luck, if Raine's words were true, this awkward silence would be their last.