This, could be rather interesting the thief mused as he handed another piece of meat to the emerald haired Sacean. Rather interesting indeed.

"So what are you doing out here all by yourself? A kid like you could get killed you know."

That earned him a glare for all his trouble. But the kid kept eating like he was being paid. Well, that's fine. You can eat my rations...but you owe me. Matthew chose to keep that little detail to himself for now; there was no reason to let an opportunity like this to pass him by. To do so would be a crime.

"Okay, okay. A young adult like you could get killed."

No reply. But then again, if the kid choked to death he really was no use to Matthew. No use at all. Because, at heart, Matthew was an opportunist, and the possibilities that were running through his head at this very moment far out weighed the threats that Lyndis or Hector could use against him. Well, perhaps not in Hector's case. The Lordling had already tried many times to separate the thief's head from his body but one as bulky as the younger man couldn't ever hope to catch a thief. Unless of course he snuck up on me whilst I was thinking of him sneaking up on me. But no, his next meeting with his Lord was not for awhile. Or was it next week?

By the time the 'young adult' was finished eating the battle was nearly over. Not that he was involved anyway but it would be a good idea not to allow Lyndis to know what he was doing. At least the kid was more talkative now that he was actually full. Being the way he was Matthew naturally brought up the issue of repayment at that time.

"What?! You never told me any of this! Why did you wait for me to finish you monster?!"

The sandy haired thief just smiled as he rested his chin in his hand, "you're a fighter. But regardless, the fact remains that you owe me. For saving your life. Can you honestly say you wouldn't expect the same if the roles were reversed? How am I ever going to explain the missing food to my liege? She'll be quite upset."

"Y-Y-You...then you should have just let me die then! I can't repay you!"

"That is why I have devised an ingenious plan my friend. You'll sign this paper saying that you owe me the same amount of favours as the number of pieces of meat you ate. Do you understand?" Matthew couldn't help but continue to grin. This Sacaen was infinitely more fun than Lyndis; after all, he got angry so easily!

"I can't do that!!"

"Oh? Why is that? Aren't Sacaens supposed to be...trustworthy...upright...contributing, members of society?" he was pushing his luck now but then again, the man had never been one to shy away from a bit of possible danger.

The boy didn't move other than to cross his arms over his chest and grind his teeth against one another.

"So you'll sign it then."

"Fine. But I'm not going to make this easy for you!" the vermillion haired swordsman snapped.

How right he had been.

Matthew was yet again running for his life and had he had any honour he surely would have lost it at this moment. But luckily for his manhood and non-existent conscience he had lost all semblance of knowledge of rules and regulations long ago. His liege, which was once again Lord Hector of Ostia, had apparently decided that he, being the honourable man he was, had had enough of Matthew stealing his rations. And he had turned into a sort of Queen of Hearts as it were. With the whole 'off with his head!' thing.

But even as his heart pumped faster than it ever had just to keep up with the pounding of his feet Matthew was grinning to himself. Hector really was the most fun to antagonize. And anyway he hadn't had anything to do lately as Lord Eliwood of Pherae rather disliked thieves. The brunette rather disliked authourity. Which, he supposed, was the reason he was flying down the pathway that led to their camp like a graceful gazelle to escape the jaws of the licentious lion. He quite liked the attention he got though.

"Oh there they go again."

"Thud."

Matthew slammed on the brakes and spun around to see a madly swearing Hector flailing about on the ground. It was a good thing I dug that hole in the road after all! At that thought he couldn't help but let a short bark of laughter escape from his lips. This just made the blue haired young man even angrier. Today was a good day for sure.

"MATTHEW IF YOU DON'T GET YOURSELF BACK HERE I'LL CUT YOUR HEAD OFF THEN SEW IT BACK ON THEN CUT IF OFF AGAIN!"

What an odd threat. But I suppose if that's what he wants to do...

"Yes young master!"

He trotted over and smiled down at the still trapped Lordling, "you seem to be stuck in a hole young master."

"I...know that Matthew. That's why I called you over."

"Well, if you know then I'll be off," the thief shrugged then turned to leave.

"You...bloody idiot! Help me out of this hole!"

"Well why didn't you just say that young master? I would have been far less confused had you simply said 'Matthew get over here and help me of this hole I have been foolish enough to fall into'," he was once again treading on thin ice but fighting with Hector was like filling a water pouch. One could only fill it with so much water before one would lose everything to an explosion; his liege was close to said explosion.

"MATTHEW! I'm going to KILL you!"

The brunette put a hand on his hip, "well...young master. I would love to help you...but. You have just threatened my life. A dog that has been threatened by his master will most certainly think twice about helping his master should said master run into trouble. In other words, I am simply frightened of what will become of my life when I help you out. What will become of Leila should you kill me? I cannot just leave her all alone now can I? Well young master, I bid thee good day and good luck. Hopefully you will be rescued before dinner-oh! There's the bell now! Farewell milord!"

The Leila card always worked. Well, nearly always. Except for that time that he had made Hector so angry he had said that he would kill her too so they would be together and that earned him both the silent torment from Matthew and a sound slap from Lyn. While he had deserved the threat the sandy haired man would never wish for Leila to die even if it was for him. After a week of putting rocks in Hector's pack, jumping out at him in the middle of the night and generally just annoying the man more than usual Matthew's torture had ebbed now to a minor wave of attack every 3 months or so. Just to remind his liege that he hadn't forgotten.

"OKAY! I'm sorry. I won't hurt you."

He turned, "hm? What was that milord?"

"I said I was sorry for threatening you. Now help me!"

"Oh young master, I never knew you could be so kind. I would gladly help you! Well, if I was strong enough. Kidding milord, kidding!"

Hector was glaring at him from across the fire. Matthew grinned back at him. They had gotten back to camp just in time to get the last of the leftovers. Only because the thief had made a big show about not being able to pull the bigger man out but of course he had had no trouble. The entire group was to move again tomorrow; to Castle Santaruz and Lord Helman.

"Matthew!"

It was as if nobody could call his name normally. It was always 'MATTHEW!' or sometimes 'YOU!' but never 'good day Matthew, would you care to walk and perhaps converse with me in a completely civil manner?'

"What is it?"

"Eliwood wants to see you," Serra said before preparing to launch into more gossip.

"That so? Alright. I'm off!"

In the end it turned out Eliwood only wanted to ask why Hector was in such a foul mood since the morning and Matthew wisely chose to omit some crucial details. Because, he had to be honest, if the thief ever told the truth he would be long dead by now.

"Are you going to turn off the light Oswin?"

"Not any time soon," the knight looked up from his documents for a moment.

He and Oswin had been forced to share a tent. This was turning out to be one of the most torturous experiences of Matthew's life. The man never went to sleep when everyone else did, he was much too strict and all he did was worry about whether he should be guarding their liege or not. But it was too late to change now and no one would want to switch even if he could have.

Matthew groaned and rolled off of his bedroll onto the dirt floor. He was tired. Too tired to care that he was lying in dirt and too tired to sleep. Which was quite stupid but he wasn't about to argue with himself about his sleeping habits; it would just be weird. So instead of getting himself dirty the man got to his feet and dragged himself outside.

The sky was painted with an array of grays, blues and tiny pinpricks of light that burned someplace far from where he was standing. The man could barely see a foot in front of his own face; the landscape was completely bathed in darkness. But he sighed, taking a few deep breaths as if to drink in the blackness of night. It was cold, so much in fact that he could see his breath represented in the frigid air as puffs of white. A familiar thought crossed his mind. What is Leila doing right now?

They didn't get to see one another very often; both being spies. But he still missed her. Even if she was kind of a weirdo sometimes. And she did tend to beat him upside the head when he said things she didn't like; but hey, he needed to be reined in sometimes. Matthew was pretty sure he loved her. And he was pretty sure he wanted to marry her, and soon. Perhaps after our missions. Yes, that's an excellent way to finish an assignment! Unless she were to reject me. Well then, that would be a horrible note to end a mission on. But thinking would get him nowhere but worry and anxiety, of which he had far too much of already. Plus, he wasn't entirely sure when he would see Leila next so there was no use in agonizing over the entire official un-official proposal for longer than he had to.

And in any case he had much more pressing matters to attend to though he didn't yet know it.