Social Awkwardness (Aunalee)

[L'orlei]

Timestamp: 10th of Spring, 513 AV - Morning Location: The Pearl Diver Ciela. The name chimed in the back of L'orlei's mind the moment the konti walked up, although L'orlei was fairly certain she already knew the woman's name. It was just her gift reminding her, L'orlei supposed. She barely even noticed it anymore when it was just one or two people. It could get overwhelming in a crowd of strangers, however, but luckily Pearl Divers was not usually crowded in the morning. Normally L'orlei would cook her own breakfast, but she was out of supplies, and didn't feel like heading down to the Bountiful Sea. So.. breakfast it was. "Hi Ciela," L'orlei chimed when she walked up. Being a konti, Ciela was not at all surprised the L'orlei somehow knew her name. Things like that were not unusual to anyone from the isle. "Just a fruit breakfast for me today, thanks." While L'orlei waited alone at her table she tried to figure out what she wanted to do that day. It was one of the few off days she allowed herself, most of her time spent either studying or selling, and she had no idea what to do with the free time. She didn't really have any friends, being a bit of a recluse. She wasn't very good at making friends either. The trick of knowing a person's name only went so far to break the ice, but beyond that L'orlei was always at a loss. She knew it was something she had to work on, but she just didn't know how.

[Aunalee]

The morning light greeted the rounded windows of the Pearl Diver, making a display of colorful rays. Aunalee smiled, looking at the harmonious building up and down. 'Such peace and tranquility, I wonder if there are any places in the world as peaceful as Mura...' She shrugged, knowing nothing of the world and continued into the tavern. A small room to most looked normally to Aunalee. She quite liked the snugness of the walls and the big wardrobe. She shrugged off her opal cloak, revealing a lilac shirt and pure white pants. She stomped off the dust on her boots before walking into the main room.

Aunalee first looked at the walls, their tales spoke through the simple brush strokes. Her blue eyes darted around, looking at the elegant white tables with ivory plates. Her eyes met another Konti's head. 'Strange, I thought no one would be up at such an ungodly hour.' She walked over to the table and passed the Konti, she turned around at the opposite side, letting her hand fall on one of the chairs. "Mind if I sit, sister?" She asked and looked at the Konti. Her appearance what that of a normal Kontis, beautiful silky skin, bleach blonde hair, and scales the color of mint green that matched her eyes. What struck Aunalee the most was the woman's gnosis on her forehead, the mark of Rak'keli, a mark Aunalee knew well.

[L'orlei]

L'orlei was lost in thought, or rather she was just kind of daydreaming, when Aunalee approached. In fact, she was so lost in her dreams that she started in surprise when the other konti spoke. Aunalee, the name sounded in her mind as soon as she noticed the woman. L'orlei didn't know her, but then again, she wasn't the most social konti on the island and she didn't know very many people. Wondering what she had done to attract the other konti's attention, L'orlei nervously nodded her head and answered. "Oh! Um.. sorry. Yeah, um.. Yes, you can sit, um, Aunalee. Yeah, go ahead. Um.. I'm L'orlei." L'orlei shifted awkwardly in her chair a bit as Aunalee sat down, eyeing the other woman curiously. She could sense their shared link to Rak'keli even if it hadn't been for the mark plainly visible on the other woman's face. Not that meeting another marked by Rak'keli was anything remotely unusual in Mura, but it was at least something they had in common. And maybe something to break the otherwise freezing cold ice. "Um.. so.. are you in the Opal Order? I uh.. I took a few classes, but.. then I had to stop."

[Aunalee]

Aunalee looked at the Konti, sensing her distress in her face but not being able to place it to anything. So, she sat down and shook her head as the waitress came by offering her a menu. She hadn't came in for food but for the scene itself. "Yes, I'm a new student there." Aunalee answered and twisted a lock of her multi-blond hair.

"Why did you have to quit taking classes?" She asked L'orlei. 'What a fun name, L'orlei.' She glanced down at her hand, staring at the light petal like pink scales that decorated her snow-like skin. 'Such a difference then the rest of the Konti and my strange eyes, oh well.' She looked back at at L'orlei's green eyes with her blue eyes.

[L'orlei]

Aunalee did not seem to notice L'orlei's distress, which was probably a good thing, because if she had it probably would have only made L'orlei all the more distressed. She really was terrible with purely social interactions. If she had been selling Aunalee something, or if Aunalee had been injured and was in need of healing, L'orlei would have been just fine. But to sit down and have a real conversation with someone.. well, that was just something L'orlei was terrible at. And it wasn't for lack of not wanting to be social.. she was just bad at it. "A new student? Oh, well, that's good. The world always needs new healers... I guess." L'orlei shifted again and put her hands in her lap, then back on the table, and then she started fiddling with them, before laying them flat on the table once more. Why was it so hard just to have a conversation with someone? Probably because she never had any friends when she was growing up.. but still, she should have been able to do this. Oh! And she was forgetting about the question that Aunalee had asked her. "Oh, and I quit because I had to work. Um.. well, I mean. My mother left for her calling, and I had no mizas, so I had to stop going to school and find a way to make money. Students don't get paid, so I started my own business. It took me a while... but I think, maybe.. I think I might be ready to start taking classes again soon. So.. um. What are you doing here if you don't want something to eat?"

[Aunalee]

Aunalee couldn't help but notice now the slight awkwardness of her behavior. Not only had she wandered away from the order for no particular reason but to be alone but the fact that this woman had so blatantly pointed it out made her feel a bit slow. She laughed, not at L'orlei but at herself. She smiled and wondered how to put this into words.

"Well, you see..." She began but paused for a moment. Suddenly the words that were stuck on the tip of her tongue began to slip from her lips. "I don't exactly know why I came in here, I just liked the way the light refracts in the windows and decided to get a better look." She explained and couldn't help but laugh at how childish she just sounded. Not to mention the fact that she was normally mistaken for one as well because of her tiny stature but she continued on the conversation.

"I wouldn't mind taking a few classes with you or learning anything new really. If you don't mind that is." Aunalee said with a look of amusement on her face. She let her eyes wander around the room while L'orlei gave her response. It was beautiful. The one that struck her fancy was a woman of dark haired woman with light skin. Two winged serpents seem to slither beside her. 'Rak'keli? I wonder if all the other people who are painted are gods or goddesses as well.'

[L'orlei]

Aunalee's words brought a smile to L'orlei's lips. She may have thought her reasons for coming in a bit childish, but to L'orlei it made perfect sense. The place really was lovely, and if that was her only reason for coming in, then it was plenty good enough. "That sounds like a perfectly acceptable reason to me. This place is beautiful." L'orlei was glad that Aunalee did not appear too outgoing. L'orlei just didn't know how to act around hyper, outgoing women. She was shy herself, but once she opened up and got comfortable she was much easier to talk to. That was impossible if the person she was talking to was pressuring her though. Aunalee was making it easy for her. "I don't think I would mind that at all.. it would be nice to know someone, other than just knowing their name. So... what are you doing for the rest of the day?"

[Aunalee]

Aunalee's eyes finally came back to the table at L'orlei's last question. 'What am I doing today?' She just sat there for a moment, thinking before the friendly grin returned to her face. "Well between you and me, the chores at the order aren't all the great and I was just going to wander around for the day." Aunalee said and began to look back at the walls.

"Maybe I can go look for herbs in the forest or the sea. Get something related to what I'm trying to accomplish done for the day." She said with a short giggle and then looked back to L'orlei with a new idea. "Would you like to come with? After your breakfast of course." She asked and hoped the answer would be yes.

[L'orlei]

Looking for herbs? It sounded like the most absolutely perfect thing anybody could have invited her to do. Of course L'orlei wanted to go, and no breakfast was going to stop her. "I'd love to! I was thinking about heading down to the beach myself and looking for some herbs. Plus I heard there was a new pod of dolphins around the island, and I would love to see them." L'orlei quickly finished up the rest of her food before paying for her meal. She was excited. She had never gone foraging with another person before. In the past her excursions into the forest or waters around the island had always been solo missions. She wondered how knowledgeable Aunalee was. L'orlei admitted to herself that a novice when it came to herbs and medicine, but she was learning, and was always excited to learn more. Since her business had began providing her a decent income she was able to spend less time begging people to buy her wares, and more time honing her craft.. which would eventually lead to making even more Mizas at a time, allowing her to devote even more time to her studies. "Do you need anything before we go? I want to stop by my house and pick up some supplies, if that's alright with you? You can come with me, or you could just meet me down at the beach."