[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/PVXYWf6.png[/img]   
[img]https://i.imgur.com/qAakc1A.gif[/img][/center]
[center]


[color=7DBC89]Race:[/color] Yuan-ti 
[color=7DBC89]Class:[/color] Rogue Arcane Assassin
[color=7DBC89]Location:[/color] Top Deck
[color=7DBC89]Interactions:[/color] [@Apex Sunburn] Scratch and Val, [@Helo] Ezekiel
[color=7DBC89]Equipment:[/color]  [hider=Full Equipment List]🌸 A finely crafted katana
 🌸 A concealed dagger laced with paralytic venom
 🌸 Throwing needles coated with different poisons
 🌸 Black silk combat outfit reinforced with hidden Mithril chainmail
 🌸 Soft-soled boots that allow for near-silent movement
 🌸 Smoke bombs and illusion charms for quick escapes
 🌸 A set of forged documents under multiple aliases
 🌸 A tea set and an assortment of teas
 🌸 Incense[/hider]
[color=7DBC89]Attire:[/color] 
[color=7DBC89]Gold Balance:[/color] 45
[color=7DBC89]Injuries:[/color] None currently, but has numerous faded scars on her body

[img]https://i.imgur.com/phiFSQQ.png[/img][/center]  

Meiyu watched Ezekiel leave, her gaze lingering on his retreating form longer than necessary. He was an interesting one—rigid in his morality, so utterly convinced of his own principles. Not many like him existed, not in her world. Most who walked that path either broke under the weight of their convictions early or learned to compromise, inching toward pragmatism until they barely resembled who they once were. Yet he remained steadfast. [I]How?[/I]  

Her first instinct was to want to break him. That was always the way of things, take something solid and see how much pressure it took before the cracks formed. But something about Ezekiel made her hesitate. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to shatter him completely… or if she wanted to understand him first. What shaped a man like that? What made him cling to his ideals so stubbornly, even in a world that devoured the idealists first? Perhaps, if their paths crossed again, she would explore this. 

She exhaled through her nose, shaking off the thought as she turned her attention back to Scratch. Meiyu caught the word as Val muttered it—[I]scary[/I]. She didn’t react, didn’t even glance toward the girl at first, but she tucked the observation away.  

[I]Scary.[/I]

It wasn’t an untrue statement, nor was it one she typically minded. Fear was useful. Fear made people predictable. But something about the offhanded way it had been said—it wasn’t awe, wasn’t grudging respect. It was simple fact. Something in her presence alone had unsettled the girl, and Meiyu wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that.  

Instead of dwelling, she let her smirk return and turned her attention back to Scratch, her voice light as she continued, [color=7DBC89]“Oh, I wouldn’t be [I]that[/I] careless with my poisons. What’s the fun in something too fast-acting? The best ones make you feel it. Not just pain—[I]awareness.[/I] The creeping realization that something inside you is failing, and you don’t know how to stop it.”[/color]

She tapped a finger thoughtfully against her arm. [color=7DBC89]“Some poisons and venoms burn through veins like fire. Some slow the heartbeat to a whisper, leaving the mind awake while the body refuses to move. But my favorites?”[/color] She let her gaze flicker toward Scratch. [color=7DBC89]“The ones that mimic a fatal wound. Make the body [I]believe[/I] it’s dying—sweat, convulsions, the slow fade of consciousness—only to let them survive just long enough to know it wasn’t real. [I]This time.[/I]”[/color]

She let the words flow, watching for any flicker of understanding or unease, letting the weight of them settle as she realized she let her love of poisons cause her to speak too much about them with a complete stranger. She was being careless and she scolded herself for it before she finally, subtly, shifted her gaze. The girl still hovered near Ezekiel, her wariness plain.  

Meiyu hesitated, feeling an unfamiliar twist of something in her gut.  

It wasn’t regret—not exactly. But something about the moment sat uncomfortably within her. She could ignore it. That was the easy choice. The familiar one. But hadn’t she already started to wonder if she should be something [I]else[/I]?  

The words came before she had time to reconsider them.  

[color=7DBC89]“…Didn’t mean to scare your girl.”[/color]  

The apology tasted strange on her tongue—light, effortless, but alien. She didn’t take it back, though. Instead, she met Scratch’s gaze briefly, gauging his reaction before rolling her shoulders and letting her smirk return, as if the slip hadn’t happened at all.  

[color=7DBC89]“Until next time, [I]surgeon[/I].”[/color]

And with that, she turned and was gone. She slowly made her way in the direction of the bar, deciding she needed something stronger than tea to wash away that strange taste in her mouth.