Welcome to Gaia! ::

The slim girl slipped into the tavern and wandered over to the bar, moving naturally and casually to ensure she wouldn't attract much attention. Her black pants swished fluidly around her legs, and midnight blue blouse fitted snugly over her form. As always, a black bandanna cleverly masked her tied hair, and when she moved, the little bells on her left bangle gave tiny, muted tinkles.

Bars were always perfect places for stories. Yes, many of them were uninteresting or a cliche sob story, but there were usually one or two interesting tales to be rooted out. She gave the interior of the tavern a practiced glance, only to blink in astonishment when her gaze landed on a very familiar looking woman.

Well, I'm sure she has a few interesting tales... Xelya hesitated, then inwardly shrugged and slid gracefully onto the barstool next to Soul.

"Watcha want, girl?" the replacement bartander asked her gruffly.

"Lemonade, please," she replied, smiling charmingly.

The bartender lifted an eyebrow. "Who the hell orders lemonade in a bar...isn't even a specialty..." he muttered, but went to prepare the drink. Xelya simply waited without commenting. She was pretty used to that reaction, but it never bothered her. After all, she already told Dante she wasn't much of a drinker.

Soul smiled up from her nectar-water. "Hello...Have we met somewhere?" She flashed a smile at the lemonade order and laughed for no reason. She continued to keep the hood pulled up over her ears. Suddenly, a man in black armor walked in from the night and placed a silver coin in front of her. "The bartender told me you're a singer from Ye Olde Oak. Mind struming your chords for a bit?"

Soul continued to drink her strange water. "Give me some time to talk my accquiantance sir and I will sing till the whole bar is content..." Soul recognized the man upon seeing him, but she decided to play dumb untill then. She noticed another man staring at her. She blushed slightly and then sat back down to drink her water. She smiled at the girl next to her. "Now, where were we?"

The younger bartender returned to Xelya with a flask of slightly yellow liquid sporting 2 straws and a small umbrella. He slid it across the bar to her indignantly and receded to back room.

"We might have..." she replied, slipping out a small coin to cover the cost. Xelya was a bit amused by the two straws, as she certainly didn't plan on sharing, but again let it be. "...or I may have mistaken you for somebody else, in which case I apologize ahead of time." She flashed a grin and a wink at Soul before sipping her own drink.

"So, you're a singer? Do you travel around a lot?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Xelya's tone was innocent and inquisitive, much like a child's, and she waited hopefully for the reply.

Xelya lifted an eyebrow. She hadn't been planning to bring up the flux in such a public area, but at least now pleasantries were done with. She also wasn't particularly thrilled about being asked to check over another person, since she highly preferred picking out her own targets, but Xelya supposed it couldn't hurt. It wasn't as if she was actually going to be taking anything.

Xelya waited for a few moments after Soul had left, sipping her lemonade and watching the show, before sliding off the stool and wandering over to the opposite side of the bar, looking for the bathroom.

Xelya glanced all over the bar, but apparently couldn't find the restroom and soon returned to her lemonade. "Your songs are pretty, and I didn't see one," she informed Soul casually, drinking out of both straws. "Unless you're waiting for somebody, do you want to go take a walk outside?"

Xelya was tempted not to go out of sheer stubbornness; she was getting a little tired of complete strangers pulling her around without explaining a thing. But, as usual, her curiosity won out, and with a huff of a sigh, the teen finished up her drink and headed over to the back. Her poise radiated calm confidence and composure, as in such a public area, attempting to be surreptitious would only make her stand out more. Better to just blend in and move like you knew what you were doing.

Though of course, she really couldn't move through a whole crowd of strangers and come out completely empty handed. Her hidden pockets were just a wee bit fuller by the time she reached the back hallway, and Xelya was quite sure none of the items would be missed until she was long gone - and even then, none of her targets would be able to recall so much as a hint of her presence. After all, she'd been picking out targets since she was seven.

Xelya shrugged. "I have a feeling anybody with a pendant like that is somebody I won't bother nicking from," she replied dryly. She watched with interest as the trapdoor was revealed and slid in after Soul, then languidly allowed herself to be shoved against the wall.

"This place is a secret. If I catch you telling anyone, your soul is mine."

"Yeah yeah, don't worry, I can keep secrets." Despite her flippant tone she peered at Soul's ears with unmistakable curiosity. Xelya didn't ask though, just brushed herself off and followed Soul down the tunnel...all the way until they reached the official meeting spot for the men in black. Oh well, at least she was wearing black pants and her bandanna, and her blouse was pretty dark.

Xelya sat down at the table and skimmed the interior of the room before focusing back on Soul. "First off, don't ever visit Dante again...you don't want to know what happens to girls who get trapped in his realm."

"Sure I do," she quipped cheekily. "Better to know what I'm risking getting into, after all. And you could see it that way, that if I go visit him I'll eventually be trapped there..." she leaned forward on the table and propped her cheek against her palm, "but really, if I started avoiding him altogether, chances are he'll become more irritated with me than if I drop by every now and then as an occasional visitor. And if we're on semi-friendly relations, then I'm not that likely to be held there against my will, don't you think?

"Oh, unless," she added thoughtfully, "he gets it into his head that he wants me to do something for him, and then he might trap me there and do whatever until I agree, but I think that would be less likely to happen than him being annoyed because I'm blatantly avoiding him. And worst comes to worst, if he's making me do anything too bad, you can always just steal my soul." Xelya grinned roguishly at the elf, half-serious and half-playful.