Completed First impressions

[Hwyn]

Fall 70th 516AV

There is something to be said for first impressions. For the first time in his life Hwyn was working a job, an honest job with no strings attached, no illegal requirements, he was performing his job as a law abiding citizen, and it felt terribly strange, It was his first official day on the job but after just a bell of work he was beginning to enjoy the consistency of the duties he was given, at Cafe Fleurs, Not to mention that he was already in love with his working attire. A frilly black dress with puffy sleeves, and then a brilliant white apron over it. The cafe was small enough that it never had a particularly large amount of people in it which was nice, the only thing that Hwyn had had any issue with at all was trying not to keep eye contact with anyone for too long, the rose colored starbursts in his green eyes were an oddity near impossible to hide but so far nobody had made a scene about it yet, he liked the way he looked but he was aware that such an oddity tended to bring in unwanted attention to himself. He had also fallen in love with the smell that wafted from the kitchen, most of the foods made in the small kitchen were sugary and sweet and Azelea had already rewarded him with a tart that morning for doing well as a new employee.

Azelea and Darnel were a sweet pair of people the niece and uncle they chatted back in forth through the morning with each other and customers, Hwyn hoped that he could eventually become as comfortable with people as those to were, but the odd looks and stares he got whenever he met the eyes of a customer tended to stress him out. Hwyn didn't particularly trust people, his life in sunberth followed by his previous spring in Syliras left him untrusting of most anything people said. He was wary of his employers as well but at the very least they had given him a job even with his odd appearance. They had however forced him to keep his bangs from concealing his eyes, saying that it was rude to not look at one's customers so he had was wearing a ponytail while working.

Walking up to a more elderly man with a gentle smile Hwyn smiled softly before mentally rehearsing the lines he needed to say.

"W-welcome to cafe Fleurs, M-my name is Hwyn and I'll be s-serving you today."

This was followed by a small curtsey, as far as customers were concerned Hwyn was the new server and maid and definitely female, he'd improved his disguises since coming to ravok and now slightly padded his chest, he had even worked on his walk to a point where sashaying his hips as he walked now felt fairly natural.

"Welcome to use as well Hwyn, it's nice to see a new face in this lovely cafe, especially a since that face is equally as lovely"

Hiding his face behind his small tray Hwyn flushed red, he didn't take compliments well, but the customers did seem to like harassing him with them, and that didn't help his stuttering problem at all.

"U-u-uhm, what will you be having today sir? C-can i recommend the Egg-celent for your b-breakfast. I-it's quite good"

Shaking his head the man declined and instead ordered a tea and tart, for his breakfast. Bowing to the man Hwyn bounded off to Give the Order to darnel before looking for another customer to serve.

word count 597

Credit to Shimoje, the bestest buddy

[Evarista]

What a pleasant morning. Evarista breathed deeply of the chilly air, enjoying the late autumn to its fullest. Ravok may not have had extreme weather fluctuations, but the subtle decline in temperature made all the difference. That's why sitting at the terrace of Café Fleurs was particularly pleasant this time of the year. Or, at least, it didn't suffocate her or make her sweat buckets like the summer did. She was the only one here, though. The terrace was otherwise deserted, lonely chairs gathering dust for some months now. When winter closed in, the average Ravokian preferred to eat indoors. The girl glanced through the window, watching people munch on their breakfasts in the indoor section of the café. She wasn't here for breakfast, though. There was no real appetite. There was nothing to do once she's woken up in the morning, so she decided to take a stroll this way, maybe sit down a get a drink. Of course, there was absolutely no one else here who would order alcohol at breakfast time, even though it was sunday. Ah, well. The waitresses were already familiar with her habits, so they'd probably bring her a glass even without her asking. That's not how it turned out, though. Evarista watched with some bewilderment as a waitress joined her at the terrace, but it was a rather unusual one. Since when did they hire this runty damsel? Couldn't have been long ago. Not bothering to hide her curiosity, the black-haired aristocrat leaned forward in her chair to inspect the new servitrice, tracing her form with a prying gaze. She hasn't seen many children employed around the city, so it was a novel sight. Although, for Evarista, novelty was something that wore off quickly. After the initial surprise subsided, her attention returned to the fact that she had no alcohol in front of her. Addressing the waitress while still scanning her lazily, the girl issued a curt command. "Wine." As usual, she's completely forgotten to be polite, dealing with the waitress as she usually dealt with slaves at home. It wasn't unnatural, however. While cute, this lanky kid didn't particularly evoke any feelings of respect. Just as she was about to turn away from the blonde girl and immerse herself in her own melancholic thoughts again, she suddenly felt her eyebrows rise all the way to the middle her forehead in a sudden realization. These eyes. She saw them from the beginning, but her slow wit didn't register it until now. There was definitely something odd going on here. She couldn't describe what it was, but her once-passing interest in the new café worker flared up immediately. Engaging her in conversation now would inevitably delay the arrival of her wine, so that wasn't happening. However, she could try to read the aura. Not that she had anything else to do while she waited, anyway. Before the blonde target could walk too far way, Evarista brought her aura into the foreground, checking to see if she could spot anything unusual right away.

[Hwyn]

First impressions

Walking outside to the terrace Hwyn appreciated a break from the warm interior of the building, the terrace was sparsely inhabited in the slight morning chill only occupied by a lone female, the woman was dressed nicely if not the most colorfully and her pale looking skin did not speak of a life of hard labor. The issue was that the woman who had seated herself on the terrace didn't have anything ordered so it was Hwyn's duty to discern what the woman might want. With that in Mind Hwyn found himself having a hard time approaching the woman who had locked her eyes on him, his usual inability to approach people was kicking in full force so he found himself peering around the terrace looking for some other invisible client to tend to, one that might have a seemingly warmer disposition. But his search was fruitless and he knew that if he tarried for much longer he'd not only appear rude but might get in trouble with his new employer.

So when the women spoke abruptly Hwyn jumped in spite of himself, she'd only said a single word and while it was abrupt it didn't see their was any menace behind it. Looking at her to acknowledge that he had received her order Hwyn bowed before bolting back inside to procure wine for the woman. Ducking back into the kitchen Hwyn informed Azelea that their was a customer ordering wine on the terrace, peering out at the terrace for a moment Azelea returned to Hwyn with a knowing look on her face, she didn't say anything to Hwyn but handed him the pitcher without raising any more attention to it. Hwyn wasn't sure what to think but then again he hadn't been here long so it wasn't really his place to judge what was normal or not in the city.

Returning back to the terrace Hwyn gingerly placed the pitcher and a glass before the woman still trying not to peirce the woman's gaze for fear of seeing that piercing gaze again. With that finished Hwyn stepped back from the table and bowed to the woman finally looking at her face.

"M-my n-name is Hwyn... I-i'm h-happy t-to be serving you t-this morning. Is t-there anything else I c-can get for you m-ma'am"

Peering at the woman from over his silver serving tray Hwyn reddened in embarrassment about his stutter being so bad. He really needed to work on not letting himself get so worked up when dealing with people, his eyes tended to attract unwanted attention, beyond the occasional flirtations he already received from people. Fidgeting under the woman's gaze Hwyn would wait tell he was either given an order or dismissed before tending to another customer. On top of it being a slow morning Hwyn would be remiss to let the one customer on the terrace be ignored in favor of the few customers inside. Hwyn didn't care for the prospect too terribly much but it was likely that he was going to be responsible for any customers that came out to the terrace today.


Word count 518
Total 1115

Credit to Shimoje, the bestest buddy

[Evarista]

Watching the waitress dart away unusually quickly as she received the order, Evarista idly wondered if she had scared her off. The blonde seemed to be of a very timid disposition, and the stuttering only intensified that impression. It could be just a strategy to earn sympathy from adults, one that cunning children often used. Being as blunt as the broad side of a shovel herself, she had never understood this, and found this sort of manipulative gesture to be annoying. However, the maid's aura was laced with a turbulence unbecoming of a cold-minded manipulator. Evarista couldn't tell in any detail what the runty waitress was thinking about, but at the very least, the flustered behavior wasn't fake. This begged the question of why the café agreed to employ such an awkward servant. Maybe it was to attract dirty old men? Having seen certain unmentionable sights during her nightly spying rounds, she wouldn't be surprised by such an icy business move, even though this was supposedly a cheery café and not exactly a brothel. Thinking of it from that perspective, it was strange that they didn't invite this girl to work for them sooner. Hm. "Yes, you can get something else for me. I'd like the pleasure of your company." Slipping her hand into her skirt pocket, she pulled up a pair of silver mizas and placed them on the table next to the newly arrived wine as a tip. In finer establishments, it wasn't abnormal to keep the staff at your side to entertain you for tips. The servants could easily share the latest news and gossip, recite poetry, or just keep up some eloquent small-talk. In a more modest place like this, it was probably not expected of waitresses to do all or any of those things, but that's not what Evarista was after. Gesturing the maid to sit down in the empty chair across from her, she pushed her empty glass toward the pitcher, expecting the drink to be poured up for her. That with some internal impatience, but she suppressed any signs of it to avoid scaring off the girl again. Instead, she forced her best sober smile, which was little more than just baring the teeth, and mentally sorted through any hooks for conversation. Starting with something banal would probably be best. As much as she wanted to ask about the eyes, she had enough common sense to observe some pleasantries first. "Say, Hwyn. I haven't seen you around here. How long have you been working at this place?" At a glance, the lanky girl seemed to be from the docks. Behind the thick stutter was, however, a foreign accent that Evarista couldn't place. To be fair, she could never place any accent, and she never bothered to. To her, the world was divided into just 'Ravok' and 'everything else'. People from 'everything else' were usually a boorish bunch, blown into the city by the winds in slaver sails or merchant transports. This runt was obviously not a merchant, but didn't carry any marks of slavery, either. Not yet, anyway. Curious, then, what sort of prospects she had here. "You're not born here, hnn? How do you like Ravok?" The Nitrozian let her curiosity get the better of her, leaning forwards in her seat again, trying to lock her own blunt stare with the blonde's darting glances. LedgerTipped 2 silver mizas.

[Hwyn]

First impressions

Hwyn was glad that it was only his mouth that tended to betray him and not his body. He found himself in a rather odd situation, the woman had asked for his time and to refuse her would be paramount as rudeness, it was his job to tend to customers and on what was sort of his first day he was terrified of leaving a bad first impression on anyone, so when the woman asked for hist time and gestured for him to sit across from her he glanced once at the cafe to make sure that it was still a particularly lazy morning within before sitting down, pushing the ruffles of his short dress between his legs in place of crossing them, he had learned the art of crossing his legs to be proper but still found the position uncomfortable and avoided it when he could. Beyond that he tried to calm himself, his voice tended to quake when he was nervous but his years of thievery had at least left him with small and steady hands. Pouring the woman's glass for her Hwyn gently placed the now full glass before her and returned the pitcher to the middle of the table.

In answer to the woman's first question Hwyn nodded before speaking.

"Yes I'm afraid i'm q-quite new, I w-was only hired yesterday.. so I'm sorry if I've appeared rude a-at all... Uhm... Its... nice to meet you."

Slowly pulling his nerves together Hwyn grappled mentally with his stutter trying to contain the irritating affliction. The woman smiled at Hwyn though he wasn't too terribly sure that the smile was entirely sincere since the expression looked slightly forced, or perhaps weary, Hwyn was not terribly good at reading people. That said he didn't feel like he was in danger, more like he just didn't know what to expect from people in this new place, people were different everywhere one went so understanding ravokians was something he had not quite figured out yet.

When the woman asked her second question Hwyn sighed internally, he probably stuck out like a sore thumb which meant that questions like that were something he'd have to deal with until he had lost his aura of newness.

"Uhm.. no I-I've only been in ravok for a c-couple days, I came from Mura, and before that Alvadas, then before Alvadas, Syliras, and I started in Sunberth.... Uhm... I really hope that Ravok is nicer than all t-those other places... the rest of the world I've seen so far has been... u-unpleasant."

Trying not to be a terrible downer Hwyn pulled a shy smile over his features meeting the woman's gaze full on.

"but... so far I'm liking this city, I like all the water and I've already found a job where people are nice to me"

His last line was a bit of an improvement for him, it was one of the first sentences he'd delivered that morning where he hadn't stuttered, as long as he tried not to let the woman's gaze scare him and just focused on his words he could speak, it wasn't like she was particularly imposing, more like she was aloof.

"I-I feel like this c-city has a lot of interesting things in it for me to learn about and see, it's k-kinda exciting"

And like that the stutter was back... not so much out of nerves this time... just that he was searching for words to say to continue the conversation and he wasn't sure of what exactly to say. playing with the hem of the apron Hwyn waited for the woman to speak again, he wasn't sure what the woman saw in him that made her want to talk to him, it was more often men that sought his attention so situations like this were rarities in his life.

Word count 641
Total 1756

Credit to Shimoje, the bestest buddy

[Evarista]

As soon as the glass was full, Evarista's hand automatically went to grab it. After drawing a deep swig of the sour-sweet liquid, Evarista licked her lips in contentment and returned her gaze to the maid. The familiar sensations of alcohol pouring down her throat took some edge off her stare as she listened to Hwyn tell her story with some scepticism. She didn't doubt the part about the outside world being unpleasant, but the recounting of cities the maid had been to seemed a little exaggerated. This little girl did have a certain ruggedness to her, but she hardly looked like a world tour survivor. Even more suspicious was the way she spoke about herself so freely. Her encounters with travellers always ended in frustration, as those sorts of people were rather tight-lipped about their pasts. Any prying questions ended up being deflected, and since she was neither charismatic nor patient enough to weasel her way into anyone's trust, her curiosity never got its way. Until now, when this supposedly experienced adventuress was spilling the beans with hardly any prompt. Evarista couldn't shake the feeling that the blonde brat was pulling her leg. Yet, no matter. Where she came from wasn't important. What was important, was where she was going. Evarista sucked the corner of her glass while contemplating the destiny of the foreigner in front of her. Considering the feeble and gullible impression she made, none of the road signs were pointing to pleasant places. Assuming she had no citizenship, the cosy café job could end as quickly and suddenly as it started. Had Evarista been a slaver, she'd grab the blonde by the ear right then and drag her off to be sold. Actually, she could do that anyway, but it reeked of effort, and not something she'd want to do on a sunday. Granted, since the lazy aristocrat didn't have a job, every day was a sunday to her. If she waited until tomorrow, an entrepreneurial slaver might snatch the maid up and make her scrub floors at some smelly dockworker haunt. That would be such a waste. What was the most amusing, however, was that the kid appeared oblivious to these dangers, babbling about her situation as if there was nothing precarious about it. Oh, the woes of coming to Ravok unprepared! All Evarista had to do was to be the first to take advantage of it. Staring with renewed sharpness at the fidgeting figure seated in front of her, the girl in black tore away her glass from her lips for a moment, and broke the pause, trying to sound as warm and friendly as she could. Unfortunately, one glass of wine wasn't enough for a decent effect in that regard. "You're a real traveller, aren't you? Exciting. As it happens, I have some free time this evening. I could show you around when your shift ends. Night time is when the real fun begins..." The last part came out much more ominous than Evarista intended. Despite being a very inexpressive person, she was pretty bad at hiding the few emotions she had, and those emotions were usually not of the virtuous variety. The stuttering blonde seemed particularly sensitive to this sort of negative vibration, but the damage was already done, so might as well repair it. What did little girls usually like? She wasn't actually too sure, since she herself was a terrible reference. She'd just have to throw out whatever she knew and hope to entice. Moreover, it couldn't hurt to sweeten the deal a little. Literally. "I know a nice music shop, and a place where they sell some really pretty dresses. Also, I could treat you to some of Grandma Yae's pastries." She leaned in with a mischievous glint in her eye, and whispered as if she was sharing a great secret. "They taste like heaven."

[Hwyn]

First impressions

What the woman said, and how she reacted Hwyn's tale were at the very least semi unique responses, it wasn't often people asked Hwyn for his story but he did like to share it, he had good and bad memories of every place he'd been to, and if asked he didn't particularly sharing them, the woman's gaze on him while he spoke was still a little unnerving but it just seemed to be the expression the woman always wore, like someone who was always mildly displeased with something. That siad when the woman's glass emptied the first time Hwyn refilled it without being asked or motioned too.

When the woman extended the offer to show Hwyn around he tried to contain any evidence of emotion, but the idea of getting a new dress did make him excited, Hwyn loved new clothes, if their was one thing that he would want to find when he fisrt arrived in any city it was clothing store, Hwyn didn't know much about Ravokian fashion but that thought of being taken to wherever a woman who dresses in all silk shops sounded quite fun.

"U-uhm, i-if you really mean it, I-i'd love to see whatever clothing stores Ravok has, i haven't bought a new outfit in forever, T-that is if you really don;t mind."

Letting his desires get the best of him Hwyn let the woman's odd personal slide in favor of the promise of clothing. If Clyde was anything to go by, many Ravokians would be quite detached and aloof, so perhaps the woman before him was simply cut from similar stuff. Though he hoped the woman didn't have the same reaction speed as Clyde, if everyone moved like that guy did Hwyn wouldn't be piking a pocket ever gain, he remembered quite vividly being caught by the man without the man letting anyone else realize he'd been caught.

looking at the woman Hwyn decided that he would need to at the very least bring his short blade with him else he travel completely unarmed at a late hour which seemed terribly unwise. That said hwyn realized their was a detail Hwyn had been completely remiss in learning. He didn't even know the name of the woman who'd payed him to converse with her.

Looking down at his knees before looking back at the woman he hoped that asking for a name not offered would be rude he was unsure as to if customers appreciated anonymity or not so he silently hoped that he wouldn't be scolded for asking.

"U-uhm miss, if you don;t mind me asking, I feel as I've neglected to learn your name."

He chose his phrasing carefully but still found himself unhappy with the words he used, he needed to find better ways to communicate with people. Beyond that Hwyn was a little excited at the prospect of getting to see what Ravok had to offer, and if the woman was true he might even get to taste some amazing sweets, but... he wasn't too terribly sure if it was not the height of folly to so willingly follow people around. Pushing the thoughts if clothes back a little Hwyn reminded himself to trust nobody.. even if they offered him new clothes... Everyone had their vices, and for Hwyn it was clothing.

Word count 554
Total 2310 words

Credit to Shimoje, the bestest buddy

[Evarista]

LedgerPaid 4 sm for the wine. Noticing Hwyn perk up at the mention of dresses, Evarista took a deep swig from her newly refilled glass. Now that she got the blonde's interest hooked, she no longer worried too much about getting her to play along. That was good news, considering that she had no plans to hand around here all morning playing the social game. This sour bile that the café menu listed as wine wasn't something to lounge around with, only to tick off the 'morning drink' box. She only came here to get away from the stuffy air of the estate. Still, this mediocre café tended to attract interesting people every once in a while. She's met some before, and she was meeting one now. Opportunities like this didn't grow on trees, though, so best make it count. Draining the rest of the second glass in one swoop, she slammed it next to the carafe with more force than intended. Both the glass containers gave a distressed rattle, but she rapid influx of alcohol into the girl's system made it easy to ignore such trivialities. "Excellent, my adorable friend. That seamstress is quite good at what she does. You'll enjoy her work. Also, there's... hmm." Staring a new sentence, Evarista suddenly stopped, eyes glazed over. She wanted to say something, but the train of thought crashed abruptly, and so did her voice. She completely forgot what she was about to add. These episodes were becoming more frequent lately. Was she going demented? Maybe the drinking was starting to take its toll. The only thoughts left in her head were those unfit to be said aloud. The fancy dry goods shop in the Noble District was a good place to take Hwyn, since it was close to the estate. Maybe she could arrange some slaves to come over and, so to speak, persuade this young lady to join her for evening tea. Or ten. Although, it was probably too early to make that call. There are certain things that had to be confirmed before putting in real effort. Evarista didn't have the sharpest intuition, but she had a nose for certain things. Such as the uncanny allure of those starburst eyes. Something alien was in there; she didn't know what, but she wanted it. Wanted to touch it. Feel it. Explore it. Take it for herself. Focusing her gaze again, she stared at the maid's otherworldly orbs unblinkingly from behind half-closed eyelids. Her right arm twitched unnaturally. She had just suppressed a powerful urge to reach out and grope the blonde's face. Luckily, the stuttering girl resumed the conversation, snapping her out of the dangerous daze. She cleared her throat before replying simply. "Evarista." The other servants of the café never got to learn her name, since it wasn't necessary. She was a semi-regular visitor here, and they all knew her, so they had surely devised their own nickname. A derogatory one, no doubt, but she was fine with that. Getting into the good graces of some table-wipers wasn't high on her priority list. This situation was different, however. She was actually about to arrange a personal rendezvous with this girl. It was a casual thing to most, but to Evarista, who preferred the company of canned spiders nine days out of ten, it was a big deal. "I'll meet you here on the terrace three bells before sunset." Washed over by a sudden wave of weariness, she hung her head and stared into her third and final glass of wine, long bangs nearly dipping into the liquid. Submerging into melancholic contemplation as the inebriation began to catch up in full, she was no longer in the mood to meet those eyes again. Without looking up, the darkly dressed aristocrat threw some more silver on the table and gave Hwyn a tired handwave of dismissal. The conversation was over.

[Hwyn]

Title and Date

Hwyn jumped in spite of himself when the woman slammed her glass down on the table rattling the pitcher and making Hwyn worry that the woman broke the glass, thankfully she hadn't but the woman's mannerisms were indeed strange. Hwyn knew that drinking so early was an oddity, so perhaps the woman was simply, unique? Whatever it was about the woman that made Hwyn nervous also made him the slightest bit curious about her, trying to place what she reminded him of he pondered for moment before deciding that she had the same aura that all well to do carried. She had the hedonistic streak that most rich people had.


When the woman referred to Hwyn as her adorable friend He blushed, that was a word that hadn't been thrown his way in... well he he couldn't remember the last time that specific word had been used actually. But accepting the compliment hwyn was happy when the woman didn't react badly to his asking her name. Then after that The woman told Hwyn that they would be meeting three bells before sunset in the same place. He also now had her name, Evarista. She was the first Ravokian he had spoken too at any length, next to Clyde that was, and he was beginning to think that all Ravokians were just strange people without exception. But beyond that He still had to focus on the time and present. The woman looked as if the alcahol was already beginning to affect her the way she moved seemed oddly deliberate as if she was mentally restraining herself from excessive movements. After informing Hwyn when they would meet once more the woman payed for her drink and walked away with nary another look at him just a curt wave, and like that the woman was gone. Scooping up the coins the woman left Hwyn let out a relieved sigh and hopped back into the Cafe to give Darnel the woman's pay for the wine. By the time he had made it back inside their were already a couple new customers seating themselves.

Hopping over to the customers tables Hwyn found his gait a little lighter and it a little easier to smile, he was going to get to buy new clothes tonight and he got the rest of the day to think about what he wanted! Walking up to the next customer another older gentleman in smart attire.

"Hello sir and welcome to Cafe fleurs. T-today's morning special is the Egg-Celent, How can i serve you today"

When the man made his order and tried his hand at flirtation with Hwyn he took it in stride assuming that maybe all Ravokians simply were odd people, that or maybe all maids simply got favorable treatment from people, if that was the case Hwyn was beginning to think he could really enjoy this job, compliments felt decidedly amazing.

"Yes sir one herbal tea, and i'm afraid y-you c-can't use me as a sweetener. Y-yes I'll bring some honey with you t-tea"

Thus did the rest of the day progress with Hwyn happily debating what he wanted to buy that evening.

Credit to Shimoje, the bestest buddy

[Crow]

Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos.

 

Hwyn

Skills

• Socialization +4
• Disguise +2

Lores

• Hwyn: New Law Abiding Non-Citizen?
• Hwyn: Nervous while serving
• Evarista: An Unique Customer
• Location: Café Fleurs
• Disguise: Acting the part

Miscellaneous

• +2SM Tip

 

Evarista

Skills

• Socialization +2
• Observation +1
• Auristics +1

Lores

• Evarista: I Enjoy Wine, Even in the morning
• Hwyn: Not from Ravok
  Hwyn: A Shy Girl
  Location: Café Fleurs

Miscellaneous

• Tip -2SM
• Wine -4SM

Comments:Please update your CS and Ledger. Any questions PM me.