[Sunset Falls] Respite (Lillis + Cerus)

by **Lillis** on April 3rd, 2010, 5:59 am

Lillis, having scales, did not eat fish, nor most things that came from the water. But she smiled nonetheless, grateful for the gift of the entire orange, and sat down near him, careful to collect the seeds in her hand as she went.

"So," she said, floundering only slightly -- what did people in polite society talk about? "So, mm... Have you ever killed any really large animals?" She blinked once, twice, and then decided to amend her question.

"I mean, where are you from?"

by **Cerus** on April 6th, 2010, 3:48 am

“Have I ever--” He couldn't finish what he was going to say without laughing. She'd surprised him with that. “Ah.” It took him a moment to dull the laugh into a grin.

“Never for sport. If that matters to you.” He supposed it didn't really, but she was trying to have a conversation and he didn't mind trying to do the same. After all he needed to hear someone else besides himself.

“Up north. Avanthal area, have you ever been?”

by **Lillis** on April 6th, 2010, 5:52 am

She grinned -- she liked that she made him laugh, and enjoyed laughing along with him.

"The largest thing I've killed is a rabbit," she said quietly, and shrugged it off.

Avanthal... she'd heard quite a bit about the region, but it was one of the places she had never traveled. A slight panic overtook her -- likely read very clearly on her face -- perhaps she should go there, perhaps it had what she was looking for. "I've never been," she admitted, "Maybe you'll take me some time." She blinked -- that was ridiculous, it was very far. "Or, I mean... maybe you could tell me about it some time." She paused. "Like now. You could tell me now."

She reached out, handing him the seeds she'd collected from the orange. "I like stories," she added, and sat nearby.

by **Cerus** on April 6th, 2010, 6:18 am

“Travel back to Avanthal,” He resisted the urge to say that he couldn't read the future and instead just reached to take the seeds from her.

“Anything is possible.” He looked at the seeds before tucking a few in his pocket. “And it just so happens I specialize in stories. And many are from my own land. Do you really want to know about how it is, or how it isn't?” There were so many stories to pick from, and he was having a hard time reading her right off the bat.

That in itself was unusual.

by **Lillis** on April 6th, 2010, 6:28 am

"How it isn't."

She liked being asked very easy questions. "You can learn so much more about a thing by determining what it isn't. More things have more are-not's than are's. For example, I am not purple. And neither are you." Did her expression bespeak a hint of melancholy at the fact that neither of them were purple? Perhaps just a little.

"I am also not a tortoise. And neither are you --" a pause "Are you?" Because some people she'd come across could be other things than what they were. She liked people who were also house cats.

by **Cerus** on April 6th, 2010, 6:41 am

“I like your choice. And while I could argue the other side of that, I think we'd both just be talking in circles. I can tell you about how it isn't easier anyhow.” That had seemed like quite the mouthful, even for him.

“It isn't cold enough to spit and have it freeze before it hits the ground. Mm. Most days. There are no absolutes mind you.” Yet another mouthful. He inwardly groaned, but remained focused on the conversation.

“No, I am not a tortoise. Not the last time I checked anyhow.” Even if that question was a bit more probing than he would like to admit at the moment. He did have a shell after all, but he didn't think he had the soft core or the bad skin.

by **Lillis** on April 6th, 2010, 3:15 pm

She narrowed those dazzling gray eyes at him as he spoke, lips pursed, and said finally: "You don't have to humor me."

It seemed to her that perhaps she'd ventured quickly outside of the realm of what made him comfortable and into the realm of what he would simply put up with out of common human decency. Common human decency was something she could appreciate -- wasting one's time for the sake of making nice in polite society was not. "I would understand if you're not interested in spinning tales for my amusement, and I wouldn't hold it against you."

She smiled, bright and genuine, and gave a shrug of two small shoulders. "Perhaps you're more of a tortoise than I'd originally thought."

by **Cerus** on April 7th, 2010, 4:02 am

"What? Oh, no. I didn't mean to seem like it was some burden. After all, I am a performer." He slowly rose upto his feet before giving her a small bow.

"At your service, m'lady." He said it exaggeratedly and with a wide smile. “I do live to entertain.” It was hard to say if he was the type to hide things in plain sight just then. “You can help me with my newest story. And that will be a most welcome payment for just an orange.” He put his arms up over his head to stretch them.

“The actual words aren't so much the problem as the effects that I want to use. Or rather, something new. No one wants the same old boring story.”

by **Lillis** on April 7th, 2010, 8:03 pm

"Oh!" She clapped her hands excitedly, "I get to help you? All right." She rose to her feet, then, to show that she was at the ready, eager to go, but then she froze, grinning broadly: "What should I do to help?"

by **Cerus** on April 9th, 2010, 4:32 am

"Oh." He paused with a half tilted head while looking at her. "I hadn't actually gotten that far yet. I'm going to be revealing some trade secrets, so turn back now if you want. Performances might never be the same, and all that." He moved over to Roxx, opening the saddle bags once again.

"The story is about magician who's spurned by a fair maiden and encourages a war that lasts a hundred years." He didn't say it was a children's story after all.