Closed Unmet Eyes Are Watching [Meville] [Mino]

[Nassella Poinsettia]

Season of Summer, Day 33, 513 AV Nassella awoke a bit earlier than usual this morning. She rolled around in her bed for a few chimes before actually getting up. After some stretching, she set into her morning routine of making herself presentable. This usually consisted of clothing herself, eating some kind of fruit, combing and brushing hair, and packing her bag for the day. Today, she didn't eat her usual, in fact she skipped it all together. Instead, she would be heading to the Luminary Commons to eat her morning meal. Nassella fumbled about the cabin wondering what to do with her spare time, and realized that she didn't use most of her cabin. Other than the attic bedroom and kitchen, the rest of the building didn't seem to have much use. Since her arrival, all of her days were spent out and about, writing about the city and it's inhabitants. When another couple chimes had passed, and Nassella had grown restless, she began to wonder if she should continue waiting for her kelvic friend to take her out on the sled. Perhaps she should just start walking? She was sure that Mino would smell her trail and follow it if she left early. That decided it. Nassella grabbed her bag, and stepped outside. It was a bit warmer than she was used to, but still cold enough to give her a slight shiver. Pulling her cloak a little tighter, she took off making sure to leave some deep footprints so Mino would see. The crisp snow crunched under her feet pleasantly, and it seemed to become more of an ambiance that she expected to be there since she had arrived in the snowy city. She was just beginning to become very familiar with the area. The names of the holds still escaped her sometimes, but she knew what she wanted and where to go in order to get it. Nassella had no real plans for the day yet, other than being towed about by the sled dog to see more sights.A little over twenty days and she was sure that not everything had been seen. She would be heading to the tavern later tonight to do a bit of work also. On a normal day though, she planned every detail out, but sometimes she took her days spur of the moment. Passing a few friendly faces, a couple she had seen around, and even more she didn't recognized, Nassella made her way towards the Commons. She debated on what exactly she would eat when she arrived. Perhaps she would ask for a recommendation, or ask what was in season. Maybe even what they needed to get rid of before too long. Thinking about the food made her even more hungry. As her stomach let out a growl that was almost audible to the other passerbys around, she hurried her step, almost wishing the had brought a snack with her.

[Minosayaa]

Minosayaa woke up to a 'thud' only to find she had rolled out of bed,Everytime I try to sleep in a bed this happens. I'm sticking to the floor from now on. She rubbed the bump forming on her head, gave a yawn, and stretched. She got to her feet and looked in a mirror and smiled. From the looks of it she had stayed human all night. She was antsy and excited as she got ready this morning. Mino was meeting Nassella again today. She had become very attached to the pale Symenestra lady. She was so different than the Vantha whom she considered family. But, what would happen when Nassella had to leave? It was a sickening thought to Mino. She shook the thought out of her head and pulled her dress over her head. As she was about to run out the door, she remembered her shoes. Mino happily made the trek to the Warrens, enjoying the snow all the way. Arriving at the Warrens, Mino ran up to where Nassella was staying and gave a knock and waited. It took her a bit to realize Nass wasn't there. She had seen the sled outside,Oh, she must have walked! Mino headed back to the sled and looked around at the fresh snow and found what were most certainly Nassella's tracks. Mino smiled and followed after the footsteps. She hummed and walked inside of Nassella's footsteps entertaining herself as she went hopping and skipping. Until she came to a form she knew well. "Nassella!" She called before launching into a big hug from behind.

[Meville Brightshade]

Symenestra.

They were a curious race, shrouded in dark, sinister tales that, more often than not, seemed more fiction than any sort of believable reality. Meville knew little about them, much like the rest of Mizahar, yet for that very reason he found them fascinating. On several occasions a Symenestra or two would stay for a while within the Warrens. Each time, they were treated with caution (for some, fear) and given a wide berth. For the longest time, Meville reacted to the spiderlike race in much the same way if for no other reason than that was how the others responded. This time, however, it was different. Nassella, a surprisingly plain young woman, was much more approachable than many others who shared her race's name. Whenever she was near, Meville still couldn't help but feel a slight chill tickle his spine and tease his hairs, but unlike many of the others, she seemed much more benign, passive almost. It was probably due to her habit of carrying around paper and quill to constantly scribble down whatever interesting fact or tidbit she found relevant.

She was an oddity, which made her all the more appealing.

Of course, Meville had only really observed her. He hadn't even been the one to check her into her cabin. He'd merely happened to notice the word "Symenestra" scrawled in a section of the ledger as he was flipping through during one of the many slow times during his shift and decided she might be a fun new project to take on. He'd taken to following her around the city every now and then, though throughout the consecutive twenty days she'd been been in Avanthal, Meville had spent only a small portion of it shadowing the information hungry woman around the city. He'd been around enough to know the Symenestra had found herself a Kelvic companion, though what exactly the relationship was, he wasn't certain. He tended to keep his distance, choosing only to come into earshot when the woman became particularly excited about some new thing she was learning or having explained to her.

Today was one of the days he'd set aside to trail her. In fact, it was the first day when he'd set aside the entire day to do so. He'd first risen and done his customary exercises a bell early so he wouldn't miss Nassella's fairly routine departure from her home, but he'd taken a bit longer with his daily projection exercises than he'd meant to and had arrived at the cabin around the same time as the Kelvic who's name escaped him. She seemed to realize shortly after knocking upon the door that Nassella had already left for the day and bounded off down what Meville presumed was the woman's trail. He kept his distance, taking care to walk at a leisurely pace as the path both Kelvic and Symenestra had taken was clearly defined in the fresh snow.

As both soon came into view, Meville casually joined a small group of young people chatting about this or that as they made their way towards the Symenestra and the Kelvic. They didn't seem to notice him join their ranks, nor did they seem particularly perturbed when he ditched to lean against a wall and grin at a young woman directly across the way. She didn't seem entirely put off and giggled her pleasure in return. At that point, Nassella had recovered from the Kelvic's greeting and they were exchanging words. He couldn't quite tell what was said, but it seemed whatever it was was enough to get the two of them started again. He grinned, this time for himself, as he felt the warm, bubbly feeling of stalking bounce around in his stomach. It was almost as much fun as framing someone for theft or sealing someone inside a tent using blocks of ice. Almost.

Common | Vani

[Nassella Poinsettia]

Nassella heard Mino behind her before she saw her. When the kelvic ran up to her, she grabbed her under the arms and swung her around, to avoid a direct impact, and hugged her as she set Mino down. They began to chat as they continued their walk towards the commons. Nassella was beginning to enjoy everything about Avanthal. The feeling of walking through the snow, how the people dressed, even the cold was starting to grow on her. Leaving would not be easy. Perhaps she would stay another season, though her original plans would not allow it, she felt the town might have more to offer. She would take it into consideration. There were definitely a few things she wanted to try before she left though. What exactly she would be doing today would have to wait until she had eaten. If she had the foresight to buy more food earlier, then she wouldn't be having this hunger problem. A stop to gather some more food would be a definite stop today. Her travels were constantly on her mind. She had been a bit lonely since she left Kalinor. Nassella didn't mind it much, she very much enjoyed being alone with her thoughts. It was having so many people in and out of her everyday life, she was beginning to forget names and backgrounds shortly after she met others, and forgetting things was not something she generally did. It's she needed to someone to travel with, or maybe she would take a break and head back to Kalinor soon. Another grumble went through her stomach and the thought was shot out of her mind. She was beginning to smell the sweet sweet smell of the mornings food. Either the commons were busy, or she was hungry enough to smell them from this distance... most likely the latter. Upon finally reaching the commons, Nassella almost flung open the doors at a near running pace, the smell of food driving her crazy. When she was asked what she wanted to eat, she was silent for a moment. All this thinking about food and she had no idea what she would eat. After a moment, Nassella asked for a soup with whatever vegetables they had at the ready, and a plate of mixed fruits. She didn't feel like having to work on something to eat, so she made a point to ask for the softest foods they could produce, without them having turned. Once she ordered, Nassella found a seat, and began to wait. Somewhere between her blind hunger charge and sitting, she had lost track of Mino. Knowing that soon enough Mino would show up, she sat and began to count to keep herself calm, and to try to keep her mind off her hunger. When that was not enough, she pulled out her journal and re-read some of her entries. Eventually, she began to scribble random nonsense on empty spots on the pages, which turned into drawings. Nassella had never really drawn before, it never seemed a thing that struck her as particularly useful. On observation of her drawing, she found another reason that she did not draw. She was terrible at it.

[Minosayaa]

Mino continued to follow in Nasse's footsteps. She continued to chatter to Nassella hopping and skipping through the snow. It was evident to Minosayaa that Nasse's mind was elsewhere. She didn't mind, she was rambling anyway.Footstep, footstep, footstep, footstep. It became a fun rhythm in her head and she was temped to repeat it out loud. But, she didn't want to interrupt whatever Nassella was thinking about. Looking at her face, Nassella seemed troubled over something. Mino wouldn't bring it up, if it was important it would come up later in conversation. At some point Nassella had sped up her pace while Mino had be thinking. She looked around with panic trying to figure out where Nasse had disappeared too. It was only a momentary panic before she followed the footsteps to the commons with haste. Reaching the commons, she barely caught the door and headed in. Mino decided on some food, nothing out of the ordinary. A thick porridge laced with bits of meat. It was her favorite for as long as for she could remember. She found Nasse sitting and doodling. Mino watched silently behind her. Once again she found the journal meaningless, but pretty none the less. Mino pointed out to the journal to a single curved character, "Enda." Mino said tracing it in the air, before taking a seat across from Nassella. Enda was the only word of Symenos Minosayaa had memorized. Mino could barely read Common or Vanthi, but something in the swirls of Symenos had registered somewhere in the Kelic's mind. Mino was 'Enda', she had learned from Nassella. However she wondered, "Nasse, are you 'Enda' too?"

[Meville Brightshade]

The walk over to the Commons - for that was the apparent destination - was relatively uneventful. The two females chatted about this or that, so Meville took it upon himself to entertain himself with more stealthy actions than he had initially planned upon. Instead of just casually falling into step behind the two of them, Meville dashed from bank to bank of the freshly pushed aside snow. It didn't really do anything but make him look like a rather large child playing some sort of lonely game. In a way, he supposed that was fairly spot on.

Both seemed to become lost in their own thoughts: the Symenestra consumed with whatever complexities or quandaries often plagued her mind, the Kelvic with the snowy prints left behind her charge. Meville chuckled to himself when the Kelvic looked up in confusion at the disappearance of her partner. It had been surprising to see the Symenestra run with her deceptively agile frame and build. They seemed so delicate. Delicate enough that vigorous movements such as sprinting seemed rather out of their abilities. Apparently, that was not the case.

Meville took his time to follow the two into the Commons. There were several entrances, but they were all close together enough that if either of them left, Meville would see. He doubted it would be a quick stop though. Human, Kelvic, or Symenestra: One did not make a mad dash towards a building solely dedicated to the filling of empty stomachs without having a barren emptiness inside. So, as he neared the Commons, Meville stuck his hand into his pocket to check the amount of Mizas he'd taken with him for the day. Good. He had enough for an entire meal if he felt like it.

Entering the heavy warmth of the building, Meville was bombarded with the incredible smells that tended to permeate the Commons' atmosphere. He was a bit hungrier than he'd thought, so the tantalizing aroma of well-cooked everything was enough to pull at his stomach. Though bustling with activity as is almost always was during mealtime, Meville was able to pick out his targets after a short glance through the many patrons of the Commons. They were in a less dense area of the tables, most likely due to the Symenestra's habit of entering all her activities and such into that journal of hers. It was easier to write when there weren't hundreds of people around.

As it would have been strange for him to just sit down without buying something to eat, Meville bounced over to a stall to purchase a slice of particularly delicious looking fish-and-squid pie with seaweed on the side. If there was one thing Meville had to choose about Avanthal that he loved most, it would have been the food. The smell was enough to make him drool, but the taste? Oh the taste was to die for. There were few things more exquisite than a properly prepared seaweed salad and slice of seafood pie. Once the exchange of money for food was conducted, Meville happily made his way over to a vacant table a short distance from the two he'd followed in.

He was near enough now he could hear them talking. "Enda?" A name perhaps? Whatever the case, Meville decided the food in front of him deserved a good home and began the pleasurable task of helping it move in. He kept the two in his sights out of the corner of his eye, attempting to appear as though he was contemplating the complexities of life rather than spying upon two women. Either way, his facial expression would probably have been the same.

Common | Vani

[Nassella Poinsettia]

OOCSorry about the wait guys, there was a fire evacuation where I live, and it just got lifted, I'll try to work something up as soon as possible!

[Nassella Poinsettia]

OOCThe fires antics are finally over! I have moved back into my house and I am ready for more active roleplaying >:D Let's get this started up again!

"Enda is a word we use for girls who are young, and unmarried, so yes, I suppose I am Enda too" She replied, continuing to refine her tree drawings. Each one seemed worse than the last, though that seemed impossible at the rate she was going. When she decided to switch to writing instead, enda was written again and again, until finally, her food was finished. Nassella almost shot up and ran when her name was called, though she forced herself into a brisk walk to the counter, and a slightly quicker walk once she had her soup and fruits. She was so hungry she could have probably eaten meat, and at this point, she forced herself to make a mental note to be extra careful with her teeth today. Biting someone would not end well, so it was not an option. Biting fruit however, was completely acceptable. She began to tear into the fruit, which she hadn't taken the time to actually look at yet, but began devouring it as her venom melted it quite quickly. After her fruit, which she had hardly tasted due to shoveling it into her stomach as quickly as possible, Nassella paced herself on the soup, and finally began to take in the atmosphere now that she had at least something in her stomach. There were quite a number of others in the Commons, though luckily she had the foresight to pick a secluded-ish corner in her hunger induced thought loss. It was warm, and a bit loud, but still nice, and it was definitely not worth the effort to find a new place just to eat. She sipped her soup and noticed a few people eating alone, but no one in particular stood out to her, other than a large man with a scar across his face. She found herself shooting glances at him every once in a while, but forced herself to stop, as it could be considered rude. Looking back at her page, she noticed that she had practically ruined a whole page of her journal with bad drawings of dogs, snow, trees, and the word Enda written about twenty times. This brought about the question of what exactly she would write about today. "Mino, do you know anyone specific who is rather interesting, or knows a lot around these parts? I'm not quite sure what to write about today. Perhaps I should head back to the tavern again later. Any ideas?" Putting another spoonful of soup into her mouth while she waited for Mino to answer, she locked eyes with a blonde haired man. The mans eyes made her suddenly aware of her look, sitting there holding a spoon in front of her face, mouth hanging open. Nassella thought she would look either like a monster or an uncultured fool. She quickly looked away and began forcing herself to eat with some degree of grace. This made her wonder how long the man had been there, what if he had watched her devour the fruit. Feeling more and more embarrassed with every thought, she began to think that she would never leave her house to eat again.

[Minosayaa]

"Ah, so there are LOTS of Enda! Well, lots here in Avanthal.." Mino leaned forward to see Nasse's journal, "And lots in your journal too!" She said cheerfully seeing the repeated character on the journal's pages. Mino was about to ask a question when she heard their names called. She was surprised by Nassella's speed and gusto as she went to retrieve her food.Someone must be super super hungry! She thought to herself in a sing-songy way as she got to her feet to get her own food. Mino made sure to thank the lady who handed her the food and she was rewarded with a pat on the head. When Mino returned to her seat she couldn't help but notice something odd about Nassella's mouth as she ate... Where those fangs? If so it was just another thing that made Nasse so amazing. Mino herself had different teeth as well, but she was a Kelvic and doggy teeth kinda came along with it. It was no big deal, it ment she could knaw on a bone (or shoe..) in human form with no problem. But now suddenly thinking about her teeth, she began to mess with them. But quickly pulled her hand out of her mouth relizing how strange she must look and quickly began to eat her food. "Hmn?" Mino had been so focused on shoveling food into her mouth she had forgotten Nasse was there. She looked over to Nassella with big chipmunk cheeks full of porrage to lisen to what she had to say. By the time she had taken care of her overly full mouth and was ready to talk, Nasse it seemed had found something interesting to look at. Mino whipped around so she could also veiw what Nassella was looking at. A boy with blonde hair. While Mino knew she didn't know this guy, he seemed familair. She tried to focus on his scent, but it wasn't easy here in the commons with all the yummy foods and people. She closed her eyes trying to focus. Mino ruled out smells left and right to other people she knew. Wait... was this...? Yes. It was faint but she had him. She turned to look at him again.Who are you?

[Meville Brightshade]

For awhile, the Symenestra scratched away at he pages of her little book. What, exactly, she was writing, Meville could only guess at. Initially, his mind wandered over the possibility of observations of the world around her, though her lack of quick peeks and ducks that often came when one investigated with some digression were lacking in her mannerisms. In fact, she didn't even raise her head to respond to the Kelvic's question. He couldn't quite discern the movement of her lips, as her profile was slightly obscured by the blur of distance, but the Kelvic's happy response gave him the impression there had been an answer given at some point prior to her reaction. Whatever was contained within the Symenestra's pages was worth no more than a pound of snow when the woman's name was called.

"Nassella."

Elegant, flowing, with just a hint of mystery, her name quickly clicked into Meville's brain where he fastidiously documented relevant information to be used within the near future, pairing it with his mental image of the woman's - Nassella's - face. He was rather surprised he'd been able to hear the name at all in the hubbub of the Commons, but the name's completely foreign nature paired with a slightly louder than usual, tentative pronunciation made it all the more apparent in the cacophony of nomial exclamations.

Happily, his eyes bounced with her once more hastily accelerated body as his tongue played with a particularly suction-y section of squid tentacle. It appeared to take all Nassella's self-control to not break down and began engorging herself upon the food right there at the counter. Instead, she steadily - though certainly not without an urgent briskness of motion - returned to her table and sat with some decorum. Once seated, the feast began. Feast... Or perhaps brutal evisceration of fruity flesh via veritable inhalation. Meville found himself staring at the surprisingly ferocious end the poor fruits met before the gaping maw of their executioner. A piece of squid catching at his throat quickly reminded him to swallow his food before allowing himself to gape in surprise. Coughing quietly, Meville regained his composure somewhat, peering more towards a table of particularly attractive young women and a Jamoura while still keeping his main focus out of the corner of his eye.

Apparently, the fruit were the first and last to be consumed in such a fascinatingly feral fashion. The soup was consumed quite politely, allowing her to spread her focus out towards the few populated tables around her. Fortunately, she started her casual perusal with those directly in front of her, allowing Meville more than enough time to lazily lean back into his chair and enjoy the cool, sweet sensation of the seaweed salad as it squeaked between his teeth. Taking enough time to eat a few, delicious bites of the salad, Meville nonchalantly returned his attention back to Nassella's table. It was, if anything, the absolute worst time to check back on her.

His bright, blue eyes met with her own dark, reddish gaze. If that were not enough, she held her spoon loosely in front of her slack-jawed mouth in mid flight. Her fangs glinted almost comically in the light as a small portion of the spoon's contents dripped back down into the bowl in a slow fall. Having the self-control of a drunken, prepubescent child at that particular moment in time, Meville couldn't help but let his face light up with mirth and a slight hint of disgust. The latter was of a more gentle breed than most of its kind, sparked mostly by the completely barbaric gape of Nassella's mouth in preparation for consumption. Not a tick later, her face quickly furrowed into one of horror mixed with embarrassment as the spoon remained in place while her head flicked back to the front. As a side thought, the spoon followed, delivering the long-awaited soup and gracefully returning to the half-full bowl to fetch another load.

Not even a chime later, Meville's gaze flicked over to notice the young Kelvic glaring in his direction, a look of concentration on her face as her nose twitched. For whatever reason, the Kelvic's eyes closed as the furrow of concentration between her brows deepened. Raising one of his own eyebrows in interest, Meville cocked his head slightly to the right as the last piece of seafood pie tumbled in a joyous parade across his palate. Whatever the Kelvic had been doing, she finished with a perplexed, questioning gaze to meet his own.

Perhaps it was time to introduce himself.

Meville sighed, giving the Kelvic a gentle shake of his head as he swallowed the last of his delectable delicacy. A slight ping of sadness at the end of his meal helped to push him up and towards Nassella and company's table, seeking a more pleasurable experience than the lonely mourning of his now empty plate. Weaving through the tables, Meville nodded happily at a scar-faced man who gave him a particularly disgruntled look as he passed. Finally within a comfortable distance for conversation, Meville gave the two females a bit of a mock bow. "I apologize if I gave either of you the wrong impression. I merely happened to look at precisely the right moment in your general direction." He winked at Nassella, chuckling slightly. "It was certainly a great deal more interesting than my secluded roost over there."

He turned to face the Kelvic now, standing a short distance from the table. "You seemed to want to ask me something?"

And so ended his strictly observational relationship with Symenestra and Kelvic.

Common | Vani