[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/241208/a04161052c56932d95d6bf9168fcef02.png[/img][/center][hr][i]The Eye of the Beholder[/i][hr]
Wasn’t it just right that the majority had such a difficult time offering any more than the barest of pretences at acting as though blightborn were still properly human? Inhuman appearances aside, if a creature could speak and a creature could offer its own opinion, did its opinion not have some relevance? Insofar as the man who had just called her [i]‘pet’[/i] seemed concerned, an animal’s opinion could be useful, but not worthy. Thinking of it, his apology rang not like the condolences of a man to a woman, but of a platitude offered in light of the unnecessary mistreatment of something else. Because it was wrong, after all, to beat a dog or to berate a cat when it wasn’t doing much of anything. 

This was a stranger conclusion, really, than anything Nesna had anticipated. Being treated and viewed as a subhuman monster largely incapable of self-control was familiar, as familiar as being treated as a human was, really. But this was an unexpected middle ground—and one which she had received from none of the other people she’d interacted with. Zeph, of course, had started there, but quickly determined there was a human under the demonic skin. Sya, a blightborn herself, was nothing but businesslike and cordial. The commander was as uninterested in what she had to say as any normal person would be in the squawking of a crow. And Guard Kain? He certainly regarded her as a cognizant, intelligent being—simply a malevolent one. Afflicted human, different human, worthless creature, and demon. Each of these were categories that made sense—ones that Nesna knew how to fit herself into, uncomfortable as doing so may be in some cases. 

So caught up in her thoughts was Nesna that she perked up with quite a delay after Guard Kain whispered her name and issued his warning. She shot a brief, darting look to the door as the guard marched out, and then shook her head softly with a sigh as he walked away. She’d only caught the second half of it clearly. A threat. Perhaps Guard Kain was closer in opinion to his commander than she had thought. This category was a complex one—one almost certainly motivated by the fact that as far as they were concerned, she was most like a talking polar bear. Intelligent enough to speak, but not worth speaking with—entirely too dangerous to approach.

Dangerous.

That was a funny word.

Nesna dipped her spoon into the broth and gingerly brought the hot liquid to her lips. After blowing, she took a sip.

It was almost funny, really, to imagine a dangerous beast, like a talking demonic polar bear delicately approaching a hot chicken broth as if it were made of hot coals. In another life, it would have been an insult, a bland disappointment reserved for the ill. And yet now, it was a perplexing, rare flavour. Nesna hadn’t had anything of the sort in the greater part of a decade. Raw animal blood, still warm as it flowed out of a neck, now felt more familiar than a simple soup known across the world. Perhaps that suggestion that she was just a beast clinging to a veneer of civility held some merit. She had done it to survive. But wasn’t that what animals did?

Without any conversation to be had, it was easy to scarf down food like a dog, even if one took only the smallest, most careful of spoonfuls at a time. 

…

The bards were playing an Aurelian tune, and the inn was now under lockdown for the recent attack. And of course, she had just barely arrived before its announcement—without Zeph here to exonerate her to boot. Guard Kain was sure to revel in the potential. With a frown, Nesna looked around the tavern. Sya—the serpentine innkeeper—was back downstairs. She’d changed quite fast, and what a…revealing outfit she’d chosen. Seluna’s mercy, just what sort of inn was this, exactly?

Nesna set her spoon back in the half-emptied bowl and held her bowl in one hand, drink in the other, and quietly reached down with her tail and wrapped it around the handles of her bag. Suddenly, she slipped into the shadow under the bar and shadow-stepped into the seat nearest to Sya. Sitting just the same way, her tail released its gentle hold on the bags and slithered back into her dress. Nesna set down her bowl and cup as if nothing had happened and turned to look at Sya.

[color=DDA0DD]“I gather the day is going poorly for everyone here,”[/color] she began. At first, the way she spoke made it sound as if she was delivering a cold, indifferent observation. As Nesna shifted into the rest of her commentary, her voice slowly melted, as if it was an active thawing that she was undertaking to match her tone with her words. She sighed, tilted her head, and gave Sya a sympathetic frown, adding [color=DDA0DD]“Has this sort of thing happened often? Is there anything we need anticipate?”[/color]

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