I Never Get Caught
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
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Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#1
did you miss me enough to drink, or did you drink enough to miss me?
There is a small part of Nate that does feel a little bit bad for stepping away from (read: abandoning) the efforts to move the VlamVloed. Another, larger part of him says that's he's already had his kiss from karma for that, evidence of the bats in the atheneum still lingering on his jacket, but a story about how he'd gotten his comeuppance did not an apology make. Which leaves him wandering around the settlement, trying to find something suitable. There was a bakery or something around, wasn't there?

And no sooner does that thought pop in his head that he sees it, a warm looking sign hung over a door, the faint scent of bread, and more, finally reaching through his numbed senses. The door is thrown open wide, Nate forgetting for the moment it takes him to step inside, for Pemota to drift along after him, that other people can be affected by the cold. He steps up to the counter, looking at whats on display curiously, while the young starwhale takes her own stock of the area, lingering near something that looks to Nate like a shrine.

"Get back from that." Nate chides her, feeling the immediate backlash in his mind, the challenge. A heavy sigh heaves out of him, hands coming up to rub at his face, thoughts of sweet apologies fading away, and thoughts of having to replace something bubbling up instead.
NATE
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#2
Amalia
the shield of safrin
"Jyo! Calm down!"

The voice drifts in from the back of the shop where Amalia is pulling a large batch of scones out of an oven. The enthusiasm of the little whale is nothing short of amusing, but her attention is too focused to make sense of the humpback's thoughts.

Only when she rounds the corner does it all click for the Shield, her eye going wide and her mouth falling open in a surprised, delighted, O.

"Is that... Another one?" All but ignoring the man in the doorway Amalia sets her tray down, attention focused on the other starwhale. Jyoti, meanwhile, has already swam up to it in an eager display of familial affection, singing a string of joyful notes and leaving the bakery glittering in starlight.

"Oh, how beautiful-! What's your name?" the Shield wonders, leaving her mind open to answers through the Attuned bond, still too distracted to speak to the man.
we drink the poison our mind pours for us
and wonder why we feel so sick
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#3
did you miss me enough to drink, or did you drink enough to miss me?
The voice that rings out from the back of the shop has Nate's head turning, his hands dropping and his face shifting into a bright grin, always one to make a good first impression. Though, it seems in this case, he needn't have bothered, the woman's attention immediately shifting to his companion, who seems utterly smitten by the stranger. And the other starwhale. Pemota sang a bright greeting back, ever so careful of her tusk as she swam along Jyoti, her own starlight crackling with electricity slightly, though it is no less bright.

Nate is fine with being ignored in this moment, because he himself is utterly transfixed by the weightless dance of the two starwhales, the brightness of their light bringing with it a calm like he'd never known. His head jerks at Amalia's voice, and he all but rushes to answer. "She's Pemota. Pem." He offers in the same instant as his companion, her small voice bright, and filled with a weary frustration, seemingly directed towards Nate, rather than Amalia. Pemota drifts away from her kin then, lowers to float around the attuned woman, considering her.

"I didn't realize there were more." Nate continues, gesturing towards Jyoti. He's trying to get Amalia's focus back, at least a little, so the bright grin returns to his face, his hands folding together in front of him, the perfect picture of a gentleman, save for the teeth.
NATE
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#4
Amalia
the shield of safrin
Jyoti's delight in the other starwhale is only matched by Amalia's awe, a deep sense of calm and adoration filling her as she watches the pair dance. It hurts, too, deep in her chest, to think that this is the life her companion might have lived, the thing she has been deprived of since her tumble from the stars. "Pemota," Amalia repeats more to the whale than the man, reverence and adoration in her alto tone, a vibrant smile separating her lips. "A beautiful name for a beautiful creature." Jyo trills her own agreement, pressing the younger companion for details of her life so far.

The stranger's remark brings the Shield back to him, a bemused expression accompanied by a bright, alto laugh. "Of course there are more- or did you mean down on earth? Jyoti is the only other fallen one I've met." The humpback again coos a low note, breaching in the invisible currents of air. It draws Amalia's attention again, causing her to miss the glint of fangs in the man's smile.

"When did you come here, Pemota? Do you miss your pod?" Again she speaks more to companion than human, extending hand to offer scratches and caresses, fascinated by the tusk. "On starry nights you can see them above the Greatwood. Or in Safrin's eyes- she would love you, little one."
we drink the poison our mind pours for us
and wonder why we feel so sick
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#5
did you miss me enough to drink, or did you drink enough to miss me?
It's a little strange to see his companion moving so joyfully, singing and pressing against Jyoti eagerly. Nate had only had her a short time, but she'd been moody for all of it, mistrustful of him at best, and intentionally aggravating at worst. The rather unwelcome thought of is it me? slipped into his mind, but that was a crisis for a different time.

"I didn't know they were a thing at all." Nate admits a little sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. The Voice had something to the effect, something about learning of the creatures of the sky. Amalia's answer has a brow rising though, Nate's head cocking. "What do you mean fallen? Not... literally, like..." He lifts a finger high, then lets it drop back to his side, a low whistle accompanying the demonstration.

This time, Nate realizes he is not the one being questioned, and as much as it rubs him the wrong way, he keeps quiet, arms folding across his chest, keeping his mind open to try and catch the answers his companion gives, something threatening to become guilt settling in his gut. Pemota's answers are scattered, almost distracted. She doesn't remember a pod, barely remembers the stars, but she is happy to drift down into Amalia's touch, her trilling growing squeaky with how excited she is. The mention of Safrin though, has her pulling away quickly, a chorus of insistent No's fluttering behind her as she heads towards Nate, surprising him more than anything.
NATE
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#6
Amalia
the shield of safrin
"They're starwhales," Amalia explains with a light laugh, as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "They come from the stars. It's where they live... except for the ones who fall." Of course, if Pemota didn't fall it leaves the question of how she came to be here at all. Or perhaps the stranger simply doesn't recall her descent?

Regardless, Amalia is too distracted by her fascination and adoration to think about it now.

The lack of memory on Pemota's part is more concerning; she must be very young, the Shield thinks, to have no memory of her family. Even Jyoti can recall a pod among the stars, and the humpback sings a sad but affectionate tune, reassuring her kin that they will have a pod here. There is plenty of open sky and beautiful weather and creatures to meet and Safrin-

And then, surprises of surprises, the narwhal recoils, leaving Amalia's hand cold and empty and both of them deeply bemused.

"What... I don't understand." Dark eyes glance between starwhale and man now, the confusion directed at both of them. "Why would you not want to be near Safrin? Starwhales - the stars- they're hers. She would love you."
we drink the poison our mind pours for us
and wonder why we feel so sick
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#7
did you miss me enough to drink, or did you drink enough to miss me?
"Right, yea, I... that makes sense." Nate shifts uncomfortably, glad that the attention wasn't on him, while he pieced together the night he'd gotten Pemota. Not so much a fall, not really, more like a slow, downwards drag, drawn by the hands of a god. He rolls his shoulders, trying to shrug off the guilt before it has a chance to settle. There's no reason to bear anything more than he absolutely has to, and he hadn't asked for an baby to be plucked from the sky.

Pemota sings, adding her own notes the sad song, leaning into the closeness of the only kin she knows now, maybe the only kin she would ever know. It's a shame she's driven away so abruptly, Nate feeling the weight of an accusation settle onto him suddenly, though he's not entirely sure if it comes from the small whale herself, or if it's simply his mind trying to prepare him for what he's sure to come from Amalia.

He'd just wanted to get donuts, or muffins, or something sweet, and simple.

All Nate can do is offer a helpless shrug, unsure of the drama unfolding silently between the woman and his companion, though he reaches up to offer a haven of some kind as Pemota comes back to him, hands moving along the small creatures sides. There is another response from the starwhale, mournful, and confused. Not hers. At the same time, Nate answers, smiling a little stiffly as he does, not the easy, open grin he'd come in with. "I am... not exactly beloved by Safrin." He offers, trying to keep his voice mellow, keep the statement casual.
NATE
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#8
Amalia
the shield of safrin
Not hers.

The two words send a chill down Amalia and Jyoti, the latter of whom comes back to her human with a low, mournful trill of confused unhappiness. If not Safrin's, then whose...?


But of course the Shield already knows the answer. She sees it in the electricity that darkens starlight, and hears it in the stranger's voice, as simple as his reply may be. I am not beloved by Safrin. "I see." Of all the sins the Voice might commit, this one chafes and kindles the girl. To take that most beautiful of creatures, a child of stars, and corrupt it-

Safe behind the bakery counter, Amalia balls her hands into fists. She bears no ill-will to the poorly fated starwhale; Pemota is a victim, at least in the Shield's mind. Exhaling sharply, she attempts to steel herself, dark eyes never far from the narwhal. "Was there something I can do for you, ah...?" Distractedly the Shield trails off, reaching out mentally to Pemota once again.
we drink the poison our mind pours for us
and wonder why we feel so sick
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#9
did you miss me enough to drink, or did you drink enough to miss me?
It would take an idiot to not feel the shift in the bakery, the ice in the two words he's offered back. I see. But as far as Nate is concerned, he's done no wrong, done nothing to warrant the change, and he's not going to do anything about it, save for the shift of his hand, a more protective curl around Pemota. Her song is softer now, upset by this wedge driven between her and the only kin she'd ever met, but unwilling to approach again, to toe the lines between loyalties.

Nate takes the distraction as an actual question, and shifts a half step closer to the counter, eager to get through this uncomfortable as quickly as possible. "Nathaniel. And I just need something sweet, and quick." A shrug, his weight shifting from one side to the other, trying to toe the line of normal. "It's for an apology, if that helps at all." And from Pemota, there is a similar discomfort, a suspicion. The sense that if the Shield could change her, she would, but why?
NATE
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#10
Amalia
the shield of safrin
It hurts to have the whale not return, for Amalia but more keenly for Jyoti. In a deep voice like the shifting sea she calls out mournfully for her kin, the loss more acutely felt now that she has come so close to this bond. It makes the Shield ache for her companion, for the rift she has caused with her prejudice, her two simple words and her observation.

It make her blood boil in anger with the Voice, the author and conductor of all this discontent.

How easy it would have been to let him leave and have the ill-fated meeting end at that, if only he hadn't said his name, hadn't given her the last piece to put together in her image of disdain. Nathaniel, Ascended, who needs to apologize- "Ah," Amalia intones softly, her dark eyes suddenly steel. So this is the man who broke Sam's heart, who paired himself with both Loren and Sunjata.

Who now stands here with a starwhale enslaved, the touch of the Voice rippling down its pristine figure like electric chains.

"What will you be apologizing for?" the Shield asks softly, not yet moving to package his order, curious to see how he will respond.
we drink the poison our mind pours for us
and wonder why we feel so sick
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#11
did you miss me enough to drink, or did you drink enough to miss me?
With no family to remember, no lost pod to mourn, the disconnect does not tug at Pemota nearly as much as it does Jyoti, though the mournful keeping tugs at something in Nate, giving more power to that guilt settled in at the back of his throat, that had been biding it's time ever since Amalia said a starwhale had to fall.

The single word, the Ah, combined with the renewed darkness in her eyes, has Nate shifting uncomfortably again, lifting a brow almost halfheartedly in her direction. "It almost sounds like you've heard of me." He jokes, because humour is always his first line of defence, even when it's not advisable, like right now.

Nate has accepted that his transaction here is just going to feel awkward and uncomfortable, and tries to take solace in that new truth as she doesn't move, just questions him, like it's some kind of test. He stifles a sigh behind his teeth, doing his best to keep his smile in place when he speaks. "I promised my partner I'd help him pack things up to go to Torchline, and... didn't, at the last minute." There's a saccharine sweetness in his voice, and he even manages to tack a chuckle on the end, a perfectly relatable happenstance.
NATE
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#12
Amalia
the shield of safrin
"I have heard of you." There is no beating around the bush, no attempt at cleverness or sly luring him into a trap. "From Sam. My brother." Where Nate wields humor Amalia wields truth, a great deal of ire and stress sharpening her tongue. Has he heard of her? Most people have these days, she's found, bizarre as that particular fact remains.

For once she hopes he has heard, though. And she hopes what he's heard is bad.

A sharp snort of derision leaves her, unsurprised at this account. "So you, what, thought you could come here and buy something sweet to make amends? From me? For Sunjata?" As if. Wrapping her arms over her chest, Amalia simply narrows her glare. "I'm afraid I don't make a point of serving cheaters or liars. Or thieves."
we drink the poison our mind pours for us
and wonder why we feel so sick
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#13
did you miss me enough to drink, or did you drink enough to miss me?
"Oh, you're Sam's sister." Nate manages lightly, the connection not fully clicking into place for a moment. This is Sam's sister. At least it gives him a shield from the vitriol, a reason to dismiss her venom as familial protectiveness. "I imagine all you've heard is bad then." The smile has yet to slip from his lips, the humour still wrapped around him like a familiar coat.

Though, something doesn't quite make sense, either. Surely, he would remember a sister with a bakery, wouldn't he? Hadn't Sam said his sister ran an apothecary?

There's no pause before Nate responds, surely digging his own grave at this point, yet unable to be particularly fussed about it now that he knows, or thinks he knows, the source of her attitude. "I had thought I could, but..." Now he's not sure again, the way she'd sneered Sunjata's name revealing that she knew far more about him than he did her, but also, that this might not solely be about him. "I'm only one of those things, you know. I never lied to Sam, and I haven't stolen anything since I've come here."

His first reaction had been plain, but now he sunk back into humour, into the jagged grin curled over his mouth. "You know, you should make a sign with all the types you won't serve. Could have kept me from wasting both our time."
NATE
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#14
Amalia
the shield of safrin
Gods, if he isn't an irksome man. She can see how he was drawn to Sunjata- equally callous and arrogant, she thinks, tightening her grip over her chest. "Cheating is lying," she retorts swiftly to his deflection, indignation clear in her expression and tone. She gestures to Pemota. "And for stealing- how do you think the Voice was able to give you a creature like her? She wasn't made- she was stolen from her home, but I suppose you never thought about that."

The grin returns, driving the Shield to deeper anger, frustration with this man who refuses to take responsibility for a single action he's made. "It's case by case, I'm afraid," she snaps back, annoyed by the idea that she could be in the wrong here. "Though people who, let's see, cheat on their significant others and then sleep with that person's new significant other and then move on to someone else's partner as soon as they die? Definitely high on the list. Tell me, how long did it take you to jump into Sunjata's bed after Maea died? Did you even wait for the sheets to cool?"

A leopardlike smile takes over her features; fangs appear in a wicked snarl, and smoke leaves her nostrils as she leans across the counter toward him. "Or perhaps you were already there before? Does it make it better, knowing that you're hurting others to get what you want?"
we drink the poison our mind pours for us
and wonder why we feel so sick


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