[Housing]A Home of My Own (Seth)

[Cassandra Coven]

Timestamp: 5th of Spring, 511 AV Location: Tarsin's Boarding House Cassandra opened the door slowly and with exaggerated care, peeking at the interior before deciding to slip inside. She had never been to the Boarding House before and initially had misgivings about coming to the place, fearful of what kind of crowd she might encounter. But after only seeing an old man writing on a large tome at the front desk, her mind was set at ease. She approached, trying to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible so as not to surprise the receptionist. He did not seem to take notice of her however, even when she stood right before him, his head still bowed over the book. Resisting the urge to ring the bell within a hand's reach from her, Cassandra cleared her throat instead. "Hi," she began, putting on her most dazzling smile for the old man's benefit as she leaned over the counter to give him a generous view of the cleavage exposed by her loosely buttoned blouse. She knew how easily men, no matter the age, could be manipulated by her obvious charms. "I was looking to get a room for a somewhat long term stay, and your establishment seems to offer the best view and most convenient location for me. I don't suppose you could give me some sort of discount on your rates, could you? After all, you'll be getting a guaranteed source of income for a quite a while from my stay..." Her smile widened, bright and hopeful.

[Seth]

"What the petch!" The man jerked backwards as Cassandra spoke. He had been in the position to be studying the ledger in front of him, but instead, as Cassandra seemed to have missed... he had been asleep. When her throat had cleared, and so close to him... it had startled him awake, and shocked him even more to see someone so darn close. Cassandra would know it better than about anyone else. You don't let anyone get close to you in Ravok. Especially not when you were asleep. The man caught his breath quickly, and flushed a bright red as he realized it was just a young girl. He interrupted her bright smile and syrupy words, shooting a glare at her, giving her a few angry words in reprieve. "Sneaking up on me? That is sure the best way to go about getting a petching room. Shyke. I am guessing you are wanting a-" The man cut off, and as he got a better look at her face, his own features went slack. He blinked a little bit, and leaned forward, studying her closely. Even though her cleavage was exposed, he was a man who seemed completely oblivious to it. For once. Instead, his eyes were searching the details of her face. Then, just as quickly as he had begun to study her, he leaned back, fear now overcoming his features. Fear. What was there to be scared of? Clearing his throat loudly, he grabbed for his ledger and pen, his voice shaking when it came out. It was a slight tremble, but it was there. "A room? Right? You can have one. We have some open. Here are the costs-" He flipped the ledger around, pointing it out on the front page. "-so what do you think you want? I will set you up right away." He was avoiding eye contact now. He kept his head ducked the entire time. Would it be oddly empowering for Cassandra, or perhaps sad and disturbing?

[Cassandra Coven]

The man's initial reaction came as no surprise to Cassandra when she realized that she had caught him napping. As he settled on her features however, the fear that seeped into his eyes were unmistakable. The dark-haired barmaid wondered, somewhat worriedly, what it was she did that could have elicited that kind of reaction from him. She thought it best not to take notice of it for now. It was the polite thing to do, surely. "Well, yes...a room. As I said, I was hoping to get one on a semi-permanent basis. If you have one available, I'd like one on the second floor. Perhaps overlooking the lake? I can pay now, of course." She watched him clutch as his quill with trembling fingers, and Cassandra could not hold her concern in any longer. "Are you alright, sir? You look like you've seen a ghost. "I'm sorry if I startled you..." She moved as if to touch him, reaching out to still his quaking hands.

[Seth]

He hurriedly jerked his hands away from hers, peering at her with a mixture of fear and anger, shaking his head hurriedly. "Don't touch me. Just figure out what petching room you want, and I will be happy to give it to you. I have had enough of your type here in the past few years to understand what happens if I get too deeply involved. I just want you to choose a petching room, and go make merry in it." He turned a board behind him, one filled to the brim with hanging keys. Picking one off the rack, he turned and tossed it down on the countertop. "There you go. That is the key to a room that overlooks the lake. It is a common room, so it isn't that expensive either, but is just nice enough for a lady like... yourself." Hurrying through the motions, the man grabbed a piece of parchment with a quill and ink from underneath his desk, and slid it at Cassandra, chewing his lower lip nervously, never making eye contact with her. "Just fill out some basic information about yourself. Just for my records. Name... occupation... just the basics." He was talking pretty fast, and trying to hurry it along. It was a mystery as to why he would do such a thing.

[Cassandra Coven]

Cassandra pulled her hands back up immediately, patting the air in an attempt to pacify the man's outrageous reaction. She still did not know what it was she did to have that effect on him, and his words only ended up confusing her further. My type...? Gingerly, she picked up the key and clutched it close to her chest, looking somewhat guiltily at the man as if she'd done something untoward against him. Taking her money pouch with her free hand, she fished out enough coin to pay the rent of her room for three months. Thinking that the man would not take them from her hand, Cassandra placed the coins on the counter and slowly pushed them towards him. "I'm paying the rent in advance for the whole season, but I'll be purchasing the room come summer. If that's alright." Taking the quill, she signed her full name on the parchment with a flourish, putting a little heart at the end as a personal signature. She added the other details below it, writing her occupation as barmaid of the Silver Sliver Tavern. She included the address of the tavern for good measure, even though everyone in Ravok knew where the popular pub was. "I'm sorry for whatever it is I did," she again once more, haltingly. "I'm not here to make trouble... "If you happen into the Silver Sliver, I could get you a free drink. In fact, I insist! I don't want to have some sort of bad air between me and my landlord," she added, smiling with the hope that the old man would take her up on her offer. Ledger : Rent: 60gm OOC: I will deduct the full 500gm from my ledger next season.

[Seth]

Even when she looked so pathetic and guilty, he did nothing to try and retract his words and attitude of earlier. He simply stood there, his head down, his eyes staring at the desk beneath him. His hands fiddled nervously with each other, the old and wrinkled fingers dancing back and forth. When she spoke about paying the rent and buying the room, he nodded, quickly speaking under his breath. "500 mizas. You will have to pay in full." As she finished the paper, he snatched it out from under her hands, but didn't dare to go for the pen she was still holding. As she offered her apology and tried to make up to him, he went still, continuing to stare down at the desk. Then, his head snapped up, and he fixed his cold blue eyes upon her beautiful figure. The man leaned forward quickly, getting as close to her as he could. He would flicnh away if he moved toward her, but for now, he was going to give in to her apologies. Her genuine sorrow had worked on him, at least for a few moments. "Listen, and listen well." His voice was a low whisper, barely hearable. "Be careful. You are already too closely wrapped up in it all, but please, keep your wits about you. You seem like a nice person. A really nice person. He was too. Once." With that, he stepped back from the counter, turning away from her. He started to rearrange the keys on the board behind him, something that seemed to be a totally useless task. "We are done here. You have your room. Just come see me when you want to buy." He had left her coins untouched. Who knew if he would eventually pick them up.

[Cassandra Coven]

The man’s sudden approach caught Cassandra off-guard and she drew back with a start as he leaned in close. She did not really think her words would sway him when he had seemed so withdrawn earlier. Was he going to take her up on her offer? But no, he did not, whispering instead words she could not quite grasp. Wrapped up in what? And who was the ‘he’ the man referred to – was it someone she knew? In her line of work, she knew a lot of people and she could not begin to imagine whom the old man meant. She knew a lot of nice people, her employers among them. Did he mean Papa? Cassandra opened her mouth to ask but the man had already turned away and by all appearances he was intent on ignoring her. He did not even take her payment from the countertop. She hoped nobody would sneak in while he had his back turned and palm the coins. “Um, thanks again,” she said, raising the key as if in salute. Since the man showed no interest in acknowledging her further, Cassandra did not wait for his reply, not wanting to impose or make him any more uncomfortable, and made her way up the stairs instead. Reaching the second floor, the dark-haired woman checked at the numbers on each door until she found the one that matched the number on her key. Inserting it in the keyhole, she opened the door to take a peek at her new home. It was a simple square room – ‘common’, as the man downstairs had told her – with a bunk bed, a chest and a table, with its accompanying chairs, only large enough to accommodate two for dinner. A metal chamber pot would be seen just under the bed. Cassandra hoped it was clean and empty. The place was pretty much similar to the room she had shared with her mother back in Syliras: bare and almost empty. The only difference was the tall windows that opened to a view that overlooked Lake Ravok. At least the place would not be stuffy, unlike rooms in Stormhold Castle. Taking her key and shutting the door behind her, Cassandra moved to open one of the windows and noticed that the curtains that framed them were frayed, matching the sheet covers and pillowcases on the bed. “Shopping tomorrow then,” she said resolutely, going on to check the quality of the furniture. -fin-

[Seth]

Cassandra: + 1 Persuasion XP Lores: Something is Wrong at the Silver Sliver... The Method behind my Madness : You get a Persuasion XP for trying to make nice with the poor man! You seemed to use both it and Seduction in the very beginning, but soon, you became concerned for his wellbeing... and just tried to persuade him into a better mood, like the nice girl you are! When you aren't shanking poor Isurians, at least. <3 Yay! You have a house! I am hoping that you are pretty curious about this slowly developing mystery!