When All Else Fails... [Landon Mora]

[Rorugir]

Timestamp: 31st Fall 511 A.V. The night was alive with fever. Lights shone from the three peaks, dancing across the forms of the reveling night-goers and silent skyglass buildings. The streets, at one time earlier that day filled with the quiet introspection of a hardworking people at rest, was now filled with the sounds and smells of a city finally come alive, at night. It was the fifth day in Lhavit's strict schedule; the Lhavitians had toiled day and night for the previous four days, and now it was time to rest. Or rather, to celebrate, now that the sun had gone down. Day Block was over, and Syna had descended from her perch over Lhavit; Now, the emotionless face of Leth ruled the sky, Night Block had started, and the Lhavitians were ready to enjoy themselves. It was, perhaps, one of Rorugir's first experiences in the festivities and activity that came so suddenly during the night. He might have experiences a bit or two of Lhavit's active nightlife here and there since entering the city, but it was all small snatches of time amusing himself with what was going on around him, ending all too quickly with him returning to whatever activity he had absorbed himself in that day, be it magic, blacksmithing, or any other number of pursuits Rorugir involved himself in. But not today; no, today Rorugir would enjoy himself. The isur made his way down one of Lhavit's bustling boulevards, making his way to the Surya Plaza and the numerous enjoyments that it held. Dark eyes flickered to and fro as Ror caught sight of the people also passing by, the groups of Lhavitians on their way to parties, the singular entities simply enjoying the sights like the solitary isur. Companionship had eluded him, but Ror frankly did not care for any. Things experienced by one's self were just as good as experiences shared with the group, after all. Or, at least, so believed Rorugir. But there were some parts of the isur that longed for accompaniment. A gaggle of Lhavitian ladies passed Rorugir, one of their number sensing Ror's eyes on her and batting her eyelashes back at him. Despite himself, a faint smile touched his lips, and she gave a tinkling laugh in response. Now full-out grinning, Rorugir turned and watch her walk away, not paying attention to where he was going. And, as always, happens in these cases, Rorugir managed to hit something with his foot, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Gah! By Izurdin..." Rorugir pushed himself off of the ground with one hand, inspecting his clothing with a measured glance. He'd managed to land in one of the few muddy spots of the road, a great brown spot now on his trousers. Goddamit...those were his good trousers, too. Muttering malevolent things to himself, Rorugir got to his feet. It was only at this moment that he had managed to realize something; he'd crashed into another person, presumably sending them flying to the ground - and mud - as well. Hastily, Rorugir gabbled, "Ah, damn, my bad." Hopefully the stranger wouldn't take the slight personally...

[Landon Mora]

Finally, it was time to rest a bit. A week of work was always hard but the feeling of finally reaching the end of it always made it better. Landon walked alone, watching people as they passed. While he wanted to go off and work a bit with his spiritisim, he decided today would be better spent working on his hypnotism. It was a more social art as well. He could at least attempt to work on hypnotism while he socialized.

As Landon walked, he eyed a pair of girls walking down the street. As he looked at them his mind seemed to scream "Look at me. Smile at me." Landon was not extremely skilled yet but he was working at his art. One of the girls looked over to him but the smile was directed at someone else. Landon turned to look but before he could he felt something, or better yet, someone run into him.

With a thud, the man fell to the ground, landing hard on one of his hands to soften the fall. "Ugh, for the love of Zintila…" He looked before him to see a man much shorter than himself getting up off of the ground. Extending a hand up to the man, Landon spoke up, his words laced with hypnotic suggestion. "Hey muscles, since you knocked me over, do you mind helping me up?" The situation really did not call for hypnotism but any practice was good practice. "Least you can do, right?" His smile was genuine, although it was merely for show. He just wanted to play a little.

[Rorugir]

Rorugir grimaced when he first heard the voice of the man, eyes like daggers as he looked the man over. One might not have thought the isur had been responsible for the hit from the look he gave the man. It was one of disdain, and it was obvious Rorugir did not approve of the man he just knocked over. Rorugir slowly stretched out a hand to the man, catching the taller man's grip with a callused one of his own. He started to help the man stand up, suddenly stopping when the man began to speak again. His voice...his voice had changed. The man had exclaimed something beforehand, preaching in the name of Zintila or some other deity - It was probably the former, given how much these Lhavitians worshipped her - but now it had changed. More...appealing. More charming. It gave him a warm feeling in his stomach, Rorugir had reluctantly begun helping the man stand up out of simple apology, but now he wanted to help the Lhavitian man up. It was the most important thing he could do at the moment. The feeling told him so. But where had this feeling come from, and why was it so familiar, and yet so strange?... A memory came to the forefront of his mind, unbidden. A man. An isur, and an older one. Not his father, but wearing the same silver flame on his cloak. Speaking to him in a lit chamber, his voice like honey... Rorugir suddenly released his grip, letting the man fall back to the ground. His mouth curled into a snarl as he drew back. His eyes seemed to look as though watching a wild animal. "You dare to hypnotize me? Here, in public?" the isur spat. "One would think you had given in to the whispers for such recklessness!" His voice was kept low, so that only the man could hear it, but his eyes still boiled with rage. For the first time, Ror actually sized up the man, out of wariness more than anything else. He was taller than Rorugir, as the isur had discovered before, but not by much. He was dark of hair and light of tone, though that was a bit biased coming from the dark-skinned isur. His eyes were blue, very blue in fact, and seemed to speak of the djed that ran through the man's veins. Vaguely, Rorugir wondered if his own black eyes said the same, or if it was simply Ror imagining such things. Rorugir stood, poised over the man, ready to see what the mage did. "Well?" the isur demanded.

[Landon Mora]

The hypnotism had worked. The man reached out to him, helping him up off of the ground. Landon could have gotten himself up on his own but why miss a perfectly good opportunity to practice his skills?

The help was short lived though. The man before him let go, letting him crash to the ground once more. Landon laid there, looking up, a small moan escaping his lips. "What the petch is your problem man?" Landon glared right back at him, not letting the man intimidate him. It was not as though he had made the man do anything horrible. He just hypnotized him a bit!

Forcing himself to his feet he looked at the man. "Calm down. No one would have noticed my action. You are the one making a petching scene." He sighed as he tried to brush the dirt from his clothing. The man was different than most others he had met in the city over the twenty-six years he had lived there. His eyes turned back to the man once more. "So, now that we've got first impressions out of the way, I'm Landon." He held a hand out to the man in greeting. "It shouldn't be too hard of a thing to do. Shaking a hand that it. We are both in an upright position. I don't think I could drop you to the ground from this point." He grinned slyly, making a small allusion to the happenings just a moment before.

[Rorugir]

Rorugir rolled his eyes. Really! The arrogance of some people! "I noticed your action, man." The last word was twisted with sarcasm, his eyebrows jutting down as he watched the man in front of him. "What if you had tried it out on someone else, and they decided to call for the Shinya?" "In any case, you're lucky I didn't beat your petching ass for trying to hypnotize me." His words were fierce, but one could tell Ror was calming down; mindless rage was not in his personality. "Though I do have to admit you did it well. I'm Rorugir." When his opposite proffered his hand, a touch of disdain crossed the isur's face once more. Nonetheless, he embraced the man's hand, almost crushing it with his grip. Whether that was intentional or not was up in the air. "You are a real comedian, my friend," Ror said dryly as the man made his next comment. "Though I don't think it's wise threatening an isur." Rorugir held up his left hand, more to show off than anything. He was loath to admit pretty much anything, but one only had to take one look at Rorugir's left arm to see he was not human, so why not use that to his advantage? "Are you a Lhavitian?" Rorugir asked, watching the man intently.

[Landon Mora]

Landon bit back his words before he growled out "I'd like to see you try". In a way, the man was right. The action might have been foolish, even if it was done in an innocent way. No need to attract attention. The last thing he needed was to get the Shinya involved, much like Rorugir had alluded to.

A sly smile found it's way to Landon's lips. The complement, whether it was meant to be one or not, was well received. "It is a pleasure… bumping into you Rorugir." Landon's smile wavered slightly when the Isur gripped tightly to his hand, a bit tighter than he had expected. In retaliation, he tightened his grip as well, although he had little hope to match the strength of the man before him. "You've got a firm shake…" A nervous chuckle escaped his lips. Perhaps this was not a man to mess with.

"Ahh, now I am your friend. It looks like my first impression wasn't as bad as I thought." Landon was well aware that his sort of talk to the man was undoubtedly a bad idea. There was a part of him that could not pass up the chance to mess a bit with someone who seemed so stoic. "I suppose not. Luckily I picked an Isur that won't beat the shyke out of me for it though." There was something about Rorugir that made Landon dial back his normal bullshyke. This man was not to be messed with, even if it seemed like an interesting challenge.

Landon nodded at the man's question. "Yup, born and raised. I will go out on a limb and guess you are not. I have not seen you around before." While it was impossible to know every single person in a city, Landon was up for the wild accusation. If he was wrong it was not like the man would kill him. Why not go out on a limb. "Where are you from?"

Something about the man made Landon curious. He supposed it was because he somewhat reminded him of Sabastian. The pair seemed to be a bit reserved men, not ones to put up with shenanigans like his own. Perhaps if Landon didn't completely disgust the Isur by the end of their meeting he would introduce him to his brother. Zintila be blessed, he needed more friends.

[Rorugir]

"Friend? Perhaps not." A faint smile touched his face. "Not yet, at least. Not until we've fought in battle like real men." Ha, see how the little man responded to that. It had worked before. Many a intrigued Lhavitian had backed away stammering after hearing that subtle threat from the heavyset isur. Little did they know Rorugir was as adverse to fighting as they. Rorugir shook his head and chuckled. In a city of wildly different people, this one human managed to stand out against the rest. His increasingly bullshyke attitude seemed almost outlandish to the isur. Vaguely Rorugir wondered how Landon had gotten this way. Some trying circumstances, no doubt. "I am not of Lhavitian origin, that is correct, Landon Mora." Rorugir acquiesced. "I will freely say that I am from Sultros. My purpose for leaving, however, I would rather not say." Rorugir watched the man's reaction for his last statement. Would he pry, or would he let the matter drop? Given his new-found companion's dispostion, it unfortunately seemed like it would be the former. Maybe to distract Landon more than anything, Rorugir suggested, "Why don't we head down to Surya Plaza? There's many excitements going on down there, or so I've heard. You would know better, though, wouldn't you? Have more experience and all that. In any case, I'd like to get out of the road and sit down somewhere." Rorugir pressed on his back and grimaced when he heard it crack. "It's been a tiring day." Rorugir began to walk down the road, keeping one eye on his erstwhile "friend".