Making a 'Friend' (Flashback)

[Gwen]

Gwen decided that it was time to act. These all seemed to be fairly decent men and woman, and he saw no sense in why they should be starting fights. Standing up quickly, Gwen pushed his chair against the wall, which created a loud enough noise to at least alert them to his presence. However, he was temporarily unable to speak as combination of the fast rise and the alcohol left him a little woozy. Fighting through the sudden surge of lightheadedness and nausea, Gwen finally got out a few words. "I believe.. You should all have a seat." As he spoke, he motioned to the two tables, the one he had been sitting at and the one the others sat at. His speech was not obscured in a way that would give away how many drinks he had, and the smell of alcohol on him was well-masked by the rest of the smells of the tavern, so for now, he was fairly confident that no one knew he was drunk. "Voxxus." Gwen had picked up the man's name from listening in on the conversation. "Have a seat by me, I don't want more any violent outbursts out of you." Gwen was only a few years older than the oldest of the crowd, but he spoke with a definite authority. He was the first to return to his seat, showing that he wasn't there to threaten anyone, and once he had settled in, he resumed speaking. "Now, can anyone tell me what the problem is here?"

[Khasuri]

Khasuri Suri watched the events unfold with growing interest as he sat at his table. A musician played an singer sang and everything seemed to be going well, when suddenly the music ended. It seemed to Suri that events were transpiring that needed change. But just as he was about to explain why the angry man should sit down, and sit down very quickly, one of the older men in the room stood up and quieted the room. He spoke with strength and authority, and if he had been born Eypharian, Suri had no doubt that he would have been a great man. So he took it upon himself to meet this human, and walking over to where he was sitting, Suri broke into the conversation. "Excuse me, I wish to congratulate you on stopping a potential fight. This city is full of barbaric infidel. It's good to see a real man for once. But pardon my manners, I have not greeted you properly. I am named Khasuri Re Hafban."

[Canali]

Canali sipped gingerly on her drink, relishing in the bitter taste. She slipped through the throng, brushing against sweaty bodies and peeling away from those who sought to dance. There was no reason to sway to the music; there was no music currently playing.

A few people clapped her on her back, mentioning her singing, but a small dip of a head was all they received in response. Her hair brushed over her shoulders as she walked, leather jacket open to show the aqua tank underneath.

Her grey eyes slid over to the table where a chair banged painfully against the floor. The man stalked in her general direction for a few steps before she realized he was headed for her. He slunk like he was angry.

There were several men behind him; still at the table. Someone bumped into her, and she stumbled forwards a step. Rude! Anger made her eyes narrow; her lips straighten.

Words filled the air. Irritation filled them. Lifting her drink to her lips, Canali sipped gingerly as the man spoke. Feeling no need to look away, she calmly met his eyes; head on. Almost challenging.

"I am Canali and I would appreciate it if you didn't act like a wee child. Children who tip over chairs pick them up. I see no reason why you shouldn't." One eyebrow raised as she lowered her purple shaded drink. "Or curse like an adolescent boy, either. You look old enough, act your age." Rolling her eyes lightly at him, she turned away.

A second man approached, and for a second Canali wondered if he, too, was going to act immature and shout in a public place. "I surmise you were the lute player?" Her eye lit up in expectation. "I was actually looking for you to talk to." A third man stood up in the tavern and spoke. He commanded attention and for a second he received it from Canali. Then she noticed the slight wobble. Of course, leave it to a drunk man to interrupt a non-drunk squabble.

However, she slid into a seat opposite the man after delivering the lute player an apologizing nod. Nothing could have made her willingly sit by the excuse-for-an-adult "Voxxus". "I see no reason why you should care for that, sir." There was no anger in her voice. It was a simple statement.

Raising her glass to her lips, she took a quiet sip. "Now, what business have you?"

[Voxxus]

As soon as the words left his mouth, the echoing silence seemed to pour the onset of reality to him. Voxxus was a trained reader, a manipulator, now learned a great lesson about his own weakness. ‘This girl, she seems innocent, but why does she perturb me so much?’ he pondered as his glowing gaze never left her. The sound of age bellowed his name from behind him, as someone apparently took it upon himself to become involved in his business. Voxxus is not partial to public displays but he was obviously not in the right frame of mind. He slanted his eyes in regret for his impulse and clenched his jaw, now simply wanting to leave the place all together. His eye twitched as he felt someone touch him, but the politeness behind the man’s voice made it apparent that he meant only to diffuse the predicament. All of this brought the realization of how much attention Voxxus really attracted. The emotional flux still diminishing, he could hear another man speak, his arrogance directed towards him, so Voxxus’s head swiveled slowly and he let his eyes glow to the ones who roofed the mouth that disgraced him. He elicited the emotional response of intimidation to Khasuri, a skill he acquired long ago and proved useful to avoid fights or making a point. His ghostly eyes would appear to have a small illumination to Khasuri, so much so that the rest of the color of Voxxus’s face would be paled and shaded. Now it would appear as if Voxxus would grow larger, his body mass would seem to multiply and the attractive details would blur into a radical deviation. All this until Voxxus closed his eyes.

He would reset his gaze to the women, but she made it clear that he was not of her concern, and for some reason he could not project any emotions upon her. Almost as if the weird subconscious disorder that sparked the strange feelings he just went through is also playing a part on him attempting any force on this girl. The vision now long dead, he lost hope of forcing an understandment of what this woman just put him through. Still, he didn’t want to close a door to his past all together, he would have to use a more delicate avenue to understand her more. But for now he should swallow his pride and hopefully the bald one would be a positive opportunity for him to recover.

The older mans voice again looming behind him, inquiring into Voxxus’s actions. Finally he spoke, “There is no problem here… I have her confused with someone else.” He lowered his head and walked slowly back to his chair, replacing it to its original position, and then sat down listening to whoever was speaking now. He took a sip of his water in an attempt to seem normal again, and then folded his left hand over his right and began to slowly pet, with one finger, the pearl attached to his backhand. He now wanted to be a fly in the sky, much less than one on the wall, but he was bound by his lack of control made known from earlier.

[Cid]

Cid sighed as he watched a near brawl. He was actually kind of hopeful, he probably would have joined in even though it didn't concern him. He watched as all of the events unfolded, then as everyone began to sit with the man trying to assert some authority. He walked over to his table but remained standing. "Might I ask what exactly this is about? Because if it's just small talk than I have much more important things I could be doing. Like enjoying a round of ale." He watched all of the faces, always observant of what was happening just as his sword master had taught him. He wasn't going to sit down if Cid believed it would only be for a minute. Plus he knew that winning a brawl or any form of fight while standing would be more in his favor than if he was sitting down. So he waited to find out why the older man had called them over. Cid could smell the alcohol on the breath of quite a few of them. Especially the one who had called him over. Many years in the tavern as a drunk had taught him how to tell who had been drinking. Of course, it would be easy to tell had the man been staggering or swaying around. But he wasn't. He was actually rather stable.

[Zavyr]

Zayvr smiled as the women mentioned wanting to meet him. "Likewise miss." Zayvr started as he heard the outburst from behind him. Glanceing behind him he saw what seemed to be a partly drunk man, claiming attention. It seemed to work. As the singing women and the man "Voxxus", walked towards the man's table. He followed waiting for the women to seat herself before he sat down next to her. He nodded at the womens comment. "See this is nice and cozy no need to resort to violence." He leaned back, getting comfortable as the women spoke. He nodded. "Yes I am glad you defused that situation, but what business have you with us...Sir?" He added the last word as an after thought, his voice dripping with scorn at the drunk man.