A Day in the Life [Open Thread]

[Talen Stirling]

Secret : So yeah. This is an open thread, in the sense that anyone who wishes to interact or jump in may do so. If no-one does, I'll write a solo thread. Gogo introduction post! 7th Day of Summer, 511 AV Talen stirred, opened his eyes and looked away from the beam of sunlight that fell in through an open window onto his bed. For a moment he just lay there, getting used to being awake and the sunlight. A sense of lazyness was over him, the feeling of being awake yet not really wanting to get out and get on with everything. Everything seemed abit overwhelming, like it should rather wait... With a sigh he swung his legs out of the creaking old bed and sat up into the sunlight. He flinched for a moment, but felt his body waking up rather quickly now in the temperate air, cold compared to beneath the sheets. Talen rubbed his eyes, put on his worn pants and boots. Then he took out something from his pocket and threw the wooden symbol of Priskil around his neck with a whisper of "Give me hope" and got up to get on with his morning schedule.

[Lysander]

OOCWe need a timestamp! With Leth's relinquishment of the sky, the Ethaefal's pristine features faded and his body shrunk back into his mortal shell - that of a boy, no older than fourteen. His muddy round eyes were obscured by a crop of dark hair and his limbs were lanky and awkward: a body frozen between a boy and a man. "Sitka!" A chirp as the youth sat up abruptly in the double bed the pair shared in their modest house along the cliffs of Denval. Lysander's voice echoed off of the empty walls and his lips tightened into a frown. There was no sign of Sitkanis, his brother must have woken up early. Lysander's legs dangled over the edge of the bed before he slipped from the warmth of the blankets. Clothing he had fallen asleep in was now too large for his shrunken frame and they slid off easily. Tanned fingers groped along the floor for suitable daytime wear. A pair of cut off trousers, a loose t-shirt and a ratty vest. Sandals slipped on his feet and he nabbed a key before moving from the safety of the cottage to the winding streets of Denval. Lysander had began to whistle a tune through pursed lips. He had little idea of where he had heard it before, but it was catchy. A man caught his eye, and the first thing he thought was to approach him. He was tall, well-built, and reminded him of Sitkanis. If he had learned anything from his short time back in the living world, Sitkanis could be trusted - so, anyone that resembled him must also be trustworthy. It was flawless logic. "Hey! Hey you!" Lysander extended an arm into the air in greeting, accompanied by a wide grin. "Good morning!"

[Talen Stirling]

OOCThank you! I fixed that. Does Lysander speak common or Denvali? I shall assume common since he lived in Sunberth when he was a human. Thank you for joining the thread! I didn't expect anyone so soon =) Talen picked off his jacket from the side of the bed, and threw it on carelessly. He shook his head once, and then headed out of the creaking old door of his small house. The cottage was a worn red wood, with white rafters and windows with wooden shutters rather than glass. Closing the lock-less door behind him, Talen looked around. Around his cottage was a tiny piece of land with a single gnarly old tree and some wild-growing patchy grass. Talen shook his shoulders in a loosening motion, and was about to start a morning workout as everyday, when a young male voice rend the air in common, startling Talen enough for him to jump a halfstep back and raise his head suddenly. A short, dark-haired lanky boy was eagerly waving at him and walking towards him. For a moment, Talen looked dumbstruck to see anyone outside his house so early, but recovered to realise that he hadn't caught on to what the boy had said. "Uhm... Sorry, what?" Talen asked, at first stumbling over the common. He rarely spoke to people from the outside, so the amount of practice he got was mediocre at best. He shook his head once more, and some of the surprise and confusion left his expression, replaced by curiosity. Who was this boy outsider, walking the streets early in the morning hailing strangers?

[Sitkanis]

Sitkanis had risen earlier than Lysander. It was less of the fact that he wanted to be up and more that he could not help that he was wide awake. Sleep had trouble finding him lately. He had found himself faced with so many new things, so many changes. It was now a new season. The last one was darkened by the departure of Adalia but lightened by the falling of Lysander. He had lost a lover and in her place a boy had wandered in. One who called him brother and nicknames like Sitka. Normally he did not allow playful shortenings of his name but there was something about Lysander. Something painfully innocent that forced Sitkanis to be patient and put up with the less than favored name. He had found himself a brother even if he had not exactly wanted one. He had been perfectly prepared to be alone. To never let another soul into his life after Adalia. Lysander did not care though. He wiggled his way into Sitkanis' life whether he liked it or not. In order to save time and hassle Sitkanis had waited in his shared cabin with Lysander until Syna rose into the sky. That way when he changed he could just change at home. It was strange saying that. He had never had an actual home of his own since falling. The thought made Sitkanis shift uncomfortably as he sat on the edge of his bed watching his skin erupt into gold flecks of light. He looked back at Lysander as the boy began to glow in his sleep. Sitkanis was going to protect this boy, he felt driven to. He could not stay cooped up in the cabin for much longer though. Leaving Lysander alone in the cabin, Sitkanis walked of to the city as proud Drykas and a less etheral version of his nightly self. He hoped he would see Astrid as he roamed the streets but he was sure that his hopes would not be fufilled. She was a busy woman. A man could hope though. Sitkanis' endless wandering came to an abrupt halt as he heard a familiar and childish voice playing in the air. "Leth help me, what is Lysander doing now?" His brown eyes looked through the streets to see if his little brother, or so he had started to refer to him as, was roaming the city alone. His glance stopped when he saw Lysander chirping away at a Denvali. With what almost sounded like a growl Sitkanis walked to Lysander's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked curiously at the boy who stood before them. "He is not bothering you, right?" He motioned to the child in front of him. Lysander seemed to have a habit of bothering people who did not feel like carrying on a conversation with a bubbly little teen. "I feel like I have told him not to sneak off and bother people." He had and he knew this. He said it more for Lysander's sake so he would know his discontent over having to apologize for his young companion.

[Lysander]

"I said 'good morning'." Lysander grinned, the greeting hand lowering to his side again. The next questions were as curious as it was innocent. The tall stranger's accent sounded peculiar, and Lysander picked up a hint of discomfort in the stumbling of his words. "You speak common, right? My name is Lysander. What's yours?" As abruptly has he had found the Denvali stranger, a hand clapped down on his narrow shoulder and a familiar voice boomed above his shoulder. Sitkanis. Lysander's smile faded and pink lips hung open as his dark round eyes rolled in exasperation of being "caught". Thin arms crossed loosely over his chest and a sandaled foot dug sharply into the matted dirt at his feet. Sitkanis always seemed to have a knack for never being too far away from the boy. Maybe he could track him somehow. He wasn't exactly sure what abilities a Drykas had. He'd seen the scrawling tattoo Sitka proudly called a "windmark", but other than that he had no reason to call himself anything more than a human in Lysander's mind. Brown hair cascaded over a smattering of freckles on round cheeks as Lysander tilted his head backwards to shoot Sitkanis a scowl. "I'm not bothering anyone, Sitka!" A particularly sharp inflection on the pet name he'd adopted. The boy's expression softened back into that childish grin and his eyes found the Denvali again. "I'm making friends." The grin tilted into a smirk and a hand clasped to the side of Lysander's mouth as he leaned forward as if to tell the stranger a secret, despite purposefully speaking clearly enough for Sitkanis to hear. "This is my big brother, Sitka." The boy's other hand gestured towards the Drykas man with his index finger. "He's grumpy."

[Talen Stirling]

Talen couldn't help but smile, the boy seemed so cheerful it was contagious. "Yeah, I speak common, though it might need some practice.", Talen spoke as clearly as he could, with a friendly smile. My name's Talen, I live in the red house just over the--" He stopped talking and looked at the tall man who walked up and laid a heavy hand on the boys shoulder. He was tall, tan and had brown hair. Since he'd never seen him in town before he must be another one from outside, he didn’t seem like the person that would be missed in a crowd. He was probably his father or brother judging their familiar behaviour, though the boy was probably in a form of trouble. Talen leaned his head slightly sideways as he looked up at the second newcomer. “Oh no, we were just talking, I don’t mind at all.” He smiled politely at the two; they seemed to be nice people, although very odd. As they continued their little argument, he felt increasingly curious. “My name’s Talen Stirling, I’m a native. Say, what are you doing in this northern corner of the world? Welcome to Denval, by the way.” He said clearly, after a little consideration. His common was decent, and whenever he had the chance he always tried to speak it with as much “flow” and care as possible. He'd definitely need it, with the growing number of foreigners in town. Which, of course, was definetely for the best he mused shortly, and then looked at the two attentively to hear their answer.

[Sitkanis]

With a what seemed like a suppressed growl Sitkanis glared at Lysander. He did not like being called Sitka. He found the name to be childish and demeaning. That never stopped Lysander from calling him by that name though. "Don't shorten my name you little shyke." He slapped the boy lightly over the back of the head before looking toward Talen. He was not too worried about Lysander getting hurt by the action. The boy seemed to be full of boundless energy. If the hit did anything it might cause him to be quiet for a few moments while he regained his thoughts. Sitkanis may have come off as being annoyed by the younger Ethaefal but in reality he really had not been more fond of anyone else since he fell. He was like a little brother to him. He was talkative, annoying beyond belief, but there was something about him that made Sitkanis feel the need to keep him around. He was like a ray of sunshine which was a bit ironic. "Thank you for the welcome but I've been in Denval since fall." He was a bit annoyed that the boy did not know that although there was no reason for him to be annoyed. It was a simple mistake. What bothered him more is that people still saw him as an outsider or more so, that he might never be counted as one of the citizens of the city he loved so much. "I didn't have a choice in the matter. I fell here. So did he." He poked the top of Lysander's head as he spoke. "We are both Ethaefal although we don't look it until Leth is out."

[Lysander]

“Ah, dammit!” Lysander hissed under his breath as Sitkanis’ wide palm met the back of his head with enough force to push him forward. A foot went out to steady himself and he scowled, going silent. ‘Sitka’ got his revenge for the embarrassment well enough. It would take a few moments for Lysander’s curious leer to find the Denvali man’s face again and he offered another, smaller, sheepish smile. There was a brief exchange between Sitkanis and the man who introduced himself as Talen Stirling. Sitkanis had revealed the pair as children of Leth, to which Lysander offered an enthusiastic nod – it was obvious that the effect of the disciplined slap to the head had passed. “Yup! Ethaefal.” The boy reaffirmed Sitkanis’ statement. “We look different at night, we have horns and I get tall and muscular and grown up and Sitka gets really short.” Wide brown eyes shone as his hands demonstrated a drastic change in height. Despite his immature exterior, Lysander wasn’t dense. He was a bright child that knew how to push his brother’s buttons. This time, he drifted strategically out of Sitkanis’ slap range as he spoke, letting the finger drift safely off of his head. Something odd registered in Lysander’s mind: Sitkanis fell in the fall. The grin widened, then immediately disappeared as an odd feeling turned Lysander’s stomach and forced him to recall the reason he left the cottage in the first place; he was hungry. “I was on my way to find breakfast ...” A brow quirked, as if indirectly inviting the stranger and his brother to accompany him.

[Talen Stirling]

They were amusing. The boy annoying his elder brother who were obviously looking out for him. "Ah, I'm sorry I don't spend too much time in town these days. I guess I should've seen you around." Talen noticed that he was annoyed with what he had said, perhaps he didn't like being called a stranger when he'd been here almost a year. As they continued, Talen couldn’t help but stare curiously for a moment when they said they were Ethaefal. He’d seen one or two, but never up close and hadn’t spoken to one either. The boy’s explanation only made Talen more curious, and also a little confused. Horns? He looked from one to the other with a questioning look, then nodded as if he understood. ”Mind if I join you? I haven’t had breakfast myself, though I usually go for a run before I eat.” Talen asked both of them politely, though he didn’t know where they were going to eat at. ”Do you know a place to have breakfast? Otherwise I suppose I may have something at my house, though it’ll be a sparse meal.” Talen yawned faintly and looked at both of them. Though they were not part of the plan for this morning these two strangers seemed very interesting.

[Sitkanis]

Sitkanis glared at the boy at his side. "Watch your petching mouth. How old are you ten? You can't talk like that." He found it a bit dishonorable that the boy would wear in front of one of the Denvalis. In a way he felt like it was a bad show of his own character. He had become the caretaker of the little Ethaefal even if he had exactly wanted to be. "Don't worry about it. I tend to look different at night anyways. Maybe you saw me then." He could not explain what he looked like too well. His hair and horn color changed from season to season, never staying a constant color. "I'm a little taller than him, purple eyes, horns, Ethaefal stuff." Sitkanis pointed in Lysander's direction as he compared the boy's height to his own. He refused to refer to his night time eye color as lilac even if that was the best way to describe the color. The Ethaefal was extremely excited to share breakfast with a teenager and a man who was just freshly out of it. Lysander had offered though and he was not going to let the boy run off without him. Besides, he did not know if Lysander had money to pay for his food anyways. "Yeah, I'm up for breakfast." He eyed Talen a bit playfully when he asked where they should eat. "I would imagine you would know best Talen, being Denvali and all." He smirked a bit as he ran over in his mind where the three of them could eat. "How about The Stranger's Welcome. The place has not let me down yet." He had not had a lot of chances to eat in the tavern. Most of the times that he wandered into the place it had been night time when he could be filled by Leth's light. OOCI assume everyone will be fine with going to the Stranger's Welcome. I can change this if the masses do not want to eat there though. I just did not want to have to make a round of unnessisary posts where they all agree to go to the place. When the three of them arrive at the Stranger's Welcome Sitkanis picked out a table big enough for the three of them. He ordered a simple breakfast but encouraged Lysander to order whatever he wanted. His eyes turned to his Ethaefallen brother after the orders had been made. "So Lysander, what were you doing out so early?" He did not want to admit to the boy that he got a bit worried when he did not know where he was. He felt that he was responsible for the boy and maybe, just maybe he was starting to care for the boy a bit. He was too proud to admit these feelings to aloud though.