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 Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 10:10 am
Tiffan had moved from one shoulder to the other, partially climbing over Terrowin's head so she could keep an eye on Virali as they followed her. Her openness was a bit unnerving to her, as she was not sure if it was genuine or not. But despite her reservations, there was something intriguing about the woman that kept her from running back off into the pack.
With a grateful sigh he flopped down on the rock, glad to get off of his feet for at least a short while. Wordlessly he offered Virali one of the rolls in exchange for the cheese (they had some meat baked into the centers), before gnawing on the edge of his own. "Hmm? Oh, ah, I'm heading east. Probably to Freykeep?" It would be a long trek, even more so considering that he just came from there, but.
Once the two humans got settled, Tiffan clambered down Terrowin's arm and hopped off onto the rock, settling down next to his knee.
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 11:46 am
"Freykeep? I haven't been there yet. It's on my list, though. I'm heading east too, for now. I want to see the eastern shores in Imisus and the city of Gadu." Her voice warmed. Virali loved new places, new people, everything was a breath of fresh air on her mind. Touching Terrowin's arm gently, she thanked him for the roll. Fingers lingering against him for balance, she shifted position and drew one of her legs up underneath her. The foot of her free leg moved aimlessly, drawing circles and patterns across the hard ground, unconsciously mimicking the patterns on her staff. She bent to her meal. The roll was crusty and a little hard, just the thing to make her stomach happy. She made a tiny noise of happy surprise upon discovering the meat, suddenly feeling her contribution was far too small.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you obtain Tiffan? I haven't met too many who travel with a plague, sadly." Her round eyes shifted to Tiffan, perched next to his knee. She cocked her head slightly at the plague. "You wear such a pretty cloak, Tiffan. Also... hmm." Virali tapped her bottom lip. "If I'm not mistaken, I thought I heard a voice singing along to your fellow's playing. Could that have been you?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 12:33 pm
"I try to stop by when I'm in the area, but, um..." He trailed off, staring at the spot on his arm where she had touched him blankly for a few moments before continuing. "Visit family and the like..." He took that moment to eat a bit more, leaving Tiffan to fill in the silence for a few minutes.
She began to smooth down the fabric of said cloak at the compliment, smiling as she did so. She was quite fond of it, especially of the many tiny pockets that she was able to store tiny objects in when she spotted them (many of which she found amongst Terrowin's belongings, to be honest). "Thank you," she said quietly, her smile growing larger at her next question. She nodded enthusiastically, though retreated a bit further into her hood.
"I found her in my pack a few weeks ago, before that..." He shrugged.
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 2:00 pm
Setting aside her mostly-devoured roll, Virali leaned forward to stare intently at Tiffan. "You found her in your pack? Oh! I'm sorry, I had assumed she was your plague. Tiffan, how'd you end up there?" Her eyes raked the tiny form. She didn't look like any stunted Virali had seen yet. Although, to be fair, Virali hadn't seen a great quantity of them; Knotwood hadn't had many and her family only started keeping a few after her departure. Her brother enjoyed teasing her about them being her replacement. 'At least they eat less than you, Rali!' She had punched him for the comment.
"Also, Tiffan, if you're amenable, I'd love to hear your pretty voice again." She sat back, subtly shifting. Her bottom was beginning to go numb. And so was the leg she had been sitting on, a curse of bad circulation. Virali sighed, a little huff of annoyance as pins and needles arced through her leg. She swung her leg out from underneath her, putting her hand to the side for balance. To her shock, her hand landed on Terrowin and she over-balanced and careened into him with an 'oomph' of surprise.
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 3:07 pm
Some of Tiffan's enthusiasm seemed to leave her as Virali begane to probe at her past. "I walked?" Her fingers began to absently pick at the edge of her cloak, her smile fading into a pensive frown. It was the truth, she had walked there, it just...lacked most of the pertinent details. Like where she was walking from. Or walking to, for that matter.
"She's ah, sort of her own Plague, as far as I know. But..." He had been looking down at Tiffan, so he didn't notice when Virali fell. Until she landed on top of him, of course. He tried to stay upright, and was able to succeed for a few moments before gravity finally regained control of the situation and he slowly toppled over. His attempts to get back up made him realize that he wouldn't really be able to without his hands going in places they probably shouldn't, so he just decided to lie there and let her figure it out.
"Um. Are you alright?"
Tiffan, on the other hand, had begun to back away quickly when the woman began to fall, and narrowly avoided being crushed by some various falling body part. Once Terrowin had fallen, she cautiously approached the two and patted him on the face gently.
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 8:10 pm
Virali let out another whoosh of air as Terrowin's balance gave way completely and she crashed fully into him. To say it was an awkward position might be an understatement. It was mostly chest to chest with her head knocking about somewhere between his chin and shoulder. She quickly wriggled her hands up to his chest, interlacing her fingers, and pushed herself up.
"A-ah, I'm fine. I am terribly sorry!" As quickly as possible, she shimmied off of him, hands sliding down his chest then lifting off. The mystery of Tiffan was effectively tossed aside by her embarrassment. This was too much, even for the normally outrageous girl. She ducked her head a bit, cursing her imperfect balance,. Too impatient, always rushing, makes you go off balance, Virali. "Alright. Are you ok? I did fall on you, after all."
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 5:04 pm
He decided to remain still for a few moments after she had gotten up before slowly pushing himself back into a sitting position. With a sigh and a tiny wince he began to probe at the back of his head with his fingers, shaking his head slightly. "Aha, no, I'm fine." Of course it figures that the time he actually has a woman fall for him is because she just fell over.
Tiffan looked from one human to the other, a frown growing on her face. Granted, she was used to such bumbling from her Grimm, but she never really saw much of it in other people. So for a lack of knowing what else to do, she skittered forward and patted Virali on the knee before retreating back to a safe distance.
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 3:50 pm
Ah, Tiffan was just cute. She reminded Virali of a mouse or a shy cat, always alert, always skittish. Tiffan had a secret. And although she wondered where the little one had come from, perhaps it wasn't best to press. It only made Tiffan retreat further into her voluminous hood, the red swirled around the hem with golden threads. Virali's own green and gold stood out in contrast. Feeling a little shabby from the tumble, she flapped her sash out and tried futilely to tuck tendrils of hair back into her thick braid. It was no sue; she would have to re-braid it. But later, not now, when people were near.
She coughed, still a bit embarrassed. "So, Terrowin, would you like to play a duet for fair Tiffan?" She turned to him carefully, no wobbling balance this time, and gasped a little as he probed his head. "Oh no, I'm so sorry! I have some balm in my satchel... Let me see." Small, graceful hands reached for his head, to better inspect the bump she had inflicted and yet could not heal. After all, Virali's healing magic was awful.
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 5:04 pm
"Ah? Oh, yes sure, just let me.....oh." He had begun to reach for his pack to grab one of his flutes, but he froze when he felt a pair of hands grab his head. "Um, don't worry. Most of the people you ask will tell you that a hit on my head can't do too much damage." He laughed a bit nervously, but still remained frozen in place.
Tiffan perked up a bit at the mention of music. Well, she never minded listening to Terrowin play before, but had never really heard anyone else until now! A broad smile crossed her face as she settled down into a sitting position, hands clapping together a few times. "What music do you know, Miss Virali?" Not that she would really recognize any songs by their titles if she said any, but it was worth asking, at least.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:54 am
Virali's fingers tangled in Terrowin's red curls as she searched for any tell-tale bump. "Hold still," she murmured, "I'd never forgive myself if you were seriously hurt because of me. Ah." It was small, and the stockiness of blood did not coat her finger. However, Virali, still keeping his head still with one hand, fished out some ointment. It smelled of cinnamon and cloves and burned the nostrils a little. Her fingers tingling from it, she parted his thick hair and applied it carefully to the bump.
"There." She sat back, satisfied with her handiwork. 'Turning her eyes once more to Tiffan, she grinned. "I know quite an awful lot of music, although I'm not as good as our musician Terrowin here. Here." The flute came out of the bag and up to her lips. She slanted her eyes at Terrowin. "I'll pay something, And if you know, perhaps join in, good sir? If you're feeling alright..." Virali took a deep, silent breath. The tune was haunting, and if she could have sang the lyrics, Tiffan would know why. They spoke of a girl lured to a watery doom by a half man, half horse beast that still coddled her dead body and called it 'princess'.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:03 pm
"I...okay." He did indeed sit still as she examined his head, twitching only slightly when she found the small lump on the back of his head. He stayed in that position for a moment after she had finished before slowly straightening back up. When Virali began to play, he was still trying to gently prod at the lump without touching any of the ointment, which was going as well as expected. He raised an eyebrow slightly at her music choice, but reached over to pull one of the less loud and annoying flutes he had out of his pack anyway.
Tiffan's smile slowly turned into a round 'o' as the music began, and all of her skittishness seemed to melt away. She leaned towards Virali slightly, all of her attention riveted on the woman. And once Terrowin had joined in, after listening for a few moments, it was as if she had just forgotten everything else. It was the longest time that she had sat still that Virali (or really Terrowin, for that matter) had seen, her smile growing once more until it threatened to cover her entire face despite the gloomy tune of the song.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 8:43 am
The music washed over her like a mournful breeze as Terrowin joined her flute, his own instrument bleeding seamlessly. While she played the melody, he countered, weaving his notes in and around hers intimately. It had been a very long time since she had played alongside another. Too long: Virali had forgotten the simple beauty of shared music. And although she was not a musical prodigy by any means, she truly enjoyed the ebb and flow of playing. For all his bumbling, Terrowin was skillful, his playing light and boundless. It was like flying.
The last notes of the song lingered and sighed away on the wind and Virali smiled. As she had played, Tiffan seemed to sway towards her, mouth set open in enjoyment. "Tiffan," Virali spoke softly, easing words into the silence after music. "I would still like very much to hear you sing. If Terrowin is up for it..." She glanced over at him, grey eyes raking his face for traces of residual pain. "Would you be willing to duet with him for me?" Virali had never really heard a plague sing before. Perhaps it would contain a different kind of magic than humans'. One small hand rose to press against her chest. Her lungs tingled.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:56 am
It was as if he was a completely different person when he was playing. Everything from his bearing to the music he was playing spoke of a much more confident person than he had seemed moments ago. His music, rather than simply following the original tune of the music, wove in and out of what Virali was playing, a somewhat lighter counterpoint to the sad theme of the original. He looked down at Tiffan once the music had trailed off, smiling at her entranced expression.
Tiffan remained still for a few moments longer, breaking the silence with a quiet giggle and enthusiastic clapping of her tiny hands. She nodded, scurrying over to Terrowin and scaling his arm to whisper something in his ear. "What? No, no no." He frowned as she continued to whisper before finally nodding. Tiffan settled herself on the edge of his shoulder, her heels drumming against his arm in a quick beat. The song she had chosen was one much lighter in tone, one about a young maiden at the market. Her voice was a tiny piping sound that rose above the flute, lending an innocent air to a usually humorous song.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 1:43 pm
His smile towards Tiffan was disarming and sweet, charming even, and Virali wondered why he traveled alone. But somehow, she doubted many women had seen this side of the red-haired giant. A smile of her own crossed her mobile as mouth as Tiffan and Terrowin conferred. How serious they sounded! They decided, though and she stared at Terrowin as he played, eyes guiltily wandering where they pleased. In the (admittedly short) time she had known him, he had never looked so confident as in this moment. His fingers, long like the rest of him, danced on the flute like a lover.
Virali abruptly shifted her gaze over to Tiffan. Tiffan, whose innocent voice piped high and clear above the music. Excitos were truly strange things; she dredged the word up from dusty corridors of old lessons, excito. Did that mean excitement? The corners of her mouth pulled down for a second, but languages were never her strongest point. Whatever it meant, excitos and the stunted were fascinating. Not quite human, not quite a pet. Ah, but most of them were quite, like small animals roosting on their particular human.
She breathed in deeply, the air roiling and balling inside her lungs. Ah, it was warm and welled up in inside her and she opened herself to it. Fingertips pressed against her lips and pulled that breath out: a stream of air infused with magic. Quickly, that same hand sketched runes in the air, flicking them outward one by one. Her breath ran out out, but the magic floated and swirled around a nearby leaf. Light-headed, she watched it sway and move to the music. Suddenly the wind popped it up to Tiffan and the leaf bowed before dancing around the little plague's head. Virali giggled.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 2:40 pm
Oh no, goodness, not many at all. Granted, not many people managed to run into him in the middle of nowhere, so there's that as well. He kept an eye on Tiffan and Virali, though aside from that his attention seemed to be entirely focused on the music. Tiffan, clearly enjoying herself, continued to sing, though after a while her memory of the exact words of the song became a bit sketchy, so she began to just make some of the words up.
Thankfully, her voice was high and quiet enough where it wasn't very noticeable if you weren't paying strict attention. Terrowin wasn't quite so fortunate, and the occasional warble in his music could be heard as he tried to suppress a snort of laughter. Her song slowly died, though, as Virali began to use her magic. And though the music kept on going, her words slowed and her feet, which until now had been keeping the beat by bouncing them off of Terrowin's arm, stilled. She eventually fell silent once again, staring slack-jawed at the leaves floating towards her.
Almost as if prompted by Virali she began to giggle too, jumping up to her feet to bow back at the leaf before trying to catch it, without much success. For a lack of knowing what exactly to do, Terrowin kept playing, a fittingly cheerful soundtrack to the scene.
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