Nyka did sound an awful lot like Sunberth. It made him feel sort of sad that there was another city like that out there. He’d held out hope that Sunberth was a fluke, that otherwise humanity tended towards the betterment of others but perhaps that was part of his delusion. He’d been given pieces here and there of what life was like in other cities outside of Sunberth on the way here, and now he realized just how incomplete that picture was. There was always a seedy underbelly, Sunberth just didn’t bother hiding it. Well, perhaps not always he thought when he considered Syka. Though that could be just because the settlement was still young, and relatively small so it hadn’t had the time to develop such things. He nodded at Shade’s sentiment though. It was a feeling he too had grown up with, something that felt almost ingrained into who he was. Cleon had hoped it would go the way of some of the other feelings he’d left behind in that wretched place, but no, it was still there, a hint of paranoia to it.
“I get that. I suppose there is a silver lining to my curse after all because I haven’t had much time to dwell on that. My.. Well.. I’m so used to my feelings not matching up with my thoughts that I’ve had to set some ground rules that I stick to when I lose all sense of myself. Simple stuff like do no harm, and making sure my sister eats regularly. Stuff I can hold onto even when up looks a lot like down, y’know?” Cleon said, not sure if he was really making any sense. It was hard to encapsulate just how he was feeling on a day to day basis existing alongside his curse. Most of his joy was so tied up in sating these empty desires that left him feeling worse off in the end. He could realize this now because he had been through this cycle once already when he was much younger and trying to bottle up a pain he didn’t, couldn’t comprehend.
He was glad when they moved on to a slightly lighter note, namely the subject of a woman that still stirred up funny feelings within him to this day. The way they had left things in the pool, well it just didn’t sit right with him. She seemed to think she knew something about the curse, or at least, that was what she had alluded to. If only he could find her again to ask her for clarity, but alas he didn’t feel exactly comfortable asking Shade about that now. Not until he knew more about how they knew each other. Cleon didn’t want to give the wrong idea after all as a particular aspect of his curse had made its rounds thoroughly across the community by now.
“She is very beautiful.” Cleon admitted, and found himself leaning forward slightly, interested in hearing what the man had to say. It didn’t exactly line up with the impression he had been left of with here. Parts of it did, but then again their encounter had been brief, and left off on a little bit of a vulnerable note. She was pretty headstrong though, that he could agree with as she seemed to have no problem putting him through the motions of helping her swim. A funny little visit that, one that left him with far more questions than he had answers for in that moment.
As the conversation passed over the talk of the Konti people, and through Shade’s own experience with his curse they once again settled back on Syka which was outside of the general life experience both of them had. Cleon was just as intrigued to hear about Shade’s own thoughts on the subject as since he got here, he had stumbled upon quite a few strange and unexplainable things. Shade’s words seemed to pluck just the right notes too, echoing opinions Cleon hadn’t even realized he held.
“I think you’re right about that. I need to start making up my own mind about how I feel about all of this, and soon so I can make sure I’m staying on the right path for my sister’s sake. It would just be helpful if I didn’t have this petching curse meddling with the process.” Cleon said with a twisted grin, spinning a lazy finger around his temple as they continued on, and the focus shifted onto Kyle.
Questioning Kyle was far more difficult than he anticipated. Not because the child was obstinate and not answering their questions. Quite the opposite actually, he gave too much information interjected with opinions and anecdotes that Cleon had to scramble to make sense of. Lexi had a big secret, Luke was off claiming to be a snake and.. Oh, Senora’s eyes changed color? Why would that.. There was something there, something he should be remembering but it was lost as Kyle continued on with his rant. He didn’t much care for his tidbit about Dalton and Axim, passing over it quickly as he went to talk about Brea. Royalty? Well that was interesting, but again not really what they were looking for unless Brea was on a special mission though that didn’t make much sense to him. It was too elaborate, too complicated and too convenient for it to be outed by something like talking in her sleep. Perhaps he was being too obtuse but he didn’t think Brea was the culprit. She would have done something to make Shade look bad if she had been, because already she had been in a position to translate for him and cause issues if that was the case.
Cleon pushed Kyle harder as he stifled a grimace. He was beginning to thoroughly dislike this boy who reminded him vaguely of a boy he had known back in Sunberth. His ears did perk up at the mention that Tori was a Konti, though that was interesting for a different reason altogether. Something to pursue at a future point when time was not of the essence. Kyle was proving to be quite the venomous little orphan that was really not so little. Cleon pushed him harder, and regretted that he had not gleaned more from the boy’s mind. He seemed so ready to out everyone else’s baggage while keeping his own secrets to himself. Not for the first time, it occurred to him that they might have the culprit right here, but he decided not to follow that thought through to its logical conclusion because he didn’t like their chances if that was the case. Not to mention the bad sort of energy thinking such thoughts might bring.
At a gentle prodding from Shade the boy continued on with his tirade. The bit about Kelton didn’t particularly interest him, though Darcey’s story did but again like with Tori, that was something that would have to wait. There wasn’t enough time for such idle pursuits, and Cleon felt a pressing need to get answers to what was ailing Syka. Finally there was Julian whom apparently was an ex slave. As he pushed the boy higher, he wondered what he was supposed to do with all of these pieces. Lexi, Axim, Dalton, and Julian seemed like the best ones to follow up on, in that order given what Kyle had to say about them. The others were so young that he had a hard time believing they could be behind this, and perhaps that was his mistake, but one he was willing to own up to if he ended up being wrong about his suspicions.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure that the founders are going to make sure all of you are taken care of by the right person.” Cleon said, and suddenly it occurred to him where they had been before he had used his charm. “Speaking of, why aren’t you with the rest of the kids. I get that you might not get along with them but its best to stick together after… Well after what happened..” He didn’t finish, looking to Shade briefly for reassurance. Just because he didn’t like the boy didn’t mean he wanted to cause the boy any harm by bringing up traumatic events. “What do you say we all head to the Inn to regroup. Maybe we can find a snack for the children.” Cleon suggested with a shrug though he wasn’t completely committed to the idea. He was still trying to figure out if there was anything else he should or even could ask Kyle without making the boy clam up. If Shade suggested something different he would commit himself to that course readily enough while he tried to file away everything that had been spoken.
WC - 1,471
“I get that. I suppose there is a silver lining to my curse after all because I haven’t had much time to dwell on that. My.. Well.. I’m so used to my feelings not matching up with my thoughts that I’ve had to set some ground rules that I stick to when I lose all sense of myself. Simple stuff like do no harm, and making sure my sister eats regularly. Stuff I can hold onto even when up looks a lot like down, y’know?” Cleon said, not sure if he was really making any sense. It was hard to encapsulate just how he was feeling on a day to day basis existing alongside his curse. Most of his joy was so tied up in sating these empty desires that left him feeling worse off in the end. He could realize this now because he had been through this cycle once already when he was much younger and trying to bottle up a pain he didn’t, couldn’t comprehend.
He was glad when they moved on to a slightly lighter note, namely the subject of a woman that still stirred up funny feelings within him to this day. The way they had left things in the pool, well it just didn’t sit right with him. She seemed to think she knew something about the curse, or at least, that was what she had alluded to. If only he could find her again to ask her for clarity, but alas he didn’t feel exactly comfortable asking Shade about that now. Not until he knew more about how they knew each other. Cleon didn’t want to give the wrong idea after all as a particular aspect of his curse had made its rounds thoroughly across the community by now.
“She is very beautiful.” Cleon admitted, and found himself leaning forward slightly, interested in hearing what the man had to say. It didn’t exactly line up with the impression he had been left of with here. Parts of it did, but then again their encounter had been brief, and left off on a little bit of a vulnerable note. She was pretty headstrong though, that he could agree with as she seemed to have no problem putting him through the motions of helping her swim. A funny little visit that, one that left him with far more questions than he had answers for in that moment.
As the conversation passed over the talk of the Konti people, and through Shade’s own experience with his curse they once again settled back on Syka which was outside of the general life experience both of them had. Cleon was just as intrigued to hear about Shade’s own thoughts on the subject as since he got here, he had stumbled upon quite a few strange and unexplainable things. Shade’s words seemed to pluck just the right notes too, echoing opinions Cleon hadn’t even realized he held.
“I think you’re right about that. I need to start making up my own mind about how I feel about all of this, and soon so I can make sure I’m staying on the right path for my sister’s sake. It would just be helpful if I didn’t have this petching curse meddling with the process.” Cleon said with a twisted grin, spinning a lazy finger around his temple as they continued on, and the focus shifted onto Kyle.
Questioning Kyle was far more difficult than he anticipated. Not because the child was obstinate and not answering their questions. Quite the opposite actually, he gave too much information interjected with opinions and anecdotes that Cleon had to scramble to make sense of. Lexi had a big secret, Luke was off claiming to be a snake and.. Oh, Senora’s eyes changed color? Why would that.. There was something there, something he should be remembering but it was lost as Kyle continued on with his rant. He didn’t much care for his tidbit about Dalton and Axim, passing over it quickly as he went to talk about Brea. Royalty? Well that was interesting, but again not really what they were looking for unless Brea was on a special mission though that didn’t make much sense to him. It was too elaborate, too complicated and too convenient for it to be outed by something like talking in her sleep. Perhaps he was being too obtuse but he didn’t think Brea was the culprit. She would have done something to make Shade look bad if she had been, because already she had been in a position to translate for him and cause issues if that was the case.
Cleon pushed Kyle harder as he stifled a grimace. He was beginning to thoroughly dislike this boy who reminded him vaguely of a boy he had known back in Sunberth. His ears did perk up at the mention that Tori was a Konti, though that was interesting for a different reason altogether. Something to pursue at a future point when time was not of the essence. Kyle was proving to be quite the venomous little orphan that was really not so little. Cleon pushed him harder, and regretted that he had not gleaned more from the boy’s mind. He seemed so ready to out everyone else’s baggage while keeping his own secrets to himself. Not for the first time, it occurred to him that they might have the culprit right here, but he decided not to follow that thought through to its logical conclusion because he didn’t like their chances if that was the case. Not to mention the bad sort of energy thinking such thoughts might bring.
At a gentle prodding from Shade the boy continued on with his tirade. The bit about Kelton didn’t particularly interest him, though Darcey’s story did but again like with Tori, that was something that would have to wait. There wasn’t enough time for such idle pursuits, and Cleon felt a pressing need to get answers to what was ailing Syka. Finally there was Julian whom apparently was an ex slave. As he pushed the boy higher, he wondered what he was supposed to do with all of these pieces. Lexi, Axim, Dalton, and Julian seemed like the best ones to follow up on, in that order given what Kyle had to say about them. The others were so young that he had a hard time believing they could be behind this, and perhaps that was his mistake, but one he was willing to own up to if he ended up being wrong about his suspicions.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure that the founders are going to make sure all of you are taken care of by the right person.” Cleon said, and suddenly it occurred to him where they had been before he had used his charm. “Speaking of, why aren’t you with the rest of the kids. I get that you might not get along with them but its best to stick together after… Well after what happened..” He didn’t finish, looking to Shade briefly for reassurance. Just because he didn’t like the boy didn’t mean he wanted to cause the boy any harm by bringing up traumatic events. “What do you say we all head to the Inn to regroup. Maybe we can find a snack for the children.” Cleon suggested with a shrug though he wasn’t completely committed to the idea. He was still trying to figure out if there was anything else he should or even could ask Kyle without making the boy clam up. If Shade suggested something different he would commit himself to that course readily enough while he tried to file away everything that had been spoken.
WC - 1,471
