Flashback Two times out of Three

[Astreia]

Astreia listened with sharp attention to the woman and weighed up the possibilities of what she had just suggested. She was so glad that the woman had been found so delightfully compliant for Astreia had been dreadfully worried that she would find herself simply wandering the streets alone and running the risk of getting lost - she knew little of the people who lived here and could not know what they were like. "My name is Astreia." She said with a charming smile, "And this is my little brother, Raelli. it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Raelli unattached himself and did a polite little bow, as he had seen his elder sister do, in the direction of both Sharyths and Alses. "Pleasure." he said, not being able to add much more since he hardly spoke any common - only that which Astreia had taught him - and had just learnt this word by noting what Astreia had said with his uncommonly good perception. He returned to his sister's side. It was then that Astreia saw a small issue, and although to many people it would have been an easy question to ask, Astreia had too proud a nature... even in Wind Reach where everybody was prideful, she had had what was considered a proud nature. Then she remembered the small being at her side. "How much money are these establishments?" she reddened of course, for any notion of her being in poverty embarrassed her wholly - she did not like pity, or for others to think themselves superior to her (After all, she knew very well and she was void of false modesty so had no issue in reminding herself, that she was pretty for she had been told so numerous times, she was intelligent because everything indicated so and many people considered her interesting. She did not deserve pity) - but she knew that they had no other choice. She needed to conserve her limited funds, at least until she had a definite job. Had she been in Lhavit alone, she would never have asked. She would have merely gone to whichever was the best and acted extravagantly, for in certain areas the appearance of having money served just as well as the physical possession of it. This had been proved to her time and time again. However, with her having sole guardianship of Raelli and an eternal devotion to the small soul, she felt she could simply not act so recklessly. She did, however, fancy finding somewhere quite soon and could not deny that she did not like the way that... Sharyths, she remembered, was looking at Raelli. He seemed fairly harmless when visibly constrained by his endeavour to suit polite society, but she could not help feeling rather worried nonetheless.

[Sharyths]

"I can ssense tensssion in your blood stream," the dhani said to the girl with the cub, Rael-eye, was it? "Wass sit something I sssaidth?" He hissed this and turned to Rael-eye once again, fascinated simply that this woman would allow him to be so close, for Sharyths had known no such kindness in his nest.

"Does, Alsses was it? Doess you know city?" he meant to ask if the other woman had been staying in this city long and if she knew where the housing district was, but he knew not the other words and some came out in snake-tongue.

He also needed to find some food where there were no hue-mahns touching everything. He hated other fingers on his food, it repulsed him. But he did not to seem rude in his first meeting, and so refrained from even trying to ask.

[Alses]

“Sharyths Ssvarthi?” Alses struggled with the pronunciation. “Forgive me if I don't pronounce it quite correctly.” She shook her head, wondering. “Syna above, did your parents practice tongue-twisters when they named you?” A smile, taking any sting out of her words. “Astreia and Raelli, now those names we can be a little more confident with. Not quite so many esses to trip over.” Alses blinked at Astreia's question, noting the dull red flush which crept under her golden skin and the brief struggle before the words came. Nerves? Embarrassment? The street was a little too crowded to inconspicuously afford her the concentration necessary to focus on Astreia's aura, so she couldn't be any more specific than that. Breaking off in the middle of a conversation to focus and meditate was a social no-no. “How much do they cost, you mean?” Alses shrugged, keeping her voice purposefully light and looking about. The best way to deal with that sort of thing - embarrassment, nerves and so forth - she'd found, was to act as if it simply didn't signify. “Well...being general, you understand, most of the food stalls here can be haggled down to a few topaz kina-” too late, Alses remembered she was speaking to total newcomers, people who probably had no idea about the city's specialised currency. “Erm, that's about the same as a copper miza.” She shrugged, philosophical. “It just takes a bit of perseverance and charm to get reasonable prices in the Azure, that's all. Debating is rather a part of the Lhavitian character, you see – we like the test of wits, more so when there's that little stake of triumphant profit or ignominious loss. That said, Mhakula's isn't a great deal more expensive than the food stalls here, and definitely to be preferred, for our money. They don't haggle, either – rather spoils the atmosphere of the place.” That was the snob in Alses coming out a little; since she didn't need to eat, she could afford to be selective and so had a great deal more experience of the upper end of the victualling scale than of the humdrum everyday necessities. “The Fleeting Comet, one of the better restaurants in the city, will also doubtless have what you require and desire both – although they do price according to their reputation. Several full kina at least. Speaking of money, if you haven't changed it already, the Cosmos Centre will be only too happy to do that for you; the city does rather prefer its own currency.” The softly-lilting, hissing voice of Sharyths brought her attention back to the slender fellow – and some of what he said raised a few concerns. “We've lived here for quite some time, yes,” she replied, studying him more closely. “Lhavit's very familiar to me. Were you after anything in particular?” she asked, partly to draw his attention away from Raelli. “And – forgive us for asking, but are you a wizard of any sort, or a healer?” That was the only explanation she could think of for why he would know something about tension in the blood: either a skilled aurist reading the myriad states from Asteria's aura, or someone medically-skilled in the ways of the body able to notice that sort of thing.

[Sharyths]

“Wizarthd? Healther? What sstrange enchantmentsss are thesse? I merely ssmelled the dissdain one iss feeling for me thisss very moment.” As Sharyths hissed this he smelled something rotten in the air. Cloves, it was definitely cloves, he could not bear the smell of it. The cloves almost clogged up his nostrils. Why would anyone want to lay THAT in the air?

The smell was so bad he nearly forgot where he was, or who he was with, and hurriedly slithered away from that rotten stench. He didn't even think about the proper good-bye in which to give to these hue-mahns. After he was far enough away, he did think of them and wondered if Astr-ay-ah and Rael-eye had gotten what they needed from the Alsses.

And what is a “tongue-twister?”

[Alses]

Alses blinked at Sharyths' reply. How could anyone not know what a wizard was, or even a healer? Even she had known about such things, scant days after her Fall. Then there was his odd explanation – given that, contrary to her initial assessment, therefore, he had to be inhuman. She hadn't a chance to explore exactly what he was, however, through question or observation; his head angled up disconcertingly quickly to taste the air and an expression of absolute revulsion flashed across his pale features – whatever had offended his olfactory senses so caused him to positively flee from her company without so much as a good-bye. Cautiously, still staring in some confusion after his rapidly-retreating form, Alses sniffed the air - just in case sewage or rotting flesh or something similar had somehow managed to escape her notice. Then again, Sharyths seemed to have had a much more acute sense of smell than she, so whether she would have been able to detect something unpalatable under the layered melange of scents that pervaded the Azure Market was debatable at best. “What an unusual encounter,” she observed to the Azure in general, curious. “We wonder what on Mizahar he wanted.” She shrugged, philosophical. “Still, on balance we'll probably see him again at some point.” Alses turned her attention back to Astreia and Raelli. “He had quite the striking appearance, wouldn't you agree?”