Perhaps people’s distaste for Symenestra went beyond their revolting Harvest practices to humans natural distaste for insects and natural arachnophobia. It was true the Symenestra could defy gravity and were well known for their impressive weaving skills but Selene had never considered herself a sentient arachnid, or affiliate. Yet, it seemed Tazrae’s sentiment Friend to human, foe to insects was a mantra in the subconscious of most humans. As long as Selene capitalized on the human quality of her species she felt she could earn a place among them – but a budding resentment was growing in her womb beside the venomous time bomb. Acceptance required forsaking her Symness; two feet planted on the ground, eating privately, and a forced friendliness so sweet it activated her gag reflex.
However, Tazrae sounded well connected both in Syka and beyond in Riverfall. Selene decided she would be an influential acquaintance and watched her reaction carefully, at the deficit of noticing Marino’s gesture. Tazrae looked to Marino for external validation of the appropriate response, Well, the fact she subconsciously step away from me or look away is consoling, but it’s interesting that she should look to someone it seems she’s only just met for comfort. Is it because I’ve made my acquaintance with Marino known and she’s looking for clues to our dynamic or is she looking to someone else for confidence because she lacks her own? I wonder if she would have looked to Marino if he were a she? Selene considered patiently awaiting clues to the woman’s personality and how best to present herself favourably.
Having stared, perhaps too long at the woman, Selene missed the offered hand and offered her own a chime or two late, meeting Marino’s smile with her own. Her hands were long and bony, with blue veins winding under the parchment thin skin. Dry, her skin crinkled in his warm clasp and disappeared in the large breadth of his. Narrow and tipped with sharp black nails, she hadn’t yet realized how threatening a handshake with her could be as her nails ran sharply against his wrist, her fingers too long to remain in the palm of his hand. Due to the disproportionately longer limbs of her kind, her hands and foot ran a few degrees colder than a human leaving them cold and clammy much of the time.
“Paradisio, who wouldn’t be enchanted by such a…colourful…” She lied through her teeth, but hoped the stumbling lie would be interpreted as a stumbling common, “Mm…What is it…abode? No, bigger. Like a series of abodes? It’s very…” She sniffed demonstrating the word she couldn’t think of, “Like perfume too, sweet like a fruit. Sweet as the people,” She hurriedly added a compliment. If she’s unsure how to behave towards me, implying that other people have been kind may sway her towards accepting. Especially if that earlier glance was her seeking external validation.
Selene couldn’t help it, in her imagination Tazrae’s body morphed under the mop of curly hair into the docile poof of a sheep. Selene had seen one once in Lhavit and the woman reminded her of a blonde sheep. Her wide eyes grew rounder, taking on the wet gullible look of the sheep and her blond curls covered her body. Suddenly her floppy hat was in her mouth and she was chewing it. Side to side. Selene imagined her ignorantly munching on anything she was told. GelberSchaf, Selene nicknamed her in Symenos, meaning Golden Sheep.
“My pleasure, Tazrae,” Selene tried the name on her tongue. The Z’s were a familiar sounds in Symenos and it rolled off her tongue with delight. It was the most familiar sounding name she had stumbled upon in Syka, the r rolling like a buzzing fly off her tongue.
“You have a delicious name,[/i] Selene smirked, the translation may not sit well with someone unnerved by Symenestra tales, but Symenos often used delicious to mean delightful or something that brought another joy since the word was frequently used in reference to meals or women that were harvested. However, Selene was not aware of the common word delightful, nor how inappropriate or unnerving it may be to someone to refer to something as you would a treat or enjoyable meal.
“In Symenos, Tazrae is similar to our word Tazri, meaning A flower for one’s soul” Selene lied, slipping a compliment into the introduction. The woman reminded Selene of the Svefra women who had garnered the most male attention on the trip from Lhavit; curly wild hair, blue eyes, and loose hipped sway in the way she shifted her feet or moved her hands. It stood to reason that a compliment to her femininity would go over well.
“Thank you for the invitation Marino, the coolness of the water sounds like a lovely respite.” Selene nodded, but her eyes were on Tazrae watching and waiting to see the woman’s reaction to her inclusion. As subtle as Selene thought she was being, her near constant eye flicking between the two could easily be interpreted as appraisal or interest depending on the assumptions made by the onlooker.
“How about a sail? If you haven’t seen one of these fine folk with their sea friends you’re in for a treat. It’s like watching toddlers tussle and rag on each other. I’ve never had a pet, but my sisters and I treated each other a lot like they treat their flippered friends.” Gushing, Selene followed Marino if he were to lead them toward his boat.
“But, oh, their fights can be just as petty and explosive. Why, Once, I saw a dolphin throwing a tantrum so hard I was completely soaked through in the boat! Do you have any siblings Tazrae?” Selene lurched through the sand, her wooden leg leaving a long track in the sand wherever they walked. As they passed the bushel of plant life from which Tazrae had emerged and Selene had hid there was a depressed clump where Selene had crouched, and a scattering of sand abruptly destroying the otherwise smooth path created by her leg where she had shifted around to crouch and rise on her one good leg. Selene didn’t notice this tell-tale sign of someone’s presence, distracted by conversation.
“Oh, Marino, what’s the worst fight Twist and you’ve had?” Selene found human bodies cumbersome and generally quite ugly with their oddly proportioned body, colourful hair (as if someone had painted it sometimes or shoved their heads in the dirt), and peculiarly heavy faces and features. Fortunately, this made the near constant stream of nude or half nude human bodies easy to ignore and regard without embarrassment so it was of little consequence to the Sym if Marino escorted them clothed or not.
“Was your trip to Syka your first time in a boat, Tazrae?” Selene inquired further, “I got horribly seasick for weeks on the trip to Syka. I actually vaguely remember you having the unfortunate job of holding my hair back at one point?” Selene looked to Marino, trying to reflect. Truth was, she had few memories of distinctive Svefra at that point, overcome as she was with pain from the loss of her leg, seasickness, and morning sickness. However, she thought she recalled his voice whispering soothing Fratavan words of unknown meaning while she had evacuated all but her stomach itself overboard.
word count: 1,223
