Closed Swing You Partner Round and Round (Nivel & Autumn)

[Sayana]

Winter 8, 514 AV “Potatoes are nearly done!” Sayana called out to Remi who was in the pantry getting a few last minute ingredients for the meal ahead. The Eypharian gave the boiling potatoes one last poke with a fork before deciding they were soft enough to be taken off the heat. She grabbed a long iron rod with a hook to carefully lift the pot out of the hearth and place it on the table. She proceeded to scoop the potatoes out and mash them up while adding a bit of butter, some milk, and a bit of cinnamon. As the mixture got smooth and creamy, Sayana couldn’t help but give it taste. Her face lit up at the flavour. It was no wonder that Remi’s recipes were always well-received by the customers. But then the Eypharian remembered one last key ingredient. She quickly dashed to find the salt shaker and added in a few shakes. With another taste, she grinned and felt rather proud of her achievements. When Remi came back with her arms loaded with additional ingredients, she gave a smile quite pleased that Sayana had completed her simple cooking assignment. “Looks like you can do a thing or two around the kitchen. But off you go. Get yourself cleaned up. The show must go on.” The cook said fondly as she shooed the dancer out of the kitchen. The tavern was starting to get busy which could only mean one thing, that it was time to start the entertainment for the night. Sayana quickly returned the apron she had borrowed and gave her hands a quick wash in a basin. She carefully applied her red lip pomade, fixed up her hair, and made sure that all her clothes and props were in place. Props including a couple of shakers in her belt, a tambourine in her low hand, two pairs of finger cymbals in her pocket as well as her dagger and a knife in her belt. Busy of course, but she never knew when she might have to perform without the help of a musician. Just as she was fixing her long red sleeves so she might be a little warmer, since her blouse was rather revealing and left much of her stomach bare, Sayana caught sight of a familiar face amongst the crowds. With a swish of her long red skirt she sidestepped a chair here, a person there, and ducked under a beer mug to greet her friend. “Autumn! How good of you to come! Will you be performing tonight?” Sayana spoke fondly as she opened her arms inviting her friend in for a hug. To some it might have appeared a little eerie seeing all six arms spread wide in such a gesture but Sayana simply followed the typical “right over left” rule to avoid arms getting tangled up. OOCHope you don't mind Sayana noticing Autumn right away.

[Autumn Wilde]

It was still the beginning of the season and business for the buskers in the theater was slow. She had sat out playing many songs for most of the day and only had a meager amount of coin to sport. Rather disappointing, but she didn't let it get her down. The city would pay her what she was due in the end. The twins Binger and Alhon were just across from her, performing their own show. She chose a bad spot to be. When they were around they stole all of the potential customers.

A lot of their props were left out too. A box with a chain that Binger escaped from. Ropes and rings and staffs and several other items that were not familiar to Autumn. It was a lively area, and the musician was just providing background music. Amelia played her flute next to the boys as well. Autumn was no match for the much older, practiced musician and busker. She could never hope to compete.

Sighing, Autumn stood from her place and took the gea'tar off her shoulder. She picked up the small amount of coin in her case and placed it in her coin purse then in her bag. The gea'tar fit snug inside it's case after Autumn latched it shut then put it on her shoulder too. She had grown accustomed to the weight that always accompanied her in her travels.

It was getting late, which meant the Rearing Stallion tavern would start to get full. Maybe she would have more luck in a warmer place like that. Waving to the Sorian family across the street, Autumn walked out of the theater and headed back to the main gates where she would find the tavern and afterward, her apartment.

The streets were busy as always, people rudely bumped into her left and right, and she held tightly to her small bag. Even though it was a city with minor crime, she didn't want to risk anything.

The tavern came into view and Autumn hurried toward it, keeping her head down to keep some warmth in. She still hadn't gotten the hat and gloves she said she would.

Upon entering the packed room, she began to warm up immediately. She was right, there was quite a crowd here. It would be a good night to get some business. She started making her way further in, trying to get somewhere near the stage so she could play, when she heard her name called out.

She looked up and was a little taken aback by the colorful, jingly woman coming her way with six arms spread out to her. They embraced and Autumn took in the scent of the girl. She smelled nice, not like someone who hasn't bathed in a while.

"Hello Sayana, it's good to see you too." Autumn responded with a big smile, letting go of the dancer. She had been expecting to see the girl here.

"Yes I will be playing tonight. And I assume you will be dancing?" She noticed with amusement, taking in the girl's setup of clothing, or the lack of it, "I'll probably grab a drink to warm me up first, though!" She laughed again and then slowly started to make her way through the crowd toward the bar to get a mug of ale.

Autumn Wilde

[Nivel]

The constant training Nivel was doing lately was very draining, especially when it came to her flux training. It would be a while before she was used to the affects flux had on her body like she was with Auristics, she just needed to push herself through the difficult parts. She decided she wouldn’t go all out with her training this day like she usually did, she would only preform a light exercise and then do other less taxing endeavours for the rest of the day. The Pycon headed to the indoor portions of the training grounds since she didn’t want to become a frozen clay statue. The narrow corridors were full to the brim with sparing squires and their large armoured feet. It was a form of training of its own for Nivel to avoid being trampled by the many other squires but she managed to get through it all unscathed. The Pycon was lucky enough to find a vacant room full of broken statues and other wreckage. The mage didn’t want to be disturbed during her meditation and flux training so she climbed amongst the statues and found her own little sheltered cave that she could hide in. She started with the usual breathing exercises and stretching which were starting to become stagnant and boring but she didn’t know how to make them any more interesting. Even the training grounds was losing its ability to provide the pycon with excitement despite all the never ending action that filled the area. On the bright side it was fairly easy to remain focused when your attention wasn’t being drawn away by distraction. Nivel was able to get her mind calm and free of stray thoughts in no time, allowing her to start her real training. The gestures Nivel used to channel her magic were always more ridged and lacking fluidity compared to the ones used by all the other magical users she knew. It was the cause of a bit of insecurity for Nivel but her father and first magical instructor had always told her that magical gestures weren’t meant to look pretty, they just need to preform their job. The tiny mage never had problems channeling her died but always wondered if she would be alble to preform her magic with more skill if she had more flow to her gestures. Flux was all about moving inner streams of energy to were you wanted so it was sure to benefit from more fluidity. Nivel had finished the channeling process of her djed for the use in Flux magic successfully. Since she wanted to take it easy today, all she did was push the flow of the streams of energy with in her body back and forth a few times like the tide of the ocean. It may have not been a very complicated task but Nivel still felt a touch tired and even felt a faint ache in her nexus. With all she had been through with magic it was hardly anything Nivel would notice. With that completed she had a feeling she would spend the day sight seeing with her Kelvic mount Patcha. She headed back to her dorm room and slipped through the door to find Patcha laying on the small rug on the floor. The small dark haired Corgi woke up and rushed over to Nivel to greet her. She wagged her tail happily and Nivel petted her head in greeting. “Want to go for a ride Patcha?” Nivel asked with exaggerated inflection. Patcha shook her head up and down in affirmation and fetched the saddle. After a few moments of preparation they were off down the darkened hall ways of Syliras. The two had explored the city in great length throughout the day and eventually found themselves in the roaring stallion. This wasn’t Nivel’s first time in this location but she didn’t remember it being so lively before. This was definitely a place nivel would enjoy. As she rode her little mount through the crowds of people filling the establishment someone caught her eye. They had the same amount of limbs as the Aventis, the fellow squire she fought the Qamur with only a few days prior. She seemed a bit more glamorous than Aventis was and based on the way she embraced her friend more friendly too. Nivel coerced Patcha to head in the tall folks direction after her friend had left. “hello!” Nivel accompanied her cheerful greeting with an enthusiastic wave of her clawed tails. “Your arms are wonderful” The pycon lacked any kind of tact and just said what was on her mind.

[Sayana]

“Yes I will be playing tonight. And I assume you will be dancing?” “Of course,” Sayana replied and posed with a couple hands on her waist, one in her hair, and an arm extended elegantly in front of her. “What else would I be doing here? Other than listening to the lovely music you’re about to play.” Sayana added with a laugh. “I'll probably grab a drink to warm me up first, though!” Sayana gave a wave to her friend and then quickly called out, “Don’t forget that ale’s on the house for entertainers! Except for drunk fools dancing on tables.” With a chuckle she watched as Autumn headed for the bar. Tonight was going to be a good one. Even though she often tried to befriend the various bards who visited the tavern, there was nothing like already knowing the musician she’d be performing with. “Hello!” Said a soft feminine voice from below. Sayana glanced down and saw a delightful little dog and for a split second she thought it might have been a Kelvic dog who had learned to speak in animal form. But then Nivel’s tail wagging attracted her attention and she noticed the wee little figure upon the dog’s back. “Your arms are wonderful.” The little pinky brown creature said. “Why thank you,” the Eypharian replied with a smile. She opened out all six arms and made a show of moving each pair in and out with twisting and flowing movements. With another grin she crouched down and gave the dog a scratch behind the ear as she balanced on the balls of her feet. “And you little one, have a lovely little tail. Not to mention your ears.” Even though the comment was directed to the figure upon the dog’s back, she realized afterwards that it could be applied to either creature. Regardless, the tiny figure did have curious features. A little tail that seemed split in two, a thin human-like body, and a face with large ears and little spikes. Animal-like features, yet hardly an animal at all. And also, hardly a few inches tall. Not wanting to neglect the little dog she held out her mid hand palm up, either to be sniffed or licked. With another pat on the dog’s head, Sayana turned to the little figure on its back and asked, “So what’s your name? You remind me of the little statues that decorate the Garden of -- the gardens in Ahnatep.” She decided it would be best not to mention the Garden of Concubines since not everyone in Syliras would appreciate that line of work. OOC : Just as a comment, Sayana has six arms instead of Aventis’s mere four arms. She’s somewhat particular about that. And I hope her comment about statues doesn’t derail the potential friendship. I figure that it would be hard for pycons to survive the hot dry deserts and those that do would probably be slaves. I also figured that Eypharians would happily use them as decoration afterwards.

[Autumn Wilde]

"Don't forget that ale's on the house for entertainers! Except for drunk fools dancing on tables." Autumn heard Sayana call out as she headed toward the bar. The musician let out a lighthearted laugh and turned back to respond, "I'll keep that in mind!"

Still smiling, she turned back and pushed her way to the edge of the bar. Two barmaids were working tonight to accommodate how much business they were getting. At first Autumn tried to just wait her turn until she would be asked what she wanted, but it was no use. Men were constantly bickering at the women, shouting out catcalls and asking for a continuous line of drinks. Autumn pushed herself forward on the bar, and held her hand out, trying to grab the attention of the barmaid closest to her.

It took a few waves, but eventually one of the barmaids noticed and, looking a bit flustered, came rushing over to her.

"Hello, what can I get ya'?" She was nice enough, despite all of the rambunctious going-ons. Autumn shifted a bit, remembering what Sayana said, her gea'tar obvious upon her back.

"Hi there, I'll be performing tonight for the dancer, Sayana. I'll just get a mug of ale." She said it as nicely as she could, with a polite smile. The woman nodded and went to work finding a cup and filling it with the delicious, dark drink. She set the cup in front of Autumn and with a wink said, "It's a tough crowd, good luck."

Autumn nodded her thanks, and grabbed the cup, trying not to spill it despite everyone jostling her elbows. She took a sip and felt the wonderful liquid start to warm up her insides. It was always nice to have a drink at the end of the day, even though hers was really just starting.

She turned back and started looking around for her dancer friend, which wasn't too difficult as her clothing was the most colorful thing in the room. The only difference was she was crouching down, her attention directed to something or someone on the ground. Curiosity overcame Autumn and she started to make her way back to Sayana, sipping at her drink as she went.

Upon further inspection, she realized that the thing that had grabbed Sayana's attention was a small dog that she was petting. Why is there a dog in here? She thought. Autumn stopped, standing next to Sayana and looked at the creature standing there. It wasn't just a dog, but there was a small person upon the dog. A Pycon! She recalled the name of the little clay creature that could be found in the city, running around with their energetic little personalities. This one had big ears, like wings, growing out of the side of her head and two tails with spiked ends. A very curious creature, that was for sure.

Autumn didn't want to seem rude for just staring, so she smiled instead. This definitely wasn't a sight she saw everyday. Grandma would be blown away by all the new people I'm meeting. First an Eypharian, and now a Pycon. Surely two races she wouldn't have thought to meet had she never left Zeltiva.

Sayana had just finished telling the little creature something, Autumn only knew that it was something about gardens. She didn't want to interject in the Pycon's answer, and was intrigued to hear what it's voice would sound like.

Autumn Wilde

[Nivel]

OocEww Aventis only has 4 arms, I just assumed he had 6 because why wouldn't you have 6? I wouldn't worry about offending Nivel with a comment like that she wouldn't know about that kind of thing Nivel was mesmerized as the Tall folk performer began moving her arms about in in a stunning display. This dancer had more much more arms than Aventis and was far more confident in using them. Nivel wondered if maybe the four armed squire had 6 or maybe even 8 arms at one point but during a battle with some kind of monster he lost a bunch of his arms. The pycon knew that tall folk couldn’t grow limbs back and if Nivel lost one of her appendages for good she would certainly be upset. Her Nexus began to wander about, she began to question if Tall Folk were all born with multiple limbs and simply loose them as they grow older. Trees drop their fruit when it is ripe, or their leaves in the winter time and even animals shed their hair…maybe arms work the same way. Patcha being the shy creature that she was was hesitant at the touch from the women but quickly succumbed to the pleasure that came from having your chin scratched. The kelvic was used to being called cute every so often by one of the younger squires and pages who poked and prodded her but appreciated the comment on her tail and ears. Patcha had much more pride in her dog traits than her human traits, she was both human and dog but liked being a dog better. Patcha licked the woman's outstretched hand in appreciation which caught Nivel attention. “Oh Patcha seems to like you, she doesn’t usually like strangers” Nivel replied cheerfully with quick flap of her ears “It was probably because you complimented her tail, it’s her favourite feature.” Pycon’s mouth are mostly for show and don’t move to talk like other races, all the noise they make comes directly from their Nexus. This leads to a strange and unnatural sound to their voice, usually an octave lower than most would think of something so small. Nivel was no exception, while her voice was full of energy and undeniably feminine it was still fairly deep. As the conversation continued another tall folk female entered the picture. She had the usual two armed set up but she had pretty designs painted on them that made up for it. “Oh that's such a nice thing to say, but I’m not nearly ready to become a statue yet” The pycon said humbly “I still have so much to learn..I’m only three years old and I haven’t even become a knight yet and there’s so many things I need to learn….like who is this Ahnatep and why do they have pycon statues in their garden? And why do…” Nivels hands and tails went wild as she rambled on but she quickly halted to a stop when she realized she had forgotten something “Oh sorry I failed to introduce myself, I’m Nivel the mighty ma…Squire.” Nivel didn’t want to tell them she was a mage, especially with all that had been going on the last couple of seasons. “ -And this is my trusty companion Patcha” She gave a pat to the little dogs head. “What are your names?” She extended this invitation the Tall folk with the painted arms as well.

[Sayana]

Sayana smiled as the little dog licked at her hand and proceeded to give the dog a few more strokes and scratches with a second hand. She didn’t come across dogs that often in Ahnatep but the ones she did were usually quite friendly. Unless you counted the jackals, but those were quite different. It hadn’t even occurred to the Eypharian that Patcha might be Kelvic. The few Kelvic she had come across were typically grand creatures, since if an Eypharian had the money for a Kelvic slave, then they might as well go all the way and get an exotic one. The little brown figure atop the dog had a surprisingly deep voice for one so small. The fact that Nivel’s mouth didn’t move when she spoke escaped Sayana’s notice however, since it was quite a small mouth to begin with. But the little thing was cheerful and talkative, not to mention very animated with her ears and tail. Sayana glanced up as she noticed Autumn approach but then turned back to the little brown figure as it excitedly chattered on about statues, knights, who is Ahnatep, and finally introductions and names. The Eypharian chuckled softly at the figure’s realization that she hadn’t introduced herself. “Nivel, the mighty little squire. And Patcha, your sweet little dog.” Sayana reiterated to remember the names of the adorable little pair. “And I’m Sayana. And this over here is my friend Autumn.” The Eypharian introduced with a gesture to her friend. A bright grin crossed Sayana’s face and she added, “Autumn will be playing tonight. So you’ll be in for quite a treat Nivel.” The Eypharian got to her feet and stretched out her legs bringing circulation back into them. She glanced down at the small pair. Perhaps… “Do my two little customers need a seat higher up?” Sayana asked, directing the question to Nivel. “I mean, I’m sure my feet and toes are pretty but you’d be missing out on the rest of my dancing. Maybe a chair or table would suit you well.” Sayana then turned to her musician friend. “Autumn, we should probably start getting warmed up. I can’t wait to hear what sorts of songs you’ll be playing.” Her feet itched to get back up on the familiar dais. Though she’d happily help out her little customer get settled.

[Autumn Wilde]

Autumn smiled at Nivel when Sayana introduced her. The two were quite the cute pair and it would be nice to have them in the audience tonight. People were still filing into the tavern with their coats wrapped tightly around their bodies to keep the warmth in. It was a delightful sight that they wouldn't be performing for a small group tonight, and also a little nerve-wracking. Although Autumn loved crowds and being part of the attention, there was always the chance that she could mess up and it wouldn't bode over well with the rhythm of Sayana's dancing. She would just have to be extra careful tonight.

"Autumn, we should probably start getting warmed up. I can’t wait to hear what sorts of songs you’ll be playing." Sayana stated after offering to give the small pair a seat higher for a better vantage point. It was a good point. Sayana probably needed to do some stretching exercises and the gea'tar might need to be tuned. Autumn nodded and with a smile she turned to the Pycon.

"I'm sure you'll like what I'll be playing tonight. I've got some exciting songs from my home city up my sleeve." She finished with a wink her way then rested her hand lightly on Sayana's top arm, "Good luck up there tonight." She sent some good vibes and tried to give off an air confidence, even though she knew the dancer probably didn't need it, and then strode away to a spot off to the side of the raised dais.

The drink in her hand was refreshing and lifted her spirits, making her head feel light and carefree. Like there was nothing that could stop her tonight. She was definitely in a different mood now than when she had been out by the theater. For one, it was much warmer here and she didn't fear for the safety of her fingers. The crowd here was much larger and she had a better chance of attracting the right kind of attention. Even if she did have to share the spotlight.

Autumn sat in one of the few wooden chairs that were left over here and brought her gea'tar case round to the front of her. She clicked the latches open and took a few seconds to view the wonderful marvel inside. It really was a beautiful instrument. The design itself was flawless, with next to no visible scratches, leaving the flowery design intact. The main color of the body was a shiny black which made the bright red and white flowers contrast much better.

The musician picked the gea'tar out of the case and then set the case on the floor. Resting the crook of the gea'tar on her right leg, she began picking at some of the strings to ensure that everything was still properly tuned. For the most part, it was. She had tuned it earlier before playing in the theater so there wasn't much she needed to fix.

There was a table a few feet in front of the dais, at which sat a large woman in a common, unflattering dress and two burly men, one with a large beard and the other with a shaven head and a slight stubble. They were talking and laughing amongst themselves, revealing the considerable lack in teeth they all had. They obviously had a dismal education as their words were for the most part in the wrong context and they were slurring everything together. Although that might just be from the amount of liquor they had consumed already. Empty mugs sat in abundance on the table.

Autumn watched them for a while, not realizing that she had been watching them, when suddenly the woman turned and stared directly at her. Usually Autumn wasn't one for scaring easily at the sight of people, but the way the woman was staring made the breath stop in Autumn's throat.

"Whatchu starin' at, bard?" She spat at Autumn in a rather rude tone. The way she said "bard" made it sound like an insult. The musician was caught off guard and was speechless for a few seconds, flopping her mouth like a fish, coming up empty. The bald man took this as an opportunity to speak up.

"Betchu she ain't e'en be singin' nuffin' good. She can't e'en talk!" He exclaimed and they all fell into an exaggerated fit of laughter. It was quite disgusting actually. Still, the pressure was on now that she knew they were expecting something. She decided to keep her mouth shut and just wait for Sayana to come over and take the stage. She had had a few ideas in mind as to what to play, but now she wasn't so sure that these people would appreciate some foreign music. Still, it was all Autumn knew. She really needed to go back to the street musician, Sina, and ask her about some of the local tunes.

Autumn Wilde

[Nivel]

“Oh Autumn is my favourite season!” Nivel blurted out upon hearing the performers names “I also like saying Say-aa-Na, it has a nice right to it.” The pycon knew she would like the performance she was about to experience based solely on the vibes she was getting from the two. It made her tails bounce and quiver a bit in anticipation as she continued the conversation. “You do have wonderful toes but yes a higher location would be much appreciated” Nivel replied “I want to see a real dancer in action so I can learn a few things to maybe spice up my… uh fighting skills” Dancing was bound to help Nivel at least a little bit in a scrap but she really wanted it for magic. Although she wasn’t sure why she really needed a reason, dancing just sounded fun. It was unlikely that the two would question dancing being used to support fighting but it still sounded odd to her. Her mild concern was washed away in an instant when Autumn began talking about the songs she had prepared from her home city that she had some how stuffed in her sleeve. The pycon figured it was just an expression but it made her wonder if some magic users out there really could stuff music into there sleeves to bring out at any moment. It would be great at a party or even as a momentary diversion to summon music out of no where. While Nivel pondered the musician left to get her instrument ready and Nivel waved her left ear as she parted. Autumn looked back at the pycon and closed one of her eyes, which was confusing to Nivel but she did her best to return the favour. Nivel’s wink was more like a twisted facial spasm than anything else but the pycon was sure that she had gotten it right. Nivel turned back to Sayana “I think I wanna try dancing on this table..is that okay” Nivel asked out of no where “I’m really excited about tonight, I just know its going to be fun.” It wasn’t hard to tell that the squire was genuine in her statements, the energy in her voice and movements said it all. Nivel looked down at her furry mount “don’t you think so too Patcha?” The Kelvic nodded her head reluctantly, Patcha wasn’t nearly as excited as Nivel was and was unlikely to do any dancing. Patcha just wanted to listen to the music and hoped that her clay companion didn’t push to hard for her to join in on her plans.

[Sayana]

“I'm sure you'll like what I'll be playing tonight. I've got some exciting songs from my home city up my sleeve. Good luck up there tonight.” “Can’t wait to hear it. Good luck to you as well.” Sayana answered and gave a wave as Autumn left to get ready. The dancer couldn’t help but chuckle as the little creature scrunched up her face to mimic Autumn’s wink. Usually it was only children who made such faces when attempting to wink, but maybe Nivel was only a child of her race and that’s why she was so small. However, the moment Nivel started talking about dancing on the table Sayana perked up. She bit her tongue to let the pycon finish, but was suddenly fascinated about how a little creature might dance and whether they might be able to do tricks or flips with the help of someone like herself. “Ooh! A little dancing puppet!” Sayana exclaimed the moment Nivel was finished. Without even thinking she bent down and picked up the little pycon from her mount. She was suddenly very surprised by the texture and feel of the tiny figure. Nivel was fairly light as the Eypharian would have expected, but she was soft and almost fleshy. She also felt slightly cool, maybe from being outdoors, and oddly moldable. It was a strange sensation, rather like the texture of clay before it became pottery. After Sayana’s momentary lapse as she took in all the peculiarities of the little creature, she came to and placed Nivel upon the nearest table. “See? Much better view from here. And I can even twirl you around. Just push your hand against my finger and…” The Eypharian carefully held a finger just above Nivel but well within arm’s reach. And should the little pycon follow her suggestion, Sayana would be able to move her finger in tight circles and spin the squire round and round. It was the solid contact between Nivel’s hand and Sayana’s finger that could make this work really well. The Eypharian was really starting to like this eccentric clay lady and afterwards she scooped up Nivel again in one of her high hands. “Let’s go see Autumn by the stage. She’s probably ready with her gea-tar now.” The next moment Sayana had placed Nivel on top of her head and held the clay being tenderly with her two high hands so that the squire wouldn’t fall. “Now that’s a better view,” Sayana said with a laugh and dashed across the tavern to join Autumn by the dais. Betchu she ain't e'en be singin' nuffin' good. She can't e'en talk! As Sayana approached her friend, with Nivel still on her head, she caught the tail end of the conversation and the laughter that followed. “Are you making fun of the musicians again?” Sayana asked as she addressed the man who had last spoken. “I bet you can’t even sing a song drunk.” “At least I don’t dance like a harlot,” the woman sneered. “Well at least I’m pretty enough to be a harlot… I don’t think I could say the same about you,” the dancer countered. She then turned her focus to Autumn and asked, “Are we ready?” OOCNivel, let me know if I'm picking up/moving your character too much.