Private w/Jax

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    Already, Bash had a sneaking suspicion that this was a retaliation from the vampires. It was no secret to anybody that Vampires and Lycans were mortal enemies - did the vampires know something they didn't? Had it in fact been the Lycans who took the shield? Or perhaps both species were the victims of something much bigger than a simple species feud. He sighed as Ophelia walked in, trying not to sound too annoyed. He had been catching himself more and more lately, his ever so present superiority complex over the human was tough to control, but Bash had nothing if not control. He looked at the girl and took the papers from the sheriff. At least they had quite a few leads this time, and a general knowledge of the object. "Somebodies been doing their research" He raised an eyebrow at Ophelia, realizing the many books both in her hand and pouring out of her small bag. "that uh.... well done, taking initiative" he stumbled through the compliment as he wasn't accustomed to giving them.


    "Lycan sector is a good three hour drive, and if we want to make it there in decent time we should get going..." he nodded to himself, breaking whatever weird tension was just held between the two of them after he gave her the compliment. With a nod to the sheriff, Bash was off, avoiding eye contact with the mermaid girl that never stopped calling him winter prince, he definitely had more important things to worry about than that today. Slowly he got into the car, making sure his pace was slow enough for Ophelia to keep up. He slipped into the car, waiting for Ophelia. He had to admit working with the human took patience... but he was working on it. Once she got in the car he put it in drive, and much in contrast to his normal driving methods, he pulled out rather slowly. "So what did you figure out?" he asked.

    His change in attitude, however slight, had been noticed. She supposed that it might be because she reacted to his coldness in a way he didn't want, so he had changed his strategy of dealing with her, but she couldn't know for sure. Ophelia didn't even particularly like reading, but she needed all the information she could get to make up for her not having lived here for very long. The compliment did certainly surprise her, though, and it showed in her expression. "Uh, yeah... Um, thanks." she said, barely able to stutter the response before he changed the subject and took the lead as per usual.


    She didn't quite mind following him around by now, it gave her time to think and process all the new information that came with this wildly unfamiliar setting. She was surprised that he had asked her thoughts on the situation, and she was speaking before she could really think. "About the case, or about you?" she asked with a grin, before fully realizing what she had just said, and cleared her throat before changing the subject. "Well, I think it's paranoia. The lycans alone couldn't have pulled off that robbery in the vampire sector because magic was involved, so either this is on a larger scale than the last civil war and the lycans have allies against the vampires and took the initiative against them, or this is external to the two and someone's poking the bear knowing exactly who it'll strike out against. There's no real connection in the items stolen, other than them being from the founding generation... But I guess we'll have to see the crime scene. If magic has been used at this crime scene as well, I say it's external. They want chaos, to draw eyes away from what they want. It's like card tricks; you make someone look where you want them to so that they don't see what you're really doing." she explained.


    "That's my working theory, anyway." the redhead concluded, knowing that it was largely circumstantial, and it hinged on the use of magic. Lycans weren't known for being friendly with any magic-using race, as far as she knew, they were notorious for keeping to themselves so she couldn't see an alliance being made.

    Bash had to admit that her comment about what she had figured out about him caught his attention, so much so that he lost focus for a second and nearly rear ended a car in front of him. Thankfully he slammed on the breaks at the last second, rather ungracefully, which was very out of character for Bash. He tuned out before she could continued saying anything about the case... he didn't like people knowing his business, especially not her. "What do you mean about me?" His icy gaze turned to meet hers after she had finished droning on about her theory.


    Of course Bash had his own theories, nothing unsimilar to Ophelias, from the looks of it, it seemed like an outside party was trying to start a civil war between the supernatural creatures. After all, the best place to start would definitely be with Vampires and Lycans... mortal enemies. Perhaps only rivaled by the hatred between demons and angels. Bash furrowed his brow as he stared at the red headed girl, trying to analyze the smirk she had given him when she said she had learned something about him. He started to set his jaw angrily, remembering all the times those stupid civilians had called him Hiem princeps... idiots. He thought to himself.

    She realized soon after she said it that maybe that was the wrong thing to say, and she had tried to backtrack, but clearly that hadn't worked. Why would he be so angry about that? Ophelia didn't understand it, but given that he was staring her down, she had no choice really but to tell him. "I don't know how stupid you think I am, but people were calling you a title and you weren't telling me the truth, so I did my research. You're a fae, it's the only thing consistent with your appearance, powers and title. You're a royal of the winter court, but I couldn't pull any information on your family other than vague descriptions - you don't like information about you being public. The only really detailed book was in fae script, so I couldn't get much more than that because I don't know how to read it." she confessed, making a point not to say his title because she was well aware that might just piss him off further. Sure, he might like his privacy, but if they were going to be partners on this very important case, she needed to know all she could about him. Even if he despised the idea.

    Bash's jaw clicked in anger as she continued, she was right about one thing, he didn't like his personal information being in the public eye, and for the most part it wasn't... which meant she had done some serious meddling to get this information. "You researched me?" He snapped angrily, the car sped up as his anger increased. He was desperately trying to hold back his temper. They still had more than two hours before they were in Lycan territory, so he didn't think now was the best time to start a fight. But in truth, he didn't really care. "What makes you think that that is any of your business?"


    He was seething, ironic since he was a winter fae, he seemed so hot blooded. Biting his tongue he shook his head, speeding the car up even faster. He wanted to get to Lycan territory as soon as possible, the longer he spent in this car the angrier he would get at her. He knew there was no rational reason for him to be mad at her for wanting to know about her partner, it was just that she had gone behind his back to do it. If she had needed to know anything about him he would've told her... knowing that he was royalty wasn't a necessity, but at least maybe now she would know who she was messing with, and just how powerful Bash really was "Don't you think maybe you should focus more on figuring out who you are before you start putting your nose in other peoples business?" he rolled his eyes, sitting back in his seat and reserving himself.

    Saying that Ophelia would do anything to get out of the car right now would be an understatement, she hadn't expected it to bring such a harsh reaction. She knew full well that it wouldn't be smart to argue about this, it would likely only make him angrier, but the accusing tone in his voice was just getting on her nerves - as if he wouldn't do research on her if she had outright lied to him! Trying her best to bite her tongue and not say anything stupid, there was silence for what felt like a long while. It appeared as though she was simply going back to her books, until she selected three of them in particular, all with titles referring to magic and warlock bloodlines.


    "You don't think I've been doing that as well? Warlocks are better than you when it comes to hiding things, I can't even get anything with the questionable use of a computer. I don't even know what my magic does, because I know it would match up with one of these families' abilities if I could just use it without hurting someone." she replied, managing to rein in her anger before she said anything stupid. "I researched you because you lied to me. I figure that if you have something to hide, I kinda need to know that if I'm going to be working with you, because whatever it is can be used against you. I didn't find anything concrete, and I won't look into it any more." she said, at least in part admitting defeat on the matter. Hopefully, he would be satisfied with that and leave it be, though she suspected this was going to be a very awkward journey to lycan territory.

    "I didn't lie to you, winter prince is a nickname, my real title is Dauphin of the Winter Fae" he rolled his eyes, she sure knew how to start fights, but clearly didn't know how to finish them. "The only thing you need to know about me is that I'm a good deputy and than I'm in charge. That being said, you wanna know more about me? You think I'm lying to you? I'll tell you everything you want to know. My parents are the king and queen of the Winter Fae, as I'm sure your research probably told you Winter Fae are the current reigning Fae Royalty, they overthrew the Summer Fae a decade ago. It makes me more powerful than other Fae, and it comes with a reputation which again, I'm sure you already know." Now that that was over he decided to address her next misconduct.


    "I told you not to look into your specific family heritage. The second anyone finds out which family you belong to the more in danger you'll be. You wanna use your powers? See what you've really got? Fine." He was edging her on, trying to get her angry as he pulled over on the side of the highway. There were barely any cars out here as they were nearing lycan territory and Lycan's didn't use cars, he pulled over next to a big empty field. Getting out of the car and slamming the door he made his way into the field, she was right, if she really wanted to know who she was she had to know what kind of magic she possessed. Each warlock family had different strengths, but Bash knew he could handle anything an uninitiated half warlock could through at him. "Give me your best shot." He raised an eyebrow with a smirk, lowering his stance as he readied himself for a fight. He wouldn't hurt her, and seriously doubted she'd be able to hurt him, besides he was sure that she wanted to know what he could do as much as she wanted to know what she could do.

    ( I officially hate the last week before winter break. There's too much to do!! Only a couple more days though & I'll be free from making notes! )


    The only way she knew how to finish a fight was by losing her cool and punching the object of her anger into next week, and she had figured that that wouldn't be an option here. Until he pulled over that is. Ophelia didn't even really bother with thinking about how she could win or what her chances were, her anger was enough of a catalyst to make her aware of the magical power just within her reach, and that managed to blind her to strategy in this case.


    What really got on her nerves was the way he couldn't seem to make up his mind. 'Don't look into your family' but 'find out who you are before looking into other people'. 'Don't use your magic' but here he was encouraging her to use it. Pick a card and play it, and make clear what you mean! It's that simple! Climbing out of the car, that magical aura almost tangible now, his confidence only served to tick her off more. He didn't think she was powerful enough to warrant concern, just like her mother who thought a half-warlock couldn't make any marks in the supernatural world, just like that damned tutor who had told her what she was and had the gall to say that she couldn't get anywhere with it! She was going to wipe that smirk off his face with force.


    There was only one other time when she had reached out to the magic, and it had made her feel so very powerful. Once she did, her eyes turned blue-green and her pupils turned to cat-like slits, the magic sparked up and down her arms, like small bolts of lightning. It was as if she was working on instinct, not any real conscious thought, when she summoned the magic into an ethereal weapon in one hand and swung at him with it. With the other, she collected another burst of magical energy, to attempt to fire at him if he dodged the obvious first strike.


    ( It's been a while since I did any writing with fight scenes, so I'm not sure how good at it I am. This is my best anyway. )