Ridiculous. Utterly Ridiculous. [Soothing Waters] [Open]

[Asara Willow]

Mid-Afternoon, Summer 13th, 511 AV

In truth, the Soothing Waters was an obscene setting to conduct normally private habits. The nudity expressed here was an embarrassment to the eyes of the pale Symenestra girl who idly found her way through the hot pools to an almost empty one.

The female looked insecure, the towel bound around her thin, feminine form tightly dangled past her knees in the fashion of a dress. Her thin fingers clutched the tightly swathed fabric to her upper chest, her black nails in sharp contrast to her extremely fair skin and white hair. The gold irises flashed around at the usually over crowded pools to settle on one with only a few current patrons.

Although Asara Willow knew she'd regret this, the girl came there. She scurried like a frightened mouse, avoiding any stray elbows that could do serious harm to her fragile body. Already a dark bruise curled around one of her thin wrists where a woman had grabbed her, as well as a purple shadow darkening her cheekbone from where the woman had slapped her. Even now, Asara didn't understand the abuse. She was used to the occasional twinges that accompanied moving and speaking, and the humans who'd seen her had ignored her.

After all, her race was responsible for the disappearance of many women, Human and otherwise. They had no allies here, and Asara herself had few friends.

With a deep sigh, the female quickly unwound her towel, folded it, then stepped into the hot water, shivering in pleasure as it rose up over her pale skin, soothing any hurts she'd attained. The dark scar across her stomach was visible for only a moment before disappearing into the water, and Asara looked around nervously at the others present, expecting a sharp word of disapproval.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas didn’t mind nudity at all. Like any teenaged male he suffered from overactive hormones every once in a while and found all the naked and half naked women at Soothing Waters quite inspiring. Many of them had already been the subject of a lonely night’s fantasy. But he wasn’t here to ogle innocent and unsuspecting women today. At least that was not the sole purpose of his visit, it was only a pleasant side effect. Being a squire, the boy was often quite sore in all the wrong places, such as his arms and legs and his behind. After a day in the saddle he sometimes couldn’t even sit on a chair. A bath and a massage usually helped. And he actually minded nudity quite a bit, namely his own. At seventeen the knight to be stood at an unimpressive 5‘6“. The growth spurt he had been waiting for for all his teenage years had never happened, and he wasn’t as muscular as that Dimitri fellow he had once spared with either, which was all the more obvious when he didn’t have his armor on. Lucas was pale, comparatively skinny, freckled and had bright red hair. His height and his lack of muscles were the only things he was ever self conscious about which was why he jumped into the pool very quickly and took a swim first of all to get away from all the people that might or might not have been staring and making fun of him. And then he took a dive. He tried to dive the length of the pool, but ran out of air after a few metres and resurfaced right next to the unsuspecting Asara. At first he didn’t pay a lot of attention to her. It only occured to him that there was something strange about her after a few moments. She was unnaturally pale and had golden eyes. He didn’t see her claws or any other part of her that was below her shoulders because those parts were underwater, but there was still more than reason enough for him to state, „You look weird. And pretty. But also weird.“

[Asara Willow]

Had this boy truy called her wierd?

Asara's gold eyes darkened slightly in the realization that someone had dared to look her in the face and mock her. She could understand racial slurs, for she really appeared to be a ghost-like wraith that abducted women for fatal breeding, but she couldn't take anyone remarking on something she often found fault with.

In all honesty, Asara despised how she looked. Coming to Syliras was a mistake, a very grave one. Here she could see countless humans and their perception of beauty, which was nothing at all alike to the beauty of the Symenestra blood in her. Here she was extremely pale, and sunlight gave her no reprieve from a burn or a deadly migraine. Here she was a good six inches shorter than the average human female, and although she was graceful and elegant, she didn't see any humans dislocate or break their bones at simple jostling in a crowd.

Asara turned her eyes to the boy and gave him a frigid look. He was very much a human, and therefore should have had no business speaking to her. She showed the tips of her unnaturally long canines in a mocking smile before she replied to the oh so bittersweet comment.

"Weird and pretty? Is that something you say to every female you happen across?"

Her remark wasn't as sharp as she would have liked, but she didn't care. If this human played his hand right, Asara could finally satisfy that disgusting primal urge to hunt and kill one of his kind. After all, although the Soothing Waters was a busy place, she could probably escape after making a kill here.

You shouldn't deny yourself.

Today was not one of her good days.

[Lucas Arias]

„No“, Lucas replied and leaned against the egde of the pool. „I only say that to the girls that I find interesting. If you weren’t interesting, I’d say something else.“ He shrugged his shoulders, and then he proceeded to lower himself a bit deeper into the water, until not even his head was visible anymore. He resurfaced a second later though. Water was dripping from his hair, and there was a huge grin on his face. He hadn’t noticed the cold look she gave him, at least not yet. He was paying more attention to the fact that she was a girl – and a rather unusual looking one at that! „Besides, I’m weird as well, so there’s already two of us“, he continued, oblivious to the fact that she was already entertaining thoughts of killing him and satisfying whatever violent urges she had. Lucas didn’t mind being weird. In fact he actually thought it was fun. Who would ever want to be like everybody else? It was only after a few moments that he realized that there was something decidedly unusual about the pale girl’s smile. While her face might almost have passed as human, no human he had ever seen had teeth like that! They were much too long! Lucas did a double take, checked if his eyes were still working alright, and then he wondered, „By Kelwyn, what are you? Are you a Symenestra?“ His eyes were wide with curiosity. He’d never met a Symenestra before, so he wasn’t completely sure, but he remembered now that they were pale like her and had weird eyes like her – and long teeth. He’d also heard that they abducted women and raped them, but since he wasn’t a woman, he decided that he was safe and thus didn’t have to be afraid. He didn’t have any female relatives that he had to worry about either. Besides, one lone Symenestra girl couldn’t do a lot of harm. So instead of insutling her because of her race, playing the part of the noble knight that fought against evil (which wouldn’t be a good idea since he was currently naked and didn’t have a sword) or being scared, Lucas remarked, „Nice teeth, by the way.“

[Asara Willow]

"Oh? And what would you say if I were not interesting?" Thankfully, after she had spoken and began washing her long white hair, she felt no embarrassment at being naked next to a male. It would have been an issue had he been female. She couldn't stand seeing how little she was next to a woman.

She turned her gold eyes to him again when he resurfaced from dunking himself and a small frown created twin divots in her narrow eyebrows. Why was he grinning like so? And he knew she was a Symenestra? Well... He didn't know if he'd asked, but he knew what one was... Curious that he didn't seem to outwardly mind.

"Well... Aren't you the learned human... Yes, I am Symenestra. And I suppose I should thank you for the compliment... If that's what it is... I'm sorry to say, but your fangs aren't so prominent. I've seen cuter." And she had. Seven did indeed have an adorable set of under-developed fangs. She'd told him so, as well.

[i]"What is your name, human? Or should I just refer to you as human whenever I speak to you? You can call me Asara. Just Asara."

[Lucas Arias]

„I don’t know“, Lucas replied as Asara wanted to know what he would say if she were not interesting. He found the fact that she had just begun washing her hair a bit distracting to say the least, even if most of her body was below the water and thus blurred. If there weren’t so many people there, making sure that everybody in the bath house behaved, he might have tried to hit on her rather than simply hitting her as a proper knight that was facing a venomous Symenestra would have done, but as it was, he just smiled softly and watched her. „It depends on whether I would simply have found you boring or whether I were a little racist and shared the views that most people have of your kind. The comments I would have made in the former case aren’t particularly interesting and the latter ... well, let’s just say they would have made a slaver from Sunberth blush.“ He shrugged his shoulders. While Lucas knew dozens of curses – even extremely offensive racist ones – he found racism itself a bit boring. Why hurt a Symenestra when you could do things that were so much more fun and would cause a much bigger scandal? „Yes, I suppose I’m a learned human“, he agreed and nodded. Humility had never been one of his virtues. „And yes, it was a compliment. Sorry that I don’t have any fangs. I can’t help it. I’m just an ordinary fullblooded human.“ He opened his mouth a little wider so that she could see his teeth that really weren’t particularly impressive. He couldn’t really hurt anybody with them. He couldn’t even eat everything with his meagre little teeth. They were a nice, white color and he still had all of them though. „I’d appreciate it if you didn’t refer to me as human. While I am a human, there are quite a few more in this building and thousands more in Syliras itself. My name is Lucas.“ He briefly wondered whether he should introduce himself as „Ser Lucas“ or use a similarly fancy title, but then he decided against it because she might have a problem with knights, being a Symenestra. „Asara is a pretty name“, he added.

[Asara Willow]

Asara smiled at the thought of hearing colourful insults. Honestly, she was starting to grow tired of the glares and pointed silences that usually resulted from her proximity to most human. She could arrive in a house full of children and in seconds the little humanlings would disappear to be replaced by stone faced mothers with hard eyes. As fun as it was to taunt humans with her presence, she didn't find comfort in their over-used remarks. She, on the other hand, could use anything that came to mind, Symenos or not.

If she had heard his thought to hit on her, Asara would have been greatly amused. She didn't believe humans were comfortable enough to do so, but she was forgetting that Seven the half blood had a father who was comfortable with his Symenestra blooded mother. She might have felt uneasy, as well, expecting such attention to be a cruel trick designed to gain her favour. She didn't quite remember flirting with anyone before, and it would have bothered her to no end.

"One day, you and I should trade insults. It would be amusing, wouldn't you agree?" Asara smiled again and flipped her long hair back again, not bothering to notice his distraction with her bathing. She felt no particular aversion to bathing with males, even human ones. It was the females she always wanted to escape.

When the human opened his mouth after speaking, Asara reached over and grasped his chin in her hand, her long fingers curling around his jaw. She'd not had a chance to observe the dull, unflattering teeth of a human before, and she took the opportunity to do so now. She made sure her short yet sharp black claws didn't cut into his face as she examined his teeth, noting the canines on a human were still longer than the cutting and grinding teeth, but not as noticeably as the fangs on a Symenestra were... It was quite disappointing to note that.

She released his jaw and moved back to her safe distance, reaching for soap now. His introduction brought another faint smile to Asara's pale lips. "Lucas is a decent name. I've not heard it before... And thank you. For the compliment again." This human was unusual. First he called her weird, and now he was paying her compliments? If all humans were like this, she'd have no problem with them.

"So where are you from, Lucas? From this great and awe-inspiring hive? And what is your profession?"

[Lucas Arias]

„We should definitely trade insults!“ Lucas agreed and grinned. „You could teach me a few Symenestra insults. I’m sure you have lots of insults. And in exchange I’d teach you a few human insults. I even know an Eypharian insult!“ The boy looked rather proud as he said this. He swam a little closer to the Symenestra and whispered something into her ear. „Chupra.“ His pale face turned a vivid shade of race as he said that word. „It means somebody that has relations with goats. Not that I suspect you of having relations with goats“, he quickly added. „But it’s a great thing to say to somebody that you really hate!“ Just like Asara Lucas felt no particular aversion to bathing with members of the opposite sex. On the contrary, he preferred bathing with girls! Although he had never been in a bath with a Symenestra girl before ... What happened next was definitely unexpected, and the boy’s blue eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and vague shock. As Asara grasped his chin, he looked confused and wondered if this was the point where he should quickly dive and try to escape or if this was actually going to be something nice. Was she going to kiss him now? That seemed rather abrupt, after only a minute of small talk. Even he knew that! Was she going to poison him then? Should he lean a little closer to her to make it easier for her or not? „Ummm ... what are you doing?“ he asked. Due to the fact that he needed to open his mouth to speak, he involuntarily gave her an even better view of his teeth. „You have noticed that I’m a human and not a horse, right?“ he wanted to know, just to be sure. „You inspect a horse’s teeth before you buy it, but you don’t do so with humans unless you are in a slave market, and this is not a slave market!“ He looked a little offended. „Thanks for liking my name though“, he remarked, a little less offended. „I’m indeed from Syliras. And I’m ...“ He hesitated. ‚Squire‘ didn’t sound like a particularly impressive profession, besides, as he had already concluded before, being a Symenestra she might not be the knights‘ biggest fan. „... you could say that I’m a hero in training, a great warrior to be.“ He tried to make himself look a little taller, and then he asked, „Where do you come from? Don’t you Symenestra have a city somewhere in Kalea?“

[Asara Willow]

Asara cringed a bit as he leaned in, feeling nervous as he came closer. She had, at one point not long ago, been getting accustom to humans pressed up against her. Now, though, after what had happened in the Bazaar with that human wench, Asara found a twinge of her old fear returning. She couldn't trust even the kindest looking of humans with her own safety. They were untrustworthy, cruel, and potentially stupid creatures.

Still, when Lucas explained the meaning of the Eypharian word, she had felt amusement trickling into her unease. She could have laughed if she felt comfortable with it, but she chuckled anyway, and turned to look at him. Her gold eyes gleamed in the mist deviously.

"Aztrari." The Symenestra said, the graceful and elegant tongue creeping past her lips like a hiss of a serpent. She smiled again and leaned back before she took his jaw in her spidery hands. "It means , as close as I can put it to Common, 'blundering idiot'... One says it when another falls off a web." She didn't know if he'd understand what she was speaking about, but one who falls off a silk street in Kalinor was either a dirty half-blood or a completely incompetent Symenestra. It was a cruel insult in reality, but she had no desire to enlighten him to that.

"People do this to horses and slaves..? Believe me, Lucas... If I were after a slave, I'd choose one who is bigger. Although bulky humans are incredibly slow and lazy in comparison to thinner ones... But I doubt you could carry something that weighs more than what a horse can."

Asara then released Lucas and reclined in the heated waters again. She felt the water as heavenly against the battered parts of her body. She was rather happy the water was not clear, for she cared not to let him see every scar or bruising on her pale flesh.

"So you're a Knight." A small, almost cruel glitter entered her gleaming gold eyes. Suddenly, she laughed. Briefly, but it was a true laugh. The mocking in it would be only for her ears. She couldn't believe how obvious humans were! Once she had stopped laughing she looked back at him. "You speak just like those people. Completely into yourselves and preaching about how noble your cause is. If you're a Knight, then I most certainly hope you are a smart one." She grinned, baring her fangs. That girl who had heart her had set the Syliran Knights after her twice, and she had no love of them. "Don't be one of the stupid ones, Lucas, or you'll find yourself on the wrong end of a Symenestra's fangs."

Her last words were spoken without threat. She had no desire to bite Lucas... For now... Even if she were hungry.

"I was told by another Symenestra that my kind originate from Kalinor. I suppose I am from Kalinor, I just don't remember... Would you visit Kalinor one day, Lucas? I'm sure a Knight would have nothing to fear from a bunch of Symenestra, especially if that Knight were male."

[Lucas Arias]

„Aztrari“, Lucas repeated, trying to pronounce the unfamiliar word correctly. He didn’t know if he succeeded. Probably not. Lucas wasn’t good at foreign languages. „Are there a lot of blundering idiots where you come from? Do people fall off a web often? And what happens then?“ Being a human who had never been outside of Syliras, Lucas was unfamiliar with the underground city of the Symenestra and the silk streets that connected their houses. He had no idea what was under those streets, but he imagined that it was probably something dangerous and potentially embarrassing. And he also preferred to imagine that he was dextrous enough not to fall off a web! „Yes, they do that do horses and slaves“, he confirmed. „I don’t know why though. I mean, you don’t normally see a person’s or an animal’s teeth. I’d take a closer look at different body parts.“ As she assured him that she’d choose somebody bigger if she were after a slave, he breathed a sigh of relief at first – and then he proceeded to look somewhat irritated. „I’m big!“ he insisted and tried to make himself look even taller and jumped a little which almost resulted in the revelation of a very embarrassing body part. „I’m bigger than you! And I’m stronger than I look! Although I’m probably not as strong as a horse“, he conceded, somewhat unwillingly. As she guessed that he was a knight, he looked very, very happy. Most of the time people still took him for a boy due to his height. She thought he was a knight and thus an adult! He beamed! Then she went on about how knights were completely into themselves however, and he stopped beaming. „I said I’m a hero in training, not a knight!“ he informed her. „I’m not preaching, and I’m not into myself. What makes you think I’m a knight? And would you really bite me?“ He eyed her fangs. „Sure, I’d love to visit Kalinor one day“, he said. It sounded like it would be a great adventure, and he loved adventures! „Would your people really not try to eat me?“