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Post by moralhazard on Apr 29, 2019 23:21:03 GMT
Kara examined the pile of rings. She checked for the one from - her, absently wondering if it was the one he’d thrown behind himself. At least her filter held and no words about that slipped out of her mouth.
Kara examines the ring curiously as Dhaunmyr spoke. She liked the color of the stone. It was more plain than she thought was right for Dhaunmyr, but, then, he would never wear it alone, she was sure.
The story wasn’t really one Kara could relate to personally, but she nodded as Dhaunmyr spoke, and her face twitched in amusement when he started to laugh. She didn’t judge; it wasn’t like the story was a surprise to her. She was glad for him that he could do - such things. As long as he was happy and willing and his partner would treat him well, Kara thought he should go right ahead.
“This one?” Kara’s hand hovered over a more dwarven style ring, finger pointing without touching.
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Post by enchilada on Apr 30, 2019 7:20:49 GMT
“You can touch them if you want, they’re not sacred.” Dhaunmyr nodded encouragingly for himself, and picked it up. It was quite chunky, a big stone, quite heavy. Quite a dark metal, too. The stone was bright and shiny, orange. It picked up the light differently to the blue stone.
“This was a gift, from Brennip, actually. Most of these will be gifts. She gave it to me as a kind of congratulations for managing to start up my business. Faerveren had already gone a little mad on that front, really driven it home, but I didn’t mind so much. It was quiet, Faerveren had already gone up and we were about to follow, and Brennip gave it to me. I got another one from Faerveren, actually. It’s this plainer one, with the leaves around it. This one’s very stereotypically Elven, I suppose, if you were a half-elf who’d only heard of them in stories...”
Dhaunmyr sighed quietly. He was an elf that had only heard of them in stories, and no first hand accounts, literally stories. Books, bard’s ballads, tall tales. It was a bit depressing. But it wasn’t his time, not yet, at least. He took the silvery ring in his other hand.
“Perhaps you’d pick this up. It reminds me more of her that way.” Dhaunmyr explained, a little smile in his eye. “I gave them gifts, too. It was hard to figure out, because there’s a certain style I could have given them, as they had me, but that didn’t mean anything anymore... eventually I decided on two delicate little pieces, they take the whole finger. The style seems a little vague.”
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Post by moralhazard on Apr 30, 2019 13:35:56 GMT
Kara extended her hand to Dhaunmyr. If he gave her the ring with the orange stone, she would take it, running the tips of calluses fingers over it, turning it to watch the light glint off the gem. Kara felt like she could sit there and watch it for hours; it was so fascinating.
With some regret, Kara drew her attention from the stone to Dhaunmyr, blinking at him. He showed her a band from Faerveren and explained his thoughts on it. Kara nodded. He didn’t want to give the rings his people made. Kara nodded again.
“The whole finger?” Kara asked. She didn’t really understand what he meant; how big would a ring have to be to take the whole finger? Then: “Vague?” Normally Kara just let the confusing things Dhaunmyr said wash over her. Tonight she didn’t mind asking so much.
Kara set the orange stone back down and picked up another ring almost without looking, a gold one this time, and began the same process of tactile and visual exploration.
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Post by enchilada on Apr 30, 2019 17:21:55 GMT
Dhaunmyr was happy to pass her the ring, quite glad she’d gotten interested in the subject, if only a little.
“Yes, the whole finger, with a sort of... joint? In the middle? If you were to ask for a finger armor ring, someone with them in stock would probably be able to show you. They’re very pretty, big statements, though. Of course, that’s not an issue for someone like me.” He laughed quietly. Dhaunmyr didn’t have problems wearing anything. He looked good, he rocked it. That was just part of his daily life. The struggle.....
“Oh, yeah, I can usually tell you where the ring was made or who by, just by how it looks. Even regionally, sometimes. Like, Sword Coast humans, or more up your side humans, that kind of broad area, I tried to find something that seemed to have no built in race or place. Of course, that’s hard to do, but it was fairly ambiguous.” Dhaunmyr explained, patiently ready for absolutely any questions. He liked to explain things, even when they seemed very basic and obvious, it was good, it showed interest, and it showed him that he could be seen as someone who knew things
“I traded that ring with a woman at a bar, it’s made of gold, it’s a fairly nice opal, I believe I gave her a gold ring set with something like a jasper, or maybe it was a natural, jagged orange garnet. Either way, it was more of a unique statement piece than something to stack with other rings. Have a look at it under the lights, the stone will surprise you, here.”
Dhaunmyr waved his hand in the air, and three balls of white light appeared in the air, bouncing and hovering rhythmically around Kara.
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Post by moralhazard on Apr 30, 2019 17:48:42 GMT
“An opal,” Kara liked the stone already. She didn’t remember ever having seen one like it before.
Dhaunmyr waved his hands and summoned some light. Kara looked up at it, wide-eyed. A little smile flitted over her face, and she watched the lights dance back and forth for a long few moments, clearly absorbed. By now the tension and panic of the earlier incident was all but gone, and Kara looked relaxed again.
She had clearly forgotten what she was supposed to do with the lights, just watching them and holding the opal ring.
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Post by enchilada on Apr 30, 2019 18:03:06 GMT
Dhaunmyr set a gentle hand on hers, waving his hand in front of her face, but not rudely by any means, and not particularly close.
“Kaaara? The ring?” Dhaunmyr chuckled to himself. Maybe it was good that she’d stopped when she did, especially if this was her first time. She was almost definitely under the drug’s influence enough to have fun with it, it would probably only get worse. Could it get worse? Dhaunmyr wasn’t sure. He knew there was a point where alcohol stopped being fun. He did his best to avoid those situations, but sometimes some kind of unholy drinking demon overtook his common sense and he absolutely lost control.
Dhaunmyr hated losing control in any kind of situation, he wanted to be in charge, he wanted to own the moment, and when he couldn’t he felt so especially powerless.
He brought the lights down, to better play and frame the opal, and to try and grab her focus better.
“So, yeah. I just traded for that one. It was a sweet interaction.”
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Post by moralhazard on Apr 30, 2019 18:11:11 GMT
Kara didn’t tense up when Dhaunmyr touched her. She might not notice it, but he would. Usually, no matter how hard she tried, there was at least a slight stiffening to her, a visible tension that made the hard muscles in her arms bulge out just a little, the veins slightly more prominent. It was conspicuously absent now.
Kara blinked at Dhaunmyr, looked down at the ring in her hand. “Oh!” Her mouth made a little ‘o’ shape in surprise. Dhaunmyr lowered the lights and Kara lifted the opal the remaining distance to them. She gasped, softly, turning it back and forth and admiring the sheen of colors.
“Oh,” Kara said happily. “It’s pretty.”
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Post by enchilada on Apr 30, 2019 19:22:07 GMT
Dhaunmyr smiled when she stayed relaxed. There was a definite tug in his chest, but he didn’t push it, she was high, she was in a very relaxed environment. That didn’t really mean that she would ever allow it quite the same outside of these conditions, but it perhaps hinted that she had potential to become happier with contact, perhaps be comfortable with him in the future. That meant he would take that as slow as Kara needed.
Dhaunmyr had all the time in the world.
At least — compared to Kara, he did. A slightly different tug, his shoulders sagged a little, but he ignored it. It was better not to dwell on such things.
He nodded. “Yeah, opal is a very pretty stone. It’s different every time you look at it. It’s like some kind of magic, but it’s completely mundane...” Dhaunmyr thought on it a second, then closed her hands around it.
Dhaunmyr continued, a bigger smile stretching on his face, “You keep it.”
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Post by moralhazard on Apr 30, 2019 19:25:24 GMT
Kara looked down at Dhaunmyr’s hands on hers, then back up at him. She didn’t pull away, feeling the small ring pressing into her palm. She was quiet for a long moment, thoughtful - long enough that Dhaunmyr might worry she had lost track of what they were discussing again.
Then -
“Thank you,” Kara said, quietly. “I will treasure it.”
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Post by enchilada on Apr 30, 2019 19:43:24 GMT
He laughed a little, and took his hands away again. “Of course, Kara. You’re welcome.”
Dhaunmyr sat with his face in his hands, watching the dancing lights bounce around Kara until they disappeared.
“You know, it’s really good to have met you, Kara. You’re so... ah, I’m so glad we’re friends, you know? It’s like, I could tell you anything, you know? Actually, not yet, there’s one thing I can’t tell you just yet, but when I do, well, it’ll be... it’ll be so good.”
He shoved his hands down on the bed, excitedly leaning over to Kara.
“But in the mean time, I’m good here, you know? Oh! I feel that I’ve been saying I will leave Waterdeep, and yet, I’m still here. You know, you’re most certainly part of the reason, but there is another, it’s sort of related. Perhaps it would make sense to have moved back down to the further out settlements, but there’s much less, ah... there’s no spaces down there me really to keep my archer’s eyes sharp, if that makes sense, other than the woods, the forests, and obviously, I don’t want to kill any animals or anything of the sort. Except... one thing, but that’s part of it. Anyway, don’t ask me about it. Don’t ask, don’t ask.” Dhaunmyr covered his mouth. It was the only way to make him shut up.
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Post by moralhazard on Apr 30, 2019 20:35:24 GMT
Kara kept her hands closed tight around the ring when Dhaunmyr pulled his hands back. She brought her hands to her lap, resting them almost against her stomach. Her gaze drifted back to the lights, and she lost herself in them again, watching them dance about.
Kara’s gaze went back to Dhaunmyr when the lights vanished, watching him with almost the same rapt attention. She nodded in agreement when Dhaunmyr started to discuss how happy he was that they were friends. A small, soft smile flickered across her face and held for a few long heartbeats.
It was hard not to ask. She did wonder. Dhaunmyr was such a contradiction to her; he was more open than anyone she had ever met at times, and then sometimes utterly closed off. He was strong, very strong - he had to be - and yet he had been so willing to be weak.
Kara thought about it a little more. She was keeping silent at least; it was possible if she focused on it. She could ask. Maybe he would tell her. But she wouldn’t, Kara decided, feeling the press of the ring against her palms. She would wait. And if he never told her, Kara would be all right with that too.
“I won’t ask,” Kara promised. She looked very seriously at Dhaunmyr, for a moment overcoming the soft, relaxing haze of the smoke. “I’m glad we’re friends too.” She told him, with all the seriousness she could muster. Then Kara smiled again.
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