"Where the Magic Happens"

Cast: Mars (Midas) & Sally (Nerf)

TLDR: Mars, after going into the forest to practice for the talent show, is interrupted by Sally. She asks him personal questions and he angrily responds vaguely before dispersing back into the city.

Support Points Earned: 1

[11:04 AM] != Midas: It was around 2 pm, Mars, hearing of a talent show being thrown, decided to put together a small 1 man show. He first needed a place to rehearse and plan by himself, and because the weather was far from the snowstorms he was used to growing up, he decided to walk outside of town with his tomes, some scrap paper, and his robes to plan his show outdoors.(edited)

[11:24 AM] Nerf: Sally observed Mars walking out of town, her curiosity inmediatly piqued. The young mage had been acting in a very suspicious manner the first time they met, and as a consequence, she had decided to keep a close eye on him until she could figure what it was he was hiding. Because of this, she didn't hesitate for a second once she saw him heading out of town, and started following him right away. Making sure to keep a good distance from the mage, she traced his steps, taking advantage of the terrain to remain hidden until she could see what his destination was.(edited)

[11:40 AM] != Midas: Mars, unaware of his follower, continued towards the edge of town. Upon reaching a small clearing about 5 minutes outside of town, he breathed in and out for quite a while before setting down his stuff. Upon setting said stuff down, Mars removed the upper layer his robes, revealing a sleak black suit, and began writting stuff down on his scrap paper, if Sally could see it, it would be clear he was just notating when exactly to sing the lyrics of his song and what to do when he sang them. This writting would go on for quite a while until either Sally stopped him or he moved on to his next task.

[11:53 AM] Nerf: Sally watched what Mars was doing, somewhat dissapointed. Whatever it was he was doing, it was certainly nothing suspicious. After taking a deep breath, she decided to return the town... ...or should I? Stopping herself right after giving the first step, she turned around, facing Mars once again. He might not have been doing anything suspicious, but...now that the mage was alone, it could be the perfect chance to get the truth out of him. I guess it's worth a try... Abandoning her hiding spot, she showed herself in front of Mars, without even trying to hide the fact she had been following him. "Ah, Marcellus. I was hoping I'd get a chance to talk with you in private. I believe you owe me an apology for running away in the middle of our conversation last time." Her tone remained friendly, but the smirk on her face grew slightly wider.(edited)

[12:11 PM] != Midas: Shit. Mars thought when he saw the girl "Shit." he said aloud, quickly following up on his own thoughts. He shoved his scrap paper in his pocket and quickly grabbed his personal tome. I really should not have said that aloud. But it's ok, I need a way out, smoke screen maybe? No, there could be a forest fire, I'm working for the people back home, hurting innocent people here would be the same as hurting innocents back home. Mars was paralyzed with indecision, whatever he did seemed bad for him in the long term. Nonononoonononono, I need to think, need to move, need to breath, need to do fucking anything. Even his mind was a mess.(edited)

[12:20 PM] Nerf: "Shit?" she raised an eyebrow. "You really have no manners at all, you know?" Quickly closing the distance between the two, she stepped right in front of Mars, without giving him time to think of something. "I will only warn you about it once, but think this through before you decide to do something stupid. You have given me more than enough reasons not to trust you, and if you insist on making that list grow, things are going to get ugly. Now, be a good boy and cooperate, and I'll assure you things will go smoothly for us both."(edited)

[12:30 PM] != Midas: Mars crumbled to the ground, now on his knees, Mars had a choice, endure, or break. After a moment of silence between the 2, Mars shot up to his feet and started to control his breathing. I've been through worse. Mars thought, reaffirming his grasp on his mind. I've been through much worse. I've been captured by thieves and forced to break out with naught more but prisoner grabs. I've been ambushed by a dozen brigands and gotten away without a scar. I've snuck out of my own teacher's home to train my mind since I was 7. This little girl thinks's she's going to break me? Not a chance. Mars started breathing much more regularly and smiled. "Well I'm not entirely certain what you want from me, I'm working to get rid of the possible corruption behind those who would destory the Arbor, no more, no less."(edited)

[12:47 PM] Nerf: "If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear", she countered. "But you are clearly afraid of me. Which means, you are trying to hide something. And I need to know what it is." Letting out a long sigh, she gave Mars some kind of a tired look. "Look, I know this might be hard for you to grasp, but believe it or not, I do want to trust you. However, I cannot do that if you don't cooperate. Trust is a two-way street, and as long as you insist on lying to my face, I'll have no option but to be wary of your intentions. So, I'm going to give you two options: either you come out clear and tell me what is this secret you are so eager to hide, or I'll assume you are an enemy to our mission and act accordingly. Think it carefully, is this secret really so big that you'd be willing to lose the trust of your comrades for it?"

[1:10 PM] != Midas: Mars' smile didn't break. "I may have nothing major to hide, but even the small things are stuff I don't want out there, everyone has small things they'd prefer to keep secret, after all, I'd imagine that's why you wear that eyepatch." "Plus, every little word you said could be repeated by me, I have no clue who you are and yet I haven't thrown a fireball at you, I haven't tried to sabotage your work, I haven't hurt you, I haven't worked against you. Even if I have done all this in secret, how can I be sure you haven't as well? If I'm trusting enough to keep working on this mission despite, well, you, then at least be trusting enough to reciprocate the feeling." With those words, Mars leaned down to grab his other tomes and his robes.

[1:39 PM] Nerf: "Small things?" she looked at him with some disgust written on her face. "Don't try to pull that crap on me. Your reasons to join this mission are not a small thing to keep secret, especially when we are working against an enemy we know almost nothing about. Is it really that hard to understand? Because last time I checked, I was not the one lying to your face and running away when inquired about my true motives." "I do not know if you perhaps get the idea that you are somehow special and I'm targeting you specifically, but if that's the case, let me correct that misconception inmediatly. Making sure everyone in this group can be trusted is simply part of my job here. And you know what? You are the only person that's made me question his allegiances so far. I could not care less if you are here because you want money, power, fame or whatever you may think of, but I do care if you decide to lie to me about it. How can you even have the gall to claim that you trust me if you won't even explain your motives for being here?" After waiting for a couple seconds to calm down, she addressed Mars again, this time with a more pleasant tone. "But fine, I'll bite. Perhaps we started on the wrong foot. You say you want to trust me? Then ask whatever you want to know about me, I promise I'll answer with the truth. However...you will tell me what your true motives are after that. Does that sound fair?"

[1:53 PM] != Midas: Mars continued gathering his belongings through Sally's rant... right up until the end. Mars stood back up, looked at Sally, and, without blinking, told the closest thing to a truth he could. "I'm fighting alongside you all because I want the power to make the world a better place." Mars said plainly "I want to be remembered as a man who made the world better. That's my reason. Are you happy?" Mars started walking past Sally back towards the town at a leisurely pace, as they were quite far away from the town, it wouldn't be hard for Sally to follow.

[1:57 PM] Nerf: The power to make the world a better place? Now we are getting somewhere... As Mars started walking away, she simply matched his pace, standing only a short distance away from him. "What? I also need to get back to town", she said as he looked at her. "So you are here because you want to become stronger? Use this as an opportunity to gain influence with some important governments perhaps?" she asked casually.(edited)

[2:04 PM] != Midas: Mars didn't respond, he had a goddamn secret to keep and he'd already said too much in an effort to get Sally off his back.

[2:29 PM] Nerf: One step forward, two steps backwards... "So this is how you are going to be, uh?" she asked more to herself than to Mars. "You could at least try to feign politeness. Did a woman murder your whole family or what?"

[2:51 PM] != Midas: "I just want to be remembered as a good person... I want to be remembered as the man who made the world better." Mars smiled at Sally "I'm sure I'm not the only person who is worried that, one day, I'll be forgotten by all, a nameless man who did nothing of importance, no matter the intentions, no matter the outcome..." Mars trailed off. "Well, I guess we're here." Mars said as the forest cleared and the town was finally in sight. "I do hope I've given satisfactory answers... especially considering I've asked nothing in return. If you want to talk again, I'd be happy to oblige." Mars started walking towards town but stopped briefly "But if we do talk again, I'd prefer talking about something other than myself. That being said, if you want to not talk about yourself, I'll not pry." Mars said with a smile, before continuing his walk towards his inn.

[3:14 PM] Nerf: "I wouldn't call them satisfactory answers but...I guess they'll do for now. Don't give me any reasons to regret placing my trust on you, Marcellus." Stopping her march as the young mage dissappeared from her view, she started moving towards the center of the town, with a feeling of unease looming above her. She didn't think he had lied to her this time and yet, there was something about Mars's erratic behaviour that didn't sit well with her. It's as if...he's a whole different person from last time I talked with him. What kind of secret is he hiding? Deciding she'd accomplish nothing by worrying, she accelerated her pace. Whatever Mars's secret was, it was clear she wasn't going to find it simply by asking. Perhaps, it was time to start moving her contacts...

[3:18 PM] Nerf: ==END RP==