RP:Confirming All Evil

The Slippery Eel

If you want to meet local people this is the place to be. Everyone from the lowest field hand to the e Tenebris themselves frequent the inn. Smoked eels hang from the ceiling, their preparation a closely guarded local secret, something to do with the dark, warm places they are cured. You are most likely to find friendly wenches serving drinks, keen to earn the extra gold. There's a jovial air to the inn apart from the darkest corner where a group of men, who look like smugglers, talk quietly, heads together. Two off-duty guardsmen occasionally glance at them from their seats at the bar. A door lies at the back of the inn. This leads to a large square with buildings running off it and a sandy track winding South. A battered board gives some messages posted about the local area.

Tyler finally manages to make his way home, the rusted doorknob offering another banshee like screech upon turning the handle. As the man enters the room he slowly removes his jacket and hangs it up at the hook by the door. He then follows by kicking his boots off and pulling his sweat stained shirt from his torso and tossing it to the ground below. Then, something odd happens, he just stands there. For a good thirty or forty seconds he doesn't move. His body is freezing but he doesn't shiver. His heart is racing but he doesn't stagger. He just, literally, stands motionless with his hands locked together. Finally, he pops his knuckles and inhales a deep breath before turning and promptly tackling Skylei. No matter where she was, or what she was doing, he glomps her. His arms tightening around the female as he unleashes a frenzy of kisses upon her, no mercy in his assault. Apparently, during his walk, he figured it all out.

Skylei :: In the time that Tyler had been gone, Sky had clearly figured out enough to be able to get up from the bed. She's sitting at the desk again and writing -another- letter. Josleen and Skylei needed a constant level of communication between the two of them, now that they no longer lived together. Today's letter is a response to Josleen's joyous news about her move to Larket and features interesting gossip such as exactly what her engagement ring looks like (this alone is two paragraph's long), the fact that Tyler had apparently found them somewhere to live in Cenril and that Sky had, two days previous, seen the butcher's wife having a very intense conversation with one of the boys down at the fish market and Sky wants to know what the bard's opinion on this matter is. It's a smattering of gossip, news and female nonsense. She doesn't move an arm to cover this letter, instead simply turning around and smiling at the human. She's a little confused as he just stands there doing quite literally, nothing. Then he grabs hold of her and covers her in a barrage of kisses. Skylei just squeals and bats her arms around as though she is trying to fight him off. She's not; secretly, she loves it.

Tyler continues his loving onslaught and manages to conquer all of Skylei's head with quick, light kisses, causing her hair to go in a mess in the process. When his conquest is finished the human drops to the floor and leans against the bed with his back offering a large grin to his wood elf. Those caramel hues of his are gleaming and shining brightly, they shift rapidly to examine every inch of the woman sitting before him. Wiping at his mouth to clear away any rouge saliva that may've escaped during his attack he catches his breath and exhales. "Skylei, I *explicit* love you." The tone of his voice comes as though he is speaking the proclamation in a court, with nothing but fact to back it up. Sliding his foot toward her chair he begins to rub hers playfully. "I really, -really- do."

Skylei reaches her hand up to her head after the human had decided to take a seat by the side of the bed. She feels the fuzz created by her hair being rubbed around by Tyler's persistent kisses. Rolling her eyes at him and his declaration of love and his sudden and overwhelming need to play footsie with her. She can't work out why he has come back in such a jovial mood unless… "Darling, have you been drinking?" She doesn't think that he had been and she hasn't smelt alcohol on his breath as he had assaulted her with his kisses and so it seemed unlikely that the human had been dallying with the poison that he hated so. "Or are you just feeling particularly friendly today?"

Tyler sticks out his tongue at the mention of booze, the man rapidly shaking his head no. "Hell no. That stuff is just horse piss, y'know?" He shrugs at her mention of him just being playful. "Just thought some things over when I went out. Drew up some scenarios and, well, I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you." He smirks as he concludes with rapid speech. The human indeed not drunk, but rather hyper. He continues to maintain physical contact with Skylei at all times. He rambles on for a few minutes about his walk, encountering a minotaur that had knocked him well on his ass a few weeks ago in the city and actually receiving an apology, seeing a golden dragon fly over head without any issue and even helping a wolf free from a trap which actually gave him a rather nasty wound. He pulls up his pants leg to show a rough looking bite - one that Tyler had only managed to care for by pouring water over it. Though the pain doesn't seem to register in his mind for once he concludes he regains eye contact with Skylei and falls silent. Refusing to speak as his eyes scour hers in search of something hidden within.

Skylei rolls her eyes and the very expected denial that alcohol had been consumed; and she believed him of course. This is not the first time that she had seen the human behaving as though he had gone slightly insane with joy. As he tells her his story she would move from the chair and move down onto the floor besides him. She would attempt to rest her head on his shoulder, but the human is so animated that she quickly gives up and instead just watches as he speaks, making the appropriate noises of happiness, amazement and displeasure at the correct parts of the tale. As he shows her the wound, Sky opens her eyes wide and shakes her head, "For the love of the gods, Tyler!" She's not angry. She's almost amused by the fact that he had, in such a short time, managed to cause injury to himself.

Tyler makes a "psh" sound and slaps the air in front of him as she exclaims toward his wound. "Don't be so surprised. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago you were constantly tending to life injuring non-sense? Remember? The sword in the gut. Chain around the neck. All that? Yeah, well. This is nothing..." He trails off. Tyler's gitty attitude failing fast as his mind turns a one-eighty and he finds himself focused on something else. Though he doesn't fall sad or depressed, instead he turns to look at Skylei, her ring, and then back to her. "You said you'd love me forever, right? Despite my evils?" His eyes are sincere, this isn't a joke. He means his words and Tyler clearly has something in mind.

Skylei rolls her eyes yet again as Tyler makes reference to the fact that she had spent weeks in a constant state of panic as to whether she would find her human dead or alive the next time she saw him. She doesn't want to seriously think about it though because, though she has many happy memories intertwined with those memories of pain and misery, she cannot think about her beloved in a state where he might die. As he falls out of his happy state and into a more pensive mood, Sky would offer him the same response as she had the night that she had accepted the ring, "I love you, Tyler. For as long as you'll have me by your side, I'll be there." Sky would shake her head as Tyler once more suggests that there is an evil inside him. She will not address this again. She cannot and will not believe that there is a darkness inside him that she does not see.

Tyler sees it. He spots the doubt in her eyes. The denial that the human speaks the truth. The rejection to the possibility of an ounce of darkness living in side of him. He reacts. Quickly pushing himself up from the floor, he moves around the room, blowing out all candle light to leave the two in complete darkness. His words creep through the darkness and pierce her ear, "If you decide to take that back... I won't blame you." It begins. At the center of the room Tyler begins to move his hands in a majestic motion, what starts as a small shower of snowflake sized bits of mana soon evolve into a tidal wave of the blue hued projectiles. All around them a picture is painted, one that Tyler had long since kept hidden from his wood elf in fear of losing her. It begins with their meeting at the tavern, the night after and the night after. In every instance, from the time they sat at the bar to the night they stood at the edge of the world at the Scenic View, a dark creature lingers at Tyler's side. The evil incarnate holding the same form as her beloved human though sporting a severely disfigured visage that is covered in scars, burns and fresh bleeding wounds. His words are heard as they are spoken as if the scene were playing out just before Skylei in real life. Phrases of Tyler's idiocy, beckoning him to end his relationship with the wood elf, convincing him to steal from the weak, pleading for him to join the Kitsune in the forest, to participate in the tournament... all of it. This act continues until a crucial part arrives, Tyler's slavery while Skylei was missing, however the scene plays out far different than Linken and the others had seen it. Rather than Tyler being attacked by the slavers, he assaults himself, chaining his own neck to the cave wall and performing the entire operation under the influence of Relyt, including the capture of Celinia and torture upon his own flesh. Tyler doesn't seem to be aware of the situation, finding himself believing that he is truly a captor despite Relyt sitting at his side in silence. This episode concludes with Linken freeing the duo, and Relyt vanishing with the remaining members of the slavers, Tyler unaware of his actions. It goes on to show the night Skylei tormented him in the very room they rest in now, her taunting actions and convincing him of her death. Then, another, a long talk between Relyt and the human as Tyler comes to terms that he was the one who enslaved Celinia and himself and he even listens as Relyt pitches a similar idea. He becomes tormented by nightmares, visions of himself bringing an end to Skylei, Josleen and Celinia's lives in one blood filled tale. The human grows exhausted and angry. The wraith attack occurs and Relyt continues to insult him and judge his actions. The human has enough and begins searching for a way out, he finds one, to kill Relyt. The next thirty minutes show Tyler's journey with Nowfaleena, Celinia and Linken across all of Hollow. His theft of the two blood stones in Xalious, the robbing of the grave for body fragments in Vailkrin and the summoning of Relyt at the necrolyte temple. Gruesome images of Tyler slaying his own demon while in flesh in blood are cast before Skylei, sparing no detail, even the end when Tyler rips the beasts' throat out with his bare hands, crying as if he'd just lost his best friend. Finally the images around the duo would fade, the mana relighting the candles around them before crashing into the floor and fading. Tyler is staring at Skylei, his eyes watering as he fights back the flood of emotions slamming into his chest. After a few seconds his lips would part, and his words are rasp and low, "I still... feel the evil." He admits. Despite killing Relyt, and clearing his mine from insanity, Tyler still feels compelled to satisfy his strong taste for greed, and even has dreams of killing those who cross him. It's not something he wants. But it sticks. He shows Skylei all of this in hopes of understanding and perhaps forgiveness, though logically he expects the opposite. He braces for her reaction.

Skylei watches as the pictures fill the darkness that surrounds them. She has so many questions as the scenes play out. At first she doesn't understand who the second Tyler is; the creature that looks so akin to her beloved and yet so different. The darkness in Relyt is so clear to her, and yet when she looks upon her human, her Tyler, she has never seen a dalliance of that in him. As the series of images continue, it becomes clearer and clearer, until the haf-elf realises exactly what has been occurring in Tyler's mind and under his skin for the months that they have known each other. It's a sickness that shocks her to her core; most because it is something that she hadn't even realised truly existed. The worst perhaps is the final image and the tears that flow so freely as Tyler destroys that part of himself. She sees regret, fear and horror on his face and it hits her like an arrow to the heart. Skylei has been dancing with fire this entire time. All it would have taken is one rogue move from Tyler, perhaps as she lay asleep by his side or whilst they walked together along paths trodden by few, one little word in his ear from his darker counterpart to tip him over the edge and he could have ended her life. And not just her life; Skylei feels physically nauseous as she realises that she had placed people, specifically her beloved best friend, to whom she is bound to protect and care for, in the way of such an ominous beast. Suddenly, so many things become clear to her; the mood swings, the greed, the need for coin, his participation in the tournament, the uncontrollable anger he had displayed towards Javier when they had been alone in the clinic and so much more ring with a new found, disturbing, twisted truth. The lights come up and she cannot look at him. It is her own shame that plagues her more than anything that he has done. Tears are clear in her eyes but are yet to spill forth and make passage down her cheeks. She can only say two things, "I feel so stupid." And then the tears begin to roll down her cheeks as she grips hold of her own knees and utters a constant refrain of "I'm so sorry."

Tyler is winded from the display. Pale skin is nearly green from nausea as he forces himself to take a seat on the floor, legs crossed and elbows burrowed. He hears her, but he does not reply. What was she sorry for? For not knowing? For her friends who she had placed in danger? For what? He holds his tongue and allows his head to drop and his gaze to fall from Skylei to the floor. He isn't sure what he expected to happen. He is thankful that she hasn't already sprinted for the door and sworn him off. He tries to picture how she must feel after seeing all of this, though he fails to even begin to fathom how her mind is processing the information. Part of him wants to get up and leave, the other wants to move to her side and cry with her, something he doesn't do very often anymore. He does neither. Remaining at his spot on the flood Tyler moves his right hand and begins tracing random imaginary designs on the floor with his index finger, his chin propped in his left hand. He feels better for being honest with Skylei, as if a weight was picked up off of his shoulders and he was once again one-hundred percent clear to her. Though he also feels ashamed. Ashamed that he hid it in the first place, ashamed to put such stress on her. He sighs and allows his eyes to fall shut to push the emotions back in. He swallows heavily and moves his hands to his cheeks and keeps his eyes fixated down low. What the hell was he doing...

Skylei continues to cry, her head swiftly buried in her knees so that the sound of her sobs are muffled and don't bounce off the hard walls of the room. She has no idea what to make of what Tyler has just shown her. In truth, she feels almost cheated; yes, she'd seen glances of the darkness that had possessed Tyler's entirety, but, like the complete and utter fool she was, Sky had chosen to ignore them and pretend they didn't exist. She had wanted to play fairytale with this man and it had come back and bitten her; he's not the prince, he is the beast,. That is what logic tells her. She should get up, dry her eyes, throw that ring on the floor and walk away. Protect herself and those around her from whatever evil it was that lived inside her beloved's body. Instead she is curled in a ball on the floor, crying as though she has just lost something dear. In a way, she has. What she wants is for him to come and hold her, or t hit him until he is black and blue, or to kiss him and tell him that she doesn't care and she will love him regardless of this darkness. Or all three. But she gets none of the above. All she gets is solitary, pitiful tears rolling down her cheeks as she desperately holds herself.

Tyler feels his anxiety hit him hard, the human feeling desperate to aid Skylei or flee for his life. His heart is racing and hands and knees begin to shake. He finally manages to pull his gaze from the floorboards and swallows once again. He makes his move. Slowly edging himself to his hands and knees he would silently crawl until he manages to take a sear by Skylei's side, and slides his left hand to fall upon her elevated leg. "I didn't want to keep anything from you. I didn't even know it was real until after I met you... I've still meant every word I said." Hesitation is imminent and the human halts to collect his thoughts. Right foot grinding at the floor before folding under the left. "I can leave if you want, Sky. No ill will. I promise... I wouldn't want to be with me either..." He flexes his jaw and begins to raise his hand to move it from Skylei's leg, though just as it raises it falls back in place. "But know that I love you, and I always will." It hits him hard. The regret, the remorse, the feelings of despair and loneliness. His choices coming into focus as he struggles to extend his next sentence and finally after choking on the words he is able to speak. "I chose you over him..." This was the end game of it all. Tyler had killed his only friend in order to be happy with Skylei. Despite his battles with sin, the human had picked a woman he'd known for only a few short months over a friend he'd conjured in his mind years ago. He loved her. If she left, it would kill him. He would keep his word. He would not speak or act ill upon her, nor her friends. Though it was sure to set him down the path he so greatly struggled to keep from. His fate lay in her hands, and for once, he feels fear - fear of Skylei.

Skylei :: As soon as Tyler's hand comes into contact with her leg, Skylei grabs it as though she is a woman drowning and he is a liferaft. She continues to cry and mumble apologies as he speaks, though she feels as though she has very few tears left to cry. It is when he chokes on his words that she finally regains her calm. Deep breaths follow. In and out she breathes, slower and slower until she has regained control of her lungs. When the anger he is expecting finally arrives, it takes a rather different form to the one he likely thought he would see. It's a sad anger, a sorrow filled furnace of emotion that bubbles out more calmly than she ever thought it could, "Stop telling me to leave or offering to go! I love you. I bloody love you, in spite of your flaws, in spite of those damn evil things you've thought about me." Her hand presses her chest and then his, "I love you, don't you get it? It's like you want me to go!" Finally she points at that ring that has filled her with so much happiness and fear over the last few hours, "The next time you give me one of those, the very next time, when we say our vows to one another, or whatever it is you want to do to commit ourselves, we're officially bound for life by the law of the land and by that of the gods. The fact that I said yes when you gave me this." Skylei shakes her head as though she feels utterly idiotic, "As far as I'm concerned, I'm yours. Always; no matter what happens. I don't need a second ring or a ceremony to do that."

Tyler feel relieved as Skylei offers him attention and his face of distress is quickly turning into a grin as she begins to proclaim her love for him. He pulls his hand from her grasp and wraps it around her shoulder, pulling the woman into him and replacing the vacant spot on her leg with his opposing hand. "Don't be an idiot, Skylei. Seeing you leave would be the hardest thing I've ever done..." He places a kiss on her forehead and gives her a firm squeeze. "Also, I want to say it wasn't me who thought those things... but I guess, technically it was... I don't know. If it was me, I didn't mean it. And fine, I'll accept it. Neither of us are going anywhere. You're mine, and I'm yours." He grins and rests his head against hers and allows a minute for the moment to settle down before he whispers, "And speak for yourself... I'm looking forward to the ceremony".

Skylei is not looking forward to the ceremony. Perhaps in a weird kind of way she was hoping that, with this private declaration of her love and commitment she would get away without one and they could just live a happy life in unmarried sin. It seems she was not going to get away with that and, in spite of her tear streaked face and the fact that she is sniffing near constantly, Sky offers her best attempt at humour. With a groan she would push her shoulder playfully against his, "Why in the name of all you hold dear" - she's learnt not to question him with reference to the gods, it would seem, "would you be looking forward to standing up in front of a bunch of people; most of whom you don't seem to particularly like, by the way," here, she makes reference to her friends; most obviously her closest bard friend, "and declare your love for me?" It seems that the two of them have made their peace over Tyler's (or Relyt's) past misdeeds, but for some reason, Sky cannot shake the feeling that this is not the last time she will see that side of Tyler.

Tyler arches a brow at her questioning and a wicked smile spills across his face. "To make them all jealous of course. I mean, what better way to rub it in someones nose that you made out better than them than by having a beautiful Skylei taking your hand?" He is joking. Sort-of. The mention of Josleen seems to have less of an effect on the human than usual. Perhaps it's simply because he hasn't seen the woman in so long and has been per-occupied with everything else going on. But still, he wasn't one for gatherings and honestly wasn't very excited about their day apart from the fact that is was just that, theirs. He kisses Sky's soggy cheek, "What do you say we head to bed for the night? Let all this... this nonsense settle down and just enjoy each others company?"

Skylei turns a beautiful shade of puce as Tyler makes his joke about her looks. Though she suspects he's probably joking (she's certainly not ugly, but by no means is she a looker, either) she can't help but be overwhelming flattered by his sweetness. Instead of answering his silliness with words she would simply nod and pull herself off the floor and onto the bed that she is leaning against. She would leave it to Tyler to extinguish the lights in the room and ensure the door was locked and all of the things that she usually liked to take care of. She's feeling more than a little fragile and she wants him to look after her.

Tyler nods to himself as Skylei makes her way into the bed. He pushes himself up and moves to extinguish the lights one by one, his body too fatigued to do so with magic. Making his way to the door he would crack it and listen in to some of the ramblings going on down stairs before closing it and fastening the lock securely. Taking out the final light by the door he then crawls into bed with the wood elf and wraps his arm around her, keeping his body close, unwilling to be without her tonight. He then proceeds to drift off to sleep - all thoughts replaced by but one, Skylei.