IT'S THEIR OWN FAULT FOR BEING TIMELESS / open

[Amren]

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[b][color=#414a4c]"How much for that absolutely darling pearl necklace?" Inquired the tiny woman in a sly voice, crossing pale arms as she stared down at the merchant. Her silver gaze was alight like the smoke it used to be, a glimmer of something wicked dancing unapologetically within it. When he didn't respond, she fished the sapphire from her pocket and placed it on the table with a loud thud, laughing to herself. [color=#414a4c]"Fancy a trade, boy?" She proceeded, arching one of her groomed eyebrows expectantly. Amren had had the gem she was bartering forever now and had grown rather bored of it. She wanted something new, something fresh. The black pearl necklace had of course caught her eye. She could already see it on her, complimenting her rather neutral wardrobe excruciatingly well. It was practically made for her.

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine, take the necklace," He responded in a soft voice, probably too uncertain of the living embodiment of fire and fury that stood nonchalantly his opposite. She relished in that. Relished in being intimidating. A laugh dripped from her lips. And then, with that same casual grace, she reached forward and greedily snatched the necklace. It was around her neck in an instant, gleaming in the afternoon light as she turned and walked off without so much as a 'thank you'. He should be thanking her, that sapphire was worth more than the necklace it had been traded for.

Amren realized rather soon after that that she was hungry. Ugh, hunger was something she'd never get used to. Her form in her home dimension hadn't needed trivial substances to keep it alive. Mortals were pathetic and weak. But despite that, she still began to search for food, stalking through the docks like a cat stalked its prey. Someone had to be selling something, right?

[CAIN]

Amren was a curious one. He knew that there was something dark and feral contained in that tiny body of hers, could read the darkness in her area just as surely as he could sense the tightly wound coil of energy radiating from her. She didn't seem outright hostile, even if he knew she had a selfish heart, and that was enough for Cain. As long as she didn't fuck with his family, she would be accepted into said family; as long as she kept that wild side in check (or better yet, aimed towards the royals), she was fine, in his eyes. Hell, the more savagery buried deep inside, the more useful she was to him when it came time to give Freddie hell. He didn't need her to kill those demons, per se -- he just needed her to keep them well trained.

In the meantime, she was an excellent character study. Cain was a highly analytic person, and it showed; one would catch him simply staring, studying their movements, and he was completely unapologetic about it. A startled glance would simply receive an arched brow in response, because the Commander frankly didn't give a fuck if they caught him tracking their movements. He liked knowing his people, liked knowing who he was dealing with: it made things more... predictable. He had a plan for everything, and that required knowing the people who answered to him. That, and he genuinely cared about them on an individual level. He knew their birthdays and what they liked just as well as he knew their weaknesses and how useful they were in a war.

Amren was no different. He picked up on a sense of apathy there, the general impression that she was a greedy little shit who was hanging around because this was a more convenient place for her to be. She didn't have a true sense of loyalty, not yet, but that didn't bother him. Selfish people could be extremely good members once you won them over, and Cain was confident he could win her over -- they were, after all, inclined to extend that selfishness to their group, and act in the group's best interest at all times, consequences be damned. Cain was incredibly selfish when it came down to defending his people; if someone had to be sacrificed, he knew damned well that he wouldn't hesitate to scapegoat a stranger over his own people. That was just cold necessity.

He was watching her now, leaning against one of the houses as his sea-green stare tracked her levelly. He was paying half attention to the conversations happening around him, but mostly he was just watching Amren, waiting to see what she would do or if she would notice. Or, for that matter, if she would care.

© MADI

[Thomas]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 530px; min-height: 9px; font-family:; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 20px"]Thomas had met Amren once or twice in passing, but they had not been formally introduced. He supposed he tried to stay as far away from her as possible (without it being obvious, of course). He did this not because she was harsh and blunt. It was not because her smoky eyes burned into him when they made eye contact. It was not because he wondered about her possible thieving habits either. No, none of those things. The reason he strayed from her was because he reminded him of his sister: she was confident, small, cunning, and if need be, cutthroat. Despite all his subtle avoidance, here she was again. He supposed he should interact with her. He was not the type to shy away from anything.

The young man offered Cain a wave in greeting before focusing his eyes on Amren. The necklace she now wore caught his attention, and he could not remember if he had ever seen it before. Surely not, he thought, he was good at remembering the little things. "Is that new, Amren? Your pearls?" he inquired, drawing nearer to the spitfire woman.
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[Amren]

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[b][color=#414a4c]"Are you just going to stand there and stare, boy?"

Amren was observant, possibly too observant for her own good at times. She saw everything, felt everything, and typically acted accordingly- with herself in mind. Today, she behaved no differently. She was, and always would be, her first priority. That was, until she saw Cain. He was fascinating and genuine, perhaps almost as genuine as she was. He had this air to him, this ability to command respect and earn his people's love simply by being himself. Begrudgingly, she had grown to admire those skills from afar, lulled in by his personable nature (much to her chagrin) just as everybody else had been.  [color=#414a4c]"Go ahead, compliment my peals. They're beautiful, aren't they?" Amren inquired in a feline voice, her hunger forgotten as she sauntered confidently towards him.

He was taller than her by a lot and yet, the tiny beast only smiled up at him. Unfazed. Amused. When you were the embodiment of smoke and fire, not much had the ability to intimidate you- especially something as trivial as height. She knew that she was barely five feet but that didn't stop her- she wielded her size with dangerous grace, kicking the asses of anyone who dared make a sly comment. She held her own. She's always had to. [color=#414a4c]"Here, a close up," She said in that voice of hers, nimble hands rising to grasp the necklace and show it off.

She would have said more had Thomas not arrived and, intrigued, she turned on a heel to face him, that smoking gaze staring into him. [color=#414a4c]"They indeed are, boy. I traded one of my sapphires for them this morning, that merchant got more than this necklace is even worth but I don't care. It's stunning on me, it was a good trade," She supplied with a confident nod to herself, crossing her arm's over her chest in typical Amren fashion. [color=#414a4c]"Your name is Thomas," She observed idly, crimson painted lips pursing, [color=#414a4c]"You've always given me the impression that you're easily frightened- why else would we not have spoken before? Hm."

Amren's lack of filter truly did have the capacity to be a bit... troublesome at times. She didn't care though... after thousands of years of existence, what else could she do save be brutally honest and live as she wanted? It'd make no sense to do anything but that.

[CAIN]

Cain gave her an easy, lopsided grin as she stalked towards him -- that, he supposed, was not unexpected. She didn't strike him as the sort to back off from even the most passive of challenges. She was more than a foot shorter than him, but she stared him down like she owned him, which was... wildly entertaining and enough spunk to win him over. She was a fierce one, and he no doubt that she'd tear the royal fuckers apart with glee. "Yes, Amren, they're lovely," he said evenly, voice lined in amusement as he studied her openly, making no effort to hide the analytic nature of his gaze, "They just make your eyes sparkle."

He glanced over her shoulder to Thomas as the boy waved, and found himself grinning slowly. Oh, this would be interesting -- he liked Thomas; the boy was quiet and loyal, carried himself like royalty and carried that honor in his heart, a stark contrast to Amren's sharp edges and sharper tongue. He reminded him of himself as a teenager, full of lionhearted pride and the fierce desire to do good and to do so... the good way, one might say. He'd been honorable then, too, because he learned that the ends justify the means and the world was too unfair to play by the rules. It would be... interesting to see these two interact, and they didn't disappoint.

"Down, girl," he drawled, a smirk hitching upwards crookedly as he eyed Thomas, "I think Thomas here might just be a bit nicer than the rest of us. More... cultured, one might say."

© MADI

[Thomas]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 530px; min-height: 9px; font-family:; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 20px"]The lionhearted young adult found himself nodding at Amren's words. Every so often, his dark brown eyes would steal glances at the black pearls, curiosity deep within his gaze. The necklace lifted minutely as she breathed, spoke, and moved slightly to address he and Cain. It was amusing how wonderfully the pearls seemed to fit on her. It was as if it were fate. "I must agree with our Cain here," Thomas began, "The pearls rest easily on you, Amren."

Her next words caused a visible change in his demeanor. Him? Frightened? Not easily. He was a knight, a protector of those in need. He feared nothing, not even death. In truth, the former prince was indeed scared of many things, but he would never let on to his actual fears. Amren was not one of them though. "I apologize if I offended you by not approaching you beforehand. As much as I would not like to admit this, you remind me heavily of my younger sister, Faye. She -" 'Murdered by mother and father in cold blood before plunging our realm into darkness, destroying all that I once held dear.' "- I just miss her something terrible. I believed avoiding you would help lessen the pain I felt, but I now know that is an impossible hurt to keep at bay. So, I suppose one might begin to get used to my presence. We will be seeing more of one another now, Amren." He chuckled as he finished speaking, allowing a smile to rise upon his lips, slowly like the sun at dawn.

Cain's response to Amren caused a dark eyebrow to arch upward. "Kind? Well, I appreciate your thinking that, Cain. I do try to be kind." Mother would have wanted it that way. She had always told him knights were supposed to be kind to those they guarded. Father said it mattered not about their temperament, said that knights should be rough if they so pleased. Thomas chose to fall in line with his mother's beliefs. "Cultured? Perhaps, yes, one could refer to me as such. I am as my kingdom sculpted me. Kind. Fair. Valiant. Cultured. I am to please. It is how I was raised."

[Amren]

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Oh yes, this boy was an interesting one. The way he studied her... they way he spoke... it provided Amren with much intrigue, a smirk appearing upon her own lips as she continued to gaze almost defiantly up at him. He was her commander yes, and of course she would listen to him, but she still wished to assert her and her unwavering dedication to herself. She was her own person through and through. Being a member of Blackfall didn't change that.

Yet, anyways.

She knew of her capability to be loyal and dedicated to a cause. She had been just once before... not to her home dimension or her father and all of his orders and restrictions and unwillingness to let her live. No, she had been loyal to the dimension she existed in prior to this one, the dimension that contained the babbling idiots she considered her best friends. Or had considered. They didn't exist, not anymore. Amren had just gotten out with her life and she couldn't have brought any of them with her, not when they were too attached to each other to leave one another behind. They had told Amren to flee though, knowing that she would be able to, knowing that even she couldn't save them.

She had been bouncing around in mortal forms since, hardly thinking about that part of her life because it stirred something inside of her that she perhaps wasn't ready to come to terms with. She wasn't vulnerable, she couldn't afford to be vulnerable. Not when she was all edges and fire and anger. Pure, concentrated anger.

But right, back to the pearls and Thomas and Cain. [b][color=#414a4c]"Am I your dog, boy?" She inquired with a wicked laugh, smoky eyes gleaming. [color=#414a4c]"As for cultured hmph, I doubt that. Maybe more cultured than you boy, but certainly not I. If you weren't aware, I have an affinity for the finer things in life. Art, music, fine literature. Or do I not strike you as that type of person?" A rare sort of humor laced her words and even she vaguely wondered why. You've gone mushy thinking about Rhys and the others, she thought to herself. It didn't matter though, she had to tell herself that.

She supposed that she was especially grateful for Thomas's interjection and subsequent recounting of his sister. [color=#414a4c]"Sometimes it's best to charge your demons on head first, boy," Was all she could find in herself to offer. She could not, would not, extend her sympathy. Amren had never been a creature of sympathy or empathy or basic compassion. She cared for people under that sharp exterior but never was she forward about it. Never.

Absently twirling a strand of jet black hair around her finger, Amren would cackle. [color=#414a4c]"You're so right, Cain," Another laugh interjected her words, [color=#414a4c]"He's so much nicer than the both of us combined."