Out and About

"Ah, well the sooner we get you trained enough to spot the bad guys and separate them from the not so bad guys, then you'll be fine," Lily smiles, "Though I think hunting in packs will do you good."

I see Lily's hair getting singed and I feel a surge of anger rush through me. Lights nearby flier and signs get static as I grip my sword hilt. That other person is hurting her and I will not stand by it.

"Oh come on, you lot, enough! Do I need to get a playpen for you all?!" For a moment, my voice quiets them all. "Better. C'mon, let's go up to that fancy bar on the fifth floor. They have grand mint juleps."
Three hours later, between the drinks, the window shopping and the decedent Happy Chocolate we picked up in a store on the fourth floor, everyone is a pretty good mood. We've found street clothes for Kiou, lovely flowing dresses and kimonos. It's even more interesting seeing what Sori buys. "Wow, that's interesting." I say, cocking my head as I study Sori's new ensemble.

i ended up picking up a military cap with a hammer and sickle star on it a black and white checkered scarf a tea shirt with the caption "ill light the fire in your heart" baggy camo pants knee high boots a black cloth coat fingerless wool gloves and a belt with pouches on it to go across my chest.

I grin. "You look like the most intimidating trend-setter in history."

i shrug "its practical clothing really the coat lets me conceal weapons and lets me blend with the shadows the scarf can be drenched in liqiud and used as a emergency gas mask the pouch is for ammo and explosives the rest i guess i just found pretty oh and the tea shirt had a funny caption" i pout and light another cigarette "i just cant find any joy in what i do anymore".

"I take it back. Put on black lipstick and you'll be an emo." I reply dryly.

Lily bites her tongue... too easy, and her throat still hurts... and looks away.

i smile friendly at liv and jokingly say "watch it or that coarse throat might get contagious" i laugh and blow out a puff of smoke.

"Careful, or you'll find speaking rather hard yourself. How would you like meowing for a while?" I joke back, meeting her eyes for one long moment before turning. "Hey, look at this!"
We spend the next five hours in the Emporium, and still haven't seen more than a fraction of all the wonders, all the silks and spices, intoxicating and psychotropic perfumes, dishes from jugged hare to braised skylark song, music from alternate universes and antiques shops from the future. But eventually, we're all tired of walking. After grabbing baked hedgehog sandwiches, we're on our way home.

As the small group walks down the stairs to the trains, the high, singing notes of bow on catgut run up into the vaulted ceilings, nesting and growing before casting themselves forth to the winds, winding, twisting through the throngs, coaxing the normally hurried peoples to stop and listen, swaying as the notes caress their ears and draw them toward the source, like as to a tide. The other buskers pause, their songs forgotten in the strength of other; a call refusing denial. Lily stops, entranced, as Liv walks into her, thinking to follow to the stilled trains.

I nearly knock Lily onto the tracks, so fascinated am I, turning, grinning at the sound of the music."Hey, what's that?" The music,music, swirling and twining and full of so much emotion. If I close my eyes, I can see images. Beautiful! I laugh aloud at the sheer beauty. I glance back at the girls, eyes gleaming. "I want to go see the player! Come on!"

Lily just nods, her movement muted, dulled by the music.

I twist and twine my way through the myriad crowd, ducking, twisting, squeezing into the front of the crowd. The girl is beautiful, her gold tresses falling down as she leans into her instrument as into a lover, the look of an artist in love with her art and nothing else. And the images, the pictures, oh it's beautiful! She's the best bard I've seen in a long time. The long, sweet, slow air, so haunting and yet joyful.
I can't help it. Closing my eyes, I sing, and the twining of melodies is an ecstasy.

Her eyes flutter, then close further as she drifts and presses harder into her instrument, the passion pressing against Liv's voice, pressing and twisting around, as a clinging vine burrowing vine sinking its stringers into the masonry of a wall and climbing ever higher toward the sun, feeding and thriving off of the supporting notes. The walls of the station groan, but the sound mingles with the music, only adding to it as the girl presses the bow across the strings, her fingers flying at the neck of the violin.

She smiles as her melody overtakes the singer's, the notes becoming her's alone...

I let my voice sink, supporting, quiet, then free it in a wild crescendo, matching the fiddle,singing free as a river in full flood.
And then it's over.
I sigh happily, opening my eyes, and meet another set of eyes. Blue. Just like mine.
Then my grin falters.
Fate really is a bitch. A complete bitch.
Nonetheless, I hold out my hand. "You must be Adrianna. I've heard good things of you."

Adriana's face tightens, then relaxes. "Your the dead man's consort then," she smiles, her voice hardly over a whisper as people drift aimlessly without the music to guide, until they return to themselves and move about their business once more, the odd coin falling in the leather satchel one the floor. "Tell 'Lazarus' he still owes me a meal for my song."

I smile. "Not my consort, just a good friend. People call me Liv, by the way. I love the way you play your fiddle. Sorry I jumped in, I couldn't resist, it's been too long since I sang with someone worth the art. I like hearing decent minstrels around here, there aren't near enough of us in the Nightside!"

She shows teeth at the word minstrel, but holds her peace. "You've no small talent yourself," she murmurs, petting the violin and coaxing a low purr to blend with her own voice, measured for peace and security between the two of them.

I grin. Maybe the prophecy wasn't so right after all. She's not bad at all, and she's another bard! We really are matched, inheriting the same gift! For the first time in my life, here's someone who shares my exact way of using the power! I glance over my shoulder. "Oh, these are my friends. Kiou, Lily, Sori." I turn back. "Hey,in the mood to talk tunes? I'll pay you that meal my friend owes you."

Adriana twirls the bow in her left hand, pulling it absently across the strings, producing a clear note, meditative in it's nature. "I would know you," she smiles coyly. "I have questions for my 'double.'"

"Sure. C'mon. How up are you for pizza?"
We're soon ensconced in a pizza parlor that serves proper Greek pizza, wonderful stuff, and digging into it. The girl sits a little aloof from the rest of us, toying with her pizza. Her eyes slant just a little, I notice. Perhaps our father had Asian ancestry as well as the Dratsie blood. I'd thought that my eyes came from my mother, but perhaps I'm wrong after all. I want to ask...but something holds me back. The words of the oracle come back to me. No, perhaps she needs not know who I am to her. I bite into my anchovie pizza.
So, that is what I would have looked like were I human.This is the daughter my father raised. She's stronger-looking than I, less angular and bony, with softer curves and slightly heavier bone structure.
I have so many questions. So much I want to know, about our father, about her life. But I keep forgetting.She's dangerous. One look in her head tells me that. There's a smug umber undertone, there's anger,pride and wariness, a color darker than anger there just under the surface, the color of...oh, the germans had a word for it, but I forget...schadenfreude, that was it. That's worrisome. And a cold sort of....I don't know, I know how it looks but can't describe it. A calculating, cold blue, powerful but distant, remote and far away, a predatory feel. And a silver grey over it all, will power and the sense of control, the color you see in the minds of top dogs and gang leaders and alpha wolves. She thinks she belongs on top. She's like kinsteel, so hard, so sure of her way of things. And that assurance is harsh, brittle, and cold.
But under the cold, something hot, and even more predatory, hard, demanding, a bitter avarice. Damn, she looks.... like a hunting cat. I look away.
This may have been a really dumb thing to do. In my excitement, I've let myself ignore the dangers. All the words said she was a threat to me. So why am I so drawn to her? I can see the danger, and yet...and yet...

"So, that tune, welsh, right?" I comment, swallowing hard.

i take a bite of pizza and chew thoughtfully, i look at kiou as i swallow and say "so uh you know how to handle that sword of yours? would you maybe like to spar sometime?".

I fumble with my pizza as I try to figure out just how to eat it. Was all food in the nightside so messy and hard to deal with? "I believe a spar would be interesting to say the least and I look forward to a chance to spar with another person again. It has been some time since I was able to spar despite my daily training." I turn the plate that the pizza is on trying to figure out how to eat it.

i bow my head "very well then it will be good to have someone who can keep up with me to spar with".