RP:The Elephant In The Room
Summary: Lionel, Meri and Sabrina encounter one another at SoulsKin. It seems like Eirik is a popular subject that no one actually wants to discuss.
SoulsKin
There is a faded message painted across this shop's front door which reads, abandon all Hope. It may be just cryptic enough to pique your curiosity... Two glass display cases dominate the center of the room, filled with trinkets and jewels from around the world. In the back corner, beneath the stairs that lead to a second floor, there is a bookshelf with a comfy armchair next to it. A low work table lines the entirety of the western wall, a couple of chairs and a bench sitting in front of it. There is a curtained partition, for those that might wish to have their ink work or body modifications done in privacy. The work table is usually littered with bottles of ink in various colors and sketches of viable tattoo designs. Feel free to chat up the artists who might be working if you're interested in having some work done.
Sabrina pushed the door at last to the long heard of but never once visited shop if Soulskin. She carried with her a basket from Rynvale’s market, trying to show her support to the local merchants who suffered during the buggy attacks on the city not too long ago. It wasn’t that she needed anything, but these types were reluctant to take what they considered a handout and in their culture this was a fairly decent cover. She sets the basket on the counter, filled with pricey aged hams, some sort of dried and salted fish, bread, and the like. There was even some ‘fragrant’ cheese in there, but if Sabs had to carry that burden of smells any longer she really might be sick. If Meri wanted later, she could easily dispose of it, or make a sandwich later. Without seeing anyone immediately she calls out in the seemingly abandoned room. “Anybody home?” The common is more heavily laced today, having experienced the treat of using her native tongue for the better part of this week her linguistic skills had become spoiled to the melodic rolls and undertones of the island’s natives.
Meri was in the room. The shop was not large and in a place like Rynvale the doors would never be left unlocked if there was not somewhere here in attendance. The sound of someone's voice has Meri popping out of the partitioned area of the shop only to greet Sabrina with a smile. Booted feet bring her closer to the Elfess, planting a quick peck of a kiss upon the healers cheek in a rare display of affection. Now that Meri was not puking her guts out and wanting to pass out, proper thanks were in order. The shop has been cleaned, the door has been repaired, evidence of the bug assault on Rynvale has been successfully erased thanks to the efforts of Lita, Meri and their apprentice Jax. "Hi Sabrina. I was hoping to run into you soon. How are things for you? How is Eirik?"
Lionel has no business at SoulsKin. After all, the Guild’s partnership with Meri, while unexpected, remains a completely professional ordeal. This suits the Catalian just fine. Yet here he is, clad in his thin black silk shirt and breeches, easing a sore in his neck and strolling past the famed tattoo parlor. He is alone and seemingly unarmed. His mind wanders, as it is like to do. Just now, Lionel’s mental wanderlust has brought him back to the recent skirmish and the few -- though nevertheless tragic -- victims it created. With this ship of theirs, the Guild is poised to take the fight to their enemies once and for all. Will clearing out the insectoids absolve Frostmaw of her terrorist strikes and substance abuse epidemics, however? Will it save Khitti from herself? Will it give Rorin something worth living for? Will it reveal the darkness cast over Larket? All these questions and only one answer. “No.” He mutters the word to himself, thick with disgust, and rests his lithe frame upon a nearby lamppost. Tilting his head against the wood, he closes his eyes. Lionel isn’t sure how long he rests there, but when he opens his eyes again, he’s suddenly aware that the final flickers of light have disappeared upon Rynvale’s far west horizon. With a subtle glance toward SoulsKin, the man decides he will pay a brief visit, after all. Upon his arrival, he glances around, notes Sabrina with a curt nod, and waits.
Sabrina does not flinch or shy from Meri’s breach of proximity, she is one of the few who have earned that kind of response from the Elfess over the years. Her good eye is white as mint though, simple evidence that her ‘public face’ was on, so to speak. She is all smiles until Meri mentions Eirik. “He came by to see you.” It wasn’t that she outwardly expressed something yet to be revealed, just that her expression lost a little of that shine. “You gave him quite the scare, you know.” That’s right, shift the topic. She was learning well. “I am always fine.” The well-rehearsed gleam returns. She was getting better about a lot of unspoken nuances. The door makes noise at her back, and with an unalarmed glance she is met with a curt nod and a rather uncomfortable looking silk shirt she had seen a few times by now. “Lionel.” The no is returned, his name issued in lieu of a proper and friendly greeting. She didn’t know him enough to venture too far beyond the realm of cordial.
Meri notes that shift in Sabrina's demeanor, leaving Meri to form her assumptions about how things are with Eirik because, "Yes...he came by the shop the other night." And left quickly. Red lips briefly flinch into a frown but Meri knows a thing or two about trying to shift subjects and throw out distractions when one just does not want to speak of a subject. Were it just the two ladies standing in the middle of the tattoo parlor, Meri might have attempted to press the subject further out of concern, as much as Sabrina may not want her to. Blue eyes shift toward Lionel, brow lifting at the man's manners as per usual. Sabrina gets a nod? And Meri....? The temptation to roll her eyes is resisted and a faux smile is instead worn across red lips, laying on the charm thick perhaps to make a point. "Oh hello Lionel. How good of you to drop by the shop. You don't exactly strike me as the tattoo sort, so I don't imagine that you are here for that. And you almost always have an agenda I feel so....Is there something that either Sabrina or myself can do for you?" Pause. "Sir." Snark.
Lionel tries his damnedest to ignore this talk of Eirik. It’s not that he still burns with ire toward the lycan; it’s hard to burn over anyone who arrives with such good timing. Whatever his thoughts on Eirik personally, he’ll respect someone who protects the weak and innocent. It’s more that there are peculiar relational undertones in the way the women discuss him, and such things are best avoided in life. Instead, he llofts a brow and speaks casually. “No ‘sir’ necessary, Meri. I greatly appreciate your assistance these past several weeks, but you’re not part of the Guild, and also, I hate being in positions of authority, anyway.” He returns the smile. It’s an easy one, charming as can be. Lionel has practiced it for many years, after all, and indeed, unless he’s wearing his badges of office he’s as like to be mistaken for the archetypal dashing rogue. That is, unless folks know him by face, and unfortunately for Lionel’s fancies of anonymity, plenty of people do. With a brief perusal of the various representative illustrations on display, he turns his attention to the two women. “Good to see you, Sabrina.” What -is- he doing here? Lionel himself hasn’t the foggiest, really. “Just figured I’d swing by, Meri. See how you were holding up. You took a hit back here, as I recall, and while you seemed alright last night, it never hurts to double-check.”
Sabrina ’s eyes grow wide for a moment, pupils dilate a faint flux of bloodflow starts up in her cheeks. She was about to ask a question about Eirik’s recent visit too, if not for that intrusion. It is with the Meri-quality snark while addressing Lionel that those strange emotion things dwindled. A small influx is not enough to fault against her character. She is quiet while he addresses Meri, and when he flashes that smile it is with a kind of charm that appealed to the less intellectually driven. I seemed soft, pretty, and high maintenance. “Is it?” Good to see you… it was the sort of thing people said to each other but the Healer often dissected common phrases too in-depth and it took away from the purpose in most cases. “Are you ill?” She is looking him up and down in disbelief, he seemed just fine. Something about his presence this time around was just irritating her, of course it had something to do with the guy no one wanted to talk about so mostly she just looks a little stewy or constipated. She is still wearing her manners though, smiling at the smiley parts and all that jazz.
Meri's gaze was on Lionel and did not fully note all of the details of Sabrina's reaction to Eirik being within the four walls of the shop. Thankfully. As it were Meri already felt awkward enough. At first Sabrina's reaction to Lionel earns the elfess a smile but as her blue eyes pull the healer back into focus and really study the details, how stewy she looked even though she was remaining polite, that smile was quick to fade. Intrusion indeed, Meri was starting to feel a little bit thankful for the awkwardness that is Lionel. Perhaps it would behoove her to play a little nicer with the Commander for the moment, because maybe Meri was starting to feel a little bit nervous how the conversation to be had with Sabrina. The woman meanders over to the basket of goods that Sabrina left on the counter, examining the contents curiously until her nose gets a whiff of that pungent cheese. "Yes, well, I did. I don't know what is wrong with those bugs you guys are chasing but...." Meri shrugs, gaze shifting from the basket of goods to the healer as she speaks of her, "Sabrina was kind enough to come all the way out here to lend a hand and fix me up. Long time friend of mine, one of the best women I know." It's not that Meri was trying to butter Sabrina up with compliments, that was not quite it. "Are you planing on sticking around here a bit? Because I have a feeling someone else will need your services by the time this is all said and done..."
Lionel shrugs. “Ill? Not to my knowledge. I’ve no outstanding reason to feel otherwise.” Sabrina’s question has been given as deft an answer as Lionel can muster. Not that he doesn’t ask himself that question often, himself. With nightmares as frequent and vivid as his, how can he claim good health? And when most of those nightmares have real-world counterparts hell-bent on destruction, domination, or wicked perversions, how can -anyone- claim good health? All these things buzz through the man’s mind in a matter of milliseconds, yet they do not diminish his smile. Clipped retorts and lengthy internal monologues. An adamant refusal to allow those who do not know him particularly well to receive anything beyond simple pleasantries and straightforward responses. This is the way of things for Lionel O’Connor… at least, when he can help it. Once Meri has spoken, however, the man is prompted to offer more words than he’d anticipated. He gives her inquiry some thought. “The Guild will remain in Rynvale for the duration of our venture, yeah. Well, barring emergencies elsewhere, of course. My plan is to take the Tranquility out to sea as soon as Emrith says she’s ready. Find that damnable island. Scout. Come back to Rynvale. And then set sail there again, hit them hard and fast, and put an end to this once and for all.” Unfortunately, there -has- been an emergency abroad, although Lionel has not yet been made aware. Indeed, neither Lionel nor anyone else among the Guild’s ranks has yet been informed that their comrade, Ameno, is no more, and that the creature which infests him now awakened at the Royal Academy of Aramoth and left a trail of dead in its wake. Surely, once Lionel learns that the Warrior’s Guild has suffered a grievous defeat, the Tranquility’s maiden voyage under his command will be westbound, not east. But for now, his smile does not fade.
Sabrina looks to Meri with all her compliments and weirdness. Her face seemed fidgety, like it was trying to adopt an expression it was not feeling. There was far more conclusions being drawn in her head at this point than were likely necessary. Meri was acting non-humorously funny. Eirik had been acting abnormally distant. It all fit in a familiar way, it wouldn’t be the first time. She chose her words carefully. “No, I think I am done here.” She seems distraught. Her attentions turns to Lionel and she takes a slow and centering breath. “I was stopping in to check on my patient (that was cold) before heading back to the mainland. Did you require anything from me, Lionel?” She was dismissing herself since his presence likely meant he was here for Meri, not Sabrina.
Meri had this feeling of deja vu. Just the other night one friend was exiting her shop, disappointed with how she had handled things. And here we go, another friend is also getting ready to leave the shop, but there was much more history with this woman. Meri panics. Things are going to get very awkward Lionel, more so than normal. Maybe Meri could have kicked Lionel out of the shop, maybe she could have convinced Sabrina to stay, maybe Sabrina would have refused and kept walking not giving Meri a chance to speak her mind. So, regardless of the company present, Meri just blurts out what is on her mind. "I didn't do anything," she establishes first and foremost. "He came in here talking about having doubts." Meri does not want to reveal too much more because she is not sure what Sabrina views as secretive, what Lionel knows. "I told him I wasn't going to talk to him about you like that, in short, because you are a good woman. One of the best I know, in fact. I told him that he needed to talk to you. Then he left. I'm sorry, Sabs....Just don't hate me alright?"
Lionel and relationship drama have about as much in common as domesticated yaks and reflection nebulae. Sensing the distinct possibility that relationship drama is permeating throughout the fine parlor, the Catalian’s impulse is to flee. Alas, Sabrina has already attempted to excuse herself. Forcing himself to view the current predicament as if it were a very tightly-paced, very -strange- mission, he begins to mull over priorities. Quickly, he decides that the first priority is to acknowledge Sabrina’s statement. “Ah, no, don’t really need you for anything just now, but I appreciate your asking. Enjoy your evening.” There. One small step for conversation flow, one giant leap for mankind. There is a slight tug at the corner of Lionel’s lips; his easy smile is threatening to buckle. A single, calculated step back is taken. “At any rate, you know, ah, it’s late.” He clears his throat, as if to emphasize that fact. Incidentally, Lionel does not sleep more than a few stray hours a night, but where’s the harm in observing the time? “It sounds like there’s some stuff going on here, so I’m gonna skedaddle. If either of you need me for anything, I’m still at the Broken Barrel, yeah?” A curt nod is followed by a faux-lax walk toward the door.
Sabrina swallows hard at Meri’s sudden outburst. Her eyes flash to Lionel, cheeks bright and both eyes shifting to a near solid white. That was a panic reflex, to shut down the outside world entirely les someone glean too far on a feeling so very personal. Her breath is shaky when she exhales. Quietly she summons a pristine level of calm, her voice soothing towards Meri but her eyes cast to the floor. “He wasn’t asking your permission.” Her study of social intercourse was probably more in depth than it needed to be. “He was making sure you’d be there to catch him when he falls.” Her eyes were glossy, but she kept it together. She loved Eirik, there was no room for doubt in that. But she was a difficult person to love back, that much she understood. Impossible even. This was inevitable. Her eyes are closed when she apologizes to Lionel, only opening when she was certain they wouldn’t leak, just to find him pretending a casual exit. She couldn’t blame him, she didn’t really want to be here either.
Meri could not blame either Lionel or Sabrina for both wanting to leave her shop, there was a tension and even Meri did not fully understand it. What Sabrina was telling her and what Eirik had said did not seem to quite fall in line and Meri was left baffled with how she was supposed to connect the dots. It would not be until the shop door shuts that Meri would react, and her reaction would be an angry one. Her boot would meet the front of that receptionists desk a few times before Meri storms off to the back of the shop to brood. There were few people in these lands that she actually cared for and she was clearly mucking things up with them like a boss.