Private Two Sides of a Coin

[Rekamennos]

Leilani listened as the others gathered around Bruynzeel speaking of housing arrangements. Of course, as generous as he was, he offered his home. Leilani, on the other hand, she was a kind soul but her trustworthiness stopped after exchanging pleasantries when it came to strangers. She had her secrets, and she would kill to keep them protected, and she was damn good at that. But even her Markarth, Riften, or Whiterun home she wouldn't just stretch her arms wide open for. It's not that she didn't care, she did, but she was overprotective of everything in her life. She had a right to be from all of what she'd been through.

"I suppose wherever you go, Bru, I will be going." She squeezed his paw lovingly. Leilani was a quiet one, not speaking unless spoken to, or if she knew another well, and she kept to herself personally. She would only ask questions if it was necessary, not to lead another on to think they had a right to ask about her life, for that wouldn't end well. She wasn't brutal off the start, don't take it the wrong way, she was just extremely cautious.

There was a conversation between Bruynzeel and her that no doubt needed to be finished. A lot, in fact, six years worth. She wouldn't do so in front of these others, at his home, for she already caught wind of a "nosey one." That one, right there, no matter how much of a composed expression she held not giving wind to her annoyance whatsoever; she would be watching intently. She took in a deep inhale, and her lime green eyes crossed the room. Instantly, her eyes fell upon a female sitting at the bar rather unappily. Something strong hit her empathetic connection about her. Not wanting to draw attention to her gifts, for if she used it to scan her mind (which she didn't unless she had a real reason to otherwise she respects privacy) her eyes would glow lime green and questions would arise. She didn't want that. But, that something, the energy that she gave off...she studied in in her own privacy...was she a vampire? One could never tell. She didn't mind much either having been a vampire prior in her life a few years back. But, she didn't keep the gift because she had more than enough "birthright responsibilities" to attend to. And she'd never give up the one thing that truly kept her connected to her parents, not the Khajiit parents, the ones that were burnt to death when she was a child.

"So what is the decision then? To your place, or to Edwyn's? Which, for all of you who I haven't introduced myself to, my name is Leilani Mundatke. And obviously Bru and I have known each other for some time..." She blushed. But that quickly subsided for her impatience was extremely apparent across her face. She didn't like unproductive dillydallying. She was not the procrastinating type especially when the solution to one's answer was 50/50.

 

[Shew]

Chuckles to himself, Bru, it has been too long since he heard that name. His time with her had been the happiest in his life almost magical in its contentedness. They were a well suited pair he had to admit. And his deeper secrets were safe with her but he also missed the ease of conversation they had. No secrets just life as it was. Open and accepted. He decided then he needed to have more than just one long talk. He needed to discover the pain behind Edwyns eyes, and the hope in Leilani's.

"Well I have room for all of us and a few more... and My cellar is stocked with mead, my cubbards full of food. And honestly your town has sickened my stomach a touch. I think I would rather sleep in my own bed." Gently sqeezes Leilani's hand. Starts toward the edge of town. But turns back. "Circumstances have brought us together, but maybe we share a path for a time. Edwyn I do appreciate your offer of lodging, And I long to know more about what happened with your wife. Your hurt is apparent, but there is hope in your eyes too."

Gets a gleam in his eye and produces a single golden coin from apparently nowhere "Course I would also give it up to chance, say the flip of a septim. Heads my place, tails yours?"

 

[Neverwin]

Sverr had been discreetly eying the Nordic woman (his wearing a helmet that obscured most of his face was probably the ONLY reason he could do such a thing discreetly), but he stopped upon noticing the interactions between her and the Khajit. He gave a disappointed sigh. Well, there went his brief fantasies of hooking up with that particular woman...

He quickly cheered up upon hearing the words "cellar stocked full of mead." The change was noticeable, in fact. He seemed to turn his full attention to the Khajit and leaned a little closer to him.

"I wasn't sure why everyone's offering each other lodgings when there's a perfectly good inn here, but now, I don't really care. Khajit, ah... Bru, the woman called you? Well, whatever your name is, you're all right in my book. A cellar full of mead? And you're offering this for free? Haha! I'd walk barefoot through Oblivion for you, my friend, don't think I wouldn't!"

 

[Shew]

"I may be Bru to her, but you will call me Bruynzeel (Brew-in-Zeal)" He chuckles and purrs "But just across the valley will be fine for now... depending on this coin."


(occ:normally I wouldn't one liner. but this just begged for it.)

 

[Neverwin]

"Bruynzeel, it is, then. Blessings upon this coin! May all the gods favor the cellar of mead!" It was hard to imagine anyone sounding happier than the short man in the heavy armor.

 

[Minstrel]

Circe turned to the Bosmer who had spoken to her, her eyes crimson, not because she intended to scare him, but because she was too tired to prevent it from happening.

"And what exactly is my kind supposes to mean? Yes, I am a vampire, If you have a problem with it please do feel free to take it up with the Inn Keeper."

Circe and the Inn Keeper exchanged glances and the he shook his head with a slight smirk.

"Is there anything else you wish to do other than insult me? I came here to relax for a few days, but already I have been insulted twice. Once by a foolish assassin who I was too tired to murder, and once by you."

Circe ran a finger down the Bosmer's armour and then tapped it three times.

"It can't protect you forever." she said with a wide smile, letting her fangs into full view. Once again, not because she wished to intimidate him, but because she didn't have the energy to stop herself.

And then, she turned away from the man and began to walk towards someone she had been observing since she entered the Inn, someone who had also been observing her. A woman with lime green eyes, beautiful, but also very unnatural.

"You have beautiful eyes you know?" Circe said standing in front of her with a little grin. "Does it run in the family?"

(OOC: Guys, just to let you know I am struggling quite a bit to keep up with this RP. I think you are all in a different time zone so everyone posts at one time and then I come on at another time and have to catch up. )

 

[Rekamennos]

Leilani let her question linger allowing silence between them wrap like a soft blanket. Just for a moment, though, she pondered careful words to choose. "...random chance of genetics. But I get that a lot, thank you." She gave the vampiress a warm smile that relayed a personal familiarity to her form. Something she wasn't afraid of hiding since it was no longer apart of her life. Leilani had a young life that was full of experiences most would never think.

"I had eyes like those once. My favorite part was the ruby red glow they gave off in the sun's shine, well, how much sun I could handle at a time." She laughed, a soft laugh, in a pleasant and calming way. Such was Leilani's demeanor. It was obvious Leilani didn't trust others, at all in fact, but it didn't negate her ability to be charming nonetheless. Just because someone didn't trust didn't mean that they'd be rude to push people away. After all, how would one survive without social interaction? For the success Leilani had as an adventure speech was quite the useful skill despite what others would think. For her life, mastery of speech was extremely important.

 

[Minstrel]

Circe laughed briefly with the woman and then spoke again, letting her eyes flare red.

"I don't really use them that much," Circe was slightly surprised to hear that the woman had once been like her, but she had heard of people curing themselves before. "You know what, I quite like you, we must get to know each other better sometime, where are you headin'?"

 

[Rekamennos]

"Well, I guess we're still deciding that..." Leilani trailed off revealing her annoyance as she looked back to Bruynzeel who was gesturing to "flip a coin" when a simple take-charge assertiveness in persuasion would have been quicker and more effective. "...But that's men for you. Wherever the cat goes, I go." She grinned playfully at the comment wondering if he would catch on.

"And my, thank you for liking me strongly. Your presence is quite a pleasure indeed." She charmingly held her sparkling smile, and then it faded as she turned back to watch the debate about where to stay for the time being letting out an exasperated sigh. "Tell you what, I'll buy you a drink while they figure out how many men it takes to figure out housing arrangements." Leilani giggled, and then proceeded back towards the bar that which Circe came from. She sat down on the stool, rose her hand, and the barkeep told her the same situation as before. Leilani dove her right hand into her pockets, and then she pulled out a nice sized satchel of septims. "Would this change your mind about the Black Briar?" The barkeep smiled, with a wink, as he made his way to a back room to fill two flagons fresh.

 

[Minstrel]

Circe followed the woman to a table and then sat opposite her, a smile still clear on her face. It had been decades since she had met a down-to-earth woman who had an idea of what she was going through, and that woman was long since dead. Buried far away beneath the warm sands of Elsweyr.

"So tell me about yourself, Its obvious that you aren't like most people around here, and I don't just mean personality wise." Circe gave the woman a small wink, hinting towards the obvious. "What clan do you come from? I assume you come from a clan, I don't think that eye colour is just a random chance of genetics."

 

[Rekamennos]

Leilani boiled inside. Her hands began to instinctively wander to the dagger that was sheathed on her right side, but she stopped herself. There was absolutely no hint of anger on her face besides the move for the dagger, with which she could easily excuse. She laughed off the question, and shook her head. "You're quite bold in your accusations, vampire. Which by the way, my name is Leilani, and it's a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand, still smiling warmly, and looking her dead in the eyes. "You are right, though, about the fact that I am not your average Nord woman. I lost my parents to a forest fire when I was eight, and my sister and I were adopted into a clan of Khajiit caravaneers after being found wandering the forests of our old home homeless. Then we moved to Elsweyr, and forever since I have been apart of the Mundatke Clan." Her lime green eyes sparkled, there was nothing to be had across her face, in her energy, nothing that would show otherwise to her words. "That's probably the most interesting thing about my life. My parents were sawmill owners, and then my other parents are merchants, and my sister lives in Ivarstead with two kids and owns a blacksmith with her husband. Other than that, I myself just fancy the wandering and adventuring. As for my eye color, it really is just a blessing from my Mother and Father's good looks. Sorry I can't lead you on to some magnificent tale..." The barkeep returned with their two flagons. Leilani smiled and licked her lips, for she felt that Black Briar was by far the best. Some claimed Honningbrew took the cake, but she was loyal due to her ties in Riften. She pulled the flagon to her lips, and she sipped it.

 

[Minstrel]

Circe saw the woman flinch slightly at her question and then move uneasily, most likely reaching for a weapon, but apart from the action that could only be described a 'human' she kept her emotions hidden. Circe hid her own emotions too, not that she was experiencing any other than a terrible anger that lurked deep inside, an anger that had nothing to do with her current situation.

The Vampire listened closely to what the woman had to say, dismissing the things that she assumed to be lies but taking in every other piece of information.

"It seems you and I are very similar Leilani. Loosing your parents, now that is something I can relate to, but while you lost your parents due to their death, I lost mine because of my own death. Its a long story and I don't wish to share any details. I'll tell you though that I took on a second father, so I know what it is like as well."


Circe stopped and took a sip of the mead in front of her. Black-briar mead, my favourite. Keeping the mug in her hand she continued, but not before letting a brief silence sit between them.

"Why are you so secretive Leilani? There is obviously a lot more to you than meets the eye, some things I know you are not telling me, but why? Why can't you tell someone who has probably experienced exactly the same things you have? I have no one to tell, no one I wish to tell, so please, I want to hear it from your own lips, What are you?"

Circe had never understood why people were so secretive. While Circe wouldn't exactly tell her life story to just anyone, she didn't see the need to go to such extremes.

 

[Rekamennos]

Leilani kept up her pokerface. Having hid this secret her whole life she wasn't going to start revealing herself to any random stranger now. No matter how beautiful, or "deadly". She took in her words, and she let the silence linger between them just for a casual period as she sipped her flagon taking a larger sip than she did before. "What have I not told you, vampire? Which, by the way, you have yet to still tell me your name..." She didn't meant the vampire thing to be rude at all. She took high regard of the thought of her keeping her name from her this whole time. She too was reading into every word that she said. Leilani wasn't unsettled at all, though.

She let out a warm chuckle. "Do you play 20 questions with all of the new people you meet? And why is it wrong for a woman to keep her personal life to herself? I have told you what you need to know, and I will continue to tell you what is appropriate and very much the truth. Any normal person keeps things to themselves, especially when they first meet someone. So I don't owe you any explanations I do apologize." Leilani sipped again. She was calm and collected having been in this position several times in her life.

 

[Minstrel]

The two women sipped their drinks for a moment and Circe responded to what Leilani had said.

"I am just a very curious woman," Circe said with a smile. "I didn't intend to be rude by not revealing my name, but I did leave it out for a reason. Now you know what it is like to be left in the dark on a matter that is so blatantly obvious. We have both revealed different information on ourselves and I was merely trying to bring us to even ground. My name is Circe, nice to meet you."

She leaned across the table and shook the Nord's hand.

"Please, don't feel pressured to tell me what I want to know. I can respect your privacy."

 

[Minstrel]

(OOC: Rekamennos, is your text meant to be red all of a sudden? I was just wandering because it was green before, there is probably and obvious reason for it that I am missing. )

 

[Rekamennos]

(OOC: Rekamennos, is your text meant to be red all of a sudden? I was just wandering because it was green before, there is probably and obvious reason for it that I am missing. )

ooc: WOOPS! Didn't mean to do that...*fixes* thank you!

 

[Rekamennos]

'Circe...' She let the name linger over her mind. She would remember it for any future encounter. And her face as well. She sipped her mead, and she kept quiet before answering her once more. '...Please, don't feel pressured to tell me me what I want to know...I can respect your privacy...' She decided at that comment she would be watching the vampiress more intently. If she were going to be traveling with them, not for the sake of getting infected, but for the sake of her secret, she would make sure to never leave sight. One thing Leilani always learned was to wait until every other parted way before leaving to return home. That way, there was no suspicion, and she even made detours before going back to her real home. Leilani was the queen of hide and seek. Because she never got found.

"You have a beautiful name. Circe. It rolls off the tongue..." She sipped her flagon, looking down into it, and she realized it was nearing it's end. That was enough for her. Leilani never got drunk around strangers. Too much at stake. She continued to smile to the smile that Circe returned. "I promise I won't ask you anything you don't want to answer if you don't ask me anything I don't want to answer. Deal? I apologize if I come off a bit rough, I... I don't trust easily."

 

[Minstrel]

Like most people, Circe knew that Leinali was wary of her. Of course, Circe was a vampire, one of the most hated creatures in all of Tamriel, a sly, evil creature that would hurt others to get what she wanted... But she wasn't. True, she may have still been a sly and dark creature. Tens of times faster than a fox fleeing its predator, eyes as sharp as the Divines themselves, Strength that was beyond that of any frost troll, but she was not as bad as everyone seemed to think.

"Deal." Circe downed the last of her mead and then placed the empty mug back on the table. "Don't worry about not trusting easily. I suppose it can be seen as an gift. Let me assure you that letting people know more about me than they need to has got me in trouble more times that you will ever know. I used to try and settle down, buy a house and get a job, but I gave up. I suppose I was lucky, I hadn't got any memories that I needed to keep safe, so I just left. For one, getting a job was extremely boring, and secondly, I didn't need to worry about people tracking me back to a home.

This was all back in my youth tough I suppose. Of course, I have found a home now, as I'm sure you have too. When you get to my age you need to start thinking about these things." Circe said with a little laugh.

Leinali and Circe sat in silence for a while, watching the antics of people at the tavern, when Circe spoke once more.

"So what now, where is the rest of this group headin'?"

 

[Rekamennos]

"I have yet to know, still, I figured Bru would come in and get me should they make their minds up. We could always see if they're still debating over that sodding coin still..." Leilani rolled her eyes at the thought as she proceeded to stand up. Her flagon was finished as well. She left a small satchel on the counter, and then she winked at the barkeep as a thanks for the Black Briar. Leilani never settled for less if she had the choice to do so. She began to make her way towards the door.

 

[Mr.Self Destruct]

(Sheesh, keeping up with this is proving to be quite the hassle. )

After the chaos had been quelled, Alistair took a moment to step outside and get some fresh air. There was a group congregating in the streets. Alistair recognized a few of them from the fight, namely the Khajiit who had let forth that bestial roar. The ranger pulled the hood of his cloak over his head as he stepped onto the porch, leaning against a wooden column as he surveyed the group. He overheard bits of conversation, and realized they were looking for a place to stay.