An old Friend? (solo)

[Aello]

An old Friend? Timestamp: 8 Winter, 510 AV Aello was walking through the crowded streets of Ravok, brushing past several people, but paying them absolutely no mind. They were not important to her. Aello's long green skirt swished and twirled behind her, while her long brown hair bounced along her back with each of her steps. The curly tips winding down around the tips of her arrows, her green corset top seeming as though it were about to suck the last breath right out of her lungs with each step. Her right hand was wrapped tightly around her father's old bow, as always, and her bag hung at her side. It bounced up and down against her hip from time to time, but for the most part, Aello seemed to forget that she was carrying it along with her at all. As she pushed through the crowd, Aello's eyes were scanning the area for any sign of a quiet alley or old abandoned house where she could get away from the hustle and bustle of the city around her for a while. Even though it was only morning, and the sun was still low in the sky, Aello couldn't help but feel like a bird in a cage, just waiting to break free and fly away. And she simply couldn't ignore the headache that was gnawing at the sides of her head. Pulsing just behind her hair line, and the corners of her eyes. It took Aello a while to find something suitable, but as soon as she saw the alley, she knew it would be the perfect place for her to rest. Turning abruptly on her heels, Aello walked left, and into the alley. The alley was poorly lit, and surrounded by tall dark wooden buildings, that blocked out the rising sun entirely. Long shadows crawled up the side of the buildings, and piles of dirt and grime were scattered across the sides, as though they hadn't been cleaned in a long time. The street itself was dark and damp, although, there wasn't much in it. Just a few wooden crates and barrels stacked in the far corner, with a banana peel draped over the side of the one closest to her. Its subtle scent made its way to Aello's nose, one of the few comforts of this city; although garbage and other random goods seemed to litter the alleyways, on occasion, they did smell relatively good... sometimes. Aello sighed, the alley was as good as any, she thought, as she crossed to the far side of it, and lay her belongings up against one of the wooden crates. The wood was dark and sagging at the sides. A thin trickle of a pale yellow liquid seeped out of the cracks in the crate, it smelled faintly of olive oil. Dark green moss hung in the corners of the crate, as though it were breaking under the weight of its contents, or the crates that had been stacked on top of it. Not only that, but it appeared as though the crates had been left there to be collected quite some time ago, but no one had ever bothered to come and pick them up. After she had put everything down, Aello sat down, resting her head and her back against the crate and closing her eyes. She rested her hands in her lap, and intertwined her fingers. Her legs were outstretched, the left one resting on top of the right, her toes twitching as she willed her body to take a few moments to relax. Aello began to breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, willing herself into a simple state of meditation, willing the headache to go away. She continued to take deep, cleansing breaths and then began to imagine a yellow, red and orange ball, as bright and fiery as the sun, in her mind's eye. The ball was a mixture of every hot color under the sun, and appeared to be an orb of bright light floating just above Aello's head. Aello imagined the ball spinning around evenly; perfectly balanced. She imagined it slowly but steadily growing warmer and warmer. Making her skin tingle, feel like it was burning. Imagining it lighting up her face, leaving nothing in shadow. Aello imagined the orb of light emitting bright, ethereal rays at the top of her forehead, rays that seemed to reach out to hold her; call to her. She imagined them sucking the pain the headache was causing her right out of her head. She imagined the pain leaving her in tiny red and black splotches, only to be absorbed by the fiery orb that floated above her head; steadily growing darker and darker as it absorbed more and more of the pain. Slowly but steadily, the pain in her head was beginning to disappear, and a shy smile made its way across her face from ear to ear. "Hello Aello," a voice called out to her. The voice was deep, it sounded like a man's voice. Aello's brow furrowed, as she instantly lost her concentration on the meditation, and her eyes scrunched tightly shut. The pain she had once felt returned instantly, and with a vengeance. Petch, Aello thought, as she reluctantly opened her eyes, to find herself face to face with a relatively young-looking boy, one that she could not recognize, which made her wonder just how he had known her name. The boy towered over her, at approximately six feet tall. He had tan skin, that seemed to glisten, as though he had just been working hard, and had begun to sweat. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be about her age, maybe a year or two younger, or a year or two older. He had an ovular face, with a rather pronounced-looking jaw. Fine blonde hairs grew in around the edges of his face. It gave Aello the impression that the man either hadn't bothered to shave recently, or had just recently started growing facial hair, meaning that it wasn't yet long enough to shave. It was difficult for Aello not to laugh at her second set of thoughts, most of the men she knew seemed to grow facial hair from the time they were ten; or so she was convinced; they always seemed hairy. The man's nose was not too wide, but not to thin, with not a blemish in sight. He had violet-colored eyes, which reminded Aello of lavender or perhaps irises; she couldn't quite but her finger on it. He had dark red lips in the shape of an archer's bow. His neck was relatively long, especially for a guy and his body was fairly well built-up. He was muscular, yet lean, athletic looking. He was wearing a simple blue shirt, with white pants underneath, a simple brown leather belt seemed to be holding them up. The boy didn't seem to smell of anything in particular, which made it difficult for Aello to determine what he was all about from her resting place. Shrugging, and tilting her head slightly, still wondering how he had known her name, Aello finally asked, "do I know you?" She never bothered to get up, just as he never reached out his hand as a sort of offering to help her do so. The two stared at each other for a few minutes before the boy began to laugh, breaking the eerie silence that had stretched out in the space between them; thickening the air. "Don't you remember me?" the boy asked. Aello glanced up and down his body once more, careful not to have her facial expression change and give away her mounting level of confusion. "No," she said simply, after having determined that she could not remember having seen him before. The boy's hands shot up towards his heart, and his cocky smile turned upside-down. "Aww, you're breaking my heart there Aello, don't tell me you cannot remember your good old friend Ben." Ben? Aello's mind questioned, still drawing a blank.

[Aello]

Aello was sure she had never met him before. "Sorry, no, you must be mistaking me for someone else," she said as she reached her right hand out and grabbed her bow, gripping it so tightly her knuckles turned red. Slowly, Aello brought herself to her feet, she was glancing down at the ground, not bothering to look up at Ben; knowing that if she did, she would more than likely be lost in his eyes. And from there, she would be lost to everything; and sucked into his strange world; a world in which they were friends, or perhaps something more. How Aello knew this, she could not be certain, but given her past, she knew that whatever was going on couldn't be good, and that she should proceed warily. But of course, Aello had to give into temptation, and look into his eyes. Allow a strange sense of security wash into her as she stared. Ben chuckled, "what are you looking at?" he asked. "Your eyes," she said almost breathlessly, before forcing herself to look away, breaking the strange pull she had once felt towards him; the intense desire to never move; never look away. Breathing deeply in through the nose, and then out through the mouth, Aello tried to calm herself. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and Aello could no longer begin to explain what is was that she was feeling. Especially when, just a moment before, she had nearly walked away, and now all she wanted to do was be close to him. Taking a few more moments to breath, Aello began to concentrate on Ben's feet; the only portion of his body that she could allow herself to gaze upon. Eventually, his aura came into view. It was a clear red, that circled his feet like mist. Making it appear as though his feet had once been on fire, but the fire had gone out, and now, they were merely smoking. The aura had a dirty gray overlay, which made it appear grimy and rather murky. As though she were looking through a misty pool, only to be stopped by too much sediment floating around in the bottom. Aello's body trembled. The movement caused her to break her concentration, whisking the aura away. Instantly, her eyes felt heavier than before, and the headache that had been pounding in her skull grew worse. Perfect, Aello thought, just what she needed right now, another headache, and some idiot named Ben whose aura displayed power, energy and passion, as well as a level of guardedness. Something that didn't mesh with everything else she was seeing. Frustrated, Aello pushed the things she had just seen into the far reaches of her mind, she didn't need her racing thoughts and general calculations to get in the way of her acting "normally," or keeping up with the conversation... and anything else that Ben may try doing. "You alright Aello?" Ben asked, "you seem tired." "Yeah...yeah..." Aello muttered, clutching her forehead with her left hand, as though she were checking her temperature, or was trying to remember what she was just about to say. Ben shrugged, "if you say so." Aello sighed as she ran her left hand through her hair. It felt soft beneath her fingertips, although it was filled with knots. Perhaps it would be a good idea to comb it sometime in the near future, Aello thought, as she looked up and into Ben's violet eyes again. Immediately, she was lost in them again. Sucked into his world, a world in which there seemed to be a way out, and all Ben did was smile knowingly as Aello dropped her bow, and it thudded on the ground, reverberating in the nearly-empty alley-way. The bowstring vibrating rapidly back and forth for a few good minutes before coming to a halt, casting the alley into another eerie silence. Aello took a step forward. While her head seemed split between what she feared, and what she wanted. A part of her screamed for her to get out of the dark alley dangit, the other wanted to inch closer and closer to Ben until there was no space left between them. Breathing heavily, her cheeks becoming a rosy pink, Aello slowly lifted her hands and touched the sides of Ben's cheeks. Her eyes were glimmering as she slowly moved her fingers downwards to the tips of his chin. Her fingers were tingling as she explored the contours of his face, silently attempting to convince herself that if she allowed herself to look; she would remember him as he seemed to remember her. As she did this, Ben said nothing, he simply allowed Aello to run her hands softly over his face; brush up against the tiny whiskers and hairs that seemed to just be growing in. They tickled her fingertips, and made Aello wonder just how old he was, but only for an instant, for the thought was washed out of the forefront of her mind almost as quickly as it had come, if not faster. And then, Ben lifted his hand to her. Curling his fingers, and brushing her left cheek softly with the back of his hand. Aello's face seemed to melt into it; it was tingling softly with the strange heat that his flesh seemed to radiate. "Aello," he whispered to her, as she softly closed her eyes, her brain still fighting to get her body to stop reacting to him in the way that she was, begging her to get the heck out of that alley.

[Aello]

Aello didn't reply to him. "Aello?" he whispered again, although this time, it seemed to be more of a question than anything else. "Yes?" she whispered as she opened her eyes and smiled shyly up at him, his hand returning to his side. "Do you remember me now?" Ben asked again. "Yessssss...." Aello whispered, as she stared into his eyes. Even though her brain kept screaming no, Aello didn't seem able to control her speech anymore. Just her thoughts, but even those seemed to be muddied and convoluted by Ben's presence. Steadily growing to be less and less, and more and more opposed to each other. One side of her brain wanted to run, the other wanted to stay. The portion that froze was the portion that stood in the middle, still keeping the opposing hypothetical armies from tearing each other apart. But soon enough, Aello feared that the neutral party would pick a side, thus turning the tides and sending her mind into an uproar, complete and utter chaos; turmoil. The side that would win would be the one that housed her secret desires, the ones she would never allow herself to act on. The part of her that did want him; but didn't want her to want him, and thus wouldn't allow herself to have Ben. But what could Aello do? His eyes were mesmerizing; hypnotizing. She was losing the control that she always kept so near and dear to her heart; the control that kept her from acting boldly, rashly. The control that normally kept her from doing anything fun; anything other than what she absolutely needed to in order to survive. Aello's hands returned to her side. She tore her eyes away for a quick moment, as she seemed to regain temporary control of her actions. But even as she peered down at her feet, all she wanted to do was look up. But she couldn't let herself do that. She wouldn't look again upon his face; doing so would be like death. Looking into a pool of water at your own reflection and liking it so much that you inched closer and closer to the water's surface, trying to get a better look, only to stick your nose in, never pull it out, and drown. It was so easy to get lost in your own reflection... so easy to be lost in general, life was far too fragile Aello thought, as Ben reached out his hands and intertwined his fingers in her own. Ben's hands were far larger than Aello's own, and her pale skin seemed to glimmer next to his tan ones. They seemed to contrast as sharply as night and day. His hands were warm, and a few cuts, with newly dried red blood, were spread across his cracked knuckles. His skin was relatively soft and smooth, although they did display rough, drier patches around the joints, and in-between the bottoms of the fingers; where there was a slight webbing. "Your hands are cold," Ben said. Aello simply nodded, never saying a word, never looking back up, as he pulled his hands away again, and then, he lifted his right hand to her chin, cupping it between his thumb and index fingers. He raised Aello's face to meet his eyes, before closing his own and leaning into her. His lips brushed against hers as her eyes closed and she fell into the kiss along with him. Ben's left hand coming to meet her face, while the other slid over, allowing each of his thumbs to rest by the corners of her lips, as the rest of his fingers cupped her cheeks. Aello could feel his breath on her face. It was warm, and smelled faintly of lavender and peppermint. A peculiar combination, she thought, as their noses got in the way of their kiss, forcing them to tickle each other with them for a moment, before he leaned in again, his rosy red lips locked on her pale ones, pressing into them lightly at first, but progressively harder, and almost possessively as they stood in the alley, simply kissing. His fingers seemed to press into her cheeks more and more as he became more passionate, his nails pressing into her skin and forming tiny crescents, but never drawing blood, and Aello didn't really care. They both appeared to be too lost in the moment to take notice of such things.

[Aello]

After a few seconds, Aello pulled back, and slowly opened her eyes. Ben's hold on her face became softer, as though her were letting her go, although reluctantly. His eyes glanced slowly back and forth across her face, seeming to question why she had chosen to move away when everything had seemed so perfect. "Something wrong?" Ben asked, as Aello turned her head away. She was smiling shyly, her eyes glimmering playfully, as her cheeks blushed. Aello shook her head lightly. She didn't think that there was anything wrong with what had transpired, it was just, she wanted some air. To allow herself to breath and let the butterflies that were fluttering about in her stomach escape, or for their wings to finally melt, allowing her confused and rather happy heart time to calm down. Ben smiled at her, an amused expression upon his face, "then why'd you stop?" he asked as he slowly turned Aello's head so that she would face him head-on again. He tilted Aello's chin upwards slightly with the tip of his fingers and closed his eyes. He leaned in again and pressed his lips into hers. Aello closed her eyes and returned the kiss, resting her right hand on his right shoulder, and her left hand on his left shoulder as Ben's right hand moved slowly downwards and wrapped itself lightly around Aello's neck, and the left moved upwards and began to run its fingers through her hair, sometimes clumping it tightly in a fist. The two of them remained lip-locked for what felt like an eternity; but in a good way, and not a bad one. And then, Aello felt something cold, something strangely-sandpapery in her mouth. Alarmed, her eyes opened wide, she must have appeared to be a doe when they first caught sight of the one hunting them; the eyes of one inching closer and closer to death, as their killer stood over their failing body triumphantly. Aello's hands dropped just below Ben's shoulders. Her palms were pressed into his clothing, as his lips remained intertwined with hers. Rapidly growing more and more uncomfortable, Aello began to push against Ben's body with her hands, and arching her back away from him as he continued to pursue her in an attempt to break the kiss. But nothing seemed to be working. Finally, Aello raised her right hand and slapped him across the face; hard. There was a loud cracking noise, as her hand made impact, and his face started to grow red. His eyes opened abruptly as his lips drew away. He was still leaning over her slightly, and giving no indication that he would step back and allow her to straighten up, a cocky, yet slightly hurt smile was prominently displayed upon his lips. "That wasn't a very nice thing to do to an old friend, now was it Aello?" Ben asked. "I'm not so sure you're my friend," Aello whispered, as the spell he had seemed to cast upon her started to ware off, and her thoughts became clear. It was apparent to her that she had never seen Ben before, although he may have seen her. Ben chuckled. "Regardless, that still wasn't a kind thing to do." Aello took a half step back, just enough for her to straighten her body out, and stand as tall as she could. Ben still towered over her, but the added height did make her feel a little more confident, if nothing else. "Sorry," Aello said sarcastically, as she gathered her things, and turned abruptly on her heels, slowly making her way out of the alley. "Wait!" Ben called, running after her, only stopping when he stood in front of her. "Don't go..." he seemed to plead with both his face, and his eyes, which displayed the slightest hint of a deep-felt longing for someone to hold him. He reached his hands out and grabbed her wrists, keeping Aello from moving forward. "Do I need to slap you across the face again?" Aello asked, her right brow raised as she stared at him quizzically, smiling playfully as her eyes flashed at the sight of the red mark in the shape of her hand upon his cheek. Ben seemed to flinch, but only for an instant, but that was all Aello needed to pull her arms away and to continue down the alley; away.

[Verilian]

Aello Meditation +1 Auristics +2 Seduction +1 Investigation +1 You Question My Logic? : Okay, so I wasn't able to grant a whole lot of xp here, but the meditation was for the bit of meditating you did, obviously. The +2 in Auristics I granted because it's probably harder to read someone's aura when you're just looking at their feet. I granted you one point in Seduction because, after having been seduced like that I assume you'd have learned some of the signs. The investigation was for seeking out the peaceful alleyway amidst a bustling crowd. Lores: Making out with Random Strangers... Again, He Had the Most Beautiful Eyes, You Meet all the Best People in Alleyways, ...Maybe you Should Stay out of Alleyways, The Hypnotism Made me Do it, The Aura of Feet Notes: I loved reading this thread. Truth be told, I had already been reading it before you sent me the request, so I was more than happy to grade it for you. As always, keep up the good work.