The MIDDLE!

[Anonymous]

"Down you go!" John gleefully said as he dashed towards and climbed up the tree. Moments later he grinned as he softly landed on the ground, grip firmly holding Jean by the wrist.

"Can I please have my money now?" He sweetly said.

[Bean Bandit]

Jean glared at him, pulling on her trapped arm.

"Why should I? I don't even KNOW you, and you've got me hunted by assassins," she snapped, "and I blame YOU for what happened to my hair, AND I've been fondled by that freak of nature bard!"

She ented her little rant, breathing hard. "The way I see it, taking your money was only fair, seeing what I've been through ever since I laid eyes on you, jerk!"

[Anonymous]

"Hah! The way I see it is that you got yourself into these messes by snooping into other's affairs!" John growled out.

"Besides, you look much better with your hair like that than you did before!" He raged on.

Only to stop...

Did he actually? He did...

Oopsie...

[Bean Bandit]

Jean's expression darkened. "I did NOT! All I did was steal from you! You should have known better than to carry that gold where anyone could find it anyway!" she replied tartly.

Anyway...I...wh-?" Her eyes widened and she trailed off, a pink blush spreading over her cheeks.

Did he just say what she thought he did...?

[Anonymous]

An opening! Now he could direct the conversation AWAY from this touchy subject!

John looked smug as he responded. "Well, now you in this for better or worse. The people we're dealing with have associated you with our little 'group'."

Best not to refer to the party as a freakshow.

He mostly certainly did NOT want to give her any free shots.

[Bean Bandit]

Jean blinked, taking a moment to re-orient her thoughts, forcibly prying her mind away from dwelling on what he'd said a moment ago, thankful that she could think about something else.

"How could they?" Jean snapped. "I'm SANE! Your 'Group' are all escapees from a looney bin!"

[Anonymous]

"Sorry about that darling, but that's them breaks." John said with as much false sincerity that he could muster. "Not that I disagree with your statement, of course."

A thoughtful look crossed his eyes as he turned to examine Jean.

"Hmm...you could be a help, though. How about it? Wanna ditch all these loons and go get the money...er...rescue the princess ourselves?"

[Bean Bandit]

Jean stopped short. This guy didn't sound like your ordinary, stick up the @$$ hero-type. It was a tempting offer.

Still, she was very attached to remaining in one piece.

"That's tempting." She admitted. "Princesses usually have a lot of money. Still, I'm not a fighter...not as good at it as you look to be, anyway," she stated, giving him a critical once over. "You know what we'd be up against. You think you can handle it with only little ol' me beside you, sugar?"

[Anonymous]

"Hmm...we are much more weaker without the others." John mused, a look of consternation crossing his face.

But he DIDN'T want to go back to deal with the loons!

John sighed. "Well, you seem to be a pretty good thief. With the money I have so far, and your own skills we should be able to get enough to hire a couple of like-minded individuals to our cause. Preferably sane people, yes?"

[Bean Bandit]

Jean's lips quirked into a lopsided smile. "Preferably." She agreed wryly.

"Ok, sugar. You make a convincing case. The money's good,  so I'm your girl."

She stuck out a hand. "Jean Bluevalley."

[Anonymous]

John beamed at the girl. The thought of actually having some RELIABLE backup from now on made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"John Trueblade." He firmly shook Jean's hand.

"First things first, let's get the hell out of this forest before our....'friends' attract unwanted attention."

[Bean Bandit]

Jean nodded, glancing around uneasily.

"As quick as we can." She agreed. "I feel like we're being watched. If we keep going north, there should be a town..."

[Anonymous]

John nodded, before leading the both out of the clearing at a fast clip.

"Quick question, Jean. Did those assasins let anything slip while they were going after you?"

[Bean Bandit]

"Nope. The one that came after me was the silent type. All I ended up finding out was that he had a strong stoneskin spell on him...nearly ruined my dagger..."

Jean commented, shrugging as she followed him from the forest.

[Anonymous]

"Damn. I suppose it wouldn't be that easy, would it?" John let out a put upon sigh.

"Oh well, at least I've doubled my chances of succeeding now that I have you with me." He casually said as he ducked under a low lying branch.