Closed Along the Cobbles[Evalynn]

[Moritz Craven]

5 Summer 522

Moritz rose abruptly, not for the first time, in response to a sudden thump on the roof of his dwelling. Shortly after that was a series of salty curse words as the jungle crow taking up residence on Moritz residence scared off a few parrots or some such animal that were trying to land on the building. Oddly territorial the bird would not let any other bird land nearby, but Moritz did wonder what he would do if a bigger bird actually approached instead of the smaller ones he had seen it scaring off like parrots and the like.

Awake anyways Moritz let out a sigh, rolled out of bed, and quickly made his morning ablutions. Then he rolled back into his bed for a bit, staring at the ceiling, and tried to work out what to do today. He did not need to be at work for awhile... Did not have any specific plan to meet anyone... He could always go for a job, or go train... Though he had been doing that a lot lately, and perhaps he could use a break...

As he mulled this over Moritz absentmindedly looked up at his hands, as he was currently moving them about at random in the open air, and wondered on that for a moment. His human hands... When was the last time he had enjoyed his Kelvic form? Most of the things he did like working or sparring required a human form, and so he spent most of his time like that. But with nothing specific to do why not go for a nice walk and stretch his hooves? He would prefer some nice rocky places, a decent mountain or something... But he could settle for a walk on the beach he supposed. At least until he was properly prepared to go out into such settings safely.

With that decided he did not need his pack, or even shoes. Instead he donned only one thing - his button up one piece suit. Being magical he could shift while wearing it and it sort of... Moved into him. Or upon him, leaving an odd pattern across his fur of grey stripes but otherwise showing no sign he was wearing anything. And then once returning to his human form Moritz would still be dressed instead of naked as he used to be when shifting. Which, he felt, made other people happier than seeing him run around naked and made things easier. It also tended to make things a bit less awkward, since he knew he was perhaps not in full control of his body and sometimes weird things happened outside of his control. So wearing some bit of clothing helped with that issue being obvious.

Besides that he had no other possessions on him as he stepped out of his home, at least not counting the items he could not remove and stayed after shifting like the star embedded into the back of one hand and the charm bracelet on his wrist of his other hand which did not come off.

Once safely away from his house Moritz focused for a moment and shifted, changing shape in a flash that at once seemed to take some and yet no time with his human body simply being replaced by his Kelvic form to an outside observer. With that done Moritz headed along the trail to the Cobbled Pathway, moving along it to the commons and once there heading out to the beach to go for a walk. At least assuming he did not run into anyone or get sidetracked on the way.

WC: 600

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

Hot breaths filled the cool air and tough branches smacked and scraped against bare skin and Eva ran through the forest. A full moon was high in the sky, but the darkness that engulfed the forest refused to let even a sliver of light through to help Eva find her way. She was running blind, but something in her was telling her that there was safety just past this forest. Her legs and lungs were burning, but she kept telling herself to push forward and not to stop. If she stopped, then --- an arrowhead suddenly stuck out through her chest and shock caused her to stumble to a stop. Her hands hovered around the arrow as she turned to look at the one who shot her.

But the dream ended as Eva sat up in a cold sweat early in the morning. The end of that particular dream always ended in her getting shot in the head and Eva waking up soon after. It was causing her to lose sleep, in fear of having that particular dream. Eva groaned and rolled out of bed, needing to take a bath and go on a walk to clear her head. This had been a regular occurrence for her mornings, ever since that monolith showed up in the Commons. She had been having regular nightmares of a woman named Laura, mostly running away or staying low. It left a bitter taste in her mouth because it related to her current situation as is.

After finishing her morning routine and having a small bite to eat from a meal she saved from yesterday, Eva made her way outside. She needed, or more like wanted, her walk to take her somewhere secluded and peaceful for her to regather herself before work started for the day. Should she visit that monolith again and see if there is a reason why she was having these sudden dreams? She didnt have actual evidence linking the monolith to the dreams, but it was all she had and it gave her some comfort. Well, apparently simply thinking of a place leads you to the area as she suddenly found herself at the end of the cobbled path leading into the Commons. She sighed, eyeing the monolith, but not approaching it yet as it was something foreign to her.

She was just about to turn and leave back down the cobbled pathway when she saw the most strange creature casually walking to the beach. A large goat, with pastel hair, and glass-like horns and hooves. Her eyes lit up in curiosity, as this creature was absolutely stunning, and she immediately started to follow with caution. Approaching an unknown animal suddenly could lead to serious injury. Or even worse, it could run away and she may never get to feel just how soft it was.

WC: 475

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz was almost to his first turning point, the commons, when he ended up being distracted. From the commons it was but a short trip out to the beach, and then as planned he could begin his job up and down the length of sand near the docks. It was one of the safer places to jaunt about, and so whether in human or animal form he tended to go there.

However in his Kelvic form he had a better view of the things around him, his excellent human peripheral vision expanded even further by the positioning of his goat like eyes in that form. Of course with all things there was a balance, and Moritz had to be extra careful walking near the edge of the jungle to regularly look up at the treeline since his vertical sight was limited. A lot of things in the jungle moved up and down as opposed to where Okomo were common, and so if he was not constantly vigilant he was vulnerable to such attacks. This forced him to move his head about a bit oddly, to keep the higher parts of the trees visible, but he knew once he got to the beach he would not have to worry about such things. After all it was a nice flattish area with no large or tall structures near it, and few threats from above dropping onto him.

Considering such things and trying to keep an awareness of the path and his surroundings he did not at first notice the woman in front of him nearly in the commons but not quite entering it from the cobbled path near the bungalows.

Once he did though he focused his eyes and quickly enough knew the familiar silhouette of Evalynn. He had spent enough time with her that he was quite quick to work out who she was.

It did not really occur to him upon seeing her that they had not yet had a specific conversation about him being a Kelvic or that she might not recognize him. Of course, how could they seeing as he had only recently been lifted of his odd curse forcing him to lie, and before that he would have been unable to explain anything to her. Since then they had not met and spoke much, it still being early in the season, and so it just had not come up.

Moritz still found it odd how often humans could not tell he was a Kelvic, not having met another human with many of the features he had. Like his eyes which were the same in both forms, and his unique pattern of hair and its colors which also carried over to his pelt in his Okomo form.

Seeing her Moritz let out a somewhat excited and very Okomo "Aaaaah" sound, and sped up in his approach to her such that he ended up trotting near the end rather than the slow and steady pace he had a moment earlier.

Once reaching her Moritz let out another "Aaaah" sound, and gently bumped the side of his head against her side. He was careful to avoid hitting her with his horns - particularly the tops- or stepping on her with his hooves, knowing smaller human creatures were quite breakable when compared to his Okomo form. It was something he had learned from a very young age, and something he was very conscious of when moving about in his Okomo form.

As he Aaah'ed at the woman Moritz recalled it was not the actual first time he had done so, and that his first time he had been in his human form

WC: 610

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

The goat turned and looked at her as she approached and she stopped in her tracks. She didn't get much time to process before it trotted over to her, happily by the sound of it. She smiled big as the creature, much larger than she expected, started nudging her softly. She giggled and ran her hands along its head and through its wool, absolutely stunned by how soft the thing was. She took some time to stroke its head and nuzzle close to it before she stepped back and got a look at it. Having time to process now, she now gave a loving smile and leaned down to kiss.

"You're coming with me, you seem like you'd be great company." She winked, hugging the Okomo around the neck before leading him towards the beach. "You're even softer than what I was expecting. And I am impressed by the size of your animal form." She nudged the Okomo softly, feeling even more comfort from it now. It didn't take much for her to realize who the Okomo was, with the unique eyes being the first giveaway. His pelt was just an added bonus, thought to be realistic; the pelts could be different from each one.

Eva led Moritz down the beach and to an area she figured was called Sharktooth Rock. She hadn't bothered learning the actual name, but figured it was close since it actually did look like a shark's tooth. It was a silent and slow stroll along the beach as Eva watched over the waters and gathered her thoughts. The tranquility of the ocean's voice gave her a bit of a soothing sound to focus on as she walked as well. After a while, the pair arrived at the spot, and Eva scouted the area before picking a place near the water and sitting.

"Come here, let's relax." Eva patted the spot next to her before opening her arms in invitation. The gesture was a confusing one, but essentially Eva wanted the Okomo to come snuggle right beside her and enjoy the scene.

WC: 346

[Moritz Craven]

Walking along the pathway in some shade from the surrounding greenery, it was not quite as harsh in terms of heat and light as compared to the beach. Or at least not being directly in the light seemed to lessen the heat a bit as compared to being directly in the light. But not much, as it was still quite hot it being Syka. It did not take him long to recall one of the reasons he kept to his human form quite often. It was not just for speaking or having human hands, but also the temperature. Though his fur was perhaps a bit shorter than back in Lhavit it was still quite warm, and he soon felt the sweltering heat all the same. He would need to change back before too long, and certainly find some water to drink.

He thought of such things as he approached Evalynn, brushing up on her happily. At first she seemed to tense, but after a bit he saw the look of recognition in her eyes as she realized who he was and grinned all the more. He felt oddly satisfied that she had realized he was him so soon as she had. It took quite a few humans much longer, if they ever worked it out at all, and so he felt satisfied that someone he liked so much knew he was himself regardless of form.

As always he enjoyed hearing Evalynn smile and laugh as he nudged her gently- though perhaps a bit less gently from her perspective- on his approach. She was also quick to get a feel for his pelt, past his head and along his furry figure before greeting him with a odd fuzzy kiss. He could not recall kissing anyone before in his Okomo form, and it did not quite feel the same as in his human form.

At that point though Evalynn urged Moritz onward and guided him to a spot on the beach. Not really wanting to fight it and curious where she wanted to take him Moritz followed along to see. He grinned at her compliment at his Okomo form, and almost wished it was night time and fully dark so she could see his full brilliance. At night after all his long curved skyhlass horns would light up with their signature Lhavit style bio-luminescence, his hooves made of the same stuff as his horns ending with a figure quite noticeable in darkness.

Perhaps he could find someone willing to give him a good summer shave, so he could be a bit cooler in the Syka heat. Maybe someone who made clothing, and would have use for the material? Otherwise he was liable to overheat with much more than a short change to his Kelvic form...

In the end Evalynn seemed to lead Moritz along to a patch of the beach with some pointy rocks. As far as he could tell that was it, but perhaps it was some spot she favored? Out in the heat Moritz began to breath a bit heavier, but panting and breathing heavier was just how his Okomo body cooled off rather than sweating all over the body like in his human form.

Sitting down on the beach Evalynn seemed eager to snuggle into his furry body, which he did not might, though he imagined it would be quite hot for Evalynn as well out in the Sykan heat against his thick and warm fur.

Moritz was not really sure what he was supposed to look at, besides a slightly different path of beach from another, but sat quietly for awhile while occasionally nuzzling at Evalynn.

WC: 608

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

"The scene is lovely." Eva spoke sweet words, but it was obvious from her tone that she was extremely hot and was straining to not say anything. Moritz's pelt retained heat like no other, and as the day went, the hotter and sweatier she became. Let alone, she didn't wanna imagine just how bad Moritz was suffering. But he would shift forms regardless of if she was cuddling him, right? Eva looked at him and watched him pant, a bit worried. "If you're too hot, don't allow me to stop you from shifting."

If he stayed in his Okomo form, Eva would continue to cuddle him until he shifted into his human form. If, instead, he did shift forms right then, Eva would adjust herself accordingly, sitting up next to him and leaning back on her elbows to hopefully enjoy a breeze. Either way, she would still really enjoy his company and find comfort in whatever form he chose. After a couple of moments of silence and cooling down, a new conversation would strike up.

"Hey, I wanted to ask, have you been having anything weird happen to you since that thing arrived in the center of town?" Eva looked over at Moritz with a curious look and waited. She didn't think about it before, but maybe getting a second opinion on what is happening to her would be helpful. "Cause lately, I've been having these really weird dreams of a woman running through the woods before she is shot my someone. It's starting to cause me to lose sleep."

WC: 260

[Moritz Craven]

Looking out over the water, Moritz pondered on what Evalynn meant. Did she see something he did not? Or did she see the same thing, and glean something different from what he did? The latter seemed more likely, as he had quite keen eyes. Though what that was he was unsure. What exactly was beauty? To him it was just a patch of sandy beach so similar to any other. Slightly different due to the rocks, but otherwise more or less the same...

He did not exactly consider himself a romantic, and had only a vague notion even of what such a thing was. He liked Evalynn though. He was attracted to her. He thought she had beauty. But a patch of beach? What about that was supposed to have beauty? That was something he did not entirely get. Still he enjoyed Evalynn's company, and it seemed she was enjoying snuggling up to him in his Okomo form so for her sake and his own desire to make her happy he snuggled in return.

It was not long after her words saying he should not stop shifting for her sake if he was too hot that he did so, one moment a large Okomo body kneeling on the ground, the next a much smaller but still larger than Evalynn human form. Unlike most Kelvic when he shifted he did not do so naked, dressed now in the button up suit he so commonly wore and which had a magical nature allowing it to shift with him. With the differing angles and things though Moritz had to turn and shift around to be oriented the same way as Evalynn was now that he was in his human form which did not take too long. Once they were at eye level and with their heads oriented the same way he nestled back down next to her.

Once he was settled Moritz playfully leaned over and gave her a kiss on the neck, before sitting back and meeting her eyes. Shortly after that she finished settling as well and then asked him an odd question. Or at least a question that would have been odd to his mind a few days prior. Now though he did have a quite recent occurrence related to that, not to mention older memories and dreams that were clearly not normal. He of all people should know that, since a not dream possible vision had been the thing that had brought him to Syka.

His star turned a mix of yellow and gray for a moment at the question before turning a more bland grey, and finally shifting back to a light pink hue as he looked at her. Considering his words Moritz tried to think how to best answer her question, but found many conflicting memories tumbling in his head.

"Honestly I have not looked at it that closely. It hasn't been there that long, and I've been a bit busy. I'm still getting used to being able to talk freely without having to consider how my words will be twisted like before... Oh and just to be clear I'm not actually a tour guide. Actually I had not even been to that place I took you last season, it was my first time going there but someone had told me about it before then. I don't think Syka even has tour guides."

Considering the other part of her question Moritz pondered a bit more, knowing some things were not things he should discuss freely. He did not lie, but he avoided some of the topics related to the content of the dreams.

"I would not lose sleep over it, worrying won't make things better. But honestly... Dreams are not always just dreams. And it does not hurt to be prepared. I had a dream that was not a dream, and that is how I ended up in Syka. I've also had other dreams that were just normal dreams. Dreams of other people. And lately I have been having dreams which are certainly not things I have experienced. Kind of like... I'm looking out from someone else that is not me, but seems... Familiar in some way... But I have certainly never stood atop a tall building and used a bow on a passing carriage rider, or invaded a building among the woods and silenced a guard. But I have seen such things in my dreams of late. When it happens to you, the dreams, is it you in the dream? Or someone else? Like your seeing something that happened before? Or like its something that will happen to you? How does it feel when it happens? Those would be the first thing I would ask."

WC: 789

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

Goosebumps of surprise and excitement washed over her body and Eva let out a soft moan and a shiver. Her head tilted to the side, giving more exposure to where Moritz kiss her neck. His soft lips felt amazing and she gave him a bit of a mischievous side eye. Once he had settled in, she smirked and situated herself one again before starting her conversation. To which Mortiz responded in kind, explaining that he was busy and that he was still getting use to not having to think before he spoke because of his curse. Then jumped to explain that he was, in fact, not a tour guide and he didn't believe there was any in Syka.

Listening to Moritz talk now, after being accustomed to his twisted words, sounded really weird to her. His voice, though never changed in tone, sounded smoother and for some reason it was easier to understand. As for him explaning away his misgivings from last season, Eva pretty much understood what was going on and didn't hold anything against him. And while she would've questioned his motives about getting close to her, she no longer felt the need. Once Mortiz moved on to explain his reasoning to come to Syka was from a vision and then about how dreams are dreams, Eva became a bit confused.

"Whoa now Moritz, that was a lot to take in." She chuckled, once he had finished talking. "You kind of lost me half way through, so let me see if I understand what you were saying. One, you came to Syka because of a vision? I'm assuming that's what you mean by a dream that isn't a dream. Then you say you have been having a dream about you being on a roof and killing a guard?" Eva stopped the shook her head and corrected herself. "No, you were shooting a bow at a carriage then it switched over to you killing a guard and sneaking into a building in the woods"

Eva kind of felt she had a better understanding of what he explained, even if she didn't touch base on everything. And while she was about to dismiss it and move on to agreeing with him, she stopped herself.

"Wait, a building in the woods? What did the woods look like? Were they mostly pines? Or was their oak and under brush mixed in?"

WC: 399

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz smiled at Evalynn's strong reaction to Moritz kiss, intending it as a teasing thing and finding it had worked quite well. Moritz was no master of the seductive arts- even he knew that- but he was willing to bang around randomly until he found something that worked. That had been a bit of a stumble in the dark, but seemed to have worked.

Or perhaps-Moritz reasoned to himself- totally non-romantically he had begun to grasp the edges of the logic of romance and his idea had been birthed from that understanding even if only partial. Not that Mortiz had any hope of doing things otherwise, he thought to himself as he looked out again at the sun and the sea and failed to fathom what Evalynn saw in it.

If nothing else Moritz was beginning to understand the importance of teasing someone a bit, rather than just diving into things right away. Kind of like a chase and letting the other person be chased rather than just sprinting all out and tackling them to the ground even though they could... As that would ruin the game of things.

Once he finished explaining his own thoughts and experience son dreams and not dreams it took him a bit to realize Evalynn was confused by what he said. He was unsure why, as he felt what he had said had been perfectly clear and well explained, but clearly she did not feel as such. Soon enough though she seemed to focus on one small detail of what he had said and ran off with it, which also confused Moritz. His star churned a grayish brown hue as he tried to puzzle out her meaning along with how he should respond.

"Uh, I don't really know the technical terms. It was not a dream, that is for sure... I think someone may have called it a vision at some point, I'm not entirely sure. And it might have had something to do with a falling magical space rock, but cannot be sure on that... Or that may have been totally unrelated."

The star currently in his hand was the same one he had found just bells after having his not a dream, and he had learned it was something rather important or impressive... True natural skyglass, as opposed he guessed to fake skyglass made by gnosis power such as in Lhavit. The chances of them happening so close together seemed unlikely then, but now with all of the odd things he had seen and experienced he was less sure on that.

Honestly though he felt like half the time he gave people the whole story it came off sounding weird or made up, and so he had sort of given up on giving the full details of some such stories since no one seemed to take it seriously. Like how he got his eyes, or finding the falling skyglass, how he ended up in Syka. Growing up and basically being raised by a house full of ghosts haunting a living house that was aware and could change and was alive... Or did he just have a lot of odd and unlikely things going on around him a lot of the time, and by chance they sometimes clustered?

Then he noticed one detail of what Evalynn said, and unlike the other mix ups she did not correct it and so Moritz tried to clarify.

"Mmm? Me, no, it was not me. Like I said, I have not done any of those things, so it was not me doing them. It did not seem to be my body at least as far as I could tell, but since it was from their view point I cannot say for sure. Actually, I am not even sure if the view was from a woman or man... Anyways, it seemed to be from their view, but I do not think it was me doing those things in the dream. Possibly."

From there Evlaynn focused on another detail, trees, and this just further confused Moritz turning his star a solid grey.

"A.... Uh... What? Sorry but what is a mostly pine? I'm not really familiar with any of those. Are those tree types? Or a oak? What do those look like? I think the trees might have had leaves... I think... Does that help? And it was not really a building in the woods, it was more a place inside the woods with a building inside it. Like a fenced in place with a gate and stuff, with buildings inside that... Which was in a wooded place. Why do you want to know?"

A bit confused by the tree talk and Evalynn's sudden urgency which even Moritz picked up on, the Kelvic eyed the woman with a cant to his head as he tried to work things out. Where was she going with this?

WC: 816

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

Eva pouts, feeling as though what Moritz had said was a bit of a mockery. However, it's possible that he may never have seen a pine tree before. But that didn't matter. From his response, he didn't seem to know what kind of trees they were, so pursuing the conversation was not going to get her answers. Plus, he just described a fence-in building, and from her dream she could never tell if she ran from one or not. Wait, was she really trying to make it seem like his dream was connected to hers? Eva sighed outwardly, mostly towards herself, and laid back in the sand. The sun beat down on her bare skin as she thought for a bit before her currently brown eyes looked over at Moritz.

"I'm sorry for confusing you. I was trying to make it seem like our dreams had some sort of connection and thinking about it now, it wouldn't be possible." She chuckled and looked up at the sky. She thought about something he had said earlier about it feeling like he was looking through someone else's eyes, and she had to agree. The person she had dreams about was not herself, but of someone else. It was made apparent in one of her dreams not long ago. Eva closed her eyes and tried to think about what the woman looked like.

"Also, in my dream, it isn't actually me. I remember one of the very first dreams I had was just a flickering. I heard the name Laura being called out several times. Sometimes by a man and sometimes by a woman." A small flash of the dream came to Eva's closed eyes before she opened them. "I also caught a glimpse of her features. Though her face is blurred, I can tell she was a pretty woman with a nice body."

WC: 311