Baron stroked his chin as he looked out to sea on a fine fall night. He was wrestling with some demons, thoughts had begun to enter his head about magic, the visions in his head of that beautiful woman he had grown obsessed with played back in his mind on repeat as he would often space out and not recall who or what he was doing when he came to. He still didn't have a name to pin to her face, her fierce demeanor, stern expression and no nonsense attitude sent shivers down his spine as he looked at her in every dream. He wanted to pin a name to her, thus he gave her one 'the woman in white' for starters.

Sure, he may never see her, she was a figment of his imagination the most he knew, a combination of various women he had met on the road or perhaps the manifestation of his dream woman from days alone on the trail, entering his mind every night to tease him, run from him, leave him, push him, drown him and overall just disappoint his hopes to get to know her time and time again. he wouldn't be finding her any time soon, he had no idea where to start, so what better way to clear his mind than fishing?

He was on the dock a line made of a strong stick he had found in the forest castes out, his bait a rather large grub he pried out of a tree not too far from the beach. Not only did he had a fishing line, but he also had a wooden crabbing cage he had bought from the market lined with dead tuna for some lobster or crab tonight. This was going to be quite a meal.

The lone wolf was in a blank tank top, black sweat pants, and sneakers, something to keep him agile in case of an attack, his axe wasn't too far behind him and at the moment he sat on a bench that looked out to sea as his fishing line rested against the rail of the dock. Something would had to bite.. he was sure of it.

He crossed one leg over another and thought about his day thus far, he would have to clean his fish after he caught them and get them back to the camp site later tonight, probably would be best to hang them in a tree so they can dry out, though the smell would be unbearable, he’d probably have to gut them on the beach and toss their organs in the water for whatever lived in the shallows nowadays.

After fishing came his crabs, he’d likely toss a few back in the water to keep one for himself, though he didn’t expect to catch much of anything considering the weather was cooling down. Crabs were probably going to begin hibernating or whatever they did in the colder days of the year, shit he was gonna go hungry if he didn’t find a new source of food in that case.

With fish to gut, and crabs to store he would then likely need to scavenge some liquor from his bag, Lord knows he didn’t have much left since his little play date with Elena, thus he’d likely have to make a round to town again to grab a little something, though it was likely he had a few hints of tequilla left in his bags.

He stood up from his seat and looked over the edge of the rail at the water below, it was dark but he could see traces of his line moving through the water, looked like something was nibbling at his bait, a few sardines maybe?

Picking up his fishing rod, footsteps caught his ear, it was dark out so his eyes may not have been all that good but he did spot a figure approaching as they wandered closer. ‘Someone out at this time of night?’ he thought to himself, it was highly unlikely they were out for a stroll, in fact they were probably looking for trouble… Well shit he didn’t feel like fighting on a fishing day.

He adjusted his fishing line between the bars of the rail in case something was on it and turned to fully face the stranger. “Who goes there?” he called out to them in the best “deep” voice he could muster.

Honestly, he was a bit nervous, anyone who wandered around this time of night could have been a bad dude, but he kept up straight and took off his tank top. “If you wanna wrestle we can go man!” his fishing pole stiffened and began bend a bit, “That’s right, bring that bass here if you wanna get wrestled on.” he narrowed his eyes and crouched into a stance with his arms out wide. He always wanted to wrestle a mugger into submission.

With a tilt of his head he was surprised that they didn’t want to wrestle him, that was just plain rude. Who would decline a gentlemen’s challenge? What about the gentlemen’s code of not declaring a fair wrestle? Sure, he wasn’t in the best shape and it would be a hot and sweaty a fair, he was a big sweaty man after all but that did not mean that his opponent had the right to decline his offer with such haste! A shiver went up his spine as the wind coursed over the dock with a light breeze, shit it was colder than he thought. With another shiver, he shuddered and put his top back on. Ok, he would have to let them slide for now, but when spring came oh boy they would have been in trouble!

That’s when it hit him, it was a woman’s voice that replied! He had never wrestled a woman before, well no, he had wrestled a few times with childhood friends, but those affairs usually ended with him on his back explaining that he couldn’t get up for quite some time because well… Reasons. Ah! Back to the woman at hand! He began making a route towards them, leaving his fishing pole unattended as it bended against the bars more.

“Looking for your sister ey?” he rubbed his chin, “What’s this sister look like?” he would need details if he were to assist, as he could have seen many women in his time in Hargeon. From tall ones to short ones, mature ones to young ones. There were dozens of woman in Hargeon town that could have matched her sister’s description if she wasn’t careful.

When they finally met in a mutual spot he extended a hand first off before addressing her description, if she took his hand he would kiss hers like a true gentleman and let her go before speaking on her sister, if she pulled her hand back he would look dejected but accept it all the same and answer. “Well I’ve seen many women, none in a black dress but if you like I can help you look soon? I’m just catching dinner right now.”

“Hm, then again I may have seen the woman you’re looking for, but I’m afraid we’ll have to spend some time together so I can jog my memory, you know? That way you can give me anymore details you might have.” he beamed a smile, sharp teeth glowing in the night as devilish eyes looked her up and down. It was her choice… But he could be very persuasive.

A blush on fine olive cheeks was what he had found, what a prize this woman was. THough she had a strange name that must have been foreign. It sort of sounded like ‘nameless’, which just could have been her toying with him, but it made him no difference he’d simply call her Name or Les since saying both would be a bit of a bother to remember.

She wouldn’t have minded a dinner? What was this now? He was hitting home runs left and right when it came to offering people food, he should have stuck to baseball with his luck. Then again, when she spoke about making time for other things Baron’s expression lit up like a firecracker overstuffed with flash powder, it was a fiery and excited smile. Oh who knew what she could have meant by that? It could have meant a lot of things, searching for her sister, sparring, fishing, oh the things, then again he wouldn’t want to scare this raven haired hare off just yet, she already seemed skittish as it was.

Sadly, his hopes were dashed when she mentioned a quest, here he thought he would be in for quite a night of fun and wonder, as it turned out she wanted to do more searching. Then again, while she was on a quest for her sister he could be on a quest for her… “Bass!” he fumbled the last word in his mind, though it may have sounded similar he cried out the wrong word on purpose as his fishing pole seemed ready to snap as the sound of cracking wood caught his attention. He jogged back to his spot and looked back at the woman, “Hey, come ‘ere for a sec!” he beckoned her over with one hand as the other slid his pole from between the bars.

“Give me a hand with this? It’s a big one!” he held out the pole to her, this was no trick he needed the extra muscle mostly because he couldn’t do it all on his own, whatever was on the other line was a monster!”

“Heck, if you help me, I’ll help you on your quest!” he called out to her as he tugged on the line, whatever was in the water pulling him forward, but he would not be deceived as he pulled back. The water was splashing wildly, he couldn’t see much of anything, but from the sounds he had found what he was fishing for! Probably.

It seemed she accepted his offer, and with that he let her get a grasp of his fishing pole as he held on with one hand until she took a hold. To his surprise she took the line instead, a dangerous move of sorts but one that would be beneficial all the same. Then again, she wasn’t dealing with some random fishermen, she was dealing with Baron freaking Corbin and if one thought he wasn’t going to take advantage of this situation they were sadly mistaken.

While she leaned in for the fish he wrapped one hand around her waist, fingers collecting around her form, his body pushed against her side, given the position he shifted behind her a tad hit and his much longer arms clasped over the ones she had entangled in the fishing line. “Too easy.” he huffed, hand stretching just above hers as he snagged the line out of the water.

For a moment the splashing stopped and out of the water hung a massive striped bass, just as he thought. An older fishermen had told him of this spot for night fishing, it was mentioned the bigger fish usually hunted at night but this one was massive! It had to be a good three feet long with a fat white underbelly and cobalt stripe down the side. A successful catch, but so the creature wouldn’t suffer suffocation he took the line from the woman with a gentle touch cutting it with his teeth so the fish would be in his possession and with the blunt end of his upsidedown axe he clocked the fish over the head to put it into shock for a much easier death.

“So you were saying fun in the middle huh? What kinda fun? Like that bit we just had?” he joked laying the fish on the wooden deck.

“I’m up to help you though, just where do you want to start? My tent for dinner? Who knows, maybe i’ll charge you a hug an hour for my services.” he paused for a moment and narrowed his eyes. She almost looked like the woman from his dreams now that he thought about it, though her eyes were that rich shade of blue he often saw and her lips were far more full and luscious. No, this woman was one of her own, hmm. So her sister may have been one in the same, it would be hard to miss out on someone like her.

Baron was shocked when she began, she didn’t have a plan to find her sister? Well shit… He was hoping she was a local. No problem, it was just a bit of walk to the next town anyway and he had things to do all around… He’d make this work, he had to if he wanted to help her after all.

Alright so first thing was to devise a plan, he could do that with relative ease as long as he kept his head on straight, maybe helping her out would be what he needed to do that and then some. His hand took a nice squeeze of her hip as he let her go and folded his arms, his right hand cupping his chin. “Well, in that case if is all on me I’d say we take a little time in the neighboring towns, Marigold and Magnolia are pretty from what I heat, pretty big in their own rights.”

Ok, so he was to be a leader, it may put a damper on his working but he didn’t mind all that much, if he could help her find her sister who knew how she would repay him after all. If she was a good cook she might even cook him a big meal. Speaking of food tonight, they’ll be dining on fish it seemed.

“Oh a map? Sure i have one back at my tent, how about we head back and I fry this big guy up? Treat you to some fire grilled bass.” he shot her a grin before picking up his fish and axe, he also had some alcohol back at camp and given how jittery she was it seemed she could use a good drink.

“Oh and uh my family is from Bosco, or well, i’m from Bosco so no worries in being lost.” Then again he didn’t much need a map so if the night went sour he could just give her his map, he was a gentlemen after all more or less.

“So, anything else I should know?” he slung the fish over his shoulder and axe on his other, “Small details? Big details?”

Baron was definitely intrigued by what little of her story she did tell him, he hadn’t thought of asking her for more information on her the misfortune that befell her and her sister, that would be too easy and rude to boot. If they were going to be partners and she got comfortable with him he’d likely asks her, her full story but for now it would probably have been better for the two to share light details and see how they reacted to one another with more time and bonding if anything. He listened attentively to what she spoke on, her sister and her seeking a new home, where she came from, he hadn’t heard of this “land of sin” but in his defense he was a simply country boy who hadn’t even heard of Fiore until he opened a book on it in grade school.

For a moment he would think about her words, so few words that resonated with him so heavily. He hadn’t known much about others when they first met, yet based on word alone she shared part of her story with him, he’d have to keep that in mind if she ever asked him something. Though his story probably wasn’t as nearly as interesting considering her was just a kid from a farm.

Despite not sharing much Baron figured that Les had quite a lot to her than she led on. Was she a powerful mage? Powerful swordsman? Maybe she held the secret to an ancient treasure or burial ground, there was an expanse of what felt like endless possibilities, yet he would settle on one for now: she was just a girl looking for her sister and that would be more than enough insight on her life for him at the moment.

When she spoke on his mind went back to full attention, they watched her lips as they moved. What full, red things they were, yet despite what looked like a lack of attention he focused on every word before looking down at the ground for a moment. She spoke on a shrine and apparently there were many spread about Fiore, he kept his eyes on the ground as he thought about all of the cities left for him to explore. If they were careful they could make good time to Dahlia and Marigold, then she’d probably be able to catch her sister in one of those towns if he wasn’t working too hard or she wanted to split.

As deep in thought as he was, the word that caught his full attention was the ‘single’ part of what she said, with a wider grin that he had mustered before he put his fishing line in his mouth and took her by her hand. “Then what are we waiting for?!” his words were followed by a hearty laugh as he pulled the young woman along, running down the dock and towards the beach to his camp.

“I’m gonna make you a meal and I’ve got plenty to drink!” he was almost as giddy as a child to show her his place, then again it dawned on him… Sleeping arrangements would be tight.

He was excited to have her with him, he was unsure rather or not she’d be sleeping in the tent or he’d be sleeping outside. Ideally he would sleep under the stars as the rains had passed by already and there was no worry of animals invading his camping site, it was only right he would allow her to take the bed she was a lady and he was a man, they were not married nor were they in any sort of relationship thus he would not be joining her out of respect for her maidenhood. It was strange to understand why he felt this way, normally he was more than willing to sleep with someone of the opposite gender but this woman seemed a bit stressed for his hijinks.

Soon they would stop running when they made their way to the site, it was mostly cleared of debris and he managed to make his firepit moderate in size a circle of stones surrounding a pile of sticks, his tent was still in front of the tree line. There wasn’t much to it but it was small and cozy enough for him. “Welcome to casa de Baron.” he gestured to the camp.

There wasn’t much to it other than he kept all of his things close, his clothes was carelessly thrown across a stump as well, his things out to dry after a wash.

“Uh, well Les, sleeping arrangements… I’ll be sleeping out there I guess, I can probably sleep against the log.” he scratched the back of his head, “Lemme show you the tent.” he leaned forward and unzip the opening, the inside was fairly spacious enough room for his legs to move about freely and all so she would likely find things comfortable.

“I’ll get started on dinner, you can uh get comfortable in there… Just let me..” he crawled in the tent and grabbed a small bag from inside as he held the flap open for her to enter. When she got inside she would find a simple build: the floor was black and matter, on top of it was his green sleeping bag at the entrance with a small plush pillow and his bag was at the back of the tent in a corner. “Take some time and relax.”

As she entered he looked about the place, it was going to be quite a tasks finding a reasonable place to sleep tonight but for the lovely lady he would do so just until they got comfortable enough with each other or he managed to find another tent on the road. No matter, for now he would simply get things done outside.

Just as he picked up the fish, having dropped it on his drying clothes as he situation the tent for the young lady he thought about this situation as it seemed to have played out many times already for him. Him treating a beautiful woman to dinner… Damn he must have been a magnet for hungry woman or something.

Speaking of women, he thought about her quest to find her sibling and while he was willing to assist he did have a quest of his own to tend to: finding the woman from his dreams. Over the past few nights her form began to shift and change, she had taken on qualities from many different woman it seemed, one night she would be a blonde, another she was raven haired and the night after that she could have been tall with blue hair! Whoever she was she alluded him and he wanted to find her, sure she was just a figment of his imagination but he had all of the time in the world to match one of her many forms with a woman from Fiore.

As for the woman he was with now, it was certain he would have to get to know her better one of these days as they traveled. At the moment his mind shifted between her beauty and what she could have been doing in his tent. A strong possibility of undressing, and it would be a shame if he forgot his onions in the tent by mistake… No! He was a gentleman tonight! If need be he would run to town and acquire needed spices.

With his newly caught fish in hand he would remove the hook from its maw and begin preparing it for cooking. He pulled a knife from his pocket, a small blade that would do little harm to a person but was sharp enough to slice open the belly of his large bass. Next came the disturbing part, placing the fish on the log he clasped his hands and thanked it for nourishing him and his companion before picking it up and removing its insides. He’d open its belly further and yanked out guts, entrails and other things resting it now hollow on one of his dirty shirts.

Stepping away for a moment he would pick up whatever organs had falled during procedure and carried them a few minutes away to the shore line to toss them in the shallows for anything that might have found them tasty. He was one to share his bounty with nature after all, heck maybe there was a fish out there trying to impress a lady fish like he was trying to impress the woman in his tent. Was he really trying to impress her? Maybe, she was beautiful, but he still had a mission to find the woman from his dreams thus he would have to try hard not to fall for her charms too much, it would be him helping her simply put.

After washing his hands of blood in the shallows, he went back to the camping site and picked up his fish. Now that it was ready he’d open his bag of spices and pull out only three, pepper, salt, and a shaker containing what was an assortment of dried herbs all mixed together. He would rest the fish over the log and shake his salt over it, one side, then another, doing the same for the pepper, one side and another, and then finishing with his herbs the crushed red pepper the most prominent of his spices as his flaked onto the fish’s body.

Once he figured it well seasoned he would wrap up by breaking his fishing pole in half making it just long enough for the fish and impaling the fish on it through its mouth before leaning it over the fire close enough to begin cooking.

After roughly half an hour the flesh would properly cook and the smell of freshly seasoned and mouthwatering white meat would fill the air he was cooking it well. Though at the moment he was laying on the ground by the fire watching it crackle. "Hey, you alive in there? Dinner's almost ready!" he called, "If you want I can come and poke you a bit to wake you up." he joked with a yawn.

He poked the fire with a blank stare as he waited for her, his mission was in mind but if he was honest he didn’t have a clue where to start looking. On top of looking for Les’ sister he had to find someone who may not have even existed oh how cruel life could be.

The embers would crackle and pop as he prodded them with his stick, seemed this would be quite a journey for the two and if they were going to go searching he’d have to wrap up his business in Hargeon soon.

When the flame finally flickered back up to kiss the meat of the now partially charred fish he would grip the base of the stick and pull up out of the ground taking the fish with it. He looked over it, opening the belly to check the meat, much to his surprise it all burned just right, but who was he to be so rude? His guest could decide rather they liked his cooking or not. Just as he shifted his position to pick up his bag she spoke again, this time throwing him for a loop. Her god wanted her to not find her sister? Well he had heard stranger...

He looked her up and down, seemed she was hiding quite a form underneath all of that clutter earlier. A darn good one at that, his tongue poked the inside of his cheek as he watched her for what felt like a moment too long while she parked herself beside him.

“Well if that’s what you would like to do, how about we get started in here, then go to Dahlia?” he fanned the fish and placed it on the lid of his boiling pot before handing it over to Les. “Here you go, one Baron made charbroiled bass. Aka bring me dat bass.”

“So you’re gonna pick a city and build your own? Sounds good to me.” he shrugged, “Wait… Anything I want?” he asked with narrow eyes and shifty grin.

If she had taken the fish he would excuse himself for a moment crawling into his tent for a moment. After a while he would fiddle around making it shake a bit, as he retrieved something important to him: his pair of silver flasks.

“Well we can’t eat without something to drink!” he called as he crawled back out of the tend handing her a flasks, “Drink up! Nothing says partners like tequila!” and so the games would begin.

As she ate he continued to poke at the fire until it would die down a bit,it was only a temporary arrangement so that his partner wouldn’t get too hot, especially since she had stripped into something a bit more comfortable just now.

It seemed she was indifferent about the drink he brought her, more than okay to him but he wanted to see if he could get her to take off some of the edge she seemed to be treading on.

As she took ate he would watch for a moment too long and look away with an embarrassed expression when she asked him a question. It had been quite some time since he was alone like this with someone, just a few days honestly.

“Uh, well, as you know my name’s Baron.” he chuckled, “I’m from Bosco, grew up on a farm with a big family. I was a troublesome kid, got angry a lot but uh given a twist a fate I ended up here in Fiore.” he explained some of his story to her it seemed enough so far though since she did share a bit with him he would tell her a bit more. “I’ve been on the road alone for a few years now and honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing you naked a little more.”

He mostly caught her metaphor but the opportunity to speak was far too good to give up. He rubbed his shoulder and rested a hand on her thigh. “And I’m single too…” he was so slapped.

This was an interesting fact to know… He didn’t have a clue how to respond to the name fetus for a dog… This woman certainly knew how to carry a conversation, thus he would nod “Yes, that is interesting, very interesting, my sister had a mare I used to nickname “not the face!” because it used to try to kick me in the face.

He tried to lighten things up, her blush very telling so far, she seemed to be one that was easy to flatter, an ideal traveling companion though he didn’t know much about her besides the dog, her former mission, and her new mission. All the same, she was quite interesting and as obvious as it was she was also pretty adorable despite having been clad in armor not long ago.

“Well… Maybe we can test that out and I can lick-” he caught himself just then, a bit of a disturbing thing to say and hopefully she wouldn’t catch on to what he was about to say. It was one thing to bite a heel, but licking a foot was just plain taboo. He placed a hand over his mouth when he bit his tongue to stop himself and slowly calmed down a tad, being with such a beautiful woman was throwing him off it seemed. “I mean uh, now that you mention it, it sounds like we have something in common: we both have had animals ruin our love life!” he pointed out with a laugh.

“Though, that mare I mentioned was my little sister’s, and instead of licking feet she and my siblings made it hard for any woman that I took back home. Because of them I don’t think i’ve had a date since I was… 16?” a sad fact to reality, he hadn’t dated a single woman since then and in truth it was only one of many secrets hidden inside of him at the moment.

He took a sup of his alcohol, admittedly he was a bit buzzed tonight, he had just forgotten where he was supposed to be tonight, but he would make up for it later.

“Mm, ey you got somethin’ on your lips Les… Lemme get that for you.” he leaned over to her and cupped her cheek in his hand after waving her raven locks away, He leaned in for what looked like a kiss, if she allowed and then, in perfect momentum fell down just before their lips could touch, now resting next to the fire.

“Ow… haha.” cacklin’

This was quite a conundrum, his attempt to steal a kiss falling flat as he laid on the ground looking up at the foreign beauty. There was so much to be said, but it appeared that the atmosphere and time had disagreed with the notion as a slow yawn left his lips. It was almost time for bed and he didn’t even touch his pieces of fish just yet. Shame, he wanted to know more about her, but any questions he had would probably have to wait until tomorrow.

For a moment, after yawning he would only stare up into her pear colored eyes. She was intent to listen and watch him, as he was content in only looking at her. These two seemed like a match made in heaven, a bond hand picked by the gods above, but Baron knew better. Sure, they had quite a bit in common as far as family and it was obvious when it came to dating neither had that much luck, but what could make their relationship any better than those of the past? For starters there were no animals to get in their way at least.  

Even from below her she was still beautiful, but he couldn’t infer too much interest. If he was to find the woman of his dreams he needed to stay confident in himself and resist temptation, no matter how gorgeous or loving it seemed. He recalled her turning as red as a beet just before he tried to kiss her. The thought made him wonder if he could get away with it if he did press against her lips.

She sat at his side, he put his hands behind his head and flashed her a cheeky grin, this situation felt so right…

Soon breaking their silence she spoke on sleeping arrangements, he rubbed his chin and snapped his fingers. “Well, I was going to sleep out here under the stars and all, and you could get the tent. Wouldn’t be right to make someone so delightful sleep against a log.”

Looking up at the darkened sky he spoke once again, “Unless… You wanna sleep together? Don’t know if you’re comfortable with me seein’ ya in your pajamas... If you wear any. Cause I sure don't. That and I tend to sleep uh... In the buff.”

He would get up and slither to his tent, "Why don't you go wait for me and depending on what you're wearing we'll see how the night goes." he smiled as he swatted sand at the fire to put it out.