Let In The Spring (open)

[Khiara]

79th day of spring.

Khiara felt herself slipping. Each week she stayed, it was becoming harder to resist the restless urge to move on. There were times, in the very early hours of the morning, that the vantha contemplated stealing away in the night and not looking back. But then she felt the guilt if betraying Pygmy, and even Vanator...and so she got through the rest of the week. However, this night, in the cooler air, she wondered how much longer she could cope. Sometimes it was hard to breathe, it was so hard to let go.

It hadn't been easy to sleep this evening. She tossed and turned and lay staring at the ceiling. Giving up, she'd finally dressed in the knee length sleeveless tunic she now rather fondly wore and her furlined boots. Brushing her hair, the woman left it loose to shimmer violet-gold in the flickering firelights of other pavillions and establishments. Taking the carving of Eliac and the Whale from he pack, she rubbed her thumb across the familiar sweep of its tail and his small face.

"I miss you." Khiara whispered, before kissing the carving softly and placing it in her pack again. Leaving the pavillion, she took a deep breath, feeling naked without the carving. Letting it out, she quickly walked past the entrance and through the darkened city of Endrykas. Where there were people, surely their would be company willing to drink with her. This night, she felt, would be a night to drink deeply - and nothing was more depressing than drinking alone. Allowing her feet to lead her, the foreigner made her way onwards, practically loosing herself in the streets. When she came to a loud enough establishment, she pushed her way through the entrance flap and smiled, violet eyes taking in the singing drunkards and laughing patrons. This would do. Making her way to the barkeep, she ordered a large mug of spiced wine and with a moment of hesitation, a shot of something strong. Paying, she took a breath, before throwing back the shot with a grimace and a shudder. Lifting her mug, she found herself an empty table and sat down, laughing along with the other patrons at the singers antics. Now all she needed was a companion.

[Kashik]

It just so happened that it was the singers who should have held her attention. A tall black-haired Drykas man, not yet a quarter-century under his belt but well past boyhood, stood on stage in a pair of riding pants and little else, his windmarks standing out against the wiry muscles of his stomach. He was obviously drunk, but more happy with it than anything else. He had a flagon of ale in one hand, and with the other he was leading the stamping, laughing crowd in the chorus of a bawdy song. "It's Charlotte the harlot, The girl we adore! The pride of Endrykas, The cowpunchers' whore!" As he finished, a woman slipped under his arm and stole away his ale, laughing as he tried to swipe at her and missed. She had bright teal eyes and a wealth of curly black hair, and the same nose and smile as the other man though he was almost three hands taller than her. She put the tankard to her lips and began chugging it down, eliciting a round of encouraging cheers from the crowd, and held her brother off with her other hand planted in the middle of his chest. When she finished the whole thing, she lifted it over her head and grinned as they clapped and congratulated her. Then she opened her mouth, and sang the next verse with a sparkle of mischief in her eyes. As she did, her brother composed his face to mock-seriousness and danced around her in circles. "She's dirty, she's vulgar, she spits in the street, Why whenever you see her, she's always in heat. She'll lay for a Silver, take less or take more, The pride of Endrykas, the cowpunchers' whore!" Everyone who wasn't laughing too hard joined in as the man directed them in the chorus again, and the woman accepted another mug of ale from someone and went about drinking it. When she finished she wiped the back of her hand against her mouth and wavered a little on her feet before giggling and singing the last verse. "One day in the Grasses, no pants on her quim, A rattlesnake saw her and flung himself in, Charlotte the harlot gave Drykas men frights, The only vagina that rattles and bites!" As she sang that, she did a rousing dance to illustrate her character's conundrum. She and her brother both dissolved into uncontrollable laughter afterwards, unable to join in the last chorus, and before it was finished they'd tripped each other up and gone crashing to the stage floor in a tangle of limbs and dark hair. When they finally managed to sort themselves out and roll off the stage, they made their way back to the table they'd been sitting at only to find a new person there - not that they cared. "Fair winds, sister!" the girl cried, throwing her arms in the air and giggling as she collapsed into the chair beside Khiara. Her brother sat as well, but she immediately turned and set a bare foot against his hip, then kicked him and the chair right over. "No! You said you'd get dinner if I sang!" she laughed, winking to Khiara as the man cursed her, her hygiene, her parentage (which he seemed to have forgotten that he shared), her horse, and several of her body parts. But despite the cursing, he picked himself up and started towards the bar, ruffling her hair with a laugh as he passed her. She giggled and straightened her hair, then hid a belch behind her hand. "Gods! That song, I tell you. Love the free ale, hate that I have to drink it so quick," she giggled. "Oh! I'm Kashik of the Brightsmile Pavilion, Diamond Clan," she said, grinning brightly.

[Khiara]

Khiara found herself holding her side as she laughed at the antics onstage, clapping and whooping with the crowd. She didn't know the song, but the words were enough to make her laugh. A blush touched her cheels as they finished the last naughty verse, but she laughed still. Watching the duo fall to the floor in a heap, she shook her head and lifted her wine to take a deep drink, head already feeling light from the nasty shot she'd had before. The sound of a close and happy greeting startled her and her put the mug down wide gold eyes and a gulp. Quite unexpectedly, the singers were at her table. She looked first at the woman, the man, then back at the woman as she kicked him off to get her a meal. Smiling, her liquid eyes shifted towards violet.

"Oh...Hello! Khiara, of the Snowsong Hold I have to say, I've never heard that song, but you and your partner sang it very well!" The vantha said with a nod. Lifting her mug, she took another drink. Around the bar, people laughed and chattered, the whole place buzzed with excitement and drink. Khiara shook her head.

"Seems like they enjoyed it too!"

[Kashik]

"Oh, they always love that one," she laughed, peering around with heavy-lidded eyes at the boisterous crowd. "That's my half-brother, Eamonn," she said pointing to her partner - who seemed to have forgotten all about the dinner owed his sister in favor of flirting with one of the young Drykas lasses at the bar. "Pfft," she said with a roll of her eyes, turning back to Khiara and grinning. "I'll never get fed. Oh!" she said, jaw dropping as she blinked and stared. "Semele's sparkling tits, are your eyes changing color?" she squeaked, leaning her arms on the table and the rest of her over that to get a closer look, fascinated by this new development. "I've never seen that before! Are you... what are you anyway?" she laughed, her question as innocent as any child's might have been and her smile just as bright.

[Khiara]

"Semeles sparkling what?" The vantha meeped in shock as the drykas woman leaned in towards her. Drawing back a little, Khiara blushed suddenly, her aforementioned eyes swimming with rivlets of gold as she realized the woman had probably never seen a vantha before. Vanator seemed to have the same reaction to her eyes, not so much the reflected colors in her hair, but the eyes. Something as normal as shifting eye colors to Khiara was a strange and perhaps even frightening trick here.

But Kashik was not being cruel or even threatening. It was a genuine and suprized question. Smiling, she held the womans gaze so she could witness the change back to a fresh lavender color, with hints of gold just simmering under the surface like a boiling broth of gold and purple.

"I'm a vantha, from Avanthal. It's a place way up in the north, further away than even I can sometimes imagine. And yes, its something that happens in all vantha. It's the touch of the Aurora, the northern lights in the sky from where all vantha came down from. The change is brought on by...mood swings." The young woman nodded, violet highlights dancing, before she took another drink of her wine. Putting the mug on the table, now half empty, she rubbed her warming cheeks.

"By the Goddess your wine here is so much stronger than the stuff at home!"

[Kashik]

Her full lips formed a perfect Oh! as she watched Khiara's eyes slid from lavender to gold and back again, a fascinated little smile finally breaking through. "Petch me, that's fantastic," she breathed, then giggled and slapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, I'm just... wow, a Vantha? I've never seen one before. Oh, how annoying is it, huh, to have us gawking at you all the time!" she laughed, blushing at her own idiocy as she slouched back in her chair, rolling her eyes. "I don't mean any harm by it. I've had a barrel of ale," she said, sighing happily. Then, without so much as a by-your-leave, she leaned up and stole away Khiara's wineglass for a sip. Eyes widened a little as she handed it back, and then she laughed again. "Oh, yes, that's the good stuff. Either the barman thinks you're cute or he thinks you've a need for foolishness tonight. Whichever's fine by me, just give a little wink when you order the next round and it'll be free," she snickered, touching a fingertip to the side of her nose in some knowing sign.

[Khiara]

The vantha found herself laughing lightly as the woman marveled at her oddity, then in the same breath contemplated the way her people must look to Khiara. The shift from surprize to embarassment was so fast all Khiara could do was shake her head, about to tell her it wasn't a problem.

Suddenly, her wine dissapeared to the womans lips and back again, before the young woman could take a breath. Looking on with a shocked smile, she glanced towards the barman, before dropping her eyes. Still smiling, she lifted the wine and gulped the rest, hiding a belch as she sat the glass down.

"Cute? Hardly. Sometimes I feel like a ghost here, people almost see through me. I swear, I call out, wave my arms, jump up and down and people walk right on past me. At first, I thought perhaps I was just doing something wrong...but even my own friends seem to miss me at times." Leaning forward, she pointed a finger for emphasis.

"I have a good friend here, a fine man. And he's invited my best friend in the whole world to this wedding...reception...thing. I know that they are....more than friends, but I still sort of thought..." Sighing, she shook her head, then laughed.

"Anyway, his cousin or friend of a cousin or something...now he's invited me to this reception. And I can't say no, because that would be rude. But...would my friends be angry at me if I came? Is it something I should decline politely? I don't know." Waving her hand, Khiara looked at Kashik, already tipsy.

"I'm sorry, I don't usually ramble on so much. It's just this wine, oh and then I had a shot of something before this. Well...." Returning her gaze to the bartender, she shrugged, her voice quiet.

"I think he just knew I needed a good time."

[Kashik]

"Pffffft," Kashik scowled, rolling her eyes hugely. "How could anyone miss you? You're terribly exotic. Maybe you're just too quiet. Everyone always says they remember me because I'm too loud. I think this shirt has something to do with it too," she mumbled, looking down at the white linen tunic that was quite plainly too tight across her chest - though she doubted any of the men here really minded. "But! A wedding! Oh, wait, lemme see... that's the girl from the Emerald Clan, yes? My brothers are going to that! I'm not, they don't let me go anywhere with an open bar," she giggled, winking to Khiara. "You should go. Definitely. Dance with this cousin, and with Eamonn because he'll dance with anyone and loves nothing more than making others jealous of how good a time he's having. And forgetting my petching food!" she yelled across the bar, which made her brother laugh sheepishly and give the girl he'd been flirting with one final kiss before he stumbled off to find his sister something to eat. "Really, though. You can't spend your whole time worrying over whether others are thinking about you enough. They never are, in my experience. Which isn't to say I don't worry about that... about some people... oh, shyke," she mumbled, rubbing at her face. "Don't mind me. We're all idiots, we women, it's just a question of how much we let our idiocy show to the world," she laughed. "But yes, go to the wedding. They have great food. And drink and laugh and dance with Eamonn when you see him - and he'll introduce you to his friends, and you can dance with all of them, and they'll try to flirt with you just to see if they can make Eamonn jealous, and he'll pretend to be jealous because it's more fun that way. Doesn't that sounds like a grand time? Yes," she said with a confident nod, answering her own question. It wasn't hard to see that Kashik was a troublemaker of the best sort, completely unashamed, and if questioned would never deny her part in any plan she'd hatched or deal she'd struck. OOCFeel free to use Eamonn as an NPC in the wedding thread

[Khiara]

Khiara smiled, eyes flicking to the white top then back again with a blush. It caused her to think about her own outfits. Was she dressing properly? Maybe Kashik was right...how could anyone pay attention to a woman dressed in boring leather outfits. Sure, this dress fit a little snugly, but it certainly wasn't the type of outfit to bring all eyes on her. Maybe if she altered the top...she could cut a V shape in the neckline....

Shaking her head, the vantha laughed. What on earth was she thinking?! This wasn't her, this was the wine talking. Looking up at Eamonn, the vantha turned a shy smile on him, before he dissapeared to find Kashik her meal. Dancing? That would be something. And it would take alcohol. And music. And more alcohol. Looking back at Kashik, she giggled.

"That does sound fun, but I don't know. I'm a terrible dancer...and making people jealous sounds...not like me." Making a sound in the back of her throat, Khiara pushed her hair away from her face and sighed.

"More wine?" She asked, smirking at the drykas woman. Khiara could never be like Kashik...but it was fun to imagine. What would Eliac think? A sudden ache in her chest caught the vantha, and she looked away. He would want her to be happy, she was sure. But the thought of letting herself go, dancing with the other men...it left her feeling confused. Shaking away the sobre thoughts, she tapped her mug on the table.

"My shout."

[Kashik]

When Khiara caught Eamonn's eye and offered him that shy, quiet smile, he just grinned and winked at her, laughing as he disappeared to do what he was ordered. "No one cares if you're a good dancer," Kashik laughed, "just that you dance! You foreigners, so many of you have I heard say 'Oh, I should not do this because I am not the best at.' Dancing is about using your body to show your joy! Just as singing, just as loving, all of it, it's just your skin telling people how happy you are to be alive. This is how we live," she said with a wave of her hand towards the crowd - as if this were something commonly said, some core belief that all Drykas adhered to and a tidbit of wisdom that she was willing to share because they were friends now. "And tonight," she continued with a grin, rolling up to her feet and grabbing Khiara's hand, "tonight we drink! And when we're done with this drink you will sing with me, and when that is done you will dance with my brother and I will dance with whatever man here can best me in arm-wrestling, and after that... well, we'll find something to do," she giggling, dragging the Vantha girl to her feet and pulling her towards the bar.