Xander meets Zana and begins to get some questions about himself
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Like most days in Saun it was hot, almost unbearably so and as the hot suns rays beat down on his bare back he let out a long sigh. Building boats was hard work and even more so in the hot of Saun, he was not sure how he had not collapsed yet. His bronze skin glistened in the sun from the slight sheen caused by his perspiration. He dropped his saw down into the sand and dusted off his hands, the particles flying up and dancing in the air as he looked around him. "I think that is enough for the trial." He looked at the semi built boat and bit his lip, using his last bit of motivation to throw the tarpaulin over it.
Finished covering the boat he moved over and stood on the beech, his eyes looking out longingly over the ocean. He missed the lull of the waves and the cool spray they offered as you sailed. He would need to go sailing soon or he might lose his mind and it was the perfect weather for it too. The sun was too hot for him at that point and so it was time to cool off, plash himself with some sea water and allow the liquid to refresh his hot tired body.
So he did, wandering his way down to the water and wading in to just around knee height. With a quick movement he leaned forward scooped up some water in his hands and pulled it up and over his back. The cool salty water causing a slight jerk response before he was accustomed to it. Quickly he splashed himself a few times and then turned to walk back in. As he did his eyes scanned the beach, examining those present and ignoring many until someone caught his trained eye.
The shimmering gold of her hair causing him to pause for a moment and admire her. She was truly beautiful and Elijah had seen his fair share of attractive women but there was something different about her, something supernatural. So he continued to walk up the beach, more of the woman he had spotted coming into vision as he did so. Approaching he noted her icy blue eyes and the look of happiness that seemed to be on her face. Not that she was overly smiling or anything like that just that she seemed young and joyful.
He knew he looked young too, even if he was 70 now he still looked like he was at his peek physical condition, muscular and toned with unblemished skin besides the tribal tattoo on his arm. Her slender and sweet body was the last thing he noticed as he became too close to look without speaking and not seem odd. "Good trial." He smiled and looked down at her in the sand. "Mind if I join you? Its been a lonely few breaks." He gestured to the point beside her and assuming she did not say no he took a seat there. "The names Elijah." He extended his hand and put on his most charming face, unsure what it was exactly he wanted from this lady.
It was hot. Zana loved the heat and in Saun it was wonderful. People seemed uncomfortable in the heat but the mortalborn woman enjoyed it. Sitting there, on the beach, Zana felt quite content. Her shoes were next to her and she was curling and uncurling her toes in the hot sand. She wore a long white skirt which would be modest if it was not alternating panels of sheer chiffon and a white top which was cropped below her breasts and held up by string-thin straps. She wore a wide brimmed white hat on her head and a smile of contentment on her face.
This was nice.
Tilting her head back and arching her back, Zana felt the air wrap around her as a gentle breeze lifted her hair and her lips spoke a whispered tone. "Can you hear me, Father? Look down upon your daughter and see the beauty you created. Beauty from your loins, lord of the mirror. Reflected beauty. I love you."
Her prayer, as always, was to the man she imagined her Immortal father to be. She had never met him, after all and in her mind he was more than even an Immortal could be, but still. Watching the man who walked up the beach, Zana recognized the look, the way that he examined her and she smiled up at him as he spoke. "Good trial", she replied and motioned to the sand next to her. "On the contrary, I enjoy company and I hate to think of anyone being lonely." Her voice was soft like honey and she smiled at him with a half-sultry, half-innocent expression.
His name was Elijah. "It's a pleasure to meet you Elijah. I'm Zana." Taking his hand, she shook it and smiled at him coyly. "Do you work on the water?" Her eyes roamed casually over him, assessing him as though her were an ornament or trinket to be appraised for worth. The lift of her lips suggested that he was above worthless, at the very least. "Or are you new to Ne'haer?"
Dropping himself into the sand alongside her Elijah let out a soft sigh of relief, able now to just rest. After a hard days work it was always nice for him to just sit and take in his surroundings and when those were a girl like he one he now knew to be Zana that was great. Besides her beauty though Elijah felt something strange around her, he couldn't understand or put his finger on what but there was something different about her from those he normally met.
"I work on the water and off, today I was boatbuilding which is what you can normally find me doing in the day. I suppose on the water you could call me a sort of merchant." Elijah lifted some sand into his hand and allowed the grains to flow through the gaps in his fingers, watching the streams bend in the sea breeze. He noticed her eyes looking over him and thought little of it, he had seen it many a time whether they liked what they saw or not was not a concern. "I'm definitely not new to Ne'haer though, most certainly not." A slight look of amusement invaded his features as 70 arcs was quite a long time.
He looked at her under her white hat and examined her icy blue eyes for answers to her interesting demeanour, both confident and coy and innocent. It was quite an odd combination, at least he thought so. It made him think it was all some kind of act, it was not uncommon for women to act or not from his experiences at least. Especially not the young ones like her. "How about you? You new to Ne'haer?"
He continued his inquiry without leaving time for a reply. "I haven't seen you round before and that is unusual for me. I have seen most people around here at least once." He looked at her more closely in case he was just not remembering her, their were many faces in his head. 70 arcs worth of faces weren't exactly easy to just browse like a catalogue. However, he was sure he did not know her and if he had seen her it was definitely not in conversation like this.
"I am sorry, excuse my staring. I see lots of faces and I just wanted to make sure I we hadn't met before." His hand brushed his curly locks back on his head and he looked out over the ocean. The rise and fall of the waves was soothing to watch and even more soothing to feel under you. "Do you get out on the sea often miss?" He continued to look out to the horizon a longing look in his solid hazel eyes.
He was well put together and Zana could not deny that. Intriguing, also, the way that he moved and everything about him, really. Like she knew him but she did not think that they had ever met. With unashamed curiosity, Zana let her eyes roam all over him, drinking in his features and his form. Both of which passed more than amply.
Placing her hands on the sand behind her, Zana leaned backwards and looked at him. He was a boatbuilder and not new to Ne’haer? There was no doubt to her that, had he frequented her place of work, she would have noticed him and so she assumed he had not. He seemed amused at the question though, although he mirrored it back to her and Zana shook her head. She got no chance to answer though, he continued to explain why he was interested and Zana’s lips lifted in a smile ”I was born here and have lived no where else.” She examined him carefully, her ice blue eyes watching for all the slight movements which can tell so much about a person. However, the people here knew her and knew who she was and what had happened twenty six arcs ago.
”I live where I work, so I suppose I don’t get out as much as others. The fact that you haven’t seen me around either means that you don’t partake or you use another brothel.” The young woman looked at him without shame and explained, ”I’m a whore. Not as exciting as boat building I’m sure, but I get to meet a lot of people.” Her eyes danced with mirth as she said that and she glanced at him to gauge his reaction. ”Equally hands on, though. Less callouses though.” Zana considered it for a moment and then added, ”usually.”
When he apologised for staring, Zana looked at him and chuckled. ”I like it when people stare at me. It means they find me beautiful and that is a lovely feeling. I’m the daughter of Delroth, who visited where I work and chose my mother to sire me. Apparently it was quite the big deal at the time.” Zana shrugged. That was twenty six arcs ago and so this man probably had no memory of it at all. ”And no. I’ve never been out on the sea. You like it?” Her expression was interested as she looked at him. ”You seem almost wistful.”
It was interesting to hear she was born in Ne'haer, it made it even stranger to think he had not met her since he had likely been around all her life. Still that was soon explained and he would not lie that he was somewhat surprised if asked. Still, it didn't really bother him, he was not exactly a gentleman after all. A woman being a prostitute was not the kind of thing to shock him. After 70 arcs it would take more than that to shock him. Perhaps if she were to tell him she could fly or was owner of a dancing bear, now that might spark a furious interest.
"Oh, I am sure your hands are smoother than much else in Ne'haer. Sadly the same cannot be said for mine." He wiggled his calloused fingers and smiled as he thought about it. That was a strange reason for him never to have met her, it sounded like she was almost stuck there with the way she had described it. Still there was a strange air of familiarity about her, that he just couldn't shake. "Nope, no brothels for me. I don't have the money and too much pride to pay for such things." He shook his head and rubbed his hands together to get the sand off.
Still as he had just trills ago thought about her profession being of little issue to him it was what came next that made him curious. Daughter of Delroth? The name sounded familiar, like he had heard it once in a book or maybe in his real life. That seemed it could have been a possibility as she explained further. She said he had gone to where she worked and sired her, still he could not place the name to what they had done. "Delroth?" He decided to ask, risking the appearance of his intellect by doing so.
She was clearly confident in herself, the way she spoke about her beauty. He considered trying to knock her down a peg, sometimes that was an effective way of gaining the upper hand in interactions with attractive women. Yet, he decided not too, he would allow the woman to be confident in her looks. After all, she was beautiful. "She is the only mistress that has stood the test of time and that is longer than you might think." He let out a half smile and looked over at the blonde, his hazel eyes running over her figure again. "If you are interested then I can take you out there one day, there is nothing like sailing out on the ocean."
It was always interesting to watch someone's reaction to finding out what her job was and this man was no different. He was neither impressed nor concerned, it seemed, although it would be fair to say he seemed surprised. But he agreed that no, he did not frequent brothels and he told her why. Zana laughed, a brief and genuine tinkling laugh at his words. "Do you only ever buy bread to eat, then? Or do you pay money to gain the pleasure of a delicious meal? You only drink water, or you pay for the feeling of a cold beer refreshing your parched throat?" Zana shook her head and looked at him beneath the wide rim of her hat. "You pay for pleasure every trial and not once have you had the kind of value for money you would get if you paid for me."
There was no denying it, Zana was confident. She looked at him and examined him from head to toe, lingering in her gaze before wetting her lower lip and meeting his eyes. "A shame too. It would be a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Ah well."
He repeated the name Delroth and she nodded. "Delroth. Immortal of birds, wind, vanity and greed. He visited the brothel here twenty seven arcs ago, chose my mother and bedded her. I came from that night." It was the simple truth and she gave it no embellishments, she did not need to.
When he spoke of the sea, though, Zana smiled. "A lot of biqaj speak of the water as though it were a woman. What do you mean, though, longer than I might think? Are you a lot older than you look because you look young." But then, she understood that she would live for centuries and would not age. Perhaps that was true of him, too. Another laugh escaped her when he offered to take her out on a boat. "Oh, I'm sure you'd love to take me," the pause was less than half a trill but it was enough. "Out there, here. Wherever, really. I would love to go sailing with you, it sounds like fun."
Normally, at this point she would get up and bid him good trial but Zana did not. Something about him was intriguing and so she leaned back onto her elbows and waggled her toes. "So, Elijah," she said, watching him with the kind of proud yet coy expression she wore more often than not. "What makes the water such a desirable mistress? Other than the fact that she asks you for no money, but instead extracts her price a different way."
Her thinking was not entirely wrong, she was right that he might pay for an expensive meal. He definitely spent a lot of money on drinking but she had missed one fundamental issue with her thoughts. "Oh, well, I like the way you think Zana. However, the difference between a delicious meal and a woman is I have no choice but to buy a meal. Yet, I don't have to spend a single nel for the company of a woman. Why pay for something I can have for free?" He looked at her and raised an eyebrow curious if he would recieve any counter argument.
"As for it having been a pleasant way to spend the afternoon, well the trial is still young. Who knows what the rest of it might hold." He knew it was unlikely he would receive any such thing from a woman like her. She wanted money for sex and to expect otherwise would be foolish. Still, no harm in a little suggestion. "Also, not to be rude, but it is likely you would not be the best I ever had. Is that really worth my well earned money?" Weird that he was still attempting this even as he knew it was bound to fail.
Then she explained about Delroth, immortal of birds, wind, vanity and greed. At first he thought it crazy, to believe yourself the spawn of such a powerful being. Could they even have children? It appeared it was the case, she was very certain she was his daughter. It was clear with the confidence she spoke that she believed it completely. It was curious, the idea of that. He had wondered about his own heritage little before, happy to settle with just his father. Still what his father had told him the day he died lingered in his mind, he was different, special. That was what his father had said and he had realised when he did not grow old.
He was drawn from his thoughts on the idea, his face momentarily showing his uncertainty. "The Biqaj do tend to speak of the ocean in such a way, that is very true." He had not even realised that he spoke of them as if he wasn't one. Then again he was not fully, even for all his culture and family and friends he was still a mortalborn. He rarely discussed his age openly with people but as she inquired he nodded. "Yes, older than I look, much older." He didn't say more on it as his mind was already curious if he could truly be like her.
"Are men that predictable?" He laughed openly too then, allowing the warm hearty sound to escape his lips uncontrolled. Still she had agreed to take a boat trip with him and he would hold her to that, there were a limited amount of Brothels in Ne'haer. She could not hide from him easily. "Great, I will find you in a trial or two for the trip. Unless you want to meet me here, keep your hideout a secret from me?" His hazel eyes looked into her own, unknowingly to him they both had the eyes of their immortal parents. He listened as she went more questions his way.
It was a good question and he wasn't sure he knew how to explain it eloquently. "Freedom. She gives and she takes but she doesn't take away your freedom. She is honest and open, no backstabbing or cheating, she will either fuck you with a storm or love you with calm waves and a gentle breeze. She may be fickle but she is still constant, never disappearing and unable to truly leave you." That was his best shot at explaining but of course it sounded sort of odd. "So what makes the daughter of someone as powerful as an immortal choose to remain a whore? Can't you just write him a letter and ask him to whisk you off to wherever it is they live?"
He replied as she had thought he would and Zana shook her head. "A foolish argument, I am afraid. You pay for the good meal because you can not have anything that good without paying. You don't have to spend a single nel to go and dig up a potato, Elijah. You can wash it and peel it and drop it in boiling water and it will be a boiled potato. But that is all that it will ever be." She wasn't offended, she simply knew he was wrong and when he said that she would not be the best he'd ever had, Zana's smile showed her amusement. "That, Elijah, is because you think you have tasted the best a potato has to offer when in fact, all you know is what it tastes like boiled. It takes arcs of training in all sorts of arts to be as good as I am."
As for where the afternoon would lead? Zana knew where it would not. It would not lead to freebies. That was simply not her way, which was regretful because he was very nicely put together. But there it was. "You simply have not yet experienced fine dining and until you take the plunge and do so, you will never know what you are missing."
Were men that predictable? That was a complex question and a simple one she supposed, but Zana simply lifted her lips in a smile as she tapped the side of her nose. However when he suggested that she might want to keep her hideout secret from him, she laughed again. "It would be a poor brothel if no one knew where it was." She gave him the name of it and directions, assuring him that he would be welcome at any time. Any time at all, she added and her grin was mischief.
His description of the sea was interesting to her and Zana stored it away as useful information. His next question, though, rather surprised her. "Why would I not wish to remain?" Zana turned, twisting so that she was looking at him and her expression was serious. "I love my job, Elijah. It's like.." Looking at his hands, she pointed to them. "You have a skill. A talent. You make something beautiful that people want and so they pay you. If you love your job, then you and I simply differ in what we sell." Her ice blue eyes roamed over him and she moistened her lower lip.
"So I remain a whore because it gives me enormous pleasure and I make a lot of money. I am happy and I make others happy too. What a wonderful job." She shrugged and then looked at him with eyes which narrowed in curiosity. "How old are you?"
There was too much talk about potatoes, instead of thinking about the many women he'd had the pleasure of bedding he instead was seeing potatoes. He shook his head to shake the image of a once boiled potato mashed into the sheets of a bed. He hadn't the foggiest why he had even allowed that to enter his mind but it was there and unforgettable now. Still he decided to make some fun from her description, the analogy ripe for making amusing ideas. "So what you are saying is that you are a roast potato? Maybe a bowl of sea salted chips?" He allowed the smirk to shape his lips and winked at her whilst doing so.
He of course knew that was not what she meant but he could not help making the comment. She had seemed to be able to take a joke so far and confident enough in herself to not be easily offended. Elijah was sure he could get away with such a comment. Even as she went on to say about fine dining and him missing out, he tried not to think about any more silly jokes on the matter and let it drop simply shrugging as if it did not bother him.
She told him how to find her brothel and he nodded, knowing the area of Ne'haer but not the particular establishment. Still, now he had an address and so he was fully committed into the game that was now beginning. He was sure the whole thing would end in a big mess, a burning wreckage no doubt but still the thrill was in the chase. "Perhaps I will drop by and say hi, as long as your pimp doesn't kick me out of course." He sat up straight and rested on his thighs with his forearms.
She enjoyed her job, it seemed she loved it in fact. It was entirely possible he had the wrong idea of what it was like to be a prostitute. He spent a lot of time in the shadier parts of town with shady people, being a smuggler causes that and so he was not unaware of sex trafficking. He had always refused to do it of course, he would never transport captive women to be sold for their bodies. So in a way he had a one side view of certain areas of that industry and it had corrupted the rest of it in his mind. "As good an explanation as any." He was satisfied with her reasoning.
Finally came a question he was not yet ready to answer and with her question came a standing from him. "For the answer to that question you will have to make sure you come out on my sloop with me." He smiled and stepped back in the soft sand, his legs wobbling slightly. Then with a final nod he turned and left, waving a hand in the air as he walked away down the shore. "Good trial miss!"
Knowledge
Cosmetology: Revealing clothing doesn't have to be short
Cosmetology: Light colours in summer weather
Detection: Observing slight facial movements
Persuasion: Use examples to deconstruct an argument
Persuasion: Confidence is key to a strong argument
Seduction: Be aware of how your body moves
Seduction: Innuendo doesn't need to be subtle.
Seduction: Sometimes, brazen is attractive
Seduction: Be clear that they know ~ you're worth it
Elijah: In Ne'haer
Elijah: A boatbuilder
Elijah: Doesn't frequent brothels.
