Baby steps

[22:19] Aaron cleared her throat and stood next to the stranger. "Hello!" She said with a wave, thinking of a joke about black and blue, but deciding to save it for later!
(Aaron Toryia)
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[22:22] Aaron Toryia says, "Fine th-then. Stand alone and b-be edgy."
[22:23] Nasu Ixis Kimyona says, "You're back mom.. good."
[22:27] Ethan took some time to react to the girl's words, clearly lost in thoughts. As the night grew darker and engulfed him within its embrace he gazed out towards the sea. It was the very first issue he ever came across due to him trusting someone. Nostalgic and filled with horrible memories, too.

The young man glanced over his shoulder towards Aaron, staring for a few moments before giving a small nod. Despite his best efforts to conceal recent pain and hardships he was quite obviously damaged. A lack of sleep plagued his face and his eyes shifted from one side to the other, as if fearing that something may come.

"Hey." He said, hoping she wouldn't see through him.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[22:31] Aaron had a blind fold over her eyes, but she could see relatively well... She didn't seem to pay much attention to his condition unless he took to passing out or something. She had just wanted to come down here and do the same thing the lad was doing. Staring into the distance.

Standing in silence is fun, but two people, means twice the fun.

Plus, why not make a little conversation.

"How ya d-doooooing?" She asked, almost akin to a little girl, tracing her fingers in the sand, absentmindedly peeking up and looking at the horizon.
(Aaron Toryia)
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[22:34] Harsh words were bound to come sooner or later. Unfortunately for Aaron they came rather swiftly. A pained heart and a rotting soul only fed his paranoia further, leaving him with doubts about the woman's presence. He may not know her whatsoever but it felt as if she came to hurt him, in one way or another.

"What do you want?" He asked rather brutally and coldly. His level of trust towards literally anyone had dropped below zero, leaving the poor white-haired woman to be on the receiving end of distrust.

.. Despite having done absolutely nothing wrong.

Fear had taken a solid grasp of his life, for sure.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[22:37] Despite all the timid looks and crazy stares she might have been getting... She paid it absolutely no mind whatsoever. As any normal person would have withdrawn, stepped back, or at the very least moved their gaze to meet the others, she continued doodling in the sand, occasionally stopping to look up into the horizon.

"N-N-Nooooothin." She said with a small giggle.

"It-Its dark out! A-And I don't like bein-being alone! S-So, your m-my nightlight!" She said with a confident, yet stuttering voice.

She took a moment to acknowledge him with a nod, and a look, before looking back to her sand drawing.


(Aaron Toryia)
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[22:45] Nothing.

Of course words like those quickly revealed themselves to be untrue. Moments after she claimed she needed nothing of him she was using him. It was happening, again. Manipulated and used, just like it always happened.

.. Of course even as paranoid and borderline crazy as he had become he couldn't get angry at her statement - at her demand. He wasn't being used for nothing more than a feeling of safety, of inner warmth. That... Genuinely calmed him down.

He breathed out, finding a seat on the ground shortly after as most of the tension in his body vanished. Paranoia and fear couldn't win against the very source of what had made those so dangerous: A kind heart.

A breath. Another breath. Eventually he nodded, forcing out a smile, even if for naught but a moment.

"Alright."

He was someone tuning it down. It was down to a very basic level, but still. His fear was snuffed out by his heart's weakness.

"What are you drawing?"
(Ethan Hawke)
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[22:50] Aaron was tracing small flowers in the sand. Though they looked oddly shaped... Blotchy in all the wrong spots... Though... As one would look into the horizon, they would see clouds. She was tracing the clouds into an abstract drawing of morphed flowers.

"F-Flowers!" Aaron said, hold a hold to the side, and jetting a cool stream of air with her lips to the tip of her finger, dusting the sand out.

Despite the fact Aaron was over thirty, and stood at nearly seven foot tall, she seemed to have a sickly demeanor. Her eyes seemed to be glowing blue slightly, reflecting from behind the blindfold. Her left arm was mithril, the same color blue. Her breathing seemed off as well. She didn't seem like much of a threat aside from the physical size.
(Aaron Toryia)
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[22:56] When looking at the drawing he couldn't imagine flowers whatsoever. It was... All in the wrong spot. She probably couldn't draw very well, or at least that's what came to his mind as his own issues were slowly pushed aside. A hesitant glance was offered to the drawings before they were snuffed right away from the sand.

How could a woman who was so tall and who seemed to be much older than he was be... Like a child? Was this a trick? It couldn't be. Someone wouldn't go through so much trouble, lose an arm and their eyes only to trick him, right? He... Still had his doubts. His fears.

Ethan pulled his knees a bit closer to his chest before he looked off into the distance, distrusting the woman a bit less than before. A deafening silence was broken by his words.

"What happened to you?" He asked rather bluntly.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[23:01] Aaron was in fact, an awful artist. Plus sand wasn't the best medium. She continued her doodles.

"B-Brain surgery is uh-- h-hard... E-Even for the best doctors." Aaron said, her voice trailing off for a moment. All of her outlook had changed since then. She had never been that mature, but it had sent her into a state of regression even her own wife hadn't noticed.

"B-Before that I u-used t-to hunt Vampires!" She said with a bit of glee. Perhaps the Katana on her hip had been more than ceremonial at one time.

"D-Due to an issue w-with my mana... I-I had to h-have a 'battery' installed." She said with a bit of a huff.

It seemed she was... aware, at least slightly, of her own condition.
(Aaron Toryia)
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[23:04] Kirsi Ó Cnáimhín whispers: Stinky
[23:06] It took his hardest efforts to hold fear back. The word 'vampire' had definitely brought some negative thoughts to his mind, leaving him with his imagination running wild. It wouldn't be the first time they had tried getting at him. Especially not after he had turned down Aspen - this could be one of their attempts.

About half a minute of thinking, imagining and theorizing would he calm down a bit. He rationalized and listened to the fight she fought against the creatures of the night. His lips parted, hoping to strike even just a bit of conversation that might make this better. That might make him feel a bit safer.

"I used to be a thrall. I was forced to be one. I... rebeled. Fought my way out and cured myself. I cured two others, too."

Baby steps.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[23:06] Magdalen Elisheva says, "Hmm... Maybe I should take a look at you, miss Kirsi. Once you've rested, though. I should rest too..."
[23:12] Aaron understood the idea of a Thrall. She had met a few. However she wasn't too concerned about any of it at this point. She would definitely fight a vampire, but for the most part she was pretty docile.

"I f-fought one in part-ticular… I-I cant remember her name. Sh-She used poison magic... I still cant b-believe I forgot her name... I g-gave up the hunt after sh-she took my eyes and left me in a river...." Aaron muttered seemingly unconcerned with the outcome of that fight.

It bothered her she couldn't remember the womans name.

"Any-Anyone fighting the vampires... D-Directly or indirectly... Are f-friends of mine!" Aaron said with a confident nod. It seemed the conversation had turned her attention to Ethan. It roused her interest more than her doodles in the sand.
(Aaron Toryia)
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[23:18] The number of conditions that affected this woman's life were far more than he had ever seen on anyone. How could someone go on like that without a worry? How could she be so trusting of someone who stood alone at night wearing all black? This made no sense - at least to him. He had trouble seeing the world the way Aaron did. It wasn't like that before, was it? He couldn't remember too clearly.

"Well... If we're friends we should know eachother's name, yeah? I'm Ethan." He said, offering a smile. This one was genuine, however. His constant feeling of fear and dread had been snuffed out towards this girl. It made no sense, but perhaps it was destiny that someone so physically threatening, a stranger, would come into his life and show him how sweet, kind and innocent she could be.

He had doubts, still, but they were withering.

Occult madness may just be something he could control.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[23:23] Aaron was indeed a malady of wounds and trauma, both physical and emotional. Though she soldiered on. It didn't affect her because she didn't let it. Plus, despite all of it, if worse did come to worse, if someone threatened her or her children... Well perhaps she would raise a hand then, but she was still very docile considering what she used to be like.

"Im Aaron Toryia!" She said with a nod, offering him a big toothy grin.

"A pleasure to m-meetcha!"

Aaron then stretched her legs out and allowed her feet to sit just inside of the where the tide would press out and onto the beach. The cooling ocean water felt good.
(Aaron Toryia)
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[23:31] Ethan gave a small nod to Aaron, agreeing with her. It was a pleasant meeting for sure, one that he'd remember forever. It wasn't that significant and neither was she that interesting - at least not on the surface - but he seemed to have made some progress of his own thanks to her. He felt... Less angry. Less fearful. Less insane.

He could tell that he was being afflicted by his own school of magic, which was an improvement compared to his lowest point.

"Yeah. It is." He said. His legs stretched out a bit, knees moving away from his chest as he made clear progress towards relaxation. His lips parted, letting out a small sigh of relief.

Some feeling still gnawed at the back of his mind that it was all a ploy, a play brought up by others to take him down, but... At least he had the strength to kill it. Aaron may never know how much she helped him that day.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[23:34] Aaron wiggled slightly. She then casually laid back on the sand and stared up at the sky for a bit.

"I-Im going to take a nap!" She said with a small yawn, cradling her head with her arms. It wouldn't be long and the woman would be asleep. Whether she was just so dense as to sleep in front of potential assailants... or she simply didn't care, OR she viewed the world as something else entirely... it was hard to tell.

The woman would begin to snore slightly, and it would become clear... She was out cold.
(Aaron Toryia)
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[23:36] Ethan was left with a certain... Situation at this point. Thankfully enough the same kindness that had brought him to calm himself near Aaron allowed him to do what was right. Moments after the woman fell asleep safe and sound he'd move closer to her, pulling her off the ground and carrying her away.

She deserved a real bed, at the very least.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[23:38] Zhu almost starts tearing up again.
(Zhu)
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[23:38] Yin-Shé says, "You look a radiant twenty-five..."
[23:38] Zhu sniffles.
(Zhu)
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[23:39] Yin-Shé exclaims, "I want to die because I had a job interview with a small child and I screwed it up and it turned out to be the Shogun's daughter!"
[23:39] Tatsuya says, "Oh dear."
[23:39] Yin-Shé says, "I spilled water!@"
[23:39] Yin-Shé exclaims, "I looked like a FOOL!"
[23:40] Ethan walked up to a seemingly tired and half-asleep Britta. If the family name matched, then it most likely was going to be fine. Carrying a very asleep Aaron, he'd gently sit her down next to her family member - tipping her to lean onto the latter for proper sleep.

He did the right thing, right?
(Ethan Hawke)