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 Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 1:30 pm
Focusing on understanding how to shapeshift was a good thing... It helped take his mind off his missing brother, or least take some edge off the worry.
And who knows... Maybe if he did eventually find Sotiris, his older brother would not recognize him ? That could certainly be handy...
But before any of that, he certainly needed more practice. Which was why he decided to go to the market today. That, and there were certainly many races, people of all sizes and shapes, that he could use as mental templates, so to speak.
He was starting to get a better bearing of what he could, and could not change. His eyes and the markings he could do little about, the same for his arms it seemed. No matter how hard he tried, those features stayed put. So he had two choices - work around them, or disguise them.
For now, he had settled around the latter. The shape he had taken was definitively human-like, and different from the one he usually held - tanned rather than pale-skinned, dark ebony hair, short and wild rather than long and styled to perfection. It nagged at him, but he slowly started to learn to ignore it.
An half-mask, similar to his skin tone, was found quickly enough at one of the stalls. It hid the markings nicely enough, blended in until one got up close, and the colored lips would hint at him being some sort of performer when one did get a closer look - with an unfinished mask, perhaps. The barter had been an hard one, harder than he was used so... Which probably meant that the shapeshifting was convincing.
It was strange to go through the market and not be recognized - many people knew him from when he had been little, and recognized him even as he had grown. But now, he was a stranger among strangers... Invisible, almost, in the crowd of the market. It was strange... and oddly exciting.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 2:11 pm
After the little dragon wrestling match in Tajnevaki's front hallway she had ended up stepping out so she did not further distract Xun from the actual goal of his visit. That and it seemed to be a rather nice day outside so she decided to head for the mortal's marketplace. She and Enjiron wove their way through the streets at a leisurely pace, her hand in his so they did not loose each other in the crowd. Before long Kios was bound to spot the pair- she was shapeshifted but it was a guise the young god would recognize, the one she had been wearing when she met him in fact. It seemed 'Robin' was out and about today.
She had slipped on a mask before she left Mystery's quarters and her long dark hair was held up by hairsticks rather than being left to its own devices and no doubt getting in the way. Her wings were nowhere in sight either, it would be easier to move through the crowd without them. "Wasn't there something you wanted to go look at, Enji?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:02 pm
Enji laughed, holding her hand. "Oh, I don't know. I think I could get whatever I want by mentioning a certain romp in Mystery's halls by a certain goddess." He snickered and then laughed again. "I still think you need to try on those dresses I brought back. I was actually thinking about looking for a few hairsticks for you. I know you like them and thought I might look for something special. Just for no reason."
"Is there anything you want to look at, Eshu?" he asked softly, pulling her hand up to kiss her fingers.
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:30 pm
....That voice seemed familiar.
Sure enough, Akakios looked from the stall of various inks he had been studying, and there she was. Given her current guise, he recognized her instantaneously. Tien... well, no. Robin.
Seemed like he would have to find himself a name really quick. After all, what better test of his newly-learned skill than to see how long he could fool a master ? He held no illusion that Tien would not be able to puzzle it out - she likely would, and quickly at that - but...
It could be fun.
Good thing the butterflies had not followed him here. He found that he liked them, as puzzled as he was by their sudden presence... But it might have given him away more quickly.
The market was, as usual, crowded... and it was not hard at all to set a collision course - smacking right into 'Robin.'. "Oh !" His voice was different, a little deeper - a little trick he'd learned by trial and error. "Sorry... Are you alright, miss ?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:50 pm
Tien gave him a playful punch on the arm for mentioning the 'fight' with Lifewater. "I will try them on when we get back amerei, how does that-" sound? The end of her question was cut off when Kios bumped into her, causing her to stumble into Enjiron. "Yes...I'm alright." She glanced back over her shoulder to see who it was that had run into her.
A mask? That was certainly different. Not many around here wore them regularly, save herself. And makeup too. Perhaps this man was a performer of some sort?
It would be obvious to this 'stranger' that he was being sized up. Something about him struck her as familiar...but she had never seen this person before, right?
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:01 pm
Enji laughed as she punched him, but then in surprise steadied her as she was bumped into. Tien was staring at him in confusion as if she knew him. He raised an eyebrow as he watched them both. "Do you know each other, Eshu?" He could not remember ever seeing him so it had to be someone she knew that he did not. And he would mention the dragon play again later. He planned to tease her about it for awhile.
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:11 pm
Well, he was definitively being studied... Which could be a bad thing, but Trickery seemed to remain puzzled. Eshu ? That was a new one... at least, not one he knew about. Still, it helped with his act - he certainly was no born performer. This was more of the realm of his mother... and well, Tien herself.
"My apologies... Truly..." Lips worked downward in a worried tone, and he avoided looking at her directly in the eye - it could easily be taken as awkwardness or shyness, but in reality it was so she could not get a good look at his eyes. "I have not seen this many people in one place in quite a long time..." He expression turned thoughtful, as he pondered something.
"Say... would either of you know if there is any fabric sold in here ?" Oh, there was.... At the other side of the market.
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:56 pm
'Robin' did not answer Enjiron aloud, though the look she gave him said that perhaps she might. They could play along for a while, and perhaps she could figure out just who this was. Being on the receiving end of the game was fun sometimes when it was well played. "Do not worry yourself, since it seems like no one is hurt." She gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder.
"There are quite a few places you could go for that actually, but they are all clustered on the other side of the market." The further away from the forge the better, really, that way the smoke and soot from the furnaces did not damage the delicate work. "We could walk you over there?"
One thing Lament did not consider about keeping his eyes downcast was that it would make her doubt his 'persona' somewhat. If he were a performer he would have less hesitation about looking her, or anyone, in the eye- he looked young that was the only reason it really worked in his favor.
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:49 am
Enji nodded slightly, then added, "We can certainly show you. My name is Enjiron. Enji most call me. My family has only been here a very short time. Mystery and Eshu rescued most of my people."
He thought for a moment. "Are you looking for a particular type of fabric? I know that there is a Baadrian shop that the Lady Lisana uses from time to time. They have very fine silks that came from their world when they arrived here. Tempest has been keeping their supply replenished as he can." Enji's purpose was that if Tien thought she knew him, then the more he spoke and interacted, the better idea she would get on who this was. With all the gods changing shape, and even others able to do so, it could get confusing on who was who all the time.
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 9:48 am
Eshu ? Uh. How many names did one person need, anyway ? Well, probably many in Tien's case. "Thank you." He tilted his head forward into a nod. "Enji, Eshu. My name is Arterion." Good thing the whole 'need a cover up name' had occurred to him early on.
What type of fabric he needed, however, had not quite occurred to him. Stringing a written story in the span on second was definitively a whole lot easier than this ! "Nothing too fine... I do not think I can afford that." He said, sheepishly. "I am quite new to this place... Who is Mystery ?"
And rescuing, uh. That might be worth investigating, just to see if they might need his help for anything.
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:49 am
If only he knew just how many names Tien had. It was a little odd being called Eshu by someone not from Eshurian but she could roll with it. "It is nice to meet you Arterion." She smiled at the young man. There was a small hesitation there when asked about fabric. If she were anyone else it might have gone unnoticed. Was that something he had not thought about? Despite that and the hesitation with eye contact this one was doing pretty well. It would take practice to gain confidence in doing this, tricking others was not always an easy task. Her even less so.
"My brother." Vague, maybe, but it would probably prompt more questions and the more 'Arterion' talked the better.
They headed through the marketplace, making their way to the section where all those who dealt with fabric seem to have clustered.
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Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 6:54 am
"Valor is my brother," Enji added. "Well, Tristan is his host. Twins so don't get confused if you see another like me walking around. Except his hair is different and his marking is different."
If this person knew Tien and was playing a trick, which was likely, Enji planned to make sure he was out of line of fire when it happened. After seeing the dragons romping in the hallway, he was certain that Tien and those closest to her often acted like this. And he planned to be out of the way rather than run the risk of getting squished.
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Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 10:36 am
"Host ?" One eyebrow rose in puzzlement, but 'Arterion' did not look as confused as he likely should have been. "I am not sure that I understand what you mean..."
"And your brother, hm ?"
Well, it looked like his first impression had not been that far off. Through... Had it been something they had figured out after he and Tien had met ? Possibly. It was not something he could ask... for now, at least.
Of course, he had no idea the two already had their cues that he was not quite who he looked to be.
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Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 4:05 pm
A rather composed response, but levels of knowledge among the mortals seemed to vary somewhat. Most knew and believed, or not as they chose, but some had not been here long enough to know what this place truly was. To his comment, she nodded in acknowledgement. "Suffice it to say, his brother is a servant of Valor." It was the truth really, Tristan was just the most important one.
"I had not heard of any new groups of performers in town, how long have you been here?" She fished for information carefully, a test to see how well he could weave a convincing story. It was easy enough to set a trap with words, time to see if he got himself caught up in it.
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Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 6:39 pm
Enji followed Tien's train of thought. "Perhaps we should go see a show. It might be entertaining. I don't think we have anything else to do. Perhaps we can help Artie here get what he needs and he can give us an idea of what is going on. I'd be up to it. I've not really been too far yet, what with all my family showing up finally."
"So what do you say, Artie old buddy?" he clapped him on the back as he would one of his brothers. "Up to giving us a tour and showing us where the entertainers are?"
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