Placeholder The Shadow beneath the Hood (Job Thread)

[Chameleon]

Finally, she let him see beneath her hood. Or at least, said she would, but there was clearly something that made her want to go to his place instead. First a hidden face, then a hidden home - what more was this girl hiding? Surely nothing more than he was, the man smirked, almost forgetting the problems of taking her to his place. Besides, she was just a girl who knew nothing, and getting out was the priority, not worrying about her.

With a sigh, he looked towards her, catching the glimpse of purple eyes beneath her hood. Purple eyes? Must be the light. He shook his head, ignoring her appearance and sighing deeply as he surrendered. "Of course, what was I thinking? Come, if you want," he smiled deeply, reaching out for her hand before stepping out into the streets.

He stuck to the alleyways and the smaller streets, always choosing the more shaded area that Ionu provided for him. Occasionally, he pulled out the key to his place, holding it out in his hand and letting it tug gently towards the direction of where he planned to go. Without it, he would never be able to find the small, half-fallen over place which he called home. Then, once the key had guided him for part of the journey, he tucked it in a loose coat pocket, letting the metal glint where it stuck out.

As they walked, he tried to make conversation with the girl, turning to move sideways to take a good look at her - the hood anyway. "So, where are you from?" he asked, slowing now that the immediate threat had disappeared, "Your common isn't the best, if you don't mind me saying. From which distant land do you come from?"

Whether or not she gave an answer, he wouldn't care. He had enough of a backstory that was his and his only too.

Reaching the building, he spoke softly, slightly sarcastically, "Home sweet home", before pulling the key out a final time and opening the door into a small, ill-furnished room. He pulled Infilia in quickly, closing the door behind them and pulling his coat off quickly, throwing it against the chair that waited by the door. The key in his pocket clinked sharply, just about avoiding being flung across the room. "Let's see this beautiful face, then? How about that, darling?" he grinned as charmingly as he could manage, eyes watching the hood closely.

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

The red headed man hurried down the alleyways, and backstreets of Alvadas. Infilia knew that they were far enough from the others back at the Wolf's Cave. Though, she seemed very uncertain now, this man was following through all too well, and all too easily. Something was off, and Infilia was confused, her eyes still glimmered with a purple hue, and she did her best to keep it hidden under the shadows.

Once inside, the man sat her down on one of his chairs, the building wasn't exactly clean... it seemed unkempt, and untidy. It disgusted Infilia. Well... also at least part two of three was done here, she knew where this man lived.

Infilia could tell the man where she came from, but she'd rather keep that a secret, but if her emotions played her any longer than they should, She'll be damned, and she would appreciate it if they stayed a solid color for a long time. Where was that one city, where the other red headed folks with giant eagles hail from? The Inarta- right? Infilia guessed... Wind Reach! Ha, she knew it, she just had to remember, and she had to think quickly. She said to Korin, her name was Red. So, it could make sense. A girl with purple eyes, hailing from Wind Reach? Or she could simply say... she was a traveler. That would work.

"I've... traveled... many years?"She paused, "I don't talk much." Infilia added, her voice clear, but nervous, and she wondered how long she could hold that feeling.

"Let's see this beautiful face, then? How about that, darling?" Infilia sighed... she knew there was nowhere to run now, she had a timid expression that coated her face, and gracefully took hold of her hood and slowly pulled it down, the material folded over on itself, and her hair dropped over her face, beautiful brown locks of hair with a face of beauty. Her eyes still had a solid purple of confusion and worry, though, there would be small glimpses of orange, but they could probably be easily mistaken with the rays of the sunlight, hopefully. Infilia was very, very worried. She turned her head away... pretending to be embarrassed.

[Chameleon]

She was nervous - why? The man shifted in the way he stood, trying to pull himself back from the way he had extended his muscles to make them bulge which he thought would make him more attractive. This was a small woman, and clearly, uncertain with herself. There was no way to intimidate her with his size, and she clearly found him interesting enough to have come this far.

He had no reason to be scared either, he tried to reassure himself. While he had been good at hiding the unease that had pushed him out of the inn, telling himself he always had the girl to excuse himself, it had come back now, evident in his twitched lips and eyes that flashed to the dirt smeared window that provided the little natural light which fought with the candles and fireplace that burned behind him.

Waiting for her to reveal his face, he smiled slowly at it, nodded slightly at how well it had gone. She really was pretty, he couldn't deny that. Long brown locks, delicate features and those eyes - they were purple, they really were purple. His eyebrows arched at the odd colour, turning to fetch some more for the two to drink as he asked, "Your eyes... They're beautifully unique. Tell me, are they common with travellers like you?" His voice denied a deeper interest, but he refused to elaborate on it, focusing on the simple task of drinks first.

Flinging open the old cupboard at the back of the room, he pulled through it, finding a bottle and more glasses and placing them against the table that sat slanted in front of it. With the cupboard open, its contents were in clear view, mostly mismatching cutlery and plates, but the occasional lump of odd looking food. At the very top balanced a particularly fancy set of china, which unlike everything else, was perfectly unchipped and had all its pieces - or at least, two matching plates.

If Infilia searched the rest of the room for anything else that seemed valuable, she would struggle to find much. Beside the cupboard and table, the other furniture was an old bed that had broken enough to little more than a mattress on the floor with a blanket over it, a fireplace that was burning strongly and a chair - not similar to the one which he had thrown his coat over though - that faced it. There would be, however, two items that stood out to her: the first, a clay ocarina that rested asleep on the bed, the blue glaze slightly chipped but otherwise cared for; the second an ornate silver handmirror that had been placed carefully on the fireplace. There could, of course, be something else in the coat pocket, such as the key to the house, that was important to him that wasn't on show.

Spinning, the man closed closer towards the girl, extending another glass of alcohol, this time not wine, but something a little stronger. "Does a pretty girl like you have a pretty name to go along with her face?" he spoke, finally happy to use the classics now he could actually see her face. There were worse lines he knew, after all, so hopefully the woman wouldn't mind this one.

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

"Your eyes... They're beautifully unique. Tell me, are they common with travellers like you?" Infilia was still oh so nervous, her muscles tensed, and she sort of regretted the fact that she had broken her own rules of taking off the hood. She didn't like this, not one bit. She felt disgusted, and so, her eyes added a secondary green to mix with her purple of confusion, and it slowly slipped away as she retraced her feelings of confusion and worry. As long as she stayed worried, she'd be fine, right? Though, she really didn't want to feel stressed about being worried, so what on Mizahar was she supposed to do?

She mustered some confidence to lie to the man, "no... just me." She said weakly in common. She hummed nervously, and kind of wanted to get out of here, but that key, she saw earlier would be plenty helpful and she could take the money back from him that he had stole. Infilia felt really guilty, she basically tricked the man to kill himself...

Of course she should be worrying, she didn't know what to do about it, but if Korin said he'd pay her. She hoped to not have to do it again. Or maybe... Korin would send the man to be imprisoned, or would Alvadas hold public sentencing for non Vantha​ too? Infilia wished she knew how this city of illusions worked. It would be great help to her.

"Does a pretty girl like you have a pretty name to go along with her face?" The red head asked handing her her a drink. The aroma smelled like alcohol, like ale. Infilia couldn't deny it, she felt trapped and so, she gracefully grabbed hold of the mug. She took a sip, before speaking. The alcohol burned her throat, and she coughed; embarrassed, she sighed.

"Red."

[Chameleon]

She was uneasy, he could tell that. There was unease in his eyes too, uncertain how to explain her own. That, and the whole issue with stealing money and almost being caught and... something else, something she didn't realise either. What Infilia couldn't realise either was that it was that something else that stopped him from realising her secret. Had he been that tiny bit more attentive, would be have spotted something off about her. He might have noticed how she avoided his questions, pushed about her eyes further, spotted the changing colours. But his mind was far too preoccupied with other things, and he let those little things go unnoticed.

"Pleased to meet you, Red," he said smoothly, eyes falling on her face, drifting across, then off it entirely. If she had been observant, she would have caught it too, although even then it was a hard to make out through the dirty stained window. There was a movement outside, a shadow it seemed but the man obviously recognised it, realisation growing in his eyes.

He looked desperately between the window and the girl, wishing he didn't have to leave her. They had gone so far, only now he had to. With a quick hurried mumble of words that even he didn't recognise, he downed his own glass, stepping around her quickly. "I'll be back, just wait here. I need to... sort something out," he finally explained, opening the door and stepping out. And disappearing from view almost instantly.

It swung gently against its hinges, wide open and refusing to close. The street emptied out into almost nothingness, nowhere for the man to have disappeared to so quickly, nowhere for him to hide. But he was gone - definitely gone, and even if she waited for a bell, he wasn't going to return.

This was her chance. Her chance to take what she wanted and get out. It seemed, at least, that no one was in the area to see her or stop her. She could just grab something and stroll out and the man would be none the wiser. If, of course, she decided not to wait, that was. But why would she wait? There was nothing else here for her and she had a job to do.

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

Infilia was told to wait at the apartment. She watched as the red headed man peered down at her as she sat at the chair she felt uncomfortable and she had reacted by huddling her cloak around her chest. In hope of preventing the man from getting any ideas. She nodded as she didn't really know what to do or say next. She sat with her hands that rest against her lap. She downed her drink in one swig and decided to finish the burning taste of alcohol early so that she didn't have to taste it for too long.

The man was hesitant, and Infilia felt worried, her eyes were still a swirling shade of purple and wanted to know why the man was so hesitant. What was going to happen now?

After awhile, the man said that he had to go, and what did he mean if he had to go? They just got here, and had only been here for nearly half a bell already.

"Leave, now?" Infilia asked worried that she had done something. "Where you leave to?" She questioned him with a frown across her face. She didn't like the sound of him leaving, but she was also grateful that he was going to leave, but this was his room. What did he have to do? Without another word he left half expected and left his cloak and his other things behind that Infilia thought were useful. Though, didn't appear to him to be useful.

She waited for half a bell, he hadn't returned. It was odd. She decided to take this time to stretch her body and stand up. She looked around and decided to peak through his cloak, she found the key that he used to find his room. There was the coin pouch also, Infilia figured that she could return it to the man that the red head stole it from, but she figured that she would get beaten for it from a guy who was as big and strong like him seems to be very thick-headed. At least that's what Infilia assumed. So she'd be better off keeping it. But, she could hand the key over to Korin who could prob find it some use. She quickly left the building with her hood up and her new items tucked into her pockets a pang of guilt burning through her spine, or perhaps it was just the alcohol... Her hood was up and she hoped to find her way back to the Wolf's Cavern.

"So you found where he lives then?" Korin asked, Infilia nodded, she fumbled for the gold key that the man had.

"Yes, here is key. To home. Me don't know when... he returns. He just... left?"As Infilia handed Korin the key, he didn't look too happy, or at least Infilia thought that he didn't look too happy, it was challenging to evaluate what he was feeling.

"Thanks." Korin spoke with a content visage. He placed the key in his pocket and in return handed Infilia a handful of Mizas. She smiled quite weakly, and nodded her thanks to the man. Though, she wondered why he was being so generous?

"Leave, for now. I don't need the trouble here at my Wolf's Cave. Go, go now." As Korin shooed Infilia put, she turned and headed back outside into the city and disappeared within the crowd of people with a pocket full of change and a shadow beneath the hood. A shadow that only shrouded a girl full of curiosity.