The Start of a Beautiful Partnership (Ximal)

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ducking as he flew, she was on her hands and knees now preparing to be squished but instead when she looked up after a moment or two, she saw Ximal laying on the ground as well. Had she actually done it? Did she actually make him go flying aways away from her?! Or was it a trick, perhaps he had jumped at the last minute just to avoid making her into a flat cake of guts and goop. Shuddering at the thought, Ana refocused her attention onto him; eyes wide and filled with disbelief. "I really did do that??" She stated, bemused "but I'm small- how's that possible?!" Shaking her head, Ana tried to make sense of what had just happened- by theory she should have been squished flat. Pride was the least of her feelings right then, she was just...surprised and intrigued at the same time. If she were to do that the next time, would it work? Or would she be squished to be like flat bread the next time?

[Ximal]

Coughing again and taking a deep breath he puffed out his chest lightly and eased the pain out of his shoulder by both rolling it and rubbing it lightly. He lifted his eye brow at ana and sort of stared at her almost quizzically as she poke about "if she really did it , because she was so so small." But he'd taught her this because she was so small didn't she remember that ? Almost sighing he began to explain to her what had happened. "Yes you did actually throw me, and yes you are small and i taught you this because it works better if your smaller. It's a way to use your opponents size against them. So it works better against a bigger opponent and especially one whose going faster. It also causes you to use no energy if you do it right." Coughing lightly he thumped his chest with his hand and sucked down the air through his nose. And exhaled slowly before looking back down at ana and poking her forehead lightly and speaking out again. "Well done. and maybe you'll remember this when you really need it. If you want to learn some more i'll teach you otherwise we can call it a day if you want."

[Ana Sol Starris]

Going to Graths Rest "Hah, thats still unbelievable Ximal.." Ana shook her head, still unable to believe it- she would have to try it another time and pray it worked. Then she would know she had actually done it, doing something once succesfully was more of a fluke than a victory if anything. Standing up, Ana stretched her arms a bit, along with her back going onto her tippy toes, only to flinch, spaz as Ximal poked her forehead out of surprise. Cringing, she peeked an eye open at him and let her arms rest at her sides now, frowning; she couldn't help but give him a slight glare. "What is it with you and uneccessary touch?" Ana grumped at him, swatting his hand away "anyways, if you think this is enough today- how bout we go get a hot drink, and share secrets." She smiled, wryly up at him as she began to gather up her items and reassemble her cloak upon her shoulders "oh, by the way, you're buying- least you can do after so much touching of my person." She chimed out, walking away from him before he could say no, Ana always liked free stuff and she let it be known.

[Ximal]

Xi raised an eyebrow towards ana as she spoke, she still couldn't believe what she had done even when she had just done it. Xi sighed. He'd probably have to run her through it again to get her to believe that she could do it. Still he wouldn't mind running her through it again. Still he massaged his temples lightly before following behind ana and listening to her. What is it with him and the unnecessary touch Xi, followed after her after she smacked his hand away. He followed her listening to what she said. and then decided after that that if he was paying anyway he night as well annoy her some more just to see what she'd do. Whilst she had her back to him he walked a little closer to be within arms reach before reaching his hands down and then in one motion scooped her up beneath her arms and sat her on his shoulders a leg either side of his had and herd her in place by her shins before laughing and saying. "Well if i'm paying anyway i might as well do something else. And i can see your exhaustion so i might as well do this." Xi smiled as he carried her towards graths rest, even if he would have to endure her yelling at him.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana marched triumphantly towards the city, only to be crushed into panick when she felt hands grab her under her arms and hoist her up to be on Ximals shoulders- causing her to schriek in surprise! She tightly clamped her hands on her mouth, her face going redder than before, from embarresement, and anger "What the petch do you think you're doing!" Ana shouted down at him, feeling herself wobble from being so high up. She had to grasp onto his head just to stay balanced. "Come on! I can walk by myself- you're not my broth-.." she started, then stuttered the rest into an indecipheral mess of vowels. Covering her eyes, she started to repeat "no" quietly, getting faster as her shoulders shook "put me down" she said, pleadingly to him. When he didn't seem to comply she put her hood up, and shrouded herself in the dark matierial. It wasn't as if she were afraid of being up high, she loved being high up, which made the Spires to her especially endearing to her because she could then marvel at how high up the tree went. But this. THIS. This was torture, her brother had done the very same thing for her, and at that time she had thouroughly enjoyed it. Now it was just a painful memory that kept repeating in her head, it only reminded her of what she wanted to forget; she had to deal with it, as well as the rumors that would sprout up between her and Ximal. She had to worry what Jakobi thought, was it really worth getting free drinks? This seemed more like pay back to her, "please Ximal? I'll pay if I have to. I will. I'm not tired either. Not. Tired. I can walk." She croaked out, not watching where they were going as she had her face covered by her small hands.

[Ximal]

As Xi lifted her off of the ground he caught ana squeaking like a scared child. He smiled as she did so the reaction was something he hadn't expected. She mentioned a brother? Xi never knew about this... She doubted she'd tell anyone. This had probably been a massive slip of the tongue on her part. Xi could her her almost ritualistically chanting after that a single word. No. then she asked very suddenly and in an almost desperate voice. for him to put her down. after what had just happened he lifted her off of his shoulders and plopped ehr back on the floor onto her feet. Xi Looked down at her but not on her, mentally wondering if she was alright. Mostly because this was the last thing he'd expected out of the tiny thief. His face went from cheery to concerned in almost a split second. he wanted to do something but no matter what he did it wouldn't rectify the situation. He'd done something that he hadn't intended too. Taking a deep breath he walked with her towards graths rest simply to help her forget what she hadn't wanted to remember. "Don't worry i'll be buying. Least i can do to say sorry for bringing up something you didn't want to remember...Sorry."

[Ana Sol Starris]

Graths Rest Peeking from her hands, through the hood when he had put her back down, she was on the verge of tears practically. He had put her down when she started to become stressed, it seemed to her guys were suckers for distressed women. Ana wondered if this was true for every male out there, it seemed to be an ongoing trend in her life, Wrenmae, Kreig, Shadowfang, Kit, now Ximal. How many more men would she meet.. and they would comply to her stress, just because she started to exhibit panick near them. Would it work for every man? Possibly not, as everyone was different, but her reaction was true, she hadn't planned on panicking like that- memories brought the worst, and the best out of her. Shaking her head at his words, she couldn't speak- she didn't want to but what had surprised her most was the 'sorry' at the end. So they walked the rest of the way to Graths Rest in silence, Ana was fiddling with her cloak, nervous to be next to him. When they sat down, and Ximal had ordered hot drinks, Ana didn't put her hood down. Usually she had it down, out of polite courtesy to the management but this time she kept it up out of fear of being recognized. Looking down to her hands, green, she remembered their deal at the very beginning and peeked upwards from under the hood at him "I don't think people would mind.. If they over-heard.. But I still would prefer if we kept quiet, y'know.." Ana requested, the tavern was loud with visitors, making merry times amongst themselves, quite the little socialites they were. They hardly payed attention to the small thief, and the big olf next to her. "So about your hair.." Ana asked, light with a casual tone.

[Ximal]

As they sat down Xi kept mulling over ana's state. Over the time he'd known her he'd like to think he had a pretty good idea on when she was faking. However that which had just transpired was genuine. And his regret was immense. Taking a deep breath and letting the hot drink just sit there he began to mull over what might have caused the issue other than the fact that he'd lifted her onto his shoulders. Had this been something her brother did? Xi kept his head down and his hand raised to his forehead as the warm liquid began to rapidly cool. Xi recognized her voice again after the long silence had passed speaking about most people not worrying about things being too loud. Xi coughed lightly and picked up his drink, and listened to ana's statement as he drank He shook his head as he lowered the mug. " How about you explain your green hands first. I think i've earnt that much after the teaching you how to throw people many times your own size. After that if our reasons match perhaps we should help each other in that regard too ?

[Ana Sol Starris]

Nodding her head as she took her hot drink as well, sipped it, and savored for a few quiet moments between the two. How would she start? Hah, it was a story in itself that was far too long to say, and would be dangerous to other people whom she had on her mind. She didn't want to give away things Wrenmae could do, as it was him who had taught her the morphing, and she remembered he had mentioned glyphing as well- she remembered the designs he had scribbled onto her arm. The eery crawl of magic pulsating through it to make it shift, and turn, act as if her arm had become liquid if only for a bit. Ana sipped again, then took a big, calming breath; she wouldn't have to give an elaborate response to him. "Morphing," she began "I learned in Sunberth, surprisingly, the night before we left for the Spires.. My hands are green because I wanted to see if I could blend in with the greenery in the forest, but I only managed to do my hands- thank the gods." Ana muttered the last bit, frankly, she was glad she hadn't gone further than her hands and partially her arms. She glanced at the green now, scrunching her face up a bit "I think I made them green in the last days of Spring, been green ever since." There was nothing but a buisness tone to her voice, she was blunt, quiet, she was listening to other conversations as she related her own. She was watching to make sure no one took notice of them. Ana turned her head slightly to look at Ximal, and his blonde hair, it looked much like hers in comparison "now your story?" No one was listening, not that she could tell- so she was relaxed as she continued to sip her drink.

[Ximal]

Well there was a surprise. Ana could use morphing as well and could for a long while. Well wasn't that interesting. She'd clearly learnt from someone back in sunberth and from what Xi'd seen of wrenmae and d knew about her connections with him he'd put two and two together. Xi sipped more of his won drink before he spoke. But he chose his words discreetly he didn't want to inform anyone about who'd taught him his. "Well that's a coincidence. MY blond hair issue is from the same root cause that your green hands stem from. However there's no point in hiding who brought your magic to fruition. It was wrenmae. And don't argue. I know it was him, and i know it because he's a mage. A one with far more skill." Xi leant back in his chair and let a couple strands of his now golden hair fall in front of his face. as he then continued. I learnt my morphing here, in the spires. And this ...issue of mine stems from the fact that i had to change one aspect of myself to unlock the ability to do it consistently. It just so happens that i was remembering the colour of your hair at that moment in time. From there on it seems to have stuck." Xi massaged his temples and the sleeve on his left arm slid down slightly to reveal a harsh rash that had taken root. "And that rash, is also a side effect. i had to add scales to my body to gain a feel and as a second task for myself. Unfortunately i rushed the reversal and what you see now is the result. Morphing is a magic that I've only used a few times...And already i see it has an immense amount of dangers. Still less than reimancy i suppose though." Xi sucked down some more of his drink, the hot soothing liquid began to ease the light pang of pain in his shoulder.