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[color=0a6d6b][b]#0a6d6b[/b][/color] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [url=https://imgur.com/pbEPU7M][color=9b9b9b][b]outfit[/b][/color][/url] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [color=9b9b9b][b]near the bar[/b][/color]
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[indent][indent][indent][indent][justify][color=808080][color=5a3e85]"Anissa,"[/color] the brunette replied. No comment on his more archaic methods of introduction or his compliment. A little smile tugged at the left corner of Sylas’s mouth, realizing Anissa might not be so easy to flatter. It reminded him of someone. His gaze briefly flashed over to the bar, finding that white dress and fiery hair. What was it about women who didn’t immediately cave to silver tongues that intrigued him so?

His attention was promptly brought back to the woman across from him when Anissa reached across the table and stole his glass right from his hand. He exhaled a quiet chuckle through his nose as his eyes narrowed in curiosity. He didn’t stop her. There was something about a woman taking what she wanted unabashedly that piqued his interest. Hell, if she told him to go retrieve a drink for her, since the bull hadn’t returned with what he offered, Sylas would have. He was a gentleman, after all. 

He leaned back in his chair, watching intently as she took a sip of his drink. A charming chuckle escaped his lips as she fought back a cough and forced the liquid down her throat. She set the glass back down between them like Sylas’s drink was no longer his, but [i]their’s[/i]. [color=5a3e85]"...That’s vile,"[/color] she commented, her voice a bit raspier than before. [color=5a3e85]"It’s got a nice burn, though. What is it?"[/color]

Sylas couldn’t help but notice her more rapid blinking and the tears that clung to her eyelashes, one blink from rolling down her cheek. He shifted in his seat, leaning to the left so his right hand could slip into his pants pocket. A moment later he withdrew a crisp, perfectly folded white handkerchief. It wasn’t lace or decorative like a woman’s. Just simple and unadorned aside from the small embroidered ‘S. A.’ in navy blue in one of the corners. He extended his hand halfway across the table, offering her the piece of fabric. [color=0a6d6b]"It’s bourbon. I prefer whiskey but the bar was a bit crowded when I went for a refill."[/color]

[color=667c0c]"LEWSKI!"[/color] a shout rang through the party, loud and abrupt enough that it was like scratching a record in the middle of a club. For those few seconds, everyone in camp froze and gawked at the spectacle. Sylas shouldn’t have been surprised it was Wes. The boisterous son of Aphrodite was never the most tactful. So causing a scene, about whatever the hell a ‘Lewski’ was, was pretty in character for him. 

[color=5a3e85]"What in the Greek hell…."[/color] 

While Anissa watched with apparent intrigue, Sylas’s hand slid across the table. His fingers lightly pulled the glass into his grasp. He brought the drink to his lips and took a long sip. The spectacle didn’t demand his attention as it did for others. He had been at camp long enough to be familiar with Wes’s carefree, charging headfirst through life mentality. Though so many distant connections the one armed man was vaguely connected to Sloane, which was enough for him to live on Sylas’s shit list. 

As he went to set the glass back down at the halfway point between them, he looked back over at Anissa. He had expected to see her still watching in stunned amusement at Wes’s scene. But as he followed her gaze, he instead saw that the path led to a tall, dark haired male near the bonfire. Sylas’s eyes squinted slightly as he studied him. He looked… [i]familiar.[/i] The man was no longer dressed for winter but his calculated posture and the strong confidence of his stride triggered the memory from earlier that day. A vision of that same guy walking across the field, side by side with Evelyn replayed in his mind. Knowing the guy had spent some amount of time with her twinged the faintest bit of jealousy in him. 

Sylas sat silent, watching Anissa watch him. He wondered what about the man transfixed her. Did she know him? Was there concern regarding whatever happened that left him dusting off snow and making a quick retreat? Was it simple curiosity? Or was it attraction? He could admit that the guy had an effortless appeal between the unkept waves of his black hair or the beach bum way he wore his shirt untucked and half unbuttoned… like a surfer.

Andy’s words from earlier that morning echoed in his mind… [i]Or the big tall surfer looking dude. He’s the new leader.[/i]

His grin grew as he laced together the information like a weaver tying the final thread to reveal the image in the tapestry. Sylas leaned forward, resting his arms on the table and clasping his hands together. [color=0a6d6b]"He’s attractive, isn’t he? Our new leader?"[/color] He waited patiently for him to catch Anissa’s attention and his words to sink in. Once she met his gaze, his smirk grew. [color=0a6d6b]"So… What’s he like?"[/color] he asked with a knowing curiosity. There was something in the way she looked at their [i]new leader[/i] that told him there was more spinning her gears than simple attraction. And he was going to find out.[/color][/justify][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]

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[color=808080][b]interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] anissa [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] evelyn, elias, wes, river & andy [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none[/color]
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