After walking the whole of the village proper, Ryou found himself lured into the welcoming depths of what appeared to be the finest eatery he'd seen thus far. He'd grown rather accustom to the random cries of "G'day, M'lord Atsushi." or "It's good to see you again young master." somewhere along the way after leaving the third shop he'd taken upon himself to visit.

So it was thus that he was led to a quiet corner table adorned with a stylish array of flowers as its centerpiece and a place setting that his mother would have drooled over. Comfortably lit by flickering candles strategically placed about the area, the small haven within the building brought a smile to his lips and a quick polite thank you to the air when ushering hands settled him into one of the two chairs set opposite of each other at the table.

Packages: A small wooden box containing a slew of finely crafted jewelry, several bags whose depths concealed gowns of varying shades and hues, and a single plain box that carried no marking save for the clumsily tied hemp coiled around it, found their way to the floor by his side. Settled upon the well-trodden boards covered in rushes, his ill-gotten gains came to rest finally.

When the prettily blushing waitress inquired as to what he would like to drink with his meal, Ryou smiled and gave into the little devil whispering in his ear. “A bottle of your finest wine.” Not that’d he drink the rotgut, but it would be one more bill the boy he was impersonating would have to tally up.

Too busy portraying the high life, Ryou failed to notice another young soul slip through the door. Atsushi had been having an interesting day so far, and a rather surprising one at that. He had to say one thing, whomever he had been tracking was very methodological in cleaning out each shop.

He paused just inside the doorway drawing confused glances from the staff. Ah. This must be the right place.

"My lord," the waitress stammered, stopping short in front of him, bottle in his hand. "Is everything all right? I can see if there's a better vintage? I know that--"

Atsushi quirked an eyebrow, taking the bottle from her hands and looking it over. One more expense tacked on the fare. "This will be fine. Thank you."

Best to stop this now before he got out of hand, with deliberate steps he moved towards the back of the tavern.

Ryou supposed he should probably be ashamed of his actions. However, he didn’t have it in his heart to feel sorry for just one more of the many English nobs he was fleecing. Not when damn near all of them had such a grand old time belittling him for his heritage whenever the gypsy ran across their paths.

How ironic that his face would be the cause of such a merry revenge. He settled back into his seat, mentally ran through the many items he’d picked up for his mother and smiled. She wasn’t going to be happy that he’d pulled a con without the approval of the Baro but she would absolutely adore the softness of the clothing he would hand her upon entering their wagon later tonight.

Lost in his musings, he never noticed the arrival of Atsushi or his impending doom.

The wine bottle hit the table with a heavy thunk intent on drawing Ryou's attention to the present. Hair tied back and away from his face, Atsushi blinked getting a good look at his imposter. Well now, this was interesting. He was expecting a fair passing resemblance but this was simply beyond comprehension. Even so it made little difference given the circumstances.

One hand on the hilt of his sword, he looked down at the stranger. "First off," he started, "I believe you're in my seat."

Startled out of his musings, Ryou’s chair dropped to the floor, legs hitting the boards with a sound that closely resembled the one that shattered the nice silence he’d been basking in.

Uhoh! Busted! Was all he could think before startled eyes identical to those staring down at him latched onto a visage that could have been his, almost as if he were looking into a living reflection of himself.

The instinctive urge to run though born in haste and derived from a healthy sense of self-preservation started to die away with each second that past—seconds he spent raking his startled gaze over the doppelganger in front of him.

Bloody fucking ‘ell.

From the color of his hair, to the exact slenderness of his wrist and even the shape of well-toned legs outline by clinging trousers—they were identical. Well, almost. This boy’s hair was shorter than his It was probably a by-product of his upbringing. But still…

“Am I?” He’d been playing Lord of the Manor for hours but now the curtain had lowered and risen on whole new stage. Which cued the arrival of the imp his kumpania was familiar with. “Are you so stingy that you’d steal my seat when you can see there’s another free, gadjo?

Atsushi quirked an eyebrow at the term, continuing to stare at the other boy.  He had to be one of them.  It was hardly the first time a band of wanders (lazy scheming thieves the lot of them) had found their way into the village.  However, circumstances had never been like this before.

"Somehow," Atsushi started with a small smile.  He had the advantage after all.  It was his town, and a tavern he was far too familiar with. There were only two exits one in the back with the cook, the other would be through him and out the front door.  "I doubt you'll invite me to sit down."

He absently wondered if this stranger who looked just like him knew just how much he hated being predictable. “Oh yea of little faith,” He chided, hand lifting to wave toward the vacant chair. “Do have a seat. Take a load off, after all I’m sure I’ve led you on a merry chase around the village.”

Ryou was blatantly unrepentant for the crimes he’d committed and it showed.

"That is," Atsushi looked at the chair but made no effort to sit, "one way of putting it."

He'd visited many people this afternoon all of them displaying the same confusion. It hadn't taken long to figure out what was going on. Atsushi would have preferred the idea that the entire town had gone mad. However, if that were indeed the case, he was fast on his way to joining them. "Might I inquire as to your name?"

"You can inquire, however. I won't guarantee that I'll answer, or even if I do, that it will be my name." Ryou frowned, his jovial mask slipping a tad to reveal the surge of anger he felt at the silent denial of his invitation. "What's a matter gadjo? Afraid the evil gypsy will taint you if you share a table with him?"

"No," Atsushi answered evenly. Apparently the direct approach was getting him nowhere, however it didn't stop his blunt observation. His words were filled with neither accusation, nor insult, as if merely relaying what had been said. "Honestly, I think if I sit down the 'evil gypsy' will make a break for the door."

Ryou snorted. "Right. And go where? Back to the caravan that's going to be parked outside the village for two weeks." Really, this boy wasn't very bright at all. "They'd all take one look at you when showed up searching for me, ask you why the hell you cut your hair and throw you to working with Sheba." His grin grew once again and stormy eyes filled with mirth. "You'd be shoved into her cage, left to your own devices and she'd probably eat you alive."

He paused in the tale he was weaving, long enough to feel just a smattering of guilt for denying the boy a simple thing. Ryou already knew his name. Or rather he knew enough of it to know what to call him by besides his favored 'gadjo'.

"Ryou Kisarazu."

But then again-- He could be lying.

Gypsies weren't a class known for their honesty. Reputation was against Ryou in this case, and oh the stories Atsushi had heard. Tales of traveling thieves and cheating scoundrels, truly the dregs of society caring for nothing at all beyond their own person.

If Ryou was hoping to catch a reaction, Atsushi made sure to disappoint. He moved slightly pulling out the empty chair, ducking his head forward as he sat down. "And your father?" he questioned?

He froze for a moment, flinching away from the question. "Who knows? She doesn't speak of him and I," He pushed away from the table, obviously intending to leave since the topic of their conversation was one he didn't want to touch on. Half way out of his seat he stopped and looked at the boy seated in front of him. Really looked at him. "And I don't ask." He didn't want to know. In fact, Ryou was sure he knew all he needed to about the bastard who had spawned him -- He wasn't there.

"Do you have a name besides: My Lord, Young Master, M'lord Atsushi, Lord Atsushi... Or Oh My God, It's Him" He finished on a perfect note of the squealing enthusiasm he'd heard fall from more than one female mouth that day.

Atsushi winced slightly, tilting his head and scratching just behind his ear. "I do believe you've captured the inflection of that." Noisily, he stood, obviously not intent on letting Ryou leave sans packages or not. Once again he was blocking Ryou's path, something that seemed to be a pattern at the moment.

"And I also don't believe you minded one bit this afternoon, did you?"

Ryou shrugged absently. Did Atsushi expect him to walk away from temptation? Him? The very thought was laughable. Hell would freeze over first or demons would walk the golden streets of paradise. "Temptation's a nasty thing. Especially when people start shoving things at you."

Heh. The gadjo was going to be difficult. Wasn't it just like an English nob?

Ryou shook his head in exasperation, scooped up his packages and stepped back to skirt around the other side of the table. "Plan on following me home like a lost puppy?"

"Actually," Atsushi countered, falling into stride with him. "Since you seem to have done all my errands.. I suggest a different venue." Atsushi's hand fell to the grip of his sword, perpetually on his guard, but also to reinforce the point.

If Ryou wanted a fight, he could have one. But it would be awfully difficult to do so holding all the packages he seemed so intent on keeping.

His brow rose in a haughty arch. "Are all gadjos so quick to invite violence?"

And thus the whole of their audience caught sight of the two boys and whispers began to rise upon the air. How was it possible? Were they related? one old woman wondered of the one next to her. Cousins? Na, the blood would be too thin. A cousin might look a little like another but not identical. In fact The other gray-haired biddy started to retort, voice rising on each note.

"Brothers? Possible. Possible. Twins, even?"

Ryou only half listening to the new rumors starting to circulate made his way to the door, fully aware of the boy by his side. He only stopped long enough to cast the hostess a brilliant smile and a teasing wink.

"Put it," He referred to the bottle of wine he'd ordered. "On his bill." His head tilted to indicate his stalker.

"Madeline," Atsushi corrected, wondering just when this game would grow tiring. The town was already talking and this would be news for day. "Put it back, if you would?"

The hostess smiled weakly, as if trying not to seem like things hadn't just grown incredibly odd.

"In a hurry?" Atsushi inquired. There weren't many places Ryou could run to. He said it himself, unless he wanted to hide out for the next two weeks options were few and far between

"Not particularly." Ryou countered as he slipped out the door ahead of Atsushi. Navigating the street, he headed toward the outskirts of the village. "However, she's waiting and if I don't check in she'll annoy the Baro and then I'll never hear the end of it." He was beginning to wander if Atsushi planned on following him all the way or would he grow tired at some point?

"Not that I mind, but they won't welcome you. Being nobility and all, they'll see you as a threat." Somewhere along his little speech, earlier words came back to haunt him. "What did you mean by another venue?"

Stepping in front of his path, Atsushi hoped to draw him up short. "I mean," he clarified, "I have no intention to going to your camp and given that you're in my town, and carrying my belongings, well, we're going to my home."

Ryou shifted back, putting space between them. He was of the kind of mind that personal space should be plentiful between him and any gadjo. "Oh, so you want a bunch of stones that only a girl would wear? Or all those pretty little gowns?" Him? Go into the home of some high society brat? The boy was nuts.

”You realize, I’ll probably leave with more in my pockets than when I entered?” And no way in hell was this snot-nosed brat going to stand in his way when he had to at least show up so the old dame wouldn’t panic and think her baby boy was rotting away in some jail cell somewhere.

"That's a risk that I'm willing to take," Atsushi countered. "Are you?"

Ryou thought it over carefully. "Maybe. But I do have to hit the caravan first." He could be very stubborn about some things and this was apparently one of them. “You can wait outside for me,” He started only to stall while his mind mulled over a truly wicked idea. “Or you can take them in to her yourself.”

Atsushi stared back at him evenly, ignoring the growing crowd in the street. "You can do that after, and that's not a suggestion."

Atsushi wasn't about to let Ryou out of his sight, let alone slip back in with those thieves. Nor was he willing to let his good fortune thrown to a pack of wanders. Gracious he might be, there was a limit to hospitality after all.

Ryou stiffened, his eyes narrowing in contempt on his double. "Listen, I don't know how you gadjos go about it. But I don't make my Day worry anymore than she has to. Her life is hard enough. You want to keep me in plain sight of you, fine. Be my guest. But nothing is going to stop me from letting my mother know the big bad nobs haven't eaten me alive."

He was already moving, starting to deposit each gift he'd chosen for the woman awaiting his return along the walk way. If it was a fight Atsushi wanted, a fight he would get.

"Unless," He paused when his hand, finally free alighted upon the dagger he always kept at his side. "You want to send someone into the lions den with a message and these." A booted foot nudged the edge of one box.

"What makes you think those are going anywhere?" Atsushi countered, hand gripping the end of his sword. If Ryou's explanation was a plea to soften his heart or a lie to make his escape it wasn't working. If in fact his mother really was a worried poor soul, Atsushi highly doubted her son would be lounging about and idling the day away.

His smile when it came carried no hint of emotion. Cold and chilling it danced across his lips. "Oh, they'll go somewhere. Now, tomorrow, the next day-- eventually they'll go straight where I intended them to." A slow caress of his thumb along the dagger's hilt and Ryou slid it free.

”Do you really want me slipping into your house late at night, while your whole precious family is sleeping? Who knows what I’d do? I could slit their lily-white throats, steal every last prized heirloom or kidnap any one of them and have my wicked way with ‘em. Haven’t you heard the rumors? I’m sure you’re well aware of what gypsies are capable of.”

Damn him. He couldn’t just be docile about this could he? Atsushi was going to force a fight between them that Ryou really didn’t want. Cutting up the boy would be like hurting himself. Something deep inside him balked at the idea so why the hell couldn’t the pansy be just a little more reasonable. Or like most run the other way when confronted with the idea of running across what they viewed as savages.

The words gave Atsushi little pause. Oh it was true, the stories of the gypsies were numerous but none favorable. Truthfully, he was half surprised the boy didn't start adding dark magic and curses to his litany.

Seeing the first steel of the dagger, Atsushi mirrored the image drawing his sword from his scabbard. As he saw it, he had every advantage. The terrain was of little advantage but already there was a crowd drawing, townsfolk clinging to the side of the streets eagerly awaiting some form of entertainment. Besides, a sword would always have longer reach than a knife.

“Bloody fuckin’ ‘ell.” Ryou ground out through gritted teeth as he leapt, slipping into attack mode easily as if the fact they were being watched didn’t faze him at all. He drove the dagger toward the boy’s side without any true intent of harming him while keeping an eye on the sword brandished so easily. If Lady Lucky smiled on him, his blade would never touch that skin since he fully intended to employ one of the oldest and dirtiest tricks used during any fight.

Atsushi was already in motion, not rushing to meet him, but instead, twisting to the side to avoid the blow. He brought his sword around in a low arc, opting for defense at the moment. As long as Ryou didn't get too close the fight should come to a rather quick standstill.

It was that moment that bodies twisted, one into defense mode and the other into yet one more attack that Ryou struck. He swept low to the ground in a swift dive toward his target, hand dragged along loose soil and rock. Scooping up a fistful of it along the way, he made as if it swing the dagger toward his opponent again. The move would have been picture of perfect if he’d followed it through, however. He pulled up short and tossed the debris toward unprotected eyes and uttered a swift prayer to every deity he’d been taught reigned over such things as luck. He really didn’t want to hurt the kid. The very idea was causing his stomach to knot with anxiety and he didn’t have a clue why.

The reaction was instantaneous and Atsushi's defense was broken. His sword stilled raised above his chest as if to ward off an impending blow he couldn't see. His head dropped and with the back of his other hand he began to rub at his eyes.

"Damned coward," he muttered as he blinked his eyes. The colors were swimming and he could make out the ground through his darkened bangs. He stilled, listening for movement or an attack, wondering if Ryou would simply flee.

“I’m,” Ryou growled as he back off, sliding the dagger back into its haven. “Not a coward.” Setting out to gather up the packages, Ryou hesitated when the last one rested safely in his arms. “And I’ll prove it, later.”

And with that he was gone, dashing through the crowd with a speed borne from the knowledge that the woman who’d spent all of his life taking care of him even going so far as to go without so he’d have what he needed was waiting on him. The English twit could go hang himself for all he cared if it bothered him that much.

His eyes stinging but with vision more or less focused, Atsushi watched as Ryou disappeared. He had taken no more than one step forward when already a mass of people had descended on him wanting to know his state and if he was okay.

Squashing down an impulse to push them away and rage after his apparent twin, Atsushi forced himself to stand still. Two weeks he had said. There weren't nearly that many suitable encampments on the outskirts of town. Unless they packed up in the new few minutes, they would still be there. At least, that was what Atsushi was hoping for.