Strange Girls (Vanari)

by **Kit Rowan** on October 9th, 2013, 10:24 am

Kit allowed Vanari to pull her into the Silver Sliver, set her down. Kit breathed in deep, closed her eyes, kneading her belly as though it would quiet the unsure flittering in her stomach while Vanari was busy getting everything together. It didn't work. She closed her eyes, looked at the ceiling and breathed out of her nose, slowly. Ria could so brave, confessing that. Braver than Shy . . . Maybe even braver than Kit.

They had settled dwn in a little corner table, a flickering lantern casting shadows in warm red light like a hearth long burning. Kit put her hands on the table, looked down, fidgeted slightly. At the mention of the House of Immortal Pleasures Kit looked up, bit her lip, curled her toes. Vanari had more experience with it than Kit did, then . . . But the things that Vanari alluded to were beyond Kit's comprehension. How could Kit hope to measure up to that? It would be like going from the best meals money could buy to a thin broth.

To have this conversation properly, Kit would need to give up some parts of herself for Vanari to see. Kit felt naked . . . Not the way she had propped up on the pavilion of the slave market, naked in truth. Then she had the shield of her defiance, her anger to guard her. Now Kit was offering to let a stranger in a little, and it scared her. Kit rubbed her eyes, blinked furiously. Where were her defenses now?

In the end, Kit picked out a harmless little anecdote from Alvadas. "Where I grew up, they ran plays all the time." Kit clutched her hands together on the table and looked up in Vanari's eyes. "They changed the plays up every time, so much it was hard to recognize them. The swineherd in one showing became a prince in the next, a soldier in another, a barmaid or princess in another. Sometimes it was a serving girl who swept a young lady off their feet, took them to a dance, kissed under leth's light, won their father's approval. It didn't matter. Ionu adores variety in all things."

"I've never actually . . ." Kit shrugged. "You know. And I think I like boys, too." Kit's eyes latched onto the wine that Vanari had picked out. She wanted to be clear headed, she didn't want to give herself away . . . But she needed liquid courage. Kit grabbed the wine, poured it into her own cub with an uneasy hand and downed it all, felt the warmth of it settle into the pit of her stomach. "They can both be a joy to watch. The boys and the girls."

"I think . . . illusion means something more than just a convincing lie." Kit took poured more, drank more. "I think it means you get to decide. An illusionist can change their face, their bodies, they can be whatever they want to be, and no one can tell them that they're not."

Kit chewed on the inside of her lip, shifted in her seat. "I think we can be whatever we want to be."

by **Vanari** on October 9th, 2013, 5:58 pm

Despite the way the room had started to feel warm and muted, Vanari stared levelly at Ria. There was much truth to what she said, even when it came to parts of her past. This, and the idea of illusion's effects on identity, were what intrigued her the most.

Was it possible that Ria was not really...Ria? It hadn't occurred to the Vantha until then, that the wiry illusionist before her could be doing what she did best right at that very moment: hiding in plain sight. For a tick, if Vanari squinted hard and ignored the slow pounding in her head from rapid consumption of wine, she could almost imagine a different face, a different shade of hair and skin. But she quickly gave up, knowing full well she had no ability to see past illusions. Not yet, anyway.

"No truer words could be spoken," she nodded, lifting her cup in a toast before taking another swig. "Though such wondrous freedom is still sadly beyond my grasp."

The wine was starting to make her feel a bit foggy, but a little braver as well. Following Ria's lead, Vanari dipped into her own past to try and make sense of it all, like a seer would a basin of water, scanning and waiting for the ripples to settle and a truth to form.

"In Avanthal, I am what my people would call an Icemaiden. Long past the ideal marrying age, and now rather hopeless in terms of raising children under the vast roofs of my forbearers. The conditions there are ruthless, and though we have built a glorious civilization of culture and stability, it would be nothing without a way to live on through future generations. Children--so few things there are as important, as cherished."

Vanari stared at the bottom of her cup, wondering absently how many little ones Sania now had with Tirelin. A lot, probably, considering the two of them could happily stare into each other's eyes for the rest of eternity. Gods, even after all this time, it still made her queasy.

"Those of us who have other plans...well, we sort of just...leave. At least I did, to escape an unwanted betrothal and lifetime of unhappiness. As for the others, I believe they find sanctuary with those of different races. Kelvics, for certain, are much more--er, for the lack of a better word--open to different...preferences. The natives don't so much persecute such attractions as they do fail to comprehend. They simply don't see it as very productive, anymore than they could see why I felt I compelled to take my art elsewhere."

Even as she spoke, Ria's words rang round and round in her softening mind. "We can be whatever we want to be." Vanari had thought, when she'd struck out on her own, that she could do just that. Be whatever she wanted, where ever she wanted, so long as she was traveling. But she quickly came to realize that it had nothing to do with the external, and it had everything to do with a strange force of will inside of herself. She had to believe, to dare become more than the sum of her parts, and no amount of savagery or beauty she witnessed in the world could replace those two decisions. The only two decisions that she alone could make.

So, what then? Who did she decide she could be?

She had to admit, it did unsettle her a little, not knowing what may or may not be lying under Ria's current countenance. But it was far less pressing of a matter than the girl's initial question. Vanari took a good look, drinking in her companion's dark hair, freckled skin, bright, green eyes, and slim frame. Could she be attracted? In...that way?

"I think," she said slowly, the pieces finally falling somewhat into place. "that you are beautiful as well, Ria. Not just your face or skin, I mean, but inside, if that makes any sense."

Vanari reddened considerably, but she pressed on. "And I believe that I could love a woman as fiercely as I could any man. It's about the person, I suppose, not about our privates. It's just that for the longest time, it's been a different sort of love for each. That's probably why I've been like a feather brained hen these past few days, clucking and pecking as though I've an egg stuck in my bum."

The wine bottle was empty. Between the two of them, anxious as a couple felons lined up to the cutting block, it hadn't stood a chance.

"You're just about the loveliest, most fascinating person I've ever met, dearest Ria," she grinned, her eyes, formerly tinted violet, now glinting a mischievous sort of green. "And after all that shyke we've been through, I've no qualms about giving you a thousand, sloppy kisses. But, I might have second thoughts about you being naked in my bed, if you catch my drift."

Vanari grinned wider. "Maybe." She speared a piece of greasy potato into her mouth and chewed merrily. At least things kind of made sense now, instead of not at all.

OOC :

by **Kit Rowan** on October 9th, 2013, 6:32 pm

Still Kit had trouble understanding Vanari's roots. Ice Maiden? Marriageable age? Kit's cousins had all married young, but that had been an expectation of her family. Her city didn't care! Kit could scarcely comprehend a place so restrictive and binding; perhaps Kit's illusory home had honed her in some ways and coddled her in others. Could Ionu have open up options for the people of their city, broken open new avenues and roads to walk along, rather than allow his, her people to walk down the same dreary path.

"Well, their loss." Kit smiled. It her to imagine Vanari escaping from unwanted obligation, putting life amd safety to the side to chase freedom and a chance to not be bored. She had such respect for a willingness to take that sort of risk, to walk into the world with such boldness. "They've no clue what they've managed to chase away."

She returned her smile as Vanari's eyes shifted from an embarrassed violet to green, a color Kit thought she had seen in the Vantha's eyes when she first began her story. Playfulness?

Kit was considerably smaller than Vanari, and while she pushed down wine just as fast she filled up much more quickly. There was a warmth in her belly that spread out into her extremities, to her fingers and the tip of the littlest toes, the buzzing warmth swelling up and into her head, made thought fuzzy and frayed. When Ari called her beautiful she giggled smiling a big, inebriated grin. Kit felt her cheeks blossom red, her eyes drinking Vanari in like the wine they'd just emptied. "Aw, thank you."

"Maybe." She tested the word in her mouth. "That's enough for me, Ari." Kit laid her hand on top of the Vantha's. And though she would not say it, there was some peace to be found in the fact that Vanari had considered that Kit's visage was a false one . . . and still accepted her. "Maybe, sometime, we can find out together. But right now . . ." Kit wriggled forward and leaned forward almost out of her seat, putting both her elbows on the table. "How about one of those sloppy kisses, from one strange, lovely girl to another?"

OOCThis was a weird thing to initiate too, I'll tell you that! Vanari pushed all of Kit's buttons in this thread. At the same time!

by **Vanari** on October 9th, 2013, 9:15 pm

Ria laid her hand on top of Vanari's, and the Vantha fought the urge to flinch away as though the touch burned. Instead, she sat very still, studying how small her companion's hand was in comparison. Smaller, yet somehow rougher. She didn't doubt Ria's life had been much harsher than her own. It had to have been, to force someone so young to become so hardened.

At Ria's bold request, Vanari's eyes shot up, her emotions doing a curious flip the instant she heard those flirtatious words. She looked at their hands, still touching, then to Ria, who was leaning forward with undisguised eagerness. It reminded her all too well of a different time, a different face wearing a very similar expression.

A pattern started to emerge. Her mind churned furiously as though unable to accept a truth so obvious and plain that it pained her in its clarity. The Vantha backtracked through all the signs, remembering how openly she had marveled at the illusionist's magic. How thrilled she had felt seeing Ria's mad, beautiful smiles. How simple it had been to spend another night with Ely, locked in passion. How nauseated she felt whenever her sister and her young, Iceglaze lover proclaimed their undying love to one another. And how damnably hard it was, after all was said and done, to face the consequences of her actions.

She was afraid. Afraid of commitment, of attachment, of false hopes.

Suddenly, she understood why the thought of sitting through a romantic dinner with Korin rubbed her all wrong, like something slimy and unappealing, but the thought of his handsome grin and rippling muscles shot sparks of wild desire up her spine. Why she had never had any problems bathing, naked as the day she was born, with her breathtakingly gorgeous, Kelvic companion in the Sea of Grass, yet balked like a teenage boy seeing breasts for the first time when she had stepped into the baths with a trained courtesan. Why, just now, she felt unnerved by Ria's touch, even though it had been so easy to take the illusionist's hand in a moment of danger or camaraderie, over and over again.

Passion. Spontaneity. Even love. These, she could see herself basking in. But romance? Seduction? Promises of forever and ever's? Vanari felt her palms sweat at the very idea. She was loyal unto the end to her friends, would forever remember her heritage, and could worship Ionu for all eternity if he or she granted her a mark of favor. But to devote herself to a single person, to marry even, and swear to love them for now and always...

Well, either she wasn't capable of such a thing, or she simply hadn't found the right person for it. All the same, she finally understood. The truth behind her hesitance and confusion hit her like a herd of cattle and tossed her into the air; it was as if a ton of bricks had been lifted from her shoulders and she was suddenly flying, so light and free she felt she could rise straight through the wooden ceiling.

Heady with drunkenness, relief, and a hint of curiosity, she rose from her seat and kissed Ria softly on the lips. The taste was bitter sweet, a mixture of wine and grease and the strange, reflective sensation of femininity, at once familiar and unfamiliar.

"I can give kisses, but not promises," she whispered, not giving a fig if the other diners were staring. "Would that hurt you?"

OOC :

by **Kit Rowan** on October 9th, 2013, 10:19 pm

Kit saw Vanari flinch back, the familiar deep blue of fear crawling back into her eyes. For a terrible moment even through the haze of alcohol Kit was afraid she had gone too far, chased her friend away with the request, but then she leaned in close and locked lips with Kit in an intimate moment. Kit closed her eyes, curled her toes and let it happen, and when Vanari pulled back the taste of her was still in Kit's mouth. Could an illusionist find a way to mix that taste into a glamour? Kit thought she could, but this sensation at least she intended to hoard to herself.

For all Ria's boldness, Kit still felt shy. There were thing she was not yet prepared to do. There were promises she was not prepared to make, secrets she was not prepared to share. "Kisses are good," she murmured, falling back from the table into her chair. "And I was never all that good at keeping promises, anyway." The one marriage Kit had seen up close had been between her aunt and uncle, and they had spent most of their time together trying desperately to convince each other it wasn't a mistake. The other . . . Kit's parents had never married, not truly, and her father had died alone wishing for his lover while she was away in distant places, having adventures by herself.

Kit was in no hurry to lock herself in the same trap they had found themselves in, but Vanari was pretty, interesting and fun. Kit brushed a bit of hair out of her eyes, smiled. Kit wasn't sure what she'd become to Vanari, or what Vanari had become to her. Kit was holding information that Vanari wanted hostage, like a wizard refusing to open a magic safe until a heroine did all the proper quests, and also the liar who tried to catch Vanari's attention while pretending to be something she was not, and the hero who had rescued her, all rolled up into one. It was a mess. But maybe it could be a fun mess.

"I dunno if it'll work out," Kit said, "Maybe so. Maybe not. But If the Trickster watches over us, at least it won't be boring." Around them, the clink and the clatter of the evening crowd going about their business continued unabated. A few curious eyes drawn to their kiss turned away, back to their own business, muttering a few wry, hopeful words and stealing glances back at the pair. Lantern smoke hung like heavy mist near the floor about their feet. "It'll be an adventure!"

by **Vanari** on October 9th, 2013, 11:48 pm

Vanari grinned ear to ear, her imagination leaping and bounding ahead of herself at the illusionist's words. Uncertainties. Risks. Adventures. Those were the very things she lived for. And, apparently, so did Ria.

The more she spent time with her new accomplice, the more Vanari realized just what a lifetime of service to The Trickster might mean. Even in the face of savagery, terror, and potential social catastrophe, Ria stood her ground. She never claimed not to feel fear, but neither did she run at the first sign of hardship or danger. If anything, the brazen lunatic ran towards adversity, met it head on as though meaning to butt it clear out of her way. It seemed that no matter how much illusion or chaos or uncertainty spun about in the maelstrom of her life, the real Ria--whoever she may be--remained the calm, unwavering center. Her eyes always alert for excitement, her feet ready to leap into the fray.

That was how Vanari wanted to live. Never boring, never shackled, never standing still.

"I accept those terms!" she burst, pounding the table with her fist. A few people looked their way, then returned to their meals muttering of young upstarts and their shady deals, Rhysol take them all.

The Vantha speared a large hunk of mutton, waved it in the air, and shouted, "To friendship and adventure!" before devouring the contents of her plate.

And, just like that, the fates of two strange, daring girls were sealed.

Let the mischief and mayhem...

...begin!

by **Abstract** on November 18th, 2013, 1:35 pm

Grade Awarded!

Kit

Skills

~ Stealth - 1
~ Acting - 1
~ Acrobatics - 1
~ Seduction - 1
~ Philosophy - 1

Lores

~ Vanari: Visited House of Immortal Pleasures
~ Kisses Okay, Promises No
~ Liking Vanari

Other

N/A

Vanari

Skills

~ Observation - 1
~ Storytelling - 3
~ Acting - 1

Lores

~ Ria: Likes Girls
~ Spilling Out Thoughts on Ria
~ Kisses Okay, Promises No

Other

N/A

Notes

I must admit, I quite like their relationship! The story was excellent - Vanari, I gave you two rather than one point in storytelling for that. My Vantha could never have told such a story...

Enjoy the grade! Some good XP at the beginning, and lores at the end.

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Closed Strange Girls (Vanari)