#fane gray

There was an inhale of breath meant to be heard, along with the fluttering of grasped skirts as two expensively dressed highborn ladies paused to stare. They had both reared back like flustered hens, huffing and sputtering and clutching their proverbial pearls, peering uncharitably at the dark miqo'te in front of them. Fane continued holding the necklace out in front of him, turning it this way and that so the light in the Crozier could catch the small crystals dangling from it's length. It wasn't an especially expensive piece, but it was flashy. It was large enough to catch the eye from a distance, and shiny enough to add sparkle from the same. Perfect for a performance. "How... ostentatious.." the elder of the two women sniffed, before turning her nose skyward and bustling further up the lane. Fane glanced down at himself. He was dressed conservatively -for him- considering the chill. Though he did suppose the dainty gold chains and crystals dangling from his ears and snaked through the plait in his hair did look rather too fabulous for a pair of dour biddies to stand. He shrugged, turning back to the jeweler and nodding before fishing into his gil pouch for the payment. "This will look perfect."

He stared up at the red, letterless, awning above a deceptively plain business front situated among the side streets of Kugane, not far from the foreign embassies that dotted one side of the city. It was an unassuming looking building, nestled among others like it except with dark shades pulled over the front windows, dressed in blacks and browns save for the bold red shade above the doorway. Grymwilf himself lead the dark miqot'e through the doors, a large hand lingering just behind thin shoulders, more a threat than accommodating custom or kind manners. Inside, pretty but hardly ostentatious decor greeted them. Dark wooden lattice work carved into the shapes of dragons coiling about each other crawled from floor to ceiling, sectioning off the main floor into small alcoves while sliding red doors at the back of the building offered further privacy in adjoining rooms. Low tables littered the room with colorful pillows arranged for seating. And all around them in the dim room beautiful women and some men entertained customers with drink, and talk, and the implication of more just beyond the red doors. It had only been three moons since he'd found himself on Grymwilf's ship, but his heart no longer rushed in fear at the thought of what lay beyond the red doors here. Or the wooden ones at sea. His breaths did not hitch in worry, his eyes did not widen in panic. His face barely held any expression at all. Yet just beyond the vacant stare of a broken corpse, a flicker of life. He barely looked up at the viera who stepped closer, only meeting her eyes when she reached to loop her arm under his, bending a bit to reach him. "Ena'sae, yes?" Her voice was soft, with a fullness and downward lilt that perhaps belied her age. Her face was full, a warm brown that matched her tall ears, which faded to a cream as they ascended. But it was her eyes, more than her ears, that caught most's attention. Large and dark, with a deep black lining them and trailing out from each outer edge like dark wings along her skin. It was a makeup style unlike most of the native women in the room, who sported pale faces and dark brows. "I think this would be more appropriate," the older woman he hadn't noticed before said slowly, gesturing to both the viera and the miqot'e her guest had brought. Grymwilf considered and nodded. "Your traditional would look odd." The pale makeup over the miqot'e's dusky skin. No. "Something... different," he offered, though they both knew what he meant. "Ruuja." The viera turned when she was addressed, nodding with the gesture given and reaching to coax the miqot'e forward with her. Through the crowded room they moved, and she watched with keen eyes how the creature beside her barely stirred. "I will show you how to paint your eyes," she offered after a moment, and smiled slightly when moon yellow ones finally looked up at her. "Beauty," she breathed as they moved through the red doors toward the back of the building, "but also armor for your war."

I stole @thedarknesssings ‘s Ice. And mentions of @houserosaire ’s Gaheriet. Sorry!

"And... he dreamed of hal..cy..on... days gone by." Fane blinked. "Halcyon." Dark brows furrowed. "Whats a halcyon?" He flipped a few pages further along, scanning the contents before thumbing back to the place he'd been. No real clues there. "Like.. better? Better days?" He glanced around the empty room as if the stuffed carbuncle on his bed would enlighten him. He frowned again, rereading the last few paragraphs leading up to the word slowly, leaning on context clues to fill in the gap. "Sounds like better. Why don't they just say that?" These new books were getting more involved, he'd need to purchase a dictionary if this kept up. He frowned at the word on the page again, brows furrowing together. Halcyon. Did he have halcyon days? ....no. No he couldnt think of any. He didn't look back fondly on any part of his past. "Well, except for Ul'dah maybe," he said aloud after a time. "I mean it was blisterin' hot but that'd be kinda nice sometimes now."