Closed [Loveless]Not Your Typical Customer[Yuri Lehrer]

[Halin'a]

37 Summer, 514AV Almost as soon as Halin'a had arrived at Loveless, Madame Zana had directed him to stand outside of the building and try to entice some more customers, since the night before had been slow and this night was starting to look to be the same. Halin'a, knowing that he didn't really have much of a choice, had simply nodded and walked back through the door, adjusting his clothing so that it was a bit more revealing, and took up a practiced pose against the side of the buiding, smiling enticingly at passersby. Some of them stopped and looked before moving on, some walked in, others who Halin'a knew from nights before stopped to ask if he was available for the night. Halin'a simply smiled and turned them down, saying that Madame wanted him to attract more customers tonight, but he may be available some other night, if they wanted to return. Or they could find another worker inside. The activity on the street lulled momentarily, and Halin'a sighed, letting his head tilt back until it was resting against the wall. He closed his eyes, breathing in the cool night air and basking just a little in Leth's rays. Approaching footsteps, however, caught his attention, and Halin'a opened his eyes and smiled at the man who was walking down the street. He didn't look like one of the men who usually came here, but perhaps he could be persuaded to come in. The man was shorter than Halin'a(then again, most people were), and he was attractive enough that, if he were interested, Halin'a might just come inside with him. The Ethaefal liked the look of his face, and the way he walked. Pushing himself off of the wall, Halin'a used all of his skill to affect his most seductive look. "Hello," he purred, body automatically falling into the pose that seemed to have the most effect on most humans. "I don't believe I've seen you around here before."

[Yuri Lehrer]

Yuri found himself wandering Zeltiva after dark, his reason? Because he had nothing better to be doing and he hadn’t been to this part of the city before, as he made his way down one of the numerous side streets, he felt as though he was being watched, it was likely considering what he was wearing, camouflage armour and a broadsword, he considered which would have drawn more gazes The Armour or the Sword? Probably the sword Yuri decided as he paused for a moment to look around to see if his suspicions were well founded, as it turned out, they were. Some, or rather most, of the people who were lining the street which he had chosen to walk down had their gazes fixed on him, or rather the sword at his side probably wondering what he was doing in their neighbourhood.

As Yuri exited the side street onto what appeared to be a main street of sorts, he assured himself that he was here simply out of curiosity and for no other reason, when he noticed something he found a little perplexing and new to him, a tall man leaning against the wall of a building, what piqued his interest was the fact that he had horns. Yuri began to make his way towards the man, who was wearing rather revealing clothing and smiling at him, obviously an invitation of some sort, but what, he had no idea, as he got closer though, the tall man pushed himself off of the wall and gave Yuri a look which made him feel a little worried and weirded out, what worried him most, though, was the tone of voice and the pose which the man adopted when he spoke to Yuri.

To Yuri it was certainly creepy especially since he didn’t know what to do in this situation, so he decided to play it safe, listening to the man, he waited until the man was done talking before he replied, choosing his words carefully, not knowing what the wrong response might mean, his tone was cautious but friendly “I don’t believe that I have ever been in this part of town before, if I might ask, who are you and where exactly am I?” Yuri turned to let the other man know he was armed, so that if he had thought about trying anything, he may be dissuaded.

[Halin'a]

The man's movement drew Halin'a's eye to the sword by his side, but Halin'a's smile stayed steady. "I am Halin'a," he said, and then gestured towards his horns. "Son of Leth. You, my friend, are standing outside of Loveless, owned by the esteemed Madame Zana." Halin'a allowed his smile to shift slightly from seductive so that it was more persuasive than anything. "Now you know my name-- may I know yours? And why you are here?" The man looked a bit uncomfortable, and was obviously on guard-- he had probably never been down to this part of Zeltiva before. There really wasn't much to be afraid of though; at least on slow nights. Crime tended to spike when large ships docked, but tonight was not one of those nights. Now that the man was closer to him, Halin'a could better appreciate his features; the Ethaefal had to stop himself from licking his lips. He definitely would not be opposed to going inside with this man; Halin'a wasn't picky about the gender of his clients. All that mattered to him was that the client had the coin and the inclination-- Halin'a wouldn't take unwilling customers, not that he'd had any of those yet. If the man rebuffed him, though, Halin'a would stop with the seductive act.

[Yuri Lehrer]

Yuri wasn’t really surprised that the other man wasn’t scared by his weapon, and the fact that his smile was still steady spoke volumes about his courage or dedication to this conversation, Yuri listened to the man introduce himself as Halin’a, a son of Leth and that his present location was outside an establishment known as ‘Loveless’ owned by one Madame Zana. The comment about his being a ‘son of Leth’ caught Yuri’s attention as he was sure that Leth was the god of the moon Which would make Halin’a here ...a demigod of sorts? That begets another question... what is this place anyway, sort of strange name, ‘Loveless’ Yuri was thinking about what Halin’a’s introduction meant about his heritage when he asked Yuri his name and reason for being there.

Yuri looked at Halin’a again; the smile he had worn before he introduced himself appeared more purposeful and altogether less creepy, a fact for which Yuri was grateful, it showed when he replied, a note of guarded relief entering his voice “I am Yuri Lehrer, of Black Rock. My reason for being in this part of town is plain and simple curiosity.” Yuri, before he could stop himself, asked the questions which had been on his mind for a couple of moments “Also, you introduced yourself as a ‘Son of Leth’, does that mean that you are a demigod of sorts? And what is this ‘Loveless’ place anyway?” When he asked, Yuri relaxed his stance a little, but not enough for Halin’a to think his guard was down, if anything he was more on guard than his stance suggested, as he waited for Halin’a’s reply, Yuri looked around at his surroundings to try to accustom himself with this part of town, in case he found himself there during the day.

[Halin'a]

"Curiosity, hm?" Halin'a hummed, slightly amused. He'd heard that excuse before, but he wasn't about to say anything like that to Yuri's face. Yuri's question about him being a demigod earned a chuckle. "No; an Ethaefal is a soul who fell from the realm of either Syna or Leth, and was reborn before their time. We bear the marks of our gods." Halin'a gestured to his horns, a green so dark they almost blended into the black of his hair where they curved over and behind his head, crossing and intertwining at the back before re-emerging, curled, under his ears. "Each night, the children of Leth look similar to me, although each Ethaefal has a slightly different look and coloring. In the day, we revert to what we call our mortal seemings. In those, we are indistinguishable from any other race. Children of Syna are the opposite-- in the day, they have horns and beautiful colors suited to Syna's light, and once Leth once again rules the sky for his turn, they turn into their mortal seeming." The question about what, exactly, Loveless was finally earned a full laugh from Halin'a, as well as the acknowledgement that Yuri most likely was not a potential customer. "Loveless, my dear, cautious swordsman, is a brothel. I am a worker in this fine establishment, and I daresay I'm one of the best." Halin'a tried one last seductive smile, using all of his knowledge to look at the human with invitation and desire in his gaze-- because Yuri was even better - looking up close, and Halin'a was comfortable enough with himself to admit that, even if he was paid for it, he wouldn't mind sleeping with the human, metaphorically. Hai, he'd probably try for it even if he wasn't on the job.

[Yuri Lehrer]

Yuri had have been expecting a reaction, and therefore wasn’t surprised when he received a bemused response to his reasoning for being there, so outwardly he didn’t show any reaction to Halin’a. While he waited for the tall man to respond to his question of being a demigod, Yuri shifted his position so that his arms were crossed over his chest and the majority of his weight was on his back leg. When Halin’a told Yuri "Each night, the children of Leth look similar to me, although each Ethaefal has a slightly different look and colouring. In the day, we revert to what we call our mortal seemings. In those, we are indistinguishable from any other race. Children of Syna are the opposite-- in the day, they have horns and beautiful colours suited to Syna's light, and once Leth once again rules the sky for his turn, they turn into their mortal seeming." He nodded as he processed this information, converting it into understanding.

When the information about Halin’a’s race settled in a comfortable spot in his mind, Yuri looked at Halin’a once more and was somewhat shocked to see that the Ethaefal was laughing wholeheartedly at his question about the establishment, Yuri frowned at this as he didn’t find what he had asked funny, until Halin’a spoke once more "Loveless, my dear, cautious swordsman, is a brothel. I am a worker in this fine establishment, and I daresay I'm one of the best." The moment Halin’a said this statement, Yuri felt a cold moment of foolishness in his gut as he realised that there had been telling signs as to what this place was, he had just failed to realise them until it was too late; Halin’a’s revealing dresswear, the manner when he had introduced himself to Yuri and the sounds he’d heard when the door had been opened a couple of times all indicated what this place was but Yuri didn’t place them until he’d been told.

Shaking he head when Halin’a tried using a look on him, Yuri put on a brave face and had opened his mouth to speak then decided better of it, wondering what to say next. Yuri thought about this for several moments before deciding on what he believed to be a safe topic of conversation, inhaling once more, Yuri began speaking in an even tone “I wonder... does this Madame Zana require the services of a mercenary at the moment?” If she did, for non-brothel related services then Yuri would have been glad to assist. If not, then he would probably go elsewhere to memorise the part of town in which he found himself.

[Halin'a]

When Yuri shook his head after Halin'a's second attempt at a seductive look, Halin'a gave up trying to seduce the man; pity, but hey. Never let it be said that Halin'a had turned into the men that he tried to protect his fellow workers from. He relaxed into a more friendly stance, and decided that he would much rather continue talking with this man than try to entice more customers inside-- besides, he wasn't the only one hanging out in Madame Zana's doorway tonight. At Yuri's question, Halin'a shrugged. "Madame Zana does not often tell her workers about whether or not she requires that sort of assistance," he explained. "But I have eyes and ears-- things have been quiet lately, and I have seen no indication that she might have use for a mercenary." Halin'a tilted his head to the side, studying Yuri intently. "How long have you been in Zeltiva?" he asked after a moment. "Can't have been that long, if you haven't heard of Loveless before."

[Yuri Lehrer]

Yuri wondered what it would be like inside the brothel, for a brief moment, before abandoning the thought, he mentally chastised himself You are really way too curious sometimes, it will probably end up being your undoing... now get back to the conversation you were having... When he’d finished his thought, Yuri looked at Halin’a with a steady concentration in his eyes, and listened to what he said to his question "Madame Zana does not often tell her workers about whether or not she requires that sort of assistance, but I have eyes and ears-- things have been quiet lately, and I have seen no indication that she might have use for a mercenary.” Yuri nodded at this, it made sense that an employer wouldn’t often tell employees when they needed assistance, or that they would reveal all of the details even if they did, as for Halin’a having a network of informants, he filed that piece of information away for further reference It could prove useful should I require information, or need to find someone who is looking to employ my services.

When he had finished thinking about the usefulness of having a network of informants, Yuri listened to the questions which Halin’a asked, once he was done asking, Yuri decided to reply thinking to himself once more He has been forthcoming enough with his information, so I should be with my own. Drawing breath, Yuri began to talk “Halin’a I have been in Zeltiva almost a year now, and I would imagine the reason I haven’t heard of the Loveless before, if because most of the time, I stay in my campsite located in the Mirahil pass, I prefer the solitude, though occasionally people do find their way up. I am glad I met you tonight Halin’a or I may have spent the rest of the evening wandering about, it would have most likely been boring.” When he was done talking, Yuri offered his hand to Halin’a to shake wondering what the man’s reply would be.

[Halin'a]

Ah, so the human was a loner. "I have not often been outside of the city," Halin'a said. "What is it like?" He asked curiously. He knew that inside the city was often bustling, but rarely dangerous, even in the, ah, less-civilized areas. Halin'a had still taken an interest in self-defense, among other things. He wanted to be able to help protect people. Still, Halin'a turned his attention back to the man before him. "So, you're telling me that there is absolutely no other reason you came down here besides curiosity? That there's nothing that I can do for you?" Halin'a could set Yuri up with one of the women if the man decided he wanted company of the more feminine persuasion.

[Yuri Lehrer]

The Ethaefal didn’t take Yuri’s offered hand, and he could understand the probable reason behind the taller man’s decision, and he respected that, putting his hand back down by his side, he continued to listen to what Halin’a had to say. "I have not often been outside of the city, what is it like?" Yuri thought about this question for a few moments, trying to sum up what it was like to live out in the Mirahil Pass, before settling on his answer “It is... peaceful, serene and altogether... relaxing, at least for me. Others do not share this sentiment and prefer to live inside the walls of the city... Much like you, I imagine.” Yuri smiled lightly, indicating that his last statement wasn’t meant as an insult, but as a joke.

Thinking to himself once more, Yuri thought about his ‘civilian dress’ which consisted of a basic set of clothes and shoes It will probably need to be replaced, or have more added to it soon. When he had this thought Halin’a spoke up once more. "So, you're telling me that there is absolutely no other reason you came down here besides curiosity? That there's nothing that I can do for you?" Yuri genuinely smiled at that, amusing himself for a brief moment before speaking in a slightly amused tone “Actually there might be something you may be able to help me with after all... I guess part of the reason I have been wandering around the town is to find myself a new wardrobe, my current one is a little... worn, if you could point me in the direction of a reasonably priced outfitters, I’d be much obliged.” With that statement Yuri waited to see what Halin’a’s reaction would be to this most unusual request.