She had been sitting at the bar in the main common room of the cozy little tavern where many patrons had gathered to watch Aelie's nightly performance. A pewter mug containing a sweet-smelling, pale amber liquid sat within her reach. The young Tabaxi had been so engrossed in the paragraphs of the open book before her, that she had completely missed any 'planning' done by the others regarding the creature prowling the waters of the estuary. Upon finishing yet another chapter, Jinx reached over to pick up the mug, and took several sequential sips.
'Okay, that's it. This is just too weird to be coincidence...' She thought to herself as the last remnants of the honey meade spilled past her lips. Upon returning the mug to the surface of the bar top with a noticeable thud, she closed the tome and swiped it up from the wooden surface before hopping off the tall bar stool. With cat's grace and fluidity, Jinx weaved through the mingling bodies of patrons and service staff to find their Aasimar companion who, would soon find themselves with the young Captain dropping that book down onto the nearest, unoccupied table surface.
"What the hell is going on with this damn book?" She placed both hands upon her hips, her tail completely still save the very tip which moved by only the slightest degrees. "Why does it feel like it was written for me...? Like it knows me, or something? It's uncanny...and weird." She had left her coat and hat along with her crossbow in her room after they had all come back from being arrested and only sported the black leathers with silver, metallic accents and the deep red sash about her waist. The tabaxi honestly didn't care very much if she had interrupted Zache, nor did she even consider the thought that they might be doing anything of importance.
'Okay, that's it. This is just too weird to be coincidence...' She thought to herself as the last remnants of the honey meade spilled past her lips. Upon returning the mug to the surface of the bar top with a noticeable thud, she closed the tome and swiped it up from the wooden surface before hopping off the tall bar stool. With cat's grace and fluidity, Jinx weaved through the mingling bodies of patrons and service staff to find their Aasimar companion who, would soon find themselves with the young Captain dropping that book down onto the nearest, unoccupied table surface.
"What the hell is going on with this damn book?" She placed both hands upon her hips, her tail completely still save the very tip which moved by only the slightest degrees. "Why does it feel like it was written for me...? Like it knows me, or something? It's uncanny...and weird." She had left her coat and hat along with her crossbow in her room after they had all come back from being arrested and only sported the black leathers with silver, metallic accents and the deep red sash about her waist. The tabaxi honestly didn't care very much if she had interrupted Zache, nor did she even consider the thought that they might be doing anything of importance.
"It is only the most incompetent of tutors that does not tailor the lesson to the student," Zache replied without looking up from the books piled before them, "Honestly, wouldn't it be stranger if it wasn't made for you? Perhaps you will find studying to be it's own reward, in time." It was a feeble misdirection, to be sure. In no way the most elegant lie the Aasimar had ever told... but it would suffice. All the while, bleary pupils ran suicides between Zache’s own open spell book and the *cough cough* borrowed book from the city records. Beneath their pair of beleaguered, shimmering eyes, heavy grey smudges threatened to take over the majority share of their countenance.
Even as the wizard looked up to meet the accusatory stare of the other party, one hand continued to slash at parchments with an ink-stained quill, the other danced in sigil-step with the occasional splash of mead that threatened the perimeter of their claimed bar table. Considering the Tabaxi deeply for a moment, their sharp dress that belied a life lived well-beyond her years, the impatient swish of her tail and slight meade mustache that betrayed the truth of her youth, Zache's eyes' softened; Perhaps for the first time since Eloreth and Thiroval introduced this never-ending string of mayhem into their life--or even before that--since the last time that Brigette and her Baron visited Zache in their youth. At the very least, it was the first time Jinx had seen the Aasimar look anything less than confident to the point of abrasiveness (awkward moments regarding matters of the more sensual variety aside). They looked tired... even a little sad. Their hands halted mid-action, drifting heavily to their side.
"I wasn't... I didn't have the chance to go to school like the other kids," Zache blurted out of nowhere, "I wasn't like the other kids, in so many ways. & even then, I had the most well-adjusted childhood out of all of us, by far," Perhaps too embarrassed, exhausted, or ashamed to look Jinx in the eye, Zache heaved a defeated sigh before leveling their gaze at the book on the table before them. They seemed to deflate a bit with every word spoken, "I wanted something better for you--for all of you. To be able to study and grumble at the tediousness of your homework. To not have to worry, if just for a while, about whether the fate of all existence rested solely on your shoulders. To be safe. To just be a teenager."
"It was presumptuous of me," Zache admitted helplessly, "and I apologize. I... don't always get things right. I am happy to still tutor both of you. If that is something that you and Jheri want..."
A moment hung heavy between the two. It was no more than a moment. In real time, Jinx witnessed the wizard's demeanor steel over to their usual inviolable presence of self-assured authority; An air of dogged determination plastered across their face. Taking the book up from where it lay, the wizard librarian dusted it off gingerly before extending it to Jinx, "The book is magic. Finish it within the week; I promise upon my name that it will not be to your disadvantage."
Even as the wizard looked up to meet the accusatory stare of the other party, one hand continued to slash at parchments with an ink-stained quill, the other danced in sigil-step with the occasional splash of mead that threatened the perimeter of their claimed bar table. Considering the Tabaxi deeply for a moment, their sharp dress that belied a life lived well-beyond her years, the impatient swish of her tail and slight meade mustache that betrayed the truth of her youth, Zache's eyes' softened; Perhaps for the first time since Eloreth and Thiroval introduced this never-ending string of mayhem into their life--or even before that--since the last time that Brigette and her Baron visited Zache in their youth. At the very least, it was the first time Jinx had seen the Aasimar look anything less than confident to the point of abrasiveness (awkward moments regarding matters of the more sensual variety aside). They looked tired... even a little sad. Their hands halted mid-action, drifting heavily to their side.
"I wasn't... I didn't have the chance to go to school like the other kids," Zache blurted out of nowhere, "I wasn't like the other kids, in so many ways. & even then, I had the most well-adjusted childhood out of all of us, by far," Perhaps too embarrassed, exhausted, or ashamed to look Jinx in the eye, Zache heaved a defeated sigh before leveling their gaze at the book on the table before them. They seemed to deflate a bit with every word spoken, "I wanted something better for you--for all of you. To be able to study and grumble at the tediousness of your homework. To not have to worry, if just for a while, about whether the fate of all existence rested solely on your shoulders. To be safe. To just be a teenager."
"It was presumptuous of me," Zache admitted helplessly, "and I apologize. I... don't always get things right. I am happy to still tutor both of you. If that is something that you and Jheri want..."
A moment hung heavy between the two. It was no more than a moment. In real time, Jinx witnessed the wizard's demeanor steel over to their usual inviolable presence of self-assured authority; An air of dogged determination plastered across their face. Taking the book up from where it lay, the wizard librarian dusted it off gingerly before extending it to Jinx, "The book is magic. Finish it within the week; I promise upon my name that it will not be to your disadvantage."
It wasn't necessarily obvious within the dimmed lighting of the establishment, but considering her impeccable eyesight in low-light environments, coupled with what she had been able to observe about Zache since the inception of their companionship, Jinx very quickly came to realize just how tired the Aasimar looked. As their initial words began to sink in, all notions of the Tabaxi's stern demeanor seemed to melt away like morning frost in the first warming rays of dawn.
Even before the Aasimar's gentle, somber voice came to meet her ears, Jinx was already mentally kicking herself in the rear for being such an idiot and misconstruing their actually rather thoughtful intent for an act of slight, or mockery. She pulled in a breath, as though readying to voice what most certainly would have been an apology, but before she could do so, Zache's words continued, and she didn't wish to interrupt.
The fact that they now addressed her with such sublime humility in this place filled with eyes and ears far outnumbering their own little self-made family jostled the sailor's conscience even more so than some of the more gruesome acts witnesses and tales of terror told in her years. At least Zache wouldn't have to speak up very loudly, as her ears, although not fully perked, could easily discern their voice from the vast cacophony around them. Okay, okay, Zache was gonna have to stop all of this talk because she could feel her eyes begin to sting with moisture hinting toward the invasion of tears which might soon follow suit. Perhaps in some attempt to provide comfort for herself through comforting them, she reached out and laid her gloved hand upon Zache's shoulder, bare fingertips giving the muscle an affirming squeeze followed by a tender caress of her thumb. Her tail rested in complete stillness behind her, and for that instant, it was clear that her attention lay nowhere else but the individual seated before her. Jinx tried her damdest to muster a reassuring little smile.
"No no, Zyla Amenadiel Carathis the Third... your intentions were kind and... although unconventional; nurturing to my methods of learning..." She chuckled a little "...or lack thereof, maybe. I was definitely presumptuous, and I apologize for that as well."
Pale green eyes drifted from the Aasimar's golden oculars to the book she had become rather familiar with these past days. Taking the skillfully bound pages between her fingers, her tail gradually resumed a calm, slow sway. It seemed that, at surface-level, that Zache had regained much of their regal, confident demeanor and as her other hand slipped away from its place upon their shoulder, the Tabaxi smiled, now quite genuinely. Said hand now fell upon Zache's elegant, slender fingers still gripping on to one end of the book.
"And I promise to finish it... I can't speak for Jheri, but I think I'd be a damn fool to not take you up on that offer... If you're up for the challenge." Pulling her hand as well as the book away from Zache at last, the tucked the book beneath her right arm and offered another smile before turning away. Surely Zache had more things to scribe and wizardly texts to pour over before the night was done. "If ya need anything, just let me know." Her voice was only slightly raised now as she made her way back through the mass of bodies to shoo some inebriated scruffy-faced fellow away from the seat she had previously occupied at the bar.
Even before the Aasimar's gentle, somber voice came to meet her ears, Jinx was already mentally kicking herself in the rear for being such an idiot and misconstruing their actually rather thoughtful intent for an act of slight, or mockery. She pulled in a breath, as though readying to voice what most certainly would have been an apology, but before she could do so, Zache's words continued, and she didn't wish to interrupt.
The fact that they now addressed her with such sublime humility in this place filled with eyes and ears far outnumbering their own little self-made family jostled the sailor's conscience even more so than some of the more gruesome acts witnesses and tales of terror told in her years. At least Zache wouldn't have to speak up very loudly, as her ears, although not fully perked, could easily discern their voice from the vast cacophony around them. Okay, okay, Zache was gonna have to stop all of this talk because she could feel her eyes begin to sting with moisture hinting toward the invasion of tears which might soon follow suit. Perhaps in some attempt to provide comfort for herself through comforting them, she reached out and laid her gloved hand upon Zache's shoulder, bare fingertips giving the muscle an affirming squeeze followed by a tender caress of her thumb. Her tail rested in complete stillness behind her, and for that instant, it was clear that her attention lay nowhere else but the individual seated before her. Jinx tried her damdest to muster a reassuring little smile.
"No no, Zyla Amenadiel Carathis the Third... your intentions were kind and... although unconventional; nurturing to my methods of learning..." She chuckled a little "...or lack thereof, maybe. I was definitely presumptuous, and I apologize for that as well."
Pale green eyes drifted from the Aasimar's golden oculars to the book she had become rather familiar with these past days. Taking the skillfully bound pages between her fingers, her tail gradually resumed a calm, slow sway. It seemed that, at surface-level, that Zache had regained much of their regal, confident demeanor and as her other hand slipped away from its place upon their shoulder, the Tabaxi smiled, now quite genuinely. Said hand now fell upon Zache's elegant, slender fingers still gripping on to one end of the book.
"And I promise to finish it... I can't speak for Jheri, but I think I'd be a damn fool to not take you up on that offer... If you're up for the challenge." Pulling her hand as well as the book away from Zache at last, the tucked the book beneath her right arm and offered another smile before turning away. Surely Zache had more things to scribe and wizardly texts to pour over before the night was done. "If ya need anything, just let me know." Her voice was only slightly raised now as she made her way back through the mass of bodies to shoo some inebriated scruffy-faced fellow away from the seat she had previously occupied at the bar.
Moderators: NyxDelux BossTHjalfi Zyla Amenadiel Carathis III (played by BossTHjalfi) Jheri (played by Kleio08) Aelie Marann (played by CocoDynamo) Voiceover