Closed Drinks're on me! Well, not really. [Fox]

[Kallian Windrunner]

Tavern: Cue Music : 5 Summer 513 AV The sun fell below the horizon and a great calm came over the grasses. The plains were silent and dark underneath the rise of Leth. But this peace did not last. From afar, glints of clustered light flashed, dancing in the night. Though the world slept, Endrykas was alive. Tonight was not special, though she drank as if it were. Laughing, Kallian sat underneath the large tent that served as a tavern, raising her hand and calling out to the alekeeper. Her voice rang as she called for another pint, signing a quick thanks, and leaned back to rest on the furs stretched out beneath her. It was warm, this night. Dressed in her training linen tunic and leather pants, and with alcohol warming her blood, she felt stuffy. She reached into her boot and pulled out a spare leather strap. Placing it in her mouth, her hands worked her hair into a high ponytail before using the piece of leather to keep it in place. A breeze crept into the tent shortly after and blew across the back of her neck. The ‘tender approached her and handed the pint to her, smiling. He was an older Drykas, though still in his prime. Shirtless and windmarked, his hair rested upon his shoulders while his graying beard sought to do the same. He signed tab and she nodded, returning his grin. He turned and left her be. Kallian began to drink, sipping at the rich ale and thought of the day’s events.

[Fox Starseer]

Fox walked into the tavern tent, and went to the bar. He looked around at the people, it was strangely empty, well empty by the usual standards. A small group of Drykus youths over the the right, they seemed to be enjoying their first drinks, they looked barely into adulthood. Another group of two men, who seemed like they might end up becoming rowdy and cause trouble. And then, his eyes fell on her, Kallian. He moved to the stool next to her. "Hello, m'lady" he said, smiling softly. He flagged down the barkeeper, and had him bring across a pint of spiced mead, and sipped it.

[Kallian Windrunner]

Kallian turned her head at the greeting and gazed at the new addition to the evening, letting a small laugh escape her upturned lips. Blue-green eyes took in his unfamiliar face, though she could not place his features. His eyes were bright green, far brighter than any sort of green she had ever imagined possible. She sipped her pint again before letting it rest on the makeshift counter-top. "M'lady?" she crooned. "You don't hear that very often from men around here. You can't be Drykas. Impossible." She paused. "Or you'd be the most gentlemanly Drykas I'd ever met." Most men she'd met in the pavilions were rowdy, reckless, and carefree; to be honest, that was her type. Most of the travelers passing through the city said their pleases and thank yous with such meek voices... she could hardly imagined how they'd come to even pass through the Sea of Grass without a Drykas robbing them. Then she looked inside their purses and realized they bought protection from folk like her. "Kallian," she said, frank. "I'm Kallian."

[Fox Starseer]

"Well, you're right. I am technically half Drykus, but it's nice to meet you Kallian, I am Fox" he said. "What brings you here? A drink after work? A normal night of getting drunk?" he asked, chuckling softly. He sipped his drink again, taking in her features. Her eyes where strange in a way, they appeared to be green, no blue and gold. It was then he noticed, depending on the light, they where both, the flickering firelight outside,a nd from the torches inside, helped with that.

[Kallian Windrunner]

”Half? Interesting,” she replied, smiling. That’d make a curious story. It wasn’t unheard of for Drykas to take foreign lovers inside the protection of their traveling city, nor was it farfetched for Drykas to leave Cyphrus and seek out adventure somewhere else in the world. She loved hearing about the world outside the Sea, of high mountains and vast deserts. Perhaps a few ales would coax the tale from him. “Oh, just came in to drink after a typical day,” she laughed. Taking a sip from her mug, she tilted her head at him, coy. “And why are you here? Same? Perhaps frantic over a lover’s quarrel?” She chuckled to herself and crossed her legs, leaning towards him.

[Fox Starseer]

"Same as you, I suppose. I have no lover to have a quarrel with" Fox said. It was true, he had no lover as such. "I know, let's have a little drinking contest" he said, finishing his drink. He wondered how it would end. Maybe she was an abusive, angry drunk and he would have to fight or off, or maybe they would wake up the next morning after the night together, or nothing would happen, they'd finish, one would be the winner, and they would both go home to sleep it off.

[Kallian Windrunner]

Kallian laughed at his suggestion of a drinking contest, holding up her newly refilled mug. "Well, I'm a little ahead of you already," she said, laugh settling to a soft chuckle. "This is my second pint, so you should probably begin if you'd like to catch up." She raised a hand and lightly poked his arm. "And anyway, I'm half your size! How could I possibly beat you in a drinking contest?" The question sounded real, though her large smile and batting eyelashes begged otherwise. She brought the mug to her lips and took a large drink, setting it down and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Feeling a strand had come out of her loose ponytail, she quickly tucked it behind her ear. "While you catch up, tell me about yourself. Half-Drykas? What made you stay here rather than go out and explore your other roots?"

[Fox Starseer]

Fox smirked and drained the rest of his mug and ordered another one. He wondered if there was some alternate meaning behind her seemingly harmless comment. Size doesn't matter, I remember my twin beating up a guy twice her size he thought. As he started on his second mug he looked into Kallian's eyes. "Well, Wind Reach is on the other side of the continent, and my family is here; although I do wish one day to maybe make it up there" he said. He called for a third mug as he finished his second one. "So, how have you gotten away without some random Drykus proposing to you, or being set up in a marriage?" he asked.

[Kallian Windrunner]

"Wind Reach? " she asked, eyes glittering from interest. Where was that? She tried to remember the maps the traders would show her at her request. Kallian knew the Cyphrus region intimately and had frequented Syliras border, though she had never gone too far beyond her people's lands. She had visited Riverfall on occasion and knew of the lands beyond the Suvan Sea channel, but had never seen them. Her mind finally found the city. "Ah, in Kalea. Far from here, unless you take the channel... it wouldn't be too difficult to visit, I imagine." Watching him drink, she took up her mug and finished it off. Her face turned sour as she chugged, but she called for another regardless. At his question, she shrugged. "I guess I'm not marriage material... I'm not sure. But, to be honest, I am actually really glad." Kallian gave a chipper laugh. "I mean, I've had a couple of suitors, but nothing too serious. Nothing clicked and I'm not exactly interested in having children." She didn't mention that she hated the idea of men having more than one wife. She had been infatuated once with an older man and he had proposed the idea of adding her to his family. Jealousy won over traditional views.