An Otherwise Ordinary Day(Vala, Fenilen)

[Vala]

An inaudible gasp escaped Vala's lips. She realized she had been making a scene in the busy courtyard, but she had expected an angry reprimand from a passing Endal at most, not actual physical intervention. Vala was sick and tired of being so weak; she couldn't pull away from the stranger's firm though not purposefully hurtful, grip. He pulled her through the crowd, unaware or uncaring that he inadvertently forced her into bumping into many other passing shoppers. They were mostly quick and slight brushes of the arm or hand, but the few that were skin to skin wrought pained mewls from the tortured girl. She bit her lip to distract herself from the emotional distress, but it wasn't enough. Her mind reeled unable to cope. She needed something else to occupy her mind. The world was moving too fast, she couldn't focus on anything. There was one thing, though, that remained constant through out the ordeal - the man. Her watering blue eyes honed in on the man before her. She couldn't catch a proper glimpse of his face, but she tried to analyze everything else about him. He was shirtless, clad in a beaded black byrda, his pale, bare back sporting a speckling of light freckles. Almost instantly, by some random and eerie 6th sense, Vala saw Glassblower written all over him. It was something about the pale, yet heat hardened flesh of his arms and chest that screamed to Vala - hours of working before a fiery oven; his muscles were taught and wiry, but not bulky like one would expect from a blacksmith or the like. Vala was willing to bet ten pinions he was a glassblower… or maybe just five. She was a little distracted by the pretty feather earrings that fluttered by his ears. Now that she was under the impression her abductor was a glassblower, Vala was starting to feel a little more subdued, that and she caught sight of the sheathed sword at his hip. It was a very beautiful sheath, holding a very dangerous weapon; she was a hot headed Inarta, not a stupid twit. Vala was al ready to talk her way out of the situation, and possibly into the stranger's good graces, as she was rubbing her sore wrist, when her plans were rudely interrupted by Ronin's misplaced gallantry. She had no inclination of getting in between the men, or getting caught in their crossfire. She chose to side step, out of Ronin's shadow, to form a crude triangle - just incase she needed to jump out of any exchanged blows; the man had pulled them aside to a less crowded area, giving them more breathing space, as well as taking the edge off the stifling feeling of being surrounded. "Stop!" Vala cried out. Her shrill voice piercing the noise of the crowded courtyard. "I'm sorry Fenilen!" She has cringed at the sound of his placating words, laced with an accent she couldn't place. She tried to hide a xenophobic smirk; he had a knife. "Ronin shush." Vala tried to subtly motion towards Fenilen's hip. She tried not to catch the green gaze of the armed stranger with her (not so subtle) points, but she wasn't very effective. She continued to try and control the situation, while unconsciously scratching the flesh off her wrist. Her shallow breaths gave her speech a hurried tone, coincidentally hiding the falseness of her honeyed words. "Please, please let's all calm down for a minute. My name is Vala and my friend's name is Ronin. We were just having a bit of a fight, we didn't mean to disturb anyone. Please forgive us…" She gave Fenilen another once over. He was obviously a native of Wind Reach, but something just felt off - she didn't want to ask until she knew the boys weren't going to kill each other. Vala didn't feel angry anymore, mostly just ashamed and dirty. Her scratches, while shallow, were insistent, and fairly close to drawing blood.

[Fenilen]

It was only now that they were alone that Fenilen had the time to size up the pair he had pulled apart-- more specifically, the threatening man, larger than him by a good amount, that stood before him. Scrutinizing eyes pulled in every detail, from the way he stood to the expression on his face. Finally, after his preliminary examination was complete, they finally came to rest on his torso, so that he was capable of following the movements of both his upper and lower body at the same time. Fenilen, however, made the mistake of blinking, and only saw the shove in the last moments before it connected with him. He was fortunate that the hands did not hide a weapon of some manner within them, for if they had, he would certainly have been unable to avoid it. Instead, the hands connected with his chest, sending him two or three steps back until he regained his balance and viewed the man's chest once more, opening his ears as he began to speak.

Fenilen took the berating accusations one by one, responding when it was fit to do so. His tone remained level, something surprising, given his heritage. Time abroad and accidents at home had doused the flames that had, years ago, constituted his temper. A lack of anger did not, however, mean that Fenilen lacked a certain edge in his tone and choice of words. "It is my business, Chiet, to save your face the embarrassment that accompanies quarrels such as that within public spaces. If anything, you should be thanking me. Were it not for my intervention, you would still be within the middle of a market filled with people, bickering with one another about things below the both of you, I have no doubt. Now, stand down," Fenilen gave the last two words as an order, a command from an Avora to a Chiet. With his last few words, and now a feet feet away from Ronin, as he had been shoved away by his earlier actions, Fenilen shifted so his left side showed, displaying the sword on his hip.

As his attention moved from Ronin to Vala, his tone changed drastically. A far fling from the harsh tone adopted when addressing Ronin, the one used when speaking to Vala was notably softer, as if he had decided that she, in fact, was the one he was to be negotiating with in this situation-- not the hot-headed imbecile whom had seen it fit to get physical without information. "I bear no ill will, Vala," was all he said at first, sizing her up for a long while before speaking again. "I was not disturbed, I only wished to save you both face. Apologies, for it seems that it is not what Ronin wished. It is funny, how willing we are to direct anger at things," Fenilen, now finished speaking to Vala, instantly diverted his attention from her, returning to the one whom he had decided posed a threat to him and his wellbeing-- Ronin.

"Now, I am one who firmly believes that the base of all relations is the introduction, made by oneself. Might I beg, Ronin, that you introduce yourself to me, though I already know your name from Vala?" Fenilen made an odd request, but he meant it, judging by the way that he turned, opening himself up to Ronin, rather than displaying the sword on his flank. His right hand found its way up from his side, extending towards Ronin, opened.

[Ronin]

'Chiet', the most biting word that could have been uttered from that man's mouth. It meant that no matter what Ronin said or did, he had already lost. The eyes of the people and of his own society had already condemned any action he would take. Ronin's nails dug deep into the palms of his tightly clenched fists. He had to do something to cool off, and as soon as Fenilien turned his attention to Vala, Ronin turned sharply on his heels. The sudden movement could have been interpreted as a threat at first, since Ronin had been standing so still, but it was quickly evident that he was simply spacing himself from the man. Ronin knew he was much less likely to do something rash if he wasn't close enough to do any real harm. As soon as he had walked five paces he stopped, but neglected to turn around. Instead, he turned his head a few degrees to the right so that he would still see the other man, just in case. Ronin listened while Fenilen spoke to Vala, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from bursting out in blind rage again. The passive aggressive way the man spoke nearly drove Ronin insane. If he was going to torture Ronin, why couldn't he just use his sword. Being berated by words while there was nothing he could do was much, much, worse. Ronin considered just attacking the man and ending this whole situation, but he knew that it would pass in time and he would be much before off for having held his tongue, and his fists. Ronin could easily tell when the man's attention had turned back to him. He could both feel eye burning holes in his back and hear harsher in Fenilen's voice. The request he made was indeed odd, but Ronin figured that if it let him get away without any trouble, then it was worth it. Ronin turned sharply to face the man and watched as the hand extended up from his side. Stating his name in some strange social ritual was one thing, but he would not go so have as to shake the man's hand. "Hello, I am Ronin. It is too bad that we have met under these circumstances, but I assure you, we were not in need of your assistance." Ronin broke off his introduction there. He desperately wanted to go further and tell the man off, but he knew that was not a good idea. Regardless, Ronin's mind drifted to what he might say if he had not have stopped himself. 'Perhaps if our first introduction had gone differently, we would not have to be biting our tongue or hiding behind our caste.' Yes, that would be perfect. It was too bad that Ronin would not get a chance to say it. Instead, he stood there, hoping the man felt silly holding his hand out in a gesture that Ronin had no intention of returning.

[Vala]

Though a strange, almost unnatural coping method, Vala's natural response to get calm and clear headed when others were fuming with anger had actually saved her from many, many bad situations. Sure she was skeeved off at Fenilen for using her caste of Chiet as a derogatory term, a grudge she would hold for later use, she chose to ignore it for now; the more pressing matter of figuring out who the stranger was and how she could use him to her advantage was at the forefront of her thoughts. The boys were being awkward: male posturing and such. Vala resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose and dove into distraction mode instead. She edged her body, subtly trying to make a barrier with her the boys without actually making any contact: that already got her in enough trouble for today. Before she did damage control with Fenilen, Vala shot a withering look at Ronin, telling him to chill: a wordless reminder that it wasn’t their place to talk back. It was one thing to have demanded some respect from the stall keeper, but it was another thing to keep one’s head down in a confrontation one could never win; Vala believed in passive aggressive means; she would get her one up on Fenilen at the right time, and at the right time only. She angled herself, so she could face Fenilen better. She also dipped her head down, and looked up at him through her lashes: Vala didn’t know it but her technique was actually an attempt to make herself appear more childish and vulnerable, which would inadvertently drop men’s guards, all Vala knew is that it worked, most of the time. “Fenilen, sir. It seems we’ve all gotten off on a bad start.” There was no point trying to apologize further, moving on was the only way to continue. Vala was interrupted from a particularly cheesy compliment when a passing Inarta bumped into her; Vala yelped like a small dog. Trying to regain her composure, Vala cleared her throat and began anew, a little grateful she hadn’t said anything stupid, yet. “I haven’t you around, sir. Would you happen to be a glassblower?” Vala looked down, clutching her bare midriff as her stomach growled loudly, “uh, sorry about that. It seems like it’s getting late. Maybe we should all go to the kitchens and get our morning meal? It wouldn’t be right for all of us to remain fuming and such.” Vala smiled nervously, feeling way out of her league asking an upper caste member to breakfast. She quickly glanced up at Ronin, hoping he could look past his man pride for a moment to be a supportive friend. OOC : Hey Ronin, I know you’ve already got mods acting as your glassblowing masters, so if you want to bow out of the thread now or in a couple posts I think that would work out ok. And sorry if Vala is acting a little impertinent to Fenilen… I wasn’t exactly sure how she would act in this situation…

[Fenilen]

One person amongst the three of them was too high and mighty to bring themselves down to the level of those amongst them and start over. "Perhaps we would also be seeing each other as equals rather than placing ourselves upon false perches," was all Fenilen spared to the man, smirking ever so slightly at him. The extended arm returned to Fenilen, with it any openness, and folded itself across his chest with the opposite arm. As Vala began talking to him, his attention turned to her. Although he didn't notice the flutter of her lashes and the childish appeal, he was more immune to it than one would expect after working with youths such as Adairia for such long hours in Avanthal. A small chuckle managed to sneak its way through the gate that was his lips as she spoke. "Some of us worse than others, yes," he responded curtly. A small glance of concern managed to find its way on to his face for a flickering moment as she yelped at the contact of a single passerby, but it dismissed itself the moment she spoke again, as that obviously meant that she was fine.

"You haven't seen me around because I haven't been in Wind Reach for the last two seasons," Fenilen said simply, nodding ever so slightly, as if to answer her question and reassure himself. "Glassworker and self-proclaimed scholar," Fenilen then declared, smiling ever so slightly as he did so. "The hour is not all that late, but I understand why you might feel a little hungry. Anger tends to make people hungrier than they were before they became such. Lead the way," a lanky arm motioned sweepingly before them, inviting her to do precisely what he had just given her verbal permission to do. Only then did it hit them that they had a person in their company who might not exactly wish to accompany them on their little pilgrimage. Once more, he turned to Ronin, speaking before he had fully turned.

"If you wish to accompany us, Ronin, I have no qualms, but I also hold no grudges if you choose to retire from our company now," that was all that he would spare the man. With the indirect invitation extended to Ronin, he turned back to Vala, letting her lead the way whenever she saw it fit to do so.

[Vala]

Vala was quickly losing patience with the men. She nearly had a conniption when Fenilen had actually accepted her offer of breakfast and Ronin just had to selfishly ruin her moment of triumph. He wasn't overtly rude, even having enough civility to give Fen a curt nod and her a more apologetic goodbye. Vala waved back, sarcastically. "I'll see you later then, Ronin." She didn't even bother sugar coating her bitter tone, she even made a point to exaggerate a little. It took a few more moments after Ronin had left, for Vala to get back into a better, more reasonable mood. She turned away from Fenilen, pretending to watch Ronin, as she used her hands to quickly massage her face into a more malleable state, physically forcing her muscles to relax. Once any trace of her petulant scowl had left, Vala spun to face Fenilen again. A porcelain smile, wide doe eyes, and rosy cheeks made her perfect doll like countenance. And just like a real doll, Vala freed her self from her emotions to leave her self an empty shell for the falseness she preferred. "Glassworker? " She asked with a curious and interested lilt to her voice, her lashes batting as if in mild surprise. "What a crazy coincidence," Vala drawled as she began walking to the kitchens. "I just so happen to be a novice Glassblower myself. I even have experience making glass beads using the lamp working method." Vala beamed proudly, this time quite genuine in her happiness. She turned away, looking to the side, giving her a moment to clear her expression. Experience had taught her that real emotions were always harder to control; Vala muted her smile, before speaking again. "But traveling?... I've always dreamed of traveling, unfortunately” Vala’s voice cracked. “S chiet's work schedule is so demanding most days." Yes, Vala purposely had made the passive aggressive dig about her caste. Letting the feeling sink in for another second, Vala quickly flitted to the next thought, her eyes brightening up excitedly. "I would love to hear about your travels! Did you practice glassblowing while you were gone? Where did you go? How did you get the Valintar allow you to leave? Did you learn any new glassblowing techniques?..." Vala gasped for breath, trying to regain her composure after getting caught up in the excitement of meeting someone who had managed to escape the walls of Wind Reach, and not just for a mindless hunt, and finally not a snooty Endal. Vala had saved the most important question for last. She knew she should have waited for a more opportune time to ask, but she just couldn't hold it in anymore. Even her steps grew hurried as they neared the kitchens, close enough to smell the midday meal wafting temptingly in the air. "And would you happen to have a glassblowing assistant at the moment or are you in the [I]market[I] for one?" Vala laughed at her own unintentional joke.

[Phoenix]

Character: Vala Experience: Socializing- 5, Bartering- 3 Lores:Learning to chill, Having money to spend, Giving compliments, Starting a fight, Being reprimanded, trying to set Ronin up for a new job Character: Ronin Experience: Socializing- 5 Lores:A budding romance with Vala?, Oops, I touched her, Forgoing the barter and paying the man, Being unreasonably angry, Allowing Vala to get away with too much Character: Fenilen Experience: Socializing- 4 Lores:Trying to diffuse a situation, Being werid and formal, Being stuck in the past The Method, The Fire: Again I wish this could have been finished to see where it would have gone. Any questions or concerns, please send me a PM and I'll be happy to help!