Storm and Tricky - This is a Title

Guest

Setting~ A city by the coast. It's large and prosperous from trade and has all sorts of people from all over. There's gardens and libraries and parks and all sorts of things common in cities.

Plot~ I'm sure it'll show up eventually

They'd been at port for three hours and Lavvi already was bored enough to burn the entire place down. The captain had given the crew ten days in the city to do whatever they so desired while the ship was being repaired, restocked, and new recruits were recruited. Lavvi's desire, however, had been the one exception. So she'd resigned herself to wandering around, being generally disgusted by the sea-salt smell of the air. She respected Captain Nicolett enough not to disobey her orders, and the threat of being tossed into the ocean made a compelling argument as well.
She received her share of odd stares - an Ifrit on a ship was something that most people would find to be an oxymoron - and no doubt she smelled like pirate sweat and spiced rum. The flask she'd snatched swung from her hip, as if it too were pleased to be away from the ship, the sprogs, and the water.
As she took a swig, a drop rolled down her chin, crackling into a small flame as it traced down her face.

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:01 pm

Jackdaww had been travelling solidly for about three weeks when he finally stumbled into the little costal town. He was in need of a good shave, but thankfully didn’t smell too bad as he had managed to wash properly a few miles back, in a clear-looking pool in the middle of the forest. However, his shoulder pack of resources was empty, and he had to fill it up. The port was the perfect place, with its thriving markets from the many tradesmen passing through.

Ducking into an alley to clean himself up (using the reflection in a puddle as a mirror for shaving) he finally emerged into the port at the other end looking like himself again. The port was busy, as he had expected, and it looked as if a new ship had just docked. Slinging his pack over one shoulder, he walked bravely out into the busy port, smiling a little at the thought of finally returning to civilisation – even if it would only be a short trip.

Across the port, a slight flame caught his eye. It had danced on the edge of his vision, making him turn, but had promptly vanished as he tried to pin it down. All he could see was a woman standing near where he thought he had seen it, which made him doubt it all together.

Guest

Oddly enough, the display had make most of the onlookers try their damnedest to keep their eyes off of her. The thought of sending a few sparks to the cobblestones beneath her did a little more than just cross her mind. She could liven things up a bit. Make this town have a little fun. Watch a few humans dance until their legs gave out. However, burning humans wasn't high on her things to do list - the smell of burning flesh was one of the worst she could imagine.
She did notice a new set of eyes on her, with a most curious expression that she couldn't quite pin down the name of or any possible reason for it to be existing. She turned away from him, just enough to continue watching him curiously out of the corner of her eye as she raised the flask to her mouth once more.
Unfortunately, Lavvi was not entirely apt at multitasking and spilled a good portion of the alcohol before it had quite managed to reach her lips. The front of her burst into a red flame before she'd gotten to drink any amount. If not for the sudden surprise it had given the humans in the immediate area, she would have been irritated at losing her drink.

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:39 pm

As the woman turned away from him, keeping him in her line of vision, but only just, Jackdaww was almost ready to turn away. However, just as he started to turn, a burst of deep red flame illuminated the surrounding area, and this time the source was unmistakable. How was it that a woman could set fire to her drink like that? Well, only one way to find out.

Turning to face the woman properly, he smiled warmly, ignoring the two bursts of flame, and took a few steps in her direction. It was a bad idea – he could hear Measle’s voice telling him that already, but he didn’t care. The dragon wasn’t there, which meant he could do what he liked, and right now that included investigating a particularly unusual woman in the street.

“Hey, hold up. I – err… I’m new in town, and was wondering if you knew where to get a decent drink around here.” He said, making up an excuse quickly to cover the fact that he was still fascinated by the sudden flames.

Guest

Her ears twitched at the sound of the man's voice. She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked to herself. "My ship docked just a couple hours ago. This is from a sprog." she sipped at the flask again before mumbling something about it being nearly empty.
She half-heartedly patted the remaining licks of flame from her shirt and inhaled the resulting smoke through her nose. "Not allowed to have too much fun or the cap'n'll wait til there's no land in sight and have my ass hauled overboard. And unfortunately for me, drinkin' usually results in lots of fun." She gave him a toothy grin.

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:50 pm

“Oh, right then…” Jackdaww said, not sure what top make of that. He wasn’t used to receiving so much information in one go, and it surprised him a little. “I don’t think I really know what a ‘sprog’ is…” he admitted, picking out one thing that he couldn’t get his head around instead of dwelling on them all. However, he welcomed the smile – he had received mostly dirty looks since arriving in town. No one liked to see a scruffy man walk into their town straight out of the forest, and it hadn’t earned him any friends.

“So, I take it you’ve not been here long either then?” he asked, trying not to stare at the slightly burnt patches on the woman’s shirt. “I’m Jackdaww, by the way – it’s nice to meet you.” He said quickly, suddenly remembering his manners. He had almost forgotten the etiquette of meeting people, but luckily it never usually came up much for him. However, as he remembered where he was, his behaviour changed completely – his stance became more straight-backed, and his expression became suddenly more formal – courtly even – before flicking back to a polite half-smile.

Guest

She shrugged. Manners and decency were entirely lost on Lavvi. She didn't consider herself above the things that humans seemed to value so much. She simply couldn't bring herself to care at all. Compared to his stance, her careless slouch seemed to pronounce itself all the more. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and leaned her weight to one foot. "Sprogs are the ship hands. It's what the cap'n calls 'em."
She would have returned the smile with yet another of her own, but her smiles weren't something that many people rejoiced in receiving. She wasn't good at making them seem particularly friendly, and rarely did she try.
"Name's Lavvi." She flicked off an ember from her shirt, as a signal that she had noticed his staring. "And I'll be here all week."

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:59 pm

“Ah, ok then. I’ve never dealt with ships, so I wouldn’t know. I’m only due to stay a few days, but nothing’s set in stone.” He said, shifting his pack a little on his shoulder to get it into a more comfortable position. All it had in was a spare shirt, a couple of knives and some stale bread, but it was still heavy – especially for someone as light as Jackdaww.

Noticing the deliberate way she flicked the ember away, Jackdaww quickly averted his eyes, and forced himself back into an almost military mindset to stop himself being rude. However, he couldn’t help asking, “How come your shirt was on fire? If you don’t mind my asking.” He had never come into much contact with any bipeds other than humans, and the occasional avian, so even the shape of Lavvi’s ears was unusual to him, let alone her apparently strong affinity with fire.

Guest

"Spilled my rum on it. Happens a lot to my people." She shrugged again as if she had thought it were common knowledge despite the fact that 'her people' were little more than stories in most parts. She shifted some more. Standing still for so long was uncomfortable. That was part of the reason she liked being on the ship - even without moving she was always in motion. If felt so natural.
She started walking around him, looking past the cobblestone square and into the town proper, not giving much - if any - warning beforehand. She figured that if he wanted to continue talking he would. She didn't make any attempt to go fast enough to warrant making him think she'd gotten bored of him and was trying to get away. It was simply Lavvi being Lavvi.
"Wonder where I can get this refilled..." she muttered to herself while looking at the empty flask. If it were up to her, all flasks would be made to be able to magically refill themselves.

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:08 pm

“I have never seen rum do that all by itself…” Jackdaww trailed off, shaking the question out of his head. The world was full of strange things, so what was one more? However, the problem with the empty flask was something he could help with.

“As I said, I was looking for somewhere to get a decent drink, and judging from the shape of the port, I’d guess that street over there had a couple of taverns. They’ll sell rum – this close to the sea it’s probably one of their speciality drinks.” He said. He had far too much experience in finding the nearest tavern in a new town, since that was one of the only things he actually stopped in built up areas for, and by now had an almost foolproof way of predicting their locations. Costal towns could prove to be anomalies, but this one seemed fairly standard from what he could see.

Guest

Lavvi smirked. "A'in't the rum, boy. It's me." She created a string of flame around her fingers, rolling it as though it were a coin before letting it circle up her arm to her shoulder, where it evaporated into a puff of smoke.

She adjusted her course immediately as he gave the directions. If the air hadn't been so heavy with the smells of people and the ocean, she'd have been able to sniff out the booze for herself. As it was, nearly every ship had barrels of rum and nearly every passenger from them reeked of it, throwing her off far more than she would have liked.
Though she had to admit, it would have been quite a bit of fun to steal a few barrels off of a trading ship. It would've been better to get caught. That could warrant burning the ship right where it was tied to the dock. She snickered at the thought, without fully realizing that threads of flame had begun weaving into her hair and around her fingers.

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:57 pm

“Oh, alright…” Jackdaww said, in a voice a little higher than he would have liked. Lavvi had caught him by surprise, and it took a moment for him to clear his throat and ‘man up’ again. However, he had to admit the fire was impressive. “That’s a neat trick. The best I’ve got is a bit of sword craft. That explains a lot.” He said, still in a slightly disbelieving tone.

“I hope they have some decent ale around here – it’s been too long since my last tankard.” He commented, almost to himself as they made their way down towards the road Jackdaww presumed would hold the taverns. That was one thing that the forests lacked: drinks.

He hadn’t noticed the twirling strands of fire around Lavvi’s fingertips until her caught sight of the ruby in his sword’s hilt glittering with their light. The red flame illuminated the jewel perfectly, and it made him turn immediately. “You might want to watch that – you don’t want to burn the place down.” He said light-heartedly without really thinking.

Guest

If Lavvi was anything, it was a show-off. She loved nothing more than using her power to intimidate people. Their fear of her - of untamed flames - tasted nearly as good as the finest rum, to her. She saw the surprise alight in his eyes, in his tone. She heard the incredulity in his voice. She practically lived off of the terrified admiration of humans.

At his statement of not wanting to burn the town down, Lavvi couldn't help but stop dead in her tracks for just a moment. A feral smile spread across her face before releasing a wicked laugh between her sharp teeth. The laugh raked through her, making her whole body shudder and a wave of flame dance across her frame. "You have no idea how much I want that." Her eyes lit up, nearly literally.

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:43 pm

Jackdaww stared at Lavvi, laughing at the idea of preserving the town. Ok, maybe she /did/ want it burning to the ground, but he had hopes that she’d at least leave it long enough for him to stock up. He’d been in fired before, and from a human’s perspective, they were not fun. He had his fair share of scars from fire-related incidents, and didn’t want another.

“Ok, let me rephrase that: you don’t want to burn this place down before we’ve gotten a drink.” Jackdaww said, smirking. He was trying hard to hide the fact that the wild look on her face unnerved him, but the slight terror didn’t alter his voice this time, and his nerve held steady. He refused to be overly concerned this early in his visit, and certainly not before he had a few tankards of ale in his system.

“Come on, I can see a tavern from here.” He said, changing the subject quickly in an attempt to hide how uncomfortable Lavvi’s disregard for her own fire made him.

Guest

If Lavvi were anyone else, she would have been rather touched that Jackdaww was still even walking with her at this point. Most people found excuses to slip away, or else straight up ran off. As it were, gratitude was not something Lavvi had any concept of. Overall, she was a terrible specimen to be representing her race.
Still, the reminder of getting some rum back into both her stomach and flask took her mind from her fantasies of burning the town - at least for the time being. The flames around her died into the occasional spark, and her fingers kept themselves busy by rolling wisps of flame between them. But she nodded at him and her slasher-smirk vanished. "Aye."

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:09 pm

“Thanks. Let’s try this one.” Jackdaww said shortly, still a little frightened, and not entirely trusting of his voice. He didn’t like the fact that Lavvi could burn the town down (with him inside it) simply on a whim, but his desire for a decent drink was more important than a bit of fire right then. He ducked into the nearest bar and looked around. It was quite empty, and had a good, reliable looking barkeep standing behind the bar. Yup, this place would do. He poked his head back out of the door to give Lavvi the all clear, as if she needed one, and started slowly towards the bar. If he was lucky their ‘special’ ale would already be out for service.

Special ales were the only way a barkeep could sell cheap, watered down ale, really, in any town. It was far cheaper than their best dark, but that was probably it’ only charm. Jackdaww, however, was a firm believer in it – it was much easier to drink yourself out of your skull with the cheap stuff, and he personally quite liked the taste.

Guest

Luckily for all involved, Lavvi also wanted a drink more than she wanted to burn down the town. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. She wanted both equally, but burning down the town would leave her boozeless. Not to mention dead - she'd hadn't yet forgotten the captain's usual threat of tossing her overboard. She started in behind him, grinning like a fool and making sure that she checked the darkest corners for any patrons. One thing she'd learned for certain over the years was that thieves and assassins always lurked in the dark corners that everyone forgot to check.
All she saw were a pair of men passed out over a poker game. Whether it was their own blandness, or the mysterious power of dark corners, she turned away and forgot about them almost as soon as she'd even looked at them.

She placed the flask on the bar, putting a bit of force behind it. "Dun' care what it is, just make sure there's enough of it to make me forget everything that'll happen for the rest of the week."

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:48 pm

“And I’ll take two tankards of ale – the special barrel if it’s open already.” Jackdaww added, deciding that, since the town might not last too long with Lavvi around, he may as well order two mugs worth. The barkeep nodded sleepily – clearly he hadn’t quite recovered from the night before, which had undoubtedly been busy from the foam rings over every table – and turned away to fetch Jackdaww’s ale and something strong for Lavvi.

“So, you said you came by ship, right? Where abouts are you headed, if you don’t mind my asking.” Jackdaww asked Lavvi while the barkeep was preoccupied, trying to make small-talk. It had never been one of his strong points – he was quite a solitary figure, and social interaction never seemed to go well until he’d had at least three drinks. He had grown up with no one the same age as him, and had therefore never really had the chance to ‘play’ while he was younger, unless compulsory training counted as a game.

As the barkeep turned back their way, carrying a small tray with two foam-topped mugs and a bottle, however, he shook away the thoughts and dug in his pocket for the money for his drinks. He had no problem stealing from market stalls – just the odd bread roll, or an apple maybe – but he would always pay for his alcohol. It just seemed polite.

Guest

"Jus' going with the tides." She shrugged and snatched the bottle from the counter in almost the same movement. She paused to take a long swig. "Only came to port here for some repairs. Hit a rough patch after a squall. Nearly took her ass off on the side of a cliff. Lost the trading vessel we'd had in sight too." She smirked an infamous Lavvi smirk and sighed, sparks dancing on her breath. "An' just like that, I'm stuck on land with nothing to do."

Her eyes met the barkeep's and noticed the expectant look on his face. She grumbled an incoherent curse and dug into her pocket for money. "All I got." She tossed a shiny gold coin from a treasure pile somewhere she'd long forgotten (and probably had never bothered to learn to pronounce the name of) onto the counter.

Subject: Re: Storm and Tricky - This is a Title Thu Feb 16, 2012 9:42 pm

The barkeep raised an eyebrow suspiciously at the coin, and turned it over in his hands. It wasn’t exactly the currency he was used to, but – he bit the coin hard to test it – yes, it was gold. He wasn’t about to complain. “That’s fine, ma’am. I’ll just fetch some change.” The man said, grabbing a rough handful of coins that was probably less than what he owed her, and tucked the coin in his pocket. It looked pure, and he wasn’t going to argue with it.

“Ah, fair enough. I guess I’m doing much the same – just following the wind, so as to speak, although in a much less literal way.” He was aware that longer words than usual were creeping into his vocabulary, and tried to swat them away, but time spent in the royal court had already drilled them into him. It was polite and gentlemanly to sound educated, and it was rather difficult to turn off.

“Thanks.” He added, to the barkeep, grabbing one drink in each hand and taking a gulp from the first. That was better, he thought, as the cheap ale left a frothy ring around his mouth. He had needed that – it made him feel a little more human after weeks away from civilisation.

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