Closed An Autumn Confab (Tydus)

[Scaea Paille]

Scaea took his hand.

"I'd love to see it. I don't think I'd ever seen one of Laviku before." The words were coming out of her mouth even has he pulled her, pulled her to the white staircase and then underneath. It was an awkward spot, and incredibly suspicious to anyone who happened to see them go underneath. The shadow was welcome, a cool relief from the lingering heat and sunlight that consistently spilled over from Summer year after year. Autumn was always the nicest season of the year, but even then it was often hot, especially when one was sitting in the sunlight.

A slight blush spread over her cheeks, barely visible in the shadow and already reddened skin from her continuous time in the sun. She glanced away, the tattooist's rare momentary awkwardness clearly visible, as he pulled off his shirt. Her eyes, however, were inexplicably drawn to the Oceanus mark, as a moth was drawn to light only to be singed by the flames. Scaea blatantly ignored whatever red flags tugged at her mind, and reached her hand out to touch the mark.

The mark itself was beautiful - it moved, rippled, crashed across his skin in a frothy mixture of white and blue that was all too similar to the Svefra's own eyes. The most important part was how the waves swirled around her fingers where she touched. She moved her finger along the cascade, watching the water move around her fingertips. Scaea was mesmerized by the tattoo itself, and began muttering quietly under her breath.

"It petching moves. Why the petch does it move?"

The spell was broken when the tattooist realized what she was doing. She hardly knew this Tydus, and there was no reason for her to poking around his chest just to play with the gnosis. The movement of the gnosis was a wonderful surprise, but she decided that standing underneath a damn staircase would set fire to the rumor mill and she had no desire to be part of a scandal or seven. She pulled her hand back, clasping her hands together in front of her and tilting her head, curiosity still on her mind.

"Do all Svefra have this?"

[Tydus Tempest]

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Scaea's first question confused him. Not because it was unclear, but because anyone with any sort of experience with the Gods knew that to ascertain why they did things was about as fruitful as trying to pick for fruit in the ocean's waters. The Tempest could not pretend to understand the purpose behind so many of Laviku's creatures and the actions of his mighty hand, and he didn't want to. Laviku preserved his existence by providing for him the fish from his water, and the gnosis he bestowed allowed him to drink from the very same waters. That was the only thing he could understand. Laviku provided for the Svefra, and the Svefra worshiped him for it all.

Stories that the Tempest pod told flared through his mind, flickering, weak memories of Tydus asking Cora as a youth about why the Svefra bore the mark and other races did not. And though he could recall each of them, he decided it was best to leave the storytelling in the past and keep them in the know of the Svefra. Normals had no business knowing the oral tradition of his culture.

"All of the real ones do. Blue eyes and ocean waves are what sets us apart. They're the manifestation of Laviku's blessing in us. Any who have neither are not true sons or daughters of the Sea God."

There was no obvious emotions behind his words, simply the answer that Scaea had sought. He spent several moments reflecting upon an adequate answer for her first question, but there, as he had initially thought, wasn't one.

"He gave us the mark, so only he would know why it moves. It's pretty neat, though. The mark has a desire to show itself. It normally stays on my shoulder, but it's been almost everywhere but on my face, you know. I notice that when I'm in the water, it immediately dives to what's under the water. Going on my back or legs. Oceanus is a fickle mark, for sure. But, it's not just a moving tattoo."

Like all gnosis, Oceanus bore a far greater power than simply being able to move. And it was that power that was to be revered more than all else. For it gave Tydus a home that most could not even begin to understand. It bestowed upon him an intimate knowledge of the incomprehensible. It taught him to love the sea in a way that he could never love anything else.

And it was on the subject of the sea that Tydus remembered his tavan and the bond with it that he wished to commemorate.

"You're a tattooist, right? I've been thinking about getting some new ink, if you're interested."

Fratava | Hypnotic Fratava | Common | Hypnotic Common

[Scaea Paille]

She nodded. His explanation was confusing and rather vague, and left her with more questions - though she decided not to delve deeper into the mysteries that were the Svefra and their relationship with the god of the sea. She herself was not a true Drykas, for she had no windmarks and had yet to bond with a strider, though she considered herself Drykas regardless, simply because of her bloodline. She had never been to Endrykas herself, either. Her mind wandered into the stories of Endrykas she had been told by her father when she was young, but she quickly forced them out of her mind. Why she had never been taken to the city, yet she had been taken so far away into Ahnatep, was a mystery she'd rather not find the answer to.

"Yeah...I can do that. I'm sure I can find time for you." Her eyes wandered over to a slave girl selling crepes, and her stomach made a small growl. Scaea looked at the Svefra in front of her, and began walking away, hips swaying and arms swinging. She called out behind her as she walked, quickly turning her head behind her and speaking. "I'm hungry, so I'm going to get something to eat."

She made her way to the slave selling the crepes, pulling coin out of a small bag. "I'll take a few. Plain." The slave nodded, not meeting her eyes.

"Six silver Mizas, please." Scaea handed her the coin, watching the slave carefully as she handed her the crepes. She pulled a piece of one of the crepes and popped it into her mouth, savoring the slightly sweet taste and texture. Crepes were one of her favorite snacks when she visited Lantern Square, and these were no different. Her mind quickly shifted to remembering that she had left in the middle of a conversation, however, and she found herself looking around to see if Tydus followed her or not.

If she found the Svefra, she'd offer one of her crepes to him.