It's Not A Man, Either . . . (Eorar)

[Astrolabe]

Astrolabe easily accommodated the extremely light weight of Eorar’s webbed hand on his shoulder, and set off at a very sedate pace. Though the answer to his companion’s innocent question was complex, he settled for a far simpler, if less honest, answer. “Oh . . . Andy is a good friend of mine. He has a little office, right over there.” He nodded. “He is a book keeper.” Astro paused, wondering if the Charodae did the type of business that would require the keeping of accounts such as Andy worked at. “Um . . . records, you know? When goods are bought, or sold – how much is paid, how much is owed? And, er, how much you pay your workers . . . those sorts of expenses.” He looked at Eorar, unsure if he was following all this. “I – I’ll let Andy explain it to you more, if you’re curious. But we have been friends now, for a few years.” Acquaintances, then friends, then lovers, now back to friends – Astro would have had it otherwise but Anais was adamant. Marriage and children were not for her. She had no desire to forever hand over the reins of her life to a man, and thereby lose any slim chance for independence she might have. But for now, all Eorar needed to know was that she . . . “He works to support his mother, poor thing – she is old and bed ridden.” This was another fabrication in furtherance of Anais’ ploy to remain under the radar. “He does the books for a number of small merchants who do not wish to do their own, or have not the skills to do so.” “Andy is very interested in hearing about Charbosi – as am I.” He smiled, hoping their pace was satisfactory to Eorar. “We neither of us can imagine what it must be like to live under the waves.” OOCFeel free to take us all the way to the little office - make up what you like about details. Get us to the door and I'll pick up from there

[Warden Thrice]

Astrolabe talked about An-dee sporadically, drifting into a few seconds’ thought multiple times and causing Eorar to eye him curiously. He put a large amount of emphasis on he, and Eorar tilted his head, but knew far too little on the matter to know if questioning farther was safe. Eorar nodded in excitement. “Like to tell,” he replied. He had very many things about his home he wanted to share with somebody, anybody. He wanted to tell Astro and An-dee everything about everything about Charbosi, from his favorite schoolteachers to what kind of coral his house had been made of. Just thinking of it made Eorar smile. Everything. They passed by many shops, and he couldn’t help but peer in. Most of the doors were closed, some barred, though others were open and gaping, usually emitting less than pleasant smells. “What is this place?” he asked, gesturing widely to the general area. Their solitude was giving him more confidence. The butterflies in his stomach were still there, but were settling. They started to turn, and came to a different building. This one was I good shape, had windows that were clean, and a lovely wood door. “This the place?”

[Astrolabe]

When Eorar gestured and asked where they were, Astro replied readily, looking about the familiar area as if seeing it for the first time. He had passed this way so many times that he barely took note of any of it anymore. “I guess you could call this the warehouse district.” Most of the buildings around them were at least two stories high, if not three. Land was at a premium in Zeltiva, squeezed as it was between the mountains and the water. People built up when they could not build out. “This is where many of the things that are to be shipped somewhere else are stored – or those things coming in on the ships,” he nodded back towards the docks. “When they are off loaded and waiting to be taken elsewhere. Zeltiva is the busiest port in Mizahar – or so I’ve heard. Goods come and go all the time – but sometimes they need a place to be stored in the meanwhile. And some of these places are shops, or offices.” He pointed to one across from them. “A tobacconist.” He nodded towards another. “Ship’s chandler – they provide parts and supplies for the ships. And that’s a sail maker’s workshop.” He nodded towards a third place on down the way. As they strolled along, Astro continued to point out and name any places of interest, but soon enough he had stopped in front of a modest teak door with a simple brass knocker. The entire exterior, from roof to ground, was spotless and well maintained – as compared to many of the rougher buildings they had passed. Anais ran a tight ship, so to speak. “Yes, here we are.” Astro said with a smile. He reached to bang the knocker against the plate, but did not wait for a response. “He’s expecting us – we can just go on in.” Stepping through into a miniscule vestibule, barely big enough for the two of them, Astro then pushed open a second door opposite, and they entered a small waiting room. It held only two chairs and a small, round table, upon which sat a bright blue ceramic vase, containing a big bunch of fall mums – gold and rust and yellow and orange. Under foot was a woven rag rug, multi colored and worn, yet scrupulously clean. On the wall was a simple pen and ink drawing of the harbor. “Um, have a seat, and I’ll fetch him.” Astro said happily, slipping through yet another door to the tiny office beyond.

[Warden Thrice]

Eorar felt crushed when they entered what seemed like the smallest room in the world. This was where Andias lived? His gills flared reactively. It was too close. Too small. He needed to breathe. Then, quite suddenly, they were in a different room. It was much bigger, and Eorar let out a small sigh of relief, his gills slowly lowering. He didn’t consider himself claustrophobic, but the surprise of such close quarters had caught him off guard. The new room was much more pleasant. Eorar released Astrolabe’s shoulder as the man headed deeper into the building, and the charoda eased his way over to one of the chairs and sat down. He liked the flowers. He leaned in, examining them with a curious eye. Their colors intrigued him. He uttered a quiet yelp when he leaned directly into the flowers and got pollen in his eye. Shaking his head and blinking, he pulled at his eyelids. He didn’t hurt, but it felt like he had a hundred air bubbles in there, and he set about to wiping it off his eye coverings. In his haste he fell off the chair, tried to set it back up, and knocked over the vase which thankfully didn’t have any water in it. The majority of the flowers settled into his face and shoulders, looking rather ridiculous directly against his bright blue skin.

[Astrolabe]

They both heard the crash and Anais’ eyes were every bit as big as Astrolabe’s as they hurried from her little office into the front room. She had just been exclaiming excitedly about the arrival of what she anticipated would be one of the most intriguing creatures she had ever had the pleasure to meet. To date, despite the surfeit of individuals from all races who attended the university, her own interactions with anyone other than human was severely limited. Her life, in a word, had been dull. Once she had come up with the idea to amass some savings by posing as a young clerk who could do book keeping, the borders of her life had expanded somewhat. But she was still mainly confined to merchants and tradesmen and sailing captains, who were all very much like her late father. When Astrolabe, her friend and former lover and would be husband except she didn’t want a husband – and especially not one like him – had told her of his encounter with the Charoda, she was immediately set on meeting the fellow, if he would allow it – he meaning Eorar, and not in particular Astro. Astro she could still twist around her little finger. So, although Astro was in hopes of perhaps even getting a nice kiss as an added perk of bringing Eorar to meet “Andy”, she shoved past him and was first into the front room, taking in the spectacle of the lovely flowers strewn so artfully across the bright blue slender frame of her guest. Anais, looking very much like any other young male clerk one might see in the streets of Zeltiva, hurried forward with a look of concern on her face. “Oh dear! Here – let me . . . “ She plucked several blossoms from off of Eorar, before she could restrain herself any longer. She giggled. “I’m, I’m sorry. I’m sure that wasn’t pleasant for you. But they did look rather nice.” She managed to muffle any more of her merriment, though her eyes danced. Extending her hand, she said in a more boyish tone. “I’m Andy. Andreas – Ingle. I’m so very glad to meet you – Eorar.” She pronounced the name quite carefully, as best she could going on Astro’s less than perfect rendition. OOCI wasn't quite sure if Eorar was back on the seat or laid out on the floor so I left it ambiguous

[Warden Thrice]

Eorar looked up as Astrolabe and someone else rushed into the room. He blinked as the unnamed companion rushed forward and started clearing the accidental foliage. “Sorry,” he apologized, bowing his head. “Sorry.” He heard a bubbly sound and looked up tentatively. The man’s eyes sparkled with amusement, and Eorar allowed himself a small bit of relief. “They look… nice?” he quirked his head at her curiously. The man was… different than Astrolabe. More similar to Eorar himself, actually. Looked to be about the same height, and with a similar build as well, though their coloring was different. “Good to meet too, An-di-an-dre-as-in-gle.” Great Laviku, that was a long name. He prayed that he’d gotten it right. “Thank you,” he said, removing the last of the flowers and setting them near the overturned vase. He didn’t trust himself to put it back up. An awkward silence announced itself loudly, and Eorar realized that he had bsolutely no idea what to say.

[Astrolabe]

ANAIS Anais pressed her lips together firmly, but the corners of her mouth still twitched upwards. She allowed Eorar to remove the last of the blossoms, and then said softly. “Please, call me Andy. Andreas is my given name, but very few people call me that. And Ingle is my family name. Astro didn’t tell me – do you have a family name?” Astrolabe had been hanging back a bit, letting Anais handle the situation as she saw fit. There was no question that she could easily tackle and conquer any domestic type of upset or problem. Now he stepped up to stand beside her. “I think his last name is Nev- en – on. Is that it?” He looked for confirmation to the abashed Charoda. Anais laid a familiar hand on the young man’s arm, as she asked, “Astro, I had some tea things laid out, in the back. I was just going to bring them in. Could you . . . would you mind?” She smiled sweetly and anyone with half a human brain would have been wondering at that point about what the exact nature of the relationship between the two was. As for Eorar, well, there was no telling how this interaction would be interpreted based on Charoda social interactions and mores. It was a fact that Anais was prone to letting her guard slip when alone with Astro, in terms of her male façade. And though she did not want Eorar to know, yet, that she was a young woman, she seemed much more relaxed around this creature who, in all probability, could not rat her out to her family. Astro nodded and went to do what Anais had hinted at, and Anais sat in the chair on the opposite side of the tiny table, righting the vase and pushing it back against the wall to be out of their way. She placed both small, delicate looking hands on the table and interlaced her fingers. With another bright smile aimed directly at Eorar, she said, “Please, don’t worry about the flowers. No harm done. I’m sure you don’t have flower arrangements below the sea.” She laughed softly, raising her hands so that she could rest her chin on her laced fingers, her elbows on the table. A wistful sort of look settled on her features. “Tell me, Eorar – what is it like, under the sea?”

[Warden Thrice]

“An-dee. An-dee.” Eorar rolled the word around a bit, enjoying it’s bounce. He nodded in response to Astrolabe. “Yes. Nevenon, or Nevenon.” He pronounced it differently the second time, the syllables becoming clipped and the vowels almost becoming chirps. An-dee turned to Astrolabe and gave him a look that made Eorar blink. He wasn’t sure if it was possible to be startled slowly, but if it was then that was definitely what he was feeling. As An-dee turned back to him, the charoda quickly looked down, and what purple blush had started to disappear returned. “You… you sure it alright?” he asked, still more than a little embarrassed about the flowers. Her confirmation made his spirits lighten a bit. “Well,” he said sheepishly, “We have tsek. Like flowers, but not.” Eorar remembered trying to explain tsek to Astrolabe on their first meeting, and it hadn’t worked. At all. “Tell me, Eorar - what is it like, under the sea?” “… wet.” Wait, that was a bad answer. “Er, well, it easier to move. And you can go up. But underwater winds are much stronger than abovewater winds. Can use them to go places, but can kill you, too, but only if very strong. Water never still."