Discussion Replay Role Play: BJD RPG Tavern

Peregrine frowned. With Luke's calming presence still present at the table, and the weirdness factor of the rest of the tavern's patrons increasing by the minute, it was obvious that admitting to being nonhuman wouldn't pose the danger that it would at home. But long instincts still bristled at the question, and Peregrine turned blunt for a few moments, while he fought to rein in the bad mood that so easily wanted to return.

"No." After a moment, prodded by the guilt he felt in responding shortly to Razidae's candor, Peregrine balled up his courage and offered: "I'm... a Clockwork Bird. There's four of us."

 

Placing her mug of hot chocolate on the bar Niva turned towards the other people sitting at the bar. Taking a deep breath she said "Hello"

 

Asiago tilts his head in confusion at Peregrine's response and scratches his head. You can almost hear the "huh?" coming from his open mouth. Shaking his head to clear it, he scratches on his chalk board and holds it up for Peregrine to see:

"What's that?"

 

"It's..." Peregrine frowned, biting his lip pensively. He'd never really had to explain his nature to anyone before, and the novelty of it was more confusing than the actual question.

Wonder if Sparrow would approve, he thought to himself, honestly unable to even tell if he felt apprehensive of the possibility. Turning his attention back to Asiago, and in turn to Razidae, Peregrine stumbled through an explanation.

"It's...um. We were made, and we have gears and stuff, but we also have organs, but then it's complicated because we're not really electrical, but the organic part is, but, well, Keet is electrical, but she was made later, and she has gears too but I think some of hers are nylon, but mine and Grackle's and Ro's are brass and steel, and we used to have some copper, but that kind of corroded a lot, so the tinker in Boston put in the brass instead, so we had to tell him, obviously, but we don't tell anyone else in general, and he ended up dying pretty quickly anyway -- no, wait, that sounds like we did it, we didn't -- anyway, nobody else in the normal place knows.

"Well, there were a whole bunch of people who knew about Grackle, but that was a long time ago so they're probably dead now, and he got out of their box when the program started shutting down anyway, and he still doesn't like to talk about that. Ro and I haven't ever been caught, and I don't think Keet has either, but she's new, so we don't know everything yet, but she probably spent more time in the box to start with than either Ro or me did, but that was because it was later and they had TV, and --"

Peregrine stopped, blinking in surprise at his own loquacity. "Uhm." Never having rambled like that before in his life, he wasn't sure at all how to follow it up, or to escape from the awkwardness he felt by having confided any of those details at all.

 

Turning towards the small voice, she smiles.

"Hello! You're the one with the beautiful singing voice, right?"

 

Asiago blinks at Peregrine for a moment, then his little mouth forms into an "O". Wipes his board off and writes on it:

"Wow! Amazing!"

Asiago scurries over towards Peregrine, leaning out as far as he can from the table, stretching to get a closer look at him and sniffing a bit, his whiskers twitching.

 

Razidae stared at the man in front of him still processing the information that was spouted and the fact that the man gave up the information in the first place, he seems like a person of few sentences, "Wow, that's incredible, I did not think it was possible. The metal must be really cold and heavy!" he mused. "I never even heard of the term "technology" until Seythro introduced me to the concept, but he never told me about things such as this."

After the information processed a bit more, Razidae startled a little as he came to a revelation, "There are so little of your kind" he murmured and then looked up at the taller one, "You must be terribly lonely".

 

"Better for the pleasure of making your acquaintance, Mademoiselle Sabriel," Florian responded; then, turning to shy singer, who had gathered her courage, ventured to the bar and actually spoken to Sabriel, he added, "and yours as well, of course, Mademoiselle. What brings you ladies here on such a dismal night?"

 

Mahdis waves and gives the horned lady a greeting in the form of, "Hello, Lady Jehremya, you have a pretty horn!" She then looke dback to Florian. "They said it's because little ones need to eat cooked food so we don't get sick."

 

Peregrine had already responded to Asiago, holding out one fingertip just in front of the mouse's twitching nose and whiskers for him to smell, when Razidae made his quiet observation.

Lonely? The thought hit much too close to the bone, and Peregrine's expression fell, turning inward as he thought of his brother. The look on Sparrow's face whenever Grackle made a wry observation... the way that he, once content to be Peregrine's brother and nothing else, would twirl slowly in place, a new skirt or the long bell sleeves of a fancy shirt spinning out in a display of whimsy for Grackle's benefit... his growing tendency to turn to Grackle for comfort and reassurance when thier path seemed unsure.

Peregrine had once been all of that and more to Sparrow, his sole source for comfort, reassurance, opinion, support, inquiry, amusement, and so much more. He still held a place in Sparrow's heart and life, clearly -- Grackle couldn't guess Sparrow's thoughts like Peregrine could, nor did the two of them move in perfect synchronization as did Per and his brother, and there still remained nights when Sparrow, too worried to think straight, could find sleep nowhere else but in the embrace of his brother. Though even that was beginning to change, as Grackle's time with them lengthened.

Peregrine had yet to discover his new place in Sparrow's life, now that Grackle - and Keet - had joined their world of two. And while he resented Sparrow's focus on Grackle, Peregrine couldn't discern whether he had fair reason to do so. Which just left him lonely and awkward.

"Lonely...I suppose I am," he admitted quietly, his reluctancy to speak back in full force through the combination of his lingering embarrassment and the fresh frustration brought on by his recollections.

 

"Please, just call me Jay. I'm out and about, I suppose. Out for a walk, really. Got too cold to stay out much longer, though, and I saw the warm light. Thank you so much, Miss Mahdis, I appreciate your compliment!"

Feeling a bit more comfortable, she reaches up and unclasps the broach holding her cloak together. Sliding the cloak down behind her, she pulls the sleeves from her sky blue dress up for a moment, folding the cloak. Wearing a white chemise, with a sky blue overdress, with sleeves that drape the floor, silver tassels at the ends. The silver accents the edge of each of the sleeves, and down the bottom edge of the dress, where if gazed at, something else of interest is revealed.
Instead of feet, this woman has hooves, silver hooves, the color of mercury, her fetlocks a vibrant purple.

 

"Ah, I see. And you are not old enough yet. But you are right about one thing, Mahdis-it is a pretty horn. And a pretty voice as well. I don't think I've ever heard the language, but the melody was lovely." The singer had been half a room away, but Florian's ears were preternaturally keen.

 

"You're welcome," she replies with something of a happy squeak. "Aww... I wanna try it though.." But she looks to the singer, and at Jehremya's pretty pretty hooves, and all of the really neat people around her. That lady was right, she was getting to see neat things by being outside of the temple!

 

Niva blushed to hear her singing referred to "Thank you. The language of the song is mostly forgotten now. I was always told it was one of the languages from the beginning of time. As to why I'm here, I guess you could say I seek conversation with somebody other than myself"
Feeling like what she had just said ignored the existence of her lover Duma, Niva went on to explain "Not that there is anything wrong with silence, it's just sometimes it's nice not to be the only one that speaks"

 

Davlin has to duck and turn his head to pass through the doorway of the tavern, his antlers too wide and too tall to let him simply walk in. Once inside, he straightens up as the ceiling rises, though he is still careful to watch for things hanging from the roof beams - the last thing he needs is to get tangled in a string of garlic cloves. The floorboards ring hollowly beneath his hooves. There must be a cellar beneath the main room of the tavern, probably for storage. He looks around, taking in the other patrons in the room, gaze playing across the small groups of people and non-people dining or talking with bowed heads, and the few sitting alone, enjoying their meals with watchful eyes. Satisfied, he approaches the counter, though he hesitates when he sees the dog sitting on it.

The stag leans down slightly and holds his hand out for the dog to sniff. He glances around, looking for a bartender, but seeing none he shrugs and takes a seat at the bar. Perhaps the owner has gone into the kitchen to get something, and will be out again in a moment. He hopes the errand doesn't take too long. He's been walking for a long time, and a hot meat pie sounds glorious right now.

Sighing, Davlin shifts the herb bag slung around his torso - the shoulder strap is chafing his neck - and rests his elbow on the counter, thoughts of steaming potatoes with gravy and spiced steak dancing through his mind. Maybe a bit of warm tea or cocoa to go with the meal, and a snifter of brandy after? Though he really should get back on the road, so perhaps he should pass on the brandy...

 

The traveler ducked his head as he passed through the swinging door of the tavern and then paused to shake the rainwater out of his hair before looking around. The Angel's Den, huh? It was a bit off the beaten track, but a number of people and various non-human creatures filled the small warm room. It would be relatively easy for someone to get by relatively unnoticed here as long as he kept to himself. This looked like it could be his type of dive.

He removed his wet cloak and hung it on a peg alongside the fire before approaching the bar. As he looked around for a bartender, his gaze met nothing save a piercing appraisal from a small white dog. He chuckled to himself and leaned on the bar as he spoke to the canine and ruffled it's ears.

"You in charge of this place tonight? Pretty full house, looks like you've got your paws full. Look, I've not got much in the way of cash, but I do know my way around behind a bar. I'd help you out for the evening in exchange for a pint or two of Guinness and a loaf of that bread I smell baking right now. Whaddya say?" He dropped down onto a bar stool alongside a stag as he continued -- "I'll give you a few minutes to think about it, I've been walking all day and I'd like to sit and rest for a few minutes."

[Jumping into this a bit late, and I don't know if Truffle will respond, but the whole thing was just too good to pass up since my doll is a bartender. ]

 

After a thorough investigation of Peregrine's hand, Asiago leans back on his haunches and ponders this strange clockwork being. He shrugs his shoulders as if to say "It is what it is."

Looking around the room and noticing the newcomers that entered the tavern, the little yellow mouse scurries across the table and bounds across the other tables and chairs making his way to the bar. Running along the length of the bar, he passes in front of the other patrons and comes to a stop in front of a stag and a man.

Glancing between the two, his mouth opens in a grin. Grabbing the chalk board hanging around his neck, he wipes it off and writes:

"Hello! I'm Asiago."

He holds it up for them to see and then turns to the little dog. Wipes off his board and writes again:

"Hot chocolate, please?"

The little dog goes off to get his drink and he sits down on the bar between the two new travelers to enjoy their company. Wiping and writing:

"Mind if I join you?"

 

"You have come to the right place then, " Florian remarked, taking a sip of his wine, "beacause I have no difficulty speaking at all, and I enjoy company. Particularly the company of beautiful ladies. And I seem to be surrounded by them."

 

[[IRC Channel Notice: Peregrine has quit the channel | Quit: "Off to sulk somewhere else." ]]

[[THANK YOU, everyone! This has been an awesomely fun time. I'm headed out for the night now, so I won't be able to post Peregrine anymore. But anyone who wants to continue with Peregrine and I - whether or not we directly talked in this tavern setting - is welcome to PM me.

Thank you to the mods for setting this up and to everyone else here for playing! I had fun. ]]

 

Smiling at Florians comment Niva couldn't help but reply "It's been a long time since anybody called me beautiful". Realizing what she just said she softly laughed in the same bell-like tones as her singing. "That sounds so much more melancholy that it should, but then I have been missing conversation and that does tend to make me somewhat melancholy, but to hear the voices of others... I guess I should introduce myself, I am Niva"

 

Davlin leans back slightly when the mouse scurries across the counter and comes to an unexpected stop in front of him. His brow furrows slightly when the little creature holds up its board, and he looks for a moment as if he's considering leaving, but then he relaxes when he sees the mouse turn to the dog and - apparently - order some hot chocolate.

When the mouse turns its attention back to Davlin and the man sitting beside him, he nods at it. "Hello...ah, Asiago." The name is a bit awkward, the stag's accent thick and hard to pin down, but easily decipherable. "You're welcome to dine here."

He hesitates for a second or two longer, then asks, "We tell the dog what we want to have, do we?"