[center][h1][b][color=af002a]Theodore Valentin[/color][/b][/h1][/center][b]//O3 - Entrance area[/b]

After long, arduous months, they finally made it.

The Promised City: Oratorio. Where men gambled with fortune and life alike for promises of riches and glory.
 
The Frontier before the Abyss. Theodore felt that persistent call, urging him further still, inviting him to delve deeper. A Song of Divinity he was long used to.

He had to ignore it, at least for the moment. There were many practical concerns to be addressed first. He and his companions were weary from the travel. Left with nothing but the clothes on their back. They would need lodgings, equipment, supplies–

“Bath.” That was Maris pitching in. She was holding a wrinkled, cloth tissue to her mouth, nose crinkling in obvious disgust. Theo’s lips quirked in amusement. [color=af002a]“The river wasn’t good enough for you?”[/color] he teased. He, too, was unused to the poverty, the wilderness, the utterly squalid circumstances surrounding them at the moment. But with his higher calling buoying him, Theo was doing far better than the vampire princess.

There was an abrupt hacking, heaving noise. The doctor of the group, Jaxon, was leaning over by the walkway, on the verge of throwing up. “I – I n-need…” Unseeingly, his free hand grasped around for something. Theo sighed lightly. This man. If he weren’t useful, Theodore didn’t think he would tolerate him.

Sana felt a sort of kinship with him, however, and searched her inner pockets for something. She dragged out a badly worn, small pouch of herbs, and handed it over to the physician. Though it was surely stale by now, and nearly odorless, Jaxon breathed it in like it was his lifeline.

Ezra curled his lip, a belittling glare settling on the weakling. Theo intercepted the gaze, shrugging in a ‘what can you do’ manner, a glimmer of knowing amusement in his eyes. Ezra allowed himself to be distracted. “We need cash,” he stated the obvious. 

Theo chuckled. [color=af002a]“Shouldn’t you of all people know how to get by ‘round these parts, pretty boy?”[/color] Heated anger crept into the murderer’s cheeks, colouring them a faint hue of red. Yet there was a hint of something else there, too. Hunger, maybe. Anticipation. “I’m not like this [i]filth[/i],” he spat out. Theodore locked gazes with him, and felt a delicious sort of tension building, the thrill of what might be. But then, the man clicked his tongue, and dropped it.

Theodore hummed, only slightly disappointed. Then, his eyes swept the surroundings, assessing. Predatory. [color=af002a]“Well, since we need money–”[/color]

“No.” That was Sana, giving him that annoying self-righteous look. [color=af002a]“I haven’t said anything yet,”[/color] the dhampir pointed out, and got an eyeroll for it. “You don’t need to,” she scoffed. “Listen…let’s not immediately lower ourselves to the likes of common thugs, yeah?” She glanced at Arnfinn worriedly. 

The cambion child was hovering near the dhampir, as was his wont. He’d stood there gaping at the City of Legends. He’d been drawn to the pretty, glamorous sight of The Royal Road. Now, however, he was worriedly turning from one adult to the other. He was a sensitive kid. “L-let’s not argue,” he mumbled quietly.

Theo smiled down at the boy fondly. [color=af002a]“We weren’t.”[/color] Not yet. He reached out, ruffling the child’s hair. The adolescent startled, tensing for a moment, but relaxed almost immediately. Even after a year of accompanying him, Arnfinn still got startled easily, but he had shown remarkable progress in Theodore’s opinion. Now, the boy was shyly smiling up at him, embarrassed yet pleased at the attention.

The dhampir knew Sana thought they were bad company for the kid. Yet, Arnfinn had decided on his own to follow Theo, even when given the option to remain behind with Theodore’s mother. Besides, it’s not as if the cambion didn’t know what kind of a person he was. The kinds of people they all were.

Having come to a decision, Theodore beckoned to his rag-tag group. [color=af002a]“Right, then. Let’s see if there’s any ‘honest work’ for our sensitive pals there,”[/color] he nodded at the witch and doctor. [color=af002a]“Who knows? Maybe this city’s got more [i]fair[/i] than you’d think by looking at it.”[/color] He laughed, a tad longer than he needed for.

Still, he didn’t mind indulging the two among them who weren’t really cut out for dirty work.

[color=af002a][i]Yet.[/i][/color]

As they proceeded onwards, however, he gave a signal to Ezra and Maris. Theodore and the two of them would be looking for marks. For targets. 

Maybe they’d even be lucky enough for an opportunity to come across them without looking too hard. It was nothing if not a Wheel of Fortune, Oratorio.