kingofmead – vvardenfellcat

kingofmead:

He was taken aback by the absurd comment the Khajiit made, and even more so when the fellow a few seats down reacted accordingly. The Altmer leaned back for a few moments to glare the choking Nord down, more angry with himself for speaking so openly about the subject in a public area. ‘Think, Kade. You idiot.’

When the Altmer settled back down in his seat and took a few nervous tugs at his collar to calm himself, for the first time he looked a bit at ease while he listened to the Khajiit. Really, it was always nice to talk to others willing to listen, even if there’s a bit of jesting involved. Especially when it was a fellow ‘gifted’ individual, and sure, he didn’t like the Wolves. But how could he be picky when they were Hircine’s favorite? One big happy family.

“J’hasi. Charmed.” The smile he gave was genuine, and despite their rough previous exchange of words he held out a gloved hand to shake. “ I’m Kade. Always a pleasure to meet someone sharp-minded in this dreadful Province, I must admit.”

After the shake, the Khajiit turned his attention right back to his drink, downing what was left in one swig before setting it down and signalling for another.

“Nice t’meet you, Kade. And likewise.” The pleasant buzzing feeling was starting in his fingertips as his tail slowly swished behind him, curling at the ends of its arc. While his original intent was to get drunk, he’d have to make sure he didn’t get too inebriated if he was to ask the questions he wanted to ask. Both for proper wording, and for keeping in the correct tongue. J’hasi stretched again, shoulders loosening before another bottle was dropped off in front of him by the innkeeper, setting to work on freeing the cork.

“So aside from being a convenient place to romp about in the snow as you wish, anything else of note about this place of yours? Hunting’s good?” With the scent of mead in his nose, it was difficult to discern what the Altmer had been eating, other than well. While the consumption of human flesh didn’t appear to have much effect on weres (aside from a bit more control on average, but even that varied), it still helped to figure out how to ask the right questions. The quickest way he’d found to getting weres to clam up about their condition was talking about eating people if they found it unforgivable.

kingofmead:

“Oh so very clever you are.” The mer gave a dramatic huff and rolled his eyes, the flush on his face clearly giving away that the little jab on his figure had riled him up. For as many years as he’d had to endure similar comments, he would like to think he’d handle them better by now. But alas.

“Ah, little Winterhold.” The High Elf rubbed at his mustache, trying to give a disinterested side-eyed glance at the other. In truth, Kade was always happy to converse with strangers. Even insulting strangers. “May I take a gander– you must be a student at the college then no? I can’t imagine why else anyone would ever bear to stay.”

“Ah, me? Closer to the mountains really.” Kade pursed his lips, mulling over how wise it would be to tell the other where he lived. But perhaps the Khajiit would be smart enough to stay away then. “In the old lighthouse– Frostflow? A little lonely but, sometimes it’s best that way. It makes… certain things… Easier.” He brought up his drink and mumbled into his cup. “If you get my meaning.”

J’hasi hummed, seeming more interested in his mead on the outside, but taking note of the name, Frostflow, for later. It could lead to some clues as to what the strange were-scent the Altmer gave off was. Last time he had run into a new were-scent, he’d nearly been drowned by a massive werecrocodile. Not that it seemed likely something like that would happen again, but it never hurt to be cautious. Of course, right now his caution seemed to be thrown to the wind, the Khajiit smirking a little.

“Right. Wouldn’t want poor impressionable minds to be forever scarred by the sight of a grown mer rolling about in the snow in nothing but their skin.” he stated offhandedly, grinning when he heard a Nord further down the bar choke into their tankard. His tail flicked, more at ease now that the stranger wasn’t likely to eavesdrop again.

“There’s more at the College than just learning magic. But it serves as a nice break now and then.” J’hasi took a long swig of his mead, licking his lips once he finished the tankard, pouring the rest of the bottle into its depths.

“Course, so does traveling. Meeting new people. Chatting.” He frowned a little, thinking over how he could phrase the questions he wanted to ask in a way they could be taken as simple conversation in case others tried to listen in. He looked up at the mer with a smile, offering a hand to shake.

“Should introduce myself, shouldn’t I? M’name’s J’hasi.”

♡!!!

“Hm…” The Khajiit kept an unimpressed expression on his face as he looked over the Altmer, slowly walking a circle around him as if ‘assessing’ him. He finally came to a halt in front of the mer, arms folded and a finger tapping on his lips as if thinking. J’hasi smirked.

“I suppose you could be intimidating. If you tried.” He laughed, tail curling at the tip in amusement.

“You’ve got lovely hair. It’s a nice color.”

kingofmead:

During the brief pause, Kade took the time to pick away at his meal. It was a little exciting to banter with a stranger, saying he truly hated his wolf counterparts wasn’t quite right. Maybe it was a feeling of rivalry, like a sibling who knew they weren’t their father’s favorite. Left then to pick on the other to prove their worth, somehow.

“Oh really?” He gave a short bark of forced laughter and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave the Khajiit a smirk. “I’d love to see how long a frail little thing like you could last out here, it’s not for the faint of heart you know.” He paused then to glance around the room, feigning disinterest. “So, where’d you come up from? Or are you some lone-wolf traveler? I can’t say the Pale is a popular spot to flock to.”

A small grin flitted over the Khajiit’s face as he poured more mead into his tankard, giving the mer a side-eyed, assessing glance over their frame before lifting his drink to his lips.

“I dunno, you’ve seemed to manage just fine.” he quipped, smirking as he tipped his head back to down a swallow or two. His tail curled in amusement before he lowered the tankard back to the bar, briefly debating on if telling this stranger his usual whereabouts was a good idea. The boldness afforded by the drink quickly answered that question.

“Winterhold, near the sea. Nothing but ice and snow bears out there. Unfortunately, also means that there isn’t a whole lot of paid work available. But it seems the Pale has its share of troubles, and that’s all I need to know.” J’hasi licked his lips, fiddling with the label of his mead bottle, drawing a sharp claw to tear a line down through it.

“I suppose it’s only fair to ask you the same… Do you live in town here? Or in the mountains?” he asked, a brow raised slightly in mild curiosity. Never hurt to learn where this one roamed if things got a little heated.

☆ = Character’s best dream?

I’ve been sitting here trying to think of ‘the best one’, but I’m drawing a blank so we’ll settle for ‘a good one’.

He was swimming in murky water, you couldn’t see too much ahead other than occasional bits of moss or debris that managed to fall into whatever body of water he was swimming in, but rather than most swimming dreams that end up badly, he was faster, smoother in the water, more streamlined. There wasn’t any feeling of holding his breath, either, just…breathing the water, but it felt like air, which was confusing when he thought back on it, but in the dream it didn’t occur to him enough to draw much attention to it. J’hasi realized he was fishing, and by the make of his spear and the fish he was finding, he was back in Black Marsh, and wow would you lookit that, he had scales!

The dream was pretty calm and not much happened in it other than hunting fish and occasionally checking out his Argonian body, but just the feeling of ease of movement and not feeling the drag of water in his fur made this dream a good one. And he didn’t suddenly change back or drown at the end, so even better. He had a cheerful spring in his step the next day, which seemed to amuse Maarzi.

kingofmead:

Now it was the Altmer’s turn to give a start, though all he had to swallow down was the hurt pride at the comment made on his dinner… Among what he assumed was other things. He puffed out his cheeks with a small harrumph and turned his head away to side-eye the stranger. “And the looks about you is enough to know your kills are few and far between indeed. At least I manage more than ‘getting by’, no?”

As if to accent just how un-insulted he was the mer angrily stuffed a large bit of his glazed salmon into his mouth, trying to come up with something clever to make himself feel better.“Why, pray tell, is a Khajiit looking for the favor of Jarls anyhow? Nords don’t very well trust you as much as they do my kind.”

His pupils constricted a little at the jab at his physique, but other than the increased tempo of his tail flicks, the Khajiit didn’t seem to react.

“It’s not favor I’m after. Just coin enough to drown myself in drink.” he stated thinly, plucking up the bottle resting near his tankard and pouring the last of it inside. The scent of mead did well to cover up the scent of the mer’s affliction nicely as he picked up the tankard to drink, keeping an eye on them as he did so. The tankard, once emptied, was set back on the bar, licking his lips as he tried to appear at ease. He even stretched a little, fingers splayed out in front of him as the pleasant pull at his shoulders loosened them up. A sly smirk was directed at the giant mer as he signaled the barkeep for another bottle.

“Although…maybe gaining the favor of the Jarl wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Might be worth sticking around this Hold for a time.” J’hasi goaded lightly. The drink was making him feel bolder, and if the were wanted to hiss and spit at him for being in ‘their territory’, let them.

kingofmead:

Kade wasn’t much paying attention to his surroundings, mind and body fixated on finding himself the nearest bar stool to grab himself a drink– or two.

It wasn’t until after he’d sat down and made himself comfortable, ordered his drink, and took a moment to soak in his environment did the smell of Wolf cause his nose to crinkle. Slyly – or what he assumed to be so – the Altmer glanced out of the corner of his vision at the pretty-colored Khajiit sitting next to him, eyes squinting ever so slightly. Well, a Were-Wolf-Cat? That was certainly a new one. “I don’t suppose you’re all the way out here for hunting are you?” He spoke up, the tone of his voice smug in that ‘I know your secret’ sort of way. “I’m afraid you’ll be sorely disappointed, cat.”

J’hasi’s eyes widened, his throat suddenly constricting just as he took a drink, causing him to grimace. He tried to swallow, the alcohol burning in his nose as he also now had to try not to break down into a hacking fit. He managed that much, though left with his face burning from both lack of air and anxiety, clearing his throat and giving a small cough, eyes watering a little. His voice was rusty and his throat tight when he was finally able to speak.

“…found enough to get by. No one will miss a few bandits an’ ’m sure th’ Jarl will pay well for their heads.” he managed to say, sniffing a little to get the uncomfortable feeling out of his nose. The scent was strange to him, recognizable enough to know that it was of a were, but…none he had encountered before. The ‘cat’ part caused his nose to wrinkle a little, ears flicking back, coughing a little again.

“Though I hardly see how that’s any of your concern, smoothskin. You seem content with the steady parade of sweetmeats that magically make their way to your table.” he stated firmly, glaring at the taller mer as his tail tip twitched back and forth near the leg of his stool.

☁!!

He couldn’t help the small rise in his fur when the mer passed him, their sheer physical size alarming enough without the scent of…some sort of were lingering on them. J’hasi’s ears twitched, nearly flicking back in unease before he pushed up his bangs, mane sliding between his fingers as he tipped his tankard to the side enough to evaluate how much he had left before tipping it back to pour down his throat.

They seemed to be at ease. Nothing to worry about. ‘Lovely hair, though…’ he thought with a touch of longing.

☃!!

He had been stalking one of the bigger of these weird, new flat-faces for a while now. A whole five minutes maybe! But when he rushed up to take them out at the knees…he realized just how…huge…they were. Marsh stumbled to a halt, tail curling under his legs a little before he puffed out his chest, making him look maybe a tiny bit bigger than he did before.

“<I wanna touch yer feathers! Please?>” he barked out, swishing his tail impatiently behind him before hopping in place, stiff-legged and making grabby hands at the long reddish feathers laying over the big one’s head and shoulders, even on their face! If they didn’t let him touch, he’d take back his truce and go for the knees. He’d be able to reach if they’d just get down here.