Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Surprised looks appeared from both packs in Meesei's direction regarding her last anecdote. Few enough among them even knew of a woman falling in love another woman as a concept, but with it being such a rare occurance, none had expected Meesei to put such little emphasis on it. Regardless, Meesei continued and turned the conversation unerringly towards the beleaguered Gallus.

"Me? Well, I suppose it would be similar to what you said," Gallus tried playing it all off and did not succeed, "I would say it is bland in comparison. Uneventful. You know, not with any drama or..."

"Gallus," Uthri's accented voice was teeming with a distinct lack of amusement. She crossed her arms and gave him a wide eyed stare. "You would run this far from Bruma for the express purpose of getting away from the trouble you put yourself in and you try to lie to our faces? Try again. Tell us about Persephone and Olivia."

"Well that would hardly be fair, that's my present, not my past," Gallus attempted to retort. Although, as he looked around to everyone else, he could see that their curiosity would not allow him to run any further. He bowed his head suddenly and spoke with defeat in his voice, "Not fair, Uthri. Very well..." His head looked up to them and he smiled, trying to be good-natured about it. His tone inflected the end of his sentences as if he was asking rhetorical questions. "So, about seven months ago, a lovely Imperial girl named Sephy and myself hit it off with what I thought was a casual interaction. We were both under father's section, we were friends...who sometimes had nights in...it suited me well enough for about three months. Everyone else just thought we were close friends." Gallus curled his lips for a moment, there was little ambiguity on where this was going. "Then, during the festivities of the solstice, I met this beautiful Altmer named Olivia. We got drinking and...sneaked off. There are plenty of spaces to do so, as I'm sure you are aware. It didn't end there, however. I quite liked Olivia and wanted to try something more. We ended up seeing each other for a while. The thing with myself and Sephy went on, but was tapering off, I was planning on stopping it."

At this point, Fendros sighed and rubbed his temple. Gallus was one of those folks. Even Janius didn't play two relationships at the same time - as far as he knew, anyway.

Gallus continued apprehensively, "One day, I approached Sephy to try to break things up, and she...confessed her love for me, rather sincerely. She didn't know about Olivia and vice-versa, but her words were touching. Very touching, very...confusing to me. I didn't go through with the break up. I thought I might...try both for a while. I really am fond of them both." Gallus paused for a moment.

"Are you serious?" Janius said with an incredulous expression, "At what point did you think that would be appropriate?"

"Well, I was going to ask them eventually," Gallus shrugged as if there wasn't a problem.

"And you called me despicable. Let me guess, you're here because they found out?" Janius said almost accusingly, but with a smile at how ridiculous this was.

"No," Gallus' eyes twitched around the table, "I just...need time to think. I thought I might know what to do when I returned."

Uthri squinted her eyes and half smiled with satisfaction at getting Gallus to share his behaviour.

---

"Yes. There is not as much skooma in Thorn," Sabine said bluntly.

When they reached the market, the array of sights and sounds on display was far more than they were expecting. Sabine looked about, amazed. It was as if an entire travelling circus had set up here. Indeed, that may have been the case. She was open-mouthed but silent to Peiter's question.

"Tzirret sees fire breather!" Tzirret was so excited that his already Khajiiti Cyrodilic had regressed a little further. He pointed out one of the mages who was almost exclusively using fire spells to create wondrous flowing shapes in an enchanting performance. As they approached, they found the reason for the mage's namesake; the Ohmes-raht mage was using not only his hands, but also his mouth to project fire to make the shapes. They resembled all sorts of things; dragons, trolls, daedric beasts, even undead creatures.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hah, yeah, I doubt taking a shower is a problem unless you spend at least half an hour in there.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus sucked in a breath and winced, while Janius let out a laugh and Uthri let out a low chuckle and commented, "Broke a little more than his heart, eh? Not enviable. He must have been annoying."

Ahnasha's question snapped Fendros out of his thoughts and he shook the sour expression from his face. "Oh, nothing," he said to Ahnasha, playing it off with a smile.

"Mama, why was your meeting with the vagabond painful? Did you fight him?" Rhazii, completely oblivious to most of the subtext, decided to keep up his habit of on-point timing.

In response, Janius spoke as if there was nothing to be insecure about. "Makes sense to me. If it's anything like the feral cats in Bravil, you wouldn't be able to tell without looking whether it was fighting or otherwise."

"Thank you, Janius," Fendros said sarcastically.

Janius continued, "I remember them yowling like they were going to war either way-"

"Thank you, Janius!" Fendros repeated with more exaggerated emphasis.

"What?" Janius lifted his palms defensively and smiled.

"Let's not start our own war, now," Gallus said with a hand raised to calm the two, laughing lightly through it all. Gallus then turned to Meesei, "I saw you with a smile before, Meesei. Have you any tales worthy of bawdy song?"

---

Tzirret was just as amazed as Peiter was, but he was not so immediately vocal. "It is...very nice to look upon," he said unsurely.

"I can think of one place," Sabine answered, "but that is far away, and it had more flowers. It was a festival, too. This is beautiful for itself, though. I wonder if there is as much colour every day?"

"What was this place?" Tzirret asked Sabine.

Sabine smiled, "Thorn, in Black Marsh."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Huh, I never knew that," Fendros said with some measure of surprise. He purposely didn't specify which parts he didn't know, but judging by his face, he had conjured some astonishing and not quite desirable mental imagery.

Still keen to keep the conversation away from himself, Gallus asked. "What ever happened to this 'vagabond'? Did he simply steal your heart and run?" Gallus took a larger swig of his drink, downing the rest of it. He had a feeling that he would need the moon sugar running through him shortly.

Out on the street, Sabine and Tzirret walked quickly to keep up with the stride Peiter set. Sabine answered Peiter's question with a shrug, "I do not know what is in this city to see. We could just walk in a direction until we find something," Sabine looked up, remembering something, "Acrobats! I remember seeing Khajiit acrobats in other cities. We might find some performing," Sabine's voice lowered again, "but I do not know where to find them..."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Some at the table, including Uthri and Gallus, let out an "aww" in unison. Janius smiled, thankful for Kaleeth's continued understanding, and then leaned to kiss her quickly on the side of the head. "I think we balance each other out, then," Janius said quietly.

Far from letting the entire wait be entertained by himself, Janius looked up to the members of Gallus' pack. "What about the rest of you? Any good tales from your past? Any daring trysts?"

Gallus half-coughed to prevent himself from inhaling some of his drink, but he didn't answer immediately. Uthri gave a slightly disdainful sideways look in his direction. Gallus hoped that someone else would have a story before he would have to share his own. Likely because some of his stories were still in progress.

Tzirret was mostly glum through Peiter's encouragement, but his last description caused his ears to go up a little. He failed to stop a smile creeping to his face, which turned into a snort and a small laugh. "The sound you make is one of storied heroes," he said, shaking his head.

Even Sabine gave Peiter a smile and a raised eyebrow. The compliment was not lost on her, but it was a little indulgent.

After a pause, Tzirret's smile faded and he sighed. "Fine, okay. This one will accompany. Just...let us not get lost."

"We will stay together," Sabine said, grinning happily at both Peiter and Tzirret. She shot up from her seat and lifted on her shoulder bag, "Let's go." Tzirret stood up and was ready just as quickly. Before they left, Sabine went to Meesei quickly, "We are going exploring. We will be back before the hour."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's all good either way. G'night!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus looked up with surprise to the waitress. He squinted his eyes and whispered, astonished more than suspicious, "Had she been listening the entire time?" He shook the expression off before she approached and placed an order after Ahnasha. "I'll have a grilled salmon fillet, or whatever fish you have, no sugar please."

Fendros, Janius, and Uthri each ordered some food as well. Upon request to Ahnasha, Rhazii also asked for something to tide him over.

With the mention of food, Sabine suddenly became slightly torn about going out exploring, but with Peiter's agreement to go out as well as the prospect of getting food elsewhere in the city, that dilemma quickly evaporated. She smiled and looked to Tzirret, "What do you think, Tzirret? Want to come with us?"

"Er, this one might stay," Tzirret looked down and only gave Sabine and Peiter glances, "There could be danger, you heard what was said."

"Tzirret! Come! We need three people to go," Sabine tugged lightly on Tzirret's arm. "Do you need more brandy for courage?" Sabine laughed.

Tzirret only groaned apprehensively.

Sabine looked to Peiter pleadingly. He might have been able to convince Tzirret.

Janius let go of his defensiveness, but mention of his antics from before he turned caused him to laugh nervously. He looked to the table, then to Kaleeth, then to Meesei, and then to everyone else. "Well," he put his hands on the table, "I can't say that it's a habit I have today, but yes, Kaleeth's father was not the first father that I ever angered. Not by a long shot. Let me think..." Janius took a moment to lean back in his chair and put an arm around Kaleeth. After a few moments of staring at the ceiling, he looked forward and remembered one occurrence.

"When I was sixteen, back in Bravil, there was this gorgeous Imperial girl that I made acquaintance with at a ball. It was a vapid event, really, but this girl was the daughter of a higher noble than my house, no one that I was meant to even look at. Still, we danced, we talked, we sneaked out to a balcony and talked further. I even stole a kiss - away from prying eyes - before the ball was over, but she retreated. Later on, I found a note in my pocket detailing where she was situated in the keep." Janius shook his head and smiled, "Those Imperial walls, if you have the right tools, they are easy to climb, so later that night, I went to visit her...without using the gate."

"This is beginning to sound like the plot to a cheap romance book," Uthri said with her head forward and a sly smile.

"I would not be surprised if that were the case," Janius responded to Uthri. He leaned forward again, "Anyway, I reached her chambers and we..." Janius hovered one hand over the other awkwardly, "...began making a night of it, but we were interrupted. She was too loud, and it had attracted the attention of the guards. Luckily, we heard them before they broke the door down, so in a moment of tactical genius..." Janius couldn't quite contain his own chortling at this point, "...I took the nearest article of clothing and wrapped it around my face to obscure my identity. The guards broke in, but not before I was rappelling out of the window with my clothing under my arm and my face wrapped with something. It was probably the closest I came to ever getting arrested by someone with the power to do something bad, but I escaped, somehow."

Fendros chuckled, "Naked and sliding down a rope?"

"Yes! It was freezing cold!" Janius opened his hands as if he was defending his position. "It wasn't until later that I noticed that the reason that the article around my head smelled so sweet was that it was the daughter's lower undergarment." Janius wiped his eye, slightly ashamed, but smiling, "Not only that, but wanted posters were everywhere in town the next morning depicting nothing but a man with lady's underwear obscuring his features. I was never caught and I never saw the girl again, but claiming that I was a wanted criminal did help charm other ladies later on. The noble father of the girl had a priceless look as he rode out of town back to where he came from."

"Shor's bones! I should write the novel myself!" Uthri said through a laugh.

"You are despicable, Janius, truly!" Gallus said, somewhat impressed.

Janius gave Kaleeth a guilty look, "It was a long time ago."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hmm, well I guess it wouldn't be the first time a name has changed during the RP without notice. Oh well, I guess what we have will work for now.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sorry for the delay. I was baking a cake.

Gah, now that we've sorted out Peiter, we have an Argonian with a name that's spelt differently between US and Australian English...

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius was so deep in thought when Lorag mentioned his name that he seemed confused at first. He lifted his eyes and looked around to the his laughing packmates as if he had missed something important. "Hm? What?" Janius lowered his hand from his face slowly.

The response elicited a further laugh by Fendros. "The Argonian, Sees-No-Colors. He just reminded us of someone with his dashing introduction."

"Hey, I was never as clumsy as that," Janius furrowed his brow.

"Yes you were," Fendros retorted, still grinning.

Janius turned to Kaleeth for support, pointing his thumb to where Colors had been, "I was never as clumsy as him, right?"

The seriousness of the situation washed off a few, but Gallus still seemed serious. He paced around to where Meesei was sitting and took another sip of his now warming drink. He spoke facing Meesei, but he addressed everyone, "If anyone is to move, none shall go without at least two others." Gallus turned and found a stool to pull up near to the table and seated himself. As soon as he did, his brow raised and his voice reverted to how it normally was. "Speaking of which, I'm starting to get rather peckish. Do they sell food here, I wonder, or will we have to go out looking?"

Sabine had been laughing at the banter surrounding Janius, but being slightly away from that table wasn't conducive for joining in the conversation. She instead turned to Peiter and Tzirret, "More time waiting now. Another game, or shall we explore?"