As The Lightning Strikes [Closed]

[Vyn]

Parvana could have lit up like a light bulb at such a compliment.

A Professional... Parvana didn't get called that a lot, though she did fancy herself one. Storms were her passion, but only vicariously through her love of the electricity the worst of them generated. It was a dangerous research topic, but she enjoyed every moment of it.

"O, oh yes! One moment!" Parvana hurried around for a moment, getting things settled and sorted so that Borislav could have a place to put the equipment. The hotel was not exactly the most perfect of places to set up a temporary home for her equipment, but it would do. Settling on simply stretching a small piece of tarp out in a corner of the room, Parvana motioned lightly to it. "You can set them there. They'll dry while the storm works its way past."

After everything was put away, Vana settled down and managed to suppress her excitement a tiny bit. Stories about this fascinating canine seemed like a wonderful option to pass the time and he was complimenting Faolin.

Fao definitely liked the attention too.

"Why thank you. Faolin is my little assistant~" Vana cooed and giggled as the Mome crackled with pleasure and rubbed against her. "I wouldn't advise you petting him, alas, he tends to give people a bit of a shock." Toli also claimed he was a little devil, but Vana couldn't believe that. "I would like to hear one of these dashing stories, Borislav! You can be as honest or as embellished as you like, I'm sure either would be spectacular and considerably more adventurous than anything I've ever done."

[Shinigami]

"As ingenious as you are beautiful, it seems!" He winked warmly at her and headed over to place the equipment where she'd indicated, straightening with an exagerated groan of effort as he placed one hand against his back, as if he'd been carrying an almost unbearably heavy load. "How you manage to carry that around everywhere on your own, I'll never know. It must be some sort of trade secret though, so I won't ask." He grinned, and then gestured her over to a table.

"Now, let's sit and get something warm to eat and drink in us, and I'll tell you about how I managed to nearly get myself eaten by a dragon up in the Sorgaire Range." The Solandrian gestured to the innkeeper, who came over promptly. "I'll have a bowl of whatever stew or soup you've got, and a hot chocolate. What would you like, Miss?" He cast an inquiring glance at her, eyes bright.

[Vyn]

Parvana blushed heavily. While she might have been getting better at the whole socializing bit, compliments were still nerve wrecking to endure. Her cheeks reddened briefly, but she managed to conquer the blushing rather quickly. "Oh it's not that bad..." She held down another stint of blushing, though she hoped it really hadn't been that much on him, that would just make her feel bad then.

After all, while they weren't unbearably heavy they did slow her down quite a bit.

At the invitation to dinner, Vana felt her stomach rumble. She nodded graciously. "Why thank you, Borislav, that's very much appreciated." Quietly she unsummoned Fao, he got antsy in big crowds and tended to shock people at random... With that done she climbed up into a chair across from the canine, eyes rapt with attention. "A dragon Oohhh, I would love to hear that." Weren't dragons just myths? It was near impossible to contain her curiosity as she paused to order. "A hot cocoa does sound nice and... I think a good vegetarian soup would be lovely as well." Both would serve to warm her bones after getting caught out in that hail. "Thank you again, Boris, you are very much the kind and fascinating gentleman."

[Shinigami]

He noted the reaction, and Harlequinn giggled to herself silently for a few seconds before slipping back into the proper persona. No need to give the game away just yet, after all, not when she was having so much fun.

"A dragon indeed! Largest thing I have ever seen in my life, with wings wide enough they looked like they'd cover the sky!" Borislav used his hands copiously as he spoke, describing the beast in wide gestures of wings, and crooking his fingers for the claws, and baring his own fangs to show the teeth, though his were much less impressive than the dragon's, of course. He paused only long enough to give the innkeeper a nod of thanks when he returned with their meals and drinks. He took a sip of the stew - and it was good, as he'd hoped - and then a quick gulp of hot cocoa, panting for a second at the heat. A bit hotter than he'd anticipated, but it felt good warming his belly.

"So there I was, in the middle of a day that I thought was going to be boring as anything, when I hear a sound. Not just an ordinary sound, mind you, it was claws on the loose rock of the mountains. I thought that it might be another Card out there, but I was way out in the middle of the Range, a good way from settlements, so maybe it was something else. That decided me, and I kept quiet instead of calling out. Then I rounded a corner, and bam! It was right in front of me." He shook his head a bit. "Now I'm not ashamed to admit that I was scared, because even the Queen of Hearts would be terrified looking at that thing. I thought I was dead right then."

[Vyn]

Parvana, being the sheltered thing that she was, was very easy to impress and loved a good story when it was told properly. Her mother was a very good story teller, though she had always told her that her best stories had come from an eccentric little boy that she had known before Vana was born.

Nevertheless, the butterfly was utterly engulfed in the story. Borislav was a very charmingly friendly sort, and his exaggerated gestures only added to the fun.

When the food was brought in, Vana too paused from her attentiveness to sample the stew and, a bit more tentatively than the canine, the cocoa. Delicious, all of it, but still a bit too warm. She'd have plenty of time to let it cool and listen a bit further before she started eating.

"O! What happened though? How did you survive meeting with a dragon? Are they awful? It sounds terrifying, Boris!" Yet, as terrible (and fanciful) as it sounded, Borislav was obviously very much alright, so the story couldn't have had too bad of an ending.