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My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 3:30 pm
by Reviewer
Thread Title Searing 88, 121
It was the first day of Daichin Togloom, a day upon which many were busy celebrating the holiday with games and festivities. A day which Areya had loved in her old life. She had loved watching the feats of strength and skill, seeing the other men and women competing with one another. But as she traveled now, hood up, ducking between the crowds, she felt nothing but the weariness of a long season upon her shoulders.
She'd spent so much of the season to strengthen her body and skills for the mission she'd been given, spent so much time trying to glean any info on her target, as well as the Third Deep. And she didn't feel any closer than she had the day she'd been given the task. She was exhausted. And it showed on her face plainly, deep bags beneath her eyes, cheeks more gaunt.
Which is what finally led to Torria to snap at her.
Torria had never acted that way with her, and Areya heard truth in her words, albeit stubbornly so. She knew she was becoming frayed. She needed to clear her head. So she took her privilege of going topside while leaving Torria stewing in their now shared cell. She shoved through the crowds, not sure where she was going, but was going there angrily and in a storm of frustration.
And eventually she found herself standing in front of the Velvet Cabaret.
She looked around, not realizing she had even been walking this way. Then she remember Ary and the smallest of smiles grew upon her face. He had been so easy to talk to. Though he'd said he wanted to get out of his... lascivious, maybe he was still here. And since she had more free reign these days, and resources to boot, she could visit him without it being for work.
And so, Areya walked through the front doors of the Velvet Cabaret, greeted by the guards that she had filled in on that night, what felt so long ago. It was just as she remembered, dark and warm, filled with hush whispers, flavorful smoke, and a well lit stage. She looked around but didn't immediately see her friend.
She moved over to the bar and sat down, and a bartender came over, a spritely elf woman. "What can I get you, darlin?"
"Something that burns. Do you know if Arvalyn is still here?"
The bartender smiled politely, "Oh I'm sure he's around here somewhere. I'll keep an eye out and pass a word for you if I see him."
The barkeep poured her a glass of a smoky whiskey, and Areya opened a tab in the name she'd been given for bookkeeping purposes by the Sky Guard. The money minder that kept her books had not once questioned any of the purchases she had made, and she doubted he would start now. After all, the Shohane herself had signed off on giving her carte blanche.
Areya down the first whiskey in a single gulp, scrunching her face up at the burn and signaled for another. She swirled in her seat, leaning back against the bar, sipping at this whiskey now and watching the room. She had given her cloak to the coat check, and now she she was there in a clean, light brown shirt, a rarity to most in the Legion, the ties at the top slightly loosened in the warmth of the room in Searing, and a pair of equally clean linen trousers, a shining pair of boots meant for traversing the slippery and treacherous stones of the Warrens.
She was certainly the same woman despite not likely looking the part.
Re: My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 4:13 pm
by Arvælyn
"Oi, Kem!" The bartender beckoned the new busboy over, as she poured the whiskey. "Can you run upstairs to auxiliary costume storage- first door on the right- and see if Arvalyn is in there? A guest at the bar just asked after him." The adolescent nodded, and ducked under the bar to jog over to the stairwell.
At the jiggling of his doorhandle, Arry lifted his head. When a knock followed the attempt to open his locked door, the half-elf barked:
"What?" And a muffled, unfamiliar voice sounded through the wood in answer.
"Guest downstairs is lookin' for an, um.. Arveelin?"
"Arvalyn!" Arry corrected, "And who is it?"
"Dunno!" The voice replied promptly and guilelessly.
"Fine. I'll be down in a moment." He sighed, and pushed himself up from his mattress as the sound of receding steps could be heard plodding down the steps. Arry splashed his face with a bit of cold water from the basin to wake himself up, and slipped into burgundy and gold sherwani with matching churidar. He tugged a pair of gold sandals on and fixed his hair with an additional splash of water, before emerging from the small room he'd soon quit in favour of a larger, nicer space.
He hummed to himself as he made his way down the stairs and scanned the bar for familiar faces. He instantly caught sight of a few regulars, but none for whom he had any particular affinity. He almost scanned right by Areya, but then his golden eyes snapped back and a warm smile appeared upon his sun-kissed visage.
He drew up to her place at the bar and sidled up beside her stool,
"Hey, Rey, whaddya say?" He offered a conspiratorial wink, and nodded to the bartender, gesturing for two of whatever the Dratori customer was having. A sharp nod answered his hand sign, and he returned his full attention to the woman at his side as he claimed the nearest stool
"Seriously- How've you been?"
Re: My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 6:43 am
by Reviewer
Thread Title Time Stamp
Areya never had much opportunity to drink. In her old life, she barely ever did, and even less so while she was down below. But as the warmth spread through her chest, as her body began to relax against the bar, she could see why people enjoyed this. Maybe she could get used to this too. She let her eyes wander around the room, looking around at the beautiful and well adorned men and women, and found herself wondering if she could use her new position to take some of this whiskey back to her cell.
Maybe Torria would like one of these nice robes. The burgundy and gold was a nice color, could go well with her red hair. Wait, why did they stop? Areya's eyes moved up the front of the colorful sherwani only to fall upon the eyes of her friend. She broke into a tired grin, "Hey there Ary."
He looked good, happy. And he came on over, joining her at the bar, ordering more drinks.
"I'm... better than I was, I suppose. Tired, so tired. I... uh... sort of got a promotion, so I have a bit more freedom these days, in a way."
She downed the rest of the whiskey in hand, letting the burn race through her, which reminded her of the time she'd been possessed by a Rage Wraith. That sense of constant burning from the inside... She shook out that thought. She enjoyed this drink. Areya turned to look at her companion, "How about yourself? You're looking well. How's the topside life treating you?"
Re: My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 6:37 pm
by Arvælyn
"A promotion?!" Arvalyn was a particularly expressive sort- perhaps deriving from the fact that he made a living at projecting his emotions from the stage to the farthest corners of the house. "I didn't even know that was possible in the-..." He cut himself off, and glanced from side to side, realising he oughtn't speak so freely about the Dead Legion, "...organisation for whom your work." He amended, as two more glasses of whiskey were presented. A grateful nod was cast to the bartender, before his attention returned to his friend.
"It's so good to see you! Me? Oh..." He took a taste of the whiskey and blinked at the peatiness of the dark amber spirit. He cleared his throat and tapped his fist against his chest a few times, resolving to switch to wine for the next round, before continuing his thought.
"Life is good!" He grinned, "I've retired from my tenure in the oldest profession and devoting myself to more..." He searched for the word, "...to more socially acceptable pursuits. I think I'm on the precipice of a big move- an upward move." He clarified, swirling the contents of his glass.
"Beyond that, I think I kind of have a boyfriend now? I'm not sure. I don't want to jinx it, but it's been a nice few weeks and it feels, um..." He shrugged, "It feels good. How about you? I want to hear all about this promotion of sorts..." He gestured for her to elaborate as he lifted his whiskey glass to his lips and tipped it back to take in another delicate sip.
"Hm..." He lifted the glass up to the light and regarded the contents with new appreciation, as the second sip seemed markedly smoother than the first. As Areya began to speak, he lowered his glass and shifted his golden gaze to meet her eyes.
Re: My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 2:49 pm
by Reviewer
Thread Title Time Stamp
At his surprise at the promotion, so to speak, she smiled softly, "It's... uh, let's call it very non-typical." She liked watching his face as he talked, she never had to guess at what he was feeling. And he had so many more expressions than the people she'd been living with for the last couple of seasons. He was just so very... alive.
She also saw that whiskey wasn't exactly his cup of tea and it brought a soft snort of a laugh out of her, much to her own surprise. Then he laid plenty of good news on her, "Oh that's great! I remember you saying you were thinking of a change. Might I have to look for you elsewhere soon?" She wore a teasing smile as she took another swig of the burning whiskey. At the mention of a boyfriend, she cocked an eyebrow. She wondered if that helped to lead him away from the prostitution.
Did prostitutes date or marry? She'd never thought to ask, nor really ever had the opportunity. "I'm happy for you. I would like... well, there's... she's..." Areya was blushing and flustered, and stumbled awkwardly past that part of the conversation, "The promotion could potentially get me out of my job... earlier than expected. But it is extremely dangerous. More so than anything I've done, more than almost anyone has done."
She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes, looking into the depths of her whiskey, watching the golden liquid swirl, trying to find her next words. "It's so important the Shohane has given her support, if you want to know the gravity of the role. And when it is time for me to undertake the job well... I'll get out, one way or another."
She let that hang in the air for a while. When she'd accepted this mission, she knew that it meant either a quicker death or a quicker release from hell. Either way was preferable to just waiting it out to die later, especially these days.
"I don't know if I'm ready. If I ever will be. I was just a shopkeeper before all this. Not even, I was an assistant..."
She was scared, and the first of her tears slowly began to slide down her face, though she made no bodily motions to support it. "What's this big, upward move of yours?" She brought her whiskey up to hide her tears, trying to pretend her voice hadn't just cracked mid sentence.
Re: My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 3:22 pm
by Arvælyn
"You're being terribly mysterious!" Arry chided, playfully. "Last time we spoke you seemed to indicate that you had too little to lose to concern yourself with secrecy. I'll take it as a good sign for this promotion of yours, that you've adopted such a cryptic manner about it." He chuckled and nodded.
"If all goes to rights, aye! But you won't have to look far... I'll be just next door." Not exactly cryptic, but for some reason it felt like bad luck to say the name of the place before everything was settled and all the contracts signed. So far it was just a good possibility, not a sure thing. To celebrate prematurely, Arry had long since learnt, was ill-advised.
He lifted his eyebrows and nodded with a broad smile,
"That sounds great!" His beaming expression darkened as he belatedly realised what 'one way or another' actually meant in this context. If this was as dangerous as she was purporting, it didn't seem like there were great odds for getting out the good way. The notion drew his glass to his lips and he tipped back a larger shot than the prior two delicate sips.
"Well. I'm sure you know what you have to do to prepare yourself. I would be at a complete loss in the Warrens. I'm a city lad through and through..." He trailed off, "Oh, that? Um. A friend of mine. Good friend is taking over another theatre, a more..." He glanced about their surroundings, "...upscale sort of place, where they do the classics and modern plays, but... It isn't all bawdy jokes and scanty costumes over there, you see. It's more about the art than the arse, which is-..." He paused and tilted his head suddenly,
"Wait, were you talking about someone a moment ago? You started to say 'She's' but then you just sort of flipped round to talking about the promotion without finishing that thought."
Re: My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 4:04 pm
by Reviewer
Thread Title Time Stamp
At his city boy comment, she could only snort-laugh a little darkly. "Most nearly everyone down there is a city lad or lass. A wall of untrained corpses between the city and the demons." She chuckled for a bit on that one, forgetting that such jokes were likely only well received in the down below. Still chuckling she finished off the whiskey in hand, finding that wine had arrived now. She smiled, grabbing it gratefully.
"Well, if I make it out, I'll be sure to get a balcony seat. Something to look forward to, for sure. Never got to go to many plays and shows and such as a lass. Sounds like fun."
She didn't recognize it directly, but she was grateful that he'd glossed over her moroseness earlier. The distraction of lighter conversation was actually pleasant. Especially with him. She only had two people she could ever talk to, and it seemed one now wished to talk about the other. And wishing to stay in the fantasy of the distraction, and emboldened by the ample whiskey in her system, she was happy to oblige.
"So, when she arrived down below, she was placed in the cell next to mine. We've worked together a lot. She's um... a lot better at talking to people than me."
Then Areya's face lit up, a surprised smile on her face, "You might actually know her! She used to work here a while back she said. Her name is Torria. Lots of freckles, red hair, short." Areya sort of hoped that he knew her. Areya didn't know too much about her past yet, just that she'd worked here, and later was an escort for a wealthier class of customer.
What she didn't know was that Torria had been one of those people that often polarized those she worked with. She was either really well loved or absolutely hated. She made a lot of good money, was not above stealing wealthier customers, and other grievances by her competitors. When she left, she was missed by customers and coworkers, while others were jealous of her success or happy she was gone.
"My new position allows me new privileges. I, uh... started recently waking up with nightmares. Screaming loud and all that. Which is actually pretty common down below, just not for me. But she's sort of moved into my cell now, and helps me calm down from them."
Areya smiled whimsically, "She takes care of me, and I protect her."
Re: My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:03 pm
by Arvælyn
Arry tilted his head, regarding Areya quizzically as she laughed at her own grim notion of her lot... Or at least the lot of others in her legion of the damned.
"Hm." He parted his lips to shoot down the remainder of his whiskey, just to get that out of the way so he could properly enjoy the freshly poured wine, which was much more his speed.
"Torria..." Arry pondered- Rey's description bringing Fawn to mind, first, who had similar features, "Torria..." He repeated, and finally the name rang a bell. "Torria! Sure!" He cracked a smile, "When I was starting out here, she used to sneak me drinks when she could tell I was nervous about performing or, um... The other kind of performing." He sipped his wine, then cleared his throat upon swallowing.
"Anyway, it sort of sounds like you two..." He gestured a tad vaguely, "Like the two of you, are um... Well, like we've both coupled up since we last saw each other." That was a fun development,
"We're both advancing in our careers and we're both coupled up! Well, once you're back from doing this mysterious, dangerous thing that is nigh on unprecedented, you should bring Torria back with you and we'll celebrate, yeah?" Arry still didn't really understand how the Dead Legion worked. He'd made a few enquiries after first meeting Areya, but most just answered with deep sighs and shaking heads. It was enough to make him pity Torria, as well as Areya, although he didn't rightly know what she'd done to earn such a fate. It was a strange, cruel aspect of Kalzasi that he didn't much think about, lest it trouble him overmuch.
"So, what're you doing topside? Just popping over to share a drink with your old pal Arry, or is there some business required of you for your new gig?"
Re: My First Friend (Ary)
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2023 6:17 pm
by Pharaoh
R E V I E W
Areya:
Retired PC
Arry
Lores: 8
XP: 10 (No magic)
Injuries/Ailments:
N/A
Loot:
N/A
Notes: This was a nice trip down memory lane.