• Open • Small Talk in Lochgrass

[Woe]

90th of Vhalar 719, early morning.

It was a brisk day in the Lochgrass gardens. Verdant vines mixed with the autumnal yellows, oranges, and browns of the leaves of the willows, as blossoms were swept up in the harvest breeze. The colder seasons were on their way. From what Woe gathered, there'd been a drought or a shortage of harvest produce. The drought was the cause of the shut-down of immigration to Ne'haer. There was too little food to ration, and too many mouths to eat what there was. To compound matters, every sign pointed toward a harsh winter, during which the lake would likely freeze over, compounding the food shortage with an inability to fish for more.

As far as Woe's residence was concerned, a thorough tour of the city was in order. It was long overdue since their arrival in Ne'haer. The woman had been showing him some of the sights, yet had not given him a complete view of Ne'haer. On their current excursion, she'd left him to his own devices in the Lochgrass Gardens, which he supposed to be a safe place to remain unnoticed while she gathered the paperwork they needed in order to facilitate Woe's assimilation into the city. That order of business left him nervous and alone in the middle of the vine-laden paths of Lochgrass, wondering if she was getting the marriage papers for them. She may as well have left him alone. Once in the city, Woe was confident in his ability to go unnoticed and under the radar. Yet she'd insisted that she would bring him the papers.

So he sat on a bench in the gardens, like some truant child playing with his pet wolf spider. The Lethroda familiar hopped down to his hand. He got up from the bench and went over toward a large rock in the ground. Reaching out through attunement, he sought to find specific bugs in there, tasting for their frequency. Eventually, he found it, a cluster of the things underneath the rock, crawling and skittering.

With one motion of his hand as he stooped over it, he tossed the rock aside and watched his wolf spider go to work on the roaches beneath. Woe lowered himself to his haunches, watching as the spider made quick work of them. It occurred to Woe that he hadn't even bothered to name the creature. Before getting marked by Sintra, and really since forever after, he'd never had a pet of his own. Woe wasn't the most enormous fan of animals in general, and so the thought of always having a little friend over his shoulder took some getting used to.

Maybe next he'd be getting a little dog.

Speaking of which, he heard barking in the distance. Woe gathered up his wolf spider, and sat back on the bench, lest the mutt thinks his familiar was a convenient snack. He replaced the rock that covered the bugs and waited for whoever it was to pass.

[Mouse]

Lochgrass Gardens was a fine place for a walk. Almost too nice, from Mouse's approximation of things. The sculpted hedges and verdant arches of leaves and flowers seemed a bit much to her. Still, it had less people than the regular streets of Ne'haer. The only people in the gardens were usually out for a stroll, to garden, or to wait for espionage meetings complete with cloaks and daggers.

Mouse kept to herself while she let her dog, the large white mastiff-like canine, lumber ahead without a leash. She didn't have to worry about Sugar running off as much as she had to concern herself about it in the city streets. People who visited the gardens tended to keep to themselves and not bother her, nor her dog. Sugar was well-behaved mostly, other than the occasional bark at a critter that flitted through the bushes or accidentally stomping on some flowers while sniffing about.

She walked with her arms close at her sides, shoulders slouched, and trying to seem as unnoticeable as possible. The brunette wore a simple tan blouse with a pair of tall brown trousers with buttoned pockets. Her shoes were mere slippers, worn through at the sides and frayed from frequent walks. Mouse followed Sugar's path a short distance behind. She breathed in the fragrant air of the gardens and the faint mist that came up along the coastal side of the city.

Sugar bounded, in a bark, toward someone. Mouse glanced up, recognized the bark and if she'd had the dog leashed, she would have tugged on the rope. Instead, the beat of her heart picked up. Sugar had seen a... something? She hadn't caught it. She only saw a pale man sitting on a bench.

The dog ran ahead, without concern for proper manners, and nearly rammed its head into Woe's knees when it started to sniff. She barked at the spider she'd seen - a large spider from Sugar's approximation of insects and furry enough to be either a little dog to play with or something to bite into and kill. Slobber gathered against Sugar's yellow-stained fangs, the powerful jaws snapped as she tried to bully the human to fall off the bench and let her at the fuzzy spider.

"Sugar!" snapped Mouse. She picked up her feet in a run to reach the bench before anything happened to her dog. "Stop!"

She reached the two and wrapped her arms around the powerful dog's neck. Mouse used her entire petite weight to force the dog away from the stranger. The woman placed herself between the canine and the human, and she angrily smacked Sugar on the muzzle. "Stop, please."

Sugar whined, but calmed down. The Dogo Argentine's thin tail blurred as it wagged with excitement despite the scold. It seemed that the dog was pleased just to get attention from her owner, even if it was negative.

Mouse took rope off from her belt and carefully tied it around Sugar's neck so that the dog was leashed. She patted Sugar's head when the canine sat down and calmed, tongue lolled out of its mouth in content pants of breath.

"Sorry," she muttered, without looking at the stranger. Her voice was so quiet, it couldn't be certain if the apology was sincere or not. She didn't try to excuse the dog's behavior or inquire what had caused it. She held the rope leash and started to walk again. Sugar remained seated, too heavy to budge, as the dog stared at Woe with eager black eyes. Mouse stumbled slightly when she got pulled back by the dog's refusal to move alongside her.

[Woe]

The barking intensified. The large white mastiff was on him before he could react. Woe had dealt with errant animals once or twice. It helped to stay calm, and so his tangle bubbled up out of the anxiety elicited by the dog's hostile manner. He would have taken off his blacksnake to whip the dog out of distance, but there wasn't enough room to get a good crack. As it was, his cane resting on his lap, he wasn't even able to get that in the way of the dog before it was on him, yellow teeth flashing.

The former torturer lifted his hands, allowing his wolf spider to climb down his arm and back underneath the collar of his neck. There it rested into the tattoo. Safe at last.

The dog sniffed him curiously, not the least bit shy as it snuffled and tried to make his acquaintance. Well, it could've gone worse. At least Woe knew he didn't have to thrash the dog with his cane.

Along with this pooch, came a girl to calm it down. Once it felt her hands, the mastiff sat back on its haunches, it's tongue lolling out. Woe looked from the girl, to the dog, and reached a hand out for the animal to sniff. Even as the woman tried to excuse herself, Sugar stood her ground. The sheer weight of the animal in comparison to the girl was enough that she couldn't pull her along against her will.

Noting her difficulty, Woe took pity on the woman. He took of his glove, and allowed the mastiff to get his scent. That, he felt, may appease the beast and allow it to follow its mistress once more.

Yet when it continued to plant its haunches, Woe shrugged at the girl. "It's alright, girl." He spoke quietly, to match her volume. "The dog must have spotted something it thought was prey."

He leaned back in his chair, and took his cane in both hands, laying it against his lap. "Quite the beast, nobody will bother you with a great animal like that. But mind where you bring it without a leash. Some folk won't hesitate to take it for its meat, especially in such lean times as these."

He considered attuning to the girl, but decided against it for now. She seemed innocent enough, and not likely to give him trouble. Besides, it'd be rather rude to do so. Well, not that that'd ever stopped Woe, but he had a soft spot for seemingly honest civilians.

The former torturer had been staying at a nearby Inn while he and Sywena figured out how they were going to settle. He happened to have some jerky in his satchel. Sugar must have smelled it before he thought of the food, as she began snuffling at it. "Hold on, girl."

He pushed his hand into the satchel, and brought out the dried meat for the dog to inspect. "May I feed her?"

[Mouse]

It's alright, girl.

Mouse winced. She gathered the rope around her wrist in a couple loops, drove her heels into the gravel of the walkway, and yanked at the dog's leash. Not even a slight attempt at a polite smile showed on her lips when the man quietly spoke to her. Instead, her gaze flitted away from him and to her animal companion instead. Why wasn't Sugar moving? She'd spent so long trying to train the dog otherwise. This friendly behavior with men wasn't what she'd gotten the pup for.

Besides what did this man have that was prey enough to sit like Sugar was? She stopped trying to budge the large and heavy canine. Maybe Sugar knew something she didn't? She glanced at the man when he...

"Was that a threat?" she asked him blatantly in a wavered almost scared tone of voice, and without humor, in response to the comment about some folk who might take the dog for its meat. She squared her shoulders, drew in a breath, and said in a firmer way, "Lot of good it'll do them... starving with a mangled hand."

No matter how tall or broad she tried to make herself seem, Mouse was still just a petite young woman. She barely any taller than the decorative hedges along the path. Most of them towered over her. She tried to move Sugar again, this time with a whap of the rope against the canine's hide. Sugar lifted to her feet, but snuffled forward at the stranger.

The man brought out some dried meat. Mouse stared at it. She winced again, and her body pivoted to face away from him. Mouse stared down the path, but remained where she was as she held onto Sugar's leash.

"No. Don't waste your food on her," said the brunette simply, if not a bit confused. She glanced at the dog, then at the jerky. "Guess you're not starving then, are ya?

"...I don't want her to think strangers might have snacks for her," she added in a slight explanation, and her gaze lowered to the ragged slippers on feet. Sugar was supposed to scare men like this, not make them want to feed her or talk to Mouse!

[Woe]

As he snatched the jerky away from the dog's face, Sugar snapped at it, only to come up with air. Yet she didn't tackle Woe to get his meat. Maybe she wasn't hungry after all.

It was just as well. He couldn't go wasting his rations on someone else's pet. "No, that's not a threat. I apologize. It was wrong of me to offer unsolicited advice."

Woe's face was clear and without much in the way of visible emotion as he watched the young woman. She seemed a tangle of complex prejudices and fears and something else that was hard to define. It was the hidden trait that interested Woe the most, however. She was small, yet held herself with remarkable resilience. His eyes trailed from her to her beast. It was hard not to notice the chagrin she felt toward her stationary pet. She wanted to be away.

"She is a large dog. Perhaps she's tired." Woe offered. As he spoke to her, the web spinner let the smooth tones extend like venom into the air, through to her tangle. But instead of opting for a stronger strum of curiosity, he delayed its release. There it would lie, for a few breaks, ready to emerge when she was still of mind, and comfortable in her space. He didn't want to alarm her.

Why did he use his magic on a strange woman? Not for any nefarious purpose, surely. He thought she'd make an interesting study for his research into the nature of fear and confidence. A prime subject through which he could perfect his methods of behavior modification.

He could make a patient of her, put her through the fires of turmoil and come out reforged anew. No longer a quivering, afraid, little girl, but a more full and adjusted person.

He meant her no malice, but of course, she would not be persuaded in the state her mind was in. "Of course, that was rude of me to offer the meat." His words insinuated into her tangle, and would later strum her curiosity, and further from that, her potential trust. He hadn't hurt her or yelled at her, after all. And hadn't even taken offense at her hostility.

"Anyway..." Woe began, rising to his feet. "I should get after my wife. We've just arrived in Ne'haer, and I was set to begin as a counselor at the medicine house..." He turned and started away, but then snapped his fingers, frowning. He turned back around on his heel.

"Oh, do you know the way to the Golden Flask? My wife said she'd be there, but I have no idea how to find it." As he spoke, Woe considered attuning to Mouse's frequency. It might do to see her coming if he ever had a chance to run into her again. Just in case she thought of this as her chance to rid herself of his company, "My name is Wolstan Rand by the way. Good to meet you."

Note

Please inform me if it's not okay to attune to your pc. I edited out doing it, until you give me the okay..

[Mouse]

Mouse held onto the rope leash in both her hands, wringing at the frayed twine. She didn't respond in any way to the stranger's apology. Not in words, not in her expression, not in anything except that she continued slight attempts to get her dog to move from the spot. She had no interest in seeming polite, or not appearing rude, and she definitely did not seem eager or hurried to act friendly toward the man. She didn't even seem capable of smiling with how narrow she kept her lips, a slight downward turn of the corners.

She didn't like the way that this man looked at her. Though, Mouse didn't like the way any man looked at her. But something about this one... it made her wonder what it was he thought he saw in her.

Mouse had little understanding of magic, but her gut felt an instinct that might have given her a hint... yet there was no way to confirm an instinct such as that. He agreed with her. In a way that told her he wanted something, maybe. Most men wanted something from her. Most women too. People just saw whatever they wanted in her.

The brunette took a step back when the tall man rose to his feet. He mentioned a... wife? That made her even more wary. She stepped farther back. A counselor at the medicine house?

Mouse remained quiet, and she almost startled when he snapped his fingers at her. She paused, then said, "Golden Flask?"

She paused, glanced at Sugar, then looked back to the man: Wolstan Rand, as he introduced himself.

"Hm," she answered shortly to his pleasantries. Mouse looked down at her ragged slippers. She scuffed the ground, digging the ball of her foot against it, then she muttered in a quiet voice, "Mouse."

"Name. My name, Mouse." She glanced to the side and added in a bit clearer voice, "I can take you to the Golden Flask. For three silver?"

Mouse had no idea if that would be poor or expensive to this man. She still struggled to understand the ways of commerce. The woman clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, then gently shoved her foot against the side of the dog who finally stood up and padded around to get ready for walking. Mouse briefly glanced up at the dark-haired man and waited to see if he'd accept her offer.

OOC

Feel free to attune to Mouse's frequency! She won't notice.

[Woe]

As she startled, and took steps back from him at the slightest movement, Woe could feel the stirrings in his Empathy spark. He knew what it wanted, and how it would wrap its threads around the hapless little woman's delicious ribbons of emotional context. It would extend its threads to wrap around her mind, reordering her emotional threads to remake, reform, and rebirth a whole new mind. Or perhaps it would consume them wholesale, leaving nothing but an empty husk. His Spark was nothing if not hubristic and over-estimating its power. He was quite certain he couldn't drain someone of their entire personality unless something went horribly wrong.

He opened his mouth several times, but didn't allow any words to come out. Not while the Spark was urging him to such depraved thoughts toward a strange woman. A woman he had no connection to, no emotional attachment or given a prior thought to before he met her. The Empathy spark was indeed dangerous, if it could just pick anyone out of a crowd for victimization.

"Golden Flask?"

He shook his head, as if clearing his head, and then nodded to her. "Yes, that's where she told me to meet her."

Almost as swiftly as the words poured out of his mouth, the etheric groping strands of Empathy reached for her tangle, not touching it... yet. They merely observed the texture and surface of her tangle, trying to understand her fear and anxiety around him. What was it that made her so timid and reactive?

Woe let it happen, but held a tight leash on his Spark, to prevent it from any further tampering. His discipline was more than a match for the temptation to dive into her emotions and begin severing threads, to render her pliant to mental suggestions, but the question remained. Did he not want to? He considered this question to himself, as the Empathy spark sought to convince him of their sovereign right to tamper and play with mortal hearts and minds.

"Name. My name, Mouse." She spoke her name in awkward utterances. Mouse... it was the sort of name one chose for a pet... certainly not the name her parents would've given her, he thought. Or else... a slave name? Woe felt a sudden guilt and sympathy rush up from the bottom of his tangle, which caused his searching Spark to move away from observing her tapestry in distraction. "I can take you to the Golden Flask. For three silver?"

"That sounds reasonable." Woe said quickly, before the spark had a chance to deliver its venom. He reached into his belt pouch, and removed three silver nels that had been lying there.

"Well, let's go then, lead the way."

In the meantime, Woe attuned to the strange little woman's frequency. It might be good to keep tabs on her, to make sure he hadn't caused damage with his manipulations a moment earlier.

He didn't say much on the way, but let her lead him, moving to her side so he wouldn't fall out of the periphery of her vision at any point, and so alarm the poor woman.

After a few bits of walking through the Lochgrass, and out into the streets, he managed to say something, "My wife has lived in Ne'haer most of her life she tells me. We're going to have a bonding ceremony soon, we betrothed to each other in Lysoria but in her eyes it wasn't official... Biqaj have strange and disparate customs when it comes to marriage."

Woe was learning to reign in his spark as he spoke, or else suspected that it was building up its venom for delivery with every word he said. Yet as they walked, and he spoke to her, the Empathy spark made no stirrings or movement to wrap around her tangle.

"Is the Golden Flask far from here?"

[Mouse]

Her gut instinct twisted again, when she felt the man looking at her still. Mouse averted her gaze, to avoid any accidental eye contact. She moved slightly behind the large white dog, to keep Sugar between them so he couldn't get too close.

Then she saw the three silver already offered to her. Her eyes widened. She hadn't thought he'd pay upfront. Mouse hesitated, then she grimaced and said, "When we get there. You pay me then."

What else would keep her from simply running off with the nel? This man struck her as trusting or... maybe three silver wasn't that much, then.

She started to walk, leading Sugar to pad along beside her. Mouse looked at the ground in front of her while she walked, with an occasional sweep to stay alert to what was around them. Mouse couldn't feel the attunement, but her notes nearly screeched out at Woe for how prominent they were in her frequency. Obvious, first and foremost, was that she wasn't a mage, nor mortalborn, and she wasn't marked. She had a perfectly clean and untouched mortal soul as well as human blood.

The surface of her tangle, Woe would have found to be rather evasive and alert - both defensive and offensive at the same time - it seemed Mouse didn't feel any specific emotion on the gray surface of her threads... for as little and glancing his observation of it had been.

But the notes of her frequency gave particular insight as the alertness turned to a note of perception, of wariness, of something that seemed akin to a dog with its ears perked up. No sense of damage seemed obvious, though there was another note of something else... Distrust? Suspicion? Misconduct?

No conversation happened, until Wolstan spoke about his wife.

Mouse moved Sugar slightly closer to her, while she led through the streets of Ne'haer. She nodded simply, without much comment about any of what was said. The brunette felt like her mouth was far too dry to even attempt speaking. She glanced over her shoulder to check behind them before surveying the path forward. Mouse repeated this a few times as they walked, especially whenever they crossed past alleys.

"Is the Golden Flask far from here?"

"No," she answered shortly. She meant from where they currently were, since they'd already walked a fair amount from the gardens. And that was all she said.

Sugar was far more friendly. The dog lolled her tongue and sniffed at Wolstan's hand to try and find the jerky from before.

When they turned a particular corner, Mouse stopped. She pointed forward at a cottage-like building that was still a fair distance away and said, "There."

Mouse seemed intent to just let him walk the rest of the way by himself. She thought for a moment then said, "Three silver and... beer?"

[Woe]

When Woe opened up to her frequency, it came slowly at first, he had to walk a while before he got a real sense of what it tasted like. But then, he saw a human, nothing very unusual or remarkable on the surface. No sign of etheric corruption or divine influence, not that he had the point of reference to make heads or tails of that. He only sussed out the differences from his own frequency. She was human, that much he could tell. With ordinary human blood, like Emmy.

His mouth twisted at the remembrance, which he pushed to the back of his mind. He made no physical sign of discomfort known while they walked toward the Golden Flask. Her tangle was an interesting one, unlike those he'd explored thus far. Keeping its threads close to the core, gray on the surface or perhaps such a tightly wound mix of emotions that it was hard to distinguish the particular hues. He couldn't quite tell. And before his Spark dared to delve deeper, he assigned the bulk of his ether to his attempts to attune to her frequency, delving into the notes, comparing them to the flavor of his own.

There, he could see mistrust, suspicion, misconduct. An interesting mix, and one that seemed to confirm his theory that she was a slave once upon a time. He knew well enough themes of the baggage that went with being a former slave. Although Woe's experience had been one trained to trust those above him and let them worry about the details, he'd nevertheless understood the notes of suspicion and of misconduct, the assignment of which was perhaps undeserved or unfounded. They'd doubtless had a different experience if she'd indeed been a slave.

Woe ignored Sugar, out of courtesy to his guide, who seemed to dislike that her dog was taking a shine to him so well. Why did the dog like him? He didn't know. He wasn't the sort to keep pets. But perhaps he'd give it a try. It might be nice to have a little thing to take care of. He glanced at Mouse as she stopped, and pointed toward the cottage-like building ahead.

"Three silver and... beer?" She said after a moment of hesitation.

Woe nodded and handed over the three silvers. "Very well. I'll buy you beer, Mouse." He tried to home in on any changes in note or frequency as he said her name. His Empathy spark, he kept a tight leash on it, not allowing it to explore the woman's tangle any more than he had. He didn't trust it around strange women, especially now after everything that happened.

He led the way toward the tavern, tapping the ground with his cane. Soon enough they were inside the common room, Woe opening the door and letting Mouse follow if she would. It was fairly crowded, not a table to be had. But there was room at the bar.

Woe took a look around, trying to search for the sandy blonde hair of Sywena. He thought he spotted her at several points, but of course, she wasn't there. "It doesn't look like Sywena is here yet. I'll just sit at the bar, so she'll see me when she comes in. Come on, I'll buy you a beer."

He led the way through the crowded tavern until they arrived at the bar. He tapped the counter as he slid into a seat, and spoke to the tender, "I'll have an ale with some lemon... Here's my provision voucher." Woe showed him the card that delineated his allowance of food and drink. He'd let part of it count toward Mouse's beer. Then he paid for both with nel. "And take off for a beer for Mouse."

There, he'd wait for Sywena to arrive, and for their drinks. Meanwhile, his Empathy spark stirred and wound up in amusement in his mind, seeming to snicker at the prospect of alcohol.

[Mouse]

Mouse didn't accept the three silvers immediately. She looked at his hand, as if uncertain, then held her's underneath. The brunette kept a space between them, in offer for the man to simply drop the silvers into her palm rather than... having to touch hands... and if he did try to touch her hand, she would quickly snatch the silvers and retreat her limb away with a swift note of - was it... malice? hatred? whatever it was, it was powerful and didn't match the gentle looking exterior of the petite woman - no matter how stern her face got in expression.

Maybe she simply didn't like having to take coin from strangers.

Still, she kept on to the tavern, with a few glances at the man's cane and she kept hold of Sugar's leash. The woman led the dog in with her to the tavern. Her upper lip curled at the sight of how crowded it was... but there was still room at the bar. Mouse settled against the counter. She dug out a small crusty bread treat for Sugar, though the dog didn't seem very eager to accept it. Mouse lightly shoved the bread against the dog's muzzle until Sugar finally gave in and ate it.

Mouse climbed up and onto the seat next to Wolstan. She glanced at the card he showed, then glanced at the bartender. This wasn't her first time in the Golden Flask... and the tender looked back at her with a slight look of discomfort that glanced down to where the dog hid behind the counter. Still, the beer got set in front of her. Mouse glanced when Sugar laid down at her feet to rest.

She paused, then looked at the man and asked with a gesture toward the panting dog, "Water for Sugar?"

Other than that, she didn't say much else while waiting for the drinks. As soon as they arrived, the petite woman picked up her beer. She held the mug in both hands, then started to drink. Started because once she placed the edge of the mug against her lips, it didn't leave. She kept it there, slowly drinking in a steady never-ending sip, until she was forced to tilt it so she could finish the bottom half of the beer. Mouse didn't set the mug back down until the entire thing had been drained dry.

She exhaled once finished, then quietly burped against the back of her hand. The brunette wiped off her mouth. Mouse looked down at Sugar, then muttered to Wolstan, "Bye."

Leaving the seat, with a slight teeter to her balance, she picked up the dog's leash and prepared to head out.