Open [Okomo Villa] The Honourable Fall of The Starry Alvina

[Una Tanta]

"It was as good as it could have been," His voice snapped tartly, like biting into a raw berry. Inside, Una breathed a sigh a sigh full of heavy frustration. He had been so forthcoming until now, so willing to talk and share. Perhaps his past in Denval is less than savory? Or perhaps it is as simple as he is bored of talking to me? Una chewed her lip as she thought of a subtle way to pry further.

"Hmm...is Denval far from here? It must have been a long journey at the very least as I have heard of most of the cities near here." It was only a moderate lie, "Do you often journey?" She queried, turning her attention back to him. Perhaps he would be more forth coming if she seemed interested in him as opposed to his home city. If he was hiding a delicate painful past he would respond eagerly to the temporal change. If he was bored of talking to her he would simply answer the new question with the same tart abruptness. Hopefully, this would decipher his intent and feelings on the subject.

________________________________________________________________

The colour was a brusque and fierce slap in the face. Her fury broadened her form, her sharp teeth exposed by a weak sneer. While her thin and sleek body was ill built for intimidation her foreign fury was enough to make the rest of her group tremble, leaning away sharply. A sharp intake of breath predicated the upcoming outburst.

"How could you be so utterly incompetent..." She muttered below her breath. It may have been a simple competition, in honour of a story and creature she hardly knew but, since taking her place as Alses assistant she was quickly learning the importance of the smallest of actions and words whether; yelled or whispered, private or public. Allowing an Okomo to take the stage in such a disrespectful state would not bode well, neither would screaming or demanding excellence from a group whose talents were so far from competent.

As she thought those equally disrespectful thoughts she could see her mother in her minds eye, sternly waggling a finger in her direction. It was the first time her memories had dared dance toward her since her betrayal and even now, a season later, she shut the familiar white face out so fiercely she hoped she had decapitated the memory permanently.

"How about we mix up a more flattering shade of yellow- maybe add some red to give it a slight orange tint like gold has. We can paint that on the leaves, and while its still wet, we'll sprinkle some of that gold powder on them," The suggestion calmed her irritation and she nodded as she forced herself to slowly and calmly collect the supplies.

"Perhaps you should do the sprinkling..." She instructed the wary group condescendingly. Though she could hear them snickering, making fun of her, behind her back she turned away from them with her chin toward the sky. Retreating with the necessary supplies to her refuge with the Myrian she set them down.

"We should probably start with fixing the mistakes..." Una offered, subtly seeking his suggestion. "In case we run out of time. Then we can do the leaves?" Her offer for his own suggestion was a show of her trust in his competence. Though she herself had no experience in the arts she worked carefully and the design was simple, not demanding much talent or experience.

Assuming he agreed with her, she would turn to face the Okomo. Large moist nose pressed curiously against her arm she looked down at her long delicate legs. They were very tastefully and artfully designed with the geometric edges and the bright colours reminiscent of jewels as she had hoped. The young strawberry blond human bent over her work was so focused she hardly caught the glimmering sharp smile of the Charoda before she turned to her own work.

The colour they had mixed together was a dull orange yellow, hardly the colour of gold but as she drew out the thin tipped brush resting on the palette in her other hand and drew it slowly over the spiraling urine yellow horn. It was a tame colour and, Una hoped, an excellent backdrop to the glimmering gold flakes they would sprinkle upon her body and horns.

"Thank you..." She murmured to the Myrian focusing on the work as the time began to ring out faster than she had hoped, "I hope you will accompany me for a meal after...in celebration of fixing this mess..." She added hopefully a blush crawling over her cheeks like the outstretched claws of a crab. Not only did the Myrian have knowledge she wished to share but was outrageously handsome in his foreign Leth sparkled skin which left her drawn, inexorably to his attentions.

x

[Savos]

Una pressed on in her questions about Denval, and Savos decided he would have to steer himself away from his more negative thoughts. He couldn't blame her for simply expressing curiosity for his home. Besides, it had been two years since its fateful downfall, and time was beginning its work on old wounds. Though it still hurt Savos to be reminded of his childhood and how quickly he lost it, he was not incapable of generating a rational response.

“Well, you need to go by sea, because, well, you know how Kalea is. It completely isolates every city in the region. I can't remember how long exactly it took, I wasn't really, em, counting days. I'd say maybe a month or so, maybe more...”

He couldn't believe he had never asked himself the question, but he truly didn't remember how long it took him to get to Lhavit. The first half of his journey at least had consisted of him coping with what just happened to him in the storm, not to mention healing from the wounds he had suffered. For the next leg of the trip, he didn't even really much care about where he was going, since it was clear that he had nowhere to go. By the time him and his companions had reached Lhavit, he was dropped off as a refuge of the storm and that was that.

“Not exactly the traveling sort, I'm afraid,” he said with an apologetic smile. The type of people who traveled frequently on Mizahar tended to be a more interesting sort of person, more adept at telling tales of adventure and exotic creatures that Una would likely want to hear. Savos on the other hand, felt remarkably plain.

“Lhavit's the only place I ever really traveled to. And I think that alone was travel enough.” He remembered his childish thoughts of leaving Denval back when it was still in one piece. He had imagined going off to study in Zeltiva, maybe even gathering the strength required to step foot in Taloba. But nowadays, he figured, Lhavit was not so bad. He liked the flowers and the stars and the way the streets stayed warm even when they were hidden under a sheet of snow.

---

Just as Savos had suspected, Una was less than happy at the result of the yellow paint. It had been clear since earlier that she took the competition more seriously than the rest of them. Whether that was due to her greed in regards to the possible prize or due to her devotion to Semele, Savos could not tell. The point was that she reacted harshly to any kind of setback.

Savos was just glad that the anger was not directed at him as she muttered insults at the others. So, he suggested his idea about the paint, and it had its desired effect. Her fury was abated and she retired with Savos to deal with the problem.

Though Una's pride seemed a little childish to Savos, who thought of this competition as not much more than a fun experiment, he could understand her pains. She had chosen to lead this project, thus taking on all the responsibility of its success or failure, maybe without even first realizing it. That meant she would end up taking the competition more seriously by default, and she would have to be able to organize people who didn't necessarily want to be organized. There were many insurmountable challenges in the art of leadership, which was why Savos stayed so very expertly away from the spotlight whenever he could.

This wasn't to say that he did not care for the project. His proximity alone to Una and his effort at putting himself in her shoes made him want their work to succeed, to surpass the other Okomos' designs. His own sense of perfectionism was also repelled by such a hideous shade of yellow. He was not as disgusted by his group's incompetence as Una was, as it was understandable that not everyone could grasp the basics of color theory. Still, it was yet another subtle reminder as to why he so much preferred working alone.

Savos observed the work that had been done on the horn previous in an attempt to observe what needed fixing. The coat was uneven, the brush strokes were harsh and awry, and the color... Well, the color.

“I agree, we should fix this first. If the leaves remain unpainted, they still fit with Semele's theme,” Savos said quickly when Una asked him about the optimal course of action. He was surprised that she had phrased her suggestions as a question to Savos. Earlier, when he had suggested the branches for the bridle, she had not been nearly as cooperative. It made him smile, thinking he had perhaps somehow earned some trust in the little time he had been with her.

He took another paintbrush and dipped into the same bowl as Una and began working on the other horn. He had his brush strokes follow an upward motion that followed the spiral of the horn. Using unity in his strokes would help faster cover the previous coat and give a better impression of unity and motion. After all, paint had a habit of creating the most subtle difference in color and gradient in each stroke, so if those subtleties followed the motion of the horn itself, they would seem natural and intended.

He was surprised again when Una thanked him, and even invited him to supper afterward. Somehow, his attempts at communicating with this alien creature without making huge gaffes had succeeded. She liked him, at least enough to spend time with him on her own volition. He couldn't help but smile at the offer, though he tried to hide how flattered he was by the suggestion.

It was indeed a flattering prospect, that one as foreign and interesting as a Charoda would deem Savos to be good company. He wondered what she could possibly be curious about. On his end, his fascination and questions for a race that lived deep in ocean waters were endless. Knowing there was an entire civilization not even that far from Lhavit's shores was an adventure that called out to even one as cautious and withdrawn as Savos. He wondered if there was a way to hold his breath underwater for long enough just to get a glimpse of such magnificence.

“Sure,” Savos replied, happy that their little conversation would not end when the bell rang out on the competition. “ Do you have any place in particular that you like?” He wondered curiously what the Charodae ate.