At the back of the room (Open)

[Jiina]

OOC!Hiya. I'm loving this thread, but I'm thinking we should begin to rap it up. If we wrap it up, we can get started on some other threads, not just meet and greet. Sound okay? Jiina sighed when she made Isette cringe. Perhaps it was just because Isette was a rather cute cat, but she felt insanely guilty for upsetting the girl. She waited for the girl to raise her head after she lowered her arm and apologised, knowing that if she drew closer to the woman, she would bolt like the frightened kitten she was. She could not make prolonged eye contact with the cat, though the woman tried. "Jiina. You have told me your story, I have told you mine. Call me Jiina, not Jiisate." If asked, Jiina would say it was to eliminate the chances of her stuffing up if the cat called her Jiisate and she did not respond, but really, she just liked the idea of the cat knowing her true name. Her true name held dignity and power, everything that was afforded to a daughter of Taeto Xi - Jiisate was a pathetic imitation of Isette. Jiina sighed at the woman. She had explained what she could, but the limited intellectual capabilities of the woman before her were starting to grate on her. It was not that she was ignorant or stupid - she was highly attuned to Jiina as a person, and frankly, she found that a little strange. It was the fact that Jiina instinctively knew that if she asked Isette to do a mathematical sum, she would fail and fail hard. The fact that Jiina knew she was talking to someone who couldn't do the basics of what Jiina called intelligence, lowered her opinion of her. "How old are you, Isette?" Jiina automatically stepped back when the Kelvic made a move, as if to touch her. She may have developed a strange pull towards the girl, and may have been intrigued by her honesty, but she was not going to be touched needlessly by someone she barely knew. Lhavit could be a harsh place - Jiina knew that without a doubt. She was still angry that others could not. There was no convincing the girl, not yet, not about the Shinya and the Seiza and Zintila. But one day, and soon, it would be more than just Taeto and her in the ranks of the dissatisfied. "Yes, Lhavit is harsh. I am sure you know this too." She chose to ignore the trivial wishes of love and happiness, temporary feelings made up by humanity in an attempt to blind themselves from the reality of oppression and pain. Jiina did not have happiness and love - she only had success, and she didn't even have that yet. There was only so much more Jiina could gain from the conversation without it dragging on forever. "Isette..." she murmured. She would gain this information. "Your real name... what is it?"

[Isette]

OOCSounds good to me! Did you have an idea for our second thread? "Jiina. You have told me your story, I have told you mine. Call me Jiina, not Jiisate." Isette was thrown off guard. Her eyes widened ever so slightly and she felt…somewhat honored. As though this woman was allowing her in close. This was not a feeling Isette was accustomed to and she treasured it for what it was; a start. They weren’t best friends, nor did they entirely trust one another, but they had told portions of their stories and had connected on some level. Isette felt as though gaining permission to call Jiisate—Jiina—by her real name was a testament to that connection, however slight it was. Small but important. Everything had to start somewhere. An acorn became a massive oak. An admission of dark truth could blossom into a real friendship, or even something more. Isette felt a hope settling inside her. It was warm and uplifting. It caused a small smile to form, sweet and genuinely innocent. Isette didn’t know if she would ever see Jiina again after this day, but she felt like something good was happening. Which was odd because their conversation had not been entirely pleasant. Perhaps that was exactly why there was something good there. Trust was an interesting thing. Only after sharing your inner darkness can you truly trust someone. Only after someone accepts all of you, even those parts that you try to hide, can you truly know that you can share your heart. Isette and Jiina seemed to have taken the first steps towards building that trust. However small those steps were, they meant something. “How old are you, Isette?” Oh. Isette blinked, brought back into the present. “I am two,” she said. A young adult. Probably a bit younger than Jiina herself as far as aging went. Humans grew up so slowly. The woman went on to agree that Lhavit was harsh, bringing Isette to nod in response. She knew that first hand. It was one of her first truths. Before she could muse further on the harsh life of the Lhavitian, Jiina asked something that really caught her off guard. She wanted to knew her real name. Well, it was only fair. “My parents named me Shaychi,” she said quietly, “Shaychi Tsiete. They were…are…Sesul.” It felt weird talking about her parents. This was the first time she’d mentioned them out loud since she ran away. Isette clutched at the pendant around her neck, her gaze thoughtful.

[Jiina]

Jiina smiled ruefully at the girl's reaction, an unconcious reflex. Bitterness washed over her in waves. Isette's wide eyes seemed to indicate she was somewhat shocked she had been given permission by Jiina to call her by her real name. As if it were a huge honour that only Isette had access to... when, in reality, the honour of calling Jiina 'Jiisate' was something only Isette had access to and the rest of the world did not. Jiina hesitated, for if they met again Isette would be suspicious if anyone else called her Jiina and not her supposed chosen name, Jiisate. "I miss being me," Jiina sighed softly, putting on a mask of regret and wistfulness. "I want people... to call me Jiina again. I want to have what I lost," she gulped, as if blinking back tears. Maybe she was laying it on too thick, but it should work. Jiina could not help but almost double take when Isette said she was two, before she remembered Kelvics aged slower. Isette was evidently at maturity for one of her race, as she could see from the fully developed woman who stood before her, but emotionally she was still stunted. It was not that Isette was stupid, though Jiina had heard Kelvics were not as intellectually capable as humans. She could not help but let disgust curl her lip. Jiina could not help but automatically look down on the stupid. "Two? Hmmm." she mused aloud, still letting disdain colour her words. "I am twenty one." She realised how harsh she had sounded, how she had inadvertently put her down. Petch, she did not mean to insult the girl - if she insulted her, there was no way she would get the girl's trust. "I am sorry, Isette. We said earlier how harsh Lhavit was. Well... I am sure you know how judgemental it is too. I am sorry. It is ingrained in me." There. An apology which would also stick with her for a long time. If she was ever rude to Isette in the future, which was entirely likely, the 'ingrained judgementalism' would be an everlasting excuse. Perfect. Jiina grinned wider when she got told Isette's true name and family background. Perfect. And part of the Sesul... impressive. This girl certainly would be useful. Once Sesul, now Shimobe. "Shaychi. That is a beautiful name." She smiled, seemingly encouragingly but there was triumph raging through her body. "If it does not bring you unnecessary hurt, I would like to call you Shaychi. I would never tell anyone when we are with others that it is your true name. I would only call you Shaychi when we are alone." She was staking a claim on Isette, Shaychi - in asking for permission to call her Shaychi, she was making her her own and bringing her closer to Jiina than to anyone else. Shaychi would be completely owned, emotionally, by Jiina. Jiina stepped away from Isette. She had learned all she could from the girl, for today, at least. "Isette... Shaychi. You are a very different person. I'm going home now," she turned away abruptly, then suddenly, after a few steps, turned back as if she remembered something suddenly. "Shaychi, come and find me in the Twilight House sometime. We..." she trailed off, then smiled a dazzling smile. "I would love to see you again. Goodbye." She nodded once, turning again to leave. As she walked, a smile spread over her face - a different smile to the one she had given this Isette. The smile that Jiina smiled, unseen by anyone, was entirely predatory. It seemed she had a new pet...

[Isette]

“I miss being me.” That gave Isette something to chew on. She considered the words carefully and supposed she could understand. But then, she had never had the desire to go back to using her own birth name. The past was gone. It was no longer her. That and she didn’t want to run in to someone who would know her family’s name. That would be awkward and possibly (probably) upsetting. On the other hand, there was a very big difference between their pasts. One that Jiina had already pointed out. Isette had chosen to be cast out while Jiina did not. Her compassion for Jiina was suddenly dimmed as the woman spoke again, her voice colored with disdain. Isette’s eyes darkened and she felt defensive. It seemed there was more that the human did not understand about her and her kind. Luckily, she seemed to recognize that fact and Isette was pacified. Lhavit truly was a judgmental place and apologies for that judgment were rare. Isette appreciated this woman’s corrective attitude. “I understand,” Isette responded. The way she aged had baffled her own parents as well. It seemed to be a mixed blessing. And, Isette had to remind herself, Jiina had never met a Kelvic before. “…I would like to call you Shaychi.” Isette was suddenly taken very much off guard. She…What? Her body snapped to attention as she listened to the woman speak. The feline did not know what to say. How would she feel about going back to using her original name? The thought did not inspire any amount of pain. Nor did it give her joy. If anything, she felt sort of…apathetic. “I…uhm…” But allowing this woman to call her that name, that secret name that no one else knew…It meant something. It would give her some kind of power. This was one of those decisions that could change your future. Isette felt it. Something unnamed was stirring inside of her and she wanted to respond. “Yes.” She acted on instinct. “I will come find you. It would be wonderful to see you again, Jiina.” Isette watched the woman leave, not sure if she had made the correct decision or not. Nonetheless, it was the one she’d made and she would certainly stick to it. Her instinct had yet to lead her astray. With that in mind, Isette turned and went on her way. She still needed to eat.

[Ataraxia]

Jiina XP Intelligence +2, Investigation +3, Seduction +1, Deception +5, Interrogation +5, Flux +1 Lore Mhakula Tea House Layout (Competent) | Manipulating a Conversation (basic) | The Strategy of Deceit (basic) | Isette: Both Simple and Complicated | Beginnings of a Bond: Isette | Isette: The Cat Kelvic (partial) Isette XP Investigation +3, Running +1, Deception +1, Hunting +1, Interrogation +3 Lore Concealing Anxiety (basic) | "Jiisate"/Jiina Xi (basic) | Beginnings of a Bond: Jiina Comments Hey guys. The way Jiina and Isette both sort of circled each other in the beginning was cool, and I liked how Isette's honesty slowly unhinged Jiina. I suppose we'll be seeing you two around Lhavit for a while... heh heh. Questions/Comments welcome, and will be handled with dignity or perhaps lightsaber duels, whatever I feel like doing at the moment. Also just as a note, if you guys ever do end up making a perminant bond, you can replace the "beginnings of a bond" lore with an actual "Kelvic Bond" lore. Peace out!