Back Alleys and New Friends

[Sarai Naavah]

The shorts were much more comfortable though she barely looked at the visible scratches along her thighs from her near fall to the ground between buildings. It was only natural for her to stiffen the moment he started reaching a hand towards her leg but curiously she watched him pause in his intention to attend to her leg. His voice relaxed her shoulders that she hadn’t realized she stiffened and she simply let out a soft sound in acknowledgement to his words so he knew it was okay to do whatever he was going to do. She didn’t think they were that bad but if he had medical training, which she definitely did not have, she would trust him and what he said because if she got sick then she couldn’t hunt and if she couldn’t hunt well then she wouldn’t earn her wages. Sarai breathed out slowly, a frown crossing her lips when he tied the pants she was trying to rid herself of around the scrapes though she’d nod to him lightly when he spoke again. “Okay, I will be sure to wash it Matthew. Thank you.” Her voice was soft and whispered since he was so close but the moment he stood up again she followed suit and then proceeded to lead them across two more gaps as if she didn’t have a care in the world. When she collapsed again on the edge of the roof allowing her legs to dangle freely over the side she pulled one leg up and began running her fingers deep into the muscles of her calves which burned like fire. There was no need to fill the silence; the leopard was comfortable in it so she simply enjoyed the company as she massaged her own leg slowly trying to loosen the muscles as she did so. When he finally spoke she turned her gaze on him and shrugged a shoulder lightly with a lopsided grin. “I’m not bored, I’m enjoying you teaching me. Thank you.” She switched legs then, this time resting her other one in a curled position so she could easily access it with her fingers running them from her feet to the base of the make-shift bandage he created her. “Where do you go swim?” She didn’t know if he was asking her to go swimming but she was definitely curious on where this swimming would take place in case she wanted to visit it in the future herself and try out the leisurely activity. She could float, that was the extent of her swimming but that was fine with her as long as she could breathe she was happy. The silence would stretch again; she wasn’t the best at conversation either so the pauses between her questions were long as they rested. “Are you from Zeltiva? I grew up here. I hunt things for people to eat.” She tried to give him a bit of information about her, an exchange of sorts really despite it not being the smoothest attempt at letting someone know about you. Pushing up on her hands with her question she let the balls of her feet precariously press close to the edge of the roof before she stood up and offered him a hand if he wanted to get up. “Would you like to swim now? Or jump more? How sore are you?” Whether he took her hand or not she’d begin picking at one of the tied pieces of fabric around her thigh without much thought to the action, she didn’t like the confining feel of them.

[Matthew]

He was the sort who probably annoyed his companions when it came to medical attention. Matthew felt that every single little scrape and bump needed proper first aid. Even if there was only one in one thousand chances that a tiny little scrape would become infected, that was still one chance. Why risk it when only a few moments could be spared to properly care for such minor wounds? He also felt the basics of his craft were always good to practice. He wanted the simple things to be second nature, something he felt would form quite a solid foundation for further evolving his knowledge on the craft. Master the basics and then master a focus. Wasn't that how medicine worked? It wasn't his career though, so he supposed a focus wouldn't be required of him. He had no plans to ever open up a clinic of his own.

Her brief moment of discomfort was noted, an almost stern look tossed her way as if warning her the consequences that would befall her if she disregarded his firm advice and opened the scrape back up the air again. She seemed agreeable though, nodding and speaking softly, causing the Harlot to return her nod with a polite and satisfied one of his own. It was odd how she felt like a handful but wasn't actually causing any sort of trouble. Perhaps he was just sensing her potential for being a handful.

She was up and off without a moment of hesitation in her step. He watched her for a few moments and then quickly hurled himself after her, legs quickly beginning to burn as he threw himself from rooftop to rooftop. He most certainly wasn't graceful, but hopefully grace would come later. For now he was just needing to get used to jumping in the proper way and landing in a way that absorbed the impact of his fall. If he was to practice this sort of thing quite often he would have to be wary of doing any sort of long-lasting damage to his knees. He knew that such injuries were rather good at lying dormant and then sneaking up on someone in the later years of their life. Once he was comfortable with it he would have to practice turning a landing into a swift roll. The move would cause even less stress on his body and allow him to seamlessly roll up into another sprint, only aiding his momentum and helping him safely cross further gaps. Matthew's mind was quite full of such thoughts as he ran, the two gaps cleared in the blink of an eye. It was how he had always been. His mind picked apart whatever it was that he was learning at the moment, examining it from a variety of angles even in the midst of performing practiced actions.

He collapsed beside of her, breathing hard and catching the way that she massaged her legs out of the corner of his eye. It was a rather good idea and he quickly followed her example, slowly rubbing his fingers into the sore flesh of his calf muscles, putting what little massage skills he knew to use. "There is a small beach within walking distance of the city. It is out in the open and Zeltiva is easily seen, so it seems to be a safe place to swim. I practice there." He briefly thought back to a time seasons ago when he hadn't been at all trained in swimming and had foolishly been caught in a riptide. It had been quite the educational experience. He absentmindedly kneaded at what felt like knots in his muscles, though he assumed the tightness was probably just from where his worn legs were flexing and clenching. He'd have to be careful to not pull a muscle.

Matthew was not at all awkward with comfortable silence, not attempting to start any sort of conversation with her as they rested. She eventually filled the silence with a simple question, Matthew tilting his head to glance over at her. "I am. I was born and raised in Zeltiva. I attended school here for awhile before moving on to other places. When you say you hunt things, I assume you mean things like rabbit and deer? I have been trying to learn how to cook so I might very well have a use for your services. What are your prices?" He took her hand, mostly using the muscle in his lean legs to push himself upright, not wanting to tug her down with his worn-out weight. "Don't pick at your bandages." He corrected her thoughtless motions, forcing her attention to it and making her very aware that he had his eye on her and her 'wound'. "I am sore, but I can still practice more. We can jump more here, or we could practice our jumps and our swimming. I often practice flipping and rolling into the water, as the soft sand and cool liquid softens the fall if I make any mistakes in my attempt at acrobatics."

[Sarai Naavah]

Sarai Naavah Sarai smiled when she saw Matthew rubbing his own legs beside her, she wasn’t sure if he was doing it because she was or not but it still made her feel like she was helping somehow. She continued to work her own fingers into her muscles she working the flesh and not really knowing what else she was doing other than that because it made her muscles feel better. “I didn’t know we had a beach.” She offered lightly with a tilt of her head, for all her exploring she couldn’t believe she never found the beach! She wiggled from side to side slightly as she thought about being on a beach, maybe she’d enjoy it? Maybe she could swim there as a leopard and catch fish? Possibilities opened up to her and she flicked her gaze to him briefly to offer a smile before she brought up if he was from Zeltiva. So he was from here but he moved around to other places, she was just learning about other places from people and that thought was exciting. “Where was your favorite place?” She smiled and then nodded at his question “Yes, I hunt for rabbits and deer. Foxes are my favorite.” She grinned brightly to herself, very proud she finally learned the name of what those little red creatures were. Moving to stand up she gripped his hand as he let her help him up though he was either very light or doing most of the work on his own, either way it was nice of him to pretend to let her help. “You are helping me…” she chewed her bottom lip briefly before nodding as she thought over her pricing for him “…with the jumps and we’re going to go swimming, so I’ll just catch you something. What do you like?” Sarai hadn’t even noticed she had been picking at her bandages so when he verbally stopped her from toying with it she jerked her hand away and crossed them beneath her chest. Her hands had a mind of their own so she would try to keep them away from the wounds for now so he didn’t get mad at her. “Yes, let’s go swimming and practice there, I think that should be fun.” She nodded and started looking for a way down to the ground as she spoke again “What do you cook? Do you enjoy it?” She wasn’t much of a cooker, typically she just ate when she was hunting and that made her happy enough and was less complicated then figuring out what spices to use or how much to cook her food while in human form. The leopard circled the roof, not wanting to jump to another one, until she found a small balcony protruding out from the building below them. She would wave Matthew over and nod down to it “It’s not a ladder … but it could do.” She gave no thought to the fact that someone might be in the room below them and might not appreciate them climbing onto their balcony, instead she just lowered her body into a crouch with her back facing outward and her hands gripping the ledge of the roof. She glanced up at Matthew only briefly and then she slid one leg down the side of the building until it was completely straight and then the other followed suit making her body drop quickly and her stomach to catch her half way down. With only her legs over the side the kelvic took a deep breath to calm the pounding in her ears from the sudden drop and then she slowly let her arms take over her weight. Her legs would scrape along the side of the wall but not hard enough to leave any marks and then her head would disappear and only her hands would be supporting her weight as she hung in place. Looking down behind her she tried to gauge how much space between her feet and the floor of the balcony before she dropped bending her knees as she fell so that it would cause less damage. With a grunt she hit the floor of the balcony and then moved out to the edge of the wall and began repeating the process to the floor of the ally she was descending into. It was a slow process because her limbs were tiring and she was short so she was trying to cause herself as little fall damage as possible but finally she was on the ground. She’d back up out of the way if Matthew wasn’t down yet while she leaned against the wall to support herself as she brushed her hands off of the stinging pain from her falls and of the dirt that had been there from the roof ledges. “I definitely think swimming would hurt less.” She grinned at him then and waited for him to lead the way to the beach that she was so curious to find.

[Matthew]

Matthew shrugged, a very brief and casual upwards motion of his defined shoulders. "We have a few beaches. Nothing particularly amazing unless you have never really been to one before. Just salty water and white sand, sometimes old rotted wood washed up." He nipped at his lower lip, crouching one knee and then the other, still feeling a few kinks here and there that needed some working out. He was already planning his next journey across the rooftops, blue eyes plotting out a path just in case she decided that she wanted to continue with this particular activity. Her next question caused him to pause a bit, being a question that he couldn't actually remember encountering before. His favorite place? Did he even have a favorite? He put some thought into it, eyebrows dipping as he furrowed his brow and shuffled through his memories of past places. There was a brief lull of silence and then he slowly shook his head, bright blue stare completely blank as he gazed at her. "I don't think I really have a favorite."

And the questions kept on coming. He didn't actually mind this, it was just very different from what he was used to. Normally he was the one asking questions, the one who was having to learn certain facts in order to feel like he was successfully fitting in. Each of her questions were carefully listened to, then the young man would pause for a few moments to think through his answers before finally delivering them in that soft and somewhat distant tone of his. "As for cooking, I am still learning. I can't think of any one thing in specific that I cook. I enjoy the learning process of it, yes. I usually enjoy learning just about anything that I do not know."

He hesitated, head throbbing. Something was buzzing in the back of his brain, like a fly that was on the inside. The Harlot briefly winced and then it went away, magically cured by nothing more than a few ticks of time.

When she pointed out the balcony, he had opened his full lips to warn her that someone might actually be occupying the room that the balcony was attached to when she just went ahead and hopped down. No surprised shouts or screams followed her descent, so he figured it was safe to assume that they wouldn't be invading on any sort of privacy. He watched her go down and then followed her himself, slowly climbing down and paying very cose attention to where he put his hands and feet. There were several things for even his novice climbing self to grab onto, so it really only took an ample amount of time. The burning in his legs and arms started up again but he was able to ignore it, instant relief coming the very chime that his boots touched to the balcony. He repeated the process again, body starting to burn just in time for him to relieve it by finally reaching the ground.

His brain throbbed and buzzed again.

"I apologize for this, but my head has suddenly began to hurt. Would you mind if I postponed our little outing? Where would I be able to find you in the future so I can take you out swimming, and just in case I need some hunting done?" He lifted a few fingers, rubbing the digits to his forehead, attempting to massage away the rather mysterious ache.

[Perplexity]

You have played well, but the game is at an end.

You have been bested. Beaten. Checkmate!

However, here is a consolation prize: a wealth of Experience and Lores! If you have any questions or concerns regarding this grade, please do not hesitate to send me a PM. I'll be more than happy to assist you!

 

Matthew

XP

• Running | +4 EXP
  Endurance | +4 EXP
  Bodybuilding | +3 EXP
  Acrobatics | +5 EXP
  Climbing | +3 EXP
  Medicine | +1 EXP

LORES

• Acrobatics (Freerunning): Roof Hopping
  Acrobatics: Rolling Stop
  Climbing: The Logistics of Scaling A Wall

MISCELLANEOUS

• Matthew is so logical. It's very amusing.

Until Our Next Match,
-Perplexity, DS of Zeltiva
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