All Rights Reversed [Open]

[Gavin Bates]

(OOC: Set some time after the fair, but before the possible Sebby!mugging =3)

The streets of Nottingham were unusually busy today. People were laughing, joking, walking about with their purchases and didn't seem to have a care in the world, carrying on as if everything were just fine.

It must be pay day, Gavin mused sullenly as he tugged his hood up a little further on his head. He didn't usually like venturing in to Nottingham, not least due to the higher concentration of guards in the town compared with the villages he ransacked on a fairly regular basis. Normally, the thought of money jingling in all the purses surrounding him would make the outlaw pleased, and he'd spend the day collecting as many as possible, but he just wasn't in the mood.

He'd lost his dagger.

He growled a little, startling some wench near him, and he sneered at her as she ran off. It was all the fault of that noble bird, the one with the bushy hair and the necklace. If she'd just been sensible enough to realise what she was messing with, neither of them would have been put in that situation. He wouldn't be weaponless and he'd still have his loot, and she'd still have a nice whole leg to flaunt to her suitors. He wondered how much damage it had done, and found himself hoping it got infected. Stupid woman, she should have concentrated on looking pretty instead of trying something with him.

It wasn't like he pretended to be one of Hood's lot or anything. He prided himself on having a very mean demeanour and being able to tell people I will hurt you if you mess with me without having to say anything at all. Of course, at the moment, he couldn't exactly hurt anyone unless it was fisticuffs, and while Gavin could brawl, he wasn't exactly great at it. It wasn't like he could walk in with Tristan's sword or his old bow, either - he wanted to wander the streets, not be attacked.

He was here to buy a new blade, until he could retrieve his old one. He was fairly sure someone had grabbed it after his scuffle with The Wench (as he was mentally calling her now) and by God, was he going to get it back. He liked his dagger. It had kept him safe many a time.

"Now, where's the bloody smithy in this place?" he muttered to himself. He avoided Nottingham Town when he could, so he didn't know it as well as the villages, and was aware that there was probably more than one smithy about.

Oh well, he'd find someone eventually.

[Alice Brandon]

Alice rarely got out of the castle, but when she did she tended to visit either her home village or the market place. Living in a place where she was expected to meet new people practically every day meant she had to be a little better dressed than if she was at home. Alice wasn't the type to care about fashion. She did like looking nice, but being comfortable was also a must, so as she walked through the stalls, surprised to find some of the strange dresses from London. She finally came across a rather pretty necklace and quickly purchased it and put it safely away. Though it was Nottingham market place, there were still thieves hanging about, and she could trust everyone to be morally good.

The day was nice and there were a lot of people out and about. She stood out a little bid in a deep red dress and her dark hair dangling straight down her back. Alice wore no jewelry and her purse was hidden so as to be careful. As she walked through the stalls, some of the peasants recognized her and greeted her simply because they came from Underwood or worked at the castle. She smiled back, her dark eyes wide and friendly. Most of the people didn't come too close to her, letting her pass untouched, but one or two men did come a little too close for comfort, still there was always a guard there. It seemed like the guards, if they were nice, found it nice to protect her. It was either the fact that she appeared to be like a younger sister more than a woman in their eyes, or the fact that she was so sweet to them in return. Living in the castle, Alice had to find the people she could trust and the people she couldn't.

As these thoughts rambled through her head, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and nearly ran into a young man who was asking where the smithy was. She looked up at him and her heart nearly stopped, thinking it was Simon and he was for sure going to hurt her, but instead it was someone else. He still looked rather familiar. The same look in his eye like Simon, the same roughness. Was he apart of the Greensleeve's gang? And if he was, was he as kind as Tristan, or as angry and mean as Simon?

"The smithy's that way," she said with a smile, pointing to her left.

[Gavin Bates]

(OOC: Ahaha X3 Wonder if she'll recognise him? =3 Also - I was going somewhere, then I lost what I was going to say. *blink* Sorry...)

Well, he hadn't exactly meant to say it loud enough for anyone to hear him, although it had given results. He was a bit annoyed that he had, effectively, asked for directions (argh, his masculinity! The slight to his masculinity!) but hey, there was a pretty woman in front of him, fairly well off too by the looks of her - and she was all alone.

Well, except for the guards, but Gavin was fairly confident he could evade or maim any that decided to bother him.

The poor little girl didn't know what she'd gotten herself in to.

He smiled, although he wasn't so good at the entire friendly and polite thing, so it came out more like a sneer. He nodded his head in thanks, lifting a hand to his forehead as if to tip an imaginary hat.

Mentally, he frowned. This woman looked rather familiar to him, and he just knew it would bug him until he figured out where he'd seen her before. Either way, it looked like he could probably find something of value on her.

He liked valuables.

"Thank ye kindly, m'lady," he replied, subtly eyeing her up. No, he'd not slept with her, he'd remember this one - fair pretty, although probably more Tristan's type...

Tristan...

Wait a minute.

Gavin's face broke out into a smirk, one eyebrow lifting as he recalled the young woman's face, only a whole lot younger and laughing.

"Well, if it isn't little Alice Brandon. I ain't seen you about for a while, been hiding? Scared of being kidnapped by outlaws?" he mocked, wondering how on earth she'd met Tristan in the first place. He didn't speak venomously - he preferred mocking, mocking was always more fun. He wondered if she even knew who he was. If she did, she'd have been sensible to bring the guards down on him, or at least run away.

He wondered if Tristan would like her living with them in the forest. Funny bugger.

[Alice Brandon]

"You're welcome," she said, eyeing the man back. He really did look familiar and it nearly came to her until he spoke again. That was it, he was a member of the Greensleeves! Gates was it? Or Bates, she couldn't remember his name completely. She smiled at his mocking tone, not showing if it got to her or not. "Not hiding at all," Alice exclaimed, her tone truthful and confident. She doubted Tristan would let her get kidnapped, and if she was, he would probably save her, wouldn't he? There shouldn't have been doubt in her mind, but was his loyalty to the gang stronger than his feelings for her? She hadn't been able to talk to him much. And as for this thief, she hadn't ever said more than three words to him before and now she didn't know what to say or do. What she did know was to watch out for her possestions and make sure he didn't steal anything. Thieves could be slippery.

"And what brings you to Nottingham market? Looking to get caught?" she asked in her own mocking tone. She knew that the guards were nearby and any nod of her head or cry for help and they would be all over this man. But her own feelings for his friend was saving him now, and the fact that she hated the Sheriff. Perhaps her dislike for the Sheriff would make her like thieves that much more, but she didn't like the thieves who stole from the rich and the poor, not discriminating.

[sorry for the shortness!]

[Gavin Bates]

(No worries)

Bah, bloody Alice. Always too chirpy for his tastes (and Gavin didn't like chirpy, full stop). Even Gavin didn't know how Tristan would feel if he grabbed the woman in front of him and dragged her back to camp to join the others - more than likely he'd just return her home or something, but he didn't know Romeo that well, so it was no guarantee. Apple would probably have something to say about his turning up with another woman, though, so perhaps it wasn't his best idea. (And he wasn't owned by Regina, and didn't care what she thought. Honest.)

Gavin had long before checked out the young lady for any valuables worth stealing, but considering the fact he lost his blade to the last noblewoman he'd tried to steal from (as well as his loot), he decided he couldn't be bothered. Besides, they were in the middle of Nottingham Town - the wrong patrol went by, he'd have to scarper pretty sharpish.

"That, little girl, is my business," he retorted, rolling his eyes. "Don't you know it's rude to stick yer nose where it don't belong? Besides, I could be bringing ya a love letter from your little Romeo. Betcha didn't think of that?" To be fair, he wouldn't. He wasn't a messenger boy, and the fact several members of the gang could read and write niggled him a little bit. Stuck up snobs with their stuck up skills, why'd they have to come to the forest in the first place? They weren't proper outlaws, just like that Locksley lot. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor? That wasn't proper outlaw behaviour. It gave real criminals such as himself a worse name.

"Is that why you're wandering round, missy? Looking for loverboy?"

[Alice Brandon]

Though generally shy, Alice didn't feel so with Gavin, or most of the Greensleeve lot. Yes she was a little frightened of Regina Apple. The woman did something that Alice thought she would never be able to do. It wasn't the roughing it up part that scared her, it was the fact that she would be an outlaw too. But she was protected by her rank and sex, so all was well, or so one could say. Still, conversing with outlaws and other 'undesirables' was her only real way of rebelling against her father and the Sheriff.

"And don't you know it's rude sticking your hand in other people's purses?" she asked, an eyebrow raised and a smile on her face. Alice laughed at his comment. "It didn't even cross my mind that you would stoop so low to do a kind thing for people who were not yourself," she said lightly. One might call her behavior chirpy, she would call it friendly. There was no reason to be friendly to Gavin, but he did live with Tristan, her Tristan, and that could come in handy being kind to his 'family.'

"No, that is not the reason," she said, a little insulted, though she didn't show it. Though Alice was moon-struck, she wasn't going to go wandering around, hoping to see Tristan everywhere she went. She knew that wasn't practical, and it would be odd. Now, maybe she did go out riding more often in the forest, but that didn't mean anything!

[Gavin Bates]

(Anni I'm gonna PM you okay?)

Gavin would never understand Alice and her desire to rebel against her father. She had riches, she had a nice home, she seemed to have a nice family - what was there to rebel against, really? He didn't know anything about the politics of the land at the moment, being a little out of the loop, but at any rate her family couldn't be that bad off. He'd kill to have what she did.

He already had, in fact.

"And don't you know it's rude sticking you hand in other people's purses?" Oh, right then, he'd just go and starve to death, should he? He was an outlaw, it was what he did - stealing was a way of life, a necessity for him, something he wasn't sure she would ever be able to understand. Even prior to his criminal life, his family had been little better off than he was at present, and he knew his father had cheated customers out of a few extra coins on low quality produce. Gavin liked to call it family tradition.

"Gotta catch me before you accuse me, m'lady," he replied, the respectful title vindictive. He doubted she had seen him thieving - he was careful about it when he was out in the open, although if an idiot wandered down a dark, small alley while he was there, well... They had to expect to be mugged, didn't they? It wasn't safe anymore, not really.

"I wouldn't," he retorted - of course he wouldn't stoop that low. He didn't do anything unless he got something out of it - that was the way of the world. And Alice could be as kind as she wanted, not a word was getting back to Tristan - the man didn't seem to like him all that much anyway, and besides, he thought the world of Alice so she didn't need to get on his good side or anything like that. She was golden in that regard.

"Then what's a pretty little lady like you doing wandering round Nottingham all on your lonesome?" he asked, taking a step forward more out of habit than anything else. He'd been talking to her longer than expected and felt the need to make it less obvious that they didn't exactly get along. Well, they didn't know each other well enough to get along, and Gavin didn't get along with people, per se, so it was a moot point. But he was a little curious - wasn't it unusual for noble ladies to be unaccompanied? He'd seen that Lisa bird (was that her name?) wandering around, being cared for by at least half a dozen people.

[Alice Brandon]

"And who says I won't?" Alice asked, an eyebrow raised and a a coy smile on her face. This was not flirtation, Alice rarely did flirtation. It was only friendly banter. Her heart already belonged to another and that was it. But it was true that it was very difficult to catch Gavin. That was why he was standing here talking to her and not in jail, rotting away or having his hands chopped off. Alice laughed at his next response. He was so predictable in such a good way, though one could never know exactly what was going on in his head. He might just be laughing one minute and kidnapping you at the next! Though Alice doubted he would dare kidnap her.

"I was just looking around," Alice responded with a shrug. She didn't want to mention she bought anything or she might find her purchase gone when she returned to her rooms. "It is a good opportunity to meet new acquaintances and speak to old friends." Alice did not mean Gavin, of course, but if she did run into anyone else from her home village, then she would be glad to converse with them. Simon, though . . . Alice couldn't think about Simon at the moment, though she couldn't help asking. She knew that Gavin wasn't the sort to report to Tristan that she asked about Simon, or to tell Simon that he was asked about at all. "How is Simon?" she finally asked after an internal argument as to whether she should ask.

[Gavin Bates]

Okay, now Alice was getting a little annoying. Who did she think she was, Super Sheriff? Of course she wasn't going to catch him, she probably didn't know the first thing about theft or the tricks of the trade, and she'd hardly be able to follow him and spot him doing his work.

And he might just yet. He might just... If just to show her that life as an outlaw meant that pretty boy wasn't as perfect as she thought, if only to shake her up a bit, if only to make her less assertive. What happened to her over the years, anyway? She was different from what he remembered. Then again his memory wasn't exactly fabulous at the best of times, and was definitely selective.

If Gavin had wanted her purchase, he could have taken it by now. It wasn't like she was going to be able to put up much of a fight, really - she seemed far too small for that - but he'd decided it wasn't worth it, at the end of the day. He'd just get his ear nagged off by Tristan or Josh, and he couldn't be bothered with their incessant dithering.

"Aw, didn't know you cared," Gavin replied, sarcasm dripping heavily from his voice. Women, they were far too sentimental! Meet new people and see old friends, his arse! What was that? What was the point? He rolled his eyes a little.

Gavin raised an eyebrow as Alice asked about Simon. Now why on earth was she asking about that git, rather than her little Romeo? Interesting tidbit of information - he wasn't sure whether it would wind Tristan or Simon up more, so he stored it away for safekeeping, to be brought out at the best time to get on someone's nerves. Probably Tristan, he was definitely easiest to wind up, especially when it came to Alice.

"And why would you want to know that?" he asked, aware he should be moving off, but intrigued. It wasn't her business anyway, bloody nobles and being so nosey...