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Post by Banez Gladpath on Nov 3, 2010 20:51:08 GMT -5
1.) This is between Banez and Avi, but I have no idea what's going on, so if you're curious, PM Porter.  2.) Be awesome. 3.) Yes. ---------- Banez stood outside of the Loyal Stallion tavern, breathing a deep sigh through his nose. He could blame Lysand for aging him two years... Traveling with Brenthor was probably one of the worst ordeals he had been through in his life. The fat imp had unlimited stamina when he came to picking on him, and there were more than a few instances where he just wanted to bark at the other to leave him alone, but he couldn't lest he admit defeat to the other man. At the moment, Banez had abandoned him in the tavern. The ambassador didn't need protection from food of all things, the pig. Thankfully they had traveled out of the rain, but Riyer had its own travel hazard of fog. Thankfully, no one to his knowledge could see well through fog, so if there had been any bandits, they hadn't seen each other. The sun had ducked under the horizon some minutes ago, and while cool pale colors followed the sun, the sky was mostly enveloped in a dark inky blue. Banez shivered lightly in the chill air, adjusting his cloak to cover his lean form more completely. He still wore his armor, shield on the back of his grey cloak, and his arming sword on his side; otherwise he would have returned inside. |
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Post by Avina Ersata on Nov 3, 2010 21:43:27 GMT -5
Avi strolled down the path to The Loyal Stallion, breathing in the damp night air. A little relaxation was gladly welcomed with open arms that night, as she had been busy at work lately, and even though she was doing some business that night, it wasn't too stressful, as it had been mostly taken care of.
The stars looked brighter that night than usual, but it could just be the fact that Avi rarely had time to stop and notice their light. She even felt the slight breeze cool her skin and ruffle her white cloth shirt. Wow, nature could feel so nice sometimes.
Suddenly, her sudden epiphany was interrupted. Guess who? Brenthor must have been eating, and she understood why Banez was stand outside. Brenthor's digestion was one strange process.
First, Avi made a simple study of Banez, and then she shook off her relaxation and began to stroll around again, putting her hood up. She quietly made her way over to him and leaned against the wall, eyed him, and tried to look sketchy.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Nov 3, 2010 22:43:26 GMT -5
Banez saw some stars peek out through the fog, and his expression softened. Lysand had shared his theory about stars, that they were beacons of light, shining hope down on people's lives. You're my star, Lysand had told him. After all the abuse that Banez had suffered that day, he clung to that memory, and suddenly things didn't seem so bad.
In all honesty, he didn't notice the cloaked woman until she was leaning against the wall. He glanced over to her, wondering why she wasn't going inside, unless the tavern owner didn't like her or something. Or maybe she was waiting for someone. Looking back at the cobblestone road, some moments passed by before he decided to strike up a conversation, "The weather could be better..."
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Post by Avina Ersata on Nov 4, 2010 17:07:19 GMT -5
Avi put her head back and looked at the sky when Banez spoke to her. The weather...well it was a start.
"I actually really enjoy this weather. It's very calming and peaceful, wouldn't you say so?"
A question for a question, good way to keep a conversation going. Just a simple conversation. It wasn't that hard, right? Maybe things wouldn't be so stressful tonight as they had been lately. Avoiding eyes was a hard job around these parts, but Avi remained successful at it for quite some time. Patience, patience.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Nov 4, 2010 18:46:39 GMT -5
Banez laughed lightly, "They say the same thing about people lying in their coffins, but I'd rather not be in one, myself." Was that a little too morbid for a first conversation? Ah well. He was a child of the sun, and his disdain for cold spoke loud and clear in that sentence. The captain knew that he shouldn't so actively try to pursue a conversation with a complete stranger (and a sketchy looking one at that), but talking to anyone that wasn't Brenthor was a Godsend. "What's your name? I'm Banez Gladpath."
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Post by Avina Ersata on Nov 4, 2010 19:33:26 GMT -5
Avi's eyes widened a little when Banez mentioned death. What a strange topic to bring up at only the second reply in a conversation. Maybe tonight would be more stressful than she thought.
"Yeah...I'd rather not be in a coffin, either..." Avi awkwardly looked away for a moment and took a breath. Fortunately, Banez said something less...pessimistic, so Avi took the chance to continue on the conversation.
Well...that sucks. What was going to be a good conversation reviver just sent it to a halt. Avi couldn't tell him her name!
"Nice to meet you Banez, I'm Gwen," she said, forcing a smile, even though he probably couldn't see it behind the hood.
Wow, that was easy.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Nov 4, 2010 19:45:16 GMT -5
Perhaps after enough time on the battlefield, death became easier to talk about. And most of the men, even some of the officers, weren't even buried in coffins! He probably wouldn't be buried in a coffin either if Brenthor had his way during this trip, he contemplated as he remembered the fat man's words in the entry hall. In fact, whether he'd be buried at all was a question in itself. "It's nice to meet you, Gwen. What brings you out here at this hour, anyway?"
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Post by Avina Ersata on Nov 4, 2010 22:01:52 GMT -5
As if one conversation stopper wasn't good enough, Banez even asked her about her business! Wonderful.
"Well, I was just...out...walking because of this beautiful night air, and I stopped by this..." Avi looked up for a sign, but didn't see one, "place. I thought I might start up some nice conversation!"
Well, at least she thought of something.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Nov 4, 2010 22:38:45 GMT -5
Banez quirked a brow as her explanation was filled with all sorts of pauses at odd times. "I see." Well, not really. With vampires prowling around in even the capital, he wouldn't see why anyone would want to talk to strangers at night.
Unless....
Banez shifted uneasily. Well, if one of the blood suckers would try and take him, then they would be in for just as much surprise as Brenthor! "So... did you want to have a conversation about anything in particular?" he asked carefully.
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Post by Avina Ersata on Nov 5, 2010 6:16:23 GMT -5
Avi felt an aura of awkwardness develop around them after her attempt at an answer to his question. He just needed to stop asking all these invasive questions! Well, they really weren't too invasive, considering that he didn't know who she was and what she was doing. No, they were invasive to her, but they wouldn't be invasive in normal conversation with a normal person.
"Something in particular? No, I didn't really have anything in mind," she said, getting off the wall that she'd been leaning on. She wasn't about to just let that be the end of it, though! No, that would just be a whole useless hour wasted if she left now.
"Well, what is your business around here?"
Oooh, not bad!
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Nov 5, 2010 14:27:08 GMT -5
Banez’ alarm bells were ringing in his head. What sort of person goes out late at night for a conversation, but doesn’t have an idea on what to talk about? Outside of the tavern, no less! Vampire, indeed! When she got off of the wall, Banez’ hand rested on the hilt of his sword. “I’m an escort, and part of the royal military.” he said, keeping his eyes on Gwen. In other words, 'don't tread on me!' “What about you?”
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Post by Avina Ersata on Nov 5, 2010 16:12:54 GMT -5
After so many years of doing this, you'd think that Avi would have enough confidence to keep a conversation going even when dangerous questions were asked, but it always seemed to her like she started over with every job. She had to find a way to revive herself and make the conversation a little more comfortable, or else this would just be another failure, and failure was not taken well in her book.
Of course, she already knew all of this information about Banez. She wasn't about to go off on a job and not do any kind of research! That would just be a failure waiting to happen. Either way, she needed to get the conversation back on a good note, even if it meant asking pointless questions.
"Well, I'm more of a traveler, I guess you could say." Avi thought for a moment and continued as an idea came to her. "I'm not a huntress, though. I hate blood, so I pick herbs and flowers to make a living in order to buy food for myself. If it ever came down to survival, I guess I could hunt, but I'm not really into it. Dead things are nasty."
Maybe that could get a conversation going.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Nov 5, 2010 19:25:57 GMT -5
A traveler that doesn't like blood.... A likely story, vampire! He was tempted to say 'No, death is calm and peaceful, remember?' but instead he just smiled slightly at the thought. "I hope you don't find yourself in a situation where you run out of rations, then. Or where you have to fight bandits on the road." In all honesty, he did hope that those things would never happen to her. He wouldn't wish misfortune upon anyone... except Brenthor. Naturally.
"Do you know any herbs that would help someone lose weight?" he asked, smile just getting a hint smugger. Should slip that into Brenthor's food.... He dreaded the day that they'd have to leave their horses due to bad terrain and the ambassador would start complaining incessantly the rest the way.
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Post by Avina Ersata on Nov 6, 2010 0:48:01 GMT -5
Avi listened, waiting for the conversation to take a turn for the better. Banez's comment, although not terrible, didn't put anything in a better position. She might be patient, but she wasn't passive. If anything, she was assertive and very defensive.
"Well, just because I'm not a big fan of blood doesn't mean that I can't defend myself!" Avi was about to take out some of her many daggers strapped to her leg, but then decided against it. She wasn't about to scare him, and she definitely didn't want anything to ruin her cover. Instead, she simply took out one dagger. True, it was a rather large and ornate dagger, but it was only one.
"I've got my ways," she said, smiling and flashing the blade for a moment before putting it back in its strap on her leg. "Mainly close range combat with daggers, but I can use crossbows, too."
Hmmm. Was that too much?
Avi let out a hearty laugh when Banez asked his question about herbs. Of course, it's because she assumed it was talking about Brenthor, who definitely needed some weight loss herbs, but she attempted to make it a simple good-natured laugh.
"Hah, no sir. I do not. If only, though. There's a few people I see on the streets that could use it."
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Nov 6, 2010 1:24:01 GMT -5
Banez raised his brows at Avi's defensive tone, glancing down at the ornate dagger and keeping his eyes on it until she put it away. "I didn't say that you couldn't defend yourself. But for all I knew, you could have been someone that fainted at the sight of blood." He didn't know how far a stranger took the word 'hate', after all! At the mention of her being able to use a crossbow, Banez wasn't sure that to say. It was a little out of the blue, and she wasn't carrying one.... But he was willing to believe that she could use one. It wasn't as though he carried javelins, a spear, and a longsword, in addition to the shield and arming sword, just because he knew how to use them.
He was contemplating going back into the tavern, but her laugh quickly became infectious, inspiring a string of laughs from Banez. "No kidding.... Too bad," he said, glancing at the tavern door briefly. "So... what got you traveling in the first place?"
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