A Flexible Friend (Fade)

[Nero Czan]

18th Night of Summer, 510 AV. Location: The Rearing Stallion. Nero was sitting in his favorite tavern, off on a table by the wall as he read through a letter that had been written for him. For all intents and purposes, this place was his place of residence, and all mail, and whatever may come, was directed here. Granted, Nero rarely slept here, or anywhere in the city for that matter. He preferred the serene wilderness, and on occasion, the dangerous variation as well. The two were one in the same one could argue, and it was just a matter of dealing with it that created the differences between them. The letter was from an old friend, all the way from Endrykas, who had been keeping in touch with him since his prior visit to the roving city. It was an interesting visit, but one which Nero rarely recalled, for the memories were not all pleasant. He took a sip of his beer as he gazed upon the unusually talented woman who was entertaining the patrons on this night. It was rare to get entertainers with Any talent actually, most came simply for the promised free booze. She was obviously a contortionist, for no other human being could possibly achieve those stretches. She was a pretty one at that, and Nero could not help but raise an eyebrow as she glanced his way. His characteristic smirk made it's way onto his face, and he pocketed his letter for another time. There are more important matters to attend to. He chuckled at the thought as he casually watched the acrobat perform. Once she had finished, he approached her at the bar, and with a charismatic smirk, gracefully introduced himself. "A fine performance there, miss. It's not often that you find such a talented acrobat around here, at least, not a legal one. Then again, the only reason I'm assuming you're not a thief is that in my experience they've never been as beautiful as you." With the 'formalities' out of the way, he proceeded to the actual greetings. "The name's Nero, it's a pleasure to meet you."

[Fade]

Fade smiled as she did her routine, it was the professional grin: when you were doing things almost inhuman so smoothly and easily the watchers brains would have to hang onto that human expression.
She had never performed in a tavern but she had altered her routine and judging by her audience it was a good one. From time to time she would survey the audience, it was good to know their reactions to various contortions but it was difficult to tell what with her gnosis making her more appealing and shrouding her with an inexplicable allure.

When she finished her fake smile vanished from her face, she walked to the bar but was intercepted by a young man, she listened to him then let some moments pass before she replied a slight smile on her lips. “I’ve heard something like that before, Nero. But no, I’m not some beautiful thief who has already pocketed your money, but I could be anything else you wouldn’t know would you?” She grinned and turned to order an ale avoiding any skin contact with the barman, letting him put down the drink on the counter before taking it in her slender fingers. She turned back, looking at him straight in the eyes and said “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Fade”

[Nero Czan]

Nero answered with a smirk of his own, her alluring persona already appealing to his senses. "Fade... An exotic name, for an exotic woman." He repeated the name in his mind a couple times, enjoying the mystery that it implied, and even just the manner in which it rolled off the tongue. Once his focus had returned to reality, he leaned his back against the bar-top, his arms relaxing atop the smooth wood. He swiftly and without much detail glanced the acrobat over, his eyes skimming her from top to bottom. She had a slender figure, which he simply attributed to her line of work, and honestly found slightly attractive. Her costume was obviously made for flexibility and freedom in mind, but in doing so left a seductively revealing mark on the viewers. Nero did nothing more than simply note it however. He had long since learned when to be distracted, and when to be quick. As his eyes returned to hers, his usual smirk growing ever so slightly, he spoke, his voice carrying smoothly through the Tavern atmosphere. The game's had begun... "So, Fade. What brings you here to grace Syrilas with your presence?"

[Fade]

Fade took a sip of ale before replying letting the bitter taste roll around her mouth while thinking of a reply. She swallowed and replied as truthfully as she could "I was a slave to a circus owner, he died of an illness and he was quite old. I slipped away and let the wind guide me as best it could, I seldom followed a path. I guess food, shelter, people and choices keep me here...at least for now."
She sighed and excused herself for a moment leaving her ale on the counter because she wanted to change out of her costume. She came back a few minutes later wearing her white dress, if you looked closely under the white fabric you could just see her red mark on her upper chest.

She picked up her ale again and asked using his exact same words "And what brings you here to grace Syliras with your presence?" She smiled and took another sip of her drink.

[Nero Czan]

Nero smiled and bowed his head to her as she went to change. He swirled the drink in his hands, before finishing it off, the delicious and eventually killing liquid swirling into his body. When she returned, much to Nero's surprise, she had not lost a single ounce of the alluring attraction that she seemed to ooze. Her thin curves were outlined by the dress, just transparent enough to be sensual, but not too much as to be lewd. He noticed a seemingly complex red mark, perhaps a tattoo of sorts, and disregarded it for now, deciding to wait for later on asking the question. Turning his attention to her question, he smiled as he spoke, his voice carrying a playful ring to it. "Something about the people I guess. You never know who you're going to meet. I'm a bit like you. I ended up leaving my home, and let my fate draw my path. Here I came, and I've been here on and off since. It's a nice vacation from the comforting wilderness." The last two words he uttered were a common occurrence in his vocabulary, but always seemed to be a strange juxtaposition in other's minds. He enjoyed Nature, and it was as much a home as Syrilas had ever been. He ordered another drink as the all-too-familiar bartender passed by him. He turned to fade with his usually charismatic smirk, matching her own aura. "Nevertheless, it's always nice to find a fellow Wanderer. I've always enjoyed a nice travel across civilizations. Glad to see we're not a dying breed." He made a cheers as his drink slid into his hands, and down into his stomach.

[Fade]

She listened to his words bringing her mug to her lips but then she stopped.
She frowned a little and said “No, I haven’t left my home, I’m my home. I was a slave, tied to a home but it was certainly not my home” She paused and her usual smile returned she continued “And yes it is interesting to visit new places. I have travelled all my life.” She looked at him closely and asked “Where do you come from? And tell me, where have you been?”

She pondered on what he had said glancing at his hand, one touch was all she needed. She had started to heavily rely on her gift in judging people who interacted with her. It was a type of self defence, Fade had no real combat skills it was the only way.
She took another sip of her drink waiting for him to answer her light icy blue eyes fixed on his.

[Nero Czan]

Nero chuckled, the answer his mind had assembled being an entire novel in it's own right. He took a moment to skim down the story, and his carefree smirk settled into his expression as he begun to weave the tale. "There's quite a few answers to that I'm afraid... To put it briefly however, I was born in the fields of Cyphrus, in a splinter-Clan that trailed the roving city of Endrykas. I'm a half-blood, and my childhood wasn't exactly kind and fuzzy. Kids weren't too nice to me, and my only true friends were my teachers and this strange traveler that had bunked up with us. It was an interesting life, but due to, 'circumstances,' I was forced to leave my home, as it burned itself away into oblivion. I traveled along the main travelers routes, making due with hunted animals and eating road-side herbs on a trial-and-error basis. I ended up finding myself here, in this massive city where every kind of person resides. I was brought into the house of a greedy family that wished to improve opinion of them, and began my life anew." He shrugged, the memory had long since stopped being an unpleasant one. It was a modest history, but his adventures since then had been anything but ordinary. "Since then, I've been as far as the burning desert lands in Eyktol, taking occasional breaks from my studies and training." He chuckled, his entire life neatly summarized before his eyes, and took another sip of his drink. It had been a long while since then, and he liked to think he had made a decent amount of progress.

[Fade]

Fade raised an eyebrow and said “It burned itself?” She paused and looked at him strangely “Now that’s a strange circumstance”
Having said that her smile disappeared she took another long sip of her ale. “I will go to Ekytol some day, I’ll probably go south when winter comes. I love travelling and I did loads but I don’t remember much. The circus steered away from Syliras, here slavery is banned! Probably went all around Mizahar but never saw it” Fade sighed and gulped down another mouthful of ale. “You mentioned studies and training what do you do?”

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! Nero   Skills Skill Gain Info. Flirtation 1 -- Interrogation 1 --   Lore N/A Fade   Skills Skill Gain Info. Acrobatics 1 Contortion Interrogation 1 -- Flirtation 1 --   Lore N/A