"[color=#000000]Thank you. Is it... okay for me to keep this? Or is there someway I can pay you for it? Or... since I broke it, replace it? I see you weave them in your hair sometimes, very beautiful.[/color]" the phantom said, catching her off guard. Naya hadn't actually known for certain he could talk, so to hear the quiet humming of his voice made her let out a surprised giggle. 

“Ah, he speaks! And such charming words you have, specter,” the witch laughs, but she still flushes a little under the praise. No one liked it when she wore the bird skulls in her hair, the children even spread ugly rumors about how she mashed up their organs while they still lay gasping and ate them for breakfast while they watched. 

Which was just rude. She would never waste precious ingredients by [b][i]eating[/i][/b] them! Honestly, what kind of second rate hack of an alchemist did they take her for?

Naya catches sight of a darkly dressed figure stomping off towards the forest, recognizing him as her business competitor almost instantly. “Caezel!” She calls out with a wave, but he either doesn’t hear her or ignores her completely. The latter was most likely the case, that man was a prickly old beast. Always grumbling about something.

The phantom extends the stick towards her, the morbid pendant swaying gently in the frigid wind as Naya turns her attention back to him, reaching forward and giving the skull a gentle nudge. “You may keep it, specter. It is a lovely ornament for your stick friend,” she concurs, wrapping her coat tighter around herself to try to keep the cold at bay. Humans didn’t typically make their home on this side of the border and even though she was born here and well acclimated to the harsh conditions by now, it didn’t change the fact that it was absolutely [i]freezing[/i] out here. “You need’nt worry about replacing it since I have so many,” she explained, waving a hand dismissively.

"[color=#000000]Might not look like I can do much, but I can sort of collect certain things that you might find useful,[/color]" the apparition spoke again and Naya found herself leaning in to better hear the compelling humming noise he emitted. The brunette thought about telling him not to worry about repaying her, but she knows that most folks around here, no matter what state of living they were in, didn’t like owing debts.

“I always need different things from the forest,” she admits, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “The ones I really need are on the other side of the border. I haven’t been since they tried to set me on fire a couple months back,” she confesses, grinning as if it was an amusing anecdote and not a harrowing near death experience. Approaching footsteps cause her to pause, turning to see Angelo and Alistair approaching from the courtyard. 

“Hello,” she calls, nodding to each of them as they drew closer. “Did you come to look at my wares, or did you need a place to rest?” Naya questions, reaching out and touching the doorknob. The shop gives a groan and the floorboards creak as the old house welcomes her home, the cylinders in the lock scraping together to open and let her back in. The magic of it leaves her skin reverberating and makes her a bit breathless. “Come in, have a look around,” she grins, before shifting her gaze to the vampire. “I had a spell that required bloodletting earlier, so I apologize for the smell. Mind your manners, Alistar, my shop eats people who don’t behave,” she warns, but her tone is friendly.

Naya wasn’t overly concerned though, a lot of vampires seemed to enjoy the taste of the more ethereal creatures. From what she’d been told humans were pretty average, almost dull flavor wise compared to angels, fairies, elves, or hell, even werewolves. One vampiric customer had gone so far as to say humans were like stale bread, while an elf was akin to the most tender of steaks. The brunette had never come across someone who could tell her what witch blood tasted like, but she wasn’t really in a hurry to find out about that one. 

“You too, specter,” she began, turning back to her ghostly friend. He didn’t really need her to hold the door open for him she suppossed, but she did it all the same. “Oh,” the witch stops, eyes going wide before pressing on, “Do you have a name?” She questions curiously, blinking up at the spirit. “I’m Naya.”

[@jangel13][@King Atlas][@Monochromatic][@ArenaSnow]