A Play with Words - Jygust 30th, Late ET (CLOSED)

[Zenith Persimus]

ooc- For Aerin, and possibly others if it turns to that later on

Three beers later and Zenith felt so much warmer then was before she came to the tavern, it seems like the time had melted away with the amber liquid that now filled her stomach. Aerin, the pretty waitress, had spent the last two marks telling her of the murders and fires that had been occurring in the Citadel prior to (and during) her short time there. Somehow it calmed her fears, to feel that there was a use for someone like her. Despite what is considered to be proper she smiled, and felt a leap of excitement in her stomach at the news. Many people would certainly call that insanity or psychopathy but she believed it to be a sudden longing for usefulness and excitement.

She had stayed and waited, mostly in silence, and watching as couples came and went, and suspicious characters sat and stared at Aerin with something that bordered on obsession. At some point during the night she had taken her black hair out of its leather thong and allowed the raven lengths of it to hang like a banner of black silk over her shoulder. She had also, at one point, put her feet up on the opposite seat of the table and joyfully tilted her head back in seeming ecstacy. All because the sleeping roll she used in her crappy (but cheap) hovel of a living place was no where near as comfortable as the cushion on this chair.

It was getting late, but it was hardly as if she had anywhere else to go, or anyone else to talk to. So, she figured she might as well stay with the pretty waitress until she was kicked out; because even if she was attacked - she had a dagger to protect herself with. Besides taht, the conversation was good practice for her Human language skills, something she had abandoned all practice of in the three years following her fathers death.

So, Aerin, how long you lived here for? She asked in slightly broken Human. Leaning forward and looking into the bottom of her (now empty) mug with a soft sigh, a few crumbs from an inhaled biscuit sat beside the empty mug. She looked up with a sheepish smirk that softened her harsh features before looking once more around the almost completely empty bar.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

"Only for a few months...In fact, I visited the University of Maigck just a day or two before it vanished.", Aerin replied, returning to Zenith's table with a fresh mug of beer, an empty glass, and a little something for them each to snack on, her apron left behind in the kitchen. "Shift's done..." she smirked, taking a seat and fishing out her tobacco pouch with one hand while rubbing her left calf gently with the other. Almost a full tide on her feet often wore her down quickly but work at Simple Pleasures was really growing on her and, although she had not begun to study other languages, she found that broken human like that which Zenith spoke was easier to decipher when alcohol had not broken it even further.

"I like it here - definitely better than stuffy old Murrelbuck, and way better than the farm." Aerin continued, lighting up a pre-rolled smoke and setting her pouch next to her mug before filling both glasses from the pitcher. "Although I still have that whole 'stranger in a strange land' feeling, you know? Like my job, for instance...not this one...I am a student at a place called the Rocky Isle Guild, learning to be a Companion for nobility...", she said, giving a tiny circular motion with her hand, drawing a ring with the smoke before taking another drag. "We have a good mix of students but I feel so...lost....there sometimes, you know? It's like I'm still just a farmgirl going through a farmgirl's woes while most of my classmates have taken up internships at the Palace instead of working here."

She gave a little shrug. "See, it's weird, but I like this better..." she glanced around at the cafe and smiled. "Better than a palace job, I mean. Granted, I'll never turn a rich man's head in here, but meeting people like you here is far more fun, I think, than being some stuffed-shirt's errand girl. And I do adore my studies - don't get me wrong." Aerin said with a grin, taking a sip of her drink before responding more. "...and it is nice to know that my destiny will hopefully not see me sitting here in thirty yahren with greying hair lamenting about how I could have been so much more."

Aerin took another drag on her cigarette and nodded toward Zenith. "So what brought you here?"

[Zenith Persimus]

Zenith looked up as Aerin put down a glass on the table, somewhat startled out of her reverie of half-drunkenness and longing for another glass of beer. So, as she looked into the next glass of amber, she smiled sheepishly and looked up once more at Aerin, popping the corner of a particularly attractive pastry and eating it slowly. Enjoying the way it melted in her mouth.

She had no idea about half the places that Aerin spoke of, Murrelbuck? But other than a slight incline of her head she gave no inclination that she didnt know a thing about what she spoke of. Aerin's smoke suddenly filled her nostrils and Zenith sat back a bit, somewhat detested by the odd habit and oddly repulsed.... Being raised in a family of healers she was more then well aware of the effects of the blasted smoking tubes. But when the woman spoke of companions she smiled slowly, believing (innocently) that a companion was a body guard..... Mind you, she had no idea that this woman was a deadly force. But perhaps, that was part of her disguise.

A guild? She asked somewhat distantly before she nodded her head again at the womans words. I know what you mean She spoke Being new sucks, especially when you dont speak the language She added in Adhiel and shrugged. I havnt talk Human since three years ago in a version of translation for her newfound friend.

The woman spoke to her again and she sat forward, putting her arms on the table and using her hands to brace against her chin. Her long hair fell back over her shoulder as she sat forward. She smiled, gently, took another bite and nodded emphatically. I never talk much to men, much prefer to keep silence. They arent.... Oh..... She crunched her nose in thought, running over the word she wanted in her head re... re ... reliabal... That it? She asked. Destiny is fickle. She said with a soft smirk My dad always said that, he believed it better to make your own then wish it. Just like you

As Aerin took another drink and posed her question Zenith raised her eyebrows and sat back a little with a soft grin. Feeling her head swarm with something resembling happyness, delirium and paranoia. Well.... I am from Kislovan That part she could say well, she practiced it before she left My dad used to be in the guard, but he was killed. My mom died three years, so here I am. Destiny, to become guard like dad.

What is companion?

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

"Men are unreliable, yes..." Aerin chuckled softly, thinking of Rat for a flicker or two - he had been quite unreliable in the end and left her somewhat jaded against giving her heart to men as a result as well - sure, with Wrinkles and the sailor, men had served a purpose, but there had been no love involved...because of how unreliable they seemed. She took another puff and listened to the rest of the girl's tale. "What is a Companion? It's like a wife...not a whore, mind you, but someone trained to love and be loved. And to behave like..." she sighed and gave a small shrug. "...like something they were not."

She took another pull from her drink. "Like the King in the Western Kingdom, for instance... Who do you think he would prefer? A prim and proper lady of upbringing? Or a stupid farmgirl who waits tables for a living?" the question was somewhat rhetorical. "The prim and proper one, of course - the farmgirl..." she stated with all of the bluntness that growing up in the streets and country provided "...is good for a quick fuck in the stables, maybe, unless another lady of rigid dignity is out riding with him and decides to trade a little play in the hay for some favor in court." she finished, taking a final puff on her smoke and stubbing it out in distaste.

Aerin was a woman, as was Ashari, and try as they might, women could not always hide things from others, especially when as young as her mentor, and there had been flickers or two of clues when Andolin had been discussed that had led Aerin to believe that Ashari's interest in the man had been a bit more than professional. Those same signs, no matter how subtle, were different when the Caesar's nuptials had been announced and acted out - she had yet to approach Ashari about the facts, as those facts were Ashari's business, but the redhead - alone with her own thoughts far too often - could only imagine the worst.

"Care for a walk?" she asked, suddenly, snapping out of her reverie with a cross between a smile and a snarl. "Some air would do us some good and perhaps I can help think of a way to help you. Not sure that you would like the Blues, since they - in my opinion - seem to spend more time sitting on their thumbs than anything else..." she said, keeping her voice low in case any were nearby listening. "And, in fact, I think I have an idea already..." she added, the snarl making way for the rest of the smile as she stood.

[Zenith Persimus]

Zenith listened to her description of a companion with interest, nodding her head as Aerin finished the sentence.... Leaving the end of her sentence open and Zenith wondering exactly what she meant. But the rest of her words were fairly meaningless, seeing as she had only once been with a man.... God, she felt so undesirable sometimes - especially in comparison to this woman before her. Aerin was.... stunning.... and Zenith was simply waspish, with features that were too small, a body that lacked all curves and skin that was far too pale for her hair.

Life was cruel.

Men suck She said simply with a coy smirk that made a slight dimple pop in her cheek. She had never really had a girlfriend, not since her mother. She was a half blood and not really welcomed in Kislovan, especially not in the part where she lived. So while she was not particularly open with Aerin, she did enjoy the prospect of friendship... Might as well try.

So as the woman proposed a walk she nodded her head excitedly, reaching over her shoulder and quickly plaiting and tying her hair so that it was once more restrained. She stood up, her height eclipsed by Aerin's and she gestured towards the door with a glint in her eyes. Lead the way? She asked, although her intonation seemed wrong somewhat with the question. As if she had put the emphasis on the wrong word. help? she felt the fire of curiosity rise up in the pit of her stomach. Despite herself one of her perfect eyebrows lifted slightly, crinkling the perfect skin upon her forehead. What do you thinking?

[Meridiuz]

Locked due to inactivity of the player