NotesMy bad I thought I had corrected that ages ago. Seems I have a ruckus somewhere. Lets stick with what we have right now, I will try to clear this up. Sorry!Pale fingers touched his cheeks and instinctively the man wanted to step back, regain the personal space the young woman had so carelessly invaded. He did not, in the end. Instead the corner of his mouth lifted into a half amused, half serious smile. In a way he had always admired a certain boldness when approaching others, even when it was not part of his own personality.
"White as an old woman's braids, black like a moonless night and every shade in between," Velarian answered the question regarding hair color with a quiet laugh. "Neither your hair nor your skin would draw particular attention here. Your eyes and hands however would." The young woman was as slender as any of their ilk, yet every Symenestra knew how to tell apart a child of their own kin and one sired by a foreign man with one of their women. The offspring from such bonding was not well liked within the underground city. Usually.
When the girl stepped away, the man tilt his head to the side, eyes shining with quiet delight. "Welcome to Kalinor then, Dra-miana of no Web," he said with a little bow, a gesture which might have been called mocking had such jibe not seemed below the tall man. "Truth been told some of our homes do not have roofs in the sense human houses have them," he admit. "You will see them better once you entered the city proper."
Hanging from the ceiling and without the chance it would ever rain on them, buildings were constructed very differently than the homes of other races. Some structures could be best described as cocoons and in general architecture knew many curved lines, was organic and weightless, elegant and delicate. Fabric was most everywhere. A second it seemed the man would dwell on the subject, but then Dra-Miana's words caught his attention.
"You have been looking for me?"
It would have been an understatement to say Velarian was surprised by her assertion. Still, the younger woman seemed serious. For a moment the Animator used the new found distance between them to study the half-breed. Not for the first time he looked at the chain wrapped around her body. It did not seem like the sort of bond one might use to shackle slaves with. He decided to ask about it later. For now he made a step forward to look at the book offered to him. A long moment he was silent, reading an listening.
When he stepped back a moment later, his expression was serious, the smile faded. "I am not sure if I can help you. My father – he passed away some years ago." Ruby eyes darted to the heavy tome, thoughtful. "Eventually I could instill life on the book, but you would need to tell me what you want me to do exactly. I also have not reached my father's mastery of the art yet, so I am not sure I will be able to do what's needed."
Above their heads the sound of rustling fabric could be heard and Velarian knew the guard of the woven gate was about to climb down his rope to see who had come to enter the city. The man turned towards the girl again. "If you like, we can talk about it some more, but we might better do it at my home. It is easier talking there."