RP:Don't. Be. A. Dumb---
Part of the Vakmatharas' Jar Arc
Summary: Brennia and Aevo discover that SiDD was kidnapped?! And then tortured for information, but that didn't go so well. Brennia feels bad, but like good friends SiDD and Aevo make it okay.
Smyth College of Bardic Arts
After finding your way through the Topiary Garden it would only be fitting to come upon a building which looks like a section taken right out of any castle in the same style as all of Schezerade, in all it's decadence; marble forming the entirety of the large building accented with gold and platinum in which you'll have to cross over a glass bridge in order to reach it. The front door is welcoming for all shapes and sizes that are the citizens of Hollow and spans a great distance in it's solid French Door of a design. Opening it up one might be perplexed at the ability for the fortress to hold such music coming from the main hall there with all of the astute students practicing their talents. Once immersed, the eyes might be stolen by the gaping cathedral ceilings above, spotted by gold and platinum in which encircle mini glowing stones to mimic the night sky, but beauty is not what the ceiling is for; it carries one's voice in the most pleasing fashion. This main hall is quite a vast oval-shaped room, but the walls are shelves, carved into small diamond shapes. Each slot contains a scroll to nearly any song someone might wish to hear or practice in it's magic. Among the marvelous white-wood, gold-accented, concert grand piano in the middle of this large room there are a plethora of nearly every musical instrument imaginable, one just has to look.
Nearing further into the castle one's nostrils might pick up on the scent of mouth watering food being cooked wafting from the kitchen which is north of the main room and it also holds an elegant dining area containing a handful of small tables. In the corner of this kitchen there is a winding staircase which travels below where students are bustling to and fro. If you wish to stay, grab your favorite spirits from the well stocked kitchen and listen to the bardic magics, relax in one of the many luxurious sofas strewn about these to areas. Off to the east corner of the main hall, there is a locked staircase with an outreaching design in onyx stone overlay which is seemingly inking over into the pristine luxury you’ve found yourself in. It's as if the area above holds a darkness that's attempting to leak out into this little slice of heaven… Better just leave that door alone.
Sidd | It was a cool and dreary day; The sun hid behind dark cloud, the echoes of thunder creeping in from the distance. The first drop of rain was barely registered. The second causing eyes to flutter. The third, then fourth, well at this point there was no ignoring it. Sidd's eyes finally open to feast upon the sky above. His head was throbbing, muscles aching, and he had no idea where in the hell he was. His mouth tasted like ass, a mixture of booze and something awful he ate. What was that? As he sat up and looked around, the familiarity of the area slowly settled in. It looked like he passed out in the back streets of Cenril. The rain was falling harder now; It was cold and uncomfortable. If the human was tired before, the brisk falling precipitation definitely had him away now. He clamoured to his feet and tucked his hands into his pocket, starting a freezing cold walk to the west- His destination Schezerade. Back at the college, Aevo had been busy this morning, working with the staff and students to learn more about the campus that he was hired to help protect. Magic security or not, somehow there had been a breach. He crossed through the courtyard and into the main hall, his footsteps leading him to the dining area for something to sate his hunger. Along his path, he watched carefully, looking for either one of the two people he was most familiar with. Sidd still hadn't returned, and at this point, the lycanthrope was getting a little worried.
Brennia was in the dining area staring down a bowl of fresh fruit cut up in a bowl. Worry won’t let her eat and she glances around for Aevo in hopes to wave him down to ask him if he’s seen Sidd at all. She spots Sidd and immediately smiles before excusing herself from her table in order to quickly make her way to him. Deep blue eyes looking him up and down assessing any possible wounds and his soggy appearance. “Where have you been? I’ve - I mean, Aevo and I have been worked sick about you.” She looked a little worried still, but mixed with a touch of fury until she would attempt to wrap him into a wing accompanied embrace. “Are you okay? What happened?” She felt how damp and cold he is, but he would feel how warm and how inviting her wings are while being greeted by his favorite scent.
Sidd looked a like a wet dog that had been left out in the rain. He was soaked from head to toe as he entered the building, a trail of squishy muddy footprints trailing behind him as he made for the dining hall. He wasn't hungry. He just wanted to sit and get warm- his flesh was decorated in a layer of goosebumps. Sidd looked a little out of it as he finally pushed past the archway, steel blues lost and spacey. He had a few scratches on his arms, but most notable were his knuckles; Red, raw, and caked with dry blood. In Brennia's embrace he would fall forward and rest his head against her shoulder, arms wrapped in a hug. The warmth she radiated was reveled in, and that familiar scent made him feel at ease. "Yeah. I'm good." He mumbled. Sidd didn't quite feel himself, yet tried to play it off otherwise as to not arouse worry. "I... don't know. I think I might have... went on a bender." A soft chuckle. "I don't remember a damn thing." When Aevo spied Brennia and Sidd, he immediately closed the distance between them and himself, his boisterous voice echoing in the hallways. “There ye be ya bastard! Where'n th' hell did ye go?! Ye didn't meet me yesterday! Had us worried!"
Brennia glances around at the attention their scene was making. Concern riddled her expression and she looks up at Aevo, “come on Sidd, let’s get you upstairs to your room. There’s a fireplace up there.” She tries to gesture down at the scratches and bruises on Sidd’s arms to Aevo without Sidd noticing. In her opinion that looks like marks of those that get turned to lycanthropy because she’s heard this story befor. Counselor Deefoot-Barrows had made her way over to Sidd, “oh my, dear. You got yourself in a little scrape.” Brennia’s lips move when she looks down at the counselor and her words were in a near whisper, but she was able to throw her voice down to the hobbit, “Madame Mary-Anne. Would you bring an aid kit up to the restricted wing. We will be in his room, thank you.” She helps escort Sidd to his room, arm and wing around his shoulder and once the three are alone she asks, “are you sure you’re okay?” Almost as soon as they reach the door to his room the counselor brings a small box to Brennia, “thank you.” She will wait for Sidd to open the door to his own room.
Sidd first replied to his lycanthrope friend, "No idea, dude. Blacked out." Aevo catches that signal from Brennia and quietly looks down to the wounds on Sidd's hands and arms. It was hard to tell exactly, but he didn't see anything that would indicate lycanthropy- Although, he would be looking for bite marks as soon as they were in a more private setting. "Yeah... let's do that." the human stated then to Brennia's suggestion, tired sluggish steps following the avian's guidance. Once at the room, Sidd pulled out a key and unlocked the door, pushing it open slowly as he took the lead and entered the room. “Yeah. I’m fine. I think. Hungover.” he replied to the avian as he stumbled on over to the fireplace, dropping down onto his ass in a cross-legged position. One hand lifted to clutch at the side of his head. "Jeeze man. What the hell did I do last night?" he asked. Aevo walked past the worn out human and ripped the comforter off of the bed, throwing it at the guy. "Take yer damn shirt off n' get warm." he growled. A pitcher of water and glasses sat on the dresser, of which Aevo would soon fetch to pour out a drink for his friend. When Sidd's shirt came off, Aevo looked for anything major, yet saw only minor bruising in a couple of spots. It wasn't lycanthropy. Handing the water over, the wolven man spoke, "So ye ain't got any idea at all? Ye must remember before ye started drinkin' aye?" The answer returned probably wouldn't make anyone feel any better. It started with a laugh, his head shaken. "Nah. I remember... going to wash up. After that, it's blank. Woke up in Cenril this morning. Got pissed on by the rain." He tipped the glass of water back and began to drink, and drink... and drink. In one fell swoop the glass was emptied, sat down on the floor then beside him. "You guys don't remember seein' me take off at all?" he asked looking first to Aevo, and then to Brennia.
Brennia hums a spell as soon as they entered which made the fire blaze in the fireplace for him. Brennia got down on the floor before him in attempts to help take off his soggy shoes and set them near the fire so they could air out. After she excuses herself to wash her hands off in his own washroom she comes back and starts applying solvents to his cuts and scrapes, “this might burn a little.” She cleans the area with a cloth and then puts on the salve before sticking on bandages, “is anything other than your head hurting?” She hands him a vial, “here take this, it will at least make the headache go away.” Her concerned look went from Sidd to Aevo, “I didn’t see anything, how about you?” She stood up, passing Aevo accidentally grazing him with a wing and took the chair to his desk to bring it close to the fire in order to drape Sidds shirt over it. She assessed his shirtless form as well for anything else she might have to clean up or stitch and started putting the items away within the kit. Staring down at the box in her hands while she idly fiddles with it because she was feeling responsible while she mumbled out, “we could try a Memory Melody… If you want.” Setting the kit down on top of the mantle of the fireplace she looks down at Sidd, concern still riddling her expression while trying to catch of glimpse of his emotions upon his own face.
Sidd would not make any sort of fuss as she cleaned up his hand, the burn barely went noticed. He had been through so much these last couple of days that he was just sort of numb to it all. "Hah, everything. Though it's not that bad. Sore mostly. It was cold this morning when i woke up, so I think it's just aches from that." It was the only thing that he could say that seemed to make sense. Taking the vial, Sidd sticks it under his nose and gives it a few sniffs like a kid who's about to take a dose of medicine he dislikes. Down the hatch it goes, and of course, he would make a face. it was totally a Sidd thing to do. Aevo shook his head as Brennia inquired, a shoulder lifted with reply, "Nothin'. I'd be hazardin' a guess that he if'n he ain't rememberin' nothin', he probably got so blackout drunk that he tripped over his own feet last night. Been on them benders meself a few times, legs turn t'jelly." He watched the human, who now scooted a bit closer to the fire, tightly wrapping the blanket now around his still shivering form. "Jes a bit odd that y'don't even remember leavin' th' place. Must've been one helluva drink, kiddo." Sidd laughed to himself, still a bit on the foggy side as he said, "Must have." Curious, he glanced up to Brennia and stared, eyes traversing over every feature of her face that he could take in. He smiled in a confused manner, soon to ask, "A what?"
Brennia mentions, “well let’s warm you up. I hear skin on skin contact helps.” Her gaze travels over to Aevo with a cheeky smirk, “you’re already half naked.” She may have blushed slightly when Sidd looked at her in that way and her wings sort of shift behind her, preening, but she wasn’t sure if this look was good or bad. “Um… A what?” She forgot what she said and a slow blink when she recalled, “oh yeah. It’s a melody that puts you into a trance like state and then after you’re under a different melody will play to remember what you’ve lost. I will all sort of come back to you like a dream.” She shrugs slightly, “if you want to remember.”
Sidd lifts a brow to Brennia, her joking suggestion met with a bit of scrutiny. Aevo would go along with the idea almost immediately, “What’ye say, Sidd? Wanna cuddle with th’ big bad wolf, baby?” The human turns back to look at the mutt and warns him, “I will slug you right in the frank and beans, dude.” There’s a smirk that indicates that his reply wasn’t all that serious. Caramel skin came into focus again as Sidd listened to Brennia’s explanation, form shifting under the blanket he had so tightly wrapped around his body. He was intrigued at the prospect. “Will it hurt?” he asked, thinking the idea over. His gaze fell to the fire as he mused over the idea, whether it was a good idea or not. He wasn’t hurt. Not badly, at least. And he didn’t feel ill, or robbed. His belongings were still here in his room. Did it much matter? Although, there was that odd missing timeframe between when he left the building and when he started drinking. “I don’t know, I mean, if you think it’s a good idea? We could give it a shot.” Sidd looked up and smiled at Brennia, reassuring her that he would be okay with the idea.
Brennia lets out one of those soft raspy giggles at the pair. Shaking her head slightly, “no. It would just feel like you were asleep, but if you experienced any pain in the memory you’re missing you might feel a little bit of it when you wake up. Although, that will fade away easily once you realize you aren’t in the trance anymore.” She doesn’t want to assume he was drugged and then taken hostage by the enemy or anything and if so it’s not like they can really blame him. “Did you want to do this now?” She asks with a hopeful smile in return to his own and then a glance to Aevo, still trying not to like focus on all of that right now. “If you want to stick around and keep watch that would be fine, but you would definitely need that earring I gave you.” She focuses back to Sidd, “do you still have yours?”
Sidd didn't feel like that sounded too bad. A good sleep is something he needed anyway, so it would give him a chance to just fully shut down on a conscious level, or so he hoped. Aevo nodded, "Aye. Read ye loud n' clear, lass." he stated, adorning the enchanted object he had been gifted by the avian. Sidd fished his hands into his pants pocket, pulling out his own gifted earring to show Brennia. "Totally. Thing will come with me wherever I go." He mirrored her own smile and slipped the earring into an open hole on his lobe. it had been some time since he put jewelery through it, but it hadn't fully closed up. He seemed in good spirits now, as if he were finally coming around. Whatever was in that vial, appeared to be working just fine. "Yeah, we can do this now." he said in response. With a smirk, he then adds, "Yo. I don't wanna be cluckin' like a chicken. And hands off the merchandise while i'm out." The merchandise of course, being Sidd himself.
Brennia just wanted to make sure it wasn’t stolen from him because if an enemy got their hands on that, she might be SOL. “You don’t need to put it on now. I suggest you just keep those on otherwise so you don’t loose them and so the students can’t play any pranks on you either,” she motions to Aevo without looking at him. She glances around and the only instrument she can find is the guitar she gifted him. “Go ahead and lay down on your bed,” (because that’s where the magic happens amirite?) during which she picks up the guitar by the neck she asks, “may I?” When he tells them to keep their hands off she grins, “Aevo won’t make any promises seeing as my hands will be busy playing a song.” Once he said it was okay to play his guitar and took the earring out she would begin playing something gentle while lacing the song with Bardic enchantment to make him drowsy, probably sounding something like, Amy Lee’s cover of ‘Going To California’. Her eyes stayed closed during, out of habit, but also the wolf in the room… Her performances can be enchanting without the bardic magic, in their own way.
Sidd removes the earring and rises, leaving the blanket upon the floor upon which he sat; Kicking it back just enough so that an errant ember couldn't just up and light the thing on fire in his absence. He hops onto the bed with a bounce, situating himself into a comfortable position- although, laying there like a corpse was a bit awkward with two other people in the room. "Totes." The human replied to the caramel toned woman, soon lifting a middle finger as Aevo makes kissy faces in response to Brennia's joke. It had only been a short few days, but you could tell there was totally a bond forming there. He lay as still as he could, the bardic enchantment slowly creeping into his mind. He seemed still wide awake as he said, "I don't feel an....y...th..." but never finished the thought as he slipped into a deep trance. Aevo folded his arms over his burly chest and leaned up against the wall, quietly watching the events Brennia's magic unfold.
Brennia used her bardic ability to feel Sidd’s soul, in a non creepy way… Maybe a little creepy, but she feels when he finally goes under and eventually her song shifts to a more, ethereal and enchanting type of song. Once she gets the hang of the guitar seeing as it’s quite similar to the piano she actually somehow enchants the instrument to sound like a piano, but of course Aevo would just hear her in her natural talent. Even if his earring came off at this point he would just feel really relaxed and at peace, possibly let his imagination wonder. Brennia’s deep blue eyes focus on Sidd’s sleeping body, but whatever he was dreaming of in his memory would only be known by him. He would find himself walking through a haze until the haze became more solid and turned into the corridor walk to his room and take off from there.
Sidd moved in his sleep. He even seemed to talk. The first thing to come out of his mouth would be Brennia's name; Lips settled into a soft smile as the syllables sounded out. There would be silence for some time as he took a tour through the first part of his memory, the simplicity of running himself a bath. Then, with a solid twitch, he asked out loud, "Who the hell are you?" One arm flailed, more words ringing out. "YO! STOP!" Then all would go quiet for some time more. Beads of sweat began to roll across the human's forehead, his dream eliciting still more involuntary movements. "This ain't dangerous, is it?" Aevo asked, looking over to Brennia. The way Sidd fidgeted in his sleep was a bit alarming. "You won't win. She's better than you." Sidd spoke, soon letting loose a pained grunt before the corners of his mouth shifted into a grin. "You hit like a bitch." For some time longer he would fall quiet, head occasionally shifting from the left to the right and back. Whatever was going on inside that dream seemed a little intense. "NO! I won't go back! There's no damn way. Kill me. I'd rather you kill me. Please, no. Stop. I don't want to go back. I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK!!" Sidd suddenly shot up and out of his feverish dream, a wave of unseen push radiating from his flesh. It was strong enough to move loose clothing and hair; It was strong enough to extinguish the flame in the fireplace. Sidd quickly rolled over to the left and vomited onto the floor, Aevo swiftly jumping out of the way with a disgusted look on his face.
Brennia heard her name and blushed, just a little. It was the way he said it, okay?! Shut.up! She glanced to Aevo in his question and gave a shrug, but she kept playing until he made it through his dream. A roll of her yes, she knew that would happen and instantly regrets not opening the windows and balcony door before starting. The fire is out, but she starts it up again and even snaps her fingers a few times making little sparks, like lighting a match. All the while she gently set his guitar down and pushed open the balcony doors to let the gas cloud demon out, wings even adding to the efforts once again. “Why are we inside every time this happens?!” She asks Aevo as if it’s his fault but she stays at the balcony door and asks Sidd, “first things first, are you okay?” Making her way to the pitcher of water and pouring him another glass in case he needed it. “So… What did you remember?”
Sidd, at the moment, wasn't exactly the most appealing guy in the world, as he snorted and spit on the floor into his own pile of upchuck."Sorry." he muttered when that all too familiar odor was ushered out of the room. "What th' hell is wrong with ye?" Aevo asked with a wrinkled nose, reaching down to pick up the glass that Sidd had abandoned earlier. Again that pitcher of water was poured, the drink offered to the mohawked male whom did not hesitate to take it. Sidd looked over at the dresser in which the water originally sat, commenting when he saw something that was different than his dream. "There was another glass. They laced it, man." His tongue glided across his lips as he tried his best to recall. "I had a glass of water. Right after my bath. Then things went dark. I think.. they slipped something over my head. I woke up in a room. It looked like a storage room. Like.. a warehouse, maybe? It was them." Sidd looked to Brennia with a serious look. "The Flewminati." Aevo seemed a bit confused. "Flewminati? What in th' hell is th' Flewminati? Is that who attack th' college?" Sidd nodded in response to the kilted man. "Yeah." He swung his legs off the side of the bed so he could sit upon the edge, head lowered as he continued to remember. "They... I think they were going to use me to get you to drop out of your interest in senate. They tried to rough me up for information. I ...didn't tell them anything. I promise. Not like I know much, anyway, right?" Steel blues stared upon the floor, perhaps even past it as one particular part of the 'dream' came back to him. "Man, there was one dude there. It was a drow. Some sort of.. I don't know. Psychic? He .. found something. A memory... of my time in the Void. They were about to send me back. Holy crap. I was not having it. Not at all. I..." He finally lifted his head to look between Aevo and Brennia. "I don't know what happened next. it's all foggy, man. But, I'm here- So that's a good thing, isn't it?"
Brennia listened and eyes widened when he confirmed it was them. “Merde,” she said exhaustively, but let him finish before addressing Aevo’s question, “that’s correct. They all are apart of this secret cult, organization or society. I’ve been a target for a couple of months now, maybe more I am not entirely sure. I have a suspicion that they work alongside some of the corrupt seat holders within the senate.” She looks like she feels as if the guiltiest person, “I am so sorry I got you in the middle of this Sidd.” Then she thinks for a long moment, “I wonder if the attack from last night was just a distraction to get someone in here and take one of my closer friends that occupy this hall.” Her arms crossed under her bust and she looks like she could kill someone, herself, just now. “Would you think me a fool if I said that if I didn’t have interest in becoming Senator then I really do now?” Uncertainty riddles her expression when liberty blues look to Sidd and then to Aevo, “this needs to stop, but I cannot do much just as a Dean of the bard’s college.” She wonders if they will stand with her and fight or if they will think her crazy for wanting to keep fighting this fight. Her arms that crossed slipped to wrap more around her waist when her shoulders perk up in uncertainty, “I don’t know.” Her eyes cast down to the floor at her feet as she said in a mumble, “maybe I should just move out of Schezerade.”
Sidd fell backward onto the bed, replaying that moment over and over; He was so damned close to being tossed into that hole. That portal. That... Void. Part of him just wants to run. The other part is is telling him to suck it up. "Oh. Well, ain't that a rotten bit'o luck." Aevo comments after Brennia's explanation. "Don't be supposin' th' law can get involved, aye? Ever thought about hirin' yerself an assassin type?" The lycan moved over near the fireplace and leaned off to the side, watching the other two carefully. "Whatever." Sidd responded to her apology, one hand lifted to wave her off. "It's cool. At least life is interesting. HAH." His gaze roams along the ceiling as he listens, shoulders sliding against the mattress as she hypothesizes. "That's totally plausible. I mean, it was like, immediately the day after. And it was pretty early, before most of the campus was active. Kinda smart of them." Sidd's head lifted off the bed and he scoffed, "Hell naw. I'd like to see you get in there. Really stick it up their ass, hah. Teach them to think twice about messin' with you. I got your back- For real." Aevo nods sternly as he thinks about his options. "Aye. As head o' yer security, y'can count on meself to help with whatever ye need." Sidd's hand lifts and his thumb pops up, the action meant for Aevo as he couldn't really see the guy from his laid back position. "Rad. See, we got you." With those final words, Sidd let go of a chuckle, even though his tone was fairly flat. "And then they win. Do you want them to win? No. So. Don't be a dumbass, Brennia. You got a kick ass place. You got people that really depend and look up to you. Do not give in. Don't. Be. A. Dumbass." His hands lifted and his fingers and thumbs pressed together to form the shape of a heart; Symbolism to suggest that although his words might have sounded a little mean, he did care.
Brennia lifts a hand and her fingers find that ring dangling about her necklace once more at the mention of an assassin, “oh. Maybe.” She looked distant just then, distracted and a bit lost. Snapping out of it when the gentlemen before her sort of rally around her, so to speak, and support her, but this made her smile again and one of them big ones, too. Tears rimming her eyelids threatening to spill over and she jokes with a chuckle while wiping them away with the back of her hand, “you guys don’t get paid enough to be my friends.” Knowing damn well that anyone else would have up and left no matter how much she was paying them, but that wasn’t why they were here. “C’mere, I don’t care if it’s sappy,” she shortens the distance between her and Aevo for an embrace while motioning for Sidd to join them or at least stand up to get his own damn hug. Don’t make her get Raven out, man, because Ravens hugs are pointy in the places you don’t want. When she hugs Aevo it was sweeter than the one he got last night and softer in a way, yes with the pretty black wings, too. She hopes Sidd isn’t still so repulsed by her than he won’t want a ‘Brennia hug’.
Sidd cocked a brow. "Wait, I can get paid for being your friend? I want double for whatever the going rate is." He sat up, just in time to see Brennia giving Aevo a big old hug. His nose lifted as his lips curled. He was not into the sappy stuff. Not usually. Aevo grinned from ear to ear, the avian getting a firm squeeze and he repeated that very word from the night prior. "Woof." When the two released, Sidd pushed himself off of the bed and walked toward Brennia with arms open, but then at the last moment, snubbed her by walking past and wrapping his arms around Aevo. "Aye, see? I knew ye loved me." the lycan said, picking up on the gag. With a smart ass smirk, Sidd lets go of the large lycan and looks over Brennia with a faux thinking face. "Fiiiiiine. I guess so." he mutters in jest, quick to move in and give her what she wanted- A tight and caring hug.