Chandray looked a the small animal that had come hopping to join them. In her experience the talvan used to tell lots about the svefra. “Such svefra, such talvan” - an old svefra saying, if she recalled it right. It’s name was Jenkins…why, oh why, did this name ring a bell, like a vague memory of a dream in her past … for some unknown reason the name made want to laugh out loud, but she suppressed it. Never laugh at a man’s talvan - that wasn’t an old svefra saying, actually, but just common sense. Besides, the talvan was not at all laughable. Kel Tempest had an otter : Agile as few, fierce as few in fights, master of fishing, acrobatics and playfulness. It was a fun animal and a little looker too, beautiful, with it’s agile and flexible body, cute face, long muscular tail and brown fur. But she knew it was a quite dangerous predator, an excellent swimmer and fisher. A small killer. It sat and looked at her like it expected something from her - maybe it was hungry - or perhaps it was getting ready to protect Kel against her, if it felt he was in some kind of danger. She held out her hand to it slowly and tentatively, the palm turned upwards so the otter could sniff at it, if it wanted to greet her. “Evening Jenkins” she said. She spoke softly to it. Most animals liked it best when voices were kept low, soft and very nice and friendly. “Poor little paw.” She found Kel Tempest pretty fun too. The things he said … the way he spoke about the others…it was priceless. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. He sounded untouched and dismissive, detached, like he couldn’t be bothered and was not really interested. But his words about danger and violent death rang true, as did his concern for the otter. When he spoke about this his voice lit up with something , she didn’t know what, but a kind of sincerity maybe. Her first impression of a man of action had obviously been right. And perhaps he didn’t need as much advice as she had assumed. The way he had showed her the tattoo (and his chest) and the way he had leaned close to her had actually caught her attention quite effectively. She wondered if he had tried this on the beautiful chactawe. All Chandray had seen was that he had been dancing with the woman, in his very own style, joking with the other girls as well, acting like he was … hauling in a fish. The happy playfulness of the killer fisher. Looking closer at Kel Tempest she realized the otter wasn’t the only one that was wounded. She hadn’t seen at a distance and in the soft light, but it was e visible now. People who took an axe to a small otter wouldn’t hesitate to try to kill a man, she thought. It was obvious that Kel had been fighting for his life there, and for the otter’s - and apparently he had won. “Kill or die. That’s the deal life give us once in a while. It’s a hard world. You need to be tenacious and hold on to your life when things go rough” she said to Kel. She glanced at Stefan Teagan, who was all merry songs and soft velvet eyes over there, looking like he’d never held a rapier and never seen a dhani that had skipped it’s human form and … She wouldn’t think of if, not now. And she wouldn’t think of their investigation of the Rat’s Hole either, the things she had found there, all the dry blood on the table. Another time, as reality always needed to be dealt with sooner or later, but not now.. The topic Kel had brought up seemed to require more privacy. There were akalaks in the tavern, some of them could be guards. It could be best to not speak to openly here. Chandray suggested that the two of them would take the otter outdoors for fresh air. She had a feeling the animal needed to come out, she said. So what about leaving the Alements and go for a short walk - Kel could maybe carry the talvan if it wasn’t fit for walking. Chandray hadn’t noticed yet that Kel too was limping, she had no idea…and she didn't know anything about Kel and how he was either. She was prone to think the best of people unless they had proved the opposite. This was often for the better, but sometimes for the worse. Kel promptly agreed to her suggestion. Chandray saw no reason to hesitate. She put her glass to the side and leaned off of the counter, suddenly standing very close to the svefra. She pulled at her cloak and something fell out of its pocket and fell on the floor with a clinking sound. It was a dagger of quite distinctive and unusual design. Chandray quickly bent down, picked the weapon up and put it back in her pocket. With a smile and nod towards the door she started walking. Kel and his otter Jenkins followed. The three of them went out from the tavern together. 00CMy end post in this thread |