Alain was alone in the Red Dragon Inn ? a rare treat, a moment of blessed solitude in a comfortingly familiar place. He had his scotch and a cigar handy, as well as an old book and a new one in which he made pencil sketches.
Something studied. Something listened. Something watched. From where was not certain, but there was a presence there. Some might be fine-tuned enough to sense it. The she that was came to be more *there*, as a slight draft became a breeze, became a little whirling dervish, became a mini cyclone, almost soundless, and then there, standing on the landing, she was. Lovely, blonde, wingless to all appearances, and dressed in black wool pants, a black tube top, and a black leather duster. Hair long and to her waist, like cool moonrise, and she was peering over the railing at the lone occupant. A faint smile snared pretty lips.
One patron walked in, and another appeared... It was enough to stir the silver that lurked in his eyes, which told his passing hand to shut that book and subtly flip open his shoulder holster. Alain raised his scotch for a long drink, his posture relaxed in spite of the gathering goosebumps.
?Hello?? the patron on foot ventured uncertainly, a grey-furred being of some kind.
"Come on in," Alain said, his voice gravelly at first, from lack of use all day and too much smoking. "Bar's self-serve."
?Good? this is actuallly my first day here??
The woman began to move down the stairs. This woman had Presence. Eyes would naturally be drawn to her, like ears to music. She moved with the grace of a dancer, the sure confidence of a ram on the mountainside, and the leisure of the Unhurried. 5"8" of slim femme, with eyes that were the blue that only Kashmir sapphires could equal. They passed fleetingly over the odd male, no expression given to either greet or condemn, to him, and then settled on Alain. Unwaveringly, as she continued to move towards him.
"Welcome, then..." Something else was tugging at Alain?s mind, though. The creature with the spear didn't bother him, no... It was that Presence, the one that made his rider uneasy, the one coming his way. He turned slowly, like molasses, in his chair, and raised his eyes to her, a silent question in them. What do you want.
Lowan, the other patron, turned and looked at the woman, sure she didn?t much mind and had a good spirit, so he offered a greeting. ?Hello to you as well.? He spoke as he headed for the bar and looked at it, his butt situated on the stool and tail flicking.
The woman didn't answer the unspoken question. At least... not yet. Aware of the other occupant, she kept walking to Alain's table, and moved around him, steps slow and sure, hips swaying with feminine allure, though not overly so. Unintentional, really. Blues flicked to the furred one, and lingered for a moment, as she kept walking until she was just behind Alain and to his right. She bent to the side a little, and some forward, to peer at his hand. His right hand. She pulled in a breath and then rose up to look at Alain's face in profile. "We need to talk." A voice? such a voice! Like silk over satin.
The click of the hammer of his pistol was as quiet as his breath. He could see her eyes in his scotch and the way she looked at the mark on his hand. It had all the feeling of a Mexican standoff, and no one had drawn a gun yet. "Old business?" He turned his head to the other side, bringing her face back into view.
She gave him a sudden smile, near blinding with charm, sweet allure, and innocent beauty. "Oh, I think we should call it new business.?
A swish of Lowan?s tail, and a bob of the head, he was humming to himself something or other, he was just glad he reached his destination.
It was immediately clear that Alain didn't trust that smile. And why should a man like him do a thing like that? He was peppered with scars, each of them a lesson learned the hard way. The silver swam in his eyes, almost as powerful as the brilliant blue. "New business... You look like you've seen me before. Or something about me."
The woman?s head tipped to the side, giving him a slightly chiding look for not falling for her sweet smile and look. Amusement curled deep in those endless blues. The silver in his noted most carefully. Her smile never faltered. "That would be a good guess. New business taken off of old business, then, if you want a more descriptive title, hmm?"
Alain was quiet a long moment before he said to her, "Grab a glass and whatever you like, if it's not my scotch you like, and take a seat. We need to talk, after all."
Lowan smiled and looked around? Bored, he left to find entertainment elsewhere.
The blonde nodded and moved over to the bar. She noted the self serve sign and then moved behind the bar. A few moments was all it took to find a bottle of Tanqueray. She proceeded to mix herself a tall Tanqueray and Tonic on ice with a twist of lime, and then returned to his table. And waited...beside a chair, looking at him expectantly.
Alain looked at her... then looked at the chair... and said at last, with a thin smile that was charming in its own dry way, "But of course... where are my manners." He moved fluidly from his chair, then pulled her chair out for her.::
The smile she bestowed upon him was scintillating in its brilliance. She lowered gracefullly into the chair and scooted it forward, with his help, and then settled back against it. Her drink was sipped while she waited for him to reseat himself. Then... "I know your mark. I know who rides you. I want to know... why... he rides you."
As she began to speak, Alain removed a pen from his coat pocket, clicked it once, and set it on the table. The various surveillance devices embedded throughout the inn, tucked away in corners, including a couple of his own, suddenly had trouble seeing, and even greater trouble hearing, the pair and their immediate surroundings. He took a seat beside her, sipped his scotch, set it back down, then steepled his fingers as he considers his response...
"Bad luck. Kael came to me as part of a curse... I was to be a slave, of sorts, to a local witch, and I think she wanted Kael to rebuild his power through me and lend it to her. Every aspect of the curse has been removed, except for Kael." He pointedly did not mention whether or not Kael remaining with him was his choice.
Sipping her drink she watched all that he did, and how he did it. Eyes on the pen for several seconds, she smiled at him as he considered.
"To speak plainly... what's it to you?" Alain leaned forward then, eyes settled on hers.
Ah, he was most forthcoming. She had not expected that. It perhaps flickered in her eyes, only for a moment. If he was good he may catch it. If he was very good, he may understand it. His question, tossed back at her in fine form and challenge, had her smiling wider. "I can see why he would ride *you*. You have something he always lacked." She nodded slowly and then sipped again. "Together, you two make a more formidable Kael than Kael made by himself." She tapped long fingernails, painted in the French manicure style, against her glass. "I have a need. I am Hunted. I need a refuge and protection."
"Kael says you Fell," he said, and collected his cigar. "God only knows what Hunts you, and if my House can keep it from destroying you... or all of us, for that matter. Why would you come to RhyDin and turn at once to a broken old traitor - a one-time offender at that?"
At his question, she first chuckled, and then laughed, a near belly laugh, though more feminine, one hand holding
her belly. At length, it eased off, and then she shook her head, lifted her drink and finished it off. Those shimmering blues raised to
Alain again. "Kael and I have a ...common....enemy. He knows things about him that will be helpful. I wager they will be. I wager
a lot." The amused look left her eyes and finally there could be seen fear lurking within. She studied her glass, mourning the lack of a drink. Setting it down, she gave an upnod to Alain. "Kael will fool you as long as he can. You should read a book? a certain book." Leaning towards him, she whispered the name of it, so that even powers greater than Alain's mighty pen could not hear.
He was frowning at her laughter, and leaned in to her whisper, and when he heard the name of the book... his eyes widened slowly. The worst of his fears hammered in his heart, and Kael was eerily silent, the silver leaving his eyes in quite a hurry. "Christ... it can't be."
She was sure that if he could be, Kael was most likely cursing her from one direction to another. And that he would bring her harm for ending his little game of Fool Alain. But she had a greater fear than even outting Kael would cause. And Alain might figure that out, once he was done reacting. She risked much in angering Kael, for even a fallen in his position could wreak harm on her. While he thought, and rose up to get another drink.
At some point in going for another drink, she simply stopped being there, a windbone moan and whisper swirling around her taking her out.
Alain pushed his chair back suddenly and his drink away from him - the cigar was abandoned in the ashtray to smoulder out as it would. He turned to speak to the unknown woman... but she was already gone. In another moment so was he, jogging out through the front door.