Strange Beasts (Crim)

[Lisenet]

Tellenani Valaician

I sat on a wet, soot-colored, rough knuckle of rock exposed by the low tides and turned a modest starfish, pale orange, over and over in my fingers, holding it gingerly. It had been stranded up here as the ocean sucked in its breath, and it’s thumb-length legs eased back and forth as it wondered, apparently, why I wouldn’t put it down. I was intrigued by its tiny, tubular feet though. They tugged gently at my travel-coarsened palms and fingertips, like an artist delicately daubing seawater instead of paint, or a fusty nobleman unwilling to touch the hand he was being forced to shake. I preferred the artistry comparison, though.

Listening to the wood creaking above and around me—ships creaking into port, the weight of portmen traversing the many docks that extended like spider legs into the ocean, the croaking of gulls and the gruff mutter and bellow of shiphands and yardhands calling to one another—were as unfamiliar to me as a tortoise was to a salamander. I had been raised inland, and this was my first opportunity to visit the vast saltwater expanses. As a child I’d frequently mistaken the words ‘ocean’ and ‘sea’ until my father had explained the difference to me. “A sea you might see across, it’s surrounded by land,” he had explained. “An ocean is so vast your mouth pops open and you say ‘O’ when you try to see it all. And trust me, you never will.”

Ocean. It was a pleasant word. He was right when he described its beginning. O for astonishment, sh for the sigh your lungs make when they fill with salt, en for the realization that you will never fully understand such a mighty creature. Was there more land or ocean, I had asked him then. He’d said he didn’t know, and he didn’t know which he wanted it to be, either. I should feel quite lonely, I’d replied, if there was so little room for us and the world was really more water than ground. It would be like we don’t really belong here at all.

He’d had no answer to that.

A strident squeal, interspersed with a series of sharp clicks, startled me—a difficult feat to manage these days. At seeing a dark shape slumped at the very edge of the water, waves washing over it and turning it into the rough sand, I quickly set aside the starfish and hurried to the creature’s side. As I splashed into the shallows behind it, laying one hand on the sea creature’s gray-brown hide. It had the oddest texture, pliant like our flesh, but much firmer, and with no semblance of softness to it. The creature was easily longer than I was tall, but not by much. A porpoise. But what was it doing so close to land? Even harbor porpoises stayed away from shore.

Another wave shoved over the dark animal and washed away a fine film of sand, revealing gashes of moderate depth, as far as gashes go, along its back, just behind the dorsal fin. A shark had gotten at it, probably. My guess was that it had lost some blood and gotten washed up out of sheer exhaustion.

”Never you fear,” I murmured decidedly to the sea-mammal, patting its undamaged side. ”I’ll fix you up as best I can before I put you back in.” I loosened the straps to the bag hanging against my back, settled it briefly on the porpoise’s flank to fish out my needle and one of my stouter threads. This thick skin would be a challenge for my mending needle, but with care I would manage, and I had spares in case I broke it. Just so long as I didn’t lose the pieces I wouldn’t mind the loss of the whole. The trouble I worried most about was my inability to move the creature out of the waves on my own—the water could wash more sand into the wound and fester if I closed the skin over it. I’d have to block as much of the waves with my own back as I could, there was nothing else for it.

I yanked shut the drawstring on my pack and hurled it upshore and out of the waves’ reach, tied a knot in the end of my thread, cut a length, shoved the bobbin down my blouse, somehow threaded the needle with cold, wet hands, and began. This would be no easy job for either of us in this surf, but tide would begin the return in an hour if my judgment was correct. We hadn’t the time to wait for ease. Hardly anybody ever did.

[.:[Crim]:.]

Crim Harrowmont stood inland, among the tree line on the other side of the southern road into Teirm. His black and white Tunic standing out distinctly against the Green and brown of the surrounding trees. His orange tinted skin playing tricks in the light that made it look far swarthier than it actually was. Crim's long white flowing hair and the leather straps of his tunic were being snapped and tugged by the invisible fast moving hands and fingers of the ocean breeze. His dark leather pants had already accumulated a layer of salt water like grime and sheen. Crim's bow was perched on his back, the fifty or so long shafted Falcon fletched arrows matched his white and black ensemble.His nose proud and his eyes humble looked at the vista splayed afore him. The ocean...

The ocean, the one thing his father had spoken most about. His father had once said if he ever had to choose between a young and honorable lass and a life at sea. That his heart may tell him to go to the sea and have not a care in the world, reveling in the wonders and hardships of the cold blue goddess, but to always listen to his better judgment. not forgetting the fact that his mother would tan his hide if she ever found out he mistreated a lady so he could simply have a few adventures...

However it seemed as he looked upon the still cloudy and yet amazing morning. it was cold. so cold in fact that Crim's breath hung in front of him like the many vapors of a freshly snuffed candle and refused to dissipate for a few seconds. his fingers long and well groomed played loosely with a few of the straps that adorned almost every facet of his tunic. he without thinking began chewing on a stalk of long grass he had plucked just a few minutes ago. and thus he stood, content with watching the bumbling city of men. its port, its trade centers. its towers and walls. it was by far the grandest city he had seen in his meager wandering south from Du Weldenvarden. he had stopped here and there at local inns and fishing villages along rivers but had yet to see any defenses that would stop even the most simple of attacks. But Teirm, it was amazing. even as an archer he would have a hard time finding an area to fight unmolested. the Roofing system was so ingenious that he would be lower than anyone further in the city. thus having to fire upwards. he scanned the walls looking for a weakness, finding none he perused the shore thinking he could study the great city at a later time when suddenly.

There was a great squeal and a few moments later a long "whoosh" which sent several alarms blaring through Crim's mind. stiffening he searched for the sound and failing to see it began to slink ever closer to the shore, over the road and through the Saw grass that grew along the craggy recesses into the beach's proper and suddenly as he forced his nimble and lithe body through the foliage of the sharp and rough saw grass he saw her, and by extension the animal that she was tending too. They both looked foreign to him. so alien to the children and young adults he had seen in the villages down here, and the fish that he had eaten at those villages. the fish if that's what it truly was larger than any he had ever seen. it was longer than he was! and the girl. well, he hadn't yet concluded his thoughts on that one yet.

Stepping a bit closer and then as if thinking better of it yet doing it anyways he pushed the last of the foliage away and made his decent towards the duo. whistling softly as an eagle would call he made at least the human aware of his presence, it would be undue of him to startle her. and the last thing he wanted was another angry woman on his hands, his mind thought briefly of the drunken party he had been forcibly made to attend... regardless....

and so stepping into the cloudy sunlight, his jerkin and tunic shining in the now moist and salty air even more so than before he made his first introduction to someone even close to his age.
"Hail!" he spoke softly yet firmly. he wanted to say more but he was unaware of how to address this woman. should he call her woman? was that impolite in the human society? should he attach a eleven suffix to her name? regardless what's done was done, and so he stood stoically looking somewhat a fool with the massive longbow between his shoulders on a beach where his leather boots teased the sand and his hair flapped wildly.

"can I be of assistance" he asked, his eyes suddenly flashing with intensity as he shot the woman his best intentioned roguish grin

[Lisenet]

A wave crept swiftly up behind her and surged into her back, dousing her from the middle of her spine down. Thank the gods she always took the time to oil and wax her boots, or the leather would be cracked beyond use. Having been forced to wear warped and cracked leather boots for a week once before, Tellen had no intention of ever permitting her possessions to ever again attain such damage due to her own negligence. Poor tools was one thing, but poor efforts were not acceptable.

The porpoise heaved itself, nearly tearing the needle from her hand, and she stroked a wet hand hurriedly down its side. ”Hush now,” she soothed, knowing full well that wild animals could not be comforted by humans. ”I’ll put you straight, I promise.” A faint whistle brought her head up just long enough to notice a tall young man striding comfortably in her direction below the docks. He was dressed in finer clothes than she was, and with open weaponry, automatically putting her on her guard. A woman alone was never as safe as she ought to be, and men who carried weapons so blatantly were often unafraid of using other tools at their disposal. But most men didn’t expect women to either carry knives or know how to handle themselves without one, so she had the advantage in that respect, at least. Weaponed men carried all of their advantages in plain sight, inviting themselves to judgment. Smart women hid their advantages knowing that the surprise of finding them was often enough to frighten unwanted company away.

”Hail.” He had come up almost evenly with her. ”Can I be of assistance?”

The way he spoke—like a noble—was enough to put her on guard. Nobles were less free with their help and tended to expect favors in return. Her own family was of the nobility, but for the most part it benefited her to pretend it wasn’t. Others were never as comfortable or as loose-tongued in the presence of the gentry.

Her eyes flicked up and down over his fine clothes and well-cared-for weaponry, what little she could see of it around his frame. His hair was paler than any blond she had seen before, but his skin was smooth enough for youth. ”Are you strong?” She chose a dialect and vocabulary particularly for their ambiguity, allowing him to subconsciously assume she was whoever he was most comfortable with. ”I need to move him out of the reach of the waves, if possible.” Another wave doused her from behind and she ground her teeth together to keep them from chattering. The porpoise had the luck of a thick layer of fat to keep it warm; Tellen had no such assistance against the cold. She squinted at the brightly clouded sky, wondering if it would rain. The horizon always looked dark here, though, so she could never tell. She had never minded being wet, though she did prefer warmth to a chill. Her hands paused against the dark hide of the sea-mammal, holding the slashes cut as best she could even though she’d have to release them to help move it. She just worried about the blood the animal had already lost, though it wasn’t bleeding noticeably anymore. The little blood that had leaked coated her palms and speckled her fingers.

[.:[Crim]:.]

Crim was slightly astonished to see the young woman trying to mend the "whale?"'s wounds. He would have personally just put the animal out of its misery and been done with it, But he was not interested in alienating this woman as she seemed to care a great deal. he had to laugh silently as wave after wave poured onto and into her clothes. Crim noted that the woman wore nothing but a loose Linen and wool dark blue dress, standard quality but yet well taken care of, as were her boots, which laced up the back. That was a mystery to him, why would she not have the laces in the front?. The quality of care may not be the same as he put into his garments and armaments, but then few people rarely spent hours waxing and oiling as he did.

"You say you need him out of the waves?" he spoke again still speaking in his "northern" most dialect as it was the only human dialect he was familiar. he spoke softly, as if to make her strain to her his voice now that he was in earshot. he wanted to see if she heard him as well as he hoped and added almost silently "or yourself out of the waves"... he chuckled to himself his ghostly white teeth sparking in the dim yet oddly comfortable day.

So without losing his nerve he walked over to the animal and the lady and proceeded to fix it the easiest way his mind saw how. Without asking he took a hold of the woman's wrist and proceeded to almost march her to the other side of the beast. His high black and white trimmed riding boots gripping the ever present ever changing sand around him. he thought to himself that if he stayed here long enough he may be buried by sand under the might of the waves. They had arrived at the other side of the beast and he let go suddenly as if trying to limit the contact, and said thus.
"why were you working on that side anyways? the wounds are behind this.... fin?" he said pointing as if it pained him that he had to say the next part "and you can easily access them from this side of the animal as well, which then acts as a barrier between you and the tide. doing this means you may still get sprayed if there is a particularly high wave but your very pretty dress will not be ruined by the salt water, which by the way is completely soaked"
he studied her again, briefly in just the few moments after he let go of her, pale skin, dark hair, a soaked dress, his eye caught the laces of her dress and he turned away, heat rising in his cheeks almost noticeably. In the dim sunlight it left much to his imagination, which often betrayed him.

So he busied himself making good of his ability to contact animals with his mind, he reached out and felt the inner song of the beast, sending it simple yet soothing messages, A song his mother taught him. words of strength. As he did so he took a long white emblazoned cloth from somewhere in a belt pouch and handed it to the woman without a word. He was confused, and interested at the same time. How should he act? should he speak to her? remain mute? he was unsure and that angered him slightly. Deciding that he should act first as was the norm he then again spoke and asked in the same tone of voice and always managing to flash the ghostly white smile.
"My name is Crim Harrowmont, may I have the pleasure of knowing yours... m'lady" he added the last part almost as an afterthought and hoped it didn't offend her. he then busied himself again with checking the beast over for any other scars

[Lisenet]

”What?” Tellen had to think twice to understand his words. Between the pounding of footsteps on the tall docks above them and the abrasion of the waves against the shore, his voice was nearly inaudible when the waves were crashing. ”Yes, it’ll be easier to see without the water washing over us.” She tried not to stare at him—what people had skin that dark and hair that pale?—and didn’t find the endeavor terribly difficult, as she was more interested in fixing her animal than understanding him. People, for the most part, always fascinated her. But fascination had no place when she was trying to help something else.

His solution was not what she was hoping for. When he reached for her wrist she had to automatically loosen the irritated muscles in her jaw. Nobles always thought everyone else wanted the same things they did, and therefore never bothered to think about how their actions might be received. But she let him show her around to the other side of the porpoise because that was what females did—let men do their thinking for them—and knelt again. ”….which, by the way, is completely soaked.”

”I assure you I noticed,” Tellen sighed, deciding now was not the time to complain about her various prejudices against the upper class. ”I’m more concerned about keeping the water off the slashes—they make it difficult to keep track of my stitches.” He held down a hand kerchief and she accepted it after a moment of hesitation. ”My thanks.” She rolled it up lengthwise and pressed it into the undamaged skin just before the wound she was already working on, creating a rather flimsy but useful barrier between the highest reaches of the flailing water and her stitchery. Using her entire hand to hold the stretched skin closed while she worked, she managed to place another hand’s width of stitches before the odd stranger spoke again.

Crim? A peculiar name to her ears, but it suited him. He was a peculiar fellow to begin with. At least she could hear him clearly this time. It wasn’t a noble’s name, however. And if he thought her dress ‘very pretty’ he clearly didn’t get out of the woods much, or off the battlefield. He carried no sword, she noticed now, but then not all soldiers did.

”Tellen,” she replied, after another momentary pause. ”There’s no need to call me ‘lady,’” she added equably. He had no need to know she was of the nobility, whether or not he was. And she hadn’t gone by her full name with anyone but family—whom she mostly saw in letters—for two years. ”What are you in Teirm for?” she asked then. Hard to tell from what he wore and carried what he did. A mercenary, possibly. Most of them preferred long-range weapons. His quiver was longer than most, which meant his bow was probably stronger than most as well. ”I’m a tutor for music,” she said, an absolute lie. Not that he would know. No one ever did.

Tellen finished off the longest of the rough incisions and moved onto the second, grateful for the animals’ sudden calmness. There were only four, lined up like teeth, growing shorter as they stretched farther over the sea-creature’s back. It should live if she got it patched up and back into the ocean quick enough, and it didn’t pass out before it had the chance to eat something. Her thread was gone, so she let the last bit of it drift away with the next wave and dug the ball of thread out of her bodice, using her teeth to cut another length. Threading the needle with numb fingers was a task, but one she was well used to. Perhaps he was right about the dress, she thought absently. It was of a slightly finer make than those she usually wore, what with the lacing. But her last dress had been shredded after sprinting through what felt like an acre of brambles, thorns and nettles to escape the bandits who considered teasing a lonely woman a good day’s fun. She had needed another outfit in a hurry and hadn’t had the time to wait for a plainer one. Bloody bandits.

[.:[Crim]:.]

Crim stood easily in the shifting sand that tried to swallow his boots. he mulled his thoughts and readied an answer to her latest question. She had asked him what he was doing in Teirm and it was a fair and quite decent question. What was he doing in Teirm? he thought back to all he had been through. The travels in the far north, just south of Du Weldenvarden. It had been full of long nights and days spent just walking on the road from town to town barely being able to hunt a meal for himself. The nights had become his favorite time to travel as no other people were on the roads and the stars were amazing. he could look at them for hours, walking along the road in near black, at least to humans, and have his head uplifted looking at them, the weird color clouds that seemed to take up a particularly bright section in the eastern sky. Formations and drawings made themselves clear to him during this time as well and now when he glanced upward at night he could often see them in the sky, even if they had moved a little. his mind then flew forward skipping over the unpleasant business of a party he had been forced to celebrate. even the thought of beer made his stomach uneasy. Humans actually enjoy that filth?

As he thought about her answer he grew unnaturally still and stood for a few minutes while Tellen worked simply thinking about his answer when as if suddenly realizing most people do not just stop moving he walked to the nearest crag of the dunes and sat on it, caring not that sand would inevitable creep into his trousers. Thinking he might have an answer after a few minutes of sitting went by he slowly and carefully got back up, ruffling his strange tunics out with the wayward hand.

"The best answer that I can give is that I have never seen the landing site of the Fair Folk and wished to see and experience it myself. I heard tell that Teirm is actually that point and came to see if I can validate it for myself. Also the other reason would be that I am perpetually curious. Curious about their city, Curious about the lives that are lived within those somber halls, about the songs and tales they sing at morn and at night. I am even curious about you, for not many would endeavor to fix an animal that's' time was obviously sooner rather than later. But worth, value, and beauty is not determined by some innate quality. But by the length for which the owner would go to possess them I find you especially Curious Tellen " then adding in almost an afterthought he added more so to himself. "very curious indeed"

During his speech he noticed that Tellen's skin, at least the parts that were readily visible and not embarrassing for him to look at had gone a bit bluish, as if cold. his mind following the logic that she had been recently soaked and that it was chilly out reached the conclusion that she needed a blanket of some sort. he had no blanket thought, when time came for him to sleep he simply folded himself in the hood of his tunic and slept peacefully. he thought for several minutes when it reached him. The straps and buckles of his rather exotic tunic did serve a purpose. Crim's garment was actually composed of Several layers of different color and thickness, removing just the outer shell would not only warm Tellen, but leave him with at least a semblance of a shirt, even' if it was disconnected from his long and ornate sleeves, which connected with a different series of buckles.
"keep working on Xanananth, would you? he seems to like your presence more than mine" he mentioned as he strode away. After moving several yards and to the rear and right of Tellen he undid the buckles and the shell of his outermost layer fell away. it was more or less square, after he unfolded it. it was not large but she would at least be able to wrap herself once or twice with it, after it hung to his limber frame.

Re-approaching the woman slowly, he cleared his throat and said gently this time.
"Tellen, m'lady. Please take this, you must be getting cold. I am used to northern climes and may haps be a bit better suited to this environment, simply being near the Ocean.... it greatly interests me"

[Lisenet]

The stitching went easier now that she was used to pulling the waxed thread through the thick skin of the porpoise, and with the next cuts being both shorter and shallower she settled quickly into a rhythm of dipping and pulling, dipping and pulling with the needle. The length of thread she’d chosen lasted her for the other three slices and she sewed them all shut within another ten minutes. Crim went to sit on a bit of stone protruding from the sand for a bit, and Tellen didn’t blame him. There was only so much sewing men could stand before theyir minds began to bend over with boredom.

”What will prove whether or not the elves landed here?” she wanted to know after listening to his reasoning. ”I am even curious about you.” At this she laughed, and again when he told her she was curious to begin with. ”Well, I’m not your average female, I’ll readily admit to that I suppose.” She glanced down into her red-spotted hands after chewing the last loose thread to cut it. She stood to return the needle to its protective box in her satchel, then scooped up the soaked kerchief and hung it over her shoulder. ”It is not closer to death,” she replied stubbornly, wondering just how she’d get said creature back into the water.

Shoving the porpoise back into the water was much easier than it would have been to push it up the sand. She dug out a little bit of the wet sand below it and rolled the poor thing into the shallows, up to her knees, then turned it right side up and heaved it toward deeper water. The porpoise flipped its tail weakly, then with more strength as it realized it had the room to do so. In moments it had swum past her sight and vanished. ”See, you’ve even named him; you must have liked him.” She hunched to scrub the blood off her hands and the sand off the knees of her dress before stomping back up and out of the water. It was as she was standing wringing what water she could out of her skirts that he returned, having wandered off momentarily. There was more fabric to hers than to those of most women—if she needed to she could ride comfortably in the dress, but she preferred trousers underneath on those days. At least she could run properly still. He approached her with his arm half-extended, his dark cloak—or part of it?—draped through his hand.

She accepted it slowly, smiling crookedly, and held out the wrung-out kerchief in return. Most strangers never bothered investing an interest in each other’s affairs or health. ”Thank you.” She threw it over her shoulders, bunching it around her neck so it wouldn’t drag on the ground, and wrapped it tightly about herself, over the pack hanging between her shoulders. ”I don’t see how anyone can’t love it. Half the time I think it’s actually a sentient creature just like is, we just don’t know how to speak to it.” She stood gazing out at for a minute longer, then turned and headed back up toward town. ”Would you like to get something to eat? I didn’t bother with breakfast and have gotten quite hungry. And don’t call me Lady.” She chuckled to herself as she trudged through the sand.

[.:[Crim]:.]

After Crim handed her the part of his tunic he squared his shoulders and crossed his arms a bit firmly. He liked being cold, but he also liked having at least his back warm, like the sun was on it. He noticed sourly a dark front of clouds moving in from the ocean. they were terrific and terrifying things, the wonder of the vast and almost unimaginable distance of the storm made its leading edge nearly the entire horizon long. lighting crackled at the edge of the storm, sending white fingers to dance and play with the waters below, to his eyes he could see the rain front that accompanied it. above them, on the pier he heard the sailors start up their cursing as they too noticed the approaching weather. Crim didn't have to listen long to know that most ships could not sail in that kind of brutal force.

Untangling a hand from his body he swept back his hair, careful to hid his slightly pointed ears. After doing so he pointed and spoke in a soft tone. "well then Tellen, looks like mother nature graces us with a fantastical show of strength. A luncheon sounds quite delectable at this time of evening, are you by chance familiar with any of the taverns around here?" as he was saying this he drew level with her right side and proffered his arm, not his hand to her. As if to accompany her back on the short distance to the gate was simply routine to him.

"Furthermore, I did not name him. that was his name, he simply calls himself that. Also I have no idea what would prove that the Elves landed here, simply rumor. may haps I will stumble upon it when I visit the castle. That is, if I can get invited in." He hummed a short tune as they walked up past the scraggy saw grass and onto the South Road proper. the road was deserted, as if foretelling the coming storm. the wagon marks were muddy, and Crim's boots sunk at least a foot before he pulled it out hurriedly and stepped on a much more solid path among the islands of mud. The salt white walls of Teirm stood afore them, and two soldiers stood casually on either side of the impressively built gates, they lowered their halberds across one another's as the odd couple approached.

"what business have ye in 'eirm 'ravlers?" said the one on the left, who in entirety was as about nondescript as he was fat. the man had no business in a soldiers uniform. the man's double chins waddled slightly as he spoke making Crim squint his eyes slightly, as if curious what would make them do so. Crim stepped forward to speak when...

[Lisenet]

After watching his shoulders stiffen as she clutched his cloak tightly about her own, Tellen sincerely hoped he wasn’t as cold as he looked and she felt. For all that she appreciated the additional grace and courtesy men offered to most women, she still disliked the thought of him going without when she’d gotten cold due to her own actions, knowing very well what the result would be.

She smiled to see the encroaching, dark skirt of clouds hovering over the far lip of the ocean. ”I like storms. We might be able to watch it depending on when it comes in.” If it didn’t get too dark first. What was the fun in a storm you didn’t get to see? It was rather inconvenient for dayworkers, though. Crim offered an arm and she accepted it with less hesitation than she had taken both the hand kerchief and the cloak. Standing this close to him she observed that the top of her head only came to just above his shoulder. And cold as he may feel, his arm felt distinctly warmer than her hand, through the fabric of his sleeve.

”I know all the eating houses here,” she replied. ”Do you want typical tavern food or a step up, where the business’s main intention is to sell food and not drink?” The ground dried as they climbed to street level and approached the gates. ”Furthermore, I did not name him….”

Tellen looked sharply at him. ”Are you a magician or just one of those people who can use their mind like they use their hands?” The thought of magic, and what little she understood of it made her uncomfortable. She imagined her mind as a place that was impenetrable, as was everyone else’s. It was neither right nor proper for certain people to be able to invade that sacred place. If she ever got the sensation that he was probing into her mind, she would pack him in a barrel and drop him in the ocean.

The guard on duty was nearly incomprehensible, and Tellen wondered idly if he was drunk, the naughty man. She heard Crim inhale to reply, and over his breath she heard the flurrying pound of hooves. A riderless, saddled horse charged up the slope from the beach, the whites of its eyes showing all the way around its brown irises. ”Look out!” she shouted, tightening her grip on his arm and shoving him sideways in the second before the panicked horse galloped through the place where they’d been standing and across the road, into the brush. Seconds later a sand-covered man, presumably the rider, came sprinting up out of the reeds and across the street in the horse’s wide tracks, spitting curses.

Tellen blinked from where she’d fallen. ”Well,” she said briskly. ”That was fun.” She hauled her now wet and muddy self to her feet, brushing ineffectually at her dress. ”Let’s not do it again.”

[.:[Crim]:.]

Crim swore loudly "Nángor". He was thankful for the push that Tellen gave him as he spun out of the way. His eye tracking the movement of the horse, one hand moving far faster than it should to his quiver and half drawing an arrow, even as he did this his other hand covered his mouth and nose as the dust and mud that the horse kicked up threatened to get in his hair. He liked his hair white, and did not wish to sully it, not again at least. Crim relaxed visibly when the horse's rider appeared sandy at the bottom of the hill. Crim eyed him and sensed no threat and thus turned to see what had happened to Tellen. it appeared she had fallen, and was already helping herself up so he made use of the fact and pressed in close to the guard.


"look sir, my cousin and I are simply trying to get to my Father's house before the storm hits, please may we go through?" as if to prove a point Crim proffered his arm again to Tellen and when she accepted flipped his hand so that it encased hers. "please?" he asked again reaching out with his mind to gently nudge the man's thoughts. he was surprised when in doing so he felt the edge of someone one else's. He respected that minds privacy, and as such left it be. She would be mad for one, that much Crim knew, but at the same time his own mind would prove alien to her, and thus make her trust him less. He also feigned ignorance at her questions hoping the sudden event would at least throw her of the trail for a little while


the Guard assented and let them pass which Crim hurriedly did so, as he passed he heard the guard tell the other "cousins my foot!" deciding that haste might be of the essence he stepped from the main street and then lead them a ways into the growing cloudiness and gloom, hoping to find a tavern when he almost ran straight into a sign pole. Crim looked up, the fog and mist had rolled in and was making it more and more difficult to see, at least Tellen couldn't tell his face was flushed with embarrassment.

At long last he led them to a shop keep door and opened the middle rate tavern inside, it was loud and boisterous. a roaring and ornate stone fireplace crackled in one corner and a long low bar rested along the back wall, Tables where everywhere and were surprisingly full. A group of minstrels played stringed instruments near the door and he inclined his head slightly as he saw them. He loved music.

Guiding Tellen to a nearby table he offered her a chair then took to his own. as they sat he knew it would be a while before they got served he nodded his head in the direction of the quartet and said
"students of yours, tellen?"

[Lisenet]

When she heard his curse she had to stop herself from spinning to stare at him. Few humans ever learned the ancient language, and suddenly two of those exceptionally few had managed to fall into each other's company? Not that she intended to make him aware of it. It served her purposes best when others were ignorant to all of her abilities.

Tellen didn’t even see Crim’s hands move faster than they ought to have as he reached for an arrow. Before she had time to reach for his arm and yell at him his arm dropped, the dust apparently causing him more trouble than the horse had. Tellen was occupied with ineffectually shaking mud off her wet-hanging skirts when he offered an arm and, appreciating the balance offered if she leaned on him and he didn’t go anywhere, took it, only to find she had his hand instead. His grip wasn’t tight so she kept it. Cousins? Well, they wouldn’t pass for brother and sister before a blind man, so she let it pass. It wasn’t as if his claim inconvenienced her, and she told fables all the time to more quickly get her way.

Tellen hid a smile as the opulent guard muttered into his tiny moustache and waved them in. She was about to berate him about not answering her question on mind-work and magic when he hastily sidestepped a signpost and she decided to wait. Clearly he was still out of sorts, though from what she couldn’t manage. She returned her hand to its place on his forearm and let him show her into one of the better taverns. She eyed the musicians, who weren’t bad for a tavern group, and had to remind herself to take the chair he pulled out for her—ignoring it was just something she did out of mirthful spite, and he’d done nothing to deserve it.

”Students of yours?”

She shot him a look. ”Were you going to shoot that horse?” she demanded. ”It was panicked, not rabid. And no, I teach children.”

She rubbed her aching brow and half-lifted her hand as the barmaid came weaving through the half-filled tables on the floor, a pitcher in each hand. Tellen pushed her cup to the edge of the table. ”Water, please” The maid dumped water in the cup and hurried off again. Tellen downed half the water before replacing the cup on the rough-hewn table before her and rested her cheek on her fist. She could feel the hem of her skirt slowly dripping all over the floor at her feet and suppressed a sigh. ”You would have killed my porpoise too if you’d been the one to find it, wouldn’t you?” she asked then. Thank goodness she’d been on the beach first, then. She liked to at least try to save the broken things she found before killing them properly.

[.:[Crim]:.]

Crim sat contently at the table in the tavern within Teirm. His senses were on fire, as they always were when he was in such an enclosure. So many smells, so many noises. so many feels, and when he ate so many tastes. As he noticed that Tellen had already gotten some water he flagged a nearby waitress and asked for coffee. He knew it would probably run him the last of his gold coins but coffee was delicious. and he loved the heady aroma it had to it. His father had drunk coffee every morning, while his mother Fael'nirv every evening. Crim sadly smiled as he raised the glass after it arrived, Winking slyly at Tellen before he downed most of it in a gulp. He was lucky it was lukewarm, and rather weak he noticed with displeasure.

Studying the group that composed the band and their audience in greater detail he noticed that they were acceptably good, and even though their instruments were worn still functioned right. Crim glanced around the room intermittently looking for things to occupy his mind, finding none he decided to further his knowledge of Tellen.
" you asked before if I was going to shoot either the horse or your porpoise and the answer is no. I may have thought about it, especially with Xannananth, but I decided against it when I saw that you were already half way done or so, plus I had a feeling that you would be none too happy with that. I wouldn't want a Lady mad at me now would I?
He stared off into the fireplace musing his next answer. Crim was still wondering whether or not he should answer her if he was a magician which he was not, he debated telling her that he could speak with his mind and he again shot that down too.
"Earlier you asked if I was a magician, and the answer is a resounding no, I am not. nor do know any."

What he said was true, in a way. He was capable of speaking with his mind, and as a half elf he definitely could use magic, but he for one did not know how yet, and two saw no reason too when he could hit a golden coin at near any range possible. Thus his mind easily let him convince himself that he was not a magician because the term implied that he actively practiced magic. He set about gazing at Tellen's eyes. At least that is where he started, he quickly tried to glean everything he could find there and then spread to her surrounding features, taking regular breaks to look at the band, the fire or the stray dog that was whimpering in a corner.

Deciding that he would at least like some dinner he broached the question to Tellen
"Would you like anything to eat malady? I could order us something off the menu... if they have one"

[Lisenet]

Crim winked at her as his mug arrived, Tellen lifted a single brow. ”You’re a flirtatious one, aren’t you? I can’t decide if I should return the compliment or ignore it. I’ve no room for men in my life.” Not the kind of room men tended to want, anyway.

She slipped a square of parchment out of her satchel as she set it between her feet and set about creasing folds into and across it, flattening them with both fingertips and the back of her fingernail to make them crisper. ”I’m glad you wouldn’t have shot the horse. Although admittedly if I hadn’t found the porpoise I’d have been glad you wouldn’t just leave it to suffer. I admit I’m softhearted in a few places, but at least I know the difference between mercy and cruelty.” She had never fully understood the blibbering nitwits who insisted on forcing a wounded man or animal to die on his own, in pain, while they sat by and rocked on their knees and cried how sad they were while death slowly crept in on the pour soul they refused to spare. Part of her understood the absolute horror of killing, sending lives we valued into the otherworld, or wherever they went when they were no longer residing with the living. But at the same time she knew she had no right to feel emotional pain over the deed when the sufferer was enduring far worse in body.

”….and the answer is a resounding no.” Her eyes flicked up and back down to the uncolored paper, slowly shrinking and gaining form, though not yet recognizable. ”That’s always useful to know.” She smiled dryly. ”Though you didn’t answer my other question. I suppose you answered it already when you told me the porpoise’s name, however. Clearly you have some mental abilities.” And she would curse him with pleasure if he ever tried those abilities with her, or if she knew how to cast curses.

Dropping her gaze back to her hands, Tellen watched her own fingers tucking and tugging at small folds in the creature emerging from the paper. Her eyes flicked up once and caught him watching her face, not her hands, but she decided not to comment. His eyes belonged to him; she had no right to command them. ”The daily menu is written on that board above the bar—“ she pointed ”I have my own money, and if you call me m’lady again I may have to leave. To the best of my knowledge I have no right to the title, and with my knowledge in that area being stunted I’d best not assume I do.” His calling her lady where others could hear wasn’t irritating, really, just inconvenient. If those she knew heard him use the term they may assume he was correct, and in this town she was known to be only of the merchant or artisan class. Hopefully, if he thought her a bastard, he would refrain from continuing the courtesy on the concern of offending her. It didn’t, but the lie maintained her present façade and had to be told.

To distract him from pitying her—as people often did when they believed others to be born out of wedlock, which she most assuredly wasn’t—she presented the small jay, only about the length of her thumb, that she’d created out of the folded paper. She tossed it to the center of the table before calling back the waitress and ordering herself a bowl of the day’s stew.

[.:[Crim]:.]

Crim sighed, as if thinking there was no avoiding it when he had to at least acknowledge the fact. he peered intently at the jay that she had folded. reaching a hand into one of his sleeves he withdrew a ring, it was twisted and convoluted into many folds and bends. he placed it on the tabletop. "solve this one then oh miss fast hands" he said so as if challenging her. he started to warm up a bit. the inner most layer of his tunic fit snugly to his chest and thus gave him little to no protection from the bite of the wind when the door opened suddenly and a young maid walked in. Crim paid her no mind.

"I'm guessing you would not believe me if I said I guessed?" he asked politely, then added in an innocent yet evil undertone. "mizz" he flashed a lopsided roguish grin at her and then stretched his arms out behind his head and leaned back a bit.

He heard her mention the food menu and he cursed himself for not realizing that he might need some assistance. Crim blushed deeply and said with a perfectly straight face " I Can't read that menu at least, not from here. I'll just have the soup." he directed the last at the waitress who had just served the young maid.

looking back intently at Tellen he wondered how mad she would be when she learned that he could not only break into her mind if he so chose, but his other... more important secret. he lay like that for some minutes, his head in his hands staring either down his nose at Tellen or up at the ceiling as if thinking about something far away or long ago.

When his soup arrived at the same time as Tellen's he made sure to wait for her to start eating before he did. as he noticed the lack of fresh meat and the watered down broth he ate it dutifully. It was food, even if he could have made better camping in the forest he so loved. he looked back at Tellen, whose dress was still dripping onto the floor and had an idea.
"you know, you might get drier if you actually wore that layer of the tunic, under your dress, its oiled every morn and dusk so it should be fairly waterproof. I am sure there is a powder room or some such that you could use.
As he said so he laughed and suddenly shot his hand out, not forcibly but gently catching a serving girl by the arm. "May I please have the bill for this table young madam?" he added with his brilliant smile and a roguish grin. a few minutes passed and he began to have his own questions about Tellen. The major one had to do with what little she mentioned about herself. he chose one aspect he knew of her and asked.
"so where did you say you tutored? Also how is it that you are not a lady but are a woman are they not the same thing in different points of view? Furthermore if you infer that you are not a lady, where would you have learned to play an instrument so well that you could give lessons? I know little of most instruments but the ones I grew up listening to such as the lute and flute were rather expensive or crafted by hand over a long period of time, Would it not be so with all instruments, especially ones that were of good enough quality to use in tutoring?" he smiled inwardly, and outwardly at the same time thinking his question quite clever.

he dropped his arms back to his side as he waited for her answer, and the bill, which he fully planned to snatch under Tellen's nose. A gentleman should always pay. he thought to himself quietly.

[Lisenet]

Tellen took the twisted rings immediately, sitting back in a position mirroring his as she curled them together and shook them apart. Fitting two together was simple enough, but finding the way to fit three or more into each other seemed impossible when she saw the way the coils interlocked with each other, preventing her from wedging them together, and she was wary of breaking the complicated treasure. Already she was transfixed, and she wondered if she could find another one of these anywhere nearby. Or even far away. And if he insisted on the ‘Miss’ she wouldn’t mind, that could be applied to any woman. ”I would not believe you,” she absently replied, twirling the crooked rings around her fingers as she tried to understand how they could ever fit together.

He couldn’t read the menu? But he ordered the same stew she was having before she could read it to him. ”Is this one not your first language?” she wanted to know instead. He did have the faintest accent, one which she couldn’t place. She hardly noticed when the bowls arrived, and refused to set aside the rings, instead taking bites of the stew in between turns of the puzzle. At least she knew now he most likely was closer to merchant- or commonborn, which was comforting. She didn’t usually like people of her own class: they were snobs.

Crim voiced a suggestion and she glanced up, surprised out of her reverie, still flicking the shining bands back and forth before her soup bowl. ”You know, it probably would. But it won’t fit beneath this dress, it’s not big enough.” Well, it might. But the laces in the back would be set quite a bit wider, and even with the other fabric beneath them she didn’t care to give any of the other tavern visitors the wrong idea. She would dry off eventually. The low fire behind them was warm enough, and if she got cold enough she could go sit on the hearth.

”I tutor here, going to houses with children whose parents have the money to learn. My instrument was passed down for generations, the only reason I’m able to play it. I had to learn on my own and from my mother.” She had to admit he’d caught onto the inconsistency in her façade. He was right. Common-borns couldn’t afford most instruments, which would mean she did have the right to the title Lady. ”And a lady is a woman of noble birth, a gentleman is the male equivalent, though you would call him a lord or some other title, depending on his rank. Mistress and Master apply to you and I, being common.” He must be foreign. Or he was toying with her. Either way he was making for a more and more interesting companion every minute.

The waitress dropped a small chalkboard on the table, facedown, which would list the prices of their meals and drinks. Tellen was too absorbed in Crim’s fascinating little puzzle to notice right off and when she slowly reached out to take it her hand met only the table. She glanced up, looking about for it, and found it on Crim’s side of the table. She extended her hand toward him, beckoning. ”Give it over, I can’t read the prices from here.”

[.:[Crim]:.]

Crim laughed and held out the chalkboard "this?" he asked as if not knowing full well what she wanted. he glanced at the board and sighed in relief when he saw numerical figures instead of the Common's runes, he reached into a fold on his left hip and withdrew a few small coins as well as a larger and thicker one, then deposited them onto the plate of a passing barmaid, along with the chalk board. Crim threw a look to Tellen, "Oh that! I'm sorry, I didn't realize you wanted to read it, that's a shame, I already payed and everything" his voice trailed on as he was overcome with a long chuckle.

He absent mindedly fiddled with the buckles on his tunic as he mulled over his questions and her question to him. he looked at her eyes, waiting for her to catch his gaze and then said in a dead kind of tone "nay, Common was my first language" but as he said so his eyes betrayed the slightest of twinkle. he laughed as the Audience applauded the song that had just ended.

"I've always loved hearing music, in the woods near my home we would always hear voices and harps and lutes. Maybe you can teach me sometime?" he poked at the real question he was going for slowly. Extending his hand over the table he asked. "may I have it back?" referring to the ring she was still unable to solve. Accepting it he placed it on the table, holding it vertically with one finger and he flicked the corner with his other hand. It rotated many times flashing in the dim light, it slowly slowed down and began to wobble back and forth. When it finally landed the puzzle bands were solved and he hastily stowed it before Tellen could see the Lithuania script inscribed on it.

"So Tellen, Would you like to go for a walk in the storm that is now positively howling outside? if I remember there is a small patio near the docks that is covered enough that we would be able to watch the Storm in its entirety play out across the ocean." as he spoke another mischievous grin spread across his face and he added softly so that she could hear.

"it would please me to spend more time with you, And in reference to your statement, I am no one's servant, and I refuse to call anyone mistress or master. And for some reason I have to believe that if you had a problem with being called a lady that you have some reason to hate the title, a commoner would be flattered to be boosted in status, even if incorrectly. Or is it that you truly just accept your lot?" he stood, his towering frame suddenly throwing Tellen into Shadow, his shoulders silhouetted against the flame of the hearth he offered his hand and gestured with his head towards the door

[Lisenet]

Tellen’s hand closed and her breath huffed out in frustration as he paid up for their dinner and tossed the tablet to a waitress. ”Insufferable wretch,” she named him with more humor than vexation. ”I could teach you if you stuck around long enough,” she answered, reluctantly returning his puzzle to him. In moments he had it rearranged into a single wearable piece, which flashed in his palm before he tucked it away. She gave a short cry of indignation, holding both hands now out toward it as though betrayed by the game. ”That is so unfair.”

Then she sighed gustily. She would just have to look at it again later. “Sure,” she replied to his question of sitting back by the docks. ”I’ll not get any wetter as it is.” She would have to sleep with just her sheets to let the dress dry out overnight as it was. She tossed his cloak at him as she fished in her satchel before slinging it over her shoulders. She’d had an oilcloth cloak in her bag all along, but it was too thin to have kept her warm as his had. Now it would just maintain her simply wet state and prevent her from going to outright soaked.

”I never said you were a servant. I don’t think you realize how things are done here,” she pointed out. ”It’s improper to call each other by the wrong title. The nobles take offense when commoners call each other by the titles reserved for the higher-birthed people. And while it may be flattery to some, to others it can feel like mockery. You’re too kind to mock me, aren’t you?” She flashed him a one-sided smile. ”Although since I can tell already you aren’t going to heed a word I’ve said, at the very least try to limit your ridiculousness to moments when I’m the only one who will overhear.” When Crim stood she did as well, striding toward the door without bothering to take his arm. With so little room in between the tables it wasn’t necessary. She dropped a few coins into the nearest musician’s instrument case as she passed before stepping out into the rain, her deep hood pulled forward.

The smell of the storm outside was a combination of mud, horses, freshwater and brine, along with that particular, foreign sort of smell that came down from the clouds, along with the cooler air cycling down out of the sky and its hidden stars. ”Storms make me believe sometimes that the sky is just another ocean, but we don’t realize it because we’re right in the middle of it.” She tipped her head back to stare up at him. ”What do you think? Are we sea-creatures too?”

Tellen hardly knew what to think as far as herself being a sea creature, but Crim....he was an odd bird himself. Perhaps he was a sea creature, and that was why he didn't follow the same unspoken traditions that she understood so well. Perhaps he was from a different ocean. His musical forest sounded very different from the forest she was familiar with.

Out of habit she wandered over to the notice board in the center of the town's market, shaded and protected from the rain by a wide eave. Wanted posters, ads for custom work, and the odd jobs she had a knack for completing when she felt like it. She'd managed to find an entirely dried-out starfish for a nobleman's eccentric daughter once, as the girl absolutely refused to take the starfish he'd found her because she knew it had been alive until a fisherman killed it. She'd wanted one that had died on its own time, and after several days of searching Tellen had found one.

She laid her hand against the parchments nailed to the soft board, flattening various notices as the wind stirred them up. "These are always interesting," she murmured, more to herself than to him. Any nomad ought to know that the notices could provide the balance between death and life, whether they were on the Wanted posters or they had a unique skill that could earn them money.

[.:[Crim]:.]

Crim looked heavenward and smiled to himself. listening to her explanation that we all might be sea creatures was particularly interesting. he thought of himself as a fish and wondered which fish he would he would be. Would he be an angelfish? he laughed silently to himself. "If we were fish then you would be an angelfish wouldn't you Tellen?" he looked sideways at her, for the first time actually trying get a look at her body, cloaked as it was he still felt a sudden rush of heat to his face. the Rain poured Steadily down and it soon covered his oiled tunic.

As she mentioned the job board, he looked at the aforementioned. His eyes scanned the carved and scarred boards. One of the crumpled pieces of paper that was located in the near bottom of the board caught his attention for it had an image of what looked to be his puzzle ring on it. stooping in the rain, his back lit by the lantern post that stood near the board.

He pointed out the job offer and then drew his jaw closer to Tellen's face and whispered in her ear.
"Can you read that? my eyes cannot make out what it says." he added a roguish grin and a sly wink as he drew out of her personal space standing back up straight, again starting to tower over the rest of the crowd.
he stood back and watched as she leaned forward to read the post that was at the bottom of the board and he again turned away heat rising to his cheeks, Damn mind always betraying him.
After a few minutes he asked her if She knew where they needed to go and proffered his arm to her.

[Lisenet]

Tellen laughed, scoffing. ”Hardly. An octopus, for certain. A nine-pound octopus can fit itself through a hole the size of a copper piece, did you know that?” She’d seen it. It squeezed itself through like jam through a hole in thick bread then dripped down the outside of the fishing vessel she’d been riding in as she watched it go. Fascinating creatures, octopi. They could change colors, too. And they weren’t all soft as they appeared on the outside. Almost no one realized but they had a beak deep inside them, like an osprey. A jam-covered osprey. Tellen couldn’t help the smile that pressed into her lips at the thought.

They inspected the board silently for a smattering of minutes, the rain pattering down on the roof over the board and occasionally spraying sideways to dampen the many papers. Crim tapped his finger against one and leaned closer. She wanted to ask him why he spoke as if his sight prevented him from reading but was distracted by the daring proximity he brought when he spoke.

She could feel his warm breath brushing over the top of her ear. Suddenly the alien feeling of uncertainty, not knowing what to do, pervaded her previously comfortable state of absolute confidence. She lifted a hand to press lightly against his chest and he stepped back, winking once more as he did so. Clearing her throat, she read, ” ‘Baroness Eddia, seeking the wedding ring of her mother, before her daughter’s wedding date, which is buried in an unknown location with her mother. Reward offered. Damn.’ “ It was a handsome sum. Tellen pulled the slim nail out of the top of the ad and squinted more closely at it. ”I’ve heard of this before. The story I heard was that her parents were the do-gooding sort and brought hot food out to a family they knew was struggling in the middle of a snowstorm. A rather eccentric scholar found the couple frozen solid the next morning and didn’t know who they were so he set a bonfire in one of the caves—supposedly—up on the cliffs to melt the dirt and buried them once it had gone out. It was only a few years later that the story got back to the family, and by then the scholar had died and couldn’t tell them where he’d buried them.” She grimaced. ”What a selfish granddaughter, to disturb their rest just so she can have the family ring. It looks like yours,” she remarked. She pursed her lips. ”If I meet the granddaughter and don’t like her I’m keeping it.”

Tellen briskly folded the notice and tucked it into her belt. ”I think I’ll hold on to that in case I’m still interested in the morning.” She glanced at him, then out at the rain. ”Do you have a place to stay?” She chewed at the inside of her lower lip. ”The only room left at my inn was one with two beds, since you paid for supper.” Accepting the arm, Tellen tugged him back out into the rain. ”It’s not far.”

Once they made it to the inn, Tellen gave him the number of the room and the key, then pointed him toward the stairs while she chased down the innkeeper’s wife. It took several minutes of begging, cajoling, and a few pieces of copper to convince the wife to loan out one of her loose nightgowns. Tellen might have slept in her skin alone, but with a strange man in the second bed it would require gold to convince her to do so. She changed in a spare room, threw her wet things over a pair of wire hangers to dangle from the rafters, and climbed up to the room and let herself in. The room was bare, no personal belongings but those she’d brought in with her. It could have been a spare room as well other than the fact that it had been locked. ”Yours,” she said, pointing to the narrow bed by the wall. ”Mine.” She pointed to the one by the window.

[.:[Crim]:.]

As Crim was led along the meandering streets of Teirm he started to notice smaller things. About Teirm, and about Tellen. The way the fog seemed to be spread by the buildings them self, The way that Tellen's dress was still wet and yet didn't bother her completely, Crim noticed that there seemed to be no end to the unending fog. Was the fog even natural in this city? He didn't mind that Tellen was leading him to the Inn, Which proved to be far better than simply sleeping on the ground in the forest. AS he was led into the Tavern She leaned in and gave him the keys to the room. he looked back at her and smiled.

"So were sleeping in your room then eh?" he said matter of fact. He was half daring her to come back with something snappy yet she just shooed him away with a slightly irritated look in her eyes. he made his way into the room and noticed the two beds. Choosing the bed closest to the window Crim hastily dumped his quiver and longbow onto it. Heavy leather buckles and straps came undone as he shrugged the outermost of his tunic off, folding it onto the bedspread, which by the way ended in a neat little skirt which hid what he assumed was dusty floors. As Crim partially stripped out of his outer shell he glanced around the room, noting the dingy wallpapers, the hastily added chairs with the buttons missing from the cushions that were colored dull green.

Studying this all as he undid the straps that held his sleeves on he watched as they half flowed down his tawny skinned arms. he raised his hand and brushed both sides of his hair out of his eyes right and left, trying to part it at the center of his head. It never worked, but he thought he would try. From doing this he reached behind his back and quickly undid the sturdy knot that held the lowermost layer of his tunic, this caused it to simply fall off, he caught it and then folded it in a pile with the rest of his gear.

thus he stood exposed from the waist up. His clearly identifiable Archers build making his shoulders seem absurdly large for his body and his back and torso were fit and lean, not corded as some of the men he had seen, but he assumed this came from being an elf. he flexed and stretched his body a bit sore from all the sitting he had done today. normally he was constantly in motion walking from rise to fall.

His breeches at least had some of the straps and buckles hanging from them, lending them a weird clanking and creaking noise as the metal and leather played their correspondent tunes. they were black and white like the rest of his get up, buy as thick as the whole of the tunic with all its layers so they were fairly warm.

suddenly, the door opened and he was caught under the scrutiny of Tellen. So there he was, exposed from the waist up and his eyes flashed a startled deer like look at the door that very rapidly changed to interested but also amused. She was wearing a loose fitting nightgown, white but old with a few stains as if it was well used. his eyes, against his will he might add, took the standard elevator tour and twinkled mischievously. She went on to point at the bed he had already taken and claimed it as hers.

Crim's Eyebrow arched and he asked comically
"so you want the bed with the bag full of pointy arrows?" resisting the urge to add more to the line he twirled about his semi long hair streaming a bit behind his head and crashed onto the bed laying face down his shoulders exposed to the slight chill of the inn. The tattoo on his right shoulder blade stood out with distinction. the Sword and wings emblem meant something deep and personal too him, as his mother had given it to him before he could remember walking.

Crim sighed heavily as if it was the first time he had slept on a bed in ages and asked "only wake me if a dagger is at my throat, I'm in heaven. Or do you want to talk before we retire?" he rolled over and propped his head up with his shoulder which rested on a pillow. Doing so he hoped to invite her to talk with him. His mind was betraying him with the occasional thought that he did not approve of, but he had full control of his faculties, and as if testing both himself and her he also added in unmistakably joking tone "unless..."