RP:Outside The Last Note

Summary: Lucas meets Xzavior, who is very concerned about Reginae's death and affairs in Alithrya, while Meri attempts to befriend Xylo, because of course she needs to make friends with the dog.

Intersection

Meri is actually coming out of the Last Note. Well more like the shopkeeper cannot get her out fast enough, it is time to lock up and go home! Come back another day, Meri! In most cases, with most customers, this would probably not be the best example of customer service...but Meri is not most customers and she has already been in that shop a few times in recent weeks with her incessant questions because her lack of understanding of anything musically related really is minimal at best. 'Sounds pretty' is the depth of her knowledge. Still, she is all but being shoved out of the shop with a one or two pieces of sheet music in hand. Those are the ones she managed to settle on, there are more she is still mulling over. Another time, another day. For now it is late and Meri has just hit the streets of Cenril, where she stands looking rather indecisive. What to do now...

Xzavior was coming along with a rather thoughtful look on his face. Many things running through his mind at the moment over the events yesterday and things even before that. Reginae supposedly gone, this new naga usurping the throne and him the one of his kind now, legitimately, fighting for the crown, there was a lot of things he needed to do. First thing on that list, collect his thoughts. He was stressing himself out too much. Finding himself back in the coastal city, he raised a brow before seeing the artist coming out of the music shop. Smiling a bit, he made his way over and raised a hand, "And what would you be doing out here.

Lucas has a bounded leather binder on one side of his armpit, a patterned fluffy dog trotting along beside him with a leash that links to his other free hand. The half elf would usually let Xylo roam, but since this was a public setting, most people were growling at the man to “put the dog on a leash”. Luke wants to be low key in this land, he is not about to draw attention unless he wants it. The two are on their way home to their apartment, well, until a she-devil is spotted in the distance. Music sheets are visible and there goes the ping in Lucas’ stomach. The Last Note was not far away, she had to be drawn to him. What was the other explanation? Their date was tomorrow, this should be good. What was this woman doing? She appeared confused, lost, maybe conflicted or bored. “Meri,” he hollers with a wave with a clenched elbow in his side to hold the mysterious binder. “Small world,” he gazes over her briefly, eyes on the notes as he strides with the colorful dog blacks, browns and whites. The naga then sways into view. Lucas might be stunned, his expression stoic, who knew? He then adds to the conversation “I can ask the same thing. Doing a little musical research..? You play?” There might be a hint of a smile, but mostly curiosity.

Meri trades Lucas, he can eyeball the music sheets...which definitely frees up her hands so that she can fawn over the dog. Xylo is the only one who actually gets a proper hello out of Meri (by dog expectations). I mean...she may not always be the most feminine chick out there but she is still female and if you put a cute fluffy puppy in front of her...Yup. "Hoooow cute." This is said while trying to pet Xylo of course, if the puppers is tolerant of this behavior. "What is his name? Her name?" Some what after all of this she comes to the realization that has forgotten her manners, again. Whoops. "Hey. Xzavior, this is Luke. Luke, this is Xzavior." While yesterdays coronation is not forgotten, Meri's not just going to go out talking about it. That would be awkward. Sorry your sister was assassinated? "I don't play noooo. But I don't need to play. I know someone who can enchant instruments...." Which has been a work in progress of Meri's for a little bit now. "What are you two doing out here? Hasn't anyone told you it's not safe on the streets of Cenril at night?" Said with a smirk, because she was doing....?

Xzavior turned when he heard the second person come up and offered him slight bow. Meri having introduced him already, he gave a friendly smile before saying, "A pleasure." turning back to Meri he scoffed jokingly at the idea of him being in any danger. Not like anyone would really wanna mess with a naga right? "I'm just trying to clear my head honestly. Old habit of mine. I wonder when I think. Sometimes I wonder a little too far. But what's all this about enchanting instruments now?"

Lucas takes the music sheets with his tucked elbowed hand. Amber irises can over the sheets with a squint. He is silent while she pets the pupper. Puppers always gets attention. The shaggy dog already had a great life. Women, good food, a great shared bed, and good man’s best friend love aka Lucas. The dog begins to sniff Meri all over the place as she leans into him. Her hair, her arms, her legs, her hand. Oh, yes, he will kiss it. Xylo will lick any hand that pets him. Lucas then peers over the sheets and looks down at the overly waggy dog. “Xylo, short for Xylophone,” he smirks at his own name choice. He then glances at the naga. Shoulders ease back. “Pleasure, I’m sure,” with a nod and a scan over. Xzavior was right, Lucas would not mess with a naga… or would he? Probably not. A beat, “Enchant?” Luke curious as well. “Not safe? I suppose,” he is nonchalant. He might have had dirt on Cenril. He had resources and great ears. There would be no messing with Lucas Bosco. Luke, sure. Lucas, no. “But please, tell us about your magical enchanting musical hoodydoo,” not that he was mimicking her, since magic was real. “You should learn to actually play. Give a few free tutoring sessions if you will,” he grinned with cross arms.

Meri has done some crazy things, a naga would not be the most intimidating thing that she has danced with. Probably more intimidating than Lucas Bosco though! Attention slowly starts to wane from Xylo. Slowly. It's not all eyes on the dog now, she is participating in the conversation but Xylo is still getting quite a bit of lovin' from the blonde. A grin is on her lips, shrugging as they both press her to explain what she means. "So this woman named Rachelle can like make instruments play on their own. I invested in something for the shop a few weeks ago." Which is really the closest thing to a 'radio' Meri could get, okay. "....But I'm not going to spill all of the beans! You losers will have to come out to the place to see it." The offer to learn an instrument is addressed last, but she is not speaking to Lucas directly. Baby blues level on Xzavior as she hitches a thumb toward the bard, "He is offering to be my tutor. Does that mean what I think that means? I am pretty sure that does." Meri wiggles her brows suggestively.

Xzavior chuckled a bit when she did that and rolled his eyes a bit, "Sadly I've got more pressing issues to deal with at the moment, so no self playing instruments for me at the moment. Hopefully soon though." He'll admit, the dog was cute. But he had his own puppy. Kinda. If you count a fully grown wyvern who acts like a puppy. Coiling his tail beneath him, he sank down a bit getting more comfortable before going a bit silent. He honestly didn't have much to say and he was sure these two were more inclined to talk to each other. Not that he couldn't put his own comments in.

Lucas is just a haughty teddy bear with a tattletale tongue. A lack of aggression. Cool and collected and very persuasive. Xylo is moving in a circle so the leash is tied up around the woman and now the man is following the dog to get her unraveled. “I’m guessing Rachelle is a bard,” a bard with magical abilities, and he is lit with curiosity now because he is enhanced with a little mystical capability himself. “I think it’s me trying to get you a new stress-relieving skill,” he then lets his eyes wander to the naga. “So you, you know Meri, what do you do? You from Cenril?” The only reason Lucas is asking is because he likes knowing the scoop on most individuals. He is not afraid to ask those blunt questions. The dog is now wandering to the naga hesitantly. The dog might not understand such a race and he sticks his nose out to inhale the naga’s scent, but also steps back right after.

Meri holds still, mostly, when Lucas begins to follow Xylo around to keep him from tangling Meri up within his leash. She does move to steal that sheet music back from the bard, positioning herself soon after so she can watch Xylo's adorable investigation of Xzavior. "Well yeah, I was meaning sometime. The parlor's out in Rynvale anyway." Which was a bit of a haul, involving traveling over water. Meri didn't mean right now, this moment. Lucas is not forgotten, he is answered with a shake of her head - no, Rachelle is not a bard. A brief smile for his correction of her bad joke, "No, yeah. Why not. Let's check out Bre's college while we're at it. Sometime." But that's about it, Meri could probably easily fall into a surface level ramble but Luke has asked Xzavior some questions, let's give the snakeman a chance to talk.

Xzavior enjoyed his bit of music, he played a bit himself. However, he doubted he would continue to do so any time soon. So, half listening, half not, he reached a hand out when the dog came close to offer a small sign of kindness but allowed Xylo to back off when he wasn't all too comfortable. Smiling still he raised a brow when the bard had asked what he did and if he was from around here. Shaking his head, the naga raised himself up a bit and said, "Well, it honestly depends on what is happening. I am a fighter, a healer when I need to be, a political adviser, and at the moment, a wannabe hero trying to save his city." The smile not leaving his face but his mind had started to stir again. Getting impatient in wanting to fix what had been wronged. "To your second question, no, I live in Kelay at the moment."

Lucas frowns at Meri’s remark back. Not a bard, okay, that is chill. But they will see Brennia about bardic possibilities. “Right,” he agrees. “I’ll be at the parlor eventually, I have an idea up my sleeve.” He then watches the interaction between Xylo. Luke is relaxed to see the kindness towards his best friend. “That is a lot. So… you’re trying to save Kelay? What’s the news there?” He pauses. Perhaps, this was another in for him to spread news throughout the land. Though, people should know, but Luke is in fact clueless

Meri could probably interject with a thing or two about what Xzavior is trying to accomplish, and depending on the nagas own answer the tattooed woman might follow up with a few of her own insights. For now it was Xzavior's story to tell and Meri seemed content to listen. With Luke finally no longer needing to wander after Xylo to keep that lash from wrapping around people, Meri moves to stand next to the man. Red lips flash up into a smile at the mention of him getting a tattoo, she was definitely interested. Do please come out. "Might even do the work for free, if you're giving me free lessons." It seemed like more than a fair trade to her, but they had time to hash out those details. Baby blues would come to rest on Xzavior because...he was definitely not trying to save Kelay. Nope.

Xzavior shook his head, Meri being right. Not Kelay. "Actually, that place has it's own problems that I want to help with. But no, I just have a cabin there. I mean Alithrya. Home to the naga. At the time, there was no leader and the place was left to war and ruin. So, I had decided to help Reginae gain the throne in hopes of change. However, things came to view and I thought it better if there was some bigger changes. Being, I take the throne instead. Which didn't, well, nearly didn't happen. The old queen by birth made a sudden appearance while Reginae was about to be crowned and she mysteriously died... I've still not found out how that even came to be." he gave a sigh and looked down for a moment before adding, "So now I plan to meet with Hildegarde and find a way to rid the throne of the old queen, Jaize, and move on from there. And don't be mistaken, I'm not glad I no longer have competition to the throne, Reginae is the closest thing to family I have in that city." There always seemed to be a thought in people's mind that power corrupts. Especially true for the naga. But, he wasn't a cold hearted snake.

Lucas blinked. Well, that was more than he was expecting. An open book. Geewiz, his lucky day. “Pity, my condolences to your loss. It’s not easy losing someone close to you,” he was always stiff with the whole sympathy. He felt bad, but emotion besides confidence was hard for him, although being a thespian. But real emotion was hard for the man. Who knew what he was thinking, face as stone. “I hope Hildegarde has wits to help plan out a strategy. My best wishes for your city,” he paused. “I know you barely know me, but if you need any assistance in cleaning or organizing your city, I can try. I’m not really skilled in much… only..” cough, “music,” he coughs again to play this off. “Alright, well, it’s pretty late, and Xylo hasn’t ate yet. I should probably get a move on back home,” he glances at Meri. “I suggest you do the same,” not that she would listen. He then looks at Xzavior with a nod. “It –was- a pleasure. If you ever want to chat for assistance, I’m usually around Larket and Cenril. I work at the Last Note and… in the symphony in Larket. Good night to you two,” he looks between them and then down at the antsy dog. “Come on, Xylo,” a high pitched enthusiasm. “Dinn, dinn!” Dinner time. The dog lolls his tongue and flaps his tail with a few hopping paws. Oh, he was too cute.

Meri glances over her shoulder at the shop behind her and then toward Lucas. Oh that was not awkward. She was not just hanging out at the shop that he works at, not weird at all. Meri awkwardly clears her throat at the realization. Maybe she and Sarah are cousins Luke! Just because she is blonde, that does not mean much. Sven help you. Naw, she legitimately did not realize. "Actually, I was going to head out on my way too. So, good night to you, Luke." Her sights settle back on Xzavior once more, addressing him last so that uh...Luke can have some space to leave, intentionally at this point. "And yeah...I am sorry for your loss too, that was a whole lot of crazy that went down yesterday." Sorry, Meri is not great at this expressions, that was honestly about as good as it got with her. "I will see you around sometime, Xzavior. Good night to you as well." Meri is basically going to go the opposite direction of Lucas at this point, regardless of this means having to take some round-about, long route to Cenril's Inn aka as class to home as it gets in Meri's world. Opposite. Direction. As. Luke.