f r e n z y

In his dreams, he smelled smoke. His heart hammered against his chest, hands fumbling with a doorknob that was too hot to turn- he winced in pain, using his shirt to finally pry it open. The entire floor was aflame and he coughed, racing for the exit only to find it blocked by the inferno. 

“No, no, no, no-”

He turned, caught sight of the fire escape, and then he woke up with one thought replaying itself over and over again in his head: home. It had felt too real, to detailed for him to write it off as another dream- the sensation of the smoke filling up his lungs felt too familiar, his throat sore when he tried to clear it. Seeing things he recognized, things he hadn’t remembered before, like a painting of an elf swinging from the branch of a tree being completely engulfed in fire, or the way that the smoke poured from the walls because they were burning from within.

It was real, and Leo found himself dressed and headed home to Crowmire- a place he had avoided returning to ever since his memory had been wiped- before the sun even rose.

It was the same as it had always been, cobbled streets and pedestrians living their monotonous lives. How he’d been born and raised here hadn’t ever made sense to anyone who knew him. It was the source of many a joke, people claiming he’d been switched at birth. 

He thought simply returning would make him remember somehow; there had to have been a reason he felt so inclined to return so suddenly. But all he saw were the things he wished he’d forgotten; there was nothing here. At least not that he could see.

He took a seat on a bench and sighed with disappointment, doing something he rarely did anymore: he raised his hands, palms up, and tilted his head to the sky.

“Tymora, if you’re listening: I need help. I need... I need to remember.“

Perhaps he’d expected some sort of reply, but none came. He bit his bottom lip and stared into the distance, at a mother and her child walking hand in hand, longing to return to a point in his life when things were that simple.

Avi didn’t hesitate to answer honestly, nodding his head and replying that he lived just a stone’s throw away. But then he recalled how Leo had flagged for the barkeep, and he recalled how he’d just bought a stranger a drink and made a less-than-innocent remark about it being a shame that they hadn’t met before. Clearly he’d gotten caught up in the atmosphere, or had too much to drink - or maybe he just had to learn how to control himself around attractive people. Whatever his issue was, he knew for a fact that he couldn’t take Leo home.

One look at the massive estate Avi had been staying in and Leo might assume that he’d done something to earn it, which he hadn’t. That, or one of his brother’s many guests would impede on the evening. Would that even be an issue? Gods, he was being so presumptuous. Even if Leo had been hinting at going home together, which he likely wasn’t, who was to say he’d try anything? Was Avi even up for something like that? Not really. He had to be up early the next morning and he really liked Ewin. They hadn’t talked about being exclusive but… Oh. Maybe they should. Because as fun as the flirting was, the idea of any follow-through left Avi thinking more of Ewin than of Leo.

Avi pawed at the back of his neck for a moment before remembering his buddy Faric. “Hey, actually, maybe you could help me out a wee bit,” he said, hoping his smile wasn’t as suggestive as it might’ve been a moment ago. “My friend’s a bit out of it, they’re in the toilet right now, and I need to get them back to the barracks. It might be helpful to have an extra hand - only if you’re feeling up to it, of course.”

Leo contemplated this for a moment, swallowing down his second shot for a few added seconds. The barracks. Soldier quarters. Not really his first pick in terms of fun places to wind up, but Avi seemed nice and it meant that they would eventually be alone together, so maybe it wasn’t the worst idea.

“I’m not, like,“ he started, clearing his throat, “gonna get drafted into the war, or anything. Right?“ He said the words as if they were a joke; there was a twinge of honesty hanging onto the ends of the syllables, though. A tightness in his mouth that forced them out thinner than he’d meant them to sound. To play it off, he offered a chuckles and patted the other boy on the back.

“Yeah, let’s do it.“

He pulled his boa up around his neck: stylish and good protection from wind and cold. He liked to think it was rather practical of him, thank you very much. He noticed a girl eyeing him and waved; he was never quite sure if he was supposed to or not. So was the burden of not remembering if he’d met any of the people in his general vicinity. Every time someone spoke to him at all, he felt the need of putting on a performance begin to worm its way into his mind, because even though he was a pretty tactless person, he noticed he spent a lot of time trying to spare the feelings of others. What if he ran into someone he was once best friends with and acted like he’d never met them? The hurt and confusion would’ve been worse than the vague sense that something wasn’t right, so he waved. And he smiled. And he did what he had to do in order for people to feel noticed, just in case.

“Lead the way!“ he chimed, miming a soldier’s march.

Ione stared blankly at Leo, only blinking for a moment at his question before she laughed at herself. She knew that she was terrible at lying and her annoyance with him had pushed the name from her lips before she had a moment to even think about it, as if him leaving this night not knowing her name would’ve been a victory. It wasn’t really much of a surprise that he had caught onto the lie.

She knew working with him rather than against him would make the night pass easier, without the lurching feeling of competition weighing over the both of them. Looking to Fauna, she sighed softly, as it seemed that he was only making the night worse for himself, and if she were to tell him her name now, or later tonight, it would still end with him having obtained that knowledge. “It’s Ione,” she eventually said, taking his hand. “Ione Seseri.”

After settling the small, short lived quarrel between her and Leo, she turned back to Fauna and continued to make her way over to him, although this time with someone by her side. “You seem like you’re having a fun time,” she said to him once they were close enough, grabbing his attention without startling him too bad. “But I hear your sister is looking for you.”

Fauna looked towards the both of them, a large smile on his face, but it didn’t fit well with Ione, it seemed too big, almost like it was something well practiced but never perfected. “I can’t go home, silly! It’s cold and I don’t have a shirt!” he shouted, his words slurred together and elongated to the point to almost incoherence, as he stumbled in place looking between the both of them. “Besides. I don’t,” he started before hiccuping, and going to take another gulp of whatever filled his cup. “I don’t want to go home. Here.”

Ione watched as he started fishing through his pockets before pulling out a bag of gold, holding it out to the both of them. There seemed to be a sizable amount of gold in the bag, more than his sister offered that landed her here in this party to begin with, but the gold didn’t interest her, not after really seeing the state he was in. She quickly glanced over to Leo and silently shook her head, only hoping that he felt the same way, and would still be willing to work together to help him rather than rob him.

He raised his eyebrows in consideration. The bag of gold even looked like it held some weight to it; he guessed it would even exceed the reward offered in the first place. A smile played over his features, content with the offer. He didn’t know this guy, probably wouldn’t have ever met him under any other circumstance. He needed to pay his rent, this would do it. Besides, he seemed to be having a good time, anyway.

But then he locked eyes with Ione, who seemed less than content. He sighed- he’d already seen what she could do when she didn’t approve of something. Though he had half a mind to take the money and run before she had the opportunity to stop him, the other half wondered how far he would get before she caught him and took the gold back.

He sighed, reluctantly putting a smile onto his face.

“I have another shirt in my cart! It might be a size or two too small, but it’ll just show off how big your arms are!“

Fauna squinted, shaking his head in consideration. Didn’t seem convinced. With even more reluctance, and no longer bothering to hide the discontentment on his face.

“I also... have alcohol... that I could share.“

He peered over at Ione with an annoyed gaze.

Ysenia smelled the stranger before she saw them rest beside her. The smell was rank, familiar, but not quite like rot and decay that she knew all too well. She cast a downward glare on the person beside her: a certain Leo Belgrave. It wasn’t that she didn’t like them, but they were like fire and ice, oil and water. They’re as tolerable as anyone and that’s not saying much of anything in her book.

“No,” she deadpanned without missing a beat.

They liked to think that they were easy to get along with, but the truth was that Leo was a bit of an acquired taste: easy enough to enjoy when things were fun and light, but a bit hard to take seriously when the time came for it. They’d always known what they were about, even if it came down to a series of choices they made when they just happened to stumble into a problem. 

Maybe, if they ever cared to stop and think about how others must have perceived them, Leo would have been more universally liked. Maybe. But, at the end of the day, it wasn’t really much of a big deal to them. They smiled at Ysenia, a big, toothy grin. Leaned in closer with their eyebrows raised.

“C’mon, Sen,“ they said- a nickname they’d thought of on the fly, “It’s a celebration! Or something. Isn’t it? Why not loosen up? Anyway, you look positively stunning.“

Date & Time: January 10, afternoon Location: Runswick, Kristall Carnival Status: OPEN

Ysenia cupped a mug of hot cocoa, sipping more for warmth than taste. She was used to the freezing nights after the searing heat of the desert sands. Children ran across the market, weaving through the crowd. She noticed the runt of the group hide behind a noble woman’s frivolous skirt just to dodge the incoming snowballs. 

“Kids,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head. “Cleaner than Kaivras mud-balls, for sure.”

Leo’s eyes were red and glazed over, dazed smile semi-permanently attached to their face until they smirked at Ysenia, propping their foot onto the opposite leg’s knee and leaning back in their chair. The sounds of people passing by and the crisp reminder of winter instilled in Leo a weird since of nostalgia, making them long for memories they could no longer remember. Still, they were content, thanks to a little help from an outside influence; man, oh man were their halfling connections getting steep with the prices.

“I don’t know,“ they chimed between snickers, “ever heard of yellow snow?“ 

“Oh, yay,” she said, smiling widely. “Knitting is lovely! Probably. I have no idea I’ve never knitted. Do you use your fingers for that? Or is that the same thing as croquet?” she asked all very fast. She knew what knit-wear was, but she’d never stopped to think of how it was made. A picture of a little old lady with tiny swords and a pile of wool came to mind, but obviously, going by Leo’s appearance, little old ladies weren’t necessarily the visual norm for knitters. She belatedly realized that she had meant to say “crochet” instead of “croquet,” but figured it was more pertinent to move on to more important things: herself.

“Stuff and no,” she replied. “I don’t live anywhere, I just meander in vague directions and end up places. I mosey with no intent.” Zym shrugged as she kept pace with her old acquaintance. “And no I’m not looking for work right now. I just got out of a job and it… didn’t go so well.” She grimaced, hiding true pain behind exaggerated expression. “So not much is new with me. Like I said, I’m moseying. I might try knitting now that I have free time. Or crochet.” Zym stuck her lower lip out and pouted in thought for a long moment. 

A harried looking man bumped shoulders with her and made her stumble into her companion’s before she could right herself. 

“Actually, I think I’d be better at croquet than knitting. Do you know how to play croquet?”

"Croquet? Oh, yeah! Did I not ever tell you I was a croquet player?” they said, having absolutely no idea what the hell croquet was. “Well, I used to be. Played on a team from... Crowmire. Yep, the Crowmire... Bumfuzzles. Undefeated for three seasons straight. Ever heard of us?” They clenched their teeth, eyes wide. What the fuck were they saying? They pursed their lips, because it was the only suitable alternative to physically covering their mouth with their hands to shut up.

“Hey do you wanna get a drink? Catch up some more?” They asked, desperate to change the subject, and also because they still did want to try and figure out as much about their lapse in memory as they could.They didn’t wait for a response, locking their arm into Zym’s and patrolling for a place that might serve alcohol. They realized, perhaps a bit too late, that they were in unfamiliar territory. They smiled.

“I’m not familiar with the area,” Leo admitted, because for some reason that was a qualifiable truth, “You know any good spots?“

“Huh?” asked Zym, characteristically articulate as ever, with a frown. Her smile never wavered and neither did her bouncing in place, however. A chuckled escaped and in a moment she was giggling fully. “I don’t know! Do you? Why would I know that it’s been ages since I’ve had a pickup. At least a year I think, but I’ve been busy.” 

Once her mirth petered out, she looked the other being up and down as if his appearance would explain why he wasn’t inhabiting the area behind a shop counter and was instead wandering the wilds of Myrefall. “Good joke, bud,” she said for lack of anything with greater substance. “You look okay, too, I guess. Not my type, as you know, but still… solid. Solid in the bone structure—So what’s up?” she asked, cutting off her rambling. “It’s just been awhile so I just wanted to say the usual ‘hello’ and ‘how are you’.”

They smiled, happy that the tiefling seemed convinced enough that they remembered her. 

The bit about them not being her type was a bit appalling- Leo liked to think they were everyone’s type. They made it a point to clench their jaw, though, when the subject of their bone structure was brought up.

“I live in Khaggon now. Trying to do my own thing, you know? I’ve been knitting a lot. Don’t know why I felt compelled to tell you that, but” what if she could help them figure out some of the blank spots in their memory? They’d already lied, as it was. From what Leo could gauge of her response, the two of them were at least cordial- Leo was pretty sure she had used the word bud- but it would have been awkward to fess up now, right? They decided it would have been smarter to play it cool, to keep it quiet. Maybe they could ease into the conversation later.

Eager to change the subject from themselves, Leo, nodded to the girl to walk with them: “What’s been up with you? Live here now? Looking for work or something?”

In a split second, Ione could no longer see the drunken Lord as he was placing a lampshade atop his head, and instead had to stumble back as to not collide with the stranger putting himself in her way, and she couldn’t hide the small sneer towards the stranger.

She quickly took him in, sizing him up and trying to look for any visible weaknesses that she could use to get him out of her way, huffing out softly when she couldn’t immediately find any that stuck out to her and she shifted on her feet, looking up at him before glancing back down to his hand. There were two ways this night could go, put up a fight and maybe have what was supposed to be an easy night turn into one that was more trouble that it was worth or try and play it nice.

“Yvonne,” Ione said over the music, smiling and reaching out to shake his hand quickly. He seemed decent enough, and she almost wished they could have met under different circumstances, until he started talking again, and her smile fell slowly as he continued to speak, a certain confident arrogance rolling off him in waves that reminded her too much of someone else.

Crossing her arms, she watched with a raised brow as he began to slowly retreat, talking to her as if she was just a drunk partygoer who overheard something interesting. Her scowl grew, glancing him up and down again, before she walked up to him, closing the distance he had previously put between them. At this point, the sixty gold almost didn’t seem worth it anymore. When she arrived at the party, she was excited for the aspect of something new, getting to do something fun for the first time in a while and some stranger was here in front of her, souring her mood and bringing out her competitive side in a way she hadn’t felt before. Competitions were always fun, something she would do with her group and they would laugh about later, but this was…nothing like that.

“How about,” she started, tapping her finger against her bottom lip in mock thought. “You wipe that smile off your face, go fuck yourself, and get out of my way,” she smiled before pushing past him and continuing to make her way over to Fauna.

The closer she got, the slower her stride became, watching the poor boy make a fool of himself, stumbling around, looking almost like he was about to throw up all the liquor he consumed already. Ione felt bad for him, he looked like a small boy who lost his way, rather than someone who was just enjoying themselves.

Before she could get any closer, she could hear someone walking up behind her, and she didn’t have to turn to guess who it was. She did, though, turn, to see Leo approaching and shook her head. Nothing about him told Ione that he would be cruel to the young Lord, he had yet to be aggressive to her, despite her bitterness, but this was different.

“Okay, Leo,” she began. “I won’t say I’m sorry, because I’m not, but,” She glanced back to Fauna, finding a certain liking to an unlit candlestick, before looking back to the stranger. “But, I didn’t come here to fight, but maybe we can work together, put differences aside. Then we can part ways, you can do whatever you want, drink, sleep, fuck, cry, I don’t care what. But he doesn’t look like he needs two people fighting over his shoulder.” She motioned over to Fauna behind her, keeping her eyes on Leo.

She stuck out her hand. “Deal?”

Well, shit. He did little to hide his shock, mouth falling open and eyes growing wide with shock. If anything, he had to be impressed by her abilities to see through his bullshit: he was really on his game. Hadn’t, hadn’t even broken eye contact. Still, she walked past him as if he were a child caught with his hand in a jar of sweets.

When he finally found the time to close his mouth, it twisted into a disappointed frown. That usually worked. Clearing his throat, he hustled to catch up with her.

“Fine,” he agreed; working with her was better than causing a scene that might draw unwarranted attention to the pair of them. Plus, she was clearly good at getting what she wanted; maybe he could step back and let her take the reins, split the reward down the middle regardless.

“But before I shake your hand, mind telling me your real name?” He took it as a small victory, eyes flashing a quick ha, I won this one at her. Good as she was at seeing through lies, telling them was apparently a different story. He got the feeling she wasn’t usually the type who felt the need to deceive in the first place, which was flattering on one hand, but it did beg the question of why she felt compelled to try it with him.

“It’s the way you said it,” he explained, “Didn’t sound familiar enough on your lips. A person spends their whole life saying their name, you know?“ 

His eyes flicked back to Fauna, who had snagged an entire tray of shots from a server. When he looked back to the girl, he knew she understood. Time was ticking, Leo wasn’t budging.

“Come on, we’re on the same side now, right?”

Glowglass, Avi had found, was always a good icebreaker. Not only did it have high alcohol content, but everyone felt a bit more confident when they were physically glowing. They always seemed a bit more willing to show their true nature when they were blanketed with light, and that was always a sight worth seeing. It really did wonders for Leo, at least, and Avi felt his heart jump a bit as he watched him take his glowing lip between glowing teeth. Gods - he really had to stop meeting people like this. The alcohol made him entirely too eager. Regardless, he threw back his own shot and continued to wear a smile that made him feel warm. 

“Oh I don’t know, have you seen me here before?” He propped himself up on the bar, leaning his palm into the polished oak wood. “I’m Avi. Kind of a shame we’ve never met.”

Avi thought of all the times he came here in a large group, surrounded by loud friends that got louder with every drink. They’d make bets on who would get to choose the other’s drink, and then everyone would have a riot watching the results. Maybe it was a good thing they’d never met, at least not under those circumstances. He usually had a good time on those nights, but he wasn’t sure it was the best first impression. He always cared about making a good first impression.

“So, Leo, do you live above this tavern or can you just sense when I’m going to be here? I feel like I see you around a lot.”

He was flirting. Or, maybe he was just naturally charming, but it felt an awful lot like flirting to Leo, who had absolutely no qualms with it. He was obviously attractive, this Avi, with his olive skin and easy smile. He was tall, which was always a plus in Leo’s book, and then there was the general ruggedness of him: the plain clothes, the roughness of his hands. Leo’s finger tapped his chin.

Yes, he decided, definitely not mad about this.

“Well, I don’t live here, so I guess by that logic,” Leo raised an eyebrow and smirked. It was strange talking to him; in his head, Avi was already designated to a vague memory when he tried to remember what happened the night before. He had a tendency of remembering as much as he could now, even wrote it down when he was feeling particularly scatterbrained so he wouldn’t forget. Handsome stranger, but familiar. 

Leo wondered if Avi would have liked who he was before.

“Or,” Leo carried on, skin glowing, eyes lit with joy, “maybe I just like going places where people can buy me drinks.“ It was a complete lie; Charismatic and lovable as Leo may or may not have been, people usually got a bit stingy with the money where his poor habits were concerned. It wasn’t good for his health, it was a waste of his money, it was a waste of his time, yadda, yadda. 

“No, I actually live south of here.”

He signaled the barkeep by raising his hand into the air.

“What about you? Live nearby?”

Time: Mid-Morning. Date: December 28th.  Location: Myrefall.  Status: CLOSED. @leobelgrave​

Zym rarely felt the need to follow people she was not being paid to follow, and it was rarer still for her to be unable to place the face with a name or a specific job, but the human had caught her gaze and for the life of her she couldn’t remember why. So, logically, she followed them through the gently bustling crowd of Myrefall. Restaurants loomed throughout the street and once the lunch rush began the walkways would become flooded and stifling. Finally, after much darting and some minor shoving, she found herself stepping in front of her quarry and blocking their path. It took a long moment of wide-eyed staring before she snapped her fingers. 

“You!” she squealed. “I knew I recognized you from somewhere!” she exclaimed, bouncing in place in her triumph. “What are you doing here. I kinda always pictured you forever stationary behind a shop counter to be totally honest with you.” She shrugged and brushed errant strands of hair from her eyes. “People always say they think their teachers live at the school, you know, but it always felt like that with shopkeepers.”

Even though they couldn’t remember much about the last several years of their life, Leo was still fairly rooted in the fact that they hated Myrefall. It was all a bit too political for their taste, social climbers doing whatever they could to reach the top. Their mother was born here, which spoke volumes as to the person she turned out to be. It was all porcelain masks with painted smiles, snide side glances, chins tipped so far into the air that they could probably smell the rain even as it was being formed in the clouds above. Still, after having so many close calls with money, Leo had made the decision to keep a pretty steady cash flow for the time being and, say what you will about the people who lived in the city, but Myrefall was always a sure bet for some kind of odd job.

They walked out of a restaurant pocketing a couple gold pieces, half smile on their face. Twenty minutes of sweeping and wiping down tables, and now they were a step closer to meeting their rent requirement.

“You!” They caught the girl’s gaze instantly. Oh, gods, they thought, Did I sleep with her or something? Wracking their brain for a name they couldn’t recall, they smiled, friendly enough, closed the distance between them until they were standing face to face. For whatever reason, Leo thought it would be better to just pretend to know her, rather than dragging her through the entire sob story.

“Hey... you! You look great! Actually I, uh, don’t work there anymore.” 

They squinted, looking at her with genuine hope she would have an answer:

“Or... do I?”

Standing in front of the mirror in her room, a frustrated sigh fell from Ione’s lips as she threw her hands to her sides, her hair falling limp around her face, obstructing some of her view. She took the bounty because it would be a bit of quick gold for what seemed to be minimal work, not even thinking about the fact that she would have to dress up for the party until the night before, realization hitting her in a wave of frustration. Dressing up wasn’t something she had to do often, so when it did eventually work out that she had to for an event, it was usually met with the same difficulty that she was met with now.

She adjusted her hair a few more times, different hairstyles she couldn’t get to stick, or her arms getting heavy and sore from the constant adjustments before she finally, finally gave up and decided that she would just go with her natural hair and make it work for her.

Time must’ve escaped her, because when she finally turned and walked to her window, the sky was beginning to turn into a brilliant orange and blue gradient and she cursed out loud as she realized she was going to be late, and not just fashionably so. She traveled to Runswick a few days prior to the party, but she was still far enough from the party that it was going to take a bit of travel to get there. At least she’d look good, and she would turn enough heads that they wouldn’t realize how late she was arriving. Ione strapped on her heels and ran her hands down the front of her dress, smiling at her reflection for the first time since she dressed up and left her room.

The travel to the Lord Horcryn’s manor was cold and seemed to drag on, and she was beginning to regret the off the shoulder dress, wishing she had chosen something that would’ve provided more warmth. She let out a breath to see if a cloud of condensation would follow and she frowned when there was, although the cold that seemed to set deep in her bones would’ve told her the same thing.

By the time Ione got to the bottom of the steps, there was almost no color in the sky other than a deep purple, and she plastered a smile on her face as she walked up the stairs into the warm interior of the estate. She would have let out a breath of relief if it weren’t for the smell of smoke and stale alcohol that made her nose scrunch up in distaste. Pushing past her discomfort, she quickly scanned the room, and when she caught sight of the man of the hour, straightening her shoulders and making her way towards him, making sure to grab a flute of champagne off one tray, downing it in a few quick sips, before replacing it with another full flute.

Her steps faltered slightly as she got close enough to overhear the last comment of the stranger towering over the Lord and she glowered at him from her position. She hadn’t realized that there was someone else who had apparently taken the bounty, annoyance building back in her. This was supposed to be a quick and easy bounty, and now she had to work with someone else. Unless she was able to get the upper hand.

Ione smirked as she approached the pair confidently, pressing the full flute into Lord Horcryn’s hand, leaning down to press a kiss to his warm cheek, holding back a grimace at his…potent smell. “Lord Horcryn, a pleasure,” Ione purred and dared a look to the stranger to her right before looking back to the Lord. “And a coincidence as well, it seems I happen to be here for the same reason.”

She watched as Lord Horcryn happily took a large gulp of the champagne, eyes trailing a small stream of the alcohol that leaked from the corner of his mouth and down his chin in disgust, he was clearly inebriated.

“Well, all the better!” Lord Horcryn’s voice boomed out, carrying in the loud room. “I believe I saw him somewhere over in that direction last,” he motioned lazily somewhere over his left shoulder, and Ione assumed that’s where they, she, could find Fauna.

Quickly thanking him, Ione made her way out of the circle of people surrounding Horcryn, her smile falling from her face as she began looking for the lost Lord.

The girl was passably pretty, and sure of herself in a way that served as a warning sign to Leo that she was not to be trifled with. 

Still, he almost felt compelled to, anyway. After all, his rent wasn’t paying itself and the whole sum of the award sounded vastly more appealing than splitting it down the middle and throwing half of it at a complete stranger. He bit his bottom lip in silence, watching, waiting. The competitive spirit within him sprang to life, forcing him to skip forward and land himself in front of the girl.

Fighting wasn’t an option; he knew how to use a cantrip or two but the mace in his bag had never, not once been used. Something told him this girl would put up too much of a fight, and Leo only liked to compete when he could see himself winning. 

“Don’t believe we’ve met,“ he said, walking backwards so that he could meet her gaze, “I’m Leo. Pleasure, uh,” he finally came to a stop, putting a hand up and ducking his chin to seem nonthreatening.

“Listen, I um... What if you let me take this one on my own?” he said in a hushed tone, “He’s going to be pretty drunk and whiny. It’ll ruin your whole night.“

He started walking away, still facing her, “You could just... enjoy the party! Dance with a handsome stranger, make some memories. You know? Maybe we can meet after I wrangle him up and bring him in together.”

He was sure to keep his plans vague, but he had no real intention of meeting up with her. If all went well, he’d find the guy, get him home, and have his rent paid by this time tomorrow.

He spared a glance over his shoulder and saw Fauna standing near an entrance, hair a mess, eyes red and swollen, generally disheveled. Leo knew that feeling all too well. He felt that on a spiritual level. Maybe having a helping hand wouldn’t have been the worst thing, but also this girl could have had little patience with drunk people: she could have riled him up to the point that it was nearly impossible to do anything with him. Leo wasn’t exactly duty oriented himself, but desperate times...

His eyes flicked back to the girl and he grinned.

“What do you say?“

He stood in the landing of the building and blowing smoke rings into the stagnant air, eyes glued to the slip of paper haphazardly taped to his apartment door:

RENT NOTICE

He sucked at his teeth.

“Fuck.”

He’d completely forgotten. Again. The hangover from the night before still worn heavily upon him, he’d really have preferred to just go inside and sleep for a while, but he couldn’t afford another apartment; as it was, the tiny studio within those doors was likely the among the cheapest real estate within Khaggon. No, sleep wasn’t an option and even free-spirited Leo was forced to accept it.

The sun had already made its descent by the time he made it to Runswick, checked the bounty board for something within his capabilities, and made his way toward Lord Horcryn’s estate, but one cannot rush perfection. He’d worn his best leather chaps and a vest left unbuttoned, his hair disheveled upon his head and a thick layer of black artifice smeared over his eyelids. Perfection may have been a strong word, but he was as confident as he could have been nevertheless, walking through the doors of the estate.

These parties always smelled of shame and fine wine, haughty people that may have been in business with Leo’s parents walking around looking to create a secret or two. It was enjoyable in small doses, but even Leo couldn’t handle too much of it. Not when the premise of these parties was the celebration of love; that was a pretty heavy word to hear without at least a pint or two in him.

He wasn’t here for pleasure, anyway. He caught sight of Lord Horcryn rather quickly: short, plump stature dressed in a thick burgundy robe, cigar permanently attached to his lips. He was standing in the middle of a rather large circle of people; Leo didn’t really mind.

“Lord Horcryn! Looking fit as a fiddle this evening, aren’t we?” Leo placed a firm hand on the man’s shoulder, walking the pair of them away from the group, “Terribly sorry for the interruption.“

Hint: he wasn’t. He wasn’t particularly keen on the sour smell of the man, nor was he too keen on learning what caused said smells.

“I hear you’re the one to speak to about a certain, erm, Lord retrieval?“

date: december 20th time: night location: the dead nightingale status: closed to @leobelgrave​

Now that he’d lived in Hegaehend for nearly a year, the Dead Nightingale had lost a lot of the appeal that it had when he’d first arrived. Avi and his friends had found the tavern to be entirely too busy most nights, and had opted to frequent smaller taverns with less novelty to them. Tonight, however, he was entertaining a new recruit who’d grown up on the opposite side of the country. At least - he had been entertaining them, before they took a bet with a stranger and ended up throwing back an entire tankard of Demon’s Blood. Tonight was, undoubtedly, going to be an awful night for them. 

After helping them to the bathroom and dragging on for a few minutes about the best ways to handle the effects of poison, Avi was asked to leave. Admittedly, the new recruit, Faric, had been a bit rude about the whole ordeal, but he did his best to excuse the behavior on account of the awful sickness wracking their body. Only a bit dejected, Avriel returned to the crowd of the Dead Nightingale. He supposed he could wait here until Faric exited the restroom and was ready to return to the barracks. He didn’t mind crowds, really, as long as he knew he always had a way out of them. For that reason, he didn’t return to the bar stools, which were mostly occupied except for a couple that were surrounded by dense groups of people.

Avriel quickly searched the faces of tonight’s patrons before settling on one at the end of the bar that was both familiar and unfamiliar. He’d never met the human, but he definitely remembered their face; it was entirely too well-sculpted to forget. Usually, when he saw this nameless stranger at a tavern he was surrounded by people and unable to make his way over, so it had to be more than coincidental that they were here now. If the same two people showed up in the same place this many times, it had to mean something, didn’t it? Avi wasn’t sure. He decided to follow his gut anyway. 

Leaning over the edge of the bar, dangerously close to where the handsome stranger was sat, Avi waved over the barmaid. He spared a glance toward the human, offering a lopsided smile before turning back to the barmaid. “Two shots of glowglass, please!”

Leo chose to believe that, on average, things usually had a tendency of working out in the end. Not just because he had Tymora’s blessing, but because he was fully and terminally optimistic. With the due date for his rent coming at the end of the week and the fact that he was already probably going to be short, the last place he should have been was in a bar. Yet, there he was: smile plastered across his face, making the rounds, greeting all the familiar faces. Business as usual: a well-oil machine so perfectly crafted to self destruct time and time again.

When the apparent elf took a seat next to him, Leo did little to hide his impression, raising an eyebrow and meeting the boy’s gaze.

“Oh! Well if it isn’t—“ He realized a bit too late that he hadn’t ever learned the boy’s name in the past. He looked too familiar to be a stranger- Leo was certain they’d crossed paths a handful of times in the past- but clearly not familiar enough. The boy was kind enough to offer alcohol, and he had an easy smile and a certain rugged appeal, so Leo was content to keep things moving.

“I’m Leo!” He said, happy to change the subject. He wasted no time lifting the bright green liquid up to his lips. Even as he swallowed the drink, he could feel the warmth of it beginning to spread around him from the center out, until every part of him from the stomach to the tips of his fingers tingled. Though he knew already that glowglass caused drinkers to glow softly, he still glanced down to see his illuminated skin for a moment and he bit his bottom lip as a stamp of approval.

He raised his hands into the air, sliding a feather boa back up to the crook of his elbows. He turned to the other boy, resting his chin on his own shoulder and peering up at him.

“I’ve seen you here before, right?“

BASICS - 1. Height?

Leo is 6′0.

2. Eye color?

Blue/Gray.

3. Do they need glasses?

No.

4. Scars and birthmark?

They have a star-shaped scar on the back of their neck, due to them being incidentally stabbed with a screwdriver by their older brother. They also have a small, round birthmark on the right side of their rib cage, which they affectionately refer to as Pascal, the third nipple.

5. Tattoos and piercings?

They have a poke tattoo of the Aries constellation on their left shoulder blade, which they have no memory of getting.

6. Right or left handed?

Left!

7. Any disabilities? Physical or mental.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

8. Do they have any allergies?

Not that they’re aware of.

9. Favorite color?

Doesn’t have one. Prefers warmer colors, though.

10. Typical outfits?

As eccentric as possible. Sometimes, when they feel more modest they’ll opt for baja hoodies, shawls, mismatched socks. But they also aren’t too shy to wear something more revealing. Sometimes skirts, sometimes slacks, one time literally nothing at all. The colors are always vibrant and eye catching regardless of what they are wearing though.

11. Do they wear any makeup?

Sometimes, though usually only when going out. They like to keep it simple, with a bit of mascara, eyeliner, and gloss. Their nails are always painted, though.

12. What weapon do they use, if any?

They always carry a mace around in their bag, but never once have they used it. Why a mace, you may be wondering? Because it is just as chaotic as they are.