Open [The Star's Shadow] Drinks half-off? Now it's a party!

[Nasira]

14th Day of Summer, 514 AV OOCTime: Just after the Midnight Rest Nasira lounged in a chair in the Star's Shadow courtyard on top of Shinyama Peak, watching the way the stars shone in the sky against the Misty Peaks far in the distance. The young Benshira girl was seated cross-legged in the chair, her dark hair braided and tossed over her shoulder and a thin cloak draped around her as she held on to a pint of ale with both hands, the glass looking comically large compared to her smaller frame. She grinned, taking a long sip and setting the glass onto the table with a plunk. Nasira had heard that the Star's Shadow would be having its half-off special today, and like most of the other patrons in the area, had come running. Unlike most of the other patrons in the area, she hadn't really been much of a drinker before. Just last year, Nasira had been living in the home of one of her neighbors, an elderly woman who had made sure to curb some of Nasira's more...energetic aspects. Now that she was independent, however, there was nothing stopping her from living life to the fullest! Or so she thought. Anyway, there was a first time for everything. The girl took another sip, drumming her fingers on the tabletop as she watched the scene in front of her. Lhavit always seemed most alive at night, especially on nights like these where the stars were out and Leth shone down brightly on the courtyard. She wondered what old Meiran would say if she knew where Nasira was, and decided that it was best not to think too much about that. After all, she was a grown, independent woman now (in her opinion), and she was just out to have a few drinks. What could go wrong?

[Una Tanta]

As Una slid into the cramped bar her eyes warily scanned the crowd. Heavily packed so each movement created a wave of jostling through the bar Una began to wonder if she had made a mistake. Though she was opposed to the very debauchery and drunken hooliganism the bar represented she had been loathe to give up the chance for the view for her own prejudices.

As she wiggled through the bar, jostling many in her awkward attempt to stop the press of sweat and boos into her skin she finally broke out of the localized group. The courtyard itself was relatively large compared to the bar, small groups tittered and fell along the outskirts as their tongue frolicked in their drinks. Their raucous laughter left a bitter taste in Unas mouth and she quickly looked away. The only way to look away from the chaos was up, and so she looked.

The stars dazzled through the unique glass that adorned the entire city giving the bar an unearthly deep sea glow. It was like sinking through the depth of the sea without ever moving at all. Moving to the only vacant seat in the courtyard Una silently joined the dark haired woman whose eyes were equally entranced with the stars.

Fingers rolled over the table indulgently, a gesture which Una copied aimlessly. It was the same sound as shells skittering along a hollow crab shell, or a rocky beach. Her white skin glowed faintly in the moonlight and her pink eyes and fingertips faded into the back drop, paled by Leths light. Her tentacles slid freely over her shoulders, curling and uncurling with delight. Her headress, shattered about the rocks before she had left Wind Reach left her feeling naked and bare enough that she greatly appreciated the intimate silence that permeated their table.

Una hardly gave the woman a glance when she had sat, the stars were more beautiful and indulgent than anything else she had to gaze at. Though she told herself this was the purpose in truth she had quickly caught sight of the drink in the womans hand, reason enough to say nothing at all.

"Would you like something more to drink?" A waitress leaned over, eyes grazing both of the womans inquisitively. "No." Una replied bluntly, purposefully turning back to the stars. The tone and nature of her surroundings made her sharp and brash as she spoke wishing for each moment the woman hesitated at their table that she would leave her be again.

The waitress turned to the other woman at the table, waiting for a reply. When one was made she hastily left. It was a busy night. many tips to be made both in and out of bed. Una thought vehemently as she watched the womans bare thighs flash out from the slits of her skirt.

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[Nasira]

OOCAssuming that Nasira learns Una's name in the Desert Rose thread. If not, feel free to correct me and I'll edit. It wasn't long before someone joined Nasira at her table. The young Benshira girl tore her eyes from the sky, grinning as she turned to face her companion. She paused, blinking when she realized that she actually recognized this person. Charodae were pretty distinctive after all, and Nasira had a good memory for faces. She looked around, half-expecting to see Asha somewhere in the crowd, but the Jamoura woman wasn't present this time. Probably to be expected. Nasira didn't know if Jamoura even drank. She stared down at her cup, as if contemplating it, before taking another swig. The alcohol was making her feel more relaxed, but she wasn't completely affected by it yet. She'd had the odd ale or two every now and then, enough to build up some sort of resistance, so this wasn't as bad as it could have been. "Hey," she said, when the Charoda didn't seem to feel like speaking. "You're name's Una, isn't it? I remember you from the plaza." Una's reply would have been interrupted by the arrival of the waitress. Nasira simply grinned at the woman, leaning back in her seat and holding up her mug. "Another one of these, please," she said, tucking her legs further underneath herself. The woman frowned down at her, as if uncertain whether or not Nasira should be drinking at all, before taking up her empty mug and walking away. Now that she was gone, Nasira turned her attention to Una. That was strange. The Charoda woman didn't seem to be drinking. Nasira wondered why anyone would come out to a drink special and not actually drink. "Aren't you gonna order anything?" she asked, leaning forward slightly so that she could hear her new companion over the din.

[Una Tanta]

OOCNot sure what your goal was for this thread, or if you had any. I took a look at your CS and I would love to have Una learn more about Lhavitian culture and maybe learn a traditional Lhavitian dance. Would that be a possibility?

"Hey," The woman at the table said, too jubilantly for Unas guarded mentality. Normally a relaxed and amicable person the atmosphere grated on her nerves Wonder if the stars are worth it... She wondered to herself tentacles curling into a small tight fun in anxiety. Lhavit was the most beautiful and remarkable city she had lived within. As beautiful and translucently glamorous as Avanthal and as lofty and towering as Wind Reach.

She was moved from her thoughts by the tanned form at her table. Hair almost black in the faint light Una faintly recognized the tanned slope of her nose and the Thunder Bay coloured eyes. "You're name's Una, isn't it? I remember you from the plaza."

Tilting her head Una scanned the womans face. Every street she cornered held the silhouettes and visages of humanoid forms she could never have imagined. The curling horns of the Eth and the blue skin of the Akalaks slid through her minds eye, a cornucopia of skin and eyes. For once her white rubbery skin faded into the background amongst the various colours that adorned the skin of her fellow citizens. Her pale pink eyes and glinting baubles faded under the sparkle of the Eths long limbs. It was delightful.

The unremarkable form of the woman before her sparked no memory, but ever polite she smiled faintly and nodded gently. "Uh yes. Hi..." She let her voice fade away hoping the woman would fill the vacancy with her own name. Turning slowly on the stool Una placed her elbows on the table, her hands creating a small table on which to rest her chin.

"The Plaza?" She inquired politely. Though she had no desire to speak to the woman with the mountains and mist that extended out from their place snagging at her attention as her tentacles snagged at the coral and fish when swimming.

"Aren't you gonna order anything?" The womans thick lips barely parted as she spoke. Leaning forward, her noise inches away from Unas, she tilted her head slowly. Entranced by her eyes Una felt the familiar pull in the center of her chest, begging her to dive in to the water that was the womans eyes. "No...I don't drink..." Una began slowly, her lips slipping over the common words slowly. It wasn't her most familiar language and she was loathe to make a mistake.

"I find MY solice in the purifying and awakening realm of the water." Una finished. Her voice tinted with the accent of Char her mouth moved over each word, round and full. Spoken slowly, the insult charred from her mouth to the other womans and she leaned back into the back of her chair meeting the womans eyes firmly.

The groaning and gyrating of the drunken dancers teetering nearby made her grit her pointed teeth with annoyance. Beneath the thin veil of annoyance Una felt a glimmer of equal parts jealousy and superiority. Land dwellers couldn't dance, no matter how fabulous and well trained even the most succulent of women were they were limited to a singular plane. The dancers of her childhood frolicked in the three dimensional realm of the water with such grace and wonder with half the training these women had.

"Can you dance?" Una murmured quietly gazing at the writhing mass in the center of the field. "Can you dance as well drunk as sober? Is it worth losing that skill to feel a little excited? A little dangerous? a little grown up?" She wasn't sure the chocolate woman could hear her soft words over the din and she hadn't meant to be so pointed but the words moved from her lips as unstoppable as liquid slithering between closed fingers.

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[Nasira]

OOCSorry for the lateness. Been a super busy week! I didn't have any plans for this thread, so yes, I wouldn't mind going in whatever direction you felt like! But I'm not sure Nasira knows traditional Lhavitian dances. I think she just makes it up as she goes along. There was...something off about Una today. Nasira wasn't quite sure what it was, nor was she entirely sure that that was a valid observation (there had been something off about Una the first time she met her too). Still, Nasira wasn't the type to let someone else's mood ruin her own, so she simply smiled at Una's obvious confusion, surprised that the Charoda didn't seem to remember. "Yeah, remember?" she asked. "You threw up in the butcher's shop." Okay, so that might not have been the best way to remind Una who she was, but Nasira had never really been one for tact, and that was how she remembered the encounter. Nasira blinked as Una said that she didn't drink, the Benshira girl hearing the slight rebuke in Una's tone. That made her a little bit upset, and her brow furrowed as she too leaned back in her seat, considering the Charoda woman in front of her. "If you don't drink," she said, "Then why are you at a bar on a night with a special?" Nasira was all for tolerance and listening to people with different opinions from her own, but only when those people didn't try to make her conform to those opinions. Not that Una was doing that now, but Nasira was starting to feel, like most young teenagers felt when they were caught doing something they probably shouldn't have been doing, that Una was getting dangerously close. Besides, it wasn't as if this was the first time this had happened. The Charoda woman had also entered a butcher shop despite not eating meat, only to throw up all over the floor. In all honesty, Nasira couldn't understand it, and she wasn't in the mood to try. So when Una asked her if she could still dance, in spite of the drink, Nasira simply grinned, leaning back in her seat and resting her hand on the tabletop with all the confidence and restrained fury of a warrior who had been challenged to a battle. The waitress laid down her second drink in front of her, but Nasira ignored it, her crystalline eyes on Una's. "First off," Nasira said, tracing a circle on the tabletop with one finger. "I'm not drunk. Like I would get drunk off one ale. I'm young. That doesn't make me a complete lightweight. And second off," she held up a second finger, her grin becoming slightly challenging as she looked back at Una. "I can dance drunk, sober, sick, tired, sore, delirious—I'm pretty damn sure I could dance in my sleep." Nasira had been very few of those things, but she was certain that that didn't detract from the truth in the slightest. She leaned back in her seat, pulling her hand from the table and folding her arms. "But I'm off the clock," she said. "So, tough. Come see me after the Noon Rest." Despite her apparent self-confidence, it was clear that if Una did push it, Nasira would dance that night.

[Una Tanta]

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"Yeah, remember? You threw up in the butcher's shop." The explanation made Una smile warmly for the first time that night. "Oh yes! It's a pleasure to see you again." She mouthed the words politely. Though she did mean them, and had appreciated the kindness of the woman that day a single pleasant meeting did not redeem the woman for her later bitter words, nor did it improve Unas annoyance. She hadn't expected the bar to be quite so painful, quite so reminiscent of her first meeting with Cy.

"If you don't drink," she said, "Then why are you at a bar on a night with a special?"

"There is a special tonight?" Una asked blankly, obviously not caught up on the cities activities. "I heard the stars were especially bright from here. I didn't expect it to be so busy." She admitted wondering whether it was time to give up on the venture and leave when a drunken man bumped into her chair as he walked past.

Nasira grinned at her with such emotion and vehemence that Una almost fled that very moment.

"First off, I'm not drunk. Like I would get drunk off one ale. I'm young. That doesn't make me a complete lightweight. And second off, I can dance; drunk, sober, sick, tired, sore, delirious—I'm pretty damn sure I could dance in my sleep." Una rolled her eyes as the woman before her bragged. If she was here as often as it sounded and danced in as many states Una was sure she was as close to a whore as Lhavit came.

"But I'm off the clock," she said. "So, tough. Come see me after the Noon Rest."

"Sorry. I don't book time with dancing whores." Una replied, her voice as rigid as stone as she rose and moved away from the Benshira. Grinning to herself, satisfied with herself as she moved among the bustling drunkards toward the door.

This was no place for her.

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[Brandon Blackwing]

Una Tanta

XP Award:

• Observation +2
• Rhetoric +2
  

Lore:

• Lhavit: The Star’s Shadow
• Nasira: A Dancing Whore
• Nasira: confident in her dancing skill
  

Notes:
Nasira, your grade has been withheld due to inactivity.

Una, well, I must admit I was quite surprised seeing Una so … annoyed and grumpy. But I liked it! Poor Nasira though… Haha, enjoy your grade.

Please edit or delete your request in the request thread.
Comments, questions or concerns regarding your grade? Pm me.

credit goes to Adelaide Sitai