Alone At Last IX

[Kate Miller]

She mocked shock as he batted her lightly on the arm. Before smiling at him. Of course he wasn’t talking about that. She mentally rolled her eyes art him. He was a typical male there was no way he wasn’t talking about that.

His sudden act of sitting up caused Kate to fall back slightly, she landed with an ‘oof’ and he smiled at her. She playfully glared, and pushed her hair out of her eyes.


"What, you don't expect me to teach you sitting down, do you? Not the sort of thing you can learn without doing it!" [/i] What exactly they would be doing, not talking about she had little idea. But she smiled all the same. She went to stand but was stopped before she’d even risen an inch by his lips on her cheek. She knew she was growing ever redder, and it wouldn’t die down. Uh,, wow. she thought, slightly stunned by his affectionate gesture.

He was grinning madly at her now, so she simply smiled back, ”Give me a hand up?”[/b] he asked, but somewhat commanded at the same time. She happily stood brushing herself down slightly. Holding out her hand before retracting it.

”No pulling me over this time, deal?” she said with a smile, before offering her hand out to help him up.

”So where do we start?”

[Allan A Dale]

Allan grinned. "Deal."

This time, he took the proffered hand and, doing his best not to put all his weight on her, used her as leverage to pull himself up. He had to grab at his trousers quickly and pull them back up - they were slightly too big, he was going to need a belt or something, so he grabbed his old one from the pile of discarded clothes and did it up. He turned back to Kate, actually feeling slightly embarrassed. That could have been interesting...

"We start," Allan announced, "with me putting a shirt on because it's freezing in here." And so he did - nice grey long sleeves covering up his chest, slipping on the overshirt and brushing his hand against his neck. He'd have to get a scarf, and another tag, but it seemed rude to ask Kate if she had such a thing lying around. He felt bare without it, unprotected.

Putting one boot back on (the other refused to slip over his swollen ankle), he turned and posed. "How do I look? Dashing? Noble?"

[Kate Miller]

Kate was the first to admit that she wasn’t the strongest of people. But when Allan pulled on her arm she felt her leg give out a little, but stood all the time. She laughed slightly when he grabbed at his breeches to stop hem coming down. Grabbing his belt from the pile as she said, ”I can fix that for you,” she smiled. Later she could do whatever it was his clothing needed.

She giggled as he attempted to put on the second boot, but as he gave up and turned to her asking, ”How do I look? Dashing? Noble?”[/i] she thought about her reply. She considered the evidence that stood before her and then looked at his foot. Holding her hand up at and angle, and closing one eye comically, she nodded.

”Except for that bit, you look very handsome.” she said with a smile, lowering her hand again. ”Anything else you require? And overcoat? Scarf?” she offered politely gesturing some more piles of material in the corner.

[Allan A Dale]

Allan smiled. "Thanks, that'd be great. Don't really think mooning the Sheriff is gonna catch on as a diversionary tactic."

He looked down at his foot. What wasn't handsome about a swollen foot? He couldn't keep a straight face, though, and decided not to bother with it. She was playing, and he was playing. It was... fun. He was shocked that she seemed to pick up on the one thing that was bothering him. Was she a mind reader? He certainly hoped not... His mind had already been down a few roads it probably shouldn't have.

"Uh, if you've got a spare scarf, that'd be fantastic..." he trailed off, astounded. He shook himself. "And then, to work! It's going to take a good while and a fair bit of training to get you into fighting fit thieving shape, Kate!" He looked at the boot still in his hand, shrugged, and dropped it on the pile of old clothes. They weren't going to be going anywhere for a while.

"Got a purse anywhere?" he asked, realising they'd need things to use. He was determined to teach her, so long as she wanted to be taught. Otherwise he'd just talk. And talk. And talk, and talk, and talk... He leant over and rooted through his former belongings, wondering if he'd taken them or left them in his latest stash-store; a hollowed tree just on the outskirts of Clun. He couldn't, unfortunately, find them.

[Kate Miller]

Kate nodded and grabbed a scrap of lengthy material from one of the piles. She went up to him, him not standing much taller than her, and put it around his neck. ”I’ll do your breeches later, if you’re belt will suffice for now.” she pulled on the last bit of the scarf, tucking it in.

”Got a purse anywhere?[/i] he’d asked. She did. Full of the money that Marian had given her earlier that day to pay for the outlaw’s clothing. She nodded her head before turning on her heel silently and heading out into the main room.

The sun was dangerously close to setting now, looking out over the green she hoped that the gang were able to save Will sooner than later so light stayed on their side. Opening the drawer of the desk she grabbed at the pouch containing the money and headed back into the changing area.

”This alright?” she asked, holding it by the draw string and waving it in the air in front of her face.

[Allan A Dale]

Allan felt better with the scarf on. His neck wasn't bare, though the missing weight of his tag was a gaping wound. He held Kate's hand for a moment, in thanks. "The belt'll do, thank you for what you've done already..."

Allan hadn't expected Kate to produce a bag filled with coins, and, as it always did for a moment in time, about how easy it would be to palm a few silver pieces.* However, it was quickly shoved aside. Honour amongst thieves. He was, however, confused as to why she had so much money. Surely a family of seamstresses and millers couldn't make this much? He raised an eyebrow in question, eyes following the pouch.

"That's perfect. Although if you've got that much I dunno if I have anything to teach you."**

He grabbed the pouch and tied it immediately around Kate's waist, careful not to touch too much but definitely copping a feel.

"Alright, first lesson's first - how to pick a target. If," Allan announced, waving a hand at her. "A person is carrying loads of bits, or their pouch appears a bit loose, baggy, never bother trying. They've got nothing. It's easy enough to spot if you have observant eyes, such as you must have."

Gesturing, a come hither motion, he added "Walk towards me."

(OOC - * Ann's idea~ ** Jen's idea~)

[Kate Miller]

Kate laughed at his reply. It was true, they wouldn’t normally have this much. But Lady Marian had been more than compensative of her efforts. ”Lady Marian saw fit to give myself and my family that amount for our troubles,” she said gesturing towards Allan’s new attire.

His fingers at her waist felt oddly discomforting. Of all the stole glances and moments of the last hours she had known him, she still didn’t feel completely safe in his presence. Attraction or not.

As he spoke matter-of-factly about his expertise she listened. Loose, don’t bother, brimming, score. Seemed to be the over gist of it. She threw him a look at the obvious flirtatious comment. Not that she mined of course, but he was teaching her outlaw tricks, and was still finding the time to jest.

”Because you can’t come towards me you mean,” she laughed, taking a few small cautious steps towards him, her hands on her hips, innocently beaming up at him.

[Allan A Dale]

He hadn't meant it in a flirtaious way, but he'd certainly let it stand after his fixing her purse had made her uncomfortable. He had felt her tense up. He rolled his eyes; that was part of the reason, yes.

"Just pretend we're in Nottingham Market, and you're on your way doing... whatever it is you do." He shrugged. What did girls shop for, anyway? Kate didn't need to buy clothes because she made them. Did she just buy that special girl food Djaq was on about, or jewellery or what? He didn't know why they'd want anything but good company and good food.

As Kate walked towards him, Allan deliberately took a step forward and bumped into her, using the minute jolt's momentary distraction to grasp her purse, use a small arrowhead he'd pocketed when he was a kid, and cut the pursestrings. The jolt covered the sudden loss in weight and before anyone was wiser, Allan had pocketed both purse and arrowhead.

"Sorry, sorry, lost my balance there for a minute," he said, smiling, putting his hands up to show they were empty. After a moment he pulled out the purse. "Now, how'd you think I did that? Remember, it was tied to you pretty well. I tied that knot myself, and it's a sturdy knot."


(OOC - I know nothing about stealing but this seemed a logical idea since most people in the show carry their purses via string attached to their trousers. ^_^;; Artistic license?)

[Kate Miller]

Whatever it is you do…” he’d said. Quite what he’d implied by that she had no idea. She barely went out of Knighton if she tried. She hated Nottingham, there was too much going on. Always some sort of public execution to be had.

As he jolted her shoulder backwards she let out a yelp of pain. It wasn’t exactly the most painless of experiences for her. She scowled at him as she turned to face him rubbing her shoulder. Before checking her waist line. Clean cut through the string. Clever. What had he had to cut it with? Surely he would have pocketed that too...

He pulled out the purse from his pocket, but nothing else; ”Now how’d you think I did that?[/i] he had asked her. Openly flaunting the fact she hadn’t noticed. She took two short steps to be level with him. Looking him in the eye the entire time she reached into the same pocket as he had taken out the money pouch.

She felt something sharp and grabbed it. Pulling it out she brought it up to eye line. An arrowhead, clever. She smirked as she ran her fingers over it, flipping it into her hand before putting it in her own pocket.

[Allan A Dale]

Allan was proud that he didn't even stop smirking as Kate, once again, came within a mere inch of him and started digging around his pocket. Was she deliberately trying to make it difficult for him, or was she trying to one up him for his comment? He was allowed to be arrogant here, he was the teacher!

"Smart arse," he replied, watching her pocket the blade. Fair enough, he could always nick one of the spare arrows at camp, sharpen it a little more and he'd be set once again. He'd let her keep that one. It wasn't difficult, anyway - the hard part was getting away before the person realised what had happened. Kate had known he was going to try and take her purse, and many of the lords and ladies around the country were also aware they were key targets for such thefts.

"Now, the important thing is to blend in with the crowd afterwards." He paused. "Though that's a bit difficult to show you at the moment. If you can get into a public house quickly, even better, because no one notices anyone in the taverns. Trust me. You're not too tall, so as ong as you don't go out wearing something gaudy, you ought to be alright. The real trick is to pay close attention to your target. Follow 'em for a bit without being seen, remember exactly where they keep their purse, how they walk - when their arm swings in front of the purse, because if you time that wrong you'll trap their arm over it and then you'd better scarper."

He gestured at Kate, waving his hand up and down. "You walk slowly, but surely, like you know where you're going and exactly what you're doing, but your arms don't swing too much, as if you're used to carrying something while you're walking." He smiled. "That's another sure sign of a noble in 'disguise', by the way. They swing their arms like they're on top of the world, confident and keen and powerful, striding quickly. Us peasants? We usually want the day over, we slouch, we're lumbered with heavy parcels and wood and yards of cloth, heavy bags of grain, if you can't afford a horse and cart." And who could these days?

He continued, looking at Kate with a critical eye. "You'd need to move a bit quicker, but you've got neat little fingers, they'd probably be good for slipping into someone's pocket if they keep their valuables there." He gave her a pointed look here, tapping his side. He stopped for a moment, tied the pouch to his own waist. He'd have to get her some more yarn to make up for cutting up the purse, eventually, because by the time they were done it probably wouldn't be much use anymore.

He wondered, perhaps, that if after he asked her to walk at him, he wouldn't slip the pouch somewhere else. Like up his sleeve, just while she wasn't looking. He hadn't tied it quite so tightly this time, it would be easy enough to undo, and it would be fun to wind her up. He shook his head, laughed slightly. No, he'd tell her a story instead.

"You know, when I was a kid I learnt a lot just by trying to nick this one bloke's money. Old geezer in our town, went by Quinn. Now he was a paranoid old goat; all the kids liked to pick on him, try to take his things and make him chase after them. He wasn't fit to work, see, he'd been a farmer all his life but from what I could tell, he'd had a bad run in with a horse. Anyway, he'd always move his purse somewhere else every time he got it out, or just before he went out. He might leave the house with it tied around his neck and end up at home with it in his boot."

He smiled at the memory. "It took me three years to finally get it off him, 'cause I'd learnt the only sure time you could nab it was when he was in the pub. He'd always keep it on the table, in easy reach for his next round."

He spread his arms out wide, and made sure that the pouch was on show. "So your next lesson is to watch carefully while you're going about your business. Try to take it from me, same as I did you."

He turned round, walked backwards a few steps and managed to shift the purse from his belt and slipped it up his sleeve, covering the movements with his limp. He turned back to face her, and started limping back towards her, looking at the ceiling and wondering if she'd be paying enough attention to notice that it had gone.

(OOC - a) rambly! b) Allan's talkativeness is starting to affect me. c) is it just me or did I go off on several tangents?)

[Kate Miller]

She tilted her head as she smiled, taking a small step backwards away from him. She was gunna need his ‘weapon’ of choice. How else would she be able to rob the guy? She listened eagerly to what he had been saying. Swinging arms, slouching, Taverns. She raised her eyebrows at him when he mentioned her height, but he called it an advantage so she let it slide. But Gaudy? She was a peasant, she could barely afford gaudy. The dress she wore now was about as ‘revealing’ as it got as she’d soon found out.

Used to carrying something whilst she was walking? Why not be carrying something to make it look less obvious. Then she could always hide her little steal under the material she had ‘bought’ from Market. Why was he teaching her this again? Was he planning on making an outlaw out of her? She was a peasant, a villager. She relied on the outlaws. She wasn’t one herself. Not purposefully.

”Noble in disguise,” that made her laugh to herself. Lady Marian. Night-Watchman. A woman after her own heart. If only she had the money and the means to give things to the poor. She would if she could, and if she wasn’t one of them too. Marian had been good at fitting in. So much so, they never realised it was her, not for four years. Then Guy had caught her. Gossip from the grape vines was a wonderful thing. But she’d gotten away. She had to remember to ask about that sometime.

”So quick, cut, pocket it. Don’t get caught.” she mumbled as she fingered the arrowhead in her pocket. This wasn’t going to be easy. He looked fidgety - like he was planning something.

He had started to talk about some of man he had tried to steal from as a lad. A crippled unable to work man. She tut-ed and rolled her eye at him, ”I hope you gave it back to the poor man!” she mentioned, Not bloody likely she thought as he eyed her mischievously. He really was planning something. As he finished his story and started about her ‘next lesson’.

He opened his arms, and she saw the pouch, clear as day on his belt. She nodded as he turned around, limping, and doing something else. Her brow knitted as he turned back to her. He turned back and looked up at the ceiling. What had he done?

She walked towards him, this was so unfair, she’d never done this before, he had, and he knew she was coming. She grabbed the arrowhead in her hand and reached out to where she had seen, and memorised the pouch to be. It wasn’t. She stopped short. And glared up at him. He’d moved it, that was what the charade was about. The little cheat. She kept her eyes on his face, and merely moved her hand across his belt, it wasn’t there at the front. So she allowed her hand to roam a little further around each side. Not there. He couldn’t have put it in his boot. She’d have seen it. His trousers had been lose. Her eyes flickered down and up again, and she raised her eyebrows quickly, lowering them again instantly, He wouldn’t?

[Allan A Dale]

”Of course I gave it back!” Allan exclaimed to her, vaguely offended (but not really; he knew what he was like, too. He had actually given it back, though).

He bumped into Kate again, stopped as she realised the purse was no longer there and managed to stop herself from digging the arrowhead into his side. He was thankful for that.

He had to admit, it was quite nice to have stumped Kate for a moment, though he was slightly worried when she started rooting around his belt, digging through his pockets and having her glare at him was amusing. When she looked down, however, he was concerned. A moment’s though – no, it was safe down there. But… He would have been shocked by the thought… if he’d been someone else.

She didn’t think he’d put the thing in his trousers, did she? He was trying to teach her, and while it was actually a very good place to hide something, he wouldn’t have done such a thing as to that! (Well, not until he knew her better, anyway. Djaq, or one of the guys, maybe – but they would have thrown him in the river or something as revenge). She was a lady! One he liked, as well! He wasn’t that bad.

And if she did reach down at any point in the next couple of moments, he would not be held responsible for what followed. He was a man, for God’s sake, he only had a limited amount of self-control.

Fortunately, he managed to get his hands working again and dropped the pouch from his sleeve, dangling off his fingers, and gave it a little jingle.

”Weren’t you paying attention?” he smirked. He knew it was a little unfair but these were valuable things to learn. The chance that she could be outlawed increased dramatically the moment she’d let the gang into her house, and he didn’t want her thrown out on her arse, no idea of what to do, or worse yet – hanged.

Plus it was distracting him from his thoughts, which had started wandering to Will and what was happening down in the dungeons. Was he going through the same torture that had been inflicted on him? Sweating, on the verge of begging for some water, arms rubbed raw from useless attempts at cutting the rope on the sturdy pillar, unable to fight back as whichever guard Robin had hurt and humiliated, feeling the pain from that splintered rib for days afterwards, having to set it himself…

He shook himself out of his thoughts. No, think about happier things, think about… He looked down. Much better.

[Kate Miller]

Kate gave a coy half smile as he looked at her, colour him stunned. She let out a short laugh, smiling gracefully as he dropped the purse from his sleeve. She laughed at herself now, nothing seemed to be quite right here. She shook her head at herself, and then at him. ”I’m a novice! And you never gave me a chance to try the first lesson first!” she jokingly huffed as she turned her back on him. Crossing her arms ‘angrily’ across her chest, and sticking her nose up a little in the air. She made a ‘humph’ noise and smiled at herself. Her protest wouldn’t last long.

”I was paying attention, but you’re a thief! I’m a seamstress! The most excitement I see is a new type of… SEAM!” she tried to keep her face serious. And failed successfully. She looked over her shoulder, catching his eye and let out a curt laugh, before trying to stop herself, and biting down on her lip. Squeezing her eyes shut and laughing internally before giving up. She really was in a weird mood. She blamed the day. It was all a little strange.

She clamed herself down slightly, and cleared her throat. It was growing ever darker and soon they wouldn’t be able to see their hand in front of their faces let alone ‘train;’ her to be a thief. She still didn’t understand why she was doing this. But in all honesty, thinking about it. She could easily be thrown out of her house for her days activities. Her mother would disown her if she had seen the way she had been acting with ‘the outlaw boy’. She could hear it now.

Her mother was yelling at her in her head. ”What are you playing at? Do you want your family killed?” she also saw her father throwing out her stuff into the square and making her leave. She shook herself out of her thoughts and wandered into the main room of the house. They’d need a torch if nothing else. ”I’ll uh,” she managed before clearing her throat again, ”Be right back, just going to get us some light.”

She practically jogged into the other room, grabbing the wall torch on her way. She found the flints within seconds, it was lighting it that was the problem. She could no longer hear her father working in the mill. Which worried her slightly. If not for her own safety - for Allan’s.

She lit the torch quickly, hitting the flints against each other spark after spark. She looked out of the windows seeing if her father was around. He wasn’t. She saw the guards all stood around still. No commotion had started yet. They really were idiots. Once she had lit the torch she held it up above her head.

Where was her mother, her sisters? They’d all gone AWOL. She couldn’t let herself worry. She had enough t think about without them being gone as well. She forgot about the wounded outlaw stood in the back room and stared out into the darkening green. She sighed and tried not to think about it. It was difficult. She worried about both brothers at the best of times. But the circumstances weren’t’ helping. She truly could lose either of them for good.

[Allan A Dale]

Allan shrugged, still grinning. "Lesson three - expect the unexpected and don't think anyone's going to be fair to you!"

"Besides, not many people to pick from round here," he added, gesturing. "In fact, it's a crowd of two."

Aw, she was pretending to be angry! It made him want to hug her, brush her hair back from her face, ask for forgiveness with a smile and a ki- wait, dammit, he didn't need to think about these things! His mind was rapidly deteriorating from that point, and all his mental stomping of his libido wasn't working quite as well as he'd hoped.

Then she burst into hysterics. Allan inadvertantly took a step back. He thought he'd heard her say something, but to be honest he'd been too busy trying to cease his mental tirade. Had he broken her or something? Driven her crazy? No, Will probably did that...

Kate suddenly became quite sombre and nervous. He must have done something to upset her. He took a step forward to apologise, ask what was wrong, but she ran out of the room, mumbling something about getting some light. He had to admit, it was starting to get dark.

So he was left on his own. Again. In the darkening changing room. He stretched a little, swung his arms back and forwards, whistled a small tune. Anything to stop the sudden silence. He'd been enjoying himself, even if the activity had been a little pointless. It kept both of them occupied, and now they... well, they weren't. Now they were both left to the maddening things known as thoughts, and Allan's continued in a familiar, depressing vein. (OOC – yep, probably used the wrong kind of vein there…)

Will, he whined mentally, shifting around to grab his boot back off the floor before he forgot it was there. He felt it was all his fault – if he hadn’t suggested going to Knighton to get new clothes, they wouldn’t be in this situation. Or, at least, if he’d been able to walk. Then they could have just left. There wouldn’t have needed to be a distraction. There wouldn’t have needed to be a capture.

Hell, if he continued down that road, he could always say that if he’d never been born, none of it would have mattered because he wouldn’t be around to care. But that was a bit too far for Allan. He loved life and was scared to die; Robin had seen it, Guy had seen it; he was fairly sure most of the gang knew it. He had yet to make his mark on the world, and he was damned if he went out like his father and brother.

Brother… Allan’s thoughts turned to Luke. He wasn’t happy that the kid had been taken along with them, down a few men or not. He was just a lad… Allan admitted he’d been stealing his way through life by that age, but was of the firm belief that while he should be able to behave like an adult, he wasn’t and shouldn’t be expected to shoulder such responsibilities. What if the guards remembered him? He could never lead a normal life back in Nottingham then. He’d have to either go back to Scarborough, or stay with the gang, and Allan was sure Will wouldn’t let him do that. Not after what had happened to his dad. Allan wouldn’t let Luke stay, either; he didn’t want Will to lose the rest of his family, especially not the same way he’d lost Tom.

Allan shuddered, pulling his arms around him. These were bad thoughts. He limped back through to the other room to find Kate staring out of the window, lost in her own thoughts.

”Kate?” he asked sheepishly. ”Uh, bit late to ask this, but could I stay the night?”

He was buggered if anyone thought he was going to try to limp back to the camp in the bloody dark.

[Kate Miller]

Sadness loomed over Kate’s face. She should stop thinking so much. It hurt. Mentally, probably physically. It drained her too. Nothing would be quite as strange as this. She’d never experienced a day as up and down as this one.

On one hand she’d made a new friend. Several in fact. Luke had come back. And was… carefully getting closer to Allan. She barely knew him, but felt safe. She felt him in the doorway as he entered the room, and it suddenly felt better. On the other hand, Will had been captured. He was in danger. So was Luke. And the rest of them. She’d had the outlaws in her house twice in one day, and if she was found out she was a dead girl. Along with her family.

She looking down into the corner of the room ,and she could see Allan over her shoulder through the corner of her eye. The light flickering on his face, defining and un-defining his features. She smiled sadly as he approached her. One final sighed escaped her before he asked.

”I’d have to ask my parents,” she mumbled to start with, trying her hardest to block out the thoughts of the worse, ”But, uh, I dunno where they are.” she felt stupid. But she could feel the emotion of it all bubble inside of her. Threatening to erupt at any second. She turned towards him and shrugged sadly. There wasn’t a holy lot she could do.

She couldn’t help but think of her brother, lost somewhere in the Holy Lands. Her family off somewhere where she didn’t know. She couldn’t meet his gaze. Slowly she closed her eyes and tried her hardest not to cry. Shaking her head and opening her eyes, clearing her throat softly. She scrunched her eyes closed and looked up at she opened them. Exhaling a long breath. It shook as she did so. She was failing. She’s kept her emotions at bay all evening, all afternoon.

She was scared. A million reasons why. It was all a little much. She shook her head. Like the more she did it, the less likely the tears were to fall. She was wrong. Her eyelids fluttered a few times and a gentle tricking of salty liquid ran down her cheeks. She sniffed, trying to stop it. But now it had all started, it wasn’t about to stop.

(OOC – I asked!) She felt a pair of strong arms encase her. She placed on hand on the toned chest she’d spent a while perving subject too. The other around his waist a little. She shook slightly as the tears escaped her eyes. She felt safer. But it didn’t make the situation any better. Her family, real and otherwise, were in danger as far as she knew.

”I’m sorry, this is so stupid,” she mumbled quietly through the tears that stains his new clothing. She kept a hold of him, her head on his heart. She couldn’t bring herself to let go. Not that she wanted to.

A feminine shrill came from beside them, via the door of the Mill, ”Katherine Mary Miller! What is going on?”

(OOC - Mummy's home XD - and sisters and Daddy XD Daddy is so gunna kill him XD)