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Post by The Jenn on Mar 10, 2008 13:15:50 GMT -5
 ((Set after he speaks with injured!Bernard and after his blowup with Linda))It was... frustrating. Whenever Lior wished he could feel things, happiness over someone else's accomplishment or pride over his own or anger over someone's thoughtlessness, all he usually dredged up was a listless feeling of emptiness and isolation. He was often depressed and he didn't know what to do about it, how to effectively fight it. And now that something had finally happened to him that he wished with all his might he could undo or ignore or pretend had never happened, the reality of it was smacking him in the face like a ton of bricks and he couldn't tell whether or not he should cry or scream or just crawl off in a hole and die somewhere. Instead of a hole, he'd gone to the Capital. It was one of the few places he knew well enough to get around without sticking out like a sore thumb besides the palace of Hearts, and that was a place he never planned on returning. Not so long as people he cared about lived there. He would hurt them, or they would hurt him, and he just didn't want to deal with it. Not now. Not after... everything. His stomach made an unpleasantly queasy flop in his gut, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since he left the palace a little over a day ago. He just hadn't felt up to stomaching food, not with his issues anyway. It wouldn't be a good idea to ignore it much longer, however, or he'd be dealing with physical weakness on top of everything else and that was just a little bit too much. His scanning golden eyes rested on a cafe he'd visited once or twice before, not one that he'd ever been to with his sister - stop it, memory, stop it! He already knew he was a failure at everything everyone else had ever wanted him to be. He shoved it aside as best he could and entered, going up to the counter and quietly ordering a cup of vegetable soup and a small side salad. Then he turned to look for someplace to sit. The day was a busy one, just a few minutes after noon and people out on their lunch breaks from many of the surrounding stores and businesses. He felt uneasy asking someone to share their table, but it looked like he would have to. But was there anyone who wouldn't send him skittering away? Another Highlander would have been ideal... he always felt more comfortable around those of his own region. |
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Post by Vyn on Mar 10, 2008 13:31:59 GMT -5
Having only arrived in the Capital a few days prior, Anya had taken up temporary residence in a nearby Inn for the duration of her small 'business' trip. Of course, nothing in life could actually run smoothly and business was on hold until her connections managed to catch up with her fast pace. The Highlander huffed quietly in her frustration. There was a saying about getting things done right, but Anya would just have to be patient for the time being. There wouldn't be too much harm in simply enjoying the sights and the city, right? Returning from her thoughts, Anya realized she'd been moodily staring into her soup and forcefully eased the tension from her shoulders and the frustration from her eyes. Gathering her outward composer despite the frustration brewing in the back of her mind. It shouldn't be too hard to put business on the back burner for a little while. By the time Lior found his eyes traveling to her, Anya would be absently stirring her soup with a look of boredom in her golden orbs with an empty chair open across from her. |
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 10, 2008 14:01:33 GMT -5
And that... was unmistakably a Highlander. At least something today wasn't ridiculously difficult and he didn't have to hunch on the floor, lapping up his bowl of soup. Hopefully. She - he thought it was a she, at least - looked rather bored. They might at least be able to exchange courtesies politely enough to warrant a shared eating space.
The man behind the counter had informed him that a server would be out with his meal when it was ready and so he felt comfortable enough walking away from the counter. Weaving cautiously between tables with his wings tucked close, he stopped next to her and cleared his throat lightly. He could just see the hint of a 'J' peeking through her jacket, either Heart or Diamond, which relieved him. His own rank was just as visible on his chest.
"Excuse me," he murmured, loud enough to be heard over the din of conversation buzzing all around them. "I apologize for disturbing you from your meal, but would the seat across from you happen to be occupied?" Pretty words, but he'd learned manners at the palace and was almost paranoid about causing insult.
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Post by Vyn on Mar 10, 2008 15:06:48 GMT -5
Anya blinked as a voice announced itself and asked about the seat across from her. Casting her golden orbs about she acknowledged the lack of other available seats and sat up a bit straighter. Well, there really wouldn't be any harm in it. A brow arched smoothly and she smiled a little as she beckoned to the open seat.
"Not at all, the seat is very much unoccupied and I am anything but disturbed of my meal." She rolled her shoulders in a smooth shrug, her eyes singing of boredom. "I was rather bored at the moment anyway and some company would be delightful."
What an interesting little King he was too, with his lovely markings and wings. They didn't exactly look native to his breed and he didn't appear to be a mix, which made her all the more curious. A flying cat, hm? Careful of her long claws, Anya held out a hand for Lior once he'd taken his seat. "I am Anya, by the way, and you are?"
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 10, 2008 15:43:20 GMT -5
Lior dipped his head in polite thanks and hopped up to sit on the seat across from her, a short bench-seat to accommodate variously sized bipedal and animal forms. This cafe catered to the full range of clientele. "Thank you very much. I hadn't wished to bother anyone, but you looked to be the most appealing of the patrons currently here. I'm glad that I might provide some form of entertainment."
His smile was self-deprecating, mask of manners firmly in place. He was never relaxed around strangers, ever. His sister used to tease him about it a little in an effort to get him to lighten up, but he really didn't want to think about that right now, thank you brain. Large wings settled more comfortably around him as he shifted. He felt so... awkward. He was quite sure he wouldn't be much in the way of entertainment. Still, his ability told him that she was indeed telling the truth about being bored, so there was hope that he wouldn't be an inconvenience, at the very least.
"My name is Lior," he responded with a small smile. "And if I'm not mistaken... you seem to have a touch of the Highland accent to your voice. Have you spent a great deal of time in the home region?" His own voice was uncolored with any accent but that of formality, having interacted with nobles from so many different realms that learning another language besides common and a basic understanding of his regional tongue seemed a hassle and a waste. He could speak the Highland language, but not especially well.
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Post by Vyn on Mar 19, 2008 18:37:24 GMT -5
Anya smiled. This boy was pleasant and polite, he knew his place and observed boundaries. He also appeared to have grown up with some courtly airs. How interesting... "Any company is better entertainment than staring into my soup."
As Lior settled himself, Anya studied him down to every minute detail. Especially those wings. She'd met very few non-avian types that had been blessed with the gift of flight... So many questions she could be asking, but he was asking some of his own and it'd be more polite to answer his than to start the afternoon off with such personal questions.
"Ah, yes. You've got a fine ear, Lior." Her smile widened, pleased that he recognized the accent on her tongue for what it was. Not that it was entirely hard, as hers was actually very hard to miss. "I was, in fact, born and raised in the Highlands. I usually only leave the region for business or the occasional vacation."
She sincerely wished this was a vacation, but this was most definitely a business trip regardless of how late her coworkers were. Ah well.
"And you, Lior... I don't detect much of an accent in your own, but you seem to recognize it well. Have you spent much time in the Highlands?"
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 20, 2008 10:15:01 GMT -5
Idle chitchat was proving to be an effective distraction against the thoughts that had been haunting him since he left home. The woman seemed to be a pleasant sort, better company than he'd expected out of the blue, and she hadn't yet spoken insincerely. Granted, she hadn't really been given cause, but it was nice nonetheless. Nothing depressed him more quickly than a blatant falsehood entering a conversation he'd been enjoying. It just soured it.
"A bit of time," he admitted, the small smile lingering, "but I've spent most of my life on the edge of it. Quite a few Highland nobles go through the palace every day and I've come to recognize the lilt quite readily. I don't speak the native tongue often or fluently enough to have acquired an accent, though." He sometimes wished that he had, since he found it very attractive, but that was like wishing he could shed ten or twenty pounds and still eat a burger for dinner. It just wasn't going to happen.
His meal was brought out and he murmured a quiet thanks to the server, looking at the food more hungrily than he probably should have. A day since he'd last eaten... he was more than ready for this meal. Walking took a lot out of a person. With a murmured 'excuse me', he began on the soup, lapping at it politely. That was something he only knew how to do because of where and how he'd been raised.
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Post by Vyn on Mar 22, 2008 19:39:55 GMT -5
While Anya wasn't a saint of any sort, she wasn't a liar either. From time to time she found it suiting to bend the truth to her liking but usually she stuck to the charms of her feminine nature and her suit. As it was, Lior didn't need any sort of taming or bending and she was content to simply enjoy her soup in his company.
"That is a pity, really. Perhaps I ought to spend some time with you and help you get the natural fluency of it, hm?" Pride in one's heritage was so important, especially to Anya. He was a Highland, and a royal no less!, he ought to know their language better.
As the server brought Lior his soup, Anya watched him lap at the meal for a moment before returning to her own. She spooned it quietly into her mouth, politely avoiding the impulse to study him directly.
As piteous as she found his lack of fluency in their home dialect, she found it even sadder that he lacked a proper bipedal form as well. He would've been quite handsome she imagined, with those big wings and gentlemanly charm of the heart court. He could have been so much more fun with his midform...
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 22, 2008 19:52:21 GMT -5
Lior gave her a startled, thoughtful look at her offer, continuing to eat his soup as he thought on her words. Was that an honest offer or was she just making polite conversation? He was on the alert for reactions and he caught on that she did think it quite the pity, but he wasn't sure on the question. It wasn't made clear in the nature of the words, how sincere they might be.
He waited for a lull in which neither of were eating and cleared his throat slightly, the soup sliding down the way it ought. "That is quite the kind offer, Anya. I will confess that I've always liked the way it sounded and enjoyed hearing others speak it, but I was never able to devote enough of my attention to learn it properly. Everyone around me spoke the common language day in and day out except sometimes in private conversation, so there was little incentive."
This really was a pleasant way to ignore everything that had happened, chatting with a stranger and eating hot soup that was actually very good. It might have been just his hunger talking, but he doubted it. Even the salad was tasty, the house dressing something with a hint of a tangy flavor that he didn't expect.
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Post by Vyn on Mar 28, 2008 0:42:57 GMT -5
Anya leaned forward a little as he spoke, a fetching smile gracing her beak and her golden eyes twinkling quietly. Such a pity, such a pity. No incentive? It was a beautiful language and it was the mark of their home region, was that not incentive enough? Ah well, his loss truly.
"It was quite the opposite for me, really." Anya laughed softly, the sound pleasant on the ears. "I grew up in a small town in the Highland hills, not many people spoke outside of the region dialect unless there was company." Another one of her fetching smiles and she took a small sip of soup before continuing on with her thought.
"So, if you find the time or interest, I'd be more than willing to help you learn the language properly." She nodded decisively. "It really is quite useful, in my opinion."
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