Eis
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Posts: 189
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Post by Eis on Apr 12, 2021 16:27:56 GMT -8
After signaling Rowan , Eis makes her way to the aforementioned spot. She does.... fairly well in only stumbling twice once and barely spilling any of her water. It feels nice for her to have a moment away from all that frivolity. Sensible, even. She'd gotten caught up in it, herself, but she'd set out a few goals for the evening and met none so far. "So, Gavin, dear. You mentioned spending a lot of time in the Hedge. Would you consider that your area of expertise?" She pauses to gulp some water, reminding herself that if she doesn't force some water down she's likely to spend the entirety of tomorrow in bed. Recovering. "I'm fond of collecting things from the other side. Anything with even a smidge of Fae magic about it. Having someone skilled in navigating the ever unforgiving terrain would be wonderful."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Apr 13, 2021 16:23:23 GMT -8
Gavin makes his way over after seeing Eis return from elsewhere, still nursing his beer. He drops the empty shot glass off on the bar en route. He's still a bit early in his evening and hasn't tumbled down the rabbit hole too far. The others had been open to hearing about his vaguely stated interests, but so far no bites. He had to keep going.
Settling in to a reasonable orbit with Eis, his tensions eased getting away from Ivory. "Yeah, I would, but I don't want to get all FIGJAM about it. He pauses a moment and even he realizes that colloquialism was a bit out there, "you know, high on myself," he tacked on hoping that sealed it up. "I walked the Trod to LA--won't be doing that again, but, you know. Been to the Market. I spend plenty of time there because I can. It's challenging and there's good stuff to be had. Last trip landed me an Amaranthine. If you'd spent much time on the other side, you'd know there isn't much to be found in the nearby spaces. With the wards as they are and so many of us, relatively speaking, it's a hard go to find something not already staked out. The Gobos generally know to leave me be--even some Trod Trolls have thought better of it. The fair few that gave it a go anyway didn't get the time they were looking for." Gavin brushes his claws against each other on one hand making a ringing sound due to their sharpness, for effect.
Redirecting his thoughts away from the beastly direction they were momentarily headed, "I know my way around even with the scenery taking a walk every now and again and have some tricks to navigate or point me at what I'm after and work things out when I get spun. The short of it, I have the kit for it."
"My more focused interests in there are my Icons. I want to pull myself together a bit, right. You after anything more particular? What are your interests?"
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Eis
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Posts: 189
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Post by Eis on Apr 13, 2021 16:59:46 GMT -8
Gavin's way of speaking touches on humor for Eis. A little. Its probably the drink. But he's kind enough to give explanation whenever one is likely due. She listens intently as he goes on, draining her water here and there until it's gone and she tries to pull a swig of nothing from it. Her eyes are drawn to the sharp sound of his claws, and catching his meaning indeed, she gives him a smirk. Fear takes many forms, and his brand may be the fear of violence. Which could be just as effective a weapon as the... weapons themselves.
"I suppose piecing one's life together is a commendable goal. For some." The pale Fairest averts her eyes for a moment, as if thinking of something. "I prefer to leave my past where it is."
Dead. And gone. And nothing I do will change that.
Recovering, she turns back to the avian Autumn. "I'm after discovery. Here we are, in this newfound glory and horror..." She makes a sweeping gesture to include everyone around them. "And I intend to make the best of this new life. I can do things my mundane, past self wouldn't dare dream of, and frankly? I enjoy it." Her tone is almost defensive, as if she assumes she'd be judged for it. "So, Gavin, my interests are in everything magical in this new reality. Everything has a purpose. To save lives. To thwart the Others. Or even to kill. I have no doubt I would find good use for any object endowed with fae power."
It all spews from her like a tirade. Not necessarily angry, or directed at Gavin - though this fact may not be particularly obvious to him - but none the less intense. She seems to realize herself and calms, taking a breath. "Most of all, I'm looking for colleagues to help me secure this power. I've been idle long enough, and I think it's high time I show our Enemies what Fear looks like."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Apr 14, 2021 20:20:49 GMT -8
Gavin absorbed the different perspective on importance of self and recovery. It was going to be different for other Lost. His experience might bear some similarities to some, but few would know his brand of fear. His fear was born of his own capacity for violence. All lost were prone to fits of trauma and regression to moments from experiences of there. There were consequences to those times, rarely pleasant for anyone around. His fits, he knew, were extraordinarily dangerous. People tend not to forgive lost limbs and dead loved ones. It was important to put as much understanding of self between him and a moment only he would regret as he could muster. The others will never understand what it is to be made into not just a weapon, but a weapon with alien purpose urged to do what it was made for.
The Hedge is not simply his expertise. It is his refuge. There are still consequences there. They are lesser there for people. They are lesser for his friends should he have them.
Gavin smiled, "Yeah, some rush to the old. Some rush to the new. I get it. Hope I'm picking the right of the two, for me anyway." Running with the flow of how he was remade scared him. That fear defined him.
"With such broad interests there, you should be easy to please. I prefer to pick the eyes out of it and move the rest," content to leave Eis to her somewhat directionless interest, he decided trinkets and oddities or whatever wasn't nailed down by a goblin would do for now. "I'll have a look out for any Keeper levers I see laying around, that's for sure." That kind of knowledge was precious and would be hard won; he wasn't expecting that to be laying out in the open and would require research to even know to look wherever it was.
"Happy to work with people who have such goals in mind, but I'll have a fair go mate at the same time. I need friends who'll get my back when I'm up against it and keep these pointed in the right direction." He lifts his hands a bit, one open palm out and the other with a beer, which he nurses after the gesture.
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Post by Rowan on Apr 15, 2021 16:28:25 GMT -8
Rowan finally managed to make his way to Eis and... someone else? The Mantle was unmistakable - Autumn. He was just as he was last time the Fairest saw him. Still shirtless, still covered in neon body paint. Glowing from the middle of his chest.
"Sorry I'm late. It's hard to move through the crowd without leaving paint all over people."
He shot a glance at the man's talons, eyes floating over them and the possibility of their damage. Some part of his brain twitched, the gears of fight or flight still oiled from the encounter with Linden. Slowly, he put his hands in his pockets.
"I'm Rowan. Hope I'm not too late to the conversation?" His current kith tugged at the corners of his mouth, flashing a tooth paste commercial smile in a moment of tension.
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Eis
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Posts: 189
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Post by Eis on Apr 17, 2021 4:57:44 GMT -8
I hope so too. Though she isn't inclined to tell him up front, she worries for him over the torment he may subject himself to. Reliving part of the nightmare.
Gavin, to his credit, isn't put off by the sudden level of intensity from Eis's impromptu tirade. Which certainly quiets her inner doubts. And he seems to be just the kind of individual to facilitate a successful scavenger hunt in the Hedge. She smiles, satisfied. "I would appreciate that more than you could know."
Then he says it. Friends. Dear man, you're 'barking up the wrong tree'. As Gavin is wont to point out, he's something of an instrument of violence. And while Eis hadn't been particularly religious, even in her childhood, there's a scriptural phrase she remembers that has taken on new meaning in this new existence; those who live by the sword die by the sword. The last thing she wants to do is warm up to her colleagues just to have them ripped away in inevitable conflict.
She couldn't take it... nothing is safe. No one is safe. Even at this very moment, her mind's eye plays out the gruesome death that likely awaits Gavin - some day - and there she would be, foolish enough to trust and get close, the final tethers that keep her sane shattering as the last things she cares about are torn away.
The thoughts take her so far away that she snaps back, terrified any of this has shown on her face. She paints a mask of dispassion, hoping nothing of her inner conflict has been revealed.
And who else should show up in her time of weakness than Rowan!? What the hell is he- But, of course, she'd summoned him not long ago. Lost in the moment and the heavy drinking, she'd momentarily forgotten about him.
"Not at all. I see you're still using.... all of that." she says, markedly pointing towards Rowan and making a quick, circling motion with her finger around his person. "I would love to hear of your exploits. But introductions are in order, of course." She just won't be the one to introduce them. Riley's speaking for their date had certainly left an unfavorable, weak impression on Eis for the firey girl. Doing so to either of her fellow courtiers would be a disservice. The Autumn Fairest takes half a step back, as to better include Rowan in the conversation.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Apr 18, 2021 20:02:49 GMT -8
Eis had been diligent in keeping her emotions guarded during the conversation. It seemed though that the prospect of getting her hands on something, anything from the hedge briefly opened a gap in her armour. Through that gap her reactions to Gavin's interests were plain to see for the attentive. This time Gavin was.
She wanted to remain dispassionate and disconnected. Reflecting, Gavin realized so did he until recently. He had been hiding in the Hedge doing much the same reason. She might have done as he did if she could. It was probably best that she didn't. Not yet anyway.
Gavin flashed her an empathetic 'I see you' smile; the kind that starts from the eyes. She was rushing away from help. That was not something he was prepared to help with, but the bits and bobs angle was an approach. Not all things Hedge were magic. Not all things Hedge hurt. Just most of them. His smile turned wry. He had an idea. Not quite realizing that him seeing this moment of feeling at the front end was going to cause distress, he caught on and tempered his reaction to let her off the hook.
He turned to acknowledge the painted man. He couldn't hide his claws and has long since stopped trying. When others took notice, like Rowan just did, it was another reminder of the danger Gavin posed. It always left him feeling othered. This time he had a wandering thought: I wonder if they make Soft Paws for tigers or lions.
"Hello Rowan, I'm Gavin. Doesn't seem too late to me," he offered a fist to bump in place of a handshake careful to fold in all the pointy bits. "You seem to be living big."
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Post by Rowan on Apr 19, 2021 17:58:08 GMT -8
"Trying to, at least," he replied with a fist bump. He spared Eis a glance, seeing as she was kinda sorta the instigator. "Someone told me I couldn't fit in," he added with a smirk. He shifted slightly from one leg to the next, hyper-aware of his exposed chest. The only thing that kept him from putting his shirt on was that he didn't want to dirty it.
Eis internal turmoil went over his head. At that moment, all his senses were focused of the obvious threat. It was driven by some half-remembered memory of survival, some instinct that was trying to come through. He finally managed to pull away, breaking the physical contact to turn to Eis. "Well, a Summer accused me of using my kith to mock someone. They were talking about Riley, don't know if you met them? Had to remind the goon that kiths weren't exclusive."
Pause. "I can change back if you think it's too much."
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Eis
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Posts: 189
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Post by Eis on Apr 20, 2021 12:47:55 GMT -8
The Fairest doesn't miss Gavin's smile. She's almost certain her cheeks would flush if she, well, did that kind of thing anymore. Great. The man probably thinks you're a delicate flower, now. But one moment of weakness is enough - at the very least in present company - and her dispassionate mask doesn't shift. Even if Gavin knew it was an act.
Her eyes follow Rowan's extended fist as he exchanges a masculine greeting with Gavin. And at Gavin's wicked looking hands. Or perhaps that's why they chose the 'fist bump' in the first place? No matter.
A single brow raises at the mention of Riley. "Oh, yes, dear. We've met." Her mouth forces into a tight line for a moment, but she'd all but agreed to keep hostilities out of the mix at Ivory's suggestion. "But you should only change if its what you want. Frankly, I'm impressed you stood your ground at the ridiculous accusation. If that isn't 'coming out of your shell', I don't know what is." She smiles, mischievously, and leans in a little closer. Her breath is positively flammable, despite her last drink being water. "Did you enjoy it?" Eis is almost certain she would have. A little stunt or prank for a little attention. She'd have given the accuser a tongue lashing, though.
Oh... No. Attention grabbing is exactly what she'd judged Riley for so harshly. Now here she is sympathizing. Which either means she'd been wrong (HA!) or she's had entirely too much to drink. The latter. Unquestionably.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Apr 20, 2021 23:54:15 GMT -8
It was a simple matter to let Eis regain her composure after the mask slipped momentarily. Her severe demeanor was unusually effective at making her conversation partners forget soon after when the subject of Riley came up in passing. Unfortunately for her the alcohol was more effective at the moment and it amused Gavin.
Rowan being quite attentive got a solid read on Gavin's mood and interest in the moment despite the Razorhand's relatively composed expression. He noted a slightly manic energy about Gavin stirred up by an inner conflict. There was a certain discomfort from him being around people mixed with a quiet loneliness. As Rowan studied Gavin, his particular attention to the horrific limbs ending with living threats yielded a subtle nuance that would have been easy to miss. Gavin fidgeted unconsciously with his claws while keeping them close to his body. When he gestured with them, the movements were disturbingly precise. With so many long pointed blades Rowan was sure they should run into each other and make some kind of noise; they did not. Despite phenomenal control over the blades, Gavin is self-conscious of them--wary even. When Rowan mentioned that kiths weren't exclusive and implied they were mutable, Gavin immediately and openly became curious with a momentary flash of hopeful that he reigned in as quickly as it formed.
"From all this, I gather this isn't the usual show," as curious as he was, he asked a surface level question, respecting what might be personal. His voice betrayed his genuine interest.
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Post by Rowan on Apr 22, 2021 20:01:30 GMT -8
With a sigh, like a breath long held in, the light in Rowan's chest flickered out. Gone were the moths and the warmth that were emanating from his heart. He looked every bit like the frostbitten, exposure-killed corpse he usually did. Where Eis was severe and menacing like a blizzard, he was indifferent and inscrutable like a winter night.
"Kiths a kind of my thing," he offered by way of reply. Gavin's reaction hit close to home, because the Darkling understood the feelings of alienation. His body was a well-oiled machine, forged by forgotten trauma, but the muscles remembered. The moved with their own will, driven by a never-ending cycle of fight and flight. "I'm a Kithshifter. This was easy stuff, skin deep at best. But there's other forms I know better."
He didn't want to put the other Courtier on the spot, just as he hated being there himself. The last time Rowan had tried the Contract on another Changeling, they had broken down in tears. So now, he was a little weary of trying it again. But what if he could help Gavin, if only for one night? Would it actually solve anything? It hadn't for Rowan, so far.
"It works on others too." He floated the option, leaving it up to the Beast to acknowledge it or not.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Apr 25, 2021 11:38:44 GMT -8
Rowan continued to clock in Gavin's inner responses. Gavin initially felt justified in restraining his hopes from the moment Rowan said skin deep. The momentum of that feeling lasted a bit longer as it took him a bit to change gears back to curious when a more open implication arose. "Other forms you know better," he reflected. "Would that mean more than skin deep?" the flash of hope returned in the expression of Gavin's eyes, at least to Rowan's reading.
"You can change others?" his face clearly said 'me.' Hope stopped being contained when he got that out. "Can you do Woodwalker or Farwalker?"
Gavin just wanted to be at peace in the wild places, less the terror that made them unsafe. He'd not considered that the instinctual responses imprinted on him as a Beast would remain, nor would he be any less immediately lethal. The best he'd get out of a change is knowing he might not take as many limbs.
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Eis
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Posts: 189
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Post by Eis on Apr 25, 2021 17:07:01 GMT -8
Eis is more than a little disappointed she couldn't goad a gloat out of Rowan over his triumph, but she relents.
Rowan's talents, as he himself admits, are used often. His interests on the subject have much more context, now. Perhaps less a dynamic showing, then, than just another night for her fellow Courtier.
Something Gavin says snaps her thoughts to earlier in the evening - before having so much drink - something Rowan mentioned. 'Form follows function'. Its a struggle to stay focused on it, but she's sure she has something more to say on the matter. What was Gavin on about, anyway? Skin deep...
Of course! The Snowskin's features split into a most unpleasant - if enthusiastic - smile. Oblivious to Gavin's sudden curiosity, she can't help but blurt out the thoughts that finally rise above the haze and come to the surface.
"Rowan." she says, with a manic glint in her eye. "Does form truly follow function for one such as yourself? You've pointed out that you know other forms better than your most recent... conquest. Does assuming one of these other 'familiar' Kiths change the function underneath? If so, it would seem, for you darling, that function follows form."
As can happen, on rare occasion, Eis legitimately regrets suddenly cutting off Gavin in his prime of excitement. This is what they were on about, and he'd probably been caught up in the enthusiasm. She clears her throat, lowering her cadence.
"Sorry. Gavin. I was just... a bit caught up. I'm sure a this talented young man can do those forms, and more. With practice." She gives an encouraging nod to Rowan.
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Post by Rowan on Apr 25, 2021 18:15:57 GMT -8
Rowan took a quick step back, flinching from the sudden intensity of having Eis' undivided attention. Between her and Gavin, he almost summoned his inherent ability to disappear in a puff of smoke.
They were so much, the two of them. The only way he managed to find comfort was by thinking that they would be noticed first should something unforeseen happen.
"I'm a Darkling. My nature is more slippery than others. I've um-" Deep breaths. This doesn't say anything about you as a person. Gavin understands. "I've never felt right in my skin. So I kept jumping from one kith to the next. Some stuck with me."
"I guess what I'm trying to say," he turned to Eis to actually answer her question. "Is that I based my thesis on myself. When my form changes, so does my function. At least for the few kiths I'm comfortable with."
He cleared his throat returned his attention to Gavin. Really returned it, taking everything about the Changeling.
"Judging by the..." he gestured to the hands "Really, any kith can be twisted into a weapon. But as far as I know, only one can explain those. Could be a snap judgment though." It was the way the Australian help his fingers close to him, how he seemed to have absolute mastery over them - they didn't make a sound as they moved. Then there was the way Gavin felt about himself. Rowan didn't actually say it out loud, Razorhands, in case the Beast didn't want it to be known. The Darkling, with his circumstances, held little stock in his own kith, but he respected other's privacy on the subject. Especially other Fall. He simply nodded in acknowledgement.
"Sure. Both could work, but it would just be cosmetics - I'm not really familiar with those. I could do one of mine if you'd like, for the night?"
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Post by Gavin Graves on Apr 25, 2021 19:52:54 GMT -8
When Rowan takes his defensive step backward, Gavin's eyes dilated like those of a cat before pouncing. His limbs subtly tensed in preparation, unconsciously: prey runs. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath while gently turning his head in another direction for a moment and rolls his shoulders to try and relax. When he looks back toward the others his expression is no longer as feral, gradually returning to his usual baseline intensity.
Gavin does understand when Rowan shares his discomfort in his own skin, and nods like it's often a lot. A vaguely haunted look forms around his eyes.
Form follows function. Change function, change form. This was all sounding appealing to him. He was a regular shape-shifter himself. He wasn't just like a cassowary as many might have assumed; he could actually become one. He'd slip into that form like a second turquoise-and-feathered skin. He'd take that form when he knew he was going to need to distance himself from being a man, or when he needed to distance others from their limbs. It was formidable and efficient. It usually sent a clear message. He hoped along with the change in form and function it might give him blessed reprieve from the instincts impressed upon him by his time there.
When Rowan moved on to making his assessment Gavin could tell he was dancing around his thoughts. Slippery indeed. It was more like drawing an outline. "Yeah, too right. All beasts have claws. Razorhand is a bit of a thing all to itself though," he confirmed the Darkling's supposition. "I wouldn't mind a moment actually being anything else. Dealer's choice." He slapped his hands together to ready himself, then flicked the lower three fingers on each hand with a 'hit me' gesture, and capped it with a brief sharp exhale in anticipation.
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