Blake squinted her eyes and placed a hand over her forehead to shield out the sun's rays that spread across Tirion city. In her other hand she held a small bag. It carried a scarce amount of silver coins and a few items she had already bought. Well, she didn't necessarily buy them herself, but that wasn't the point. She stood alone in the populated city as she took in her surroundings. The gentle breeze swayed the short skirt of her dress and pushed her blonde hair behind her shoulders. Her parents had sent their halfling daughter to the city in order for her to pick up a few items they had requested. Her father gave her a strict amount of coins to prevent her from buying anything they had not told her too, yet Blake had already gotten a new pair of shoes, a beautiful wool cloak for the approaching winter months, and a few other small things here and there. She hadn't spent a coin on any of it. How one might ask? People were predictable, especially young males that had plenty of money to spend.

However, she had yet to find a new outfit for her to buy. While the one she was wearing now was perfectly acceptable and even considered quite new, she knew that she wouldn't be satisfied with her trip until she had complete her set. Wandering around the streets, she returned the smiles of the bashful boys that made eye contact with the halfling. Although, she didn't stop to talk to any of them as that wasn't how the game worked. Stopping in front of a sparkling clothes store, Blake admired the prestige of it's exterior. It was obvious that only the highest of class shopped here.

"Perfect." she mischievously mumbled to herself before pulling open the door.

Upon immediate entrance, a fancy human man dressed in a suit and tie that carried a name tag representing the store on his chest met his dull eyes with hers. He seemed to examine her as if determining if she was worthy enough to be inside this store. He took note of her rather small, leather bag that she had slung over her back. He also seemed to be overall suspicious of Blake as she couldn't hide the fact that she was from the middle of nowhere in Corith with a family that had little to no money.

"Excuse me, dear, but are you sure you're in the right store?" his voice was definitely just as condescending as his comment. Blake exhaled before putting on her facade for the man.

He was definitely at least five years older than her, but nevertheless she approached the desk that the man stood at and leaned against it while mindlessly twirling a lock of hair before replying, "Is it that obvious that I'm new around here?" she let a small giggle masking the lie, "Maybe you can help me find an outfit to try on and then I can answer your question."


The man's demeanor seemed to immediately change with this and he responded with a surprised laugh.

"Why of course, miss. What would you like to try on today?" he moved from around the desk to where he was standing in front of Blake. He seemed eager to help her now.

Playfully shoving his arm, she gave him a bright smile, "Well, what do you want to see me in?" With this, the man's face immediately dusted over in a light shade of red and he seemed pretty shocked and stood there a minute before replying.

"Uh--" the sudden sound of another worker caught his attention as she called out his name.

"Jackson! Where did you put the blue thread?" An upset woman had her arms folded and glared in their direction.

The man, or Jackson, seemed to sigh in disappointment as he turned back to Blake, "I'll be right back. You stay here and then we can pick up this conversation." he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a flirty smile before turning away.

Although, it was short lived as he quickly turned back to face her, "Oh where are my manners!? I never caught your name!"

"Blake." she answered staying in the spot he had left her.

"A lovely name for a lovely girl." he winked before hurrying off to his annoyed coworker.

As soon as he was out of sight, Blake nearly gagged before brushing off her shoulder in an attempt to get rid of the lingering feeling of his hand on it. She never said her job was fun. Ignoring Jackson's request, she immediately wandered through the store dragging a hand across the dresses that lined the racks. She didn't even bother looking at the price tags as she admired some of the outfits that caught her eye. The sudden voice of the woman from earlier caught her attention as she glanced through the clothes to see her talking with an elf that looked to be the same age as Blake. Well, he more than likely wasn't as elves hardly age, but that didn't really matter. Blake examined his clothes and the way he carried himself. He had asked the woman to grab him a very expensive looking suit and she also took note of the gesture he gave the worker before she left. Blake didn't plan on waiting for Jackson to come back, and she knew she had to make accommodations. Leaving her post unnoticed, the halfling continued to go through the aisles until she turned the corner where the elf was. She purposefully made a sharp turn around the corner while looking distracted so that the act could be as authentic as possible.

Nearly crashing into him, Blake stopped herself with a palm in front of her to create a barrier between her face and his back. She gave a bashful look to act like it was on accident, "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there!" She made herself seem flustered and embarrassed for her "mistake" as she frantically brushed herself off. 

With the skimpy reply, Blake gave a coy smile as she glanced at her feet. While it was still just an act for her, the new victim was relatively good looking which at least made her actions come more naturally. Although, it would be a lie if Blake didn't say she was slightly disappointed that the elf didn't give her much more than a small comment. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but quickly recovered as she realized he was waiting for her reply. It was rather obvious he had at least somewhat caught onto her game, which thoroughly threw the halfling for a loop. Whatever, that just meant she had to step it up a notch. Glancing at what he was holding, she noted the silk tie that he had in his hand. Cheerfully changing her attitude, Blake side stepped over to the tie to inspect it herself.

"Hey! My brother has a tie just like this one!" she gently placed a palm on the soft material just above the elf boy's own hand.

Maybe that wouldn't have been a lie if her brother wasn't dead. 

"He's always been better at picking stuff out than me, but he isn't here right now--so I guess I'll have to figure out how to make do without him." she threw out the small bait in hope he'd maybe take it. 

Glancing back up at her current target, she met eyes with him as if she was just nonchalantly speaking her own thoughts aloud. Blake wasn't as easily able to read his expression as her other victims. Something was different about this elf. Maybe she'd actually find a worthy opponent, but that was still a long shot at this point.

"Are you going to buy it for yourself?" she skipped over her previous statements to make it seem trivial, but knew they were still out there for easy grabs.  

Blake had nearly forgotten she didn't even have a brother considering she was so enthralled in the conversation. She nodded in agreement to his comment before letting the tie go. She pretended not to be waiting in anticipation before he took up her underlying offer. While she wasn't actually surprised, Blake put on her best disguise as her fake shock dissolved into a delighted smile.

"That's a very generous offer." she decided to allow herself to have a little more fun as she decided this wouldn't go like her normal schemes, "While you probably won't be a perfect replacement for my brother, I'm sure you'll suffice."

Her normally shallow facade slipped a bit after the comment and she replaced her light smile with a playful smirk. Blake couldn't help but find entertainment with this new stranger, and as he gave her a crooked smile she wondered if there might have been a slight possibility she was warming up to him. Not like she'd ever admit this, and even if it were the case there was no way she was going to let him win at her own game. Listening to his answer to her question, she gave a small shrug in response.

"Quite a shame I'd love to see you in it."

Although that wasn't the part that tripped her up. It was the part afterwards. Was this elf boy somehow reading her mind? Can elves do that? Blake attempted to recover as he took the upper hand from the small remark. She wished she could just straight out compliment him on his technique, but she refused to let him know that she felt like she may have met a worthy opponent. Her outward appearance acted as if she was unaffected by his sly comment and she willingly accepted his friendly gesture.

"Nice to meet you, Alex. I'm Blake--Stark." she returned the handshake as she botched her attempt to mirror his exceptional etiquette.

Her immediately shortening his name was probably a mistake on her part. It poked a few holes in the usual superficial part she always played. This was posing to be more of a challenge than usual.

"Well, lead the way, Alexander." she corrected her past mistake skillfully as if it never happened.

The chivalrous gesture most certainly caught Blake off guard, but she quickly read through the smirk plastered on Alex's face. No need to be cockadoodledooy. Not giving him the satisfaction of the bold move, she merely raised an eyebrow before rewarding him with a discerning look. However, it was gone in a flash and one would've missed it in the blink of an eye. This was a worthwhile test of her ability to outdo someone with actual charisma. It was hard to say if she was out of practice with this considering the previous boys she messed with in the just the past week were bland and completely devoid of any interesting personality traits whatsoever. Alex was a welcome change. Although, she'd dig her own grave before she let him show her up.

His reply to her mishap seemed to confirm her previous thought. So he had to of had at least half a brain to pay attention, huh? Impressive, but it severely put a damper in Blake's usual tactics. Looked like she had to throw in a little improv. 

"As one is when they're shopping buddies!" she piped cheerfully, "Good luck with that."

She was confident Alex's skills didn't reach that height. Taking up his invite for her to follow him, Blake wasn't sure what to expect. If this boy led her to some ugly stone age outfit, she would straight up lose faith in anything promising in this world. Although, her worries were put at ease as he picked out a beautiful pea coat dress that immediately captivated her. Blake had to stop herself from looking too impressed as she carefully took the dress from an obviously satisfied Alex.

"No objection here." she said mindlessly as she placed the dress over her arm, still admiring the shiny gold buttons.

Returning to her previous composure, Blake gave a mischievous smile, "Well what are we waiting for?"

Quickly pivoting on her heels, she left Alex behind her as she briskly made her way to the small rooms designated for trying things on. Not caring enough to inform the staff, Blake chose one of the many unoccupied rooms after she basically challenged the lady behind the counter to stop her. It seemingly worked as the worker begrudgingly wrote something down on the paper on the counter top.

Before disappearing completely, she glanced at Alex, dress in tow, "You wait right there." she gave him a commanding point as if he was a dog.

Now inside the room, Blake was alone. She considered her situation quickly before reentering the game. If this were another situation, she would've turned tail and ran considering her inability to have complete control over it. Although she was actually having...fun? Maybe, who knows, Blake most certainly didn't, but she was bored and now had a pretty dress to try on for a rather intriguing elf that was waiting for her. Not the normal situations she found herself in, but hey let's see how this turns out.

After changing, Blake flattened down the beige dress before walking out of the dressing room. Giving the skirt a confident twirl, she meet Alex's eyes curious of his reaction. He seemed to be full of surprises up until now, and as hard as it was to admit it, she did slightly crave for his approval. Maybe. 'No definitely not,' she thought as she mentally told herself to pull it together. Of course she looked great in the dress. If Alex said anything other than that he was obviously lying.

Blake beamed, giving an actual, genuine smile as Alex complimented her. The demeanor she started the day with had eroded away significantly as she continued to spend time with the elf. Her ignorance showed through as she completely missed the worker swooning over Alex, however, considering she was too busy admiring the dress. It wasn't like she commonly dealt with other girls becoming jealous over who she chose to play her little games with anyways. It was usually the other way around. 

Although, Blake's smile faltered as Alex gave an abrupt departure with a quick comment mentioning the register. Wait. That wasn't how this worked he couldn't just do that. Growing upset over realizing how she was failing her mission, she gave a frustrated puff and crossed her arms. 'Congrats, you let him beat you at your own game." she scolded herself for being so stupid and letting herself slip during the game. Wallowing in her sorrows for a minute longer where she had been left alone, Blake decided that she wasn't going to accept defeat just yet. Not even caring to change out of the dress, she began to make her way to the register as she listened in on the distant encounter. She heard the lady mention about something being on sale and heard an obnoxiously over accentuated laugh from her following it. 

Picking up her pace to a dauntless saunter, Blake watched Alex and the worker's exchange before he left the suit behind to wander back into the store. Wait! Where was he going! Stopping abruptly at the register, Blake realized she might have dug herself into a hole.

'It's fine. Just keep her busy until you come up with a plan.' Blake reassured herself as she confidently opened her mouth to speak.

Although, she was immediately cut off by the worker's glare slicing through her like daggers. What was her problem? She hadn't even said anything to the lady yet! Considering the exchange she caught a glimpse of, the lady seemed overly friendly with Alex. Blake assumed that they were friends and tried to stick to that, but deep down she felt like it was a different case. She did recognize the flirty signals the worker gave off when talking to him. Who does she think she is? Hm, what was this feeling Blake was experiencing? She felt...threatened? Jealous perhaps? --No definitely not if anything the old hag should be jealous of her! Despite choosing to turn a blind eye to her unintended bond she somehow developed with elf boy, Blake still considered this a new challenger in the ring. Now she was playing for something much more important than a boy. She was fighting for her dignity. Let the games begin.

Her competition however got the first move in, "Oh but as for...you," the lady seemed to size up Blake before throwing poison into the word, "That dress is 450. Do you need to wait for your parents to come back to pay for it?"

Oh ho oh, this woman was quite bold, but she obviously made the mistake of underestimating Blake. 

Giving an innocent smile, Blake kept it coy while she struggled to keep a grasp on her composure. It was important not to bite back...no one likes a petty--well you know.

"I think you've made a mistake. The dress was actually listed at 350." whether it be 450 or 350, she still didn't have a quarter of that amount to pay for it, but she wasn't blind or stupid for that matter. She knew that this chick was lying.

"It's 450." the hag replied with a curt statement, obviously growing impatient, "Now, if you are unable to pay that then I must ask you to put the dress back immediately. We only allow potential buyers to try on clothes."

Blake had her arms crossed and gave the lady a bewildered look. Was she that pathetic? After not receiving a reply, the worker gave a pitiful smile as if she was looking at a homeless child and then used the back of her hand to shoo her off. That's it.

Slamming her palms down on the counter that separated Blake from the worker, she stood on her toes and leaned in to threaten her. "If you have a problem with me then how about you just say it to my face rather than hiding it behind that pretentious act of yours."

The worker took a step back before giving Blake a shocked scoff. "I don't know what you're talking about." she folded her arms defiantly as well, angering Blake even more.

"It's not cute, just tragic to watch." she implied to the act the lady had put on, ending her attack with a fake frown and tilting her head to add to the effect.

This seemed to really spark something in the older woman as her features shaped into anger and she took a step back towards Blake, "You should shut up before you say something you regret, little girl."

"You think I'm scared of you?!" Blake gave her an amused look as she leaned farther across the table.

"Huh, some tough comments coming from a little pest like you." the worker returned the amusing expression.

Blake was practically on top of the counter at this point, "Fine! Let's put that to the test then right here right now you old hag." she shook in fist in the air to emphasize her battle proposal.

The fighting escalated and the worker seemed too caught up in the halfling threatening her that she didn’t catch Alex coming back until it was too late. Blake was too enthralled as well as she raised her fist to make a blow when she felt someone tug her back just as she went to swing. Her hand only came into contact with air and not the expected skull of the enemy. As distance was created between the two, she attempted to retaliate and reach back towards the snobby lady but was easily restrained by Alex as she was placed where he created a barrier between her and the counter. Crossing her arms as Alex angrily turned to the worker, Blake continued to glare at her acting as if the only reason she wasn’t on the floor bleeding was because of the new barrier.

Half expecting to be scolded by him, Blake was pleasantly surprised once Alex instead went off on the lady that was previously flirting with him. The worker seemed petrified as she was called out for her actions and Blake couldn’t help but feel satisfied. She also felt somewhat prideful of her new acquaintance as she couldn’t of phrased his words better herself. This was a surprising new development as Blake didn’t think he had it in him. She happily accepted the new character trait.

After he had finished exposing the woman, Alex announced how he was going to pay for her dress himself. Blake uncrossed her arms and quickly looked at him rather shocked. She had completely forgotten that this was her original goal. Blake was pretty blunt about not caring about coercing money out of others, but this time it was different. She actually felt thankful? All these new emotions felt in one day. Wild.

Her attention on the paid dress was switched to the tie that Alex had added on to the payment. It was the tie she had used to start this chain of events. After processing what had just went down, Blake gathered herself and as she was guided out of the store she gave the worker one last innocent smile and a small, overly sarcastic curtsey.

Once exiting the store, Blake listened as Alex apologized for leaving her behind. He seemed a lot more genuine and it was obvious that he was acting as his true self now.

“I really don’t think you should be apologizing.” She replied rolling her eyes at the thought of the moron that tried her. “Oh and thanks for the dress—I guess.” she tried to express her honest gratitude but it seemed to fall short. Although, if Alex was letting go of his fake facade, then she might as well too.

As Alex placed the silk tie in her hands, Blake took a moment to appreciate the smooth material. While the gesture was simple, it was admittedly sweet of him to consider. This elf boy really was some kind of gentleman aristocrat that Blake couldn’t help but find intriguing. Suddenly realizing what he had said, she nearly forgot about the previous lie.

“Oh I don’t have a brother,” She said straight up in a nonchalant fashion. He’d understand surely. That was an assumption, but Blake never really took much into consideration anyways. “—but I’m sure my father would be thrilled to have such a fancy looking tie.” She just didn’t want to admit that she’d grown a slight emotional attachment it.

Despite being an extremely independent individual (and just as disloyal), Blake did have a tendency to cling inconspicuously to a very select few. Alex seemed to be a promising candidate as she didn’t have any intent to flee in the opposite direction like normal.

Her smile returning at the suggestion, Blake nodded enthusiastically, “I’d be absolutely delighted to.” Her reply was purposefully over formal and she raised her chin to emphasis it.