Robin & Marian

[Marian Cooper]

No, Marian didn't speak to men like this. She didn't like her station in life, but she wasn't so stupid as to throw it all away by insulting the nobility. But Robin wasn't a noble anymore...he was a fugitive, so she could talk to him however she wanted. It wasn't like he could throw her out on her ass if she annoyed him too much. It was odd, she could sneak out of the castle, shoot a bow like a man, and otherwise rebel however she wanted, but if she spoke out like this in court, that would be what would anger the men into finding a way to get rid of her. Marian hated politics.

"A man can think whatever he wants," she answered boredly, glancing up to give a fake smile at the guards as they passed, before she found her way to another stall purveying bows. She turned towards him slightly as he leaned close to speak into her ear, and an involuntary smile came to her face. Her lover? So, he thought she was the Sheriff's mistress? Someone was listening to too much castle gossip. "I'm not your errand boy." She answered, not bothering to correct him about being the Sheriff's lover. He wouldn't believe her, anyways.

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[Robin Of The Woods]

"Oh I think after the views from last night I will never mistake you for a little boy." He taunted out, while looking down at the bows on the table. Let her spend her coins on them, the people needed it she had too many. Well, maybe not too many now that he had taken a large bag of golden things off her hands last night, but she had more then most. "If I ever forget, I will let you remind me."

His bow had been hand made for him, but all the bows he'd trained with had been hand made by him. It was one of the things he hated doing but his father had said that was the only way to know it was curved perfectly. When he'd gone to London to train to be a knight, he'd vowed never had to make his own bow again. Now he did it more and more often, and not even for himself. "So when splinters--or, pardon; so when unmarried lasses like your self are not playing dress up for the sheriff, or riding around as his bait, what do you do all day?"

[Marian Cooper]

Marian had never learned how to make a bow...how to shoot one, of course, but the thought of learning to make one had never even occurred to her. What was the point, when others who knew better could do it for her? Coin she had plenty of...even if Robin had stolen most of her belongings. She put down the bow she was looking at and turned to face him. "Oh? And how do you suggest I do that? Short of removing my clothing, of course." She asked, a slight smirk coming to her face as she folded her arms over her chest.

She couldn't help it, she laughed when he accused her of playing dress-up for the Sheriff...because it was so true. The bait one, on the other hand, she wasn't so sure of. "What, you think I'm here to draw you out so the Sheriff can arrest you?" She smiled. "That might actually be a good idea...look at how well it's worked. Unfortunately, Sheriff's not that bright." She laughed, not that she'd actually informed the man of her late-night visitor, or his invitation. "I trust you mean when we aren't being harassed by over zealous bandits?"

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[Robin Of The Woods]

"Short of? No, no, that was the whole plan;" He told her in a charming tone, that both suggested he was joking and was serious at the same time; "How else would you prove such a thing?" Robert was all for seeing her naked again; or at lest seeing more of her naked. He'd spent long enough in the Holy Lands, and then in the woods to men that he was all for the idea of seeing women naked! Especially noble women who were all soft from no work.

He was rather distracted by the idea of her naked that it took a moment to clue into her other talking. He chuckled when she told he meant now. "Darlin' for a such a bright little boy, you sure are a dumb little girl." He told her before leaning down a bit to whisper, "I don't mean now, I was referring to the other way. When he had you all dolled up and rode right down the path to where he knew I'd find him. Then what happened?" Robert put on a dramatically fake looking shocked expression; "He left you there as a distraction so he could get away! You were the bait to make sure our attention was on you, and not him."

[Marian Cooper]

She rolled his eyes when he failed to come up with anything better than stripping down naked for him; how like a man. "How terribly uncreative." She sighed as if she were disappointed, and turned around to resume her examination of the bows before her. She still needed a new one. "Maybe I could simper and smile, and beg you to loan me your big, strong arm so that I don't trip over my dainty little feet?" She suggested sarcastically, that seemed to be how he expected her to behave.

When he leaned closer to whisper in her ear, she frowned, but because her back was to him, he wouldn't be able to see how her eyes narrowed when he called her dumb. But then it turned into a smile as he explained how she had been the bait for him, and turned her head enough that he would see. "You really do think the world revolves around you, don't you?" She stated, smirking softly. "Robin, dear...the Sheriff took me out there, all 'dolled up', as you put it, so that he show me that he wasn't afraid of the bandits." He'd been trying to impress her, to show her that he was strong and virile and could stand up to a few outlaws.

"Of course, that all backfired, because the man's a bloody coward and ran away at the first sign of danger." She shrugged, what did she care? She didn't need him to protect her. "Not that it matters. I don't need the Sheriff to protect me, or any man." She didn't bother qualifying the whole ordeal from last night, because even if she had been a man, she wouldn't have been able to stop him. He'd ambushed her in her sleep...practically cheating! At least she had knocked him out, fair and square, before she'd tied him up.

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[Robin Of The Woods]

"Noticed my manly arms did you now?" He slipped in between her talking, just in hopes of annoying her a bit, as he knew damn well that was not the point of her little high and mighty speech. "You know, I am not an expert on spoil doves but I thought pleasing a man, and saying all the right things were part of your job." He asked, before looking amused, "Unless the sheriff likes to be displeased! In which case explains his behavior toward me." Because the world did revolve around Robert, at lest the town of Nottingham did these days. He was never far from everyone's minds; The sheriff wanted him dead, Gysie wanted to do it, the people loved him, and his men followed him everywhere he went.

"Robin, dear...the Sheriff took me out there, all 'dolled up', as you put it, so that he show me that he wasn't afraid of the bandits." Yes, because that worked out so well; being the last thing Robert recalled seeing of his was his ares disappearing over the hill. "Yes, he looked very afraid as he ran away so he could live to run from me another day." He shot out, seeming amused with her trying to defend the cowardly bastard. The sheriff must be paying her a hell of allot if his was the type of reaction she gave to people insulting him.

He laughed, and changed his mind on the sheriff paying her when she insulted him on her own. Robert didn't approve of her no man needed attitude, as he liked it when women needed him; but she was at lest amusing. "Yes, your so big and strong. Here, take my hand so I don't trip over my dainty feet." He teased her, not offering his hand to her as it was only his words that he was giving her.

[Marian Cooper]

She held in her laughter when he pointed out his manly arms, but instead of saying anything in response to his words, she turned around to face him again, taking a step closer and extending her arm to brush her fingers against her wrist. Letting her fingers work their way slowly up his arm, she kept her eyes on his, a slight smile on her face as she tilted her head to the side slowly. Reaching his upper bicep, she wrapped her dainty little fingers around the muscle and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Maybe...I'm so good at pleasing men that I can say whatever I like." She murmured softly, leaving her hand on his arm for a few seconds more before she reclaimed her hand, still smiling, an unspoken challenge in her eyes.

She smiled wider at his tone as he refuted her claim that the sheriff had been trying to impress her, more at his tone than her words. So she'd struck a nerve. Someone really did think too much of himself, didn't he? She shrugged. "I didn't say he succeeded in impressing me. Only that he tried." The sheriff rarely succeeded in impressing Marian, because he was incompetent and annoyed her more often than most.

She laughed when he teased her about her size; she wasn't as big as he was, for certain. "Well, whatever I am, I was good enough to outsmart you and your men." She pointed out, not even bothering to bring up his run-in with her foot...or the events that followed. He ought to know well enough what she was talking about.

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[Robin Of The Woods]

He stayed very silent and very still at her touch; as he looked into her eyes. He was rather damn lucky that the guards were not far behind them somewhere or he'd drag her down one of these little ally ways and take her up on that challenge. As it was however; dragging the sheriff's mistress anywhere might draw attention. Leaning down so that his face was less then an inch from her's and tilting his head slightly to the side he spoke in a slow voice that came out a bit deeper then his normal one; "I think you have been left wanting, and that you need a man to impress you."

Standing back to his full height; he gave her, her moment to gloat before reminding her of all the men she'd injured and left in a vengeance. "Milady, I would be very careful riding though the woods. You left one man unable to hunt food for his children, and ruined another pride when you escaped him. I doubt they will treat you very lady like should they see you again." He paused for a moment before add, "But then, you don't need a man to protect you." He taunted, hoping she'd be smart enough to not go out there alone. He could give them orders, but he did not control them.

[Marian Cooper]

She raised her eyebrows at his response to her teasing, her curiosity piqued, but she didn't pursue the subject after he stepped back, a little afraid where going down that road would take them. As it was, with what he said next, any thoughts of what may lie at the end of their teasing and flirting was pushed out of her mind with what he said next. She narrowed her eyes, and gave him a look of some disbelief. Oh, he was not going there. But he had.

"Oh, don't you get all high and mighty on me, now. Because you and I both know you're just as responsible to what happened to your men as I am, if not moreso. You're the one who choose to risk the lives of his men in order to show up the Sheriff, knowing full well you would suffer casualties in a fight like that. And if you claim you didn't know, more the fool you." She replied venomously, he'd put his pride before the well-being of his men, he wasn't about to make her feel guilty for wounding one of them, not when he had shot at her first.

"I defended myself, nothing more. Would you really have done any different in my position?" If he had been the one with arrows raining down on him, would he really have stopped to consider the archer's children? She doubted it. "And as for the other man's wounded pride...I did tell you to apologize for me." She added, not even bothering to bring up the fact that they had kidnapped her! She had the right to try and kill anyone who tried to do the same to her, no matter what he thought of women.

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[Robin Of The Woods]

High and mighty? Robert stood there and watched her seeming to be unimpressed by her words; as she went on and on about how it was hid fault that she had to shoot someone. He didn't really see it that way and if he played her blame game then the fault would fall back to the sheriff. Besides, he was the fool who taught her to use a bow.

"I might have done the same had I been attacked, but then they would have been mad at me. As it is, darlin' they are mad at you. Not me." Either way she wanted to spin the fault, it ended the same; his men did not like her. "And I did not rely your message any more then you did mine. Apologizing for something that that would only make it worse." Pride might be a damning thing but he didn't make it so, he just knew better then to tempt the steal with fire.

While he spoke he lifted on of the bows she had looked at, before looking unimpressed and sitting it back down. While it was a good bow, it would never hold up. It was made to be pretty, and not practical. Too many nobles shopped here for you to find real things. You'd have to go into the darker areas of the market. Were it was poor folk walking around; it smelled; and things were meant to last not to bring you back for another one in a month or so.

[Marian Cooper]

Marian rolled her eyes when he pointed out that it didn't matter whose fault it was, because the men were mad at her, not him, restraining herself from saying how very unfair that was, because she knew that fairness didn't really matter. Besides, what did she really care what a bunch of dirty, homeless men roaming the woods thought of her? Better they fear her bow than think her an easy mark.

"Thank you for your...concern," she said the word concern with some disbelief, because of course she knew he didn't really care if she was attacked in the forest or not, "but I can take care of myself." While he'd proven a couple times that he was at least a match for her, most of the men in the woods didn't have a knight's training, nor had they spent time fighting overseas. Most were just poor, desperate men who used bows to hunt rather than fight.

She just shrugged when he admitted he'd not apologized to Ed for her, she hadn't really expected him to. She glanced at the bow in his hand, before dismissing it out of hand. She didn't like all the politics of the court in London, but she did miss the market. Where you could actually find a better bow. Even Pembroke had better craftsmen than here in Nottingham, it was almost depressing. "So are you going to buy me a new bow? To replace the one you destroyed." She asked as he set the bow down. She didn't expect him to, but he had taken a good amount of sparkly things from her room last night, so she knew he could afford it. Thieving bastard.

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[Robin Of The Woods]

Noble women were so cute when they thought they could take on the world. Granted, her's was a bit different but still it held the same ideals behind it. She thought she was untouchable; and that no one could hurt her. He'd give her points for no fear but knew better then to encourage her. He'd seen war up close, and he'd knew that sooner or later it would become more then a simple game with the sheriff; and that their would be more then just a few drops of blood split when tempers hit the fan. It was something that was weighting on him mind more and more.

This had started out between two men, and now the whole town was fighting his war. He should have been pleased but often found he wasn't. Then you had her who though she was untouchable; and that no one could hurt her, the little fool. His men would eat her alive if they got their hands on her. Young, pretty, noble; and everything they hated. Hate, fear and desperation were the driving force behind them. They found to live and that made them fight harder then any guard or knight who was only paid to do so.

"Just call it a casualty of war, and mourn it's loss before moving on." He advice, keeping the amused tone in his voice, even as his mood a slipped slightly. He was not going to help her get her self killed; and wondered why the sheriff let her do all that she did; and it only proved to him that the man was an idiot. "Besides, you seen to have plenty of coin to take your pick of all these fine works of art." These were not made to be weapons but pretty little toys.

[Marian Cooper]

Marian rolled her eyes at his response, but smiled when she replied. "The mourning period is over. I'm trying to move on, but first I need a new bow. And none of these are any good." She gestured to the merchant's tables, on which she had been utterly unable to find a decent bow worth her gold. The conclusion? Craftsmen in Nottingham were completely incompetent. It was times like these when she started to miss home, even after so many years away from Pembroke.

It was silly, because she knew the life she missed was completely gone... her sister was married and living in London, and her mother had been driven to madness by the death of her little brother. She had visited them from time to time, but things were never quite the same. Right now, she just wished the merchants from Pembroke were here. Ever since her father had earned the nickname 'Strongbow', their people had taken pride in their ability to craft a strong bow...that was where the bow she had been using was from. The one Robin had snapped in half without a thought.

"Besides, it's not like you're short on coin, yourself." Referring, of course, to all he'd taken from her last night. "Unless, of course, you've already blown it all on drinks and whores." She added cheerfully, although admittedly, he didn't look like a man who'd spent all night up drinking and whoring. Not like he would've had a lot of time for that after he'd climbed into her window, anyways.

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[Robin Of The Woods]

Cheeky little baggage wasn't she. Robert just looked down at her as she assumed to know what he would spend his coin on. Currently he did not need to spend coins on either of the two. The barkeeps would claim his drinks were on the house and the women; Robert fought back a grin at the thoughts of women. While he did not trust any women who valued coins over loyalty, they were at lest good for stealing a few kisses from.

Ad Robert had seen to many men caught with their pants down; he did not enjoy that aspect of being seen as anyone's hero. "You got it all wrong, Sweetheart, they pay me to let them have their way with me." He turned her words back at her just to see if she would rise to the bait, "How else do you earn coins to feed the little dirty brats in all the little villages around here?"

About that time, one such dirty brat was attempting to tray their own hand at thieving. Robert was not paying much attention; for he honestly didn't care who stole what as long as he wasn't the one getting stole from. However when the boy was caught, and the guard gave chase how was he to resit a bit of fun and a chance to annoy the good hard working sheriff? Pulling off his cape, he tossed it at her; "I'll find you later to get that back."

With that he turned to give chase his own self; and did not slow until he arrived at the scene where they were trying to pin the boy down to cut off his hand. Pulling his arrow from his pack and lifting his bow he took aim before calling over to them; "This would be the part where you duck and run!" He told them before letting the arrow come to rest in the man's arm that held the small axe, so he would drop it. That was were the chaos started; wonderful and pure fun chaos.

[Marian Cooper]

Marian couldn't help but laugh when he claimed that he was the one being paid to do unspeakable deeds. "So when you say you 'set the sheriff's bed on fire', should I take that in a literal sense, or does he pay you, too?" She couldn't resist hinting at his preferences yet again, remembering how he had promised at their first meeting that he'd prove what he liked to her sometime; so far, he'd only managed to do the opposite. The more she got to know him, the more she wondered if he didn't prefer the company of men...after all, last night he'd had her tied up, at his mercy, and yet... Even so, imagining Robin as one of the village whores brightened her day enough to make this otherwise fruitless trip to the market worth it.

Reflexively, she caught his cape when he tossed it to her, before running off to play at being the hero of the common folk, chasing down a guard as he chased down a child. Marian smiled a little, knowing he couldn't see her, then looked down to the cape in her hands. She considered just dropping it in the mud for him to find later --or not, if he really did come back to her for it, but decided against that, although she really couldn't pin down a reason why, exactly. Instead, she shook it out and swung it around her own shoulders, drawing the hood up to cast shadows over her own features.

She figured she might as well head down to the Lowertown market, too, see if they had anything better, and what better way to blend in than by wearing the cloak of one of their own? Well, not really one of them, since he was a noble turned outlaw, but close enough. So she turned down an alley and made her way to the rougher area of town, where the poor shopped and the guards patrolled less, even though there was more crime here, and continued her search for a decent bow to replace the one she'd...lost.

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