Wingate rolls his eyes at Aster and watches her walk away. As soon as he decided she had gone far enough, he glanced again at the woman writing, an unreadable expression on his face.
Poppy finally catches Wingate's glance this time, her eyebrows shooting up. "I can get someone to paint you a portrait of me. It'll last longer than the glances you keep stealing."
Wingate bites the inside of his cheek and nods once, unsure of what to say; however, he still does not look away.
Poppy stares back at him, her hand pausing on the page. "Got something green stuck in my teeth? Some mud on my cheek?" she asks him, reaching up to pick at her canines.
Wingate slowly shakes his head, still staring.
Poppy shrugs, then. "Guess I'm just pretty," she answers, looking down as she continued to scribble.
Wingate snorts and coughs at the same time, a strange noise escaping from his mouth.
Poppy looks up again. "Should clear out whatever's stuck in your throat."
Wingate squints at the woman as if he needed spectacles. "Who /are/ you?"
Poppy snaps her book shut. It's very worn and tattered. "I'm just a girl here for a drink."
Wingate takes a step forward. "I don't believe that."
Poppy shrugs nonchalantly. "Then don't believe it. I don't care."
Wingate folds his arms across his chest and continues to stare, trying to make some sort of connection. "How did you know all of those things?" He realizes that he's speaking too loudly, and so moves forward once more. "I know most of the so-called 'lurkers' in Bree."
Poppy shrugs. "I saw them. I was here," she answers, as if that was the dumbest question she's ever heard in her entire life. She puts her book away, picking up her ale.
Wingate unsuccessfully tries to catch a glimpse at her book. He looks frustrated. "You're not... spreading this information, are you?"
Poppy raises her eyebrows, as if he finally caught her interest. "You don't want your friend to know you beat up a poor boy barely out of childhood until he was almost dead? Is he dead, by the way? I haven't seen him since."
Wingate winces hard. "Please, stop." He shakes his head and speaks quietly. "No, he's not dead."
Poppy presses her lips together and looks him over. "I'm not here to ruin your life with your friends. I don't care about it. You shouldn't take someone's teasing to mean you're that special to a stranger," she replies, evidently amused still.
Wingate raises and drops his arms, confused. "I don't know why you approached me last night, then, if you don't care. You're just as cruel as I am if you take pleasure in all of this."
Jessicya walked into the inn in her normal cheerful mood, keys and set of handcuffs swinging slightly from her belt Watchers badge agleam as it caught the the light
Poppy lifts her brows. "Cruel to poke fun at you for being mean to a little girl you're no better than? As cruel as beating a child? No, it's not comparable." She withdraws her book again, flipping it open. "I'm not spreading around whatever I know, if that's what you're so worried about. It's not in my interests."
Wingate looks back as the door opens and closes. He hears more words escape from the woman's mouth and instantly shies away. "If you're not interested, shut up about it."
Poppy shrugs her shoulders at him. "I wasn't talking about it. You couldn't stop staring at me," she muses, pursing her lips as she flips through the pages.
Wingate looks back and forth rapidly between the Watchwoman and the lurker, conflicted. He walks quickly back to the hearth with his head down, not glancing back even a single time.
Jessicya raised her eyebrows at the scene she'd walking into "Pardon me for intruding but whats going on, whats this about a beating?"
Poppy and Wingate both say, "Nothing."
Jessicya sighed and looked to the floor her good mood vanishing instantly she'd look up annoyed "I heard you say something about a beating" glancing to the woman "As an officer of the Watch thats something, I take seriously"
Wingate whirls around. "We were talking about a meeting, not a beating. For our..." He glances at the book in the lurker's hands. "Our book club."
Poppy rolls her eyes. "I don't care if you're an officer of the Watch. You just heard a spat between old lovers about things years ago."
Wingate nods vigorously. "It makes our gatherings very awkward."
Poppy gestures toward him. "I know, you're probably thinking 'him?'? I get it. I was like, sixteen summers old. I try to forget about it."
Wingate narrows his eyes at the lurker. "Hmph."
Poppy very loudly whispers to her. "Not much going for him downstairs, if you catch my meaning.
Wingate shakes his fist at her. "See what I have to deal with, Watcher?!" Poppy holds up two fingers with about an inch between them.
Jessicya started to become agrivated at the lack of co-operation she'd glance at the man now "Please don't take me for a fool I heard you, I'm going to ask one more time what is going on?" said in her best *don't test me voice*
Poppy says, "Sexual tension is what's going on."
Wingate says, 'That is a lie! I will drop my trousers right now to prove it to you.'
Jessicya says, 'You most certainly will not'
Poppy snaps her book shut and puts it away, finishing her ale. "In fact, we should go hash out that tension right now, you know? Obviously can't stay here in this fine establishment for it. We should be on our way."
Wingate nods begrudgingly. "Yes, that is wise. Good day, Watcher." He walks towards the door.
Poppy quickly follows after Wingate, yelling over her shoulder. "Many rounds!" Poppy runs down the steps and around the building. Wingate follows quickly.
- after a very intense game of hide and seek and several minutes of running -
Poppy collapses in the field, out of breath. "Look what you did."
Wingate crouches over with his hands on his knees, panting hard. "Bad... timing..."
Poppy flops onto her back, breathing heavy. "Think she's... gave up?"
Wingate drags his feet over to the corner of the building, peering out. "I'll look." He wheezes and spits into the bush. Poppy sits up, her face pink from the running. Wingate beats on his chest for a moment, trying to suppress a coughing fit. "Don't see her."
Poppy stands, nodding quickly. "Great. Great."
Wingate inhales deeply, beginning to catch his breath. "What now? ... We can't go back."
Poppy rubs the back of her neck. "I don't know."
Wingate squints, still crouched over. "Why did you help me?"
Poppy says, "To help /myself/. I used you. Yeah, that's all."
Wingate says, 'You didn't exactly have anything to run from. You could have easily given me up and gotten away.'
Poppy shrugs her shoulders. "I don't like authority."
Wingate sighs obnoxiously. "Fine, don't tell me why." He wipes the beads of sweat from his forehead and looks around. "This is fantastic, just great."
