Jesters Of The Moonless Sky {Gavin} [precaution M]

[Regina Apple]

Gavin was adorable, especially when hungover. Regina really did love him, even when he was being all adorable. She had to admitt, the grouchy, cruel Gavin was what she loved most, but every girl was a little bit soft right? No, it was more amusing that's what. Gina loved to laugh, and her man had to make her laugh. Whether she was laughing with or at him was another matter. "Oh I don't know Gavin." She replied, after he batted her away. Being the dramatic girl she was, Gina pouted and held her hand limp, playing on the imaginary fact that he'd hurt her. "I'd say you're all of the above." She threw him a flirtatious smirk. This morning was almost as good as the night before.

She couldn't help but feel a little smug as Gavin's gaze drop. She should really care about his wandering eyes, but Gina liked it when they did. It meant he was paying her some attention. "Might have?" She questioned, in a sly tone. All she wanted to hear was that yes he wanted to take her clothes, because he'd quite like to see what was underneath. She'd be more than willing to share. Which again, she shouldn't really be this unadverse to. "Not admitting to nothing is a double negative, so you are admitting to something." Gina drawled, teasing Gavin with delight. "So what are you admitting to?" Her heart started to beat just that little bit faster with the possibilities.

But contemplating the possibilities wasn't enough. The outlaw leaned in closer, in some vain hope that it'd put ideas into Gavin's head. She was all for the ideas, was Gina. "You didn't say it would, Mr Bates. I was merely re-itterating." She mocked shock as Gavin suggested she'd do away with his clothes. "Gavin! How could you think such a thing of me." Then the smirk riddled her face, shock replaced with the flirt once again. "And besides, I'd be having too much fun hanging round with you." She too weighed up how many layers she had on. She too had a fair few layers on, a girl had to wrap up warm when she didn't have her own insulation or a roasty toasty man to lie next to, but she may have had less than Gavin. It was hard to tell.

"Alrighty then." She said for the second time that morning. She shifted her weight, making it so she could move her foot out from under her. Gina decided to start with something small, see how he reacted to it. If he played along, no complaints, she'd increase her game a little bit at a time. If he didn;t play along at all, then there'd be no problem, she'd just put it back on. And (her favourite) if he said it was a waste and thought she needed to remove more, well then she would - though after sh'd got the corresponding item of clothing from him. She wasn't weak.

Reaching for her boot, she made a show of taking it off. Once off, she wiggled it about before lobbing it over her shoulder. "Your turn, Bates."

[Gavin Bates]

Gavin hadn't been expecting the compliment, and as such his mouth dropped open with a shocked look adorning his face. He rolled his eyes at her pretence of hurt, though, and splashed her again. "Yeah, well, you're not too bad yourself are ya?" he muttered, the closest she was going to get to a real compliment from him.

He smirked in reply to her question, and tapped the side of his nose. "That's fer me to know and you to find out, Apple," he replied, and then scowled. "What the bloody hell is a double negative?" he asked, hating it when people did that smart talk. It confused him. But honestly, what was a double negative? It sounded like a nasty dance the nobles came up with, or a torture device*. "I told ya, ain't admitting to nothing," he restated, satisfied with his answer. God, she needed to start talking proper English, didn't she?

He laughed outright at her exclaimation and threw a "you're joking, right?" look in her direction. He knew her better than that, just as she knew him better than that. "Aw, ain't that sweet? Shut up and get stripping, Gina, 'lest you're too scared."

Gavin was startled that she was actually doing it, even if it was just a boot. He kept it well hidden, though, and just watched with in a supposedly bored manner. He raised an eyebrow as she taunted him with it and grinned, almost like a predator watching its prey. "As you wish," he replied, deciding to sod the boots for now and removing his jerkin. It was easier to reach right now anyway. Once removed, he chucked it onto the bank so it wouldn't get more wet and lifted his knees up, resting on them. He was glad he had a few more layers on under that. "Back to you, Apple."

[Regina Apple]

Gina liked the surprise on Gavin's face. It was good to catch him off guard every now and then. And to be caught off guard. Which she was, when he complimented her back - sober! She almost missed it though, due to the splash coming from him. She put a hand to her chest and said, "Why thank you Gavin. That is the sweetest thing you've ever said." She would have added 'to me' on the end, but it really was the sweetest thing he'd said. Ever. To anyone. Gina felt priveledged and dared to hope that he'd meant his unfinished sentence last night.

She pouted. "Why must you keep secrets from me? I thought we were like BFFs." She cackled a little at his scowl and made a mental note to thank Tristan for talking like a toff and then explaining it all to her. It was only because of him that she knew what a double negative was. So he was an annoying pompus idiot most of the time, at least he'd given her more ammo against Gavin. Feeling superior, she went on to explain what a double negative was. "When two negative words, like 'ain't' and 'nothing' are used in the same phrase or clause, it becomes a positive because they cancel each other out. Or something like that." She shook her head after his restating of facts. "You're still admitting."

Superiority was an emotion Gina loved. It was empowering and delightful, especially over Gavin. In all honesty though, she probably would scarper off with Gavin's clothes if he was the only one to strip. But she would at least hang about for a bit first, admire the view so to speak. She knew how to make the most out of all situations. Because then he's have to come after her, still all stripped, which would be endlessly hilarious - even more so if she planned her route right. She considered doing this. "Nothing's sweet about me, Gavin. And you of all people should know I am not a scaredy cat." Gina never felt fear. It was unnatural.

To be honest, Gina had been expecting more of a reaction to her little show. A startled look or a raised eyebrow, just something. He looked bored. Bored! Boots were a little boring, but surely they held the promise of something more, which is all she thought Gavin was after. Something more, in the sense that it wouldn't be a boot she removed next time. She did get an eyebrow for waggling it, but that was his just being all Gavin-y. But the grin was something - at last! "As you wish." Gina's heart almost stopped. He was playing along! Why? To get her back? What was he remembering?

She was surprised to see he didn;t go for the boot, but she masked it well. She loved being able to lie. It was brilliant. She opted for the same bored expression he'd worn, eyes following where the jerkin fell. She let them roll and drop back onto Gavin. He looked better without the top layer, if that was at all possible. "That's not playing by the rules Mr Bates." She said, deadpan, before dramatically sliding off her own jacket. She too moved to sit like Gavin did, on her knees, and threw her jacket to the bank (praying it didn't fall short). At least they were out of theiving hands' way. Well, she supposed he could still go grab them, but it'd be out of the way and he'd have to do a lot to distract her to go get them. But the same principal applied to her. "Away you go, Bates." Gina liked this. It was fun.

[Gavin Bates]

He rolled his eyes and, not realising he'd said a similar thing just the night before (or at least thought it), replied, "Yeah, well, don't get used to it." Unfortunately for Gina, he didn't even remember the unfinished sentence, let alone if he'd meant it or not.

Secrets? He blinked and looked at her stupidly. "Because the entire county would know in a fortnight?" he replied, giving her a look that was just asking her to give him an excuse to spout off all the times she'd done such a thing. He listened to her explanation and shook his head. That Tristan had to stop teaching her things, she was going to end up sounding like a noble! And that just shouldn't happen. Gina, a noble? As if. "Fine. I ain't admitting to anything. Better?" he asked, still not totally understanding what a double negative was but hey, he was an outlaw, he didn't need to.

Gavin too was already considering how to manage to make it out of here without ending up naked himself, but with Gina clothed in little enough that he could have a good laugh. It would be close, but he thought he had a good plan. Unlike Apple, however, he wasn't going to let her go anywhere near the camp naked. He knew he'd get jealous if the others looked at her that way. He conceded her point. "And don't we bloody know it?"

Why was Gavin playing along? Because he could. Because he was in a good mood. And because he was a man, and this was his chance to see a gorgeous woman naked. He couldn't hold back a grin as she told him off and he shrugged. "You're playing with the wrong person then, love," he replied before nodding and taking his boot off. "Better?"

[Regina Apple]

"But why Gavin? It made me feel all gooey inside." Gina shocked herself (without showing it of course). She'd said the truth. About her feelings! In jest, of course. She was putting herself out there! Even if he believed she was just messing about, it was true. She'd always be aware of that fact. It made her feel gooey-er. Sort of. Actually, it made her feel nervous. Regina Apple had never felt nervous in her life! And now she was all but trembling! "Will you stay saying nice things, if I keep saying nice things?" She had to keep going, as to not lose face.

She pulled the perfect picture of shock, a hand raised to her mouth and everything. "Gavin! I am not a blabber!I have never once spilled a secret." She held her nose up to the sky in smugness, arms crossed - looking like a child. Ok, so that wasn't exactly true. She'd said a few things - like Josh's knicker fetish, and a few slanders about Gavin when she'd been really drunk and upset - but nothing major. Like where the camp was, where the man half of Mannering's men was or anything else which was vaguely important to the group. She did hold a loose sense of loyalty. "Much." She said, her smug, stubborn resolve melting as she unfolded her arms and looked at Gavin again. Who was she kidding? She could hardly keep her eyes off of him.

Rather than trying to figure out how to nab Gavin's clothes, Gina was wondering how far this was going to go. Were they going to actually end up in the nuddy-pants or was Gavin going to "come to his senses"? It was all a mystery to her. But if they did somehow make it back to the camp with him in the nuddy-pants, at least, Gina would just find it hilarious. They were lucky there were no other girls at the camp - if there were they may have found themselves eyeless. Removing their eyes would have been Gina's most effective way of making sure they didn't look at Gavin. But that would have happened long before the prospect of naked Gavin came up. Way before. Rather than answer his question, Gina gave him her sweetest smile - which was the creepiest of them all.

Her heart almost flipped out of it's place when he called her 'love'. Was that really how he intended on finishing his sentence? And that grin! Was he trying to kill her? It would be a good way to go. Death by heart overload. "Well, then maybe I won't play fair either," She deliberated what to parry 'love' with, but quickly came up with something, "honeybun." She watched with a smirk as his boot came off. Reluctantly taking her eyes off his face, Gina looked down to what she wore. Inspiration struck when her eyes fell on the knot at her side. Reaching down, she began to untie the knot which kept her belt-like sash. Once it was undone and flicked away she replied to Gavin's question. "A lot. Thank you, honeybun." That would probably land her in some sort of trouble, but she was having way to much fun to care.

[Gavin Bates]

Gavin, naturally, didn't believe her for a second and thought she was just messing about, so he took off his next shoe and chucked it in her general direction to get her to grow up. ”What, you want me to treat you like a girl now?” he asked, disbelieving. He feigned a slightly sick look to hide the fact he was feeling distinctly uncomfortable with this entire situation now. What was she talking about? ”If you keep saying nice things, I'm gunna start wondering if you ain't in need of a bloody doctor. What's wrong with you?”

He rolled his eyes at her as she pretended to be shocked and he raised a finger, pointing it in her direction. ”Yeah, yet. I reckon, bit of alcohol, the right bloke asking the right questions, and you'll bloody let rip,” he grumbled, unsure if he did actually believe that. On the one hand, Regina had never shown any more moral fibre than the rest of them, and it was entirely possible that any of the gang would betray the rest for the right amount of money (Gavin wasn't going to pretend otherwise, but he wasn't going to say it out loud, either). On the other, she did seem to sort of care about the gang. But maybe that was it – she was a woman, and from his experience they let their emotions get the better of them. Then again, she'd never been disposed to that so far... Okay, he was hurting his own head with all this thinking. Other things were much easier, like flirting.

Gavin wasn't really thinking about how far it was going to go – he was fairly sure they'd stop before Gina got naked, as he didn't reckon she'd be prepared to go that far. Not out of fear – as they'd established, she wasn't the sort of person who got scared. No, she was the type who cared about herself, and giving him a free show was probably against her nature. Hence, he'd win. He grinned at that thought – he didn't win against Regina that often, he wasn't as smart as she was. Not that he'd ever admit to that. And great, now she was doing that creepy grin. What was she up to? His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

”You, play fair?” he laughed, water splashing as he leaned backwards. Oh, that was rich. ”That'd be the bloody day.” He was a bit confused by the honeybun comment but decided to not rise to it – she was probably just trying to wind him up, and she was always so good at it... He wasn't going to rise to it this time. She went for the belt this time – did it actually do anything except draw attention to her waist? ”Not a problem, sweetheart,” he replied, fighting the urge to laugh and taking off the top shirt he was wearing, mentally counting how many he had underneath. Three. Sweet. He splashed her with his still boot-clad foot and frowned. What was with her and calling him honeybun? That just wasn't on. He kept silent for a moment, letting her think she was going to get away with it and, as fast as a hungover man can do so, sprang up and pounced on her, pushing her into the water (not far enough to drown her - it wasn't that deep).

"You gunna stop calling me honeybun now, or do I have to get violent?"

[Regina Apple]

Mirroring Gavin's move, Gina removed her last boot and threw it at him. She didn't appriciate needless splashing or having boots thrown at her. She hoped it hit his knee. There was a light smirk playing across her face when she saw Gavin's sickened look - though she couldn't help but feel at a loss. She was a girl after all, a girl who happened to be in love with the guy who didn't want to treat her like a girl. Though, it wasn't as if she loved him for the nice things he said, because he never said nice things. "Sometimes." She said, in the girliest voice she could muster - and it was even with a little girly sway.

An evil idea sprang into Gina's mind. "I'm fine Gavin." She smiled in a coy fashion, using the same moves when she was in a bar. She knew noting was going to come of this, she just wanted her fun. Regina wasn't even being serious. Besides, when she and Gavin got together it would be far better than her hitting on him. She meant 'when' rather than 'if' because she was not going to spend her life without him. Whether he liked it or not - they were getting together. "I've never felt better. And it's all thanks to you."

She was a little miffed at his dismissal of her shock. She wouldn't betray the group! Never. They were the closest thing she had to a family, even if she didn't really like them. "I'm sorry, 'let rip'?" Gina chuckled at the immediate humour, but still fet miffed. "It takes more than a really pretty guy and alcohol to break me, Gavin." It would take extensive amounts of torture and then some more before Gina would spill. Well, she liked to think as much anyway. Whether or not when it came down to it she would be able to survive that long was another thing. But her heart was in the right place.

The grin only grew when Gavin narrowed his eyes. Gina really did get too much of a kick out of tormenting him. "I always play fair." She said with mock mourn. A moment was spared to think of an example, but she couldn't think of a single one. She was a terrible cheat - but what else would anyone expect from her? She was a compulsive liar. Lying and cheating went hand in hand. "Ok, I don't play fair at all. But it's more fun that way." If it meant you left with more coin in your pocket than anyone else, was there really a downside?

Regina wasn't really sure which made her heart beat faster - the sweetheart, or the removal of his shirt. Albiet, there were still a few layers beneath that one shirt - but still! She was about to remove her waistcoat, when it seemed that Gavin registered what she'd called him. For the next thing Gina knew was being knocked back into the water - for the second time that morning. She hoped this kind of behaviour continued, she was going to do nothing to discourage it. "I dunno. I think honneybun suits you." Egging him on would probably get her killed, but she was too busy focussing on how close they were and the fact he'd just pounced on her. She was already in heaven as far as she was concerned.