A Tea Party

[Grace Lechar]

63rd of Spring 514AV

The wary emotions that filled the human's eyes reflected in the dog beside her. Grace's blue eyes watched the blue men that wandered the streets. It wasn't every single person that was seven feet tall and some dark shade of unnatural color, but to Grace, it felt like it. The ratio of Akalaks to other ... races, wasn't even in close to proportionate in Riverfall. What was even more disturbing was the ratio of men to women. Grace glanced down at her dog beside her. She never felt insecure, but the polite smiles or nods sent her way from the giants would send chills down her spine. Sometimes they would get a frightened nod in return, which tended to confuse them, most of the time Grace's eyes would fly to her feet and her brow would furrow. The culture shock of living at the Sanctuary was enough for her. The Kontis, the Kelvics, the strange horned Caelum. Even the children freaked Grace out. She'd always had an itching feeling that some of the others weren't quite human either, but hadn't gotten around to asking anyone, fear she would offend them.

Another chill ran down her spine as Grace's eyes wandered up the bare or leathered chests, avoiding connection with their light eyes, but still overly-curious about their facial features. Another smile. Oh Gods. Oh Gods. Grace's heart picked up, accelerating faster than she thought it could. Her eyes grew, her eyelashes pushing into her bangs which were far overgrown, and the corners of her mouth twitched. The man let out a breathy laugh, but let Grace's eyes go. Jeno, who trotted along beside her, seemed to perk up at her sudden fright. A guttural growl fell from the dog's throat, and she could feel him press up against her leg. If she didn't calm down, Jeno wasn't going to calm down. Grace leaned down, to pet the dog. A tricky maneuver when walking through the crowded streets. She didn't want him attacking anyone ...

Grace ruffled the dog's ears, straightening herself quickly. As she straightened, her head turned up, catching sight of a rather enticing sign. Tea! The idea simply couldn't be turned down. Grace turned, trying to skip through the crowd, looking into the window of the shop-- "Gah!"

Grace rammed straight into someone, her actions proving to oppose her name. Automatically, Grace threw her hand out, not wanting to knock anyone over. Jeno stood beside her, all to ready to lock his jaw onto someone. A low rumbling growl crawled out of the dog's throat and he stood rigid, waiting for some sort of signal to attack. A signal that Grace was not going to give him. Instead, she hooked her hand on the dog's collar, dragging him back towards her. She gave a short quick whistle to make him sit, which he did reluctantly. Flipping her head up so that her bangs would stay out of her face, she looked up, expecting to face the chest of one of the Akalaks. Instead she faced a human. Relief flooded through her and a smile broke across her face. With a breathy laugh, Grace stuck her arm out, taking in the man's features. Her icy blue eyes connected with his, the small bit of hair that danced across his jaw, and his dark hair that was a little shorter than her own. He was human. An actual human. It was funny, Jeno was more into thinking this man was threatening, than the Akalaks. Odd. "Well, hey there. Gods, I've'nt' seen 'ny humans in such a long time. M'name's Grace."

PC/NPC Talking -- Common -- Thoughts

[Zander Guile]

Zander was still adjusting to life in Riverfall, being shorter that a majority of the population by a good foot and a half did that, but as Zander awoke in his room in Atri’s Place, he decided that he would refuse to be intimidated this day, as he had felt in the first few weeks of meeting the Akalak, a feeling which had continued to haunt Zander during the time he had spent in Riverfall thus far. Instead Zander chose ask around to locate a suitable location to get some instruction in the use of his Rapier, which he was somewhat proficient in using, but like any other swordsman, or what Zander perceived to be a swordsman, he strived to get better, so after asking about and receiving a couple of slightly amused looks from the tall blue men near Zander’s present place of residence, he decided to set out to find what he was looking for. After several chimes of walking and failing to find that which he desired, Zander decided to take a break, as the day was getting just a little too warm for his liking. So as he looked around for somewhere to take a break he began thinking to himself Hmm… I think that I should get a drink. I wonder which establishments sell tea around here… As he was partial to the occasional drink of tea. After a couple of chimes looking, rather unsuccessfully over, or rather through the crowds of Akalaks, to find somewhere to get himself a drink of tea, Zander happened to chance his gaze upon a smaller building which had a sign advertising that they sold tea. Zander began to try to gracefully weave his way through the crowd, for the most part he was successful, except for the one occasion where he accidentally stepped on one of the blue men’s feet, Zander immediately apologised and gave the tall man an apologetic expression, before anything more happened, and moved onwards towards his goal which promised him a nice cup of tea. When he finally managed to get through the last of the Akalak, Zander stood in front of the tea shop, getting a closer look at the wares which were being displayed there, after a few ticks of looking, he though he heard a growl, but dismissed it as his stomach rumbling at him to get some food into him because he had missed getting himself some breakfast, as well as the tea he was beginning to crave. Just as he was about to turn towards the door to enter however, Zander felt someone or something bump into him, causing him to stumble a couple of steps away from whatever had knocked him. Before Zander made the almost autonomous move to put his hand on the hilt of his sword resting in its scabbard on his belt, Zander heard the unmistakable growl of a dog Definitely not my stomach this time. Zander thought to himself, stopping the movement of his hand immediately, he then proceeded to look towards the dog and its owner, whom was trying to bring the dog under control, whistling and dragging on its collar, which Zander suspected was the person whom had bumped into him, and was surprised to see that it was a human female. Several thoughts crossed Zander’s mind when he looked at the woman, the first being This is certainly a surprise, I wonder why she’s here? this was quickly followed by the second Hmm… I wonder… how should I react? Because her dog definitely does not like me. Before he continued to think about this situation though, Zander looked at the woman’s eyes, which were blue, like his, before shifting his gaze to the dog which was sitting now, but it still looked like it would attack him, given half a chance. Returning his gaze to the woman, who had outstretched her arm and was laughing, Zander looked at her calmly and crossed his arms slightly before putting most of his weight on his back foot, as he did when he was going to have a conversation with someone, the woman spoke first, surprise evident in her tone "Well, hey there. Gods, I've'nt' seen 'ny humans in such a long time. M'name's Grace." As he listened to her speak, Zander thought about the manner in which she spoke Well, the way she speaks is different, but at the very least I can understand her, and that’s all that really matters because she is a human, an honest to gods human. With the thought in his mind, Zander replied, he had a reasonably friendly tone in his voice and smile on his face when he did so “Aye, it’s been quite a while since I last spoke with another human myself, and it’s nice to meet you Grace, my name is Zander… I don’t suppose you would like to get some tea?” After asking his question, Zander made his way over to the door of the tea shop and opened the door for Grace, should she decide that she wanted to get a drink with him.

[Grace Lechar]

“Aye, it’s been quite a while since I last spoke with another human myself, and it’s nice to meet you Grace, my name is Zander… I don’t suppose you would like to get some tea?” Grace nodded, trying to walk through the door as her name suggested. Jeno followed her in with little complaint, resuming his usual calmer manners. He seemed to know that when they entered any sort of establishment, it was his duty to sleep the entire time and not cause trouble. The aroma that hit her nostrils was a welcoming mixture of spices and sweeteners with the underlying bitter smell that herbal teas gave off. Grace turned to Zander as soon as she got in, a simple hand motion signaling the counter where they were supposed to order their tea. An older Konti stood behind the counter, sifting through herbs and making new brews. Grace turned her blue orbs to Zander and stepped forward not one for awkward silences or deciding who will order first. "Ya got somethin', uh, minty?"

"We've got mint. Would you like a mug?" The Konti asked Grace, and she nodded eagerly., casting a glance at Zander briefly, waiting for him to order. He seemed nice enough.

"So why are ya in Riverfall? You a merchant er somethin'?" Grace questioned him, peering sideways though her bangs. She reached a hand down to rub Jeno's head, the dog had plopped next to her, leaning his weight on her calf. Curious eyes did not drop his, waiting for an answer for her question. It occurred to her a little too late that she had just attached herself to the man. The thought of him being dangerous hadn't crossed her mind. In Syliras she never needed to worry about it, if anything did happen, there was a guarantee that a knight was just around the corner. Grace didn't know much about the justice system in Riverfall. Even though the blue men were far more polite than she was used to, she should have to keep her guard up a little more than she was used to. Normally, Grace would be talking a million miles a minute, but decided to wait. She wanted to know what this man was about before she told him anything about herself.

PC/NPC Talking -- Common -- Thoughts