[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220416/07bb7fe0937c4f981a024d2a8b9366c1.png[/img]
[sub][color=8E939E]✧     Location: Soft Haven Bounty House     ✧     Purse: 12 copper     ✧      Collab with [@Hero]     ✧[/color][/sub][/center]
Kyreth had to smirk as he parted with Lilann. He definitely had one hell of a story for her, that was for sure. But that could wait; there was no time to waste if he wanted to make a good impression on his new… employer? Teacher? Whoever he was, he was going to great expense to afford a total stranger the opportunity of a lifetime, and Kyreth owed it to him to repay his show of good faith in kind. 

To that end, Kyreth searched the room for a head of blonde hair, and approached the highborn eleven woman, politely clearing his throat. 

[color=8E939E]“Excuse me, Miss… Eila?”[/color] he asked, [color=8E939E]“Thank you again for lending me your cloak, and… or, I’m sorry, I hate to impose, but could I— ah.”[/color] Kyreth cursed his inexperience with highborn folk as he tried to string together a polite request. His newly-freed tail curled around his leg in discomfort, much the same way a normal person might wring their hands. Goodness, was it by Selene’s grace alone that he made it through his encounter with Lord Mystralath without making this much a fool of himself, or he was that much less prepared to face this friendly rich lady than he was to face a potential execution? 

At long last, he managed to force out a full sentence. [color=8E939E]“Would it be possible for me to return it to you later tonight?”[/color]

Eila gave Kyreth a polite smile as he approached her, mentally biting her tongue. She had a myriad of questions begging to be asked, but it wouldn’t do to bombard the poor thing so soon after what must have been a stressful meeting. His struggle to speak to her was a little concerning–he must have been shaking like a leaf the entire time with Lord Mystralath!--but she patiently waited for him to finish.

Letting out a polite chuckle, she waved him off. [color=palegreen]“Why not take it for yourself? The color suits you better than I,”[/color]she told him. 

Kyreth’s eyebrows shot up, and he immediately shook his head. [color=8E939E]“Oh, no, I couldn’t - I mean, thank you for your generosity, but I only need it for the afternoon. The Lord asked me to run some errands for him…”[/color]

He trailed off as he noticed the look on Eila’s face, polite but clearly unimpressed. She wasn’t going to budge on this, was she? 

[color=8E939E]“Okay,”[/color] he sighed. Defeated, Kyreth conceded the cloak, but still pulled at the clasp holding it closed. It was a fine piece of jewelry on its own, a little gold bird with gemstones for feathers, and it was certainly too expensive for him to let Eila part with so casually. He unpinned it with excessive care and offered it to Eila. [color=8E939E]“At least take this back, then. I can’t keep this.”[/color]

Looking down at the all-too-familiar bird, Eila held back an earned ‘tut’ on her part. The gemstones brought a subtle elegance to the cloak, though she supposed he may have thought it too girlish on his part. Even her father often opted to use clasps without gemstones. Still, Eila thought that he should keep it.

[color=palegreen]“It’ll be harder to keep the cloak close to you without the clasp,”[/color] she pointed out. 

[color=8E939E]“I’ll find a way,”[/color] Kyreth insisted. [color=8E939E]“There’s a button on my old cloak I can sew on, it’s no problem. I just— I cant keep this. People will think I stole it, and the guards in Soft Haven will be all over me.”[/color] After considering his options for a second, he gently took Eila’s hand, pressing the clasp into her palm and closing her fingers around it. He gave her a pleading look. [color=8E939E]“Please.”[/color] 

Sew?! Into such dense wool?! No, no, no, the button wouldn’t last a week, he would be in a constant battle of string and button and material! Eila did her best not to look alarmed, albeit a sudden flash of amber struck her eyes. She let out what she hoped as a polite laugh, her other hand patting his. She had to salvage this without further alienating the boy.

Clearing her throat, she gently took the clasp without argument–though that didn’t mean she was going to let him get away just yet. [color=palegreen]“I am afraid a button would struggle to hold things together,”[/color] she said gently. [color=palegreen]“You’ll need a clasp.” Her sentence was insistent on that point. “You mentioned errands, did you not? I am sure we can find something simple in the market that will suit your tastes.”[/color]

Kyreth was a little jarred when the woman’s eyes changed colour, but he was even more jarred when she patted his hand after finally capitulating to his offer. A brief sadness swept over him as he realized the gesture reminded him of something Berta might do, but it was gone as quickly as it came after Eila spoke. 

Kyreth had to confess some shame; unconsciously, he discovered he'd been using some old manipulation tactics he learned as a child to get Eila to see things his way. The habit was hard to shake off. But she was throwing it right back! If not for her obvious good breeding, he would have wondered if she grew up in Buscon, too. 

He rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable with her offer but also understanding that refusing wasn't really an option. With that in mind, he had an idea. He wouldn't normally want to impose, but if she was set on helping him, then he might as well make the best of it. [color=8E939E]“You really don't need to do that,”[/color] he said, [color=8E939E]“but… if you insist, then would you mind helping me a little in town? The merchants might be a little friendlier if I'm with someone… reputable.”[/color] 

Perfect. The pair could shop, she could ask questions of curiosity without arousing too much suspicion, and she would save her old cloak the shame of sporting a button. Everyone would win! Eila clapped her hands together, all too pleased with Kyreth’s suggestion. She needed to navigate this as carefully as possible; Kyreth may have trembled like a leaf in the wind, but he was acutely aware of the state of things.

Of course, in the back of her mind, she hadn’t given much thought to the whole Tainted business. There were a myriad of horror stories and the occasional report on one having mugged a merchant or some other, but she supposed that Kyreth’s nature seemed to go opposite the rumor. It was like meeting a bear for the first time and finding it afraid of you instead of vice versa–wholly unexpected. It helped that he didn’t appear the same as the other Tainted she had encountered; his features were softer, kinder, more fearful than arrogant or frightening. 

Putting those thoughts aside, she replied, [color=palegreen]“I am happy to be of service. We can leave right away, unless you have other business here?”[/color]

[color=8E939E]“Only if you’re comfortable with it,”[/color] Kyreth added insistently, giving Eila a chance to change her mind. It occurred to him that the air of naivete he was sensing on the woman might mean she didn’t understand the full extent of what he was asking her to do. [color=8E939E]“It can cause… [i]issues[/i] for people like you to be seen with a Tainted. I don’t want to ruin your reputation in a new place.”[/color]

The quieter the reputation, the better it would be for her, she supposed. After a moment, however, she realized what he meant. Well, being seen with a Tainted couldn’t be the worst thing, could it?

Nonetheless, Eila waved his concerns away. “The only thing merchants care for is gold. Everything else is secondary,” She informed him. “I assure you, you have nothing to fear.”

Kyreth bit back a groan; it turned out his suspicion was correct. Dammit, what was he going to do now? The part of his brain that still lived in the Dregs told him to let her have her delusion and go with it; having her around would probably make his job a lot easier. But the honest part he was [i]trying[/i] to cultivate told him that taking advantage of her status to her detriment was wrong and that he should break off their little excursion now, before he had the chance to taint her reputation for the worse. 

And then [i]again[/i], just like with Berta and her fence, Eila seemed quite set on this task. It would probably upset her to take back his request now without fully understanding why he was doing it. And while he could justify upsetting her in the moment to save her the more serious damage to her reputation later, he doubted he could convince her of the problem until she saw it for herself. 

Kyreth rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable with his options, until he finally decided. [color=8E939E]“Fine,”[/color] he conceded, [color=8E939E]“but don’t hesitate to change your mind. I won’t be insulted, I promise.”[/color] She would just have to learn through experience; she’d probably understand what she got into the first time a shopkeep stopped him at the door, and decide better of associating with him.