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 Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:58 pm
Kyil could easily detect the blushing of his current company. Was what he was saying truely that embaressing? Perhaps for this drow it was. Kyil let his hands flop to his sides as he looked upon Mikaril's smiling face.
"Oh? Are you shy? Is that whyyou hide yourself so much? That is a shame, there is nothing to be ashamed of I am sure. But I will not insist you change." Kyil lifted a hand to wave his fingers in the air dismissively.
"There is no need to worry or be afraid in my company. This I can promise you."
The laughter that Mikaril sounded was not unpleasent,a s the guards had. Rather it was a comforting disarming sound. Kyil had not heard such a laughing since he had worked in the kitchens of the Black. Ah...such fond memories...of soap bubble fights and squealing kitch maids running from pans of icey water...
"Very well then Mikaril. Come, seat yourself somewhere and I shall get us a drink." Kyil gestured about the room for Mikaril to take his pick of the bed, the plush couchs, or even the floor if it was what he wished.
"I can recommend this lovely wine. I do not know the name of it, but it is quite sweet! I hear it is made with something called 'honey'. My Mistress is most cultured!" Kyil felt a moment of pride as he spoke. While Madam Medusa had carried influence and mystery...she was still in the end nothing more then a provider of hedonistic pleasures. His new Mistress though...she had a prestigue that Kyil had been unable to appreciate until it was he had been relocated to her home.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:38 pm
Mikaril chuckled. "Shy? I wish that were all. No, I have........" Once more his hand wandered to his hood. "I have a sort of......deformity, you might say. Not something I'm eager to present to the general public." He smiled and shrugged. "I don't mind staying as is; I might remove my armor, if that's okay." He liked the idea of removing it a lot better when it didn't come with thoughts of torture and confinement. And Mikaril found that he believed Kyil wholeheartedly when he said that he had nothing to fear.
He sat cross-legged on the floor as he removed his armor and carefully set it aside. Underneath, he wore a plain black outfit with what looked like bits of silver thread woven into the chest, torso, and down teh side of the pant legs in odd swirly patterns that resembled the glowing designs on his armor. Once he had removed it, he got up and sat on one of the couches, running his hands over the soft, richly decorated fabric.
Mikaril looked interested; he didn't often come across anything more extravagant that springwater in his travels; he tended to believe that when it came to food, especially when one was roaming around the Underdark, bread and water was just as good as wine and cake. Still, it sounded appealing. He vaguely remembered hearing about honey; some goo that some breed of surface bugs made somehow, but it came highly recommended.
"That sounds fine." He nodded and sat on the edge of the couch with his hands between his knees.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:14 pm
"A...deformity?" Kyil paused to fix a very curious look upon Mikaril. He did not seem to bare any odd hints of something being 'wrong' with him. Of course, that was the purpose of hiding it wasn't it? So no one would know and they would simply assume you were as all others. Though whatever it was, Kyil assumed it had something to do with his head.
"Is it your ears? Ah..." Kyil shook his hands at Mikaril shortly after asking his question. " You do not need to answer that. Forgive me for being so insensitive. We can speak of other things that I am sure you would much prefer."
Kyil walked further into the room, so as to give Mikaril plenty of time to remove his armor and find a comfortable place to rest. With the acceptance of his offer in accordance to the wine, Kyil was able to busy himself very happily for the next few moments. His smile almost twinkled like the ornaments that he wore. He opened a silver thread web and onyx spider decorated cabinet to collect a pair of delicate glass wineglasses along with a strangely dark bottle of wine.
"I have sampled this wine once already. It's quite heady. If you are not accustomed to drinking I would suggest only one glass." He informed Mikaril when he returned to the other drow. As was in his habit, Mikaril knelt upon the floor without thinking, and he placed both glasses on the small ornate table beside the couch's armrest. He proceeded to twist the cork from the wine bottle, and poured a half glass into each cup. It was all habit really. Kneeling, filling the glasses, then reaching out for each one to take a small sip before he would offer one of them to Mikaril.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:10 pm
Mikaril rubbed the back of his neck, something he tended to do when he was trying to explain something complicated. "Well, not a deformity per se, so much as a lingering spell. It..." He sighed and figured he might as well present the visual aid. It would at the very least show him what sort of reaction Kyil would have in the same situation that would be presented to a human should they find demon horns on their baby.
He saw Kyil preparing the wine, and was very glad to note that the drink was already in the room; no need to call a servant to bring it in. The less people knew he was here, the better. He watched the presentation with polite amusement, and took the preoffered glass, making sure that Kyil had a good grip on his before doing what he did next.
In answer to the appeal for forgiveness on the subject, he reached up and carefully removed his hood. His hair was rather ragged, and it fell in various lengths down the sides of his face, but never quite long enough to pass the shoulders. But the most obvious thing was that his ears were almost completely white. Not only white, but shaped a bit......wrong. They were just a bit too short, a bit too thin, and if one ever got close enough to look (which no one ever had at that point), one could fancy seeing a very fine sort of fuzz on the outside of the ears. The very bottom of his ears were still ebon-skinned, but then it abruptly blurred and became a white that almost seemed to radiate white light.
Quick as a wink, Mikaril donned his hood again, looking as though he had just made someone watch something too dreadful for words. He shrugged and mumbled. "Thought it'd...you know, be easier."
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Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:11 pm
A lingering spell? Kyil was not overly familar with magic. Though he knew it could accomplish many wonderouse things, he did not undertand the mechanics of it's use.
Kyil passed the drink to Mikaril, then took up his own. He had not yet risen from his place, as Mikaril had caught his attention utterly by the revelation of just how right he had been. His ears! Kyils rose pink eyes widened in surprise. What a horrible ugly deformity this was!
"I see why you hide them!" He exclaimed with a large amount of his shock filtering through. Kyil lifted himself up a little, in an attempt to get a closer look at the strangeness before Mikaril would hide them away again.
"I have never seen anything like that before. They are shaped so strangely, and the color...well...it does help them hide in your hair I suppose. I do not blame you for hiding them. I'm afraid I'd be just devastated if I had to live with those things. You say magic is the cause though? Can't magic help remove the effect?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:32 pm
Mikaril felt his face turning red; he knew it was awful, and he should have expected this reaction, but it still made him royally embarassed. In a way though, he felt a bit better from revealing it; too many secrets tended to gang up on you and fill your mind to bursting, until before long you're surprised that they don't leak out of your ears.
"It was from when I was still a page prince; my sister tried to turn me into a unicorn, but I guess she wasn't skilled enough. Nothing happened right off, but when I began training, they started turning white. I don't know how much farther it plans to go, and I'm afraid to know. It haunts me, the thought of waking up one morning and finding my fingers all stiff like hooves or a horn growing out of my head." He shuddered and pulled the hood closer around his head.
"I really don't know. I'm too afraid to go to any wizards for help, because you know how they'd react to such a thing. And even if I had one I could trust, since it's a botched spell, it might not take the standard cure to fix it. All I can really do is hide it and hope it doesn't decide to do anything worse to me." That off of his chest, he took a long pull of his wine glass, blinking as it went to his head and quieted the turmoil within.
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:28 pm
With the ears now out of sight again, Kyil settled back down on the floor in a more comfortable pose. Though he had poured himself a glass of wine as well, he was only taking the smallest of sips from his cup. Kyil enjoyed the taste and flavor of the wine, but he did not enjoy the effects that it could play upon the mind.
"What is a unicorn? I have never heard of this monster before." Kyil asked with honest interest. His mind played images of terrible white creatures that looked more like the soft shelled bugs one could find under rocks. Or nasty white horned fish things with tendrils and slime and. Disgusting!
"What a terrible curse. If it has gone this far though I'd be worried it will complete it's change upon you eventually. It's a reasonable thing to be afraid of. Still, it is your choice on how to handle this problem. it is onlt effecting you after all. Magic is so very strange..." Kyil would murmur while glancing into his wine glass.
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:17 pm
Mikaril realized the error in taking too big a drink from the wine glass, and eaited for the buzzing in his head to clear before bringing the glass up to his mouth again, taking care to take a tiny sip this time. It was better that way anyhow; it gave him time to swish it around and savor its flavor. The honey was every bit as wonderful as he had heard, and he wondered briefly if anyone in the marketplace would have an Underdark variety he might purchase.
He paused and gathered his thoughts. "It's......have you ever heard of a horse? It's a creature of the surface world with hoofs and a mane and tail, and a face with a long nose that feels like leather. A unicorn is like one of those, except they say it's white; so white one can hardly look at it, with a long pointed horn growing out of its head." He didn't even try to mask the contempt in his voice as he added, "The faeries worship them; it's the symbol for one of their gods." He set his glass down and wrung his hands, as though they were dirty and he was trying to brush dirt off of them. To resemble anything the faeries liked like that made him feel unclean.
He nodded miserably as he picked his glass back up. "I wish there was another way, but there doesn't seem to be. Although......" He leaned closer, as though divulging a secret. "Someday, when my skills as a thief are at their peak, I plan to learn a small bit of magic; mainly to take my thievery to the next level, you know, with small tricks that would help, but I hope that should I learn a bit, I might stumble upon a means of curing it on my own. It's a small hope I know, but really, it's all I've got. When you're in my line of work, the person you tend to trust the best is your own sweet self."
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:27 pm
Kyil had noticed the deeper first drink that Mikaril had taken, so he assumed it was due to the fact his guest had enjoyed the taste. So upon seeing smaller sips being taken, Kyil was quick to pick the wine bottle up in offering.
"If you like the drink you may have more Mikaril. There is plenty here, you should take your fill of it."
Horse... Kyil unfortunatly had never heard of such a creature, so he shook his head a little. His white hair shifted with the shake and lf concealed the manner Kyil furrowed his brow.
"It must be...very difficult for you. I can imagine the loathing you must feel, and how trapped at the same time." Kyil tilted his head finally to shift his hair back over his shoulders.
"It is good though that you have something to put your hope in. If you look hard enough I am certain you will find a answer to your curse."
Mikaril seemed to be opening up just a little bit. This is something Kyil was used to, and it made him feel exceptionally comfortable as he sat and listened.
"Trust is a very hard thing to learn for another individual. There is never anyone you can trust more then yourself when in a position such as yours. I can only imagin what it must be like to have to rely on only yourself all the time. It must make vor a very stressful life."
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:04 pm
Mikaril smiled at Kyil and took another small sip. "Thank you, but I think I'll wait until I've emptied this glass first. That way I don't waste any."
Mikaril shrugged at Kyil's shaking his head. "Well, unfortunately that's the best I can do in ways of description. I haven't seen one myself; they're just impractical down here with all the loose rock and uneven ground."
He sighed a little and nodded slightly. "It makes me feel dirty. If my sister knew, she'd be happy I'm sure. As far as she knows, the spell went wrong; I've never shown her otherwise. Frankly I'm surprised that they don't get suspicious of my staying hooded all the time. Maybe they're too important to notice such things, I don't know."
He knew he was opening up, and he found it pretty cleansing, a feeling that he felt he could never get enough of. He thought the wine might be loosening his tongue a little bit, and he made a mental note to find ways to prevent getting too loose-tongued the next time he decided to indulge. For some reason, he felt completely at ease now; perhaps it was the way Kyil seemed to genuinely want to listen, without seeming like storing information for later exploiting.
"It can be hard, yes, but sometimes it's comforting too, knowing that there's only one person out there with your secrets and knowledge, and no one will suffer for you." He stopped suddenly and looked at Kyil with keen interest. "You say part of your profession is to be a listening ear. I'm wondering all of a sudden; who listens to YOUR worries and hopes? Who's the ear's ear?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:34 pm
"Of course." Kyil demurely responded when Mikaril turned down the offer of a refill. His head tilted one ear upwards towards Mikaril. It was a gesture he had learened often enhanced his customers ability to speak more freely. The actual gesture seeming to make them think he was listening far more keenly to them rather then just nodding his head like some wobbly doll.
"Your situation must make you terribly unhappy." Kyil sympathsised as he listened to Mikaril speaking about his sister and the shame he felt. He set his glass down upon the floor, and began to rise, his free hand gesturing to the hood that he had replaced upon his head.
"There is no need for that here though Mikaril. You do not need to hide from me. Surely wearing the hood all of the time must wear on you too? Why don't you remove it for a short time? You can forget about hiding and the fear of discovery. Maybe even forget your shame and disgust for a little bit. There is no one to guard your secrets from here."
Kyil's words were used as a soft coaxing, as he did not want the drow to feel obliged to do anything other then what he wished right now.
"Perhaps I could rub your shoulders or the back of your neck for a bit? I am told it is very relaxing..."
Kyil hesitated then. A short pause after Mikarils unexpected interest in himself. Kyil had slipped into his old routine. A comfortable series of actions and words to coax and cater to whomever he was in the presence of. Mikaril's questions carried the same confusing response as Zarrira's had when she had begun to inquire about him.
For a moment, just a scant second or two, his pink eyes blurred with a befuddled light. His lips wavered between the practiced smile and a expression of uncertainty. Just as quickly as they had appeared, they vanished to be replaced by a large and exceptionally warm smile. The smile the likes of which reached up into his eyes to throw off a shining warm glow. Kyil tilted his head so that the earrings within his ears shook and glinted gently as he gestured with both of his hands open.
"Whatever do you mean Mikaril? What worries could I possibly have? I am tended to with fine cloths and fine foods. I have a safe bed to rest my head and no pressing obligations to fulfill. I have no enemies. I have no threats or danger hovering over me. Whatever could I possibly need to speak to anyone about?" He spoke with a cheerful lite to his voice. "As for hopes, well I have been taken in to a wonderful place. My Mistress is passionate and cares for me very well. She is very pleased with me. What more could I possibly desire then that which she has given me? I am in a very good position and could not find a single thing to want for. I am most content."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:46 pm
Kyil's charming demeanor and his way of wording suggestion made Mikaril unconsciously reach for his hood, and he was in the very act of pulling it down when he seemed to catch himself, and his hand came back down. "I....I'm sorry. It's just that I've hidden it for so long, it's comforting in it's own way, if that makes sense. And I hope you don't take offense if I use your reaction as an example, but if one has something....unnatural, they instinctively hide it. I hope that kinda makes sense....."
He thought his eyes were going to pop right out of his head when Kyil offered to rub his shoulders; usually when anyone in his household wanted to touch him, it was with the intention of either leaving a bruise or a welt. Touching and relaxation just didn't go hand-in-hand in his ever-wary mind.
He was relieved at first when Kyil seemed to forget the offer and ponder on his question. The answer, though, was just as shocking. Perfectly content? In this world? He supposed it was possible, if one had friends in high enough places and one was seen as infinitely profitable. But it was something about the way Kyil answered; the ready smile, the inoffensive gesture.....it made him think that there might be more. Just as he sought comfort in his hood, knowing that it was covering up what he wished most to be kept hidden, perhaps this one sought solace in a mask of good-natured banter. He set his glass down carefully. He wanted to think carefully before he spoke; he genuinely liked Kyil and did not want to mis-speak and lose any bit of friendship that might take root.
"Well, I suppose if anyone can be said to have a perfect life, it's you. You have all these things as you've said, and you don't have the common male drow's troubles; staying alive in a world where females dominate and males are just lucky enough to have their same skin color. And you don't seem to have the troubles of a House either; siblings looking to surpass even their mother in Lolth's eyes and more than happy to use you as a rung to achieve this, even if the rung winds up broken. But........if I learned anything in all the places I've stopped at, and all the drow I've spied on and stolen from, it's that nobody has a perfect life. Lolth is a goddess of chaos, and anyone having a perfect chaos-free life would probably make her hotter than if she sat on a stalagmite." He felt a smile twist the corner of his mouth; always a pleasure to take a tiny stab that he was sure the goddess didn't even feel in all her angry goddess-ness. "I hope I'm not prying; sometimes I'm just curious. There are times when even I wonder why I'm still alive."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:16 pm
"Oh no please." Kyil responded with that soft voice of his. "You do not need to explain or apologize to me Mikaril. If it is your desire then I need no more reason then that." His hands lifted so he could gesture with his painted nails for Mikaril to keep his hood on. Kyil certainly would not pursue the matter any further.
Kyil did wonder a little at the look he had been given when he had mentioned rubbing the others shoulders. He seemed so...surprised? Ah, but the matter of his own position came into question again. Kyil's smile did not falter this time. As the matter had been brought up he was prepared to ward off the strange lost feeling he fell victim to when such topics were raised.
"I truely do not understand Mikaril. I am too far beneath a Goddess' attention to be concerned with how she might feel about my position. I live to serve my Mistress after all. That is my place, as it is the place of her worshippers to pay due obediance to her. Even in chaos there is still a slight hint of order. One of my customers once told me this." Kyil shifted his legs beneath himself so he could kneel more easily at Mikaril's feet.
"To expect a complete lack of order in the presence of Chaos, is in fact order itself. Therefore, in order for Chaos to be perfectly chaotic, it must at times include a sense of order. Elsewise it ceases to be true and pure Chaos."
Kyil's smile remained fixed, though without a false plastering of a smile forced or held too long. "Your question's are not prying Mikaril. But they are not neccessary. There really is nothing about me that is interesting to discuss. Why don't I give you that shoulder rub? I am sure it would feel nice, even with your hood on. You seem like a man who has never had a moment to relax in his life. Will you allow me to share some of this peace with you?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:38 pm
Maybe that was it, Mikaril pondered as he watched Kyil. Maybe it was how he seemed so placid and willing to give in to whatever another person wanted. He knew that part of it was Kyil's profession, but it made him uneasy to see it in the absence of paying customers. It may be something that Kyil was used to and didn't see anything particularly strange about it, but to Mikaril it almost seemed like someone had inserted an instrument somewhere and had sucked out a good deal of free will. Still.....the image of what had taken place in the marketplace flashed briefly at him. He obviously had SOME decision-making capability, or else he would have let his brutish guards have me.
Mikaril smiled in spite of himself. "Yeah, Lolth sure doesn't do males many favors, does she? I guess my point of view stems too much from being brought up in a Lolth-worshipping House." He paused and cocked his head. "Well, I guess you could look at it that way too. Expecting constant chaos IS a sort of order; that's why House attacks are so sporadic. But I always thought a perfect life HAD no chaos. Well, I guess anyone can have their own version of a perfect life; I bet to some drow, a life full of chaos WOULD be their perfect life. I like it myself, but only when I'M the cause."He shrugged and looked apologetic. "It's like I said, I have a tendency to be curious. Though my means of finding out what I need to know are usually based upon taking instead of asking." He began to wonder......a perfect life it may be, but he wasn't sure if it was a price he was willing to pay. It got you nice clothing, luxurious surroundings, and safety, but to have someone shadow you wherever you went...... He wrinkled his nose at the thought of two burly guards watching him tend to his magical roses in his secret room in House Torlyl, or hunched together on one end of his small boat as he sailed the Glimmersea and admired the veins of sparkling minerals above. To never get a chance to be alone again...the very thought made him shiver as he scrunched up his shoulders.
And speaking of shoulders....he emerged from his train of thought just in time to hear the offer put forth once more. He felt himself stiffen slightly, and it sounded as though someone had tripped an alarm in his head and a thousand warning bells were sounding off fit to crack themselves. He could hear himself hollering in denial above the warnings; that he got plenty of relaxation and he didn't think being touched would do any good and wouldn't rubbing with the hood on chafe his shoulders? He didn't know what to do; he didn't want to say no outright, since that way sounded overly rude even to him, but it was taking discipline not to scoot backwards and recoil. Gods, I hate being torn two ways; it's embarassing.
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 4:11 pm
Silence for thought seemed to be Mikaril's current choice. As Kyil peered up at the cursed drow he sipped at his drink and waited. Waiting was something he was used to with some of his customers. Typically the new ones that were still distrustful or hesitant about just what they wanted to discuss.
Kyil had to admitt, that many conversations had a ring of religion to them. He supposed in a society where the Goddess played such a large role it was to be expected. He was grateful that he never had to think much about that...or...would he now? This conversation had caused a flicker of his previous anxiety to flutter to life in his chest again. Kyil drowned it as best he could by emptying his glass down his throat.
"You do not need worry about taking here Mikaril. I freely will give you anything you wish. Though I fear there is nothing interesting I can give you in accordeance to information about myself." Kyil set his glass down upon the floor and unfolded his legs. Riseing up on his knee's, he began to unclasp one of the gold and gemstone earrings from his ear.
"Earlier you had attempted to take some money from my Mistress' guards. If it is gold you need I can give that to you, as it seems there is little else I can offer. I have no interesting tales to share, and you do not wish any physical gifts. This I can offer though."
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