Returning...

[Anonymous]

Stefan remembered Ketra well.

He had been here when he was a younger man - truth be told, when he was still a cub. He had originally come seeking a post at the famed Adela Military Academy. It was not what he would have preferred to do with his life, but there was little money to be spared for an unknown musician such as he had been then. Besides, Garou made fine soldiers. They were strong and possessed enormous endurance; a suitably motivated Garou could fight or march or run for a full day, fully armed.

Of course, that had not worked out quite as well as he or his family had hoped. He had hated it at the Academy - hated the iron discipline, hated the harsh punishments meted out for what he saw as slight infractions. Surely there were worse things a man could do than spend a night away from barracks without leave? So he had left - obtained permission to leave, of course, and gone on his way honourably enough - and he had wandered.

Now he was back in Adela once more. He needed money, and a busy town such as this seemed the ideal place to get his hands (or paws, as he sometimes caught himself thinking of them as before his Change) on some of it.    

He stroked the wood of his instrument gently. Perhaps there was a tavern here, that would allow him a space by the fire tonight if he played well enough or sang for his supper. There might perhaps be a merchant or a trader, willing to pay a few coins for the sake of an evening's entertainment. Even a lady would do - his singing voice did not suit the kind of songs a lady would usually pay to hear...but if she would pay, he would try.

He stood on the corner of a busy street - tall, red-headed, hazel-eyed and unemployed - and waited for one of the passing people to catch his eye.

[Anonymous]

Sherene clung to her mother's good arm -blonde head tucked close as she looked, fearful to either side of her. Her dark, inqusitive eyes staring out at the world. She wore  a dress that, while wasn't new, was in good condition. In comparison to her mother whose clothing was worse for wear. Although Sherene had called on it once or twice, her mother never paid much attention to her own lacking. Afterall, Liliha didn't earn that much money to buy new clothing for herself. Just Sherene.

Liliha's left arm was hindered by her twelve-year-old, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She was used to her daughter clutching at her. It had become a habit with her. But Liliha was still struggling, trying to use her right, fake arm and hand to manage her money. It wasn't working. She sighed heavily and clutched the fake arm's hand into a fist, closing around the money.

Then Sherene saw the musician. She tugged softly on her mother's arm and pointed shyly to the man. Liliha glanced from daughter, following her index finger to the boy. She nodded in consent and towed Sherene across the road, shifting carefully through the busy road across to where the boy stood. She smiled lightly at him -her face showing slight exhaustion. Her dark eyes regarded the musician calmly.

Sherene was tucked behind her mother, peering at him curiously from behind her mother's arm.

"Sherene, would you please pick out some money?" Liliha asked her daughter, opening her fake hand and allowing her daughter to grab a few coins.

"Would you hand them to him?" The mother asked.

Sherene nodded and shyly stretched out a small hand to the older boy, although her one arm was still tightly curled around her mother's.

(sucky, no time. sorry, introducing my new characters O.o hope you don't mind.)

[Anonymous]

Stefan bowed slightly. Not a deep one, as human courtiers might do (not knowing how stupid it made them look), but a slight tilt of his head to the girl who had given him the few coins. "Thank you miss."

 He appreciated their generosity - all the more so given how threadbare the mother's clothing seemed to be. The child was reasonably well dressed, though it wasn't fine clothing by any stretch of the imagination, but the mother would be cold when winter came. "Would you like me to play for you? I''ll play anything you like."

He wasn't a beggar. He'd play for his coins before he'd spend them on anything, or even dare to take them from the fair-haired girl's hand. He had his pride after all.  He smiled. "Your name is Sherene?"

The girl nodded shyly. Surely she was too old to still be clutching at her mother like that? She must have been at least eleven - Stefan wasn't entirely comfortable with the Adelan system of measuring time (the Garou measured their age in months rather than years) but he could work around it if required. Surely a girl of this age was too old for such behaviour?

 Never mind. It did not matter if she were willing to pay.

"It's a fine name for such a pretty girl." With any luck, either she or her mother would be flattered by such remarks. "My name is Stefan."

His birth name was not actually Stefan, of course. No Garou was born with a name, no matter how important or special their parents thought they were. Cubs learnt their family by sight or (if it were really necessary) by smell. There was no need for names when in their wolf forms - their 'natural forms' as some called them - Garou lacked the means to speak. A name such as 'Stefan' was only granted when a young Garou ventured into the human kingdoms. It was the custom there, as he understood it, to have a name of one's own. Besides, it allowed the god Lonchani (who, according to legend, had a thousand faces and knew every Garou by sight) to keep track of the wanderers as they travelled in the wide world. Stefan was willing to bet that, somewhere in Connlaith or Serendipity or Necromantia or even here in Adela, there was a patrol of soldiers who all had the surnames Wolfe , Lupis or simply Garou.

 "So Sherene...do you or your mother have a favourite song?"

[Anonymous]

"She says thank you," Liliha said, seeming rather unmoved by the flattery of her daughter.

Sherene tucked even more closely to her mother, blushing. She watched Stefan through dark eyes that were obviously received from her mother who had equally dark eyes. She glanced up at her mother, as if expecting her to say something. But Liliha didn't as she glanced at her daughter, raising an eyebrow. Sherene lifted her shoulders timidly and ducking her head. Liliha sighed, touching her temple lightly with a fake finger.

"I see. Sherene apologizes, she doesn't have a favorite song.... If you wouldn't mind to play anything off the top of your head, really?" Liliha said, straining to keep her patience with Sherene clinging to her and her own exhaustion.

"Girl, let go for a second," she mumbled, Sherene grabbing her mother's shirt.

Liliha's eyebrow twitched as she stowed away the coins that had been clutched in her fake hand. Most of her forearm was fake. Along with her fingertip joint of her ring finger of her left hand, which there was a fake cap on. Liliha blinked, Sherene clutching her even more tightly as some loud ruckus behind them frightened Sherene.

"Honey, it was just a noise," the mother said, somewhat wearily. "...Stefan, do you have anywhere to stay the night?"

What caused Liliha to ask was the fact that most musicians didn't have much money. And the fact that Sherene was trembling quite badly. Not only could he stay with them -although it was just a rented inn room- and possibly calm down Sherene. If Liliha was just that lucky.

[Anonymous]

Stefan nearly choked, covering his surprise with a loud, theatrical and very obviously fake coughing fit.

"No..." He hesitated to call the woman by any title. If she were not married, then calling her 'Missus' or something like it would be not only inappropriate but possibly offensive. If she were, and he got it wrong...same problem there. No payment for him. He coughed again. "No actually, I don't."

He peered around cautiously, trying to understand what had frightened Sherene so badly. The girl was still shaking from head to toe. He sniffed - not the smartest thing to do when he was being watched so closely, but...something wasn't right here...something was wrong...what  was it? He wasn't familiar enough with Ketra to know for certain, but something was wrong.

"Go home, and take your daughter with you. Something isn't right."

 He picked up his instrument and prepared to follow them. It had sounded like an invitation, or near enough to make no difference, and he had no intention of staying out when something like this was boiling over in the streets.

                               *-----------------------------*

( Where can I find out more about the characters you've put in here? I'm not sure what's going on with them, and I'm getting a bit confused...is there a stat sheet or a profile I can look at somewhere on this site?)

[Anonymous]

(8D OMG, me? POSTING? =O Le gasp! >>' Anyway. I DID -finally- make a stat page, so just follow the link in my sig, really.)


Liliha needed no encouragement as Sherene trembled and shook beside her, like a small dog. Her mother tried to walk, but Sherene didn't move, clinging tighter to her mother. The older woman sighed and grabbed Sherene, somewhat awkwardly at first before pulling her up. Sherene's arms barely circled around her neck and she curled tight to her mother.

Suddenly, a lilting tune pitched from Liliha's lips, long notes varying in pitch and sharpness, wound together by lower, soothing and shorter notes. It seemed to work on Sherene, her eyes lidding, her quaking calming, if only slightly. It almost seemed a lullaby -but yet, not quite a lullaby at the same time.

Liliha led the way until she came to the inn, manuevering her way carefully -it was apparent Liliha was quite used to being rather handicapped by carrying Sherene and pulling open doors using her fake arm. It seemed a little weird and was always uncomfortable. But, well, Liliha had the muscle so she figured she had no reason to -not- use it for this when it came about. She couldn't very well drag Sherene, even if there WAS a slight temptation.

She nodded, hardly, to the Innkeeper who seemed -almost- accustomed to this behavior from both mother and daughter. Liliha quickly walked up the steps, managing to find their room and swing the door open, immediately going over to one of the two beds and carefully settling Sherene on the one. Liliha stood up, pulling a flask from her hip and grabbing a shallow bowl and cloth from a table near them, pouring some water onto the cloth and into the bowl. Setting down the flask she squeezed out the cloth slightly, wiping down Sherene's face and the girl's neck, meanwhile humming that tune.

"Sherene, it was simply a noise, nothing to worry about," Liliha strained to keep her voice from going flat mid-way.

As more of an afterthought than anything else, she glanced over her shoulder to see if that boy -Stefan, was it?- had followed. She sat on the edge of the bed Sherene was laying in and wearily closed her eyes -for just a moment and she swore she felt herself drifting off. She blinked her eyes and glanced at Sherene, who, for the most part, was asleep.

"Thank God," she murmured, leaning down and kissing Sherene on the forehead before standing up.

[Anonymous]

Stefan studied the woman carefully. She seemed so tired - and no wonder, with Sherene hanging off her every minute of the day. He stood in the corner, wondering exactly what it was that she wanted him to do. Should he sit, and leave her standing? Should he tell her to sit, knowing full well there wasn't much chance that she would obey him?

He was a grown man - twenty-eight by human reckoning - but he was a ragged one at best, and no one listened to ragged men. Especially not ragged men who had nothing to say. He tried anyway, scuffing the toes of his boots on the floor. "You have a good ear. Your pitch...it's nearly perfect." She had gone just a little flat in the middle, but otherwise he had rarely heard a better natural ear.
 
Start with music. He was comfortable with music. Music had rules and (while they could easily be bent) those rules could never really be broken. There was something comforting in that thought.

He coughed, trying to muffle it. Sherene had been frightened - he'd almost felt it, the moment was so clear. He didn't want to disturb her.

It suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know this woman's name. She had invited him - a total stranger - into her...well, into her home - and he had absolutely no idea why she might have done so, or even who she was.

"I've just realised...I don't know your name."

[Anonymous]

What could possibly be the reason that she invited a vagabond into the home that had taken her some time to struggle to gather some money to cover it? Including food, and their clothes... It took money and massive effort to do this, day in and day out. But maybe it was that... that she knew just how it felt ot struggle and maybe she couldn't help to try to offer a hand -even if it was fake. Or maybe she was just so annoyed to be in the company of a mute the entirety of most of her days. Or maybe she found more of a purpose for him?

"Really? Thats nice to hear. I've always liked music," Liliha said, taking off the straps that held her fake arm to the rest of her arm, resting it on the end table.

With her good hand she rubbed what remained of her upperforearm and her upperarm. She sighed a moment, pulling at her shoulde. Ah, it felt good -the muscles were loosing their tense hold. If only she had a good, strong drink... That would be bliss. Yes it would. Or having a conversation that didn't involve her trying to guess the other person's words. That'd be a miracle as well.

"Oh? I'm sorry," she gave a tired smile and a laugh that was out-of-practice, but it showed that she hadn't always been so damn tired.

"I'm Liliha Thane. Ah, please sit down. Its not much or anything, but you're welcomed to stay. Its the least I can do. Its never easy doing anything on your own," Liliha lifted a shoulder in a shrug, giving a semblance of an explaination.

"Can you play anything quiet?" Liliha asked him, brows raising as she lifted her eyes to his own.

[Anonymous]

"If you like." Stefan nodded. "Sit down - you may as well be comfortable whilst I'm doing this."

He pulled out the instrument, running his fingers over the strings in a soft chord. As much as he loved the sound it made, he didn't actually know what it was. He had simply heard it being played when he was small, immediately thought  yes, that's the sound I want to make and taken it from there. If Liliha had asked, he couldn't have told her the first thing about how to play it. Shown her, yes...but not told her.

Hmmmm...a bit sharp there - the third note jarred against the lowest one, and it sounded terrible. He loosened the string slightly and played the chord again. Perfect. You could always feel when things were going right; they rumbled low in the pit of your stomach, and it was comfortable to stay there.

He cleared his throat, tapped against the wood with the palm of his hand and began to sing. It wasn't the best voice he'd ever heard, even if it was his own - though it was in tune and tolerably strong, it wasn't as clean as a real vocalist would have been. Still, it would do.  

Do you ever look around, turn your ear to the ground
Show your face to the sky on a night when the skies echo sounds
From inside of your mind
On the stage that you shone where the sun did become you
And move with your thoughts through the sighs and the scenes
Of the worlds you have seen and the sights that have been
Your reflection in shadows and dreams?
- Your reflection in shadows and dreams

Did you ever see a man who did walk down the street
White robe with no shoes on his feet
And on top of his head place a box with two slits
The sign from his neck said 'I Do Not Exist'
Or a woman who could not remember her name
She stuttered and stumbled again and again
And saw you and called you her child, her eyes said
'My being is gone, but still I'm not dead'?

Miserere...

He kept his eyes on her the whole time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

(No, I did not write the song. It's written by Felix Riebl for the Cat Empire, and was released as Track 6 on their Two Shoes album. I'm a creature of habit, who likes to give credit where credit is due.)

[Anonymous]

When he made a horrible note she winced slightly, settling down on the floor beside the bed, reluctant to jar the bed Sherene was laying on too much. Liliha crossed her legs and leaned back her head slightly before lifting up her arm and resting it on the bed, watching Stefan curiously.

Then he continued and she listened quietly to every word. His voice almost reminded her of her husband's -alot of times, if they had a free moment before going to sleep, he'd sing them a quick song. Usually it was when the kids were younger, when they were in the stage where they'd like to listen to songs and stories. But Tucker's voice had been alot rougher, deeper... Ah.

After awhile her eyes wandered to Sherene - still listening to the his voice and the music. She just wanted to make sure Sherene wasn't stirring, and just like she thought, the girl wasn't. Her breathing was steady and deep -truly insync with dreamland.

Before the song was over she turned her dark eyes back onto Stefan. She smiled -if only to show she liked it. Liliha couldn't help but feel mildly tired after relaxing and listening to music. So when he was done she knew she had to speak or risk falling asleep.

"That was good. I liked it, at least," she said, realizing that it might not be good, as in widely accepted by other people that it was, but she had heard far worse.

[Anonymous]

Stefan felt a quick spark of pride at what she had said. Truth be told, he played to please himself, but it was always a nice moment when somebody else could take pleasure from what he loved. He would have played just as well without the feedback, and every bit as often as he did now...but it was nice, every now and again, to know what others had thought.

"I'm a musician, not a singer," he admitted, brushing the hair from his eyes, "but I try my best."

It was a strange little habit of his, but whenever somebody smiled at him, Stefan usually couldn't help but smile back. As he knelt by the case and put the instrument away, wrapping it in soft black cloth as gently as he could, he turned his head to look at Liliha.

"Can I ask you a question?" This was probably going to come out sounding rather questionable, at best. "Why did you ask me to come here?"

[Anonymous]

Liliha just nodded lightly when he told her he was a muscian rather then a singer. She understood that. But it wasn't the worst voice she had ever heard. But she was possibly hadn't been ready for the next question. Even she hadn't really considered the answer to that question. She tilted her head, thinking about the answer. She contemplated it until she really was grasping at straws. Her shoulders lifted and she gave a gruff laugh.

"Where I lived we were supposed to help our neighbors. Or even offer a hand to anyone. And plus, if I couldn't calm Sherene down, I was going to ask you to play something," Liliha said, knowing what she told him probably sounded selfish.

"Ah, it sounds remotely selfish, doesn't it?" She asked, tilting her head, her eyes flickering to Sherene who was suddenly stirring, slowly sitting up and rubbing her face.

"Doin' better, hon?" Liliha asked of the girl, who nodded.

Sherene glanced at Stefan and then to her mother who just shrugged. "I invited him here," Liliha told her the blonde-headed child. Sherene blinked and blushed, feeling embarrassed that she had been so terrified. She leaned down and kissed her mother on the forehead.

"She says she's sorry," Liliha said to Stefan, lightly patting Sherene on the head.

[Anonymous]

"No need to be sorry," Stefan replied, aiming his words specifically at Sherene. "I'm known for turning up in unexpected places." He made an odd little half-bow from his place on the floor, knowing perfectly well that it made him look ridiculous. He imitated the fruitiest voice he had ever heard. He made this moment as silly as he possibly could...but he took the greatest care not to smile.  "My sincerest apologies, madam Sherene, for startling you in such an ungentlemanly manner. You have my word that it will not happen again."

He clambered to his feet and dusted the knees of his trousers, still wearing the gravest expression he could muster and turned his attention towards Liliha.

"And as for you -" his voice dropped its false richness. It was becoming uncomfortable to keep that particular trick running any longer. "As for you...I'm only a musician. It's what I do to eat. As long as the cubling is all right -"

Stefan stopped without finishing the sentence. He didn't attempt to cover his mouth, or catch the words before Liliha might hear them, but nevertheless the fact remained. Without thinking about it, he had just opened the door for some rather awkward moments.

Damn.

[Anonymous]

Liliha picked on the slip-of-word immediately, regardless of being tired. She brushed back her hair from her eyes to examine him better -to fully regard him and his rugged exterior. Perhaps she had miscaculated - as she had only took him as nothing more than a travelling musician. She never equated the fact that he was MORE than just that. He may be something else, not quite human. It was fairly common around here. Or maybe he was just joking around? But by the way he stopped so suddenly and didn't continue his sentence he was conscious of the term 'cubling'. But 'cub' hinted to very many young. Such as wolf, bear, lion...etc.

"Cubling? What an interesting term," she said with a laugh, "I don't think I've ever heard that used before," Liliha said, although calm, she was rather curious now to what made him use that term.

Sherene, though, didn't notice it. She didn't notice something that may be odd -perhaps due to her innocence- so she simply looked between her mother and the musician with a tilted headl She blinked dark eyes - baffled  by the exchange. She touched her mother's shoulder but her mother just glanced at her, giving her a confused and blank look herself. But Sherene was old enough to understand her mother was hiding it from her.

[Anonymous]

Stefan knew he was starting to blush. He could feel it. His face kept getting hotter and hotter; unless Liliha had suddenly and miraculously gone blind, there was no way on earth that she could possibly overlook it. He didn't usually need to explain his nature, because he was usually paying enough attention not to put his foot squarely in his mouth on a regular basis. How was he supposed to explain it now?

He decided to say it bluntly, and get it out of the way. If he was living with them, he would have to tell them eventually. Besides, he had never really liked deception. "I am a Garou."

He couldn't tell if they had understood him. It was probably best to assume that they had not. Untying the wolf's tooth from around his neck, he gave it to Liliha for safekeeping. He deliberately neglected to mention that the tooth was one of his own. "It might be best if I showed you. Mind this for me, and both of you close your eyes."

He was not doing this for the sake of his own modesty. It was true that he would need to strip - his range of clothing was fairly limited at best - but he was used to that, and had been doing it all his life. Among his family, he had seen the various physical differences between humans before he had been old enough to fully understand what those differences were. But here, among humans, wandering around stark naked was often considered a sign of madness...especially when done amongst people one hardly knew.

Stefan closed his eyes.

It was difficult to explain what actually happened when he Changed. From the inside, it was...the best way Stefan had found to describe the feeling, the words that came closest to how it really felt, was as a sort of full-body sneeze. Every muscle tensed up (even the ones he hardly knew he had) and stretched or contracted as required to fit the demands of a wolf body. There were often little clicking sounds, and a horrible feeling of unsteadiness as the bones moved into new positions. His skin prickled as though every single hair on his body was standing on end. It no longer hurt him to do this - though in the past, it had sometimes hurt enough to make him cry, particularly when he hit the growth spurt - but it was uncomfortable, and he was usually glad when the few minutes it took him to Change finally ended.

The wolf sat down and waited patiently. It still had reddish fur and hazel eyes, just like its human did. Beside its front paws - which, unusually, seemed to have five toes instead of four - there was a neatly folded pile of clothes, with a pair of black boots resting on the floor beside them.

[Anonymous]

Liliha hadn't understood, but she took the wolf tooth from him, identifying it as such. Her brows moved forward slightly, creasing the area between her eyebrows momentarily before she glanced at him, then to Sherene, to make sure her eyes were closed, she reluctantly slid down her eyelids. The world was pitch, although she could make out the pattern of light through her eyelids. Still, what was going on? While there was a part that told her to trust him, there was another, more recently engraved warning, that told her to keep alert. But giving him the benefit of the doubt, she listened to the clicking, of what she didn't know, but she did wonder, she waited until they subsided, watching for the silence to tick between until she was absolutely certain there could be no others. Her eyes snapped open, dark eyes widening only slightly before collectively holding him - enduring every mental and physical pleading.

The aching instinct to turn, recoil, twist away was sharp. The urge to fear was almost overpowering, and the stub on her right arm began to sting. He looked very much like the beast that had attacked her, and while she probably shouldn't remember what the creature had looked like with such clarity, she did. She could easily comprehend the differences, mentally, but physically, her body was telling her to get up, take her daughter, and run. But she knew that Sherene wouldn't identify the difference so easily.

Sherene's mouth opened only a second after her eyes. Her lips moved and then quivered, her lower lip trembling, her dark eyes wide and strained, her face paling, her body tensing and she shivered. Sweat broke out along her face, and fear emanated from her powerfully. She recoiled and was torn between curling to her mother and getting as far away from him as possible, but no matter what, her body would not respond.

"Sherene, I'm sorry," Liliha stood up slowly, and with her good hand she gave a firm tap to the tip of Sherene's chin, effectively knocking her.

Liliha closed her eyes for a moment to look at Stefan.

"Garou, hm? A person who turns wolf. How very interesting. Why would you be wandering a musician? I'd expect you to stay in a pack," Liliha commented, struggling with herself and winning.

Sherene had fallen back on the bed, laying comfortably and safely.

[Anonymous]

Changing back had always been something of a surreal experience. The human shape was smaller than the wolf shape for most adult Garou, and the sensation of shrinking inside one's own skin, or of having the skin move into a roughly human form while the mind insisted that the wolf shape was still inside it...the whole experience was something neither Stefan nor anyone else he knew had ever been able to accurately describe. Thankfully, there was no way of seeing this moment happening from the outside - it was easily strange enough already. Bystanders did not need to go into a total panic to explain what they were seeing.

Hmmm. Opposable thumbs...what an invention. Stefan flexed his fingers awkwardly, readjusting to the idea of having a body that knew how to do such things without difficulty. For at least the hundredth time, he came to the conclusion that nothing in the entire universe could possibly be as bizarre as the construction of the human hand.

Reaching for his trousers - thinking ahead, he'd left them on the top of his neat little pile, where he could easily grab them - he pulled them back on. Only after he'd restored himself to something resembling what he had often heard referred to as 'proper human dignity' (an expression that made him laugh far more than it should) did he raise his head to look at Liliha again.

"My pack is...elsewhere." Not having been back to see them for several years, Stefan chose not to elaborate on what his family might be doing. "I chose to leave, as members of my family often do. Some go back after a year or two, some," he gestured down at himself, "stay away because they have not yet found all that they wanted to see."

Some Garou regressed backwards and spoke only basic sentences immediately after a Change, waiting the few minutes or (in some cases) hours it took for their human minds to catch up again. Stefan, like some others, spoke more formally than he normally would. It was irritating at times, but that was how his brain seemed to like it.

"Tell Sherene she has nothing to fear from me." His brain kicked in again, and he suddenly remembered how to speak without sounding as though he'd swallowed a dictionary and a grammar guide all in one go. "I don't think I've ever gone after a human." He kept flexing his fingers. They still felt a little strange. "There's not a lot of meat on a human, and I don't hunt something I can't eat."

He straightened up. "You wouldn't happen to know what the time is, would you?"

[Anonymous]

"Sherene wont listen to logic. She'll listen to what her brain tells her," Liliha said, not choosing to elaborate the fact that Sherene associated his wolf form with the same beast that had almost attacked her, and attacked Liliha.

"I see," was all she said, smiling lightly, as if amused by something.

She was amused by the fact he said humans didn't have a lot of meat. Which was possible, how would she know? It just sounded awkwardly amusing, to be talked about like a pig going into a slaughter house. Well, maybe LIliha shouldn't be so amused, but she couldn't help it. To her, it sounded rather funny.

So, his pack was elsewhere? She wondered, vaguely, what that meant. If he meant they were elsewhere, or that pause meant something else. Elsewhere could refer to many things. Like, they really were somewhere else, or they were dead. But he didn't seem... sad? When he said it. Either he didn't care or they weren't dead. And they really were somewhere else. Ah well. Suppose she should thinking so deeply about his business, hm?

"...Mid-evening," she said after glancing out the window. The sky was twinged that pale blue, and everything held deeper shadows. This time of year, it got darker later -around this time, it'd be mid-evening.

[Anonymous]

"I've got some food here somewhere, if you'd like it." Stefan couldn't remember exactly what kind of food he might have been carrying in the small bag he usually rolled up in his cloak, but he knew for certain that there was something vaguely edible in there. He usually had something.

She probably thought he ate little squirrelly things. Which he did, on occasion, but little squirrelly things were not exactly filling, and didn't really travel well. They were definitely among the last things he would have carried around with him in a bag. Still, he doubted that she knew that, and it was best to give some reassurance.

With Sherene still knocked out on one of the beds, it didn't seem a good idea to send him down for food (a random stranger coming down the stairs was usually not greeted warmly), and he had strong suspicions that Liliha would not venture down herself. Not if it meant leaving Sherene alone with him. It seemed highly unlikely that she would leave him alone with a daughter who was in no fit state to do anything should he randomly decide to eat her. He wasn't about to ask why she feared his other shape - if Liliha decided that he should know, doubtless she would tell him. Until then, it was her business, and hers alone. Maybe it had something to do with her missing arm...  

 He passed her the bag.

"I promise humans can eat it...and no, it is not raw meat." He smiled slightly. "I don't carry that with me very often."

[Anonymous]

Liliha glanced up slightly as she situated Sherene more comfortably on the bed. She sighed and splashed some water on her daughter's face, looking tired and then somewhat irritated. Sherene was her daughter - and Liliha couldn't love her more. But... it just angered her that her daughter was so introverted, and panicked so easily. She knew she was... traumatized... But even Liliha got over it, at least as much as one could ever expect of such a thing. It angered her that she had to be the only one to move on, and that Sherene was stuck in time, stuck in her fears. It angered her that she couldn't rescue her daughter from that. But there wasn't anything left for her to do.

Liliha took the bag, resting easily on the end of the bed,  and then glanced up with a laugh. So, raw meat didn't travel well? She knew it never lasted long. "Ah, you mean you don't carry raw meat with you? What kind of wolf-boy are you, huh? Just because raw meat spoils..." Liliha shook her head, but clearly meant this in a joking manner - as could be seen by the smirk.

"Early you said you hadn't seen all that you've wanted to see. Is there anything in particular that you do want to see?" Liliha asked, glancing into the contents of the bag and staring into rather reluctantly at that. She didn't want to take his things. She glanced at Sherene and then pulled something out of the bag and set it to the side. It was small - it'd be a snack for Sherene.

She then handed the bag back to Stephan.


(i am horrible with the posting lately. it will pick up. promise.)