Howdy Neighbor (Solamon)

[Basha'ir]

Fall 10, 512 A.V.

Basha’ir was in a hurry. She had left An Elegant Weave a bit late, but that was becoming normal for her. Though glad to have the somewhat dubious honor of being trustworthy enough to close up, it made her evenings so much more hectic. Of course, she could have just made her way home and spent a quiet, restive evening alone, seeing to what few household chores she had to accomplish. But the arrival of Nondi into her life had changed things considerably. The little four year old girl was truly the light of the young woman’s heart, now. But keeping a child meant the need for more funds, both to feed her and to pay a neighbor to care for her while Basha’ir worked. To do this, Basha’ir was now taking in the odd sewing job, which meant late nights, either sewing or going out for a fitting or a delivery. Running late threw everything off schedule, but she didn’t want to refuse Mistress Druva, when she asked if Basha’ir could close the shop. It was a sort of badge of trust, and she didn’t want her employer to know that she was in competition with her, in a way. Of course, the customers that Basha’ir catered to were typically of a lower class than the ones who frequented the shop. Still, Mistress Druva might not appreciate her efforts, if they cut into the shop’s business at all.

Climbing the last set of steps as fast as she could in her long dress, trying not to drop the package in her hand and hold her padmina in place and hold her skirts up a bit, she hit the last step thinking that she just had to throw the parcel on her bed and then go down the corridor to pick up Nondi, before she…

Stopping in front of her door, Basha’ir yanked the key from her little purse at her belt. It snagged on the lining, though, and when she finally wrenched it free, it went flying. Landing near the next apartment’s door, it hit the stone floor with a clatter. Basha’ir huffed with impatience and took three steps, knelt to retrieve it, and…

The torch in the sconce ten paces down the hall sputtered and went out. Wonderful! As she lived in a room that was around a bend of the long corridor, the next closest torch was hidden from view, so the light was now very dim indeed. If the closest one was to go out as well…

Yep. How in the world…? The lights had a habit of doing that, guttering and going right out, from time to time. But for two to go, at the same time? What were the odds? Basha’ir muttered under her breath, feeling about cautiously for her key. But the slim piece of metal eluded her nimble fingers. Just at that moment she heard the door that was actually now right in front of her open inwards, whatever light there had been in the room beyond also extinguished. She just had time to raise up a little and say, “Watch…” when a boot first touched and then tripped on her lower leg and somebody was falling right on top of her.

[Solamon Tienfre]

He wanted a drink. Or something to eat. Then again it was probably best to not think of food. Or how he could get food…or the type of food he wanted in particular. His mouth filled with salvia, his lips growing very dry but he had only been there five days. Five measly days he could not afford to have any mistakes. At least not yet, now as not the time, not the time at all. Looking around his apartment he moved over to his bunk and carefully smoothed out the wrinkles on his bed repetitively. Over and over again he ran his hand over the creases, trying to make them disappear and becoming more and more annoyed when they did not. It was just a few creases, nothing to worry about, everything was still in place, everything was perfectly…Dira help him it was going to be a long night. Stepping away from the bed he moved swiftly over to the table, taking a few chimes to straighten the chair before grabbing his spectacles. Not that the damned things helped. But rather than leave his apartment Solamon heard what sounded almost like someone was breaking into his apartment. Or at the very least drunk and trying to get into the wrong one. It wasn’t his problem either way he had nothing the thief or drunk would find very appealing. Pulling his scarf from around the door knob he wrapped it around his neck and wretch the door open. He heard the voice and not the words. There was only darkness and a soft body against his, obviously not dead, for once. And then there was the ground, the disgusting dirty ground and whoever was under him. Standing with much awkwardness and fumbling in the dark, Solamon made no move to hide his annoyance or the way he attempted to dust himself off thoroughly. “Planning to sleep in front of my door or are you just a very bad thief?” He didn’t really wait for an answer but stared down at the figure, making no move to help the person up off the ground and wondered why the petch the torches were out. Then again they were out most of the time, at least one. It was like keeping a bunch of cattle in one room…and that was a bad train of thought.

[Basha'ir]

Whoever it was, he or she did not fall gracefully, but rather sprawled out, their knee going into Basha’ir’s hip and their torso ending up pressed against her shoulder for a brief moment. The young woman yelped in surprise as she tumbled sideways, calling out, “Hey! Watch it! What the…” There were a few seconds of scuffling as each of them tried to dislodge the other and find some balance, and then it was over. The person she had inadvertently tripped had regained their feet, and from the placement of their voice coming down to her in the dark, they were once again standing. That voice, too, alerted her to the fact that her neighbor was male, and annoyed.

In the almost complete darkness, Basha’ir stared up, straining her eyes to try to make out the appearance of the one who was addressing her so brusquely. Slowly, her vision was adjusting so that she could just make out a nondescript outline, neither tall nor short, fat nor thin. He was ink against the darkest charcoal, and she could make out nothing of his face, except that it was perhaps pale, as she saw the lesser gray indistinctly above the black. She herself was sitting now, on her bottom, turned towards him, resting her weight back against her hands. She hadn’t suffered any major injuries, though her hip would probably be bruised, and one little finger had been trodden upon quite painfully. But she didn’t fail to note that the voice hadn’t bothered to ask if she was hurt in any way. Only the snide rhetorical question, and no more. If he was doing anything to help her get up, he must have been trying to do so magically or by will of mental power alone, for he certainly wasn’t moving. She half snorted in the darkness.

“Pardon me,” she intoned, infusing her words with some acerbic sarcasm of her own. “I’m so sorry that my body caused you to trip. And I’m neither sleeping nor thieving. I happened to be looking for my key, when the second torch went out.” In the inky blackness, it seemed pointless to continue that search, for she had no idea now where the key had fallen and if indeed it was still in the same spot, after all the kerfuffle. It might have been kicked anywhere. Great! And her package was gone too. And she still had to fetch Nondi and run her errands and…

She realized that she had paused, but no reply seemed forthcoming from her unneighborly neighbor. How long had he been in this unit anyway? She had thought it vacant for the past few weeks, since the smith and his new bride had moved out. She hadn’t noted anyone moving in, or coming and going for that matter. Well, wonderful. He seemed a real gentleman.

Sarcasm was usually not part of Basha’ir’s make up, but she was tired, in a hurry, sore and frustrated. So her voice still was not restored to it’s more typical polite tones as she asked, “I don’t suppose I could trouble you to light a candle or a lamp, so that I could find it? That way I can more quickly remove myself from in front of your door.”

[Solamon Tienfre]

“Butterfingers.” He drawled, realizing she blocked his way, “No candles, no lamps, hence why they have torch outside and a hearth inside." He made himself comfortable against the wall, “But why move when you look so comfortable?” Solamon watched her for a moment, contemplating, stepping over (or on) the woman could cause him to get in trouble with the knights. What fun. Heaving a sigh he squatted down in front of the woman speaking slowly. “I suppose I can help you find the key that you lost, so long as we never repeat this incident. Oh! And if you are by chance a thief you should know I have no money.” Not bothering to wait for an answer, he reached up and pushed his door open more to let out light from his hearth. It was dim and really didn’t do too much but filter a vague light that actually bothered his eyes. He really didn’t want to touch the floor, even in the dark it didn’t look appealing, making a face he scanned the ground around the woman but seen nothing. This was going to be fun. “I’m sure getting off the floor would better help the search,” he snapped, “or do you have a neighbor who keeps a spare?” Trying to squat and not actually kneel on the floor because Goddess knows what was on the floor he crab walked across the floor, looking for anything that glinted in the dim light. Rather than that he heard felt something like perhaps a rock under his foot. Reaching under he grabbed it with a look of disgust and stood, spinning on his heel. “This what you dropped?”

[Basha'ir]

Oh seriously. The man didn’t have a single lamp or candle? Basha’ir didn’t believe that for a moment. She guessed he was just being either stingy or obstructive, and simply didn’t want to provide some light for her to find her key. And his witty remarks were really so entertaining, and helpful. Fine, she’d just find her way down the corridors to the apartment that housed her babysitter, and then come back with…

Unexpectedly, her neighbor crouched down before her, and she drew back a little simply because she had not foreseen the move. What was this? He was offering to help? Oh, yes, in order to get her to leave more quickly. Well, she had no intentions of sticking around or crawling about in front of his door ever again, so…

“Why how very kind of you,” she retorted, with a false sweetness to her voice. “I have enjoyed this so much, I had thought to repeat it every evening from now on. But if you insist, I suppose I can somehow manage to live without it.”

Her sarcasm apparently went either unheeded or he was contemplating his own come back. But his next remarks were more practical in nature, and Basha’ir was happy that it seemed like he was actually going to help her. She saw him reach for the door and then there was more light. For the first time she saw his face, and the rest of him, more distinctly than just some white blob floating over a bigger black blob. Still his face appeared to be very pale, and she noted the eyeglasses, which were fairly rare in Mizahar. At least, she had seen very few people wearing them. He had begun a funny, shuffling, crouching walk and she would have laughed, if it had been a humorous moment. Instead, she pushed herself to her feet, and was just replying, “No. That’s a good idea though. I suppose I’ll try to get one made tomorrow, if we can find the…” when he interrupted. But by this point, she was happy for his rudeness. Ecstatic in fact.

A pale hand with long, thin white fingers held out a metallic object and she bent over it. “Yes! That’s it! Oh, thank you! Thank you!”

Without thinking, she reached for the key and in so doing her fingertips brushed against the skin of his palm. Like a flood of rushing water rising over her, instantly she knew what he in this moment desired most…

OOCit would be most helpful if in your next post you describe what he is hankering after

[Solamon Tienfre]

OOC : Just to clarify, he was thinking of flesh, eating it to be precise but I’m not sure how specific her gnosis gets. Solamon stared at the woman, a cross between amusement and a sneer warping his features as she thanked him sincerely. “Well, aren’t you easy to please.” Truthfully he was simply uncomfortable with praise, rarely did people praise him, he was surprised she hadn’t slapped him and stalked off. It made her more bearable than most woman and made him want get away, perhaps she was a simple person. It would explain a lot. It would be so easy to have her slip into his room and never exit and then he wouldn’t have to get take-out food. She seemed happy enough, no doubt the flesh would be like sunshine. The thought made him snicker slightly and he pulled his hand back jerkily. His hand diving for his pockets where he had yet to put on his gloves. “Petching gloves.” he snarled, he had been worried about thief or more likely someone disturbing everything after he had just put things in place, “If we’re quite finished here I have things to attend to.” He moved to go around her when he noted a knight moving towards them, he glared at the man and let out an irritated huff as he asked if they were alright. “If we weren’t would we be standing here?” Again he made to move around but was cut off by the smiling knight, obviously taking no offense what-so-ever to Solamon’s annoyance. “In that case you wouldn’t mind escorting the lovely lady and the torches to where they can be relit at the end of the corridor and then back.” Obviously he had seen the whole thing play out and his smile was more amusement than anything. The knight gave them a pleasant ‘goodnight’, expecting his ‘suggestion’ to be carried out and as much as he did not want to do it would be more troublesome not to. He should have never helped her with the damnable key!

[Basha'ir]

With that touch, any thoughts she had of appreciation for his act fled. With that one touch, she felt his appetite, literally. In her own mind flashed an image of raw meat – her own! She felt the saliva flood her mouth, and she felt the same longing, for blood and muscle, to let her teeth sink in and rip and …

The man had jerked his hand away, and Basha’ir did the same, with even more aversion to their touching than he had. She stared down at him, her eyes wide, her face pale in the darkness. The saliva that had come to her mouth mixed with the bile which rose suddenly in her throat, and she gagged silently, risking loosing it on his head.

He was rising and Basha’ir stepped back, almost stumbling all over again in her haste, and horror. How could he…? Did he really…? What kind of man would…?
Her hand clamped over her mouth, and she felt her knees wobble.

And the worst part was the desire she had felt just as strongly as he had, when they touched. A desire now turned to disgust, but one which, if that touch were to be renewed and prolonged, would drive her to…

No! She could not think on it! She would not!

All she could think of was to get away from him, as fast as she could. With her key gripped tightly in her hand, she tried to move but as she did, he did as well, right into her path. He was trying to go around her, but she mistook it for him trying to block her leaving. She thought she might scream, but it all seemed blurred and frozen in time, and then she saw…a knight! She wanted to tell him, to blurt out what she had just sensed in her new neighbor, to ask for help, to throw herself at the one who was there to defend the weak and innocent. But, it would just sound so crazy! Who would believe her? Even if she showed them her mark, to think that this dreadful being wanted to…to…dine on her flesh? No! No-one would believe that, surely?

And then, before she could speak, before she could act, the knight was giving the ghoul some instruction. What? He was to escort her down the corridor, to relight the extinguished torches, and then back again? No, she couldn’t! She wouldn’t! Go down that inky dark corridor with him? No way!

Her neighbor seemed as reluctant to carry out the knight’s order as she was herself, and she just stood there, her hand still over her mouth, staring at him, fascinated by this gruesome specimen of deviancy. She could truly say that she had never, knowingly, met a cannibal before.

Basha’ir forced her hand away from her lips, and she mumbled, “I…I…” Her eyes never left his face, though her stomach roiled and lurched queasily. “I…I think I need to go. Er, bye.”

Turning on her heel, she stumbled to her door, fumbling with the key. It seemed to take a lifetime, but finally the lock gave way and she shoved the door open, almost falling inside her room. Whirling, she shut it behind her with a resounding thud, echoing the wild beating of her heart, wondering if she was going to faint.

[Solamon Tienfre]

OOCI have no excuse for the delay, only apologies Her reaction didn’t surprise him but it did annoy him. What precisely was wrong with this woman? First she was annoyed, then she was an idiot and now she was scared of what? Him? The thought gave him a smug sense of satisfaction that didn’t last long as the woman hurried into her own apartment. She needed to go? What made her think he wanted to waste any more time there either? A scowl burned into his features as he followed her to her door. Honestly he should just do it himself but he wasn’t familiar enough with the city to know what the knight had even been talking about. And he did not want the moron in tin knocking on his door to inform him he hadn’t done his ‘city duties’ or some other shyke. Reaching a hand up he banged on the door once, a loud knock that demanded attention. If he had to complete this damned task so would she! Letting out a low snarl of annoyance he spoke through the door, “Woman, you will relight the torch because I am not nor am I having that tin solider come and find me because no one did it!” But he didn’t actually leave, he waited impatiently for her to open the door, annoyance growing larger by the second. Gritting his teeth he again knocked on the door, this time softer, if only so no one else would come out. A few ticks went by before he moved to the side and slammed his own door and shut, waiting to see if the woman would pop out now.

[Basha'ir]

Basha'ir waited inside her tiny room, trembling and praying to Nikali - thanking her for giving her a glimpse of this evil monster who she would now avoid at all costs. Maybe she could find another apartment? It didn't matter how late she would be, she wasn't going to budge for a long, long time. Nondi was safe where she was, and business could wait. No way was she going to interact with that cannibal again!