No Place Like Edge

Adell woke up earlier then Ariana did thanks to the announcement they were at where they needed to be. From there they simply had to get dressed and trek it out all the way to Edge. It wasn't a short trip exactly but everyone in the group had been through worse. There had been a wandering giant snake trying to kill them but they managed to make short work of it. Kiera had gotten curious of what it would taste like so she decided to eat it and share it with a village on the way.

Rick had ate it with her. Adell declined. In fact, he didn't want to see another snake again anytime soon.

After that, the rest of the trip went pretty smoothly and with no more trouble they arrived at Edge. It was looking far better these recent years then before.

"Man. Still looks the same." Rick said to no one in particular, looking around what looked to be the slums area. "All this time.."

Kiera was curious what he meant but shrugged and left it alone, she then gave Adell a red orb. "Keep this on ya the whole time, make ya two easier to find, kay?"

"Yeah, got it." Adell said. "..Where are you two going exactly?"

"I'm gonna help Rick find someone and take care of a few things." Kiera went back to the clone's side. "If ya need somethin' just come an calling and I'll try to get to ya folks."

Adell watched them go before turning to Ariana. "Guess its just us again. I don't know about you but I really want to see the rest of this place, never been in another city from another planet before."

Ariana looked around as well, frowning. "Hell...this place is a dump...the people seem to know it, too....reminds me of when I was a kid..." She seemed to sink into a slight depression, her earlier good mood disappearing. It was safe to say that Ariana was a fairly moody woman these days.

Adell frowned, he hated seeing Araina depressed. "..We don't have to walk around a lot then, maybe find some place to lay low until Rick and Kiera are ready. They can find us with that orb thing after all."

Ariana actually seemed irritated by Adell's words. "Fuck that. I'm not some whiny bitch, Adell, you don't need to baby me. Take that bullshit somewhere else!" She was glaring at him at the end, though paused, blinked, and then looked away, suddenly seeming ashamed. "...Sorry. Didn't mean to snap at you like that...I know you're just tryin' to be considerate to me...this place has me on edge for some reason..."

"Oh, Edge has you on edge. like we haven't heard that before..."

"Shut the fuck up, needle-dick! I'll rip your head off and spit down your neck, fucker!" The man who had earlier made the snide remark immediately fled, scared off by the short fuse that was Ariana. It didn't help that her hands had lit on fire as she spoke.

Adell was a bit irritated by Ariana snapping at him..that and oddly turned on which was a strange combination to begin with. Though the guy's comment would have been more funny if he wasn't distracted by Ariana or the fact it looked like she'd set herself or someone else on fire if she didn't settle down.

"Okay." He finally said. "Maybe a change of location is needed, not all the places are suppose to be like this so Kiera and Rick said on the ship anyway." Adell almost slipped on and said 'it had her on edge' but caught himself. What was with that pun anyway?

Ariana grumbled a bit, the fire around her hands disappating before she took Adell's hand, moving in close to him. "Alright, let's go. I hate this place already..." She truly did. She didn't like thinking about any part of her past. She was someone who could not look fondly back at their childhood at all...

Adell understood on the level he had heard Ariana's story but he couldn't possibly imagine what it was like for her personally. With the type of past she had no one would but someone who had went through the same thing and that itself wasn't something he wanted to think about. If there was other girls this Karia had done the same thing too before Ariana, he didn't really want to know.

While he didn't exactly know his way around Edge, he had been in big cities long enough to notice little things here and there that clued him in if he was in the more poor parts of town or the more upscale locations.

Looks a bit more decent part of town..Just not sure where we are.. Adell remembered that strange item Kiera had given him and decided he shouldn't worry. Both her and Rick knew their way around and could find them when they were done.

In the distance there was a very large building that towered over the others. Adell didn't know what it was but he was pretty sure it was important. It had to be for its size. Around them was something of a busy town square; small shops, restaurants and more ways to waste money then you can shake a stick at. Plus people getting irritated by traffic.

In short, a pretty normal city. Adell would think he was in New York almost if he didn't know better.

Judging by Ariana's more relaxed posture, and the fact that she didn't have a deathgrip on Adell's hand anymore, it was safe to say she was more comfortable in this area than the last. She glanced around, then took a deep, calming breath. "...This...this is much better."

Adell was relieved and happy Ariana relaxed once they got into a better part of town. He was always a pretty protective person by nature but Ariana brought out that kind of instinc even more in him. It was likely due to his feelings for her but he couldn't help but think it was more then that.

"So, you wanna grab something to eat? We didn't exactly eat anything before we came here." There was that giant snake Kiera killed but he tried not to think about that too much.

Ariana seemed to think about that, then looked away a bit, as if embarrassed. "Technically....it's more that I want to grab something to drink, but it's kind of a bad time, obviously, so it can wait. As for actual eating, I'm still kind of full after that snake thing Kiera killed." Considering the fact she'd eaten quite a bit of it along with Kiera, it was understandable.

Adell turned an interesting shade of green. "Please don't mention snakes. I don't care if we never run into a single snake for the rest of my life." The reason Adell probably was like that, we'll it could likely be chalked up that the giant snake had almost literally ate him. Kiera had bailed him out and said he should join them in eating it, like it was a normal. He wasn't touching those things.

"Eh, sorry know I'm being a baby about it, just yeah." Adell looked around. "If you're not hungry then I guess nothing is stopping us from looking around. It'll kill time."

Ariana just shrugged, not really caring, looking almost bored. She was with Adell, nobody was bothering them, and they weren't in that slum anymore; therefore, she was fine at the moment. Looking at the two of them as they were right then, one might think they were brother and sister, as opposed to technically being lovers. Ariana stayed close to Adell, but wasn't actually touching him, and wasn't looking at him affectionately or anything. It was just how she was at times.

It didn't click a bit until After the fact of the certain implications of Ariana feeding on him as he remembered how she was when she typically fed. Granted nothing would likely happen and he would just be left being particularly 'happy' but then their deal would come into play for later. So there was also that to look forward to. There wasn't any place he could safely do that though, so it would have to wait.

Ariana wasn't looking at him affectionately or anything but that was fine, he already how she felt. You didn't have to be that open about things out in public and it was just how Ariana was.

A piece of paper that was blowing in the wind bumped against Adell's chest, and at first he was simply going to remove it until he noticed something. On the picture was someone who looked Exactly like him, minus some subtle differences but it wasn't Adell.

"W-what the heck?" Adell said more to himself. "This guy looks just like me! He even has the same tie!"

Ariana of course heard him. After all, he wasn't whispering, she was right next to him, and her hearing was rediculously good. She moved close to Adell to get a good look at the picture, blinking a bit, then just...stared. "...Huh. Wierd."

"No kidding. I don't get why anyone would want to impersonate me or just take my appearance.." Adell trailed off then shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter. Just as long as who ever did it didn't do anything bad while looking like me."

Of course saying that was like saying a magic word. Or more precise, invoking Murphy's Law.

"Still, I guess I better be careful just in case." Adell turned to Ariana. "Is it possible for someone to completely copy your appearance? Weird to ask with all I run into but I never actually heard of it before.."

Ariana simply nodded. "It's not all that difficult to impersonate someone with magic, even easier if you're a shapeshifter. It's generally not done though, at least not for long periods of time....it could also jus be another 'you'. After all, we know there are multiple realms, so there could easily be multiple 'Adell's'." She was silent for a moment after that, soon trying not to let Adell see her blush as her mind inevitably wandered after thinking of there being multiple Adell's.

Adell did catch the blush briefly, but it didn't occur to him what Ariana's mind had gone. He shrugged it aside and let it go, thinking it wasn't important at least for now. "Yeah, I guess. Still kinda werid having another me or two around but stranger things go on all the time."

"Hey, you two."

Adell blinked, hearing the voice and seeing a man in his twenties. He had a large bag and was covered with paint, but didn't seem to mind.

"I'm doing a project, practicing my skills for couples around the plaza." They said. "We'll, not sure if you're a couple or anything still, is it all right if I paint you two?"

"I don't have any problem with it." He glanced at Ariana. "If its okay with Ariana."

Ariana was silent for a long moment, then looked away, a blush creeping up her face. "...Okay." Something about the idea gave her a warm feeling. Being painted in a picture with Adell, as a couple...she wasn't doing too well at supressing a smile.

Seeing Ariana like that made Adell happier as well, the little gesture from the painter had seemed to put her in a better mood and for that he was more then grateful.

"Can you two hold hands and sit on that bench nearby? It would help." The painter suggested.

Adell thought for a moment then held out a hand, wandering if Ariana would take it.

Ariana's blush worsened as she bit her lower lip a bit, eyes casting down and away from them. She was obviously embarrassed, but she slowly slipped her hand into Adell's, waiting for him to lead the way to the bench to sit.

Adell lead Ariana to the bench, almost surprised himself how something as simple as holding her hand made him feel that happy. The painter just did his thing, he didn't give them any further direction far as what to do. So if they wanted to do something else it was up to them, or more like Ariana since Adell would only do whatever she was comfortable with.

Ariana at first just sat there silently, but after a short time, she felt the urge to do more. She glanced at Adell, seemed to think and then just did it. She scooted closer to him, linking their arms and twining their fingers, her other hand resting on her lap as she gently laid her head on Adell's shoulder. There was a faint blush dusting her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, but she was more comfortable than embarrassed, and she closed her eyes, relaxing. Due to the angle, Adell wouldn't see that Ariana, despite all odds, had a small, peaceful smile on her lips, but it was surely obvious to the artist.

The person that was painting them did in fact notice and even if didn't know them, he found the scene incredibly cute. Both of them looked cute together as a couple and he hoped things worked out for them if they weren't already married or anything. After a bit more time of painting, they came up to hand Adell a piece of paper.

"I finished. You two can keep it, I just needed the practice but thanks for being good sports about it. You two look cute together so I tried my best to capture that."

Adell blinked, then looked at the picture more closely, he got to see Ariana resting her head on his shoulder, eyes closed and what appeared to be a peaceful smile on her face. That smile alone started to make Adell happy and he gave a small smile. "Thanks."

"No problem. I'll leave you two be now." The painter carefully grabbed there things saying his good bye before making his exit from the young couple.

Ariana watched the man go, and then looked at the picture. When she saw her own smile, her eyes widened. She hadn't even been aware she'd done that. She couldn't recall the last time she'd been able to give a genuine smile, so seeing it now... She glanced up at Adell with a bit of wonder, eyes a bit wide. If Adell could bring her to smile so peacefully without trying, without her even knowing it...that...that was big.

"..I think that's the first time I've saw you smile like that." Adell smiled. "I'm going to try to try get you to smile more just for that, it was actually pretty cute.." Was it wrong that when Ariana acted like this, somehow it ended up turning him on when she was just being cute? She really did just have that effect on him, he was probably helpless from the day after they met.