Conall - Kiss of Remeberance (9/6-7)

[22:40] Ohtli gives Leon a thin, reassuring smile and pats her...his(?) shoulder. She mutters a few more words then turns to approach the dryad. By the time she's there the smile's gone.

"...Mind if I sit?"

His home. His territory. She figures it polite to ask.
(Ohtli)
[22:40] Ohtli whispers something.
[22:42] The Dryad is sprawled over the nearby wooden chair, half-lidded eyes focused on sharpening his weapon. Wooden jagged teeth gnash, before he is approached. His weary gaze comes to the Drakanite and Conall stands.

"We can sit and talk inside."

He half-mumbles, opening the door for her to follow. he steps into the slightly decorated house.
(Conall Revels)
[22:42] Ohtli says, "...Right."
[22:44] The Drakan slides into a seat, still sporting that slight frown. What purpose it has is unclear, yet there it is all the same. Her wings fold neatly behind her in the small of her back.

"...Are you...are you okay?"
(Ohtli)
[22:47] The Dryad walked into the house, soon taking his seat across from the Drakan. His own mouth would be a smile of corrupted twisted jagged teeth, but those eyes held little amusement in them. They were cold, judgemental, hurtful things.

"No. I am not ok."

The blood drips from his eyes down his face like ever present war paint, and blood from his nails covers an amount of the table, tapping on the top of it.

"You haven't been paying me a lot of attention at all lately."
(Conall Revels)
[22:50] His smile is not what she remembered it as. A playful thing. Maybe a little mischievous at times and bristling with those jagged teeth of his. The frown remains, deepening, and something distinctly sorrowful joins her expression.

"You're a hard man to find," she starts. A pause. Then she resumes."...I've heard things, too. But beyond that, you're hard to find. I've been looking for you. Often."
(Ohtli)
[22:54] "Tsk." The wooden fingers come to a halt on the desk, dragging on it, nearly threatening to pull themselves up and creating a scraping noise before he stops. His tongue moves along one of the pointed shards of his teeth.

"Ohtli is also of hard to find. But looked for her when could. Helped her when she asked.. I've always gone out of my way for you." He says, leaning forwards a small amount.

"What has Ohtli been of hearing?"
(Conall Revels)
[22:57] "You have. And have I ever been ungrateful for that? Is there never a time I've thanked you? Haven't I offered my own help back to you?" she asks in earnest.

"...I've not heard good things, Conall. I know people speak lies a lot. But they're not good...

"I heard you've been pawing at Lotlhuitl. And that you tried to take Lucilius' wife. He says that's why he hunts you."

Ohtli lets those statements hang in the air. There's another question asked there, though it's not directly spoken.
(Ohtli)
[23:04] "Utterly ungrateful." Conall said, teeth bared. "When I helped you at the temple in the tournament, you would not like me touch you. You would not keep your eyes on me. Even after I helped you ran off, rather talking to Windsor then speak we me. Even after I stayed just so I could speak with you. Why do you not look at me, Ohtli? Why do you not pay attention to me?"

Utter malice is in his tone as he speaks, a lonely malefic air. "For Lotlhuitl? She challenged me to a duel, and when I defeated her, I did as I wished. I embarrassed her, like anyone else who would try to take ore or something else from me. It is the manner of duels.

Lucilius' wife was a woman that I fought when she attacked Gehenna. I beat her, I captured her. And that trash tried to step on me. So I chased her away. He is not of all too happy about it. But she is not his to begin with." Conall stated, fingernails scraping against the wooden frame again.
(Conall Revels)
[23:09] "Windsor is a friend I hadn't seen in years, Con. Almost...near on a -decade-. I owe a debt to him and August and that's not something I can ignore either."

Her own ire stares to rise, brow knitting.

"Our purpose there was for the Serpent, Conall. And I wanted to keep it that way. I wanted my head to be clear. On top of that...sweet Serpent, you enjoyed hurting them. Didn't you? You enjoyed spilling their blood like that."

An unbidden shiver runs down her spine. But she continues.

"You did as you wish. You embarrassed her. And how did you do that exactly?"
(Ohtli)
[23:16] The vines underneath the dryad's bark-like skin would twist and turn, starting to rip through and surface as he stares towards Ohtli.

"So because you had not seen him in years, that makes him more important to you then me?" His voice was sour and filled with jealousy. "Windsor and August both? So important that you like them write on you and mark you, when you will not even take off a feather for me?"

He leans closer towards Ohtli across the table. "We were there for the Serpent. I was helping you for the Serpent. But does that mean I can not touch you? That you have to rebuke me? That you have to turn me away?" His teeth were gritting against one another.

"I like it when your eyes are on me, Ohtli. I like it when you pay attention to me. And the only way you did that was when I fought them. Otherwise you do not even look my way. Why are you ignoring me? With all I do for you, why are you ignoring me?"

He falls back and sits in the chair. He seemed not to answer her final questions.
(Conall Revels)
[23:21] Ohtli has had to grow wiser over the years. Through manipulation and misdirection she has been injured as much as sword, fire, or hex. Things that came to her, beautiful and bright, that often turned sour when she took a second look.

She inhales, closing her eyes for a moment, and mutters a soft, inaubile prayer. They open and they are on him. They are still two doleful pools of blue.

"I told you...I'm not ignoring you. That doesn't make them more important than you, Con. And you -know- what that feather means. Are you going to make light of it? There's a time and place for all things. That was not it. And I -told- you I'd been looking for you. After I talked to Windsor. And before today, too. I came to you today, didn't I?"

His accusations are a sting. The dryad's attempts at misdirection are worse.

"...What did you do to her, Con? And are you saying Lucilius is a liar?"
(Ohtli)
[23:54]
{LOAD GAME}

[23:57] "You are. You have been." The Dryad insisted unpleasantly, half lidded eyes widening, pupils dilating. "Are you ignoring what you do? Are you ignoring all the times I've tried to spend with you, only for you to go elsewhere? Your eyes are not on me. They are always pointed elsewhere on something different."

His teeth grit and at once he stops. He looks up to Ohtli. "I am knowing what the feather means. And are you making light of my feelings? Of the things that I have done? Of all the waiting that I do? You told me that feather would mean you have a partner. Am I not that to you? Am I not who you want at your side?"

Again the questions of others are pushed away in favor of his own intrusive rebuttals.
(Conall Revels)
[00:03] "Other than Windsor, what times? I'm -not- making light of your feelings. I've looked for you. Plenty! You've done a great deal for me, Con, and I've always thanked you. I've always offered to repay you. Haven't I?"

Her voice tapers off, a reedy, troubled warble.

The accusations continue, the aggression as he pushes query after query that she tries to keep up with...

Then there is a moment of clarity brought on a chill wind.

The proverbial knife digs deeper. He rebuffs her questions again. Somewhere in the back of her mind, above the lull of hexed whispers, there's a klaxon. An alarm. A great read flag.

"...Conall," she says, her voice firming but still low. Ohtli deliberately uses his full name.

"Conall...Answer me. I want your answer."
(Ohtli)
[00:10] "Many times." It is as if all he can see is red, all he can feel malice, venom dripping in every word. "When I wanted to hunt the undead with you, you left me behind. When you travel, you leave me behind. What am I to you Ohtli? Someone you should just ignore, someone not worthy of you seeing?" He asked, leaning forwards again until she speaks.

"I touched her. Groped her. But I did not kiss her. I did not strip her. I did not fuck her. She is not someone that I desire, if that is your worry. She is just a challenger that I ensured would not want to challenge me again." The Dryad says, hatred in his tone.

"As for the 'wife' of that creature? I just pointed out there was nothing keeping her there. That she could leave. And so she did. Sibri's dog does little to secure anything from anyone. I did not even lay a hand on her.

Does the truth satisfy you? Do you really enjoy talking about others that much more then talking about us?"
(Conall Revels)
[00:24] Ohtli takes a deep bracing breath to try and compose herself, but there is angry, worry, and melancholy in her voice, in her movements. She plants her hands on the table and rises to a stand.

"...If I made you feel this way, it wasn't my intent. You could've talked to me about this instead of...instead of letting it eat at you like poison," she admits, that anger waning before it returns as she shakes her head.

"You didn't answer. You knew I wouldn't like it. Didn't you? You didn't want to answer? I don't always like the truth, but I never want anything less.

"You aren't listening, but I keep telling you I looked for you. I wouldn't look for someone that I wanted to ignore. If I wanted to ignore you, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be looking at you, I wouldn't be listening. I wouldn't be talking. You know that.

"I've always respected you as a warrior. Walking the jungles with you was...nice. Hunting for feathers. Talking. Fighting. I don't know if you were always this way- so hateful, so...eager to hurt. To watch people squirm under your heel. The more I talk to you, the more I look at you now? The more I see it. And the more I'm worried for you, Con."

And that worry is genuine, even if it may be misplaced. It takes precedence over any dregs of the anger as she steps towards his side of the table.

"You talked about wanting to live a good life before you became dust. Is this it?"
(Ohtli)
[00:35] She rose to a stand, and so to would the Dryad. He draws close to Ohtli, invades her space as his dilated eyes look towards hers.

"You've ignored me. I've been by your side, I've always wanted to talk, and you've ignored me, you've looked at other people and you've never looked at me. I wanted to be yours, and you to be mine.. And you rebuked me. I waited, and I waited. I endured and I endured."

There is a darkness in his eyes, a darkness in his words. "I do not answer because even now? Even when you finally came to talk? I wanted to talk about us. I wanted to be with you. I wanted you to be with me. But you do not want that. You want to make it about other people. You do not want to look at me.

You do not want me."

He shakes. A cruelness within him, a tearing and eroding at his core. Small tears form in the corners of his eyes, mixing with the blood that rolled down his face. And then the malice returns, the present hatred.

"You are worried for me? For what you have done? For what is born from your negliance? I would not be this way if you were there. I would not be this way if you loved me. If you held me. If you kissed me. If you wanted me. You never did."

His hand reaches out, towards Ohtli.

"Ohtli. If you worry about me? Come here." His eyes look up, like a shattered piece of glass towards her. "Kiss me. Hold me. Make love to me. Tonight. Now. Look at me. Or I will never be the same.

If you ignore me here, the Conall you know will turn to dust now."
(Conall Revels)
[00:53] More of his accusations. They cut. They hurt and they cause her posture to shrink and wither. Far less proud.

"I didn't. I -didn't- ignore you. I keep telling you I looked for you. Aren't you listening to that at all?"

The Drakan reaches up, to try and wipe a tear from the corner of his eye with her thumb. He offers his hand and she cradles it in both of hers. Her first instinct is to help him, to show him compassion and comfort and care.

But that darkness doesn't escape her notice. And neither does his dark request. Give her all, give her whole, or break him. Surely, she wants all of those things. Surely she's known labor, fighting, and little honest affection. Yet that malice, that intent in his words. It's hard to ignore. Impossible.

"Con," she whispers, squeezing that hand. "Con...are you saying that you are cruel because I didn't...I didn't show you I cared more? BecauseI made you wait, while I was building the temple? That's the only reason you've done these things. Why you act the way you do?"

In all things she tries to understand, to better grasp the world. Even now.
(Ohtli)
[01:01] She shrinks, withers, and with his words Conall stands more upright, taller. It is as if with every crueler and crueler word he felt more justified, more right. He was blind to pain he was causing.

"You looked for me, once. Do you know how many times I looked for you? Do you know how many times I bought things in advance to make sure you were ok? How many times I wanted to find you and tend to you? How many times I wanted you to look at me? How many times I wanted you to watch me?"

The tears and blood roll down his cheeks in thick streams. The liquid becomes conjelled, a homogenous mix of clear and red. Her hand held by hers clutches it and he moves closer, forehead coming to rest against hers.

"It is because of you. Because you pushed me away every time I asked to be closer then friends. Because when I wanted you to be mine, you kept that feather on your horn. Because you never kissed me when I kissed you. Because every time I tried to be kind for you, do something for you, you tore into me, you disapproved.

Are you going to reject me again? Like you always have?"
(Conall Revels)
[01:22] Ohtli has few things in this world. She has her sword, the clothes on her back, the feathers on her horns, a little hut somewhere in the woods, and her pride. The pride that the dryad mercilessly starts to tear into, the pride that has already been waning bit by bit.

"It was more than once. It was never just -once-," she mumbles. Her own eyes start to well with tears. "Sweet Serpent, don't you think I worried about you to? When you'd come crawling back bleeding and bitten from hunts? When you'd said someone tried to kill you?"

Their foreheads touch. It's familiar, but now it's wrong. Tainted. Perverted by cruelty. A gesture once of affection is now twisted into something painful.

"We talked about it, Con. You said yourself...you said you understood. The temple was important. And the kissing. That's not true either. Spirits above...I...This isn't what I wanted."

The things he offers are things she wants, things she had forgone for the sake of work and divine purpose, but each time he speaks it causes her more discomfort. Ohtli can't hold back the tears any longer. They start to leak down her cheeks.

Ohtli steps back. She lets go of the dryad's hand.

"I don't...I don't know why you're doing this. I can't...I can't do it. I'm going."

The Drakan shakes her head, using her wings to cover the shameful display of crying as she turns and starts for the door.
(Ohtli)
[01:32] The teeth of the Dryad gnash.

"And what did you do? You left me alone. When you were hurting, I was by your side every step of the way. And when I was hurting? A single medicine, then abandonment. When the voices were in your head, I brought what could help make them go away. And when I said someone tried to kill me? You left me alone. You spoke to him, and accused me instead of taking my side."

And yet she starts to slip from his grasp. Ohtli stepped back, her hand had let go of his own wooden one. And in that moment, his eyes holding a desire, holding a want, held more cruelty and loneliness then they ever had before.

"You choose to abandon me. Again. Just like always." His voice had a new-found coldness in it, a malefic passion. He turns, looking towards the door.

"No. You are not rejecting me again."

The door slams shut. It is no illusion, no time, no nature. Only the sheer malice festering in the heart of the Dryad finally given tangible form. His bark-covered hand moved to his staff, drawing it from his back.

"If you will not choose to look at me, if you choose to reject me and hate me.. I will make it so you adore me. I will make it so you can never stop thinking of me.

I challenge you to a duel, Ohtli. And if I win.. I will do as I please."
(Conall Revels)
[01:36] Ohtli pauses. The door is barred to her. She closes her eyes and she shivers. That malice becomes more tangible with the declaration. There was no desire for her to stay where there was pain and the one who inflicted it.

Yet she was forced.

"...And if I refuse?"
(Ohtli)
[01:37] "There is no refusal."

The words are cruel as the Daemon cube is rolled on the floor. A farmilar fish-like creature would rise up, glubbing and looking towards the Drakanite.

"You have refused me, and rebuked me, over, and over, and over. You never looked at me. You never loved me. So this time, you will have to accept."
(Conall Revels)
[01:42] He's no slouch as a warrior. He has nature on his side, and beyond that? Allies. She is a lone Drakan, a servant of the Serpent with only her wits, her blessing, and a treasured blade.

She draws it, ripping to sword from its scabbard, and begins. Ohtli does not give him time to think otherwise.

No words. Only fighting now.
(Ohtli)
[01:53] Spores fill the air, make it hard to breathe. The fish Daemon pelts Ohtli with beams of liquid, and the malefic force throws the Drakanite against the wall. The battle is not too long, but by the end of it, the Dryad seemed tired, his pupils dialate and he steps forwards.

"I just want you to look at me, to adore, to not ignore me. Give me your attention Ohtli. All of it."

The Dryad's lips would come towards the Drakan's meeting hers. He holds it, illusions taking their hold in her mind. It melds within her, making thoughts not soon forgotten. But it in turn is the only force that is had. The front door soon opens, and the lights of the nearby basins go out.

"Love me, Ohtli.. Do not abandon me.."

Demanding words and also lonely. But the Drakan is not held further.
(Conall Revels)
[01:54] ** Conall Revels has inflicted an injury upon Ohtli. ("Kiss of Rememberance", "A lingering illusionary assualt remains on Ohtli's mind for the coming month, the rememberance of a kiss shared between herself and Conall. It draws away her attention from battle, though does not inflict phyiscal pain. In time the memory fades.", "Temporary", "Duration: Short (1 day)") **
[02:01] Love. She wants it. It had been lonely for her too, knowing little more than work, not much else than servitude to war and the building of a temple.

But this is still not what she wanted, what she'd imagined it would be like. In keeping with the other events that had passed it was a perversion of what was supposed to be pure and welcoming. Her first kiss from him, in the jungles, had been a fond thing. This is not.

Ohtli is beaten, she is pummeled from a combined assault, and he -takes- the kiss from her. She's quite literally spellbound as it connects with her lips and it stays with her, etched in bas-relief in her mind. Her cheeks flush bright pink and she hates herself for it.

The loneliness in his voice gnaws at her. It had never been her intention to abandon him.

Yet she leaves. A few plumes of green are left behind in her wake as she rides a gust off wind out the door.
(Ohtli)