Emmeric couldn't help but sigh. The day had been long, and in his mind, it still had yet to be half over. He had taken a vacant seat in front of the inn's fireplace, musing about the various people he had seen get off the ship with him. Half-breeds, eh... Having grown up in a city almost entirely of humans, these people stood out the most to him, and couldn't help but wonder why there was such a comparatively large number of them out of the rest of the colonists...
He began to eat some of the food he had bought with what little coin he had left; a day old loaf of bread, and a quarter of a cheese wheel (only slightly covered in inedible mold). The man figured he eat half and give the rest to Youn when he finished his retreat from her. It was not as if Emmeric found her company bothersome in any way, but every he had to have some alone time in one way or another, otherwise he started to become agitated a great deal.
But before his idle thoughts could continue any further, he noticed someone approach out of the corner of his eye.
Devika had all but run off of the ship once it was time. Despite doing all she could to not absorb the feelings of the other new citizens, everyone had been so full of emotion during the disembark that she had found her head spinning within ten minutes of being on the ground. She had traveled by ship before, and more than once. Regaining her legs was easy, but getting rid of the excess emotion was not. She made her apologies to Roland and then took her leave, making a beeline for where she figured there would be not many people, and yet safety. The inn was no different than any other she'd seen. Maybe quieter, maybe less foreboding. The fire was low, and she took first available seat without even noticing that anyone was there.
With shaking hands, she smoothed her sweat damp hair from her face. Years of practice kicked in, and she inhaled slowly, through her nose. She counted up to eight while she took in breath, then let it out with the same slow count. Doing that again and again, she felt the fortress of her mind rebuild the walls that had been worn down with the long days of travel. The sweat on her palms ceased, and soon she exhaled a sigh of relief. After removing a pair of dark glasses from her face, she settled back against the chair.
Only then did she realize she wasn't alone. A momentary look of disappointment crossed her face- she wanted peace and isolation. Reflexively she smoothed her face, the emotion dropping away. To the human, she smiled without showing her teeth, and nodded politely.
"Ah." It was a simple remark of surprise. Surprise that his new sitting companion was one of the half-breeds that made up most of the colonists. It was an innocent enough noise, not enough to divulge his inner curiosity about the orcish woman's heritage and up-bringing.
"So," he finally started in a conversational tone, "feeling blue? Must be the curse; I felt its inky roots trying to snuff out my being when I set my first foot down on this continent's soil... But that must not be it. You're surely bonded as I am, so there's no way for your sickness to be caused by such a thing, that is, if my gracious sponsor is to be believed about the bond keeping away the curse and my own current well-being... hm." He slouched further into his chair, deep in thought (if it could be called as much).
"Oh, I'm sorry," he perked back up. "My name is Emmeric Marcure, a man here to start anew in life with his child accomplice," he chuckled at the thought of Youn being his partner in actual crime, "And you are, my good lady?"
Devika maintained her polite smile, even though this man-- Emmeric- seemed to be prattling on without much direction. She really didn't know what to say to all that he'd told her, so she latched on to the one thing she could answer.
"I am Dev'ika Ah'sur. It is a pleasure to meet you." She inclined her head politely, but didn't know what else to offer beyond that. Emmeric had given her a lot to work with. A child accomplice? Accomplice was an odd word, wasn't it? Perhaps he meant 'acquaintance' instead?
"My..." She realized she had no idea how to refer to Roland. Business partner was far too informal, despite it being correct. Friends, she wasn't sure, but she hoped so. "The man I have bonded with, Roland, I think he is outside. He doesn't do well with cramped spaces." A slightly broader smile hinted at dimples in her cheeks. "It is wonderful to be off of that ship, isn't it?"
"A pleasure to me as well," he smiled. The girl was rather reserved -- perhaps due to her less obvious heritage? -- nothing like the one orc he had known back in the city; it was she who had set the unquestioned precedent of orc hostility for him and his fellows. But, it was nice to be proven wrong.
"My partner, Youn," he continued, noticing her larger mention of the man she was bonded with. "She's a girl who has seen half as many summers as I. She's... peculiar for someone her age. She actually wanted to be attacked by -- oh, what was it called? -- right, a kraken while we were on the ship. Could you imagine?! A thirteen year old girl looking for excitement in a creature that the sailors' tales described as being able to cleave a vessle in half with the mere swipe of its tentacle!" He laughed at his own tale.
"But, to be truthful while the little one isn't around and to answer your question, I am glad. I had a hard time walking most days, and most meals I ate were simply given overboard to the ocean."
"Oh, you're not used to the ship's rocking." Her brown eyes were sympathetic, but she wasn't looking directly at him. Her gaze was deliberately off to the side, around his ear. "Well, we're on solid ground, so the feeling that the earth moves will wear off soon. I find tea, something with a sharp flavor, will ease your stomach." She gestured to the cheese in his hand. "You may want to get some food that's more... fresh, as well."
Her lips stretched into a smile, and yet it wasn't a full one. She refused to show her teeth, not after scaring a whole inn full of patrons when she had a touch too much wine and had a laughing fit. "As for your young partner, well... what young lady doesn't wish for some kind of adventure, something to take her out of the life she knows? I wasn't much different at thirteen myself. I wished to see dragons." A giggle escaped her, and she quickly put her hand over her mouth lest her fangs show. "I think this will be my grandest adventure... I can't wait to start exploring and making sketches! This whole place is just astoundingly beautiful!"
Emmeric simply shrugged with Devika's suggestion of better food. "All I can afford, and I am paying for two. But, if you can get some of this tea you speak of, I'd be in your debt; favor for a favor, but nothing unkempt of course." As for her comment on young Youn, he simply shivered. While the girl in front of him no doubt wanted to see dragons because of their described brilliance, Emmeric felt that the younger of the two wished to see a kraken so that she could no doubt kill it with a flashy display, and with him right in the heat of it with her.
He smiled solemnly. An adventure? Yeah, it was definitely one for her and probably many of the people here, including Youn, but for him, this was a chance of escape to something better. Something preferably with less crime. "Just remember pretty lady, the most beautiful flowers are also some of the most deadly in bloom. Don't let your guard down to draw a strange, new creature just for it to chomp on you. It would be a shame to lose someone as optimistic as you, not too many sun-shining people from my experiences." He may have been lecturing her, but his tone was gentle and with his intentions only being the best in mind.
"Speaking of which, would you mind showing me some? Your drawings, I mean. You must have some on you from the boat ride over here."
Devika felt herself blushing, and fought it down. No one had ever called her pretty before- at least not in a way that was genuine. But Mr. Emmeric had thrown it out with such casualness that she couldn't help but believe him. She honestly didn't know what to say to such a thing, and so she said nothing, and only listened.
She was about to respond to his kind advice, when he asked to see her drawings. The blush she'd pushed away so valiantly came rushing back, and she averted her gaze to the ground, studying her shoes. "Well, I..." Although she had a few folded sketches in her pockets, she was always nervous about showing strangers. Especially these particular sketches.
"Oh, fine." Standing, she pulled the paper from her pocket and crossed the room. "Don't laugh." She unfolded them and handed them over, looking in the opposite direction.
The first sketches seemed to be of parts of the ship. The navigator's wheel, the crow's nest, even the figure on the front bow of the ship. The next few, however, were profiles of a male. Although these charcoal sketches were less detailed than the ship parts, there was a boldness to the lines that gave the male a sharp, mysterious sort of look. There was one sketch that seemed to detail his eyes, and with a few dark lines and careful shading, a piercing gaze shone from the paper.
If Emmeric had been paying enough attention during the journey, he might recognize Devika's partner, Roland.
The man leaned forward with an appraising squint and smile on his face. He was in no way a critic of art, but the drawings were realistic enough for Emmeric to recognize what they were meant to represent. It was probably because they were so good that Emmeric was unable to place the face of the man among any of the people he saw on the ship, but that may have been because of utter fascination with all the other races in comparison to the boring humans he's interacted with all his life.
"Well, well; it looks as if we have ourselves a talent here on this cursed land." He smiled at her. "These are very good, but I have to ask: who is the model of this one picture?" Emmeric held up the delicate drawing of the man. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure this is accurate to what he looks like, but to me, he's like every other man I'm likely to see from where I come from. Or is it possible that you drew this without reference?"
Devika felt herself silently exhale the breath she'd subconsciously held, her shoulders relaxing. "He is... no one in particular." No one to Emmeric, perhaps. She took the drawings back from him with care, her polite smile firmly back in place. "Thank you for your compliments. I wish you well, and I will see about that tea for you. I am sure there will be some herb that should serve your purpose here." She inclined her head politely.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Marcure." She made her exit, to try and find another unoccupied space.
"Ah," he remarked, unprepared for her sudden departure. So naturally, he hollered after her. "Well, it was nice to meet you too, Ms. Ah'sur!" With that, he slumped back into his seat, grimaced at the meal he had left to eat, and simply sat there without touching the food.
