The Rabbit and the Trap.

Adol's travels had landed him hungrily inside of a cafe.
He, of course, stopped in to grab a bite.
Haggling a discount, he sat down at a table with his newly acquired lunch of pie, chips, and a coffee.
Adol looks around. The place was fairly empty for the time of day.
Not surprising, though. It had been raining a while, and Adol suspected those who were in the cafe had been since the rain started.
He pops a few chips in his mouth, and looks for anyone that looked like they might amuse him for a bit.

Seated at a table closer to the windows, a young, effeminate looking man gazes outside, seemingly entranced by the weather. A gentle smile graces his fair features; his eyes light up with each flash of lightning. "Such a beautiful thing, nature," he mutters, his voice barely audible even to himself.

Idly, his hands move, seemingly of their own accord, and he takes a small sip from the cup of tea set on the table before him, his eyes never wavering in his reverie.

Adol spots his "prey".
'That looks like a girl with a story to tell'
He picks up the plate his food resides on, and takes his coffee cup before making his way over to the lady.
"I do beg pardon, miss. Do you think you might accommodate another here?" He asks, smile on his face.

He sighs briefly at the interruption in his focus, only to face the direction of the voice with an impassive expression. "I can hardly claim to be using the entire table, the effeminate man says, gesturing at the open space around him as the gentle tenor of his voice rings through the air. "Feel free, if you're really so inclined. Can't say I'm likely to be much for conversation, though."

Having said his piece, he turns back to face out the window, sipping lightly from his tea once more.

"Whether or not you're using the entire table isn't a matter, I think" Adol responds, as he sat.
"Your feelings as to the table's seating arrangement were more the point of my request."
He takes a sip of coffee
"This stuff is good. Far better than the instant I normally have."
He pops a few more chips in his mouth.
"So, Ma'am, what brings you here on this nice, sunny day?" Adol asks, ignoring the lady's statement as to her "chattiness".
'The silent ones usually open up sooner or later.'
Adol wanted a conversation, and he was quite good at getting what he wanted.

He looks away from the window, a brow raised slightly as he faces his new guest. "I'm trusting that was sarcasm." A few moments later, after blinking away the mild confusion, he carries on with watching the weather. "I came to enjoy a brief meal and some tea. Similar to what I imagine you're here for," the effeminate man says, noting the aroma of coffee issuing from his guest's mug.

"You're not wrong there, I suppose." Responds Adol."
"Although, where I simply looking for a meal, I wouldn't have left my home, what with the rain."
He pops a few more chips in his mouth and takes another sip of coffee.
"Am I wrong to assume that you might follow a similar point of view?  The reasoning may be as simple as being bored of the same old scenery, but not many would leave their homes for a meal whem they can have one at home."

As soon as the word "home" leaves his guest's mouth, the effeminate man freezes for the briefest of moments before pulling himself back together mentally just in time to miss the rest of the statement being given. Rather than trying to respond, however, he merely continues to gaze outside, willing himself to be distracted by the weather.

The slight freeze didn't go unnoticed.
"Hmm, seems I was right about you." Adol says, vaguely.
He finishes his chips, grinning ever so slightly at the un-named stranger in front of him

He turns briefly and quirks a brow in question, but declines giving any verbal response. Seemingly intent on watching the storm roll through, the fair young man continues to do so as he waits for further elaboration.

"Yup, I was definitely right."
Adol takes another sip from his cup, which was now half empty.
"I can spot a stranger with a story a mile off. Although..." He trails off, as he squirts tomato sauce on his pie.
"Judging by your demeanor, I take it yours isn't the happiest story there is."

"Everybody has a story," is the reply, given with a seemingly disinterested air to it. Again, the cup of tea is lifted from the table, with a small sip of the beverage disappearing between a thin set of lips before being returned lightly to its place.

"That is true. Everyone has a story."
Adol takes a bite of his pie.
"But not every story is interesting."

"All a matter of what defines interesting to each person," he counters, idly waving a hand to dismiss the notion. "Entirely subjective."

"I disagree. A story where nothing happens isn't a story worth hearing. Take mine, for example. I grew up in a small town. Never had any particular strife. I got bored of my hometown and decided to leave. Here I am." Responds Adol, deliberately leaving out most of what happened.
"That is hardly a story worth the time it took to tell."

He huffs in amusement before allowing himself to chuckle for a few seconds at the statement. "If that's not grossly oversimplified, I don't know what is."

"Well, like I said, not worth the time to tell it. I could go into detail of the three or four girlfriends I had, or I could tell you about each individual step I took to get here, but those are pretty stock standard as well."
Adol takes another bite of his pie.
"But I look at you, and I see a story worth hearing. And before you try and deny it, I saw that little freeze up when I said 'Home'. Whether you want to share the story is entirely up to you, but you can't deny there is one there."

Giving up on gazing out at the storm passing overhead, the tea-drinking man sighs slightly and turns to properly face his guest, shrugging in response to the prodding questions poorly veiled as statements. "I prefer listening to speaking." As if to reinforce the declaration, he takes yet another sip of his tea before folding his hands on the table in front of him.

Adol smiles.
"You are quite an interesting person. If I may, I'd like to play a little game with you."
Adol finishes his pie and rests his chin on the backs of his hands., eyeing the strange lass in front of him.

"And that would be..." he trails off, leaving the opportunity open for his guest to explain just what he was getting at. The effeminate man also notices the way that his guest is looking at him, and quirks a brow in response to that.

Adol smiles further
"Haha, I see I might be causing suspicion. Worry not, I mean no ill fortune."
Adol finishes off his coffee.
"I guess the 'game' I had in mind may not be so much of a 'game'. More of an exchange, hidden within a contest disguised as a game."
Adol stretches his back.
"We take turns. One of us will either give a riddle, or starts a word-game. The 'loser' will then tell a chapter of their history. Sound fair?"

Despite a strong inclination to keep his past quiet, the effeminate man gains a competitive gleam in his eyes. "Well, then, why don't you start this off, so I can see just what it is I'm up against," he suggests. Another drink is taken from the teacup, the contents of which are rapidly cooling now.

"Excellent! Well then, how about I start off with and oldie but a goodie; How is a Raven like a Writing Desk?" Adol asks, grin on his face.

"How indeed, as it's a riddle with no answer," he responds, a small smirk in place. "Not in its original form, at least," comes the clarification a few seconds later. "However, in an excerpt from my favorite poem, 'Quoth the Raven, nevermore.'"

Adol smiled.
'So far, so good. Although, that was an easy one.'
He put his hands up.
"So then, that makes my loss. A chapter from my past is the price I have to pay. Let's see then..."
Adol brought his hand to his chin, pondering what part of his history he would tell.
"Well, one time, when I was really young mind you, I was having dinner with my family. We were having spaghetti bologna, or something similar. Anyway, my family were eating their pasta, chatting away, when they hear a choking noise. They look to me, and see me gagging on a strand of pasta. I reach into my mouth, and pull it out. Mother starts panting in relief, and Father just shakes his head." Adol leans forward.
"And that's when I had a brilliant idea. I looked at the two of them, held the pasta up and asked, 'Do that again?'. Mum and Dad, of course, immediately started shaking their heads and yelling 'NO!' but not in time to stop me shoving the thing back into my mouth and gagging on it."
Adol starts chuckling at the memory.
"Again, I was very young. I wouldn't have been older than three, I think."
Adol wraps his knuckles on the table twice.
"I spilled my guts. Your turn. Riddle or word puzzle?" He asks, with a smile.

With no small amount of satisfaction, he gives a brief smile of amusement at the short tale, then shifts to a look of utter concentration, searching for an apt riddle. "The rise and fall of countless kings, I have caused. I see all, know all, and hold all, and all is lost in my embrace," he eventually says, keeping a level tone throughout.

"Well, that's got me a little baffled."
Adol puzzles over this for a bit.
"I'm leaning towards either 'Time' or 'Death'. Both seem to fit."

In response to the musing, the effeminate man only shrugs, as if telling his guest to pick one answer. "What's your answer?"

"I must confess, I was never much good at this game of mine" Adol laughs.
"But, as it is a game of my own choosing, it would be wrong of me to back out."
Adol leans back in his chair, and thinks over his partner's query.
"I'll go with 'Time'." He responds, finally.

"Hm. Well done."
He draws in a deep breath, and slowly exhales, trailing into a sigh as he looks down to see his tea near empty and cold. "I ended up breaking an arm the day I met my oldest friend. Tried climbing up a tree, but I fell." After a few seconds' pause, the effeminate man continues, "It's been a while since I've seen her, though."

Adol's smile weakens.
"Well, it seems I was right yet again."
Adol sighs.
"My turn again. Hmm, let's see... Ah, here's one that's usually good for a laugh;
A man lives on the top floor of a seventy story building. When he leaves his home, he takes the elevator to the bottom floor. However, when he returns, he takes the elevator no more than thirty floor sup, and walks the rest of the way. Why, do you suppose, this is?"

"The thirtieth floor is the highest he can reach. In a rather literal manner," he answers, rolling his eyes slightly. With a sigh, he lifts his teacup and downs the rest of it, grimacing slightly at how cold the contents are.

"Well, that's half the answer. Good enough for me, though! Now then, let's see."
Adol ponders his past.
"Ahh, here's a good one! At least, I [i]think [i] it's a good one. Anyway, I'd have been around... Maybe seven years old. I was climbing up on the playground at school when the bell for end of lunch went. Deciding that I was awesome enough to jump from the top without trouble, I did so. Unforfunately for my seven year old self, I wasn't as awesome as I believed. My leg hooked into a bar, and all that force ended up right in the center of my pelvis. Wasn't fun at the time, I assure you. But I get a good laugh at the memory of my stupid young bravado."
Adol stretched again.
"I do believe it's yojr turn. Unless you want to stop, of course."

"Tall and immortal I stand, except against that which gives me life." Having given his riddle, the young man leans back in his seat and closes his eyes. A smile of contention washes over his features, a sort of joy at this game flowing through his being.

"Ohh, that's a tricky one..."
Adol leaned back into his chair.
"Hmm, I don't think it'll be as simple as a tree..."
His eyes lost focus as they were looking at Li. To Li, it may have looked like Adol was just plain staring at him.
After a while, Adol "woke" and said "I concede to you on this one, friend."
He put his hands up.
"I guess that makes my loss. doesn't it?" He smiles.

Still holding a small smile, Lí nods in acceptance. "Indeed it does," he says, satisfied at the outcome for this round of riddles. He then opens his eyes and pulls away from the back of his seat, looking at his guest with his head slightly canted to the side.

"The answer was candle, by the way."

At the stranger's response, Adol slowly started to grin.
And then, he laughed.
"Hahaha, a candle! Never crossed my mind. That's good, that is."
He chuckled a little more.
"I guess I owe you a story, don't I? Let's see... Ah! How about my first interaction with a Faunus?
I would have been... Around three or four when this happened. I was playing around on the street with some young friends, when I saw a cat's tail peeking from around the corner. Having no clue what a Faunus was, nor having seen one, I immediately thought 'Kitty!'. I walked up to the cat tail and gave it something between a stroke and a yank. The Faunus attached to the tail didn't take kindly to that, as you might imagine. I got a big 'ol scratch in the face before I figured out that the Kitty wasn't real, and the tail was attached to a person."
Adol started laughing again.
"Ahh, the naivety of kids, eh? I don't know what the poor guy was doing on the floor like that, but he certainly could have done without my interference."
Adol stretched his back.
"Now then, I believe it's my turn to give the riddle? How about this one;
In a room lies the corpses of Jack and Jill. The room contains nothing but a table, upon which sits a broken bowl of water. What, do you suppose, was the cause of death?"

"It could be any number of things, really," Lí muses, giving himself several seconds to think of an answer. "Something's telling me they didn't have coinciding heart attacks," he laughs, shaking his head at his thought process. "The water would have to be important, or you wouldn't have mentioned it..."

After nearly a minute pondering the question, his eyes widen, and a smile lights up his features. "Jack and Jill are fish!" he softly exclaims, one hand raised slightly in celebration, so assured is he that his answer is correct.

Adol grinned widely.
"Quite the gumshoe, aren't you?"
He chuckles.
"Fish they were, and fish they remain. Three losses in a row for me. Good thing it's not HORSE, eh? Now then, something to tell..."

'This guy is being a pain. How do I get him to stick around and open up?'

"Hold on a tic, I'll be right back."
Adol stood up from his chair and went to the counter.
"Could I grab a large bowl of chips? Oh, and a milkshake too, why not. Cheers."
He put his Lien on the counter and headed back to the table.
"Here's a story. I was on a farm, once. They had this horse named Percy. Percy was a very... Friendly horse. I could get into that, but I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate for a public space. Anyway, Percy was the first horse I ever met. Seven year old me was rather intrigued by Percy. So, I hopped into his field with grass in my hand to feed him. I walked up to him, hand outstretched, offering him the grass. Only, he wasn't very interested in the grass. He was much more intrigued by the, apparently, tasty looking shirt I was wearing. Ah thanks."

A waiter came by with the chips and milkshake. Adol nabbed a few chips before continuing.

"Dig in, if you want. They're good chips. Anyway, this horse decided that my cotton shirt looked to be more delicious than the food I was offering, and so had a nibble on my shirt before I realized what had happened. When I did realize, I ran back to the fence. But, of course, the horse was faster than I. It merrily trotted along, my shirt in its mouth, all the way back to the exit of his paddock.
My mum had to pull my shirt out of his mouth. Had a great big hole in the back, as you'd imagine."

Adol sipped from his milkshake.

"That makes it your turn" He says, grinning.

"I must say, that sounds like a rather distressing incident," Lí says, not bothering to keep the amusement out of his voice. At the same time, he holds his hand up, declining the offer. "And indeed it does seem to be my turn."

For several seconds, he ponders, running through ideas of objects to riddle. "Ah; I know..." He trails off for a moment before picking up again. "Life eternal I bring, with fires unsurvivable. Sight is the gift of my blinding light, and your home, my presence secures."