[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/necCR92.png[/img][/center][hr][sub][color=darkorange]Location:[/color] The Eye of the Beholder[/sub][hr][hr]

Elio raided a dark eyebrow at Aliseth’s pointed look. He watched the way the knot in his throat bobbed with each deliberate gulp. As his smile grew, his curiosity flared. [i]What[/i] exactly had Aliseth acting like this? The mystery was positively tantalizing as Elio catalogued each peculiarity. 

He was [i]drinking[/i], for one. Though of course Elio had already noted that, along with his churlish mood. Aliseth was a hardass that took his job too seriously, but that storm he’d brought with him when he’d entered the tavern was new. But there was more than just that — he’d been downright [i]genial[/i] to the innkeeper, who was the most visibly blight-born person Elio had ever seen. And then there was his uniform — Elio’s eyes drifted over the stained cloth and dirty armor. The fabric was too dark to make out what he was stained with, and the dancing firelight made it difficult to identify what marred his armor. And those furtive looks he kept throwing about… Elio had the self control to keep from turning in his seat to try and find whatever it was that the other man had spotted. Instead, he kept his attention on Aliseth, bringing his amber eyes back up to his. 

[color=darkorange]“I was [i]saying[/i],”[/color] Elio replied, voice easy as ever, [color=darkorange]“that something crawled up your ass and I wasn’t invited.”[/color] Elio turned in his seat to lean back against the bar, propping his elbows atop the smooth wood. [color=darkorange]“Trying to make me jealous?”[/color] he needled. [color=darkorange]“If you want me in cuffs so badly, all you had to do was ask.”[/color] Elio’s smile was cheeky, even as he looked away from Aliseth to scan the tavern. What exactly had the guard seen to make his face so dark? He paused when his gaze landed on something — some[i]one[/i].

[color=darkorange][i]Well there’s a suspect.[/i][/color]

Perhaps the innkeeper [i]wasn’t[/i] the most inhuman looking blight-born in town. This new one was certainly a contender. Skin so grey it was nearly lavender, four blank, glowing eyes, wings, horns, [i]black ooze…[/i] Was it a competition? Did they all get together before the blight to brainstorm ideas on how to look absolutely [i]fucked?[/i]

A tail. That was interesting. Elio wondered how prehensile it was. 

He finally turned his attention back to Aliseth, like he’d never left at all. 

[color=darkorange]“Then again, you look like you’ve already had a proper run-through today. What, he didn’t stay to cuddle? That what’s got you so sour?”[/color] Elio’s voice stayed light as he goaded Aliseth, waiting for a reaction. 

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[sub][color=darkorange]Interactions:[/color] Aliseth Kain [@Dark Light]
[color=darkorange]Mentions:[/color] Syraeia Leela [@PrinceAlexus], Nesna [@enmuni][/sub]