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Back here again {DragonSong}

Started by Lowen Thorn, March 18, 2018, 12:22:21 PM

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Lowen Thorn

Lowen smiled warmly back at Hana as he entered the old hermit's home. She may not know it - hell, she may not even trust him, but he would be eternally grateful. Thanks.

His eyes skimmed around the little residence, taking in the image of the place Hana grew up. He found himself drawing a picture of her in her younger years, running around the household as the little terror her father described her as.

'Wait', he pondered. 'How would one such as Hana grow into what she is today? Is her kind just a fox in their younger years, or was she always the way she is now? Or wait! Was she human, and bitten by some sort of mystical fox creature that turned her into the way she is?

The possibilities were endless.

'Perhaps I will find out more later, if we have time.'

The smell of the stew reached his noise, bringing him back to reality. Noticing the size of the little pot, he asked "Are you sure?"

---

'A-A-A-Are you sure?', the second voice mocked. 'Oi! Come on boy, don't be pathetic! It'll probably taste like waste from a Horse's ass anyway! Shove that slop down your gullet and we'll be on our way - unless you want me to talk to your new friend.'

The voice remained beyond Lowen's consciousness.

DragonSong

"Of course he's sure!" Hana beamed and linked her arm through Lowen's, towing him to the little table set into a back nook of the cottage, with two chairs set around it. She nudged Lowen into one chair and sashayed her way across the cottage to the hearth.

"You sit, too, Tobin, I'll get the stew," she urged. Her foster father grumped at her, but he took a seat in the other chair and folded his hands on the table, looking their guest up and down.

"What exactly were you doing out in the middle of nowhere then, lad?" the hermit asked gruffly, quirking an eyebrow.

"Papa." Hana frowned at him and swatted his shoulder as she sauntered her way back over with the stew pot- holding the scalding metal in bare hands as she dished out helpings of the heavily spiced meal into bowls. "Be nice, won't you?"

Tobin glowered at her. "You only call me Papa when you want something."

"Yes. And now I want you to be polite." The kitsune rolled her eyes and crinkled her nose up at Lowen, mouthing, Sorry.

Lowen Thorn

Lowen's face turned a faded crimson as she helped him to his chair - though he wasn't sure why. He does have a dreadful attention span - constantly inside his own head - and is repeatedly caught off guard. It's actually somewhat amazing he has survived this long on his own.

The young man tilted his face down, clearing his throat, in attempt to hide the flushed tint of his cheeks.

Sure, clear your throat. That will definitely take the attention off of you.

His gazed turned to Hana's father after hearing the question. "Well, you see Mr. Tobin," he began, "Nowhere is home to me at the moment. I do not have a place to call my own right now, so I travel from place to place - looking for work to keep myself fed."

He smiled contently at Hana's mouthed apology. "I was in a bit of a rough patch when Hana found me."


DragonSong

"Oh?" Tobin took a bite of his stew, nodded in a satisfied sort of manner, and quirked his head to the side. "What sort of work do you do then? Sound like you're nearly about as useless as that one." He jerked a thumb toward Hana and she made an indignant noise of protest, cuffing the back of his head again.

"Well now there's no call for being rude," she said primly as she returned the stew pot to the hearth and took her own bowl in hand, leaning back against the wall to eat.

Lowen Thorn

Lowen was in the middle of taking a bite of the stew when the word useless was used to describe Hana and himself, causing him to choke up a bit.

'Useless! Ha! Something me and the old man agree on!' the second voice snickered.

The young man chuckled - he couldn't argue there. "Well, I have done a variety of things to get by. I've helped families in need of assistance, laboring for their homes and agriculture, cleaning, deliveries--"

'Hitman for hire, thief for hire, hired whore', the other voice quipped.

"--assisting grocers, merchants, butchers--"

'Didn't I butcher that last merchant that double crossed us?' the voice snorted in delight.

"--And other things of that nature," Lowen said. "Unfortunately I do not have a specific trade of my own.. or rather, I haven't found one yet."

Lowen glanced over to Hana, noticing her without a chair. "Hana, would you like to sit here? I don't mind to stand."

DragonSong

"Oh, aren't you sweet." Hana crinkled her nose at him with a quick grin. "Nay, lad, I'm fine, you just eat up. You need a place to stay for the night, or were you gonna try to get some more miles in before bedding down?"

"Oi!" Tobin straightened up in his chair and glowered at her. "You can't just go volunteering my bed-"

"I wasn't volunteering your bed," she cut him off, "he can have mine. I'll sleep in fox form, it's perfectly comfortable. Besides, I like him." She tossed another smile at Lowen as she pushed herself off the wall and came to collect her father's empty bowl. Despite their constant snipping, it was clear in their body language that the two really did care for each other- and perhaps that Tobin wasn't quite as crotchety as he made himself out to be.

"You like anything with a pretty smile," the old man grunted at her. Hana fake glared and flicked her tail against his ear, making him twitch and glower.

"And what's wrong with that? He's a nice sort- I like making friends, Papa, though I understand that might be a foreign concept to you. So?" She abruptly switched her attention back to Lowen, grin back in place. "You need a bed or not?"

Lowen Thorn

Before he knew it the bowl of stew before him was empty. He hadn't had a fresh, hot meal in some time so one would think he wold savor every last bit. No. He devoured it quickly and without realizing he had done so.

He watched the two's playful arguing, or perhaps Hana's playful arguing and her father's stern retorts, with a warm smile on his face. He felt comfortable in their presence - at ease, which is more than what he could say about most of the folk he comes across.

'This is ridiculous', the voice groaned.

His focus lingered on Hana for several moments after she offered her bed to him. His boyish grin softened to a slight curl causing his continued smile to come more from his eyes and less from his lips.

He thought about refusing her offer - he didn't want to take her bed away for the night. He also thought asking if that would truly be okay, his typical lack-of-confidence 'Are you sure?' response. However, something told him she wouldn't accept no for an answer, and wouldn't want to hear his self-doubt.

"That would be great. Thank you," he said. He glanced at his empty bowl and then back to his hosts. "Can I help clean up before we turn in?"


DragonSong

"See." Hana beamed at Tobin. "What did I tell you? Sweet. Sure you can, Lowen," she added, turning her attention back to their guest. "If you don't mind washing up the bowls I can get a bed settled for you."

She turned to make her way into one of the two back rooms that had been added onto the cottage when she was growing up, tails swishing lightly back and forth.

Tobin sighed and pushed his chair back, standing with a soft groan and a muttered, "Old bones." Jerking his head at Lowen, he said briskly, "There's a well out back, you can get some water to clean the bowls."

Lowen Thorn

Lowen nodded his head at the man in gratitude, and stepped outside to retrieve the water. It was getting dark out. His eyes scanned the area briefly until they landed on the old well, a bucket with rope lay to the side of it. As he approached, a gentle breeze cut through the air, ruffling his loose curls and the clothes on his back.

"Nice night," he spoke softly under his breath. He took a deep breath. Ahhhh. He loved calm nights such as these.

After the short appreciation, the man grabbed the bucket, and began obtaining water for the bowls.

DragonSong

Hana finished settling up the bed, then swayed her way back out into the living space of the cottage. "Sent him to fetch water, then?"

"Mhm." Tobin eyed her sidelong as he picked up a book and settled himself into his favorite armchair by the hearth. "You got any special plans for that one?"

She rolled her eyes. "Tobin. Sometimes I just like to make new friends. Besides, he was out in the woods on his own, I could practically hear his stomach growling half a mile away. Couldn't just leave him out there, could I?"

Lowen Thorn

Lowen entered beaming from ear to ear, carrying the freshly collected bucket of water. "Beautiful niii--"

Just then, the man's foot caught a bump in the floor causing him to lose his balance and tumble forward. He was heading directly for Hana. 'Shit! Shit! Shit!' he screamed internally as his luck turned against him. Then, gravity took over. He lost gripping of the bucket as it hung mid-air and the man's legs lost control. What happened in mere moments felt like a lifetime. 'Forgive me!'

"Gods' sake!" the man griped abruptly, his voice sterner than before and with a look of disgust on his face. Something was different. In a split second, the man caught his balance, planted his feet firm on the ground and quickly snatched up the airborne bucket before it could collide with the Kitsune - resulting in only a few droplets of water escaping to the ground. He was just a few feet in front of the woman, and for a moment - though only for an instant - stared coldly into the woman through unrecognizable eyes.

His face immediately eased, his eyes reverted back to the recognizable softness of Lowen Thorn. He looked upon Hana, his chest pounding, and then to his hand that gripped the bucket. "I caught it?" he asked, mostly to himself. "Well, that's some luck! S-Sorry about that, Hana. I'll get right to work on those bowls."

DragonSong

Both Hana and Tobin gaped at him, eyes wide, the young woman still half-flinching away from the spiraling bucket.

Something had happened. Tobin shot his daughter a look that clearly said, Told you so. Hana gave him a brief glare, then moved toward Lowen and carefully took the bucket from him, setting it aside.

"Lowen," she said slowly, laying her hand against his cheek. "Can you look at me for a second?" She tried to guide his eyes to hers, crimson gaze searching.

Lowen Thorn

Lowen began to speak but stopped, his confused eyes following the bucket as she set it away from them. 'What happened? he wondered. 'They're acting strange. Maybe I've stunned them with my reflexes? Or maybe dropping water on the floor is somehow insulting to them? Everything was going so well!'

The young man slowly lifted his gaze to Hana's, meeting her eye to eye. His hazel-oak eyes were soft, though a bit puzzled, with his left eye's sectoral shade a little greener than usual. He looked upon her shyly. "Is something wrong, Hana?"

DragonSong

Hana pursed her lips as she searched his face, probing gently with her magic. She'd never been much good with anything outside her fire elementalism, but maybe she could sense if there was something off...

That just seemed so strange, the way his voice had changed, his mannerism, even just for a moment- it seemed just off.

But she couldn't sense any sort of malevolent magic in him. Frowning, either ignoring or forgetting propriety, she smoothed his hair back away from his face and cupped her hands against his cheeks, tilting his head from side to side.

"...You sure you're alright?"

Lowen Thorn

The man tried not to laugh from embarrasssment as Hana moved his face about: "I'm sure! What is going on? Are you okay, Hana?" he asked. "I am a little confused as to what is happeneing here."

Lowen's innocent eyes trailed off to the floor as he found it hard to keep eye contact under the current situation. This was awkward. There were no longer any traces of the second entity that briefly made an appearance. Of course, Lowen was completely unaware that that was ever the case.

"I am not sure what has happened, but if you wish me to leave.. I will understand."

DragonSong

The kitsune cast a glance to her foster father, then took a step back, slowly shaking her head as she let her hands drop. "No...no, that's alright." She offered a quick smile, though there was a tinge of befuddlement in her eyes. "I offered a bed, and I meant it. It's made up, if you want it."

Lowen Thorn

It was an answer he was use to hearing, though it never got any easier to accept. Every single time. He would meet someone, become comfortable around them enough to call them his friend, and all of a sudden they didn't want anything to do with him.

Why does this always happen? 'Do I smell bad or something?'

He was so inside his own head that he did not register her actual answer at first. He bowed to the both of them to show gratitude. "Thank you, both of you, for showing me the hospitality I have received tonight. Hana," he focused his attention on just her. "Thank you again. If it wasn't for you, I may not have made it another night the way I was going. I owe you my life, and it has truly been a great honor knowing you."

Once more, he nodded his head in appreciation and then headed for the exit. It was just easier that way. It wasn't until he was at the door of the little home when he realize they weren't kicking him out.

"Wait-"

DragonSong

Hana's brow crinkled and she stepped after him. "Hold on- Lowen!"

Laughing a little incredulously, she reached out to grip his arm. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked lightly, eye twinkling.

Lowen Thorn

Lowen's eyes widened in embarrassment. He was so use to the other outcome he just assumed it would be so. As Hana grasped his arm he turned to face her with a sheepish grin and a small chuckle. "Sorry!" he apologized with a crack of his voice. "It's somewhat embarrassing to say, but most folks I meet don't stick around too long. Something seemed strange so I assumed..."

He trailed off. He didn't know what he assumed. He really had no reason to instantly assume the worst. Sure, something felt a little off but that was the extent of it.

"Anyway," he said, clearing his throat. "Would you still like me to wash those bowls?"

DragonSong

"Sure. Thanks." The kistune smiled at him and patted his shoulder lightly. "Tobin and I can help clean if you wash."

Odd, but sweet. Now he was a puzzle, and she was determined to figure him out.

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