![[Image: 8iEbknAyT.png]](http://cliparts.co/cliparts/8iE/bkn/8iEbknAyT.png)
The Vulture and the Vixen
"Khyran," greeted the woman quietly anew, slowly making her way toward the chair only to stop as he lifted himself from it’s wooden foundation. The man looked a mess; blood splattered over his thin, corpse-like frame, noticeable even upon the darker fabric that hung from his gaunt frame as he moved to embrace her. "...B-been meaning to c-catch up with you... s-sorry you always catch me on a bad day... I... kind of want to hug you, but... I've got blood on me... " he apologized, even with the shake of her head and the draw of his person to her. Odette’s lips curled into a faint smile, chin resting briefly on the scrawny shoulder of her raven-haired friend. "Since when has that e'er mattered in the past...?"
The embrace was short, yet spoke volumes for the time that had passed them by, as time was want to do. Unavoidable down to the last second at the behest of commitments and lifestyle choices. It had been a long time. Too long.
"Y-yeah, I guess ... it hasn't." He admitted, wrapping his arms around her back and squeezing for a small, measured beat before the inevitable withdrawal; stepping back to stand once more at arm's length to offer the sincerity of a forlorn smile. "...I miss you." He spoke, honestly. "J-just ... been thinking about how we killed Hunter together, and now we're in two different worlds." There was a sigh that chased the Vulture’s words, penetrating the silence alongside the quiet whir of magitek limb as he lifted a spindly hand to the back of his neck. In a similar manner, Odette’s own scarred thumb brushed against the freckled point of her nose, a mirthless chuckle leaving her lips in quiet accompaniment. "Aye."
"A lot has changed, an' even more has continued on as it always does. Yet, it's been on my mind too. There's so much..." the words trailed off to silence with the slow huff of an exhaled breath, marking the truth of just how long it had been since the exchange of private words in the past. "I've missed you too." With the click of the man’s magitek leg accompanied by the double-step of her own heeled boots, vixen followed vulture toward the table and chairs that cast eerie shadows upon stone wall and floor with the flickering light of the waning candle atop the table. First and foremost the inquiry to the greasy-haired midlander’s current state found itself the topic of discussion, turning then to recent matters and the follow up to prior conversation - one marked by the blonde’s retrieval of flask from shapely hip and the quiet screech of metal on metal thread for cap’s removal.
"I don't know. . ." Odette admitted quietly with opened canister sat before her, scarred thumb brushed over equally scarred knuckle in idle sweep back and forth. "There's just a lot goin' on, or not enough. I'm nae sure which, t'be perfectly honest." Lifting her eyes from their ocean-hued dance upon wooden surface, the highlander unthreaded the lace of her fingers to habitually reach for the flask, lifting it to hover against her lower lip in paused consideration. Oh how she despised that feeling of vulnerability, enough to back away from it entirely. "I didnae come here t'burden you more than y'already are, however. I know things have been busy, hells. . . th'place is thrivin' on walk up."
Khyran Oisin knew better than that, however, and the vulture gave a small nod in response to her words. When he spoke, it was with an exhausted but undeniably honest tone for the ties they shared. "Well... if you ever need a break from things, or just to talk... I'm almost always here." He gave her a weak smile, lips parting just a sliver to expose the gaps of a toothy maw. Hardly the most aesthetically pleasing of men, with too boney features and a long nose that hooked downward like a beak, he cut an intimidating figure for most. Most, but not she - strange as their friendship seemed to be. "Or I could come to you, for a change. I know you don't like aether travel. I hate doing that to you." He said. He trailed for a moment, then, he too, found a great interest in the wood grains on the table; single brown eye weaving about the various nicks and scratches that carved their own stories.
"In all honesty, Khy, I've been tryin' t'catch a break fer weeks an' just. . . I dunnae. You ever get that feeling that somethin's just. . . missing? Feeling like y'want t'run. Just run an' nae look back. Nae knowin' where yer goin'. Just th'need t'be an' do somethin'... to fix somethin', or break it." Atop the table’s surface, Odette’s slender fingers slowly curled into a tight, but passive fist; knuckles threaded with the tracking scars of an undisclosed past and a far more curious present. “Just that desire t'feel a little more. . . alive?" the soft words spilled from her lips like the rushed current of a broken dam that eased to trickle and then, stillness. A shortly huffed note left her maw as she leaned back against the chair's rest and partook of the flask’s contents, the familiar burn that warmed her throat a comfort. "I need somethin’ t’sink my teeth into, rather than make do with scraps thrown from th’table. Th'travel is inconvenient, but fine. . . I can manage."
Listening to the bardess in silence, Khyran’s claw-like fingers idly traced along the wood-grain of the table, tacking each sporadic line that was, in itself, unique. "...It... sounds to me like..." he spoke quietly, offered words trailing off almost as quickly as they’d began; dying on thin lips before picking up anew. "...You want a family. M-maybe I'm wrong, though." He sighed, boney fingers falling still atop the table where a dark eye stared for but a single moment before weaving upward to the freckled countenance of the familiar blonde. "...You're alone in a crowd... a sea of faces... a world of two faces and backstabbing. At least, that's... how I felt, back when I was... there." He trailed a little, meeting the depths of ocean pools that was the aquamarine hue of the highlander’s keen gaze. "...But maybe.. maybe I'm wrong. C-correct me if I"m wrong, anyway." He drew in a deep breath, adding quietly. "I just... think you're really lonely, Ode. I guess that's why I wanted to learn more about you. Back then, I asked... if you've ever loved someone before."
"I dunnae what I want... or if I want anythin’ at all." Odette mused honestly, a dry chuckle sounding from her lips to echo within the rim of the flask. A pause followed as she partook of the contents, feeling the comfort of the burn at the back of her throat. "Lonely..." she murmured, tasting the whiskey-tainted word on her lips with a slow shake of her head. "We all make sacrifices, Khyran." was the only reply given, perhaps the only reply she had at such a time; brows creased in a small frown. "We all do what we must."
The embrace was short, yet spoke volumes for the time that had passed them by, as time was want to do. Unavoidable down to the last second at the behest of commitments and lifestyle choices. It had been a long time. Too long.
"Y-yeah, I guess ... it hasn't." He admitted, wrapping his arms around her back and squeezing for a small, measured beat before the inevitable withdrawal; stepping back to stand once more at arm's length to offer the sincerity of a forlorn smile. "...I miss you." He spoke, honestly. "J-just ... been thinking about how we killed Hunter together, and now we're in two different worlds." There was a sigh that chased the Vulture’s words, penetrating the silence alongside the quiet whir of magitek limb as he lifted a spindly hand to the back of his neck. In a similar manner, Odette’s own scarred thumb brushed against the freckled point of her nose, a mirthless chuckle leaving her lips in quiet accompaniment. "Aye."
"A lot has changed, an' even more has continued on as it always does. Yet, it's been on my mind too. There's so much..." the words trailed off to silence with the slow huff of an exhaled breath, marking the truth of just how long it had been since the exchange of private words in the past. "I've missed you too." With the click of the man’s magitek leg accompanied by the double-step of her own heeled boots, vixen followed vulture toward the table and chairs that cast eerie shadows upon stone wall and floor with the flickering light of the waning candle atop the table. First and foremost the inquiry to the greasy-haired midlander’s current state found itself the topic of discussion, turning then to recent matters and the follow up to prior conversation - one marked by the blonde’s retrieval of flask from shapely hip and the quiet screech of metal on metal thread for cap’s removal.
"I don't know. . ." Odette admitted quietly with opened canister sat before her, scarred thumb brushed over equally scarred knuckle in idle sweep back and forth. "There's just a lot goin' on, or not enough. I'm nae sure which, t'be perfectly honest." Lifting her eyes from their ocean-hued dance upon wooden surface, the highlander unthreaded the lace of her fingers to habitually reach for the flask, lifting it to hover against her lower lip in paused consideration. Oh how she despised that feeling of vulnerability, enough to back away from it entirely. "I didnae come here t'burden you more than y'already are, however. I know things have been busy, hells. . . th'place is thrivin' on walk up."
Khyran Oisin knew better than that, however, and the vulture gave a small nod in response to her words. When he spoke, it was with an exhausted but undeniably honest tone for the ties they shared. "Well... if you ever need a break from things, or just to talk... I'm almost always here." He gave her a weak smile, lips parting just a sliver to expose the gaps of a toothy maw. Hardly the most aesthetically pleasing of men, with too boney features and a long nose that hooked downward like a beak, he cut an intimidating figure for most. Most, but not she - strange as their friendship seemed to be. "Or I could come to you, for a change. I know you don't like aether travel. I hate doing that to you." He said. He trailed for a moment, then, he too, found a great interest in the wood grains on the table; single brown eye weaving about the various nicks and scratches that carved their own stories.
"In all honesty, Khy, I've been tryin' t'catch a break fer weeks an' just. . . I dunnae. You ever get that feeling that somethin's just. . . missing? Feeling like y'want t'run. Just run an' nae look back. Nae knowin' where yer goin'. Just th'need t'be an' do somethin'... to fix somethin', or break it." Atop the table’s surface, Odette’s slender fingers slowly curled into a tight, but passive fist; knuckles threaded with the tracking scars of an undisclosed past and a far more curious present. “Just that desire t'feel a little more. . . alive?" the soft words spilled from her lips like the rushed current of a broken dam that eased to trickle and then, stillness. A shortly huffed note left her maw as she leaned back against the chair's rest and partook of the flask’s contents, the familiar burn that warmed her throat a comfort. "I need somethin’ t’sink my teeth into, rather than make do with scraps thrown from th’table. Th'travel is inconvenient, but fine. . . I can manage."
Listening to the bardess in silence, Khyran’s claw-like fingers idly traced along the wood-grain of the table, tacking each sporadic line that was, in itself, unique. "...It... sounds to me like..." he spoke quietly, offered words trailing off almost as quickly as they’d began; dying on thin lips before picking up anew. "...You want a family. M-maybe I'm wrong, though." He sighed, boney fingers falling still atop the table where a dark eye stared for but a single moment before weaving upward to the freckled countenance of the familiar blonde. "...You're alone in a crowd... a sea of faces... a world of two faces and backstabbing. At least, that's... how I felt, back when I was... there." He trailed a little, meeting the depths of ocean pools that was the aquamarine hue of the highlander’s keen gaze. "...But maybe.. maybe I'm wrong. C-correct me if I"m wrong, anyway." He drew in a deep breath, adding quietly. "I just... think you're really lonely, Ode. I guess that's why I wanted to learn more about you. Back then, I asked... if you've ever loved someone before."
"I dunnae what I want... or if I want anythin’ at all." Odette mused honestly, a dry chuckle sounding from her lips to echo within the rim of the flask. A pause followed as she partook of the contents, feeling the comfort of the burn at the back of her throat. "Lonely..." she murmured, tasting the whiskey-tainted word on her lips with a slow shake of her head. "We all make sacrifices, Khyran." was the only reply given, perhaps the only reply she had at such a time; brows creased in a small frown. "We all do what we must."
![[Image: m5dwAw.png]](http://imageshack.com/a/img633/5660/m5dwAw.png)
"When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw."
-|| Odette Saoirse | Femme Fatale | Balmung | Wikiâ†Leave rumors! | The Hands of Edelweiss ||-
-|| Odette Saoirse | Femme Fatale | Balmung | Wikiâ†Leave rumors! | The Hands of Edelweiss ||-
