Closed Warmth in Winter (Ellen)

[Telrin]

54th of winter, 513 a.v dusk The snow was coming down thick and heavy when Telrin shouldered his way into the Broken Casket. The warm air hit him like a wall, and the sheer difference from the temperature outside drew an involuntary shiver. The tavern was filled to the brim with noise and heat and the smell of a soup so divine Telrin couldn’t fault his stomach for the violent growl of desire it spit forth. He was cold and he was hungry. Telrin closed the door behind him and took a moment to shake the snow off his cloak and stamp the ice from his boots. It wouldn’t do any good to come in soaking. He weaseled his way through the crowd until he came to the bar at the far end of the room and clambered onto a stool. He pulled his hood down and waved at the weathered bar matron, drawing a pleased flash of recognition that was gone as soon as it had appeared. “There y’are,” she said, shuffling over. “Was wonderin’ when you were plannin’ on stopping by again. Hungry?” Telrin nodded vigorously and put coins on the table between them. “Yes, please. And may I have an ale?” She gave him a cracked smile and swept the money into her apron. “So polite. Y’wait here, young’un, an’ I’ll have ya fed’n watered in a jiffy.” The matron went off to shout something at the kitchen, and Telrin settled into his seat. He was warming up quickly; the fire in the corner was roaring and the tavern was filled with laughter and the stray drinking song here and there. The walls might not have been the fanciest, but they were thick and trapped the heat inside where it could leak deliciously into every part of Telrin’s body, leaving fingers that had once been unfeeling with cold all tingly when the cold was banished. The matron returned with a big bowl of soup and an even bigger tankard of ale. Telrin gave her an excited “thank you,” and took a long draw from the tankard before setting into the soup like a wolf on the brink of starvation. It was hot and salty and meaty and there was a bit of bread on the side, which he dipped into the soup and ate sodden, and it couldn’t have tasted better than if the Gods themselves had made it. Yes, he thought, taking another pull from his ale. This was a good place to be.

[Ellen Darin]

Ellen shivered slightly in the snowy weather, pulling her cloak tighter around her as she walked through the streets in the direction of a tavern she had been told about. It was down by the docks, and she had heard of it many times, knowing it to be quite hospitable, and a place that she could possibly hear a story or two. Stories were something that she had always loved. She sighed in relief as she found the place, and almost silently slipped in through the door, and removed the hood of her cloak, most of her hair having remained dry, protected from the frozen water that spewed from the skies. Thankful for the warmth she made her way to the bar, and standing at it, as she attempted to warm her numb fingers, before the matron addressed her. "What can I get yer?" the woman asked, and Ellen smiled softly, before she replied. "May I please have a mug of wine?" she asked, handing the woman the coin before watching her nod and disappear, before reappearing with the mug of wine that Ellen had ordered. "Thank you." she said, her voice soft as she glanced around before taking in what was happening around her, namely the young boy sat on a stool to her right. She glanced at him briefly, before taking another sip of the wine, trying to think of a way to start a conversation. "Evening..." she ended up saying to the boy, hoping that he would realise she was speaking to him. "Busy day?" she asked calmly, her eyes focused on the mug of wine that she held, and her ears listening to anything she could pick on... The odd song and piece of gossip entering her mind as she glanced around again, her eyes landing on the fire as a slight smile spread across her face. That was the source of the warmth that this place emanated, or was that just the people within it's walls?

[Telrin]

Telrin was not one possessed of supernatural hearing or observation skill, but his ears were sharp enough to pick up when someone was speaking to him. “Evening…” He glanced at the woman next to him, immediately thinking that she must have been speaking to someone else. But no, she was looking to her right, at him. His second though was that she was talking to someone on the other side of him, and the boy turned and leaned back slightly to allow for a more unclogged communication. But no, the stool next to him was empty, and the person beyond that was deep in conversation with the person beyond them. Telrin hesitantly looked back to the woman, gesturing to himself in confusion. Me? He glanced around once more, looking for anyone else the woman might have been talking to. But no, there was just him, a little boy all alone amidst a swarm of people almost twice his size. Wary, Telrin turned back to the woman for a hesitant reply. “Um… evening?”

[Ellen Darin]

As soon as the boy responded, Ellen began to feel slightly awkward. She had never been particularly good at speaking to other peoples, even less a child... But then again, young people could often make good conversation. "You looked lonely..." she explained, glancing at him slightly as she took a sip from her mug of wine, trying to think of something to speak about, other than the rather cold and snowy weather outside. She would have enquired as to why someone who seemed to be quite young was alone in a tavern, but she didn't want to take the risk of offending the boy. "You looked lonely, and everyone else seems deep in conversation..." she said calmly, this time feeling slightly more confident in what she was saying. "I'm Ellen." she introduced herself, holding her hand towards the boy, wondering whether he would shake it or not. Glancing around again, she began to wonder whether coming here was something she should have done, whether staying back at the room she had rented would have been a more comfortable situation, instead of coming here and cringing slight at her own failed attempts of conversation.

[Telrin]

Telrin blinked as the woman seemed to gather her thoughts. I looked lonely? Telrin blinked again. He wasn’t quite sure how to take that. “Um… alright...” Wonderful, now he was feeling awkward too. The general uncomfortableness around them seemed to thicken steadily, at least until the woman offered her hand in greeting. “Ellen,” Telrin repeated. After a moment, he took her hand and shook it. “Hello, Ellen. I’m Telrin.” She glanced around them, and then the awkwardness was back again like a thick smoke. Neither of them seemed sure what to say, now that they had both introduced themselves and that seemed to be the end of things they had in mind. She was an adolescent woman wearing a white blouse and skirt of someone who rarely left the city, he was an eleven-year-old boy clad in buckskin with a tankard of ale in his hand. From where he stood, er, sat, the two of them didn’t seem to have anything in common. At all. “So, ah…” He needed to say something, anything to break the silence that continued to clot around them. “Are you a, er, regular? Here? At the Broken Casket?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he mentally kicked himself. “Here” meant the Broken Casket; saying both would make him look stupid and nervous. Idiot.

[Ellen Darin]

Ellen could help but grin as the boy shook her hand, and introduced himself, before the awkward feeling returned. There was a silence, and Ellen considered attempting to break that silence, but she had no idea what to say. She had never spent any time with strangers before, her parents having introduced her to everyone that she had spoken to. But that was back in Zeltiva, before she had decided to leave and try to find her own way in the world. She blinked slightly as she heard the boy speak, asking if she was a regular here, and a light smirk came onto her face. "No, it's my first time here. Since I got to Syliras, I've spent almost all my time on Traveler's Row. I figured I had best come out to a tavern, to try and socialise with others, and someone suggested here..." she explained, before giving the boy a warm smile. "Are you a regular here?" she asked in return, thinking of making some sort of joke, but deciding not too, unsure of the boys sense of humour. "You look like you don't spent much time in the city... So I'm guessing you tend to inhabit the cobalt mountains?" she asked, hoping that she hadn't make a complete fool of herself. "I went out there once, but I didn't get very far... What's it like?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her

[Telrin]

She was not a regular, it seemed. Not even a native, which made Telrin’s eyebrows rise. “I guess I’m sort of a regular,” he replied. “I come here regularly, but not often.” She didn’t seem too bad, he thought as the conversation continued. The awkwardness was fading, and they both seemed to be getting their proverbial feet under them. “The mountains? As pleasant as a wolverine.” Eh, it was an alright attempt at humor. “It’s not the kind of place to just stroll through.” He paused, reaching for his bread and tankard. He didn’t want to have to finished his food cold, so he soaked another bit of bread in his soup and chased it down his throat with a generous gulp of ale. He had the decency to turn away when he felt the burp bubbling upwards, but he’d accidentally swallowed a good bit of air and it was louder than he had intended. His face was a bit red when he turned back to Ellen, but he acted as if the burp hadn’t happened at all. “I live out there most of the time. I… my father and I… we’re hunters.” He bit the tongue that had almost slipped. The lie wasn’t nice in his mouth, and he’d almost gone through the conversation without it. He’d have to be more careful in the future. “We’re usually by Silkwater,” Telrin continued. “Silkwater lake. Have you heard of that? It’s really deep in the mountains. It can take a long time to get to, a whole day usually. Half a day if you’re fast, and two if you’re slow.” The boy’s eyes unfocused, and a vague fondness passed over his face. “It’s really pretty up there. There are all sorts of animals, though I––we usually hunt deer. I’ve only hunted deer. But I’ve seen other things! I saw a beaver once. And an otter. And maybe even wolf tracks once.”

[Ellen Darin]

Ellen watched Telrins eyebrows raise, and she couldn't help but smile slightly at the response! Then she nodded as he explained that he was a sort of regular She couldn't help but smirk slightly, almost giggling at Telrin's description of the mountains, before she took another sip of her wine, glancing around the tavern as she noticed Telrin looking away, burping as he did so. Then before he started speaking, she noticed his face had turned slightly red and she inwardly smirked, deciding not to raise his presumed embarassment. She listened intently as he spoke about how he was a hunter, along his father, and she couldn't help but hear his words falter, and she simply assumed that he had almost left that part out, so she let the falter slip. Then she listened to him as he spoke about Silkwater, their usual 'haunt' by the sounds of things. "I overheard some people speaking about it once." she murmured softly, before listening to more of his words, as he spoke about the distance to the place. And then he spoke about the animals he'd seen and Ellen's face lit up at the thought. "An otter? Really?" she grinned as she looked at the boy. "And wolf tracks? That's so cool!"