Closed Ignorance and hypnotism

[Aurora Hook]

Spring 23rd, 514 AV.
Morning, slightly cloudy.

A yawn split the young girl’s maw as she stretched her arms high above her head. She had slept in, this morning. Well, there hadn’t been only sleep. Most of the night, she was having a hard time getting comfortable. The bed was fine, but it was the first time she had slept anywhere but her masters’ house. It was also the first time she’d had a real bed, which was also strange, but it was a nice change. The blankets were warm and snuggly, she even found herself just wanting to hug the blanket as she awoke.
Aurora sat up and rubbed her eyes, her hair messier than usual as she hopped up onto her feet, then jumped back up onto the bed with a yip as it was cooler than she expected. With a giggle, she stepped back onto the floor, more than amused with herself. Slipping her boots on, she straightened and looked out the window, into the canals and streets. She watched the people and boats as they passed for a few minutes, wondering what to do today. She didn’t have masters to tell her anything anymore, though Daegron had told her to keep low. What exactly did that mean? Did it mean to crouch a lot? That sounded ridiculous, so she decided it was metaphorical, a long word that one of her tutors had taught her.
With another yawn, Aurora lazily clasped her cloak and slipped her lovely new gloves on to hide the mark on the back of her hand. Even if she couldn’t leave Ravok, she still wanted to walk around. Eventually, she would find her way back to the boarding house. If Daegron was looking for her, then he would probably find her wherever she went. He already seemed to know a whole bunch, so why not? With that thought, she swept out of her room, taking ten of each miza along with her.
The lobby was a bit stuffed compared to how it had been the night before. People were checking in and out, and others were just hanging around and talking. It was interesting to see such socialization, but Aurora wasn’t quite sure that she enjoyed the crowd. Well, there had to be only ten people in the room, but that still seemed like a lot, to her. Besides out in the street, she didn’t usually see so many people gathered in one place. She needed some air, and the crowded street felt better than a crowded box. She didn’t know very much about socializing, but, glancing around the room, perhaps it might be interesting to meet someone. After all, the first person she’d met had been kind enough, why not the next? However, as she stood and looked around, she felt a bit more lost than anything. How are you even supposed to greet someone?
The girl chose to sit instead of approach anyone. Someone would greet her, because they would obviously realize she wanted to socialize. Seriously, if Aurora knew that she wanted to talk, then so did they, right? It would all just depend on which one is supposed to speak to her first. That was how it worked. They only existed to interact with her, somehow, and as soon as she was done with them, they would disappear, and sometimes they would return. A perfect example was her masters and tutors. Her masters would come and go, only recently gone forever, but her tutors never returned. Which was unfortunate since she had enjoyed some of them, unlike her masters.
The wild, orange-haired girl sat back and yawned again, long incisors flashing for just a moment without her meaning to show them. Not that she noticed. They were all weird for having smaller incisors, anyway. She was normal amongst all these strange humans. How odd it must be for them to be unable to change their form. Daegron could change his form a bit, but it wasn’t the same. He still wasn’t like her. It made her wonder where he was. He said he would find her soon, but how soon was ‘soon’? Surely, he’d return quickly? She liked him. He was nice and interesting. He would keep her safe. She wondered if there were others like him.

[Russell Wood]

Russell woke up a little late that morning with a bit of a headache that still lingered, he had pushed it a little too much the night before with practicing his magic. Ever since coming to Ravok he had been using it more and more, he had more freedom here than he did back in Syliras, and he was going to abuse that freedom as much as he could do. He sat up and looked around the room, his eyes were still a little unfocused. He sat there waiting for a few seconds until his eyes became focused once more, this headache still wouldn’t leave him alone. He’d need something, anything at all to get rid of this headache of his.

He sighed, and finally decided to hop out of his bed; it was time to get ready. He couldn’t sit there all day to moan about a tiny little headache. He got ready after a few minutes, and put on his shoes and cloak. What was there to do today? Well he’d certainly find out soon enough. Russell walked through the hallways of Tarsin’s boarding house. It was a quaint little place, and the people who worked here were a nice group of people. But Russell didn’t care too much for any of them, they weren’t any use to him what so ever.

Each one of Russell’s steps was wide, his shoulders were back and his chest held out. He gave off the impression of someone extremely confident in themselves, which Russell was. He finally entered the lobby, and to his surprise there were a number of people here already, did he sleep in this morning? That was pretty rare for him; he still had some scouting to do. He always made sure to concentrate on those who were alone, it wouldn’t bode him well to try anything in a busy place such as this.

Russell crossed his arms as he observed the lobby, there was always the chance that there were people who could interest him in the same building as his own. One could expect people new to the city to come here, and that would also mean their connections within the city would be weaker too. Russell just had to look for anyone that stood out a little, away from the crowd of people talking to each other. Maybe take them out for a drink, and work his magic outside, that always tends to work out pretty well. He raised one of his eyebrows, as his eyes fell on a red-head sitting alone, who sat alone in a lobby doing next to nothing? Well it looked like nothing in the eyes of Russell anyway,

He decided to take his chance, what was the worst that could happen to him anyway? He chuckled a little at that thought and decided to simply sit down near her anyway. Now to get this started, Russell looked around the area, he had to be careful about this. A subtle use of an emotional response of calming was used for him to set the mood. ”Ah, what’s a lady doing sitting here alone? I couldn’t help but come over and put an end to this travesty.” Russell had a friendly smile on his face, and laughed lightly. His head was beginning to pound once more, but he had to push through it. A slight suggestion followed this. ”This man seems friendly.” The pounding steadily grew, and his vision blurred a little, he needed to eat something, and soon, or else he’d do a good deal of permanent damage to himself. ”Sorry if it seems rude of me to enquire this, but have you eaten already? If not, then please do let me buy you something to eat, I know this place nearby and it does make very good food.” Russell still had the same friendly smile on his face; one more push was all he needed. Another suggestion was weaved by him. ”I am feeling a little hungry.”

[Aurora Hook]

It was a little while before anything happened, but it wasn’t like Aurora had anywhere to go. She watched people come and go with a rather bored look. Few people even really glanced at her, and even fewer came towards her. A man caught her eye as he seemed to come towards her. Short brown hair and green eyes. His face, like anyone else’s, would have swam in and out of her memory before she could blink. His only remained because he was growing closer.
As he sat down, she felt calm enough. Perhaps he was another kind person? His smile agreed with the thought as he sat near her and spoke, laughing a bit when he finished.

“This man seems friendly.”

Aurora felt a comfortable smile spread across her face and her own quiet chuckle returned to him. He did seem kind, and it amused her a bit that he had called her a lady. That was the kind of thing people used to call her mistress, and she wasn’t sure it suited her. Regardless, it made her happy, and she liked him. She didn’t know why she liked him, but she was warming up quickly enough. “End it you have.” Aurora replied brightly. Next came a question that surprised her a bit, and, for a moment, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It sounded nice, though…

“I am feeling a little hungry.”

Her stomach was complaining a bit and, now that she thought about it, she hadn’t really eaten the day before. Though hunting was fine and dandy, it would be quite a bit easier to go with this man. As a predator, she knew that the easier meals were always the best to go for. As long as it was food, it was good.
Another smile crossed her lips as she nodded. “I haven’t. I think that would be nice.” She replied, waiting for him to stand before she did, too. “Where are we going…” She realized she didn’t know his name and trailed off, hoping he would fill the blank. Learning names was new to her, as much as having one, but she figured that it would be nice to know his before leaving the boarding house. He was interesting, but in a different way than Daegron. She didn’t understand how, but he was something new, and she wanted to figure it out.

[Russell Wood]

After using the suggestion Russell immediately regretted doing so, his head felt as if it would burst open right then and there. His vision fuzzed up immediately, and he didn’t hesitate to grab his head in pain. He did his best not to shout out, and succeeded as he only let out a small groan. That couldn’t be good; she’d catch on immediately something was wrong. He couldn’t be bothered to worry about that. It took a few seconds before his head cleared up enough; at the very least she seemed to be reacting well to his manipulations.

They were rather regular things, as Russell liked to play it safe, so he did expect this sort of reaction. Russell found his vision clearing up, and his headache slowly subsiding. His head was still pounding but he could do his best to ignore that. ”That’s great to hear. Sorry about that, sometimes I get rather bad headaches, but it’s nothing to worry about they tend to be rather brief.” Russell said with a small smile still on his face. He looked around the lobby as he stood up, no-one seemed to be paying any attention to them. That was good, he didn’t need people catching on the fact he was a wizard.

”Well the place I was thinking about is called The Silver Silver tavern, it’s a rather homely place, usually a little busy. But it is nothing to really be worried about.” He didn’t want to use any more magic for a while, that last one was painful enough as it was, and he could still feel the effects. He was just about to start walking when he noticed that he hadn’t even introduced himself. ”Ah, where are my manners, my name’s Russell Wood, and what would your name be ma’am” Being polite never hurt anyone, in fact Russell thought it would work to his favour. He’d get to know her, and then he’d see what use she’d be afterwards.

Russell walked toward the door with the assumption that she was following behind him; this was rather easy which put him on edge. Well no-one ever said everything had to be hard and challenging. ”After you.” He said as he held the door open, a few people glanced over for a little while. Russell was still a little wobbly on his feet so he put it down to that, but there could always be something else. So Russell had to make sure to leave the place fast while still making it look natural.