The weight of his newest weapon was yet another semblance of the change that was quietly taking over him. He felt like a stone, weighted, covered in tendrils of algae and slowly eroded by the flow of water. One that had alas been pressed to movement. Acceptance born of disinterest had made a monster of him, but he had been been stirred to consideration. He had been an open advocate to the treatment of those many viewed merely as a simple meal. Others and the more deranged viewing the ordeal as sport, as a sense of entertainment. He had never been pleased with any of the settings he had often found himself in, but eventually he had become wholly desensitized to the matter. Acceptance spoken in his inaction.

A declaration he was in progress of making.

The young lady who had procured the gun for him had aided in keeping his identity secret, yet another mask fronted though it varied from the glyph carved article that lingered under the edge of his cloak. He was careful in covering his tracks to ensure that future actions could not be traced back to the general of the red queen's army. Perhaps they were over thought and overly cautious, but he had also assured himself that there was no such thing in this light. This would not be a drastic last stand, this would not happen easily over night. He would be forced to do single handedly what he quelled almost daily for nearly a year after the usurpation of Dunmeath. This new self righteous duty would need to accompany the farce already well established as well. He could not fall behind in his daily tasks. He could not give a single soul reason to connect his true face to the bone and porcelain that would hide it.

"And this?" he would inquire of the shop keep, pointing to the meticulously folded body of paper laying upon its side. "Oh, this? A trinket of enchanted paper!" the old mystic rushed, picking up the parchment only for it to change its shape, an altering that one would have missed had he not been carefully watching it. "They'll take near any shape you wish, and they record brief notes on their paper. Everything they see, everything they hear. See how it goes?" Just as she described, the words appeared upon the surface rapidly, bleeding ink into words before his very eyes. He would grunt faintly in appreciation of the enchantment. He would hold his palm out, the other gloved hand presenting the woman with a sack of coin. "I'll take one. Thank you kindly."

Jahi

 
“Oh,” there was familiarity in the voice that spoke, bidding him to turn his attention towards the blushing young woman who's attention seemed to be piqued by the little contraption that rested upon the curve of his index. The word would appear, a manner of different script given to it. His very own action followed suit. The detail of her state. The deep blush that colored her cheeks. He would tilt his head slightly at it, perhaps it would be of more use to him than he had originally considered.

"Hello, Miss Avarice." He would greet, bowing his head slightly. He would offer the paper trinket to her, should she wish to inspect it. "Would you like to look at it?" Likewise, he would offer his free hand towards the fickle mare to snort into, coaxing forth the soft ghost of a simper. "Hello to you, too, Envy." His sight would drag over the plaid of her hair, the interwoven pieces adorned here and there by delicate, fragile petals of pink. While he knew the maiden to pamper those under her care with attention, it seemed she had spent special time and effort upon the large fresian today.

Silver would light back upon the rider herself. "How have you been? Better, I hope."

Jahi

 
“Oh, Theodred, sir,” At her bow, he would incline his head once more. He supposed it had been awhile since she had seen him. It would have been the evening he had crossed paths with her upon her doorstep and she had invited him in. Now that he considered it, it must have been some time ago, though to say he paid much heed to the passing of days would be a lie. Sometimes he felt as though an entire year could pass by in the span of an inhale - ten in the time of a deep sigh. Many and more had trespassed by him in the past, the only marking of time and its silent betrayal being the changing of faces. When he had first come to this land, there had been a coffee shop he'd often visit in the city. Only to one day find that a different face handed him his porcelain cup. It seemed just the day before that she had just been a happy tot bouncing upon the knee of her father while her mother had waited and served their customers. Suddenly, she had been a morose looking young lady all her own. Her mother gone to mortality's frailness and her father enlisted within the corps of the military under the tyrant ruler's forefathers. Just how many generations of this land's people had he unwittingly watched grow up, have children of their own, grow old, and eventually succumb?  Many more than his own, a truth that settled as just another weight in this growing pile of unease that threatened to escape his lips like bile in recent time.

For the present, however, he was content to watch her wonder at the enchanted parchment. Gently, as if it were a gilded feather, she would lift it for closer observation. The leather of Envy's reigns slid down the span of her lithe arm, allowing the fresian ample room to come even closer to him and he would turn peripherals to her, his gloved fingertips lightly trailing up the bridge of her nose and to the point in the center of her forehead where the bridle rested. Deftly, his touch would slip under it to scratch - a habit he had with Neph and one he absently conducted with the mare. “How fascinating.” He would tilt his crown towards the table, "Would you like one?" he inquired.

At Envy's shake of her head, he would pause, turning his sights upon her momentarily. The movement of the braids would bely the intertwined vines of the flowers and how they were anchored within her ebony locks. His touch would ghost down her neck, careful as he parted the sections to better glimpse it. "Magic?" he would pose, a curiosity that was also touched by a hint of trepidation. He could not detect the lycanthropy upon her, if there was, but this was a practice commonly followed by the skin changers. However, his hand would open towards her, instead, to receive the artifact once again from her. “I am fairing well. And you?” He smiled. "I'm glad. I fear my time lately has been spent reminiscing." He would offer her the admittance, though the danger of it would not be clear.

Unless he was caught.
"Do you have any other shops to look at? I could accompany you, if you'd like."

Jahi

 
“I am just browsing, I think.” He would afford her a smile, placing his own purchased trinket within his pocket gingerly so as not to place unnecessary creases upon the magicked parchment. "If you change your mind, let me know." He hummed, truthfully. He knew very little of what to do with the wages he received. He was minimalist in many ways, his home already garnished beyond what he saw as necessary. He hired staff in order to clean the place and upkeep it in his absence, yes, but he unintentionally ended up hoarding crescents much like a dragon would its own gold. Though in the end he would suppose he would be none the wiser should a thief make off with the small trove.

“Do not be rude, Envy.” He would offer a faint wave of dismissal. "She just seems to be showing off." However, at the mention of magic, she seemed to quiet slightly. He was unsure if it was a moment of tenseness that lined the inflection within her stare or something else He would draw in a long breath, a habit no longer necessary, and yet one he couldn't seem to part with. Muscle memory, he often blamed it on. After nearly six centuries, however, he held little faith in breaking it yet. Still yet the air wasn't tainted with the overwhelming presence of lycanthropy. It offered some small, sordid sense of odd comfort. “Yes.” She would breathe finally. “Though it is only recent, I think.” He would allow a thoughtful hum of consideration to leave him, his head tilting slightly as he turned his gaze upon her work once again. "Strange," was the only comment that departed him otherwise.

It was passing bewilderment that would offer a temporary furrow to his brow. Perhaps, in truth, she had possessed the ability all along but she had never acted upon it for one reason or another. To think that the arcana had suddenly manifested within her, though, was an interesting happening - to him, at least. It was a passing observation as she returned to observing the wares on display. “That sounds quite dangerous.” Silver stare would turn upwards towards the shrouded heavens. Even through the shielding haze, the illumination of the sun could still be detected, it was as uncomfortable as the pistol haltered at his hip. The disk was slowly dying, however, its rays lower, and while she concluded that the past was dangerous, so to was Anderstel in the hours after darkness had fallen. He didn't want her to be among those faces taken, posted upon poles with the intention of seeking. “The mind can be cruel.” "Truly," he would agree, wholly. "Yesterdays that are long gone even more so."

“I do not wish to impose upon your time, sir,” he would shake his head in a light dismissal as she turned to face him in full, a hand raised in a half shrug. He felt that time was certainly the only thing he had left. There was no end, constantly expanding, his could not be measured with the same weight as mortality's. It was worth less, tarnished. Only concealed and not finite. At some point, it would come to a halt, yes, but it was not one tapered pleasantly. It would be sharp, abrupt. She would look over her shoulder, briefly, and he would follow her gaze subtly. “If it is of no trouble to you, I would appreciate your company.” "It would be no trouble. I have nothing else planned for this evening, and I would prefer to ensure your safety myself." After all, these lands were under the watchful gaze of the navy commander. After his pressing inquiries and attitude at the ball, he wanted to give the duke absolutely no reason to suspect his excuse as false, let alone the chance for slavers to take her into chains.

Jahi

 
She was as composed as always, something he had become accustomed to very easily as it followed suite with his own demeanor. This shell of permafrost that surrounded him was not something so easily melted away, and he found those with sharp changes in emotion to be somewhat... abhorrent to interact with. Maybe the dislike came from a vast majority of his time once being used to temper those recently turned into proper soldiers. They were like rabid dogs, they frothed at the mouth, they snapped and bit at anything and everything within their reach. They chased the high that came with the hunt, the kill. They played with their food, messy creatures with their erratic behavior and unpredictable actions.

“I suppose so." The hint of amusement lingered upon his features as he caught the glance the delicate lady gave the horse. He offered no further comment as he allowed them to silently make their peace with one another. “Oh.” He allowed his gaze to once more find her, though she seemed a bit amiss, perhaps even nervous. “I made something for Osmanthus too.” A movement accompanied her words, lithe fingers unclasping a piece of leather only to withdraw a ring of greenery. It, too, seemed to be crafted and refined with arcane, and he would admire the dainty piece, knowing that the feline would indeed enjoy the gift. As he had stated, the cat was quite spoiled and he did nothing to curb the habits. He was like a little prince, and they merely his subjects meant to shower him in the gifts that he so deserved. "Thank you, I'm sure he'll treasure it." He would offer, though her next words had a bit of a soft frown tugging eagerly at the edges of his lips. ”I apologize, I took him to a ceremony with me recently and departed with a dark-haired woman.” Mithras's disguise, of course, he fathomed. Of course the little lordling would willingly depart with the other, having been familiar with him for quite some time. While he had assumed that Osmanthus had left the festivities with Avarice, such a thing couldn't possibly go so smoothly. “I feel the fault is mine, as he would not allow me to leave home without him.”

Composing himself and forcing the displeasured irritance from his features with a heavy sigh and a shake of his head, he would allow a low hum to leave him. "Please, think nothing of it." The dismissal was given gently, comfortingly. "He goes where he pleases more times than not. Since he has yet to return to you or me, I suppose the cat thief intends to hold him for ransom." Eventually, he would have to retrieve his familiar, though he sensed no hint of danger to him. Perhaps another ploy for him to return to the manor for some more... talks. "The woman's name is Mithras." He added, his gaze heavy upon her face. "And Mithras rules these lands." He hoped to impart enough warning within those words that she would heed the call for caution here, but he dared say no more for the fear of prying ears being privy to the conversation. After all, the commander had already made it quite clear to him that he had some manner of observation set to trail him. The thought had him pulling slightly at the cusp of his gloves.

“I can only fathom.” It was a dreadful thought, in some senses, that he hoped she would never be forced to understand such a sentiment. To have such an unfortunately long span to look back upon was more a curse than a blessing to some - and he was one of them. “That is kind of you,” silver stare would tarry, looking down to the ground, to the toes of his boots. “Would you perhaps have any recommendations then? I do not wish to bring you boredom either.” His focus would drag from the dirt to the multitude of stalls, nodding back towards the main body of the temporary bazaar. The crowds were beginning to somewhat thin, at last and some of the shops were beginning to close for the evening, but there was still one he felt she may enjoy. "This way, if you would, Envy." As he spoke to the mare, he would walk before her, placing a hand upon her cheek before gently guiding her forward. "There's an excellent stand for tea and sweets, if you'd be so inclined."

Jahi