Claire trudged after Vero, looking back and beckoning Rooster to follow. She didn't know if he understood the literally backwards way in which Vero talked. However she kept her distance from the demon, slowing down as to join Rooster in his pace.<br/><br/>The usual modus operandi would be to not talk at all unless necessary. Then again, she had never been on a mission with anyone like Rooster. They all came from troubled and dark pasts, with either blood on their hands or looking to soil them for profit. In any court other than Ghaleon's she would have been shunned as antisocial, amoral and audacious if she weren't willing to keep up a facade. Here she didn't have to and was considered optimistic and overly emotional.<br/><br/>But he. What was he up to? Claire chanced a glance at the outlier, bright hair in the glittering sun while hers burnt like charcoal. The grin afixed to his face in permanent delight while grimaces or frowns decorated other's. What brought him here? He seems to be polite and a bit dense intellectually.<br/><br/>If he had a dark past his smile wouldn't be genuine.<br/>If he had ulterior motives he would not be so upfront.<br/>If he were trying to find companionship, he'd be in a church and not with a vagabond band of criminals.<br/><br/>Or perhaps it was all a facade like hers. Her instinct, which she did not try to rely upon too often, told her he was genuine. She might not seem like it at a glance but she was a rebel. So she broke the silence.<br/><br/>"What is a bright young man like you doing here?"<br/><br/>She would not have ended up here if she had grown up as Claire Merchant. Ultimately what had brought her back was not the fire nor the decisions she made. It was just impossible for a street urchin to have a happy ending. So why did he choose to forgo his?