Natalie slunk quietly into the tavern, hoping her presence was unnoticed. Her skirts seemed heavy-laden with some liquid of sorts, and her staff, gripped in one hand, glowed faintly, though not enough to attract attention. The usual abundance of ebony curls was tamed this evening, pulled back into a bun on the back of her head, though a few wayward tendrils had escaped to frame her pale face. Her eyes were dark, and the tip of her nose was pink, whether from the cold or from a good cry, it was hard to tell. She moved along the wall, an almost tangible cloud of paranoia surrounding her, then took a seat at the bar. Justin's presence registered in her mind and she looked over to him, first noticing his slightly disheveled appearance, then the fresh tear and wet-looking blood on his leg.
Justin nodded to Natalie, and gestured to the seat next to him, his eyes carefully and imperceptibly moving over her. He had so much practice with discreetly looking at people that she likely did not even notice him as he tried to figure out if she was all right or not. He made no attempt to hide his puzzlement at her wet clothing, before offering a warm smile, seemingly heedless of his wound as he sipped his water. "Evening, Natalie."
She rose gingerly, as though she bore an injury of sorts, though her movements were as such merely because she was sore. She sat herself next to Justin, taking her staff with her, now resting it in her lap, as though she did not want it to be too far away from her, lest she need it. Her eyes flickered with something akin to platonic affection for him, then the dullness returned, covering her expression with a mask of silence, through which her words sounded strange and foreign. "Merry meet," she replied, her fingers idly stroking the wood of her staff and her voice slightly stuffy. A tiny black spider crawled up the leg of the stool and onto her lap, resting near her fingers, but she made no move to shoo it away.
Realizing that it was likely a touchy subject, Justin had a feeling that his instincts were right on this. He felt a slight bubble of anger build up inside him, quickly suppressed and un-shown outwardly as he knew this had bothered her before. Attempting to think of something to say that wouldn't seem insinuating, he took another long sip of his water, feeling the coolness of the liquid put the final touches on quelling the almost burning rage. His lips curved up into a smile, unsure, but welcoming nonetheless as he hoped desperately that she did not get offended by his words. "How are you tonight?" he asked.
Somehow knowing the question was coming, she realized that he had taken special care in prepping his words so that they would not come across as upsetting or derogatory. Watching him as he sipped his water, she felt a sudden thirst and waved her free hand, a tall glass appearing on the bar top. It contained a strange bluish liquid and she seemed almost surprised at its contents, as though she had requested or expected something else. Taking the glass in her hand, she brought it to her slightly reddened nose and sniffed it experimentally, then took a small sip. She seemed to find it at least tolerable, if not tasty, and opted to answer Justin's question truthfully.
"Wet," she answered dryly. As if to emphasize this, she set her glass down on the bar top, moved her other hand to entice the spider's exit, and picked up a fold of her skirt in one hand. She rested her staff against the edge of the bar and used her other hand to squeeze a bit of water from the fabric of her dress, the drops falling to the floor with a soft plopping sound that could not be heard over the din of chatter from the other inhabitants. Dropping the fold of her skirt, she rested her hands in her lap and met Justin's gaze, her face expressionless. The spider, now on the floor, scurried into a crack in the wall and disappeared out of sight, and the blue liquid in her glass changed to a faintly greenish color and acquired a somewhat heavy scent of poison or the like.
Justin blinked a few times at the chimerical drink, his nose catching the scent of the greenish colored drink and wrinkling slightly at it unconsciously. He looked to Natalie, and tilted his head at her, deciding to take the slight risk, knowing full well that if he was right, then he would feel terrible for saying anything, but it was better to get the discomfort out of the way. "So what happened to your clothes?"
She looked down at her hands, subconsciously twisting the silver Goddess ring on her left pinky finger, completely ignoring the liquid in the glass, somehow noting that it was changing colors and scents, but not having enough energy to perform a Inquiry spell. Trying to diffuse the awkwardness with a bit of humor, she tilted her head upwards to meet his eyes. "Would you believe me if I told you I went swimming?" she asked, managing a small but slightly genuine smile.
He smirked and gave a soft laugh and a nod. "Actually, I would," he replied, noting that she seemed tired, and making no attempt to hide his puzzlement at this simple fact. "So, what've you been up to today?" he inquired, mentally cursing himself for the potential offense that could be taken from that simple seemingly harmless comment, but again managing to not show it outwardly, giving a smile instead. Running a hand through his tousled brown locks, he sighed as an afterthought and waited for her response.
Choosing to answer his question, Natalie looked at the glass before speaking. "Playing Ophelia," she answered quietly, then took the glass in one hand and eyed it. The liquid was still a greenish color and she sniffed it cautiously, then took a few sips. Her nose began to tickle with the beginnings of a sneeze but she quickly suppressed the feeling and concentrated instead on the liquid on the glass. Smears of paint seemed to slur in her vision and she bit down hard on her lip to clear her thoughts. Replacing the glass on the bar top, she nodded, as if to agree with her previous statement.
Justin blinked at Natalie's response a few times before commenting. "I... see...." It became apparent that he had no idea what she meant, and the worry started to return, plain in his eyes. Natalie realized he was clueless, and pondered her options. She could explain herself and risk his wrath, she could say nothing and let him ask, or she could tell him it meant something else, which would be an apparent lie, and would only aggravate him more. Sighing softly, she tapped the rim of the glass and smiled a bit as the liquid changed to a deep, dark crimson color, and attained a heavy scent not unlike blood.
Raising his glass of water to his lips, he sipped silently, his chocolate-colored eyes scanning hers before setting his drink down and lowering his voice to a quiet, almost uncannily understanding whisper. "If you would rather not say, just tell me as much; I won't push you." Natalie shivered at the tone of his voice, reaching for the glass and taking a sip, not bothering to smell it. The bloodwyne slid down her throat reassuringly, though she half loved and half hated the particular taste. She pondered the intimacy in his voice and nodded slightly. "It is only an expression. Do you not know of Ophelia?" she asked questioningly, rather surprised. Using one slender hand to rub at her nose, she sniffled a few times, the sound rather wet and soft, as though a strong tickled plagued her nostrils.
Justin laughed slightly, worrying that he had completely misjudged the situation, having been worried that her former lover, Casen, had raped her again. After his suicide and subsequent return through the Dark Arts, he constantly stalked her, trying to use her body for his own pleasure as a punishment for withholding sex while they were together. Justin seemed to relax slightly as he released the embarrassing feeling of having been utterly paranoid and hopefully wrong and shook his head slightly. "No, no. I never have."
Natalie listened to his laugh and enjoyed the sound, feeling as though it had been too long since she had shared the company of one who laughed well and laughed often. Though he did not seem especially happy, and though the laugh seemed almost forced and rather mirthless, it was a laugh, and she felt slightly better upon hearing it. "Ophelia is a character in one of Shakespeare's plays. She slips into insanity after her former lover murders her father. She is locked up, but she steals the key and goes out to the lake, ostensibly to swim, but ends up drowning. It's not classified as suicide because she is a high borne lady, but...." Here she trailed off and let the sentence hang, then took another sip of her drink.
His eyes widened as he slowly realized just what was being insinuated, and he could not help but wonder just how much of that related to her own life, though he refused to ask, as he wouldn't want to seem as though he were prying. "I... see.... Can I ask why? I mean...." Justin sighed softly, then continued. "I don't want to seem like I'm being rude, but..." he trailed off, and though he was doing an admirable job of controlling his anger, a hint of understandable irritation showed through the confused tone of his voice. "I can't understand why anyone would want to drown themselves."
