Arriving In The Past...

[Robyn Meiers]

Her uncle had not been a particularly kind man, but he had provided for her when her parents had died.

Then he had died alongside them. And now? Now she was alone.

She had a deed. A deed to a house in Narim. Maybe that was all she needed. Certainly that was all she thought she needed.

So Robyn walked down the streets of this new town, scared and alone inside, but projecting the brash exterior that she always had. She sauntered down the street and made a job out of exploring the streets of narim. The good, and the bad, the main streets and the alleys were where she went. Always get to know the place. Always.

So she walked. Hoping that somehow, this place would be different. Different from what she had seen previously, and that maybe, just maybe, here she could start afresh.

It never once occured to the young human girl, hidden under the grime on her face, that the change would come from inside herself. No. Anything that allowed her to start again must be something that was external to her.... must be.

[Jorhan D'Athlaan]

It had been a tiring few days and the Thelyri was heading towards the Flounders Fin tavern for a well earned drink when he noticed the young girl. At first he was unsure what had caused him to notice her, after all there were many people in the town he didn’t know yet, but there was definitely something. He found himself staring at her while he considered it and realised that it was the brash, confident way she was sashaying down the street, which seemed so at odds with the clothes and dirt.

There was a paradox here that interested him, why should she seem so confident? Was it an act or a genuine self-belief? This seemingly unremarkable girl had somehow managed to pique Jorhan’s interest to the extent that the normally taciturn sea elf was stood in the middle of a busy street staring openly.

He shook himself and walked towards the young girl with a quizzical half smile on his face, determined to find out why she should attract his attention so, something he was most unused to.

[Robyn Meiers]

Robyn saw an elf staring at her and stared right back, not willing to back down in any way. She looked him up and down as he stared at her, trying to get just the right mixture of challenge and contempt in her gaze as she did so.

Then he moved towards her, and that didn't quite fit in with her view of the world. After all, when people stared at her, it was usually because of the way she looked or the way she moved or something equally stupid like that. So she was surprised when he walked towards her.

As he approached she decided that wondering about this kind of thing didn't help at all, and so she met him head on, as she did with everything.

"Wotcha, mate, yer lookin' at me, right? Wot's that fer, then, elf? Somefin I can do fer yer, mebbe? Or you just not used to seein' 'umans around yer or summit?"

She grinned at him, and her smile revealed that her teeth were perfectly clean, somewhat out of place in her dirty face. She realised that she didn't know how to deal with this, and so was talking too much. Keep it simple, girl, she chastised herself. Always.

"Wot you want, then?" she asked, one hand resting on her hip and her head held confidently in the air. She somehow managed to exude cockiness in that grimy exterior.

[Jorhan D'Athlaan]

OOC: What’s the timestamp here? Just so as I know, I’m assuming it will have to be the beginning of summer now, as it wasn’t stamped before the season changed.

IC: Jorhan was somewhat taken aback by the brash way the girl spoke. If the swagger was an act, it was a good one, for she seemed very sure of herself and almost belligerent in her manner. Still, at least she smiled, so maybe it was simply her way.

“Serale miss, I didn’t mean to be rude I assure you. I noticed you from across the street and thought for a second that you looked lost. I was about to offer some assistance when suddenly you didn’t look so lost at all!” He smiled at the girl, his eyes lighting up with his usual good humour. “My name is Jorhan D’Athlaan, and I have lived in this town for a while now. I had thought to see what place you were looking for, and give you directions if needed, but if this was unnecessary, then I apologise.”

He was a little unsure now; would the girl take his interest as something patronising, or even predatory? He hoped not because it was meant in neither way, he simply wanted to help; although that attitude had got him into a few interesting scrapes lately. Still, that didn’t mean he should change his approach to life, did it? It was in his nature to try to help people, and that was what he would continue to do whenever possible, whatever the consequences.

[Robyn Meiers]

The young girl looked at Jorhan for a moment, as though sizing him up. She wasn't sure quite what to say, that was for sure. He seemed friendly enough.

Robyn was faced with a dilemma. To be rude, as she so usually was, or to take this elf at face value. She considered it, her face only barely flickering as she made a decision.

"Well, it's like this, see. I've got this 'ere 'ouse round bout 'ere. Me uncle, who I lived wiv, he died and he left me this hole in this 'ole of a place. So, I've got this place, an I dunno anyone. Now, dont gets me wrong, yeah, I don't care bout that or nuffink" She looked at him defiantly, daring him to disagree with her on this point.

"But it's kinda all new, see, and I dun know no one, so I wondered wot this place wos like and stuff. I dunno, really."

She looked at Jorhan, and for the briefest second her mask slipped, showing her as a young girl, frightened and unsure of herself. That slip did not last long, though, before she resumed her well-practiced guise once more.

"So, yeah, like I was saying, I just wanna meet some people, maybe go for a few beers, you know? I've gotta get some means of earnin' a livin' in this place, too, an' I don't really know wot I can do."

"Still wanna help me?" she grinned, cheekily at him.

[Jorhan D'Athlaan]

“Well, as far as the few beers are concerned, you’re in luck!” Jorhan smiled as he said this, unsure as to how many beers constituted ‘a few’ for this young girl. “I was just on my way to the local tavern, the Flounders Finn, for a little food and drink, so if you’d care to join me I can show you the way. It’s over by the Shvakkim which is the local mercantile district, and by happy coincidence, the aedile’s office is over that way too so we may be able to find out more about your house as well.”

It seemed that the girl was not quite as confident around town as she wanted people to believe, and that maybe the bluster and bravado were a defence mechanism, although he would still not care to bet upon it.

Still he remembered how uncertain he’d felt when he arrived in Prime, and how much he’d appreciated Rik’s help and assurance in those early days, alone in the empire for the first time. He felt himself bridle slightly when she described Narim as a ‘ole’, after all he’d come to love the seaside town in the few months he’d lived here, and had been personally involved in trying to clean up some of the towns baser elements, but he put this down to bravado again and.

Holding his arm out to indicate the direction of the Shvakkim he chuckled at the impish grin which changed the girls features completely. “Let’s go and get a drink shall we? I know I need one! After you miss…” He left the last hanging as an unasked question, hoping that the girl would trust him enough to give him her name at least.

[Robyn Meiers]

OOC: Beginning of summer is fine with me!!!

Robyn nodded as Jorhan spoke about beer. That was always something that she was happy to do, so she grinned.

"Oh, I already went to the aedile's office. 'elpful they weren't", she murmered, wiping a hand across her face, leaving an almost clean spot behind her "I mean, yeah, they said I could sell it or live in it, basically. Which is fine, but I needs a job an'all. Still, pointy little noncey, what the 'ell else do ya expect from someone wiv wings, I mean... gimme a break. goddamn pointy eared.... oh." She stopped her reverie, realising that her companion was, in fact, an elf.

"Sorry", she mumbled, bad-naturedly, "didn't mean you or nuffink. Sure you can't 'elp yer ears, and ya wouldn'tst even if yer could, and all.. I mean... oh, float it, sorry."

So she looked down at the floor for a moment, shuffling her feet. Then, she looked back up at him and grinned that cheeky grin

"I don't mean no offense, like. Its just me ways of talkin'. You'd get used to it, I'm sure, if you was daft enuff to be around me's a while. But, lets go get a beer, shall we? And me name's Robyn. Just that. Nuffink else. Just RObyn."

She started to walk and turned around, as an afterthought struck her.

"Who the 'ell are you, then?"

[Jorhan D'Athlaan]

Jorhan actually laughed out loud when the girl began to rage against damn pointy eared folk. The look on her face was a picture when she actually gave herself time to realise she was talking to an elf, pointy ears and all.

“Don’t worry miss Robyn, ears can be a very touchy subject for some elves, but in general we Thelyri are not too worried by them, we have enough other differences to make the ears a minor one, and tend to forget about them. It wouldn’t do to keep on about them around certain other people though.”

He thought for a while, pausing in his speech while he wondered how much Robyn knew about his race and decided to risk offending her by assuming it was not a lot. “My people come from the sea and have adapted accordingly” he held up his right hand and extended his fingers to show the webs which enabled him to swim so strongly “and we also have gills as well. Quite a bit different from other pointy eared elves I’m sure you’d agree. Now shall we head on down to the Flounder’s for that drink?”

[Robyn Meiers]

Robyn looked at Jorhan and sighed. The sigh was deep, much deeper than one might expect from a girl of her age. For the briefest moment, a different expression crossed her face, as she almost said something that she shouldnt.

But then the cheeky grin returned, and she raised her hair, showing that she, perhaps surprisingly, had ears that were more pointed than most humans ever managed.

"I'm an 'arf-elf", she said, perhaps at this point uneccesarily. "I look mostly 'uman, but one of me parents was an elf. I don't like it, and so I don't usually tell people, but since yer a pointy-ear too, then it's okie, innit? Plus, wot the 'eck, eh? I dont need to be ashamed of who I am, do I?"

She dropped her hair, then, covering up the offending ears and motioned that Jorhan should lead the way.

"Enuff of this stuff, then, lets go get a beer, eh?"

[Jorhan D'Athlaan]

So the girl was a half elf eh!

Jorhan wondered if that had been part of the reason that he noticed her in the first place. He decided that it was probably not obvious enough to have made a difference, but maybe there had been just a hint of natural elven grace in that swagger which had first belied her grubby appearance.

Whatever the reason, he was now going to buy her a drink and some lunch at the Flounders Finn and as such, with just the merest of touches upon her arm steered her in the direction of the Shvakkim district towards Narims finest Tavern. The fact that it was being compared to the Mariners Box, which was a sailors dive down near the docks meant that it would be hard pressed not to be Narims finest but it would certainly do!

OOC: I’ll see you at the Flounders!