Paintings for Sale

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #1

After the events that occurred in Goa Kingdom, Gabriel led his party composed of Danielle, Namkhai, and Beast back to their ship, where he immediately ordered to set sail, leaving the young treasure huntress to set the course towards the island where she had arranged an appointment with a buyer for her paintings.

On the first day, Gabriel wasn´t really present on the upper deck, retreating to the solitude of his own cabin, with the only beast as his company. During this time, he left his second in command, Namkhai in charge of Danielle´s training, skipping even all meals.

He finally emerged the other day in the morning, when the News Coo arrived, paying for the newspapers and several letters he needed to send.

“Anything about us?”

Hariyama asked from the side of their boat where he was sitting with his large fishing rod, trying to get them fresh dinner instead of that beef jerky they packed for the journey.

The Professor however just shook his head in response.

“Nothing, let´s just hope it stays that way. “

Hearing his boss´s remark, Namkhai chuckled.

“Being you, I wouldn´t count on it. I still remember how furious that captain was when she was going after us. If anything, it´s just taking them some time to go through everything you did.”

The Professor frowned but said nothing on that matter. After all, he did what he did fully aware of the potential consequences.

Instead of talking about it, he found Danielle on the deck, heading towards his puppy, with a gentle smile on his face, almost as if his gloomy and dangerous self from yesterday never existed.

“So, what about these paintings? Will you tell me who this buyer is, or is it going to be a secret?”

[Bobbie]

Danielle had a buyer in mind, whom she had stumbled upon by accident but the man displayed incredible interest in the paintings and meeting their seller. In fact, they seemed to be in quite a rush to move forward with the purchase, giving Danielle a very specific address on Mirrorball Island to bring the paintings . Of course, Danielle had no objection, as the faster they could be sold and for as high a price as this man was offering, the better it was for her, and so she set the course of their travels.

Once that was all set, Danielle reluctantly endured more training from Namkhai while Gabriel was out of commission. This time, however, she wasn’t on top of her game, as she would frequently make mistakes that cost her, her mind being elsewhere as something just didn’t feel right. Her mind wandered to all sorts of places during their sessions, thinking about the buyer, about Rosalina, and even Eurydice, who left them with nothing but a message relayed by one of the crew that she was moving on to start a new life in Goa Kingdom. Lastly, she was thinking about Beast and Gabriel, whose behaviour could be described in no other way than brooding.

Now she stood resting on the taffrail on the ships deck, enjoying the breeze in her hair, the loose ponytail of blonde hair hanging over her shoulder. As she heard Gabriel’s voice she looked toward him with a piercing red eye that warmed when she smiled in response to seeing his own gentle smile.

“Nice to see you out of that pit of despair.” She uttered, before turning to have her back to the railing and her elbows resting on it, watching him. “The buyer is somebody named Rhys Marlowe. A businessman, no doubt, very into the arts and international culture, and I believe he’s got several properties to his name on Mirrorball Island. That recent event held at Marlowe Manor was organised by him, but he’s asked us to meet him at this location instead.” Danielle reached into her inner jacket pocket and handed him a folded letter that would read as follows:

 
Dear Daniel,

I am intrigued by the paintings that you have enlisted for sale, and as a show of good faith, I will not be questioning the nature in which they have been obtained. I will also raise your asking price to the amount of 200 million beri for the whole collection, I trust this will be enough to ensure that they are not sold to any other merchant by the time we can proceed with this transaction. This cost should more than cover any expenses of your travels, buy I will be willing to negotiate if the need arises.

However, you will not find me in my manor on Mirrorball Island, but rather at my parlour. The address is included overleaf. Please bring the paintings to me here.

Sincerely,
Rhys Marlowe

Danielle watched Gabriel as she waited for him to return the letter. “He seems to really want them.”

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #2

The Professor ignored Danielle´s remark about the pit of despair and instead listened to what she had to say about the buyer. Honestly, he hoped he would know the name, but he had more knowledge about the art collectors from West Blue than East, so he took the letter and quickly ran his eyes over it.

“Daniel…”

He muttered disapprovingly. He could understand that someone could mistake Daniell for a man when meeting her but addressing her as such during in letter was incredibly disrespectful.

“Ehm…”

As he was returning the letter to its rightful owner, Namkhai cleared his throat, approaching the two of them.

“I know it´s none of my business, but I couldn´t but hear the name you mentioned, Rhys Marlowe, right? Well, you should probably be careful with that one.”

He looked at Danielle.

“Because that guy is a first-class scumbag. He once tried to hire me as his bodyguard, but I bailed when I found out what´s his business all about, racketeering, kidnapping, smuggling, that guy is as bad as they get. I wouldn´t be surprised if he was just trying to lure you somewhere and steal these paintings from you.”

Gabriel frowned. He had no reason to not believe Namkhai and his knowledge of East Blue´s underworld as he has been moving in it for several years.

“Well if that´s the case, I think you should try to find a different buyer.”

He said to the young treasure hunter while trying his best to keep his kind tone, instead of lecturing or commanding one.

“If you want, I can arrange you a deal with one of my acquaintances from the West Blue. It would probably take some time…month or two, but I can guarantee you that it would be a safe deal, unlike this one."

[Bobbie]

“It doesn’t bother me.” The treasure huntress uttered as the disapproval in Gabriel’s tone as he read over the mistake made in the address was impossible to miss, before she continued with a light shrug, “It would be easier to ignore it than have a back and forth to correct a mistake as unimportant as that.”

Danielle took the letter as it was returned to her and glanced at Namkhai who demanded their attention with a brief clearing of his throat. Raising an eyebrow, she watched him, a subtle frown forming on her face as if his words had somehow offended her.

“And you think I’m incapable of looking after myself, is that it?” She asked as she pocketed the note, the reason for the displeased look on her face revealed. Her gaze lowered ever so slightly to eye Namkhai’s form. Of course, it came as no surprise to her that somebody like Namkhai would believe a woman was in need of either his muscles or his wisdom to survive, the typical damsel in distress in need of a big strong hero. However, then the Professor spoke and he seemed to be of the same opinion. Turning to him as her eye narrowed and frown grew deeper, she instantly shook her head.

“No!” She barked, “He’s offering 200 million beri, possibly more if negotiations are played right, and he’s ready to make the deal without any delays!” Pausing for a moment, she tried to be a bit more respectful and sighed. “Thank you, I appreciate your offer, and your…” she looked at Namkhai for just a moment as she quietly muttered “concern…” Turning to look at Gabriel once more, she continued. “But I don’t have a month of two to sit on my hands and wait for somebody to show up and collect stolen paintings - if you've forgotten that fact - that have been in our possession for far too long. We’ve already delayed this long enough, I need these paintings sold and it's happening either with you or without you. I’m sure it will be fine.”

Crossing her arms, she gave the sternest look she could manage to both of them, a frown of steel etched into her features. “We’re not looking for a different buyer.”

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #3

With a resigned sigh, Namkhai shook his head in disagreement.

“No, but I think you are taking unnecessary risks. That guy is really bad news and has a small army of bodyguards on his call, so unless you can fight twenty-something armed men…”

He shrugged.

“You should probably pick a different buyer, or at least take someone with you.”

As he finished these words, Beast perked her ears as if she understood what was going on.

“Woof! Woof!”

She exclaimed while poking Danielle with her wet nose as if she was trying to say: “Pick me! Pick me!”

Gabriel was watching it, visibly worried as Danielle seemed to insist on selling her paintings to that man. From the top of his head, the Professor could say, that he was offering a fair price, maybe even slightly higher than he had to, given the fact it was stolen goods, but he also trusted Namkhai´s expertise on this matter, leaving him with only two options. He could either order his people to change the course of their ship, forcing Danielle to sell these paintings to someone else, or make sure she will be safe during the sale. The first option was probably smarter, but until his people find some clues about the whereabouts of the missing mermaid, he didn´t really have a proper goal, so…

“Alright keep the course towards the Mirrorball Island. When we´ll arrive there, I´ll accompany Danielle…”

“Wooo?”

Beast howled her question, tilting her head to the side. Gabriel sighed, for someone, who usually acted as dumb and clueless Beast really understood way too well when it suited her.

“I and Beast will accompany Danielle to Mr. Marlowe, to make sure everything goes as it should.”

In reaction to his words, Beast happily howled while Namkhai shook his head in disagreement, but stayed silent, respecting his master´s decision.

“That´s not negotiable.”

Gabriel added for the young treasure hunter just to make sure that at least for him her safety was more important than these money.

[Bobbie]

As Namkhai continued to make his case, the stern look on Danielle’s face wavered. She desperately needed the money, but she wasn’t delusional. There was absolutely no way she could go up against twenty trained men, armed or not, and if her training with this juggernaut taught her nothing else, it certainly taught her that. Yet these risks were not unnecessary. She was racing against the clock and she had set a very high bar for herself - Rosalina's family was incredibly rich, earning enough riches to be able to offer her a wealthier life than they could seemed nearly impossible. What was worse was that she had no guarantee that all the riches in the world would be enough to please Rosalina's father, as even then he might refuse. If so, then all of this would have been for nothing,

Already beginning to nod to Namkhai's suggestion of having somebody join her, Beast seemed to come out of nowhere and started poking her with her wet nose. Danielle smiled and chuckled, diverting her attention to the lovely malamute as her hands instinctively ran through her fur, a welcome distraction to ease the tension in the air. “Of course you will come with me if the Professor allows it, I would never go anywhere without you unless I have no other choice.” She said in a childish tone as she scratched from the scruff of the animal’s neck all the way up to behind her ears.

Danielle’s show of affection slowed down when she heard Gabriel’s words and she turned to look at him, resuming the nod that she had started earlier before being interrupted by Beast.

“Okay.” Danielle agreed in an instant and didn’t even try to argue. "Understood, I would appreciate that, but remember how badly I need this money..." she added in fear of Gabriel doing something creepy to chase the man away, then she glanced at Namkhai and offered a gentle smile. She considered asking him to tag along as well, but assumed Gabriel and Beast would be enough. If they weren’t, she had no doubt that Namkhai would be the first to sound the alarm and come find them when they didn’t return.

“Just don’t take off without us if we don’t return.” It was partly a joke, but partly not, since the Professor has given the order to leave him behind before she worried that it might be done again.

“Who could lay a hand on me with the gorgeous Beast by my side, anyway, huh?” Spinning around to face Beast again, she ruffled her fur as Danielle's arms wrapped around the fluffy creature. You should have given him a more sincere thank you… she couldn’t help thinking to herself while her hands were busy with the massive doggo.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #4

With their plan set, the crew could return back to their everyday duties and responsibilities, which meant taking care of their two boats and martial arts training. True to his sobriquet, the Professor guided everyone through their training, giving extra care to Danielle as he felt that the moment when she´ll try to leave them was getting close and he wanted her as prepared for the dangers of the world as possible.

The Mirrorball Island wasn´t that far away from their position, so, after ten days of sailing through the calm waters of the East Blue, they arrived at its shore. Their arrival in one of the many ports caused some serious uproar, because of Sigrid as no one saw a real giant there before. The giantess was a bit disheartened by the way people were reacting to her presence, but in Gabriel´s eyes, it was for the better as her drawing all the attention to herself lowered the chance someone would recognize Namkhai or Hariyama, the two wanted members of their group.

After securing their boats in the port and paying the docking fee, Beast rushed to the pier, followed by her master, who was giving the last instruction to his subordinates, before leaving with Danielle.

“Very well, you know the rules. Try to keep a low profile, don´t get yourselves into any troubles, and wait for our return.”

Most of the M.A.R.I. members reacted with a simple nod or grunt, except Sigrid who asked

“And what if troubles find us? Because I already spent several weeks on this little thing and am not willing to sit on it any longer than necessary and these puny humans won´t stop me from stretching my legs, no matter what they say!”

Gabriel sighed. While he understood her need for some action it was especially Sigrid who should keep her head down as much as possible, but then…he didn´t think it would be fair for him to force her to sit there and do nothing either.

“As I said…”

He continued.

“Try to stay out of trouble and if troubles find you, anyway, leave us a message and move the ships elsewhere.”

As Sigrid nodded happily in response, taking one large step towards the mainland, making several bystanders scream in fear, Professor Moon turned to Danielle with a kind smile on his face.

“Alright, it´s your adventure, so lead us.”

[Bobbie]

With ten full days of sailing, Danielle couldn’t believe that she would have to endure so many more days of training, though even she had to admit that she was glad it was being handled by the Professor. He was a creep an oddly fixated on her improving her fighting skills, but she was grateful that she could focus more on swordfighting techniques and did not have to face Namkhai’s wrestling grabs and throws anymore. Gabriel’s extensive knowledge from literature was more than enough to make up for what he supposedly lacked in practice, as although he offered excellent mentoring, she didn’t see him pick up a sword once.

At last, they reached the port and Danielle set foot on land, waiting as the Professor took care of all the fees and addressed his crew. Meanwhile, the treasure huntress busied herself with petting Beast, carrying one heavily packed sack on her shoulder, which held all twelve stolen paintings, rolled up and concealed within the rough leather bag.

As Gabriel gave his warning, she looked up at him, then at Sigrid who soon seemed happy with the compromise that was offered. “You know that she’s going to cause chaos, right?” Danielle asked, once the Professor turned to her while the giantess was already taking her large strides into the town and eliciting a vast number of screams from the public. With a gentle sigh, she turned to face inland and nodded. “To his parlour… if it’s the one I think it is, it should be toward the centre of the town, close to the Mirror Museum. Just a street down from it.” She explained as she began walking, though in truth she wasn’t as confident in her navigation skills that she pretended to be.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #5

In a response to Danielle´s comment about Sigrid Gabriel sighed, painfully aware of how right she was.

“Yes but imagine if you had to spend two weeks on a boat that´s the size of a bathtub for you. She deserves the time off.”

With that, he followed her toward the city center, while Beast was happily running around them, causing at least, causing at least as much commotion as Sigrid herself. After all the local people probably didn´t have an opportunity to see a dog the size of a bear walking through the streets every day. Truth to be told, the Professor was already used to people screaming and running indoors at the sight of her and so he just walked the suddenly emptied streets, with hands in his pockets, while making sure, that his malamute companion would try to actually play with them as that could cause some heart attacks among the unsuspecting crowd.

“You know…”

He muttered out of sudden.

“There are moments, where I really miss the old days when I was just a university professor with weird hobbies and didn´t have to manage all these uncontrollable people.”

Lost in his thoughts, Gabriel almost bumped into someone as they turned the corner. It was a woman of average height and curvy build, with shoulder-length curly hair of dark color and brown eyes, that were looking up at the Professor with an irritated expression. Under normal circumstances, he would simply apologize and continued walking, but these weren´t normal circumstances as the woman was wearing a uniform of the local militia and was backed by ten or so other men all uniformed and armed.

“And here we go again…”

Gabriel sighed for himself preparing to give whatever explanation she would need, however seeing new friend, Beast headed towards the guard captain, head held high to introduce herself. Seeing a dog head taller than her, the woman´s eyes widened as she screamed

“Get the beast away from me!”

What would be a rather normal response under normal circumstances however escalated the whole scene as Beast though that whatever that woman was, she called her by her name meaning, she was a friend. And as she was happy that they met someone new for her to play with, she started running circles, wagging her tail left and right with enough strength to knock the woman off her feet. And as she screamed in surprise and pain, her subordinates reacted almost immediately, reaching for their weapons a mix of batons, and pistols, that were almost falling from their shaking hands.

[Bobbie]

Danielle nodded in response but didn’t say anything. He also had a point, yet it seemed to her that perhaps Sigrid should have thought about that before getting on their ship.

As she continued to walk, she occasionally looked around in search for any signs that could indicate that they were going the right way. Having never been here before and having no map to guide them, it was nearly impossible for Danielle to know her way around, yet reaching the centre sounded easy enough… all she had to do was keep walking and at some point they would wind up there. After that, how hard could a Mirror Museum be to spot? That is, if Mr Marlowe’s lavish parlour didn’t stand out to them first.

Gabriel’s voice cut through her own thoughts as he voiced one of his own and she turned around to look at him with her eyebrow raised. It was such a random thought that brought her to slow to a halt as she considered what sort of answer to give. Weird hobbies… as opposed to the ones you have now, totally not weird? she wondered to herself. She tried to hide the sceptical look on her face, though it proved to be extremely difficult. No matter how nice to her the Professor was, he was ultimately still one heck of a creep, and, quite frankly, the title of a university professor, a history one at that, only made things worse.

“Right… simpler times…” Danielle muttered as Gabriel walked past her just before they rounded a corner. Of course, the moment they did, he collided with a woman in militia uniform. Unable to believe her luck once again, the blonde treasure huntress with a sack full of stolen paintings on her shoulder instantly froze, as if not moving could somehow make her invisible. It was at this point that she began to wonder why she agreed to have Gabriel accompany her for this transaction in the first place. This was a terrible idea, this was a terrible idea… repeated in her mind and she opened her mouth to apologise on his behalf, quite afraid of what he might say instead that would most likely only anger the woman even further. It was no secret that this man did not respond very well to social cues, and it was immediately clear when she first met him that he seemed to struggle in social situations.

However, much to her horror, Beast sprang into action as Danielle’s mouth was left hanging open, her eye wide with shock, and before she knew it, all hell broke loose. Beast was having her fun, the militia personnel was on the floor, and all of her subordinates were quick to draw their weapons.

“No, no! Stop!” She quickly blurted out and nudged Gabriel to control his dog, at the very least. “Beast, come here!” She tried her best to lure the dog away, but she didn’t presume she had the authority for Beast to obey a command like that from her, not without the promise of food, which, sadly, she did not have any of.

“Your weapons aren't necessary. She wouldn’t hurt a fly, and the Professor was about to apolo-” she leapt to Beast's defence and took a step forward in an attempt to intervene, which only backfired tremendously. Beast’s movements were so quick and full of energy, her tail wagging frantically as the cute puppy only wanted to play, that Danielle underestimated the force at which the malamute’s tail would strike her if she got too close. As Beast’s tail whipped into Danielle’s arm, she lost her balance and staggered forward, causing the sack to slip right off her shoulder and fall to the ground.

Danielle stared down at the bag, the contents half splayed out for all to see, then she looked up at the woman in uniform. “We can explain everything…”

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #6

Seeing all these people drawing their weapons on Beast put Gabriel´s protective instinct into overdrive. Shifting the center of his mass forward, with fingers pressed together, to form two lethal spears, he was ready to dispose of anyone who would pose a threat to his puppy, but fortunately for these guardsmen, Danielle reacted in time, shifting his attention to Beast herself while trying her best to handle to guardsmen.

“Oh, of course, Beast, bad girl, sit!”

The Professor barked his order confusing the female malamute even more. Turning around to face him, while still wagging her tail in full force, she accidentally hit Danielle´s shoulder, knocking the female treasure hunter out of balance.

Seeing another of his puppies in danger, the Professor sprang into action. With a speed that should be out of the realm of possibilities for normal human beings, he rushed to Danielle´s aid, accidentally sweeping her legs with one of his own, just to catch her in his arms. From there he could only watch these precious paintings to fall from their case to the ground.

“Hmmmm…”

He sighed for himself just as Beast finally sat down on her furry butt, mouth wide open in what she considered to be a smile while eyeing the guard captain, still eager to play with her new friend.

“Oh you can explain everything?”

She growled angrily, raising back on her feet.

“Like that giantess that´s running wild through my city?”

She pointed somewhere behind them. The Professor followed that direction, still holding Danielle in his arm, only to see Sigrid´s head on the other side of the town as it was towering above nearby buildings while the giantess was drinking something straight from the barrel.

“Or perhaps you can explain to me what this oversized cross between polar bear and dog is doing in my town?!”

She almost historically pointed at Beast who seemed to take offense in being called a crossbreed, as she turned her head to the side with angry

“Wooo…”

Curiously enough, the captain wasn´t interested at all in these rolled-up paintings, however, one of her subordinates was, carefully reaching toward them. Movement, which Gabriel couldn´t really see as Danielle was in the way.

[Bobbie]

As Gabriel gave the command for Beast to sit and be a good doggo, Danielle relaxed a little bit. Perhaps it was for this reason that promptly after being whacked by the giant malamute’s tail, she was taken by complete surprise as her feet were swept out from under her by none other than Gabriel, Professor Creep Extraordinaire.

Everything happened so quickly and all the paintings were scattered on the floor. That wasn’t the worst of it, as she immediately offered some form of explanation for that, but what was worse was that in her mind, she may as well have been draped over Gabriel’s arm in the most embarrassing and dramatic gesture as the man caught her in one arm as she fell backward. In a rushed frenzy to get out of this unpleasant posture, she grabbed the professor’s shirt to pull herself up properly onto her feet and recompose herself - however, her lack of planning resulted in a fumbling as she planted a boot deep into one of the rolled canvases, causing it to roll under her weight between the sole of her boot and the ground. Her foot slipped out further and her body fell back into the Professor’s arm once more, this time with more force and pulling his shoulders down with her until the pair were almost nose to nose.

“What do you think you are you doing!?” She snapped at him in her raspy, relatively deep voice for a woman's, as if this entire predicament was all his fault, despite her closed fist clearly being the culprit for how close their faces now were. In this position, merely straightening up was not an option, and so all the eye-patched woman with a face that was reddening by the second with rage and embarrassment could do was squirm in an attempt to wriggle out of his grasp. Yet it was to no avail.

Danielle did, however, grow completely still for a moment as she realised what the woman was saying - Sigrid was causing havoc! Her mouth opened as she gasped, her jaw tense and possibly locked in this position until she spoke.

“I told you leaving her alone was a bad idea!” Making no effort to hide the truth, perhaps blinded by her own frustration, she then turned to the lady who had just insulted Beast, as there were suddenly more important matters to take care of than the nerve of this Professor to grab her like this. A heavy frown grew on her face and Gabriel was suddenly not the focus of all her anger and frustration - the captain was. Thankfully, however, either for the uniformed woman or for Danielle, the treasure huntress - or smuggler - had to redirect her attention toward the guard who was reaching for one of the stolen paintings.

“No, you don’t…” she muttered, trying to reach for the same painting that they were going for, but her hands couldn’t reach as long as she was in Gabriel’s grasp, eliciting an infuriated growl.

Suddenly grabbing Gabriel’s jaw to ensure that he was listening to her, she hissed at him beneath her breath, “Make this look like an accident! I don’t care how!”

With no further warning, Danielle slipped slightly lower in his grasp and stretched one leg out before swinging it upward to kick the poor guard right in the face with all her might and send him staggering back away from the painting.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #7

For someone who hated to be in the feminine role, Danielle surely knew how to act as an angsty wife, immediately coming up with “I told you so” in response to Sigrid behavior. The Professor wanted to respond to that, but before he could say a single word, he was forced to focus his attention on something completely different a guard that was reaching for Danielle´s paintings, unknowingly setting up a date with her foot by doing so.

The problem was that she expected him to collaborate on her plan when improvisation like that wasn´t really Gabriel´s strongest suit. So, he did the first thing that came to mind. Faked stumbling and fell to the ground, while holding Danielle in his outstretched arm, so when his face hit the stone pavement, she was still comfortable hovering a few centimetres above the ground.

Truth to be told, he didn´t get hurt at all as his reflexes kicked in, hardening his body with the “Indestructible” just in time to negate most of the damage, but the same couldn´t be said for the unfortunate guardsman as his chin was hit by not only Danielle´s kick but also the combined momentum of their falling bodies, sending him flying backward in a high arc, before crashing into a wall of a nearby building, unconscious.

“What the…WHAT ARE YOU THINKING YOU ARE DOING?!”

The captain definitely lost it, yelling at Gabriel, with her fist clenched while a few of her men rushed to help their fallen colleague.

“I…uh…”

Gabriel muttered, with his mouth full of dirt as he tried his best to help Danielle back on her feet, before getting up himself.

“I am sorry, but I just tripped, it was an accident.”

He tried to bluff his way out of it revealing how terrible a liar he was in the process.

“ACCIDENT MY A*S!”

The captain continued.

“You two…three”

She added, looking at Beast who made a silly confused expression in response.

“are under arrest! Follow me at the station or we´ll use force!”

[Bobbie]

What Danielle was expecting was to be flung around as her partner merely pretended to drop her, but what was actually done to improvise was something very different. It was quite unfortunate that improvising on the spot was not the Professor’s strong suit, a fact about the man that Danielle definitely learnt after this experience.

Perhaps she would have preferred to be dropped than carried and held just centimetres above the ground in such a manner. She felt like she was being treated like some kind of delicate princess made of glass, and she needed to keep her teeth clenched to control herself from screaming at him and asking what on earth he thought he was doing. Clearly, that wasn’t necessary, as the captain yelled it at the top of her lungs instead of her. While the blonde succeeded at staying her tongue, the twitch in her eye was one reflex that she simply had no say over as it openly displayed her annoyance whether she wanted it to or not.

Once she was up on her feet again, she patted her clothes down, dusting herself off, before she looked at Gabriel. She took a deep breath, before all the air came out of her mouth again as she bellowed, “YOU TRIPPED!?”

What she meant to ask was Is that the best you could come up with!? but of course it could easily come across as a more genuine frustration of an honest accident instead.

Before she could say anything else, however, the captain stated that they were all under arrest, causing Danielle to swiftly pick up all the paintings, stuff them into her bag and stand up straight once more with the bag hanging on one shoulder. “Why am I under arrest? Why is Beast? I haven’t done anything wrong other than be assaulted by this man’s clumsiness and Beast is just a dog looking for some fun! She's hurt no one!” she exclaimed with just a hint of honesty behind her words - why should she take the fall after Gabriel decided to let a giant out on the loose and then bump right into a captain in very clear militia uniform? No, Danielle had places to be, she didn’t have time for this. If she had just been allowed to move forward with selling the paintings on her own, none of this would even be happening!

Tapping her foot impatiently, the courier of illegally stolen paintings crossed her arms. “I need to reach the museum before it closes, so can my dog and I be on our way now?” There was something about that statement that brought a lot of satisfaction bubbling within Danielle, ‘my dog’. It was in Beast's benefit, so surely the Professor would not deny it, and this brought a subtle, barely noticeable smirk to the woman's lips. Perhaps this even assisted with lending her words a more confident tone as her frown only grew deeper by the second.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #8

„This woman is just doing her job, be kind. “

The Professor remained himself when the guard captain decided to arrest all of them. He wanted to say something in his defense, but Danielle was faster, trying to get herself and Beast out of trouble, indirectly shifting all the blame on him. He would be probably all right with it if she didn´t say that Beast was her dog. And while logically he could understand that it was for the malamute´s good, the irrational part of his mind released a wave of cold anger and intense killing intent. It was a short display as he got his emotions under control almost immediately, but even that was enough to make the soldiers around him shiver and even prompted some of them to take a step back, away from him because of a sudden irrational feeling of uneasiness. Even the captain felt it but true to her nature overcame any doubts or fear with more aggression as she turned to Danielle with fresh steam that needed some release.

“Oh really? Than in that case you are under arrest for bringing a dangerous animal into our city. Your…boyfriend or whatever for knocking out one of my officers and that…monster!”

She pointed at Beast who looked at her in silent disbelief as her brain couldn´t comprehend that someone would be able to address such a glorious and beautiful creature as her as a “monster”.

“Hell, do I even need to explain why she is going in a cage?!”

She growled in frustration, which grew even stronger when Gabriel stepped towards her, the previous murderous gaze replaced with a gentle and kind smile.

“Officer, I understand that I didn´t do the best first impression, but you have one thing wrong. That woman isn´t my girlfriend. Actually, I barely met her. She seemed like a cutie so I tried to get her to a date, but she turned me out cold, so it doesn´t make sense to arrest her for my clumsiness am I right?”

The captain´s face turned red from anger.

“Are you f*cking kidding me?!”

She growled with barely contained anger, that med with nothing but Gabriel´s kind smile.

“I am afraid not and as for the dog…she seems to be very well trained and docile. I am sure that with her master nearby she won´t cause any trouble. But should they be separated, it´s hard to say how such a dangerous beast could react, am I right?”

The threat in these words was so obvious that even someone much dumber than the captain would find it.

She paused, still looking like a volcano just before an eruption, staring at Gabriel, before silently nodding.

“Fine…arrest this guy and let these two go, but! If they cause any troubles…!”

Gabriel´s smile became even wider.

“They won´t you have my word.”