Diane
Psyche had given this whole 'cuddle' thing a try. It wasn't bad. It wasn't great. It wasn't like getting stabbed and neither was it like a drink of water after days of thirst. Maybe it was different if you were cold, but the bath was nice at least.

Back out on the streets she wandered, mind running on full blast and thoughts becoming active images in her mind without her consent. It happened sometimes. Seeking to distract herself from it she pauses as she passes some folk selling vegetables.

Without too much thought she pauses to pick up beetles and other insects. Once she has a thin handful of them, she moves to examine the wares and sprinkles the insects in with the greenery. She wondered what might happen. Maybe no one would care. Maybe people would refuse to buy them. If so, what will happen to the family? Will they be alright? Do they need a windfall and this denied it to them?

She steps back to watch, outwardly a Mogash again, and... Curious as to the results.
James
*Bain rode into the market on his horse. It wasn't a nice horse but she was loyal. His bleach white hair flowed in the wind. With his sword at his side, he knew that there was little threats that could hurt him.*

*Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eyes. There he saw something he hadn't seen in a long time. A female pale oni. He was so stunned that he had stopped watching where his horses was going. Because of this he almost ran into a cart. He quickly turned his horse and galloped to her. He dismounted and approached her.* "Hello?"
Diane
*Horns had been shrinking when he caught sight of her. Tapping one finger at a time to her thumb she watched people come and go, observing their reactions to the now bugged vegetables. Were they upset? One was. She found that rather curious. She was almost no longer an Oni when she heard someone speak close enough that it startled her.*

The horns pushed themselves back out to full length. Her hair darkened, a somewhat tangled mop on her head. Her skin paled back out. "Oh." *Voice very nearly disappointed as she looks at her palms at the failed attempt to hide herself. She was back in the present again. Turning she saw the horse, a nag maybe, then blinked at the other Oni. Pale and white like herself*. "***Oh**...*" *Voice quiet as she examines him like one might a particularly interesting painting.*

*Wait. Hello*. "Hello?" *Hell. O.*
Patrick
Bt: *Bain's red eyes scanned her as he walked back and forth studying her. He was quite tall, and could be considered good looking if it weren't for the multitude of Tuscarora that crisscrossed across his face. He realized he was staring and looked away.* "I apologize for staring.Its just that I haven't seen another member of out kind in a long time. I thought we had died out." *His eyes drifted to the people at the stand.* "Whats that about?"
Diane
Her head follows his movements as he walked back and forth studying her, neck turning so her eyes don't have to in a mechanical motion. Her pale eyes traced scars on his skin, slowly becoming mesmerized by them. She barely picked up bits and pieces of his words as he spoke. Died out. Died out?

"Who died out?" Voice without inflection and hand half raised towards his face, towards a particularly interesting scar on his cheek bone. She realized when she spoke what she was doing and lowers her hand. She looks rather small for an Oni, and while recently washed, it's done little to remove the look of someone who has been down on their luck a long time. "...Oni." Answering her own question, then, "I don't know if we did. I left home. My family was there then. We didn't move with our clan." Short answers devoid of the typical emotion one may feel of it.

Looking at the stand she pauses. "Bugs in vegetables." No sense contaminating the experiment.
Patrick
Bt: *His eyes dropped to look at her hand, but he didn't stop her. He was used to be gawked at and poked. But it felt differently with her, she was looking at him like he was an abomination, but as a work of art. A soft blush appeared on his cheek as he thought of it. 'No don't be foolish.'* "What was the name of your clan?"
Diane
It was rather random, almost odd, to think a perfect stranger would consider such grotesque damage 'art'. Yet this Oni seemed visibly fascinated as she stared openly, tracing each stripe and cross on the skin. Her head tilted seeing the touch of color, fingers out stretching again. Curious. She touches the edge of his cheek where the color causes the scars to stand out more vividly.

"Name..." Her head ached, and she didn't pursue the information with all that much effort. "I don't remember." She says, withdrawing her cold fingertips from his skin. "What was yours? I was from Irtutian League."
James
*A shiver went through his body as she withdrew her touch. He had never really been touched in such a way before. He wasn't sure of how to feel. He had a flury of emotions going through him at that moment.* "I never got the chance to learn my clan name. But I was also from the Irtutian League."
Diane
The reaction, if nothing else, drew more curiosity from the woman. Most withdrew from her. Recognized her unfocused nature and behavior as something... Undesirable and let her linger at the edges of society. 

This one seemed almost confused about how he felt. She hadn't *Quite* Managed to link their heritage; a shared life as Oni, but it lingered in her mind nonetheless. 

"It may have been the same clan then," She guessed vaguely. "I wouldn't know. We stayed away. Kept to ourselves and just tried to survive." Stringing together more coherent sentences as she finds a rhythm in it.
James
"I don't believe so. My clan was raided and my people were killed. My father had told me stories about our people but i had never seen another pale oni until I saw you." *He wanted to get to know her but he didn't know her and learn what her life had been like.*
Diane
What sort of life... She wasn't with her family any longer. That much was for sure. Looked thin and pale, like her namesake race. She nodded slowly at what he said, then offered a "I'm sorry" Though it seemed her words held little emotion. There but not completely. 

"Pale Oni are smaller than Red or Blue. I suppose it seems easy prey. One wonders what happened to the raiders." Though her mind was already churning and spinning a yarn of the ideas. There was a very long silence then she said, "Psyche. My name is Psyche now."
James
"It is alright. It is in the past and because of it, fate has given me the chance to meet a beautiful woman like you. Someone who has looked at my scars and has not shunned me. And I am grateful for it." *He listened to her name, it seemed fitting, but he didn't know why.* "Well Psyche, my name is Bain and it is a pleasure to meet you."
Diane
Her somewhat vacant eyes blinked, then focused for a moment. "Why would your scars bother me?" Fingers tapping lightly on her thumb one after another. "Scars are lovely. They are different. They are cracks in an otherwise perfect vase." She exhaled, then to herself, "Scars are beautiful."

Little weirdo. "Bain." She said once. Then again. "Bain. It is good to meet you as well, Bain. I have not seen another of mine since I left home."
James
*Her words cause his blush to deepen, becoming almost as red as his eyes. No one had ever described anything but him as beautiful. 'What is this feeling? How is she doing this? Is this magic?' He questioned the emotions he was feeling but had no way to control them. They weren't like anger or hate, he had over come those quite some time ago.* "Well they are not as stunning as you are."
Diane
She saw the color invading his pale skin. It made the marks stand out starkly. While she'd felt no mischief putting insects into the vegetables, she did now. Like a puppy love; a tease and light cruelty. Reaching out she caught his chin with her fingers, holding him there delicately like a butterfly caught on her hand. "Do you say that because I appear female? Or do you say it because I call your scars a treasure?" She asked, a bare hint of emotion in her tone, warming it slightly.
James
*Her questions puzzled Bain, for he himself didn't truly know. She had him in her grasp, and he couldn't move. To be honest he liked how soft her hand was. But that didn't make sense. Many of his enemies had tried to seduce him to no avail. So why does this female only have to touch him to make his legs feel like jelly. He did not understand this, it was very illogical.* "I... Do not know."
Diane
"You do not know? So if I donned your clothes and did the same, you do not know if your knees would weaken or your face would flush?" She didn't tighten her grip and her face did not match her voice; Like a mask it seemed divorced from the faint warmth in her voice. Her cold fingers held his chin gently. 

"Then it seems as if, if I were to cause you problems and trouble, you might also not know what to do. Perhaps you haven't dealt with such things yet. Perhaps there is one place in you that hasn't yet bore a mark on it."
James
*His gaze met hers and did not leave. He stepped closer to her, looking down at her from his hight. It was hard to understand how a small woman had such control over him. It made him think of his mother, how she had such control over his father. Was this how things were with their people?* "This feeling I have is one i have never had time to indulge in. Nor have I even met someone that made me feel it." *His face was a mask as well the only emotion shown by his voice and the blush on his cheeks.* "Explain this to me, for I do not understand. How you so easily take control of me even though you have just met me? How are you able to freeze me with your beauty while others have failed? What are you?" *He took another step closer.*
Diane
It was almost funny in a way. Little actions causing something bigger to spiral out of control. Like the passerby angered by the insects in the vegetables they've bought. Like this tall, strong man on an old nag unable to act outside of instincts. He had not yet pulled his chin away from her fingers. He rather stepped forward into her defense and putting her inside his own.

Fascinating.

"Was your mother the last pale Oni you saw before she was taken away?" It was spoken like everything else, but the subject had become a knife's edge. "Does seeing me remind you of home and become beautiful for that alone?" She didn't give him a whole lot of time to consider that. He stepped closer like a mouse mesmerized by a snake, and she stood up on her toes and kissed him.
James
*He had answers to his questions but he did not get the chance to awnser them. Before he knew her lips were on his and the world fell away. All he knew was that her lips were on his and he didn't want them to leave he had never been kissed before. No one had looked at him in that light. Most had just feared him or hated him for what he was. But this confused him, and made him want more. More of what he did not know. Like he didn't know what to do with his hands but he let instinct take control. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. He felt his body relax as he leaned into the kiss.*
Diane
She felt when Bain fell to those emotions, and found the place that did not have marks on it. An irregularity. She had to decide what to do with that knowledge like she had to follow the family with the vegetables. Had to chase the tail of this dragon and see what was at the end of it.

For now she let the other Oni lose himself, let him relax and lean into her and put his arms around her. When her mind demanded it, she then pushed him lightly away. 

"Do you have any answers yet? Or should I leave you to find them?"
James
*Bain's breathing was heavy as he looked down. He felt that he had opened a door to which he didn't not know what was on the other side. He looked at at her and knew he wanted to know her more. He didn't know why but he wanted to know her, not because of her body or her beauty. He wanted to know more about another member of his people. Maybe thisnis what he father would have considered true love but it was too early to tell.*"I believe I do. Why did you do that? You don't know me?" *His face was close to hers but not too close.*
Diane
She wondered if she stepped back, would he follow her? She did so without thought, pale eyes watching and studying him again. "You seem like a moth following a light. Whether or not the light will burn you doesn't matter; So long as it is not *Dark*."

He didn't confirm or deny anything, and she continued to spin the yarn in her mind of whys and why fors. At his question she turns her head to the side. "Was there a reason not to?" Like knowing folks was a relatively minor issue when it came to such things. "I wanted to measure the depth of your need. I am curious if you would look for things as I do and I am curious as to how impactful such a small act would be in you."
James
"If I am I a moth, then I am following the only light I've seen in along time." *He saw her step away and his heart ached. He took a step forward and stopped.* "Why do I feel so vulnerable? How can you make feel something I have never felt in my entire life? You make ma want something have never needed before. Is this real or am I an experiment to you?" *He spoke as the thoughts came to him."
Diane
"I hope you to be ready for more stripes then," She says at his comment of being a moth to light. She could very nearly trace how the man got from his childhood to this moment he doesn't understand. "Did you not just ask me why I kissed you? 'You don't know me?'" She repeated his words. 

"You're like a babe experiencing things and learning, stumbling. If it's real then let it be. If I wish to watch you stumble and reach, let it be as well." She wondered how far he would go to follow a flame and allowed her face to soften with an odd, out of place smile. "So for now let's see what you do with this and then were you decide to go from there."
James
"I wish to learn more, more about you and who are. But I can not just leave my station. So I will let it be. I will chase the flame and if I am to get burned then I will dance in the flames with joy. For I have brought it upon myself." *He looked at her with a look of determination in his eyes. He stepped forward again and gently took her chin in his hand.* "And if by the end I am able to make you mine then it will all have been worth it."
Diane
"I hope you do." 

The idea of the man burning in such a way was curiously beautiful. Seeing just how far and how quickly he might turn on himself. He seemed so eager for it as well. As he lifted her chin she easily met the red eyes with her own pale ones. 

"Then let me see if I can burn you."

She took his hand and lead him away from the stall with the angry customers. Away from his horse. She needed some privacy to see how far the, perhaps, childish infatuation would let him go. She wanted to see how quickly he might let her get her nails into him.
James
*Bain let himself get pulled along. He quickly turned back to his horse and whistled. The horse neighed i. Response and walked over to a place where she wouldn't be noticed. He turned back to Psyche, wondering where she was leading him to. Of it was his doom he would fight it or accept it depending on the circumstance.* "Where are you leading me?" *He asked as she she led him through the streets.*
Diane
She glanced, once, at the horse as it moved. Well trained. Not useful to her. She continued walking and picked up her pace just slightly with that natural speed Pale Oni were prone to. She had no doubts he could keep up.

"Shh."

Was the only answer he got in response to his question. She lead him in a seeming maze through the streets and alleys until she found her location; an old Inn that didn't mind her low coin. Letting go of his hand she continued.

"So, you may either return to your nag and return to what I assume to be your job, or follow me inside and what happens will happen. Don't take long deciding."

As she heads inside and vanishes from easy sight.
James
*Without hesitation Bain followed her inside. He stood out in his soldier's uniform but he didn't mind. He searched the room for her, wondering where she had went. 'What is happening to me?' He thought to himself. 'How am I being seduced so easily? Is it because she is one of my kind? Do they have that ability? He had so many questions about her half of their kind. Other oni he had met seemed different, and none of them had ever made him feel like this. None of them made him seem like a fresh virgin experiencing his first time.*
Diane
She had already paid her pittance for a place to stay. When Bain walked in she was already walking up the stairs with a key hanging on her fingertips, softly humming a tune under her breath. Apparently expecting him to follow without checking to see if he would.
James
*Bain walke don't of the inn feeling like he just walked out of heaven. Sure there were scratches and bruises all over his body but he like it. He had never experienced it like that before. He had wanted to get to know ow her and now he had. But now he had a problem, he knew he wouldn't want to let go and that could be an issue. He ran a hand through his ruffled hair and let out a breath.*
Diane
Some time had passed. She had wanted to make sure that he was kept from his job for a time and had given plenty of incentive to keep him there. Walking outside, clothes as neat as they had been before and marks covered by the clothes, she stretched as she looked over at Bain to examine his state.

Good.

"Well then, you've work, don't you?"
James
*Bain turned to her, grabbed her by the chin and kissed her. Now that she had him he no long questioned his feelings.*"I'll tell my captain that something came up. Where do you live? Or do you Constantly move? But I realize I have more important questions. Are you alright? Did I go too hard? Do you regret it? Or are you going to leave now that you have done it?"
Diane
She didn't resist the kiss. It just added more leverage in her own mind; More ability to see how such little events played out. When he released her she answered easily.

"I move around. There's no reason in staying in one area." A brief pause. "Why wouldn't I be alright? And I made my decision. There's no reason to be regretful. I will leave when I originally planned as well. When I've seen enough of the city, it will be time to go to the next and observe it."
James
"I was just wondering because I have a place we could stay. But I also move from place to place constantly. My work demands it. And you have misunderstood my questions. I wasn't asking about where you stay. I was asking about you. Are you okay? Did I go to hard?" *He blushed slightly at a having to ask the questions again.* "You know that was my first real time doing it so..."
Diane
"I see. I suppose we'll see if we wind up going the same directions." It seemed Psyche possibly had no solid plans on where she went, aside from at whim and where ever seemed best to her at any given time. 

As he repeated the questions, his face warming red, she paused. "I understood. Why wouldn't I be okay? I don't believe I am hurt. I feel no pain." None that made much sense to her anyway, but she was used to being in a confusing mindset by now.

"...You were a virgin?" She assumed though it would have made plenty of sense to her.
James
"Yes I was but you have changed that. I was going to offer you to travel with me and maybe I could help find your family or clan. And if you did then you would no longer face hardship or have to live from inn to inn. But I will not force you do anything. I wss concerned with your well being and if you had enjoyed it as much as i did. If we are go separate ways then I hope we meet again."