[Kulkukan Tavern] Back in This Place - Aren [CLOSED]

[Meera]

"Ah." Meera understood completely now the display of nudity.

"You wear less clothes because you are vain." Meera nodded and tipped her mug to inspect the level of ale inside.
"Eh, why not." Meera downed another swig of ale. The Drykas was dangerously close to seeing the bottom.

"Is understand," The blonde continued. "You are pretty~" She trailed her words to laughter. She giggled loudly - her face scrunched and her mouth was wide in smile.

Had she just said that? Oh no she had just said that. To his face. Out loud. Her dark eyes found his face and it brought on a new bout of laughter until she snorted, sucking too much air back.

"Oh, oh my," she calmed. "Is same why my hair is long. Am proud of my travelsl. Have bell, now that I have real battle." Meera turned her hair to show him and shook her head to jingle.

[Aren]

She was rather blunt, Aren had to admit, or was it the drink loosening her tongue? "Yes... I am very pretty," it was definitively the drink, he realized at the her impish giggling, "And you... are very drunk." The akalak had never know anyone to become this severely intoxicated by a single mug of his people's ale, but he had also never seen a tiny little female human down one so fast, either. Honestly, it was starting to concern him. "Yes. Bell. You're quite the savage warrior now," Aren tried to go along with what he took to be her inebriated babbling, having little knowledge of most drykas rituals. "But, you know..." he spoke, softly, trying not to excite her too much, "Now might not be the best time for that tour, miss Ysane." She probably wasn't going to enjoy it much, in her condition, and Aren was likely going to end up carrying her right back here after too long, anyway. "Perhaps we had better leave it for another time, while you sleep that ale off," Of course, it was probably asking a lot for the young drykas girl to act rationally, in her current state, but Aren figured it couldn't hurt to try. Then again... it might, and he wasn't even armed right now.

[Meera]

"What is drunk? I know not this word." A closed fist was brought to Meera's wet mouth to conceal a small hiccough. She closed her eyes for a blink and vision centred for the briefest moment. "Is mean pretty?" She smiled a tiny tug of her lip as cheeks gathered in blush.

"Not tired!" She exclaimed proudly. "Night so young! Night time for stories, adventures." She hiccoughed. Something about what he said, however, confused her. The night was young and though she had already paid for her room, she had no plans on using it so soon. She was getting hungry, and so she flagged the Akalak bartender "Nys" over for a good meal.
"Delay tour. Would like tour. Never saw all of Riverfall. But eat first. Why you rush all times? Not wait to dress, not that I complain. Everything now, now, now, Aren. Relax." Oh, yes, Meera was intoxicated. To prefer inaction? She had a good reason. Her vision was swimming. Slowly it was coming into focus, but she needed to focus onto something specific. Her dying mug of ale was stoic and statuesque and she focused on that. Her vision was still tilting to the side. Hopefully the food would arrive soon and it would help her. It wasn't like she ate regularly now that she was on her own. In fact, she hadn't eaten at all.

"Ysane? Who Ysane?" Brows knit together. Her right arm rested on the heavy wood and she returned her torso to lean in. A small hic again. Was Ysane some woman he had met? The name sounded familiar, though. "Is that bar wench?" Meera pointed at the woman by Nys, the flirtacious young thing that Meera had liked.

[Aren]

"You don't know what drunk mea-" Aren was almost incredulous until he remembered just exactly who he was talking to, "Of course you don't." With Ysane insisting that she was not, in fact, tired, the akalak got the distinct impression that it wasn't going to be easy getting her into bed. Her own bed, that is. "No, no... not time for stories. Time for sleepy," The blue skinned giant did his best to persuade the drykas that perhaps she needed to rest a bit, but when her ramblings began to involve members of the staff, Nys shot Aren a look. "N-no. She's NOT a bar wench," the akalak frantically bowed and gestured apologetically to the poor barmaid. "YOU are Ysane," he tried to explain, alas to no avail. An exasperated sigh escaped him, as Aren realized that he was fighting what might very well be a hopeless battle. "...A crazy drykas girl who can't hold her liquor," he finally seemed to give up after one last retaliatory comment, mumbled almost incoherently. Taking a seat on the stool next to her, the akalak's eyes were firmly affixed on the girl's face, hand propping his head in her direction. Her babbling, he admitted, was at least amusing. Nys, of course, continue to glare at him to get her under control, but Aren only shrugged, powerless as he was.

[Meera]

"Me not Ysane," Meera spoke loudly for their distance, and rather incredulously. How could she enjoy this man's company and find him so endearing when he did not even know her name? Was her inexperience that severe that she would like him regardless of that fact? Meera leaned back and adjusted her chemise, allowing the tie up to loosen a bit more around her bust and neckline. She smoothed out wrinkles slowly in her drunken haze down her stomach and returned to her previous position after taking her final swig of ale. The sound was depressing as it rang hollow in her ears.

"My name is Meera," she said, barely louder than a whisper to him but gruff in accent and disappointment, though the disappointment was in herself. This whole fiasco of Riverfall was sharding fantastic and Meera had almost decided impulsively on this one turn of event to leave in the morning.

"Crazy mayhaps, cannot hold liquor mayhaps, but do not fault on lack of experience. Said earlier is my first mug. Ever." Her stomach gave a rumble in her hunger, and Meera hiccoughed again.
"I have demand of food," she declared in a manner befitting her race, and as though on cue the food she had flagged Nys for earlier arrived. She gave a small nod to the one she had called a wench earlier to be polite, before diving into the good meal she had ordered. Ever thrifty, Meera would normally have ordered a small, decent meal to save the mizas for an emergency, but in her cups she had forgotten her plan to save and spent on the luxurious meal. A fine slab of nicely prepared meat, the juices still pink upon slicing. The vegetables were bright and glistening in butter, with large heads of broccoli and cauliflower and nicely sliced carrots.

If the barmaid suspected her drunkenness, she did not say, but brought an unrequested mug of cool, clear water. Meera's smile was wider, happy for the service.

"And is not time for sleep I request," Using improper words in her drunken haze and poor knowledge of the language Meera had little idea of the possible issue Aren would have deciphering her words through her thick accent and a mouth still chewing some food.. "Food is here and I need hear about father. Any sisters? Do you know their proper names? Or do I hold special... uhm... special... place in heart?" She chortled again and gave a cruel smirk.

[Aren]

Aren started to pay closer attention when Ysane began absentmindedly loosening her attire, knowing he might have to interfere (much as he'd rather not) before she went too far. In the meantime, the drykas girl continued to maintain that her name was not what she had said, and in fact, revealed another name, in her drunken stupor. The akalak who kept her company, at this point, didn't know what to think. Was Meera her family name? Was it a name she had just made up on the spot? Aren was, honestly, not inclined to put any stock in anything she said while in her current state. As the intoxicated girl dined, however, her ramblings continued, and she questioned him on the existence of any sisters, joking on whether he knew their real names, or if she had a special place in Aren's heart. At this, the akalak realized that her babbling seemed incredibly coherent, if he simply assumed two things: One, that her inebriation had lowered her inhibitions, not made her an idiot. And two, that her real name was not Ysane, but Meera. Going on this assumption, Aren tried to guess why she might lie, and he could only imagine that it had something to do with her people, and that business with the windmark she was supposed to have, but didn't. Unfortunately, his knowledge of drykas culture was very limited, so any theories he might have would be just that. "Akalak women don't exist, so I have no sisters," Aren eyes narrowed on the young girl, almost imperceptibly. Now he was attentively listening to everything she had to say, and eager to hear more.

[Meera]

"No women?" Meera coughed a hurried swallow. The idea of no women appealed so much to the buzzing Drykas girl who had spent most of her life knowing only a dozen or so men and with exception to three, maybe four people, was related to all of them.
"In pavilion we had many women, little men." Meera had stopped eating at the memories of her past. Only a month ago now had Patros braided her hair.

Meera debated with herself if she should tell him the story, and decided to talk, instead of dwell upon the issue.
"I miss it little. Drykas treat me little better than slave because I am orphan. My father was old Leader. Born orphan, carry ... uhm," she brought her mouth together in a pucker and her eyes traveled up and to the right in thought. "Curse?" She sounded uncertain. "Fear? Bad luck?" Meera shrugged her shoulders as though to say she gave up on remembering the word, stigma. Her stomach's rumblings had ceased now that they were stilled with food. She took healthy gulps of water now that she was regaining a steady feeling to her weight and vision, but the ale had still kept her tongue loosened.

She decided in a slightly more coherent state that she should not divulge her story, especially in such a tavern. Many ears would listen, and many could easily capture her. Whether she had a bounty on her head she had no idea, or even if the Ankal knew of her and Patros' separation, or if he even cared, but she did not want to take that chance. She shouldn't have trusted Aren with as much as she already did, but it was unfortunate she could not eat her words too.

"Is warm, is not?" Meera was still flushed with colour, and her mind being cruel did not help at all in lowering the blush on her cheeks by reminding her in flashes of Aren's glistening blue skin contrasted by a bright white towel.

[Aren]

Aren listened to Ysane's, or more likely Meera's, tale of woe, intently. She was sobering up a bit now, it seemed, but was clearly still skunked. The story was an interesting one, assuming it wasn't a skewing of the truth, or an outright fabrication. The akalak doubted it was the latter, unless she was very good at pretending to be drunk. "Actually, it's quite cool," Aren replied, smiling wickedly. Riverfall's proximity to both a river and a sea meant it tended to maintain a relatively temperate climate at all times, and so heat was not something one was likely to find here, especially at a late hour. The heat Meera was feeling was entirely of her own making, with a little help from some akalak ale, and Aren could tell. "So tell me... Meera," he put special emphasis on her name as he said it, "What is it that brings you to Riverfall? I mean... really?" the blue skinned warrior had already heard the whole "adventure" spiel, but now he suspected that might not have been the whole truth, if any of it. And so, now was the time to find out, if ever there was one. Who knows what would happen once Meera was lucid enough to actually realize what she was saying. Something told Aren that if that happened, he might never see her again.

[Meera]

Meera's cheeks felt hot, regardless of it being Winter and near the river.
She had another sip of her water, and thankfully had tabled the drink by the time Aren had spoken again.

Meera. It sounded like purple velvet being draped over bare, milky skin.

"Say again," She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, so as to have a perch to rest her chin against a closed fist. "Say name again?" Her voice was soft as a lamb's wool as she nestled in closer to the table. Her cheeks were bright red apples under her dark brown eyes, endless pools of darkness one could get lost in.

She sighed dreamily, watching his lips form words simply for the movement, with no legitimate reason behind aside for something to focus on.

"I come to Riverfall for adventure," She repeated, but this time in a secret whisper. "Ankalwant me married to man who no want me, and I no want him. Defy Ankal is defy life. Want own life." Meera's voice was not so much monotone and flat, but her words were spoken quite matter-of-factly that her tone might as well have been.
"We left moon ago from clan and parted ways. Ankal will know we die on patrol. To defy Ankal is to die. He must think we in belly of Zith or glassbeak. So," she summed up. Her voice went higher as she said her final word, her only change in inflection.
"I came to find adventure. Find my life."

[Aren]

Aren conveniently ignored Meera's request to pronounce her name again, lest it derail the story she was telling, and thus the answer he was waiting for. "Ankal?" he parroted the word, spoken in the drykas tongue. It was a word he had heard before, during his time amongst the horselords. This was the leader of the drykas, or perhaps of a specific clan; he was not certain. Either way, it was a man in a position of authority, and she had defied his wishes. Apparently, however, this Ankal did not even know that that she was still alive. "Who' is they?" Aren knew the love drykas had for their horses, but he did not think Meera was referring to her mount, in this particular instant. Perhaps she had come with a lover, or a family member, but she did not speak of this other in the present tense. It was likely, then, that his person had left her, separated perhaps, or even perished. Since he didn't know what had happened between Meera and this other person, Aren wasn't sure what her reply might be, or if he even wanted to know. It was too late to back out of this line of questioning now, however.