First time in a tavern (open)

[Acacia]

Timestamp: 7 Spring 510AV
Location: The Trough

The city was even more wondrous in the evening. The tents glowed from lights or fires within. Despite the lights, all the stars in the night sky glittered brightly, especially the crescent moon, on its side, smiling like a cat. The cool air was filled with chirping crickets and the chatter of nocturnal animals. Even the wind itself seemed joyous, it rustled the tents sending shadows dancing across the ground.

Acacia thought the night seemed nicer here, but she still preferred the day. She walked through the makeshift streets briskly, nervous. Although she had been in Endrykas for some time now, she was still uneasy with its business and confused by the streets that were in a different place every time the migrating city stopped. She did not slow down until she came to an abnormally large tent. The tent shone brighter than the other from more lamps, it was louder than the other from more people. There was raucous laughter and some music. There she stopped; curious as to if she could tell a few stories here and make a few coins. Looking in, she marveled at the bright, happy feel of the place. She didn’t know there was a place like this in Endrykas. Acacia didn’t even know there were places like this anywhere. Much like when she first reached the city, Acacia simply stood gaping. Lingering there, she blocked the doorway, making it difficult for people to get past.

[Dhanya]

It had been said that a single goat in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a drink. It was true that Pygmy's fortune largely boiled down to a few coins but it was enough for a few pints and that was enough for a short lass to get drunk on. And she wanted to drink until she wasn't as thought as people drunk she was. Endrykas was lovely but it was also quiet and Pygmy couldn't take too much of that. She didn't trust quietness. It was like when birds stopped singing. Quiet meant you were about to get eaten by something huge with claws and a flawed personality.

Well, if she was to die, she would die in the manner of her own choosing. She chose alcohol poisoning. At least, she would have had someone not been in the way of the door.

"I need booze!!!" Pygmy said loudly, drawing out the last word like it was howl or a bellow. "You are in the way of me getting booze!!!"

This order of things could not stand. Pygmy felt at home in that tavern now and all good girls needed to be able to go home. Not that she was a good girl.

[Acacia]

Acacia flinched at the thunderous voice suddenly behind her, and her immediate reaction was to mumble, “I’m sorry.” Looking at the girl, Acacia decided she probably wasn’t sorry; this girl was odd. Something was different yet familiar about her eyes that Acacia couldn’t quite place. Frankly, it was unnerving. The girl also had short hair, something new for Acacia who had only ever seen long braided hair before. Thinking critically, Acacia couldn’t decide if she liked it or not. For one thing, the short hair wasn’t traditional. For another thing, it couldn’t be described as flattering. But it also couldn’t be described as not flattering. She was brash, but she wore nice clothes. Acacia was perplexed. The girl was stocky, Acacia would not describe her has thin, but again, she wasn’t fat. The girl didn’t act upper-class like her clothes suggested... Acacia decided that she was probably uncivilized, maybe the clothes were stolen or a family treasure. The girl was even unkempt (except for the clothes) in comparison to the other people here. Nevertheless, Acacia bit her lip from voicing these opinions and moved out of the way.

“What is this place?” she wondered aloud. Now she stared openly at both the tavern and the girl. Acacia looked slightly comical, whipping her head around trying to see everything at once.

[Dhanya]

Pygmy looked back as Acacia stared her down. Her goatly stubbornness would not allow anything less. Unlike Acacia, she didn't actually spend too much of that time internalising the other woman's appearance. Her mind said "Drykas" and Pygmy left it at that. Braids and more braids and she wasn't even a boy, so Pygmy wouldn't be able to dance with her without discussing first who would lead. Pygmy didn't like to lead and she didn't like to discuss how unfair it was that she never took her turn doing so when she danced with her girlfriends.

"It's a tavern, you're a Drykas, shouldn't you know?" Pygmy replied, swanning past Acacia as the other woman took her time taking in all the many details of the bustling place. "Don't wait, come in and drink, it's what drinking's for."

She had started pushing a rhythm into her words for her own amusement, almost like speaking song instead of singing it. There wasn't much of a structure to it, just two quick bursts like a jester telling a joke, followed by a slower punchline, then rinsed and repeated. She was in a partying mood, not a poetic one.

"Won't anyone buy a poor stranger a drink?" Pygmy said, voice sweet, feet turning pigeon toed near the bar, hands up by her face as if surprised.

It seemed that at least some of the patrons recognised her, not an unexpected thing given that she had been performing there the last few days. She quite liked insinuating herself into the culture of new places and pretending she had always been there seemed to work well towards that end, as far as she was able to yet tell.

[Acacia]

Acacia wrinkled her brow perplexed. She did not completely understand the concept of a tavern, but it seemed to be a place for entertainment, food, and drink. Acacia could enjoy a night of entertainment, whether someone else preformed (she might pick up more tales) or Acacia herself perform.

Acacia was already curious by nature and it seemed that this girl’s comments were designed to make Acacia yet more curious. ‘You’re a Drykas, shouldn’t you know?’ What was that supposed to mean? She was a Drykas, yes, but she also did not grow up with anything other than home tents and horses. Even the way the girl spoke made Acacia want to know. They were odd cadences and rhythms. Like… she thought the whole encounter was a joke. Was she teasing Acacia? Maybe in the future Acacia would tell a tale about a peculiar girl who did something. She didn’t know, but thinking about new tales made her excited and of course more curious.

She knew enough about drinking to know that Pygmy wanted one. And to know that Pygmy did not want or intend to pay for one. Since knowing one person is better than knowing none, Acacia suggested, “I’ll buy you a drink on one condition.” She paused to see how Pygmy would react, “You tell me about yourself.”

Acacia’s face was a mix of awe, eagerness, and curiosity. She wanted to know. The back of her mind prayed “Say yes, say yes, say yes…” with the same eagerness of a puppy wanting to be taken on a walk.

[Dhanya]

There had never been a chance in all the world that Pygmy would turn down a free drink.

Unfortunately there was a slightly higher chance that she was going to lie a bit about herself. Pygmy had learned a great many things from Khiara but the most important had been that everyone liked a good story and most good stories were about magical froufrou lala that wasn't actually true.

"Of course!" Pygmy replied, bright and sunny, a hand on Acacia's back. "Pull up a chair and a drink and we can talk all about me!"

It was almost her favourite topic, if you ignored her secret love of hay.

"I like beer or things with fruit." She offered, hoping to steer Acacia's beverage choice towards one she would enjoy.

Did they have apples? Oh, apples would be nice. Carrot too, she loved carrot, you could juice carrot, carrot was amazing!

[Acacia]

Acacia grinned broadly with genuine happiness. She followed Pygmy’s instructions, grabbed a fluffy red pillow, and set it down by one of the low tables. The table was in one of the less noisy areas of the tavern. It wasn’t quiet, but it was quieter.

Acacia waved over one of the two young men serving tables. She decided on a beer for Pygmy and another for herself. She didn’t know her own preferences so Acacia just imitated Pygmy, who seemed to know what she was doing.

With a small jingling of coins, she pulled out her purse and paid the man. The bag was getting progressively lighter. She’d either need to be more thrifty or get a job. Pygmy was only getting one drink; it was all Acacia could afford.

The beers clinked down on the table. Acacia thanked the man and pushed one towards Pygmy.

“So… I never did get your name. Mine’s Acacia” was the only thing Acacia could think to say. She chastised herself; you call yourself a storyteller and you can’t even start a conversation.

[Dhanya]

Acacia had the small Kelvic in the palm of her hand from the moment the beer hit the table. There were few things in life that were better than the simple joys and few simple joys that wouldn't win the fondness of a Kelvic. At least, the fondness of Pygmy. She wasn't aware but it was somewhat instinctual. She was drawn to kindness, in the same way she was drawn to finding a Master. Consciously she thought of neither more than rarely, it was a desire she was unaware of for the most part.

"Pygmy!" She replied, quickly taking a sip of her beer and enjoying the caramel aftertaste.

Drykas were good at beer. Pygmy liked the Drykas.

"I was born in Sylira." She said, ready to fulfill her end of their amiable exchange. "In a grand house, to Katya, the greatest hunter in the region."

She hadn't begun to knowingly lie yet. In her mind, her mother had been the best hunter she had ever met and she had met a few. Hunting for sport seemed a useless pursuit to Pygmy but it had given her mother some happiness. Katya had rarely been happy in Jenon's house.

"My mother was a wolf, with a clever nose and quick feet. She could hear a twig snap from a mile away and she could read weather like a writer reads a book. She was stolen from her home and my father when she was pregnant, by slavers. It took ten of them to bring her down and it was only when they threatened my unborn life that she surrendered." Pygmy's eyes were bright and her voice was warm and vibrant.

Her mother had told her the story of how they had come to be at Jenon's house as truthfully as possible and if Pygmy had wracked her brains she could have remembered all of it. She simply preferred to take the dramatic parts that had stuck in her memory and supplement them with whatever made the story flow best. She wanted her mother to be remembered as a hero because to Pygmy, she always had been.

"She was bought by a wizard, a tall and emotionless man who was strong with magic. All kinds! Hypnotism and reimancy. His mansion was the biggest in the city, with rooms for the servants and his work and for my mother and me." Pygmy paused and took a drink again, then sighed dramatically. "I was of course, a disappointment. A farm animal born to a warrior. Who would want such a creature?"

Jenon was a fucking prick, far as she was concerned. She might normally have felt more charitably towards him but it was story time and story time called for a villain and he was a good bloody fit. Pygmy had in many ways considered him a father and a good father didn't sell of his daughter because he wanted a new hat. Pygmy had taken to assuming he had wanted a hat, since she had seen him eyeing them and complaining of their expense.

"I am, however, much more than that." Pygmy added, allowing the inflation of her worth to settle in for a moment. "Although perhaps I am pressing my boring story on you, I'd hate to do that."

This telling stories business was a bit like singing. Pygmy felt as though she was pressing for an encore.

[Acacia]

Acacia swirled her beer and smelled the rich scent of caramel and hops. She took a small sip and found that it was quite tasty: another new experience in her small repertoire, as was hearing someone was the daughter of a wolf.

She was fond of Pygmy. Pygmy was the type of person she liked to be around. Someone she could learn from and someone who was easy to please. She liked a story, any story, and she liked a well-told story even better. Acacia was enchanted from the end of the second sentence. She listened carefully to her story, gasping at all the right moments, like when she said slavers stole her mother while she was still pregnant. Acacia hung on every word, spellbound, with a faint smile on her face, enjoying herself.

“Your story isn’t boring,” Acacia assured her. “I have a few questions though; I can’t grasp how your mother was a wolf... Aren’t you human? How could a person’s mother be a wolf unless they were a wolf themself?” Her mind spun around in answerless circles. She took another drink of her beer.

[Dhanya]

Pygmy blinked as her run was interupted by a few questions that clearly needed answering. She'd... never had someone miss what she was before. Even if they weren't aware of what a Kelvic was they at least knew she was something otherly. Pygmy gave Acacia what could only be described as a puzzled look. She leant in a little closer and opened her eyes really wide so that Acacia could see them. Her horizontal pupils were thin in the relative darkeness of the tavern, her irises an inhuman, golden colour.

"I'm Kelvic. We can be all sorts of things, it doesn't matter what your parents were. My mother could be a wolf and I can be a goat." Pygmy almost felt derailed. "Haven't you heard of Kelvics before?"

It was unexpectedly upsetting. Everywhere Pygmy went, she'd turn some heads. She knew she had the kind of stare that discomforted people or intrigued them, it was very rare to have a response that was entirely apathetic or in this case, oblivious to it. Her eyes were weird to a great many people, they'd told her and to the ones that liked them, they were a source of interest. In many ways, her most defining feature compared to what was otherwise an entirely usual body. She suddenly wished she had a mirror so she could check she hadn't changed into a human.

Though there were many things she didn't like about being Kelvic, including her short life and near-commodity status, she didn't want to swap it. For all the pain, it made her special and it gave her so many experiences and qualities a human could never hope to have. Power that a magician might not have even after years of study, she had automatically and at no risk to her wellbeing. She made a point of making sure that those around her were aware of her pride because otherwise she was all too easily silenced. Simply a goat that occasionally had two legs, useful for what have you, which included breeding.

And yet, someone hadn't noticed.

Hadn't noticed.

It was a singular experience, one she might have craved when she was very small but now something quite confronting to the identity she had established as a young adult.