Cleaning and Encounters (The Golden Dragon) (Drask)

[Asara Willow]

Summer 19th, 511 AV

Asara felt, as usual, stupid. She was wearing the maid uniform given to her by her employer. She felt so odd in it, so exposed. She'd never shown so much leg before in every day activities. She wore very thin slippers though, planning on using her cultural ability to scale walls without the problem of removing her boots or work shoes.

With a soft sigh, Asara rapped her knuckles on one of the matching doors in the fine establishment she was employed into. For a few minutes the Symenestra waited, taking the required time to allow for any customer and his or her companion to dress, wake, or respond accordingly. As silence reigned, Asara drew out a brass ring of keys and fit one into the lock, popping open the door and allowing herself in.

Once inside, she announced her presence. "Hello? House cleaning here." Her lilting, accented voice echoed back at her in the empty room, and Asara released a soft sigh. She reached for her magical cart of goodness, which was essentially a dolly of tools needed for her profession, and began her illustrious profession.

Diligently, Asara dusted every available space, rearranged any piece of furniture not aligned correctly with accompanying pieces, and began to place the belongings of the room's current occupant on the bed. She was not aware of anyone's arrival as she worked. Her obsessive nature prevented that.

[Drask]

Drask sneezed loudly as he entered The Golden Dragon, making a few people around him jump in surprise. He gave them a sincere apology as he sneezed again, much more quietly this time. "Allergies" he explained sheepishly. Thing is, he wasn't 100% sure that it was what he said it was. From his years in the outdoors he would have thought he would have gained some sort of resistance against it, but it seemed that he was wrong. Or maybe he was right, and just was getting sick. He preferred the former option. Gods forbid he get bedridden in Syliras. That was like getting sick on your birthday, and you can't have your party. Suddenly Drask desired his Step-Mother's cake. He gave a friendly wave to the employees as he walked towards his room, getting a mixture of sly smiles, cheerful waves, and winks. While Drask did not use their services very often, his longer-than-expected stay at the Golden Dragon had allowed him to make quite a reputation. Friendly was one characteristic most people associated with him. He loved to make friends, and any chance he got to make new ones did not pass by him. However he was in no ways a "Lady's Man". Drask had problems speaking common on his own, but when he was trying to talk to an attractive woman, he began to stutter and stumble on his own words. It was even worse when they got close to him, which was something many of the more... enthusiastic employees tended to do. He couldn't even speak in situations like that, and when he did it was usually in his Kelvic tongue. Drask pulled out the key to his room as he turned a corner down into the hallway. He let his mind wander as he went on auto-pilot towards his room, recalling the vents of his day. He did not do as much exploring that day, as last night's activities at the pub had caused him to miss his "bedtime". He loved to get up at the crack of dawn. It made him feel like he had more time to do the things he wanted, and he was right of course. Drask tried to stick his key into the lock. He blinked. He looked through the space where the door should have been and saw a young woman with a push-cart arranging certain items in his room, dusting here and there occasionally. His eyes began to study the rather exposing clothing the woman wore. By now he had realized that he Golden Dragon like to have their employees openly advertise their services. However he was not sure if the one cleaning his room was trying for that kind of attention. For a short while he watch her clean, blissfully unaware of his presence. "Hello?" he said slowly, his thick accent making it hard for him to speak the common language.

[Asara Willow]

Asara froze at the voice, the greeting, marred by a thick accent that was nothing like her own delicate one. She slowly turned and faced a tall human male. At least, he was human in appearance. She felt an edge of distrust before she smothered it. She was the maid here, the maid dressed in a leg baring short dress cleaning the room of a customer. Her boss would not appreciate her taking away good business.

"Hello, sir... I'm your maid service for today," Asara made sure to tack in the sir in a forced politeness. She wasn't a fan of the human race, not in the least. She could at least pretend to enjoy them, though. "I am sorry for any intrusion. I can come back later, if you'd like."

She lowered her gold eyes so she wouldn't have to look up into his. She tended to get somewhat confrontational with humans, and she had no desire to alienate one now. She was ready for a rebuke, for some command to leave, to get some other maid to work. Someone much more human, without all the cultural disadvantages of the Symenestra race.

[Drask]

Drask stared curiously at the woman, unable to determine her race as it was clearly not human. He had seen many unique characters in Syliras, but none as... different as the one standing before him. He tried to think back to his life on his stepfather's ranch. He recalled seeing someone with similar features visiting them. Still, he could not remember. He got a strange vibe from her, too. Hostility, as far as he could guess. He felt his muscle tense. "It is not big deal" he smiled shyly and waved his hand reassuringly. Normally he would have tucked his tail and ran off, but his body was already prepped for relaxation and his need for rest greatly outweighed his shyness. "It is nice to have company. I will just be relaxing, hopefully I will not get in way of your work." He squeezed past her cart and set his things down on the bed with the rest of his belongings before hopping up on it himself. From there he removed his shoes and set them on top of his pack, trying not to get too much dirt onto the bed. "So... Uh... I am Drask, it is very nice to meet you, miss..." he trailed off in hopes of a response.

[Asara Willow]

Asara knew that there were rules in place that stated, quite clearly, th maid services were to be undertaken only in empty rooms. She wasn't really sure what propriety dictated she had to do in this case. She had not been instructed what to do should she start cleaning and the room's current occupant returned. And then he went and lay on the unmade bed. She remembered that she had to make the bed presentable and she wondered how to ask him to please excuse her without sounding rude or bossy.

"Hello, Drask. I am Asara." Whenever Asara said her name, it came out as a hiss and lilt totally inherited from having grown up in Kalinor, something the Symenestra had no memory of. Her accent made her words sound like odd music, a spoken song in a way. The urge to appear refined and to give off a dignified air swelled inside Asara. Her race was known for its elegance and grace, among much darker things. "How was your day today, sir?"

[Drask]

Drask flinched at the sharpness in her voice when she pronounced her name, a certain fierceness about it that made Drask feel uneasy. She said it in such a manner that he could only associate with royalty, like a Queen addressing her servants. This was ironic given the current situation. However Drask could easily see her as a highly regarded businesswoman. She had a certain air about her that suggested so. Drask wished he could say the same for himself, but even he would admit that he was better at being told what to do rather than being the one who commanded others. "Oh, it was very... slow" he mused, closely watching her clean. "I spent much time at little shops, looking for artifacts and such things." he attempted to sound pleasant in a desperate attempt to halt the rising uneasiness between the two. She hardly looked at him, for one, and she seemed to be biting her tongue about something. Did he do something wrong? Maybe she just didn't like him. Or was it the accent? People tended to dislike the accent. Did he smell funny? "It is not needed to be so formal. We are all friends here, no? It is very nice to be meeting you Asara." He smiled brightly at her, hoping for his words to draw her attention to him so that she saw he posed no threat.

[Asara Willow]

Asara smiled to herself as she listened to him talk about his day. She was usually uncomfortable with humans, but she managed just fine with this one spread across his bed where he was a safe distance from her. She was moving his bags now, preparing to place them on the floor, when he made the strangest comment she'd ever heard pass a human lips. Her gold eyes flashed up to his and they dimmed with confusion. He enjoyed meeting her? What the heck kind of human liked meeting a member of the race responsible for seducing ives, daughters, sisters and mothers into their webs for a deadly mating?

Maybe he didn't know what she was...

After a moment of hesitation, Asara pursed her lips than began to speak. "Do you even know what I am, sir?" Asara's voice was laced with incredulity and shock. Wasn't it obvious she wasn't human and was Symenestra? The reaction of most of these humans showed they knew what she was. Drask here was probably born and raised under a rock. A lucky encounter, but one that would probably soon be darkened by could she hide her al heritage behind a lie when she had pretty much demanded if he knew what she was?

[Drask]

Drask was happy to at least have her attention, but felt even more threatened than before. He shifted uneasily on the bed as she questioned him, and Drask tried again to find an answer that he had sked himself earlier, and still returned with nothing. "Uhm... no?" he said sheepishly, a silly grin on his face. He did not meet very many people on his step-father's ranch, and any time he did it was almost always a human, or another Kelvic. This was unfortunate as it caused situations like this to be very awkward. Drask wished there was some way to ease the tension. "If it helps at all, I am Kelvic. I didn't see many people in my life, so I know very little of races" he said, staring straight into her eyes, attempting to lock her attention with his own animalistic, yellow eyes. Drask was feeling more and more upset by what he could only guess was distrust she had for him

[Asara Willow]

"You don't know..? Then I suppose I'm lucky to be working here, yeah?" Asara could see his discomfort, his uneasiness, and wondered at it. What kind of human found her threatening? She was far too small and insignificant, especially weak in comparison to a human male.

"Kelvic..? What is that? A clan?" Asara felt confusion cloud her mind. She had never heard tell of a 'Kelvic' before, and she was curious to what that meant. She felt the urge to sit down and examine this man. She didn't though. She had some more work to do before she finished for the day here. "I'm... Well... What do you know about Symenestra? Have you heard of them..?"

[Drask]

Drask tilted his head at her. "Well, no. We are like humans, but not... It is hard to explai-" He was interrupted by a loud sneeze, his body spasming with the force. He sniffed in loudly before sneezing again. "Ah! I am sorry." he half laughed, half spoke. "But we are animals made to be humans. We can change at will. Would you like to see?" his eyes sparkled with amusement, a sense of innocence mixed within it. He was really itching to get out of his human skin, ready to stretch out his legs and lay in the sun. "Symenestra?" He surprised himself by being able to repeat the word with no difficulty. It seemed to roll off the tongue. "ummm... oh! I remember! Yes, yes! My step-father met with a woman occasionally that was one of those. His wife didn't approve much of it though. She called her a whore" He chuckled weakly at his last statement, a little ashamed of himself doing so. He hoped she didn't perceive it as him considering her as such.