Too Chilly [[Alea]]

[Lixue]

Lixue, after Alea had tossed his hands away, had grabbed Ly by the collar of his shirt and jerked him backwards. He barely caught himself, tripping over his own feet. No remorse flooded her, he had overstepped a boundary with the girl. More red had seeped into her green eyes, mixing the two colors. "Behave yourself or leave, Ly. I am not going to child-sit you today." Perhaps the impatience was stemmed not only from his actions but from her reactions? Either way, the verbal snap had the intended effect: Ly pretended to zip his lips, eyes wide. He also took a seat on a nearby chair, leaving Lixue to either stand or sit also. Her knee was hurting from the small tumble Alea had caused earlier, so she gestured to a seat for Alea and sat. "To understand our eyes, you must first understand our history, Alea Davenport. Would you like to hear it?" A pause as Lixue awaited an answer. "I have heard this story from the elders for years. They enjoy telling it." Clearing her throat, she began, "Morwen's lights, the colors lighting up the sky, brought us. We came through the magic shades, and settled here, the only place they shine. The elders tell us we are one of the oldest races, though I am not sure." Lixue only knew of the Vantha and humans. "Our eyes reflect the glows and change with our moods. More than one color can be inside of them at a time, but they are always bright and truthful." Readjusting her cane to rest against her leg, Lixue motioned to her own face. "My eyes only change when I am passionate about something because I am not a full-blooded Vantha. Ly, on the other hand.. His eyes change constantly because he is all Vantha." A small, jerky, skip as Lixue became aware of Ly playing with her shirt again. Within a heartbeat, however, she was back to normal. "For everyone, the colors mean different things. My green might mean calm, but could mean laughter on someone else." PstShort post is short

[Alea Davenport]

Alea listened eagerly to Lixue's explanation of the strange aurora eyes of the Vantha. When the story was finished, she sat silently for several moments with her mouth hanging slightly open, trying to absorb the implications of this knowledge. Knowing the eye-color of a Vantha could predict their mood? But it was different fro every Vantha... So how did you figure out which color went with what emotion? She thought about the few Vantha she knew, and realized that she should really start paying closer attention to people's eyes.

She decided to experiment with her new found knowledge. She peered at Ly's eyes, paying close attention to their current color. Then, without warning, she drove her heel into his toes as hard as she could. Whatever color appeared should then perhaps be associated with pain or anger. She would have to ask him to be sure. In fact, once the foot-stomping scene was concluded, she asked, "What do the colors in your eyes mean, Ly? Do you even know? I mean, you can't see what color your eyes are at any given time, so wouldn't you need someone to tell you? How do Vantha figure out what their mood-colors are, if they ever do?"

A delusionally vain person might be able to take her curiosity as interest in Ly himself, but from her perspective, she was just using him to find out more about Vantha. She couldn't believe she'd been living amongst them for over a season and had known none of this.

[Lixue]

Lixue fleetingly understood why the girl found their eyes so interesting. They changed, after all. From what she had noticed, Alea Davenport's did not. Did… Wherever she was from, Denval?, not have eyes that changed? If not, the Vantha must be a strange phenomenon. Figuring the girl was going to watch their eyes, Lixue was only mildly surprised when she peered into Ly's. Was it really necessary to be that close, though? The next second, Alea Davenport stomped on Ly's foot! Jaw slack, Lixue blinked in shock. Could the girl not have found some other way? Ly himself changed from smiling friendly to scowling and holding his foot. Lixue composed her demeanor about the same time he did. Leaning forwards, Ly dramatically widened his now very colorful eyes. "Tell me, what color are my eyes? I shall tell you. Lean close," he whispered. "'Dis… These are the shades of true love!" Falling backwards with a hand over his heart, he exclaimed, "I shall have to marry you! Tell me, does three days from now sound reasonable? I do not want to rush you!" Was the boy insane? Swatting the hand which had been playing with her shirt away, Lixue dropped her forehead into a hand and sighed exasperatedly. "I apologize. He is… Not right." A look was leveled at Ly, who sheepishly smiled and offered his hands, claiming Lixue was his real love and he would soon tire of Alea Davenport. "Ly, just hush. Sit there, be quiet, and hush. Please." The cane had clacked to the floor in the commotion and Lixue readjusted it by her side before turning to the blond. "Alea Davenport, ignore him. To answer your questions, Ly does not know what the colors in his eyes mean. Or, if he does, he spends too much time in front of glass!" A hand flapped in his general direction. "Others might figure out what each color means by being around that individual or simple observing. I, for example, know green means laughter with him. Therefore, if I make a joke and they turn that shade, I know he is amused. Our eyes give away even the smallest changes in our moods. I am certain you have made Vantha friends, yes? Have you noticed any specific colors when you do something? It could easily mean a mood. If they acted annoyed afterwards, the color of their eyes could mean that." Someone across the room waved to her and Lixue took a moment to acknowledge the person. "My eyes, on the other hand, do not give away everything. I do not know what the colors mean if they change. This is because I am not a full Vantha. I received the changes, but only when truly passionate about something." Glancing over at the boy by her side, Lixue sighed. A more tired one this time. She reached out and awkwardly patted his clasped "Ly, I am not angry with you. You just… go," a pause as she thought of the word in Vani, "overboard sometimes." Purple had blossomed in his eyes. Ly, gripping her fingers, dramatically pleaded, "I was born to be an actor, I tell you. Animals are not my calling, you see? Come, run away with me, we shall leave a note and disappear into faraway lands!" Halfway through, his Vani switched to Common, "What do you say? Your mother will be happy you are with a guy. Your father… I will have to ask him before we tell him! Yes, yes!" A pause as he registered the sad smile on her lips. "What? What? What did I say?" The sad part was, Lixue's mother would be happy. For a moment, all Lixue could think was what if she never was married? To never have children? Never see the young, Vanthas who would call her 'Mum' and weave stories to get out of trouble? Less than a year remained to be married. After that date, she would be considered an 'Icemaiden'. Without a doubt, by twenty years time, Lixue's mother would try to pass her off onto Ly. Ly, poor sweet Ly, who was kind enough to at least offer his hand and would never reject her mother's request… Not with the reasoning behind it. How could Lixue ask him to give up his life for her? Desperation clawed at Lixue's insides. She tried to keep her face flat, void of emotion, and was certain she failed. Must have. Just like, after three years time, she had failed at being courted… Being married. Making her family proud. Biting the inside of her cheeks to keep the depressing emotion off of her face and alert Alea Davenport, Lixue also dug her fingernails into the clammy palm of her hands, which were cupped by Ly. Instead of green, her eyes had turned a deep shade of blue. "Oi, come here." Moving next to her, Ly wrapped an arm around her waist and laid his head on top of hers. A deep breath was exhaled onto her hair as he tucked Lixue into his side. Knowing she was not a good actress, Lixue met Alea Davenport's eyes. "I do apologize for this… Unusual occurrence. I am afraid I must excuse myself and Ly. In the near future, I hope we can continue this discussion; perhaps even call ourselves friends." Accepting her cane from Ly, Lixue moved to her feet. So did he, arm still around her. With a somewhat distracted nod at Alea, Ly returned his attention to the petite girl at his side. There was a hesitation as Lixue forced a meaning-well smile at Alea before the pair made their way towards the door.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea tried to follow the eye-color changes, but the sudden burst of multiple colors confused her, and then Ly started saying things that made no sense at all, and she was too distracted by the antics of the two Vanthans to be able to follow the eye colors AND guess the emotions that might go with them. Lixue had said green for Ly was laughter. His eyes went purple after he'd been chastised by Lixue. What could that be? Shame? Worry? Disappointment? And then, Lixue's eyes changed... which she'd said was rare and only for strong emotion. What strong emotion? Lixue did look a little down, but certainly not in a strong way... Alea was almost as confused as Ly. Color-changing eyes were all much more complicated than they seemed at first.

This was a lot to take in. Alea had never realized how much she could learn by paying attention to something as frivolous as eye-color, but this opened up a whole new world of possibilities. She was still trying to take it all in when Lixue and Ly left. Alea nodded at Lixue's apology and watched them go, her head still spinning too fast for her to reply, or pay much attention.

She sat where she was for at least half a bell, sorting through the implications of what she'd learned. Morwen prevented the Vantha from being cold (cheating!), and Vantha's eyes revealed their mood. But only if you paid attention long enough to figure out how. Alea would have to get into the habit of looking Vantha in the eyes.

[Warden]

-Lixue- Skill Points: Observation 2 Teaching 2 Lore: Explaining Vantha Culture Embarrassed by a friend -Alea Davenport- Skill Points: Observation 1 Interrogation 1 Investigation 1 Lore: Vantha Culture Notes: I condensed your lores into Vantha Culture because I believe that it is better than cluttering up everything unnecessarily. Basically this just covers the eyes, Morwen, her mark, etc. Just to make it easier on us all really. A very entertaining thread, and I must say I hope to see Ly in other posts as well!