Private Eastern Brisshal A star is born

[Alexander The Great]

"I'm good with my hands. I've spent my life learning Maui Thai, Jiujitsu, and Krav Maga under the tutelage of a family friend. I haven't ever had to use if in person, but I imagine I could also punch my way out of most situations. We will have to see." His eyes would follow the woman's thumb to the group and squint. He wasn't used to dealing with...riff raff. He would ponder the bartender for a moment before turning back to Ilya.

"How would you suggest we go about this? If you want you could talk to the group, they're a bunch of young men and you're a beautiful woman. Fluttering eyes and a slight affectation to your voice would have them eating out of your hand like the simps they are. Alternatively, my line of business often relies on gathering intel from those who listen in. I happen to excel at working bartenders for information, so if you do not wish to debase yourself I can try to work my own brand of magic." He figured he would offer her the chance to work her own magic should she want, but he could also take the lead on this one.

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

I swear this man uses big words... Ilya nodded her head nonetheless. "Seems like we're both good with them then. Pleasure to have a fellow fister in my company." Ilya turned towards the group, as Alexander began to go on and say how all she had to do was flash her eyelashes and smile. "I swearr, shhhh. Not everyone simps over random girls."

Ilya began to move towards the group, "How about we do both then? You go to the bartender, and I'll hit up the group of guys." It would mean they wouldn't have to go to the other should there be no information regarding a werewolf in one party.

Ilya completely left Alexander, before she let her mana coarse through her body. She strengthened the influence of her harmonics magic, her body appearing more enticing almost instantaneously. She approached the table, letting out a wave of her hand before she motioned to the open seat at the table. "Got space for one more? I've got some questions I wanna ask you all."

Her voice had grown more charismatic and influencing, the boys ushering for her to take a seat. "Whatever can we help you with ma'am?" The oldest looking one was addressing her, assuming he was the leader she began to get to work. Keeping some of her attention back on Alex should he need her.

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

It took Alexander ten minutes to know the entirety of the sordid werewolf saga. Apparently his name used to be Dan Lobos, irony at its finest. Allegedly he'd been bit by another werewolf while out hunting and he'd struggled to hold the curse back. He'd managed to go a couple of cycles of the moon without major incident, but now he was out and about going apeshit in the woods after finally succumbing to the curse. His mind was gone, but his blood apparently could be used to help treat those in the early stages of lycanthropy, almost like some sort of...rabies vaccine.

As far as anyone could tell, he was last seen taking refuge amongst the mulchy recesses of the Barkgrove, a perfect place to hide in wait to ambush an unsuspecting victim. However, this would prove to be a problem for Alexander, for his main source of damage was using fire magic, and he had the sneaking suspicion that using such a power in that region would probably burn the whole fucking forest down.

And unlike IRL, he didn't have enough money to simply pay a fine and run an Ad campaign apologizing.

Once he was done, and promised the bartender he would take care of it, he found himself sitting at the bar idly drumming his fingers watching Miss Socialite work the boys for all they were worth.

Fucking Simps.

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

It seemed like Alexander was having good results as he spoke with the bartender, Ilya on the other hand wasn't doing as well. These men seemed to not know anything useful what-so-ever. They seemed more interested in what she was doing tonight.

All men are the fucking same dude... She was internally repulsed by their behavior and the way they would continuously try to drape themselves around her. It was stuffy enough to be sharing a table with them, let alone with them breathing down her neck.

It wasn't even fully half-way through the day and these guys were already acting like they were intoxicated, though that must have been how they just were, because Ilya couldn't find any traces of their bodies being affected by any mug of whatever they were drinking.

"Well if you don't know anything, do you happen to-" She paused as she overheard what the bartender was telling Alex, "Know of anything near Barkgrove?" As soon as she dropped the name of the location they began to start talking.

Sharing all sorts of information on things they had witnessed there, and how everyone was steering clear of it due to the sheer amount of disappearances. Ilya thanked the men for their time before she stood to her feet. They protested but she ignored them, instead returning to Alex's side. She grabbed his arm and began to hustle him out of the tavern. "Act like we're lovers or something, quick." They were too far away from the door for Ilya's liking. The leader of the group had gotten up and had began to head in their direction, most likely wanting to keep her at their table for longer.

Ilya began to shuffle her feet for the door.

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

Upon seeing the men and her quick desire for an escape, he would raise an eyebrow but with zero hesitation he would hook his arm around her waist and pull her close, planting a light kiss on her forehead. "Whatever you say Darling, I too am ready to leave." The red headed man would keep in step with her, casually keeping his free hand planted cockily on his hip, and ready to lash out at anyone from that group if they shuffled too close to them. Once they were out the door, the cocksure grin he'd picked up faded away and he shot a sideways glance to her.

"It would appear that they're a little too invested in you dearest." The smirk would trace back over his lips. "But have no fear, I know our heading, do you want to do a couple twists and turns to try and lose the riffraff? Or would you prefer we make a scene and put some clowns in their place?" HIs heart thumped lightly, the idea of possibly getting into a scuffle was...intoxicating. He'd spent his whole life training to defend himself but always having a bodyguard present, he'd always been curious what it was like. He paid people to do this sort of thing before, but now he was the one bouncing the riffraff instead of commanding the task.

"Your call"

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

Just like that, Alex helped her play couple which made the group a bit more hesitant to follow. Ilya internally scowled at the kiss, despite her having asked for help, she would have preferred not to make more physical contact than necessary with a stranger.

Not showing any signs of her scowl, Ilya smiled as if she was in love. "Yes my love, let's get going."

They walked together out of the building, and as the door slammed behind them, Ilya made more room between the two. That way she could avoid any more physical contact with this man. "If they actually follow us, it would be best to continue on as if we don't notice them. I don't want to cause any trouble to the landers here when they've been nothing but nice. If we cause a scene, it will only bring more trouble than it's worth."

Even she wanted to beat them up, but she knew there was a time and place. Letting even more distance grow, her arm rested very gently on Alex's arm. She began to lead him towards Gertrude's, so that they could drop off the money and start work on the roof.

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

Once he was sure the men weren't following them, he would release his grip on the Lioness and give her an apologetic look. "One thousand pardons for any discomfort I may have caused, I was simply trying to convey my role as best as I could given the limited..." he would motion with his hands to look for the word. "There's only so much lovey dovey body language that can be conveyed without me placing my hands anywhere personal, so I went for an easy display of affection that would cross as few boundaries as possible."

This was a game he was used to playing. All it took was one wrong hand placement in a photo, one wrong encounter in private, and people would come out the woodworks to try and nail you onto a cross, bad intentions or not. It was better to be incredibly mindful of boundaries.

"But as you wish, I will get a chance to...as you say, fist it up later when we get to the woods." He would smirk. They would arrive outside Gertrude's home once again, having abandoned any trouble several blocks back. "So far this has been incredibly smooth sailing." He would muse. "Aside from one minor hiccup, this is going well."

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

Ilya brushed it off, "No worries man, I'm the one that asked." She smiled to let him know it was okay before focusing on the road. Letting their walk ease her spirit, as they drew closer to the house Alex would make a comment which would cause Ilya to agree. It would be nice to beat up things in the woods. "Yeah! It's been pretty smooth. Most days are like this to be honest." Ok that was a lie Ilya and you knew it. Something always happened on adventures. Whether it be accidentally kissing, a whole group of assassins chasing after you, an encounter with a killer moth the size of a bear, it was always the same. Something always happened. Hopefully the rest of the day would be smooth sailing.

"Tell me something interesting." She quipped at Alex after she had entered the house and dropped off the gold. The two were standing outside, with Ilya gawking at the roof. The leak was small, but it would still cause issues during the rain.

"Alright, shall we work on that leak?" She reached down and attached a toolbelt to her waist before filling it with what she would need. A few materials in her left hand, she ascended the ladder that she had conveniently placed a few seconds earlier.

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

"Something Interesting." He would drone back plainly, staring at her with a blank mask on his face for about a minute before a smirk would cross his face. "Not what you wanted eh? Tell you what." He would follow her up onto the roof to help supervise and identify the whole that needed to be replaced.

"Why don't we play two truth one lie. Are you familiar with the concept? You list two true things about yourself, slap in a lie, and the other has to guess what they think is the lie, hrrm?" He would raise his eyebrows.

"I'll go first, but don't go taking this as a reason to skip out on me when it's your turn." He would think for a moment, rubbing his chin as he would help Ilya manage the spot.

"Gotcha, so. I live in a penthouse suite in Manhattan, I have seven digits in my bank account right now, and I've never had a girlfriend." He would turn to look at her. "Which one is the lie?"

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

"Something interesting." Ilya couldn't help but roll her eyes, of all kinds of things, this man had to have dad jokes under his "useless talents"? Why couldn't he be cool and be double jointed or be secretly good at spin the bottle. After her unvoiced mental judgement began, Alex said something that caused all of Ilya's thoughts and judging voices to grow silent. Two truths and one lie? Okay... Sure. She nodded her head and waited for him to go first.

As he rubbed his chin, Ilya worked on the hole, holding up whichever materials she thought would be best. She began to nail and hammer away, but not before she used her magic to influence the sound. Making it so the only thing that could be hear by either of them was their voices. That way they could actually hold a conversation.

Penthouse, seven digits or never had a girlfriend... With his dad jokes, obviously he's never had a girlfriend. He's practically walking 'birth control'. Now for the other two.. He either lives in a penthouse or has seven figures in his account.. Let's see... Calculating that he's yay high, and his mind processes at a rate of 17 chickens per cow. This means that he is either rich or poor in the real world. Using the magical properties of the subatomic particles around his voice by using my harmonics magic I can confer that he is in fact rich in the real world. However that doesn't bring me to the calculation of whether the truth is the penthouse or the figures. Using radiometric dating on the magnetosphere in Post Malone I can come to the conclusion that 1 + 1 = 3 and 2 + 2 = 8. Ilya took a deep breath, "You have more than seven figures in your bank account. You've never had a girlfriend, you're too much of a 'dad jokes' kind of person. But yes, you live in a penthouse."

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

"I've had several long term suitors that I courted for a prolonged period of time, but they were..." He would let the words hang in the air. "Boring. They wanted me for my money, or my reputation. None of them were particularly fun to spend time with, and all of them were arranged by a matchmaker who I have since fired."

He would scowl at the dad jokes comment but would then continue. "The Lie was my bank account at the moment. I actually only have six digits in my bank account given that I just dropped an inordinate amount of my liquidity into purchasing another company. I imagine that will be rectified by the time my earnings post at the end of the day." He would squint as she warped the sound with the magic and then turned to look at her.

"What about you, two truths, one lie."

He would let the words hang in the air, allowing her to formulate her plan of attack.

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

Aha! Ilya was right! He never had a girlfriend! "Sheesh you must be some hotshot in the real world." She nudged him with her elbow, waggling her eyebrows at him, "You gotta tell me what it's like to have that much importance." She was half joking, half serious, moving along from her question she furrowed her brows in concentration.

"Two truths and a lie..." Ilya put another nail in the thingy, pounding it in. Two truths and a lie... Where do I even begin? What's something interesting...

"Okay here, two truths and a lie. I used to love singing, but now I hate it. My favorite animal isn't lions. Annnnd... I dropped out of college." There were her two truths and a lie, now it was up to Alex to figure it out.

Ilya kept working on the roof, hoping to get the leak done before the sun began to descend in the sky. If that was the goal, the duo didn't have much time left.

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

"It's annoying." He would complain. "I know that sounds privledged as hell, but I was born and raised into the life with no options but to be the man my father wanted. By the time he's died and gotten out of my hair, I was too far in to let go of it all. Too many people count on my making sure the company doesn't go under, literally millions of people have jobs because of my company, I can't just stop." He would grit his teeth. "So I do the best I can, try to help those who need it, make sure I can live my life as...humanely as possible so that nobody who works for me has to suffer if I can help it."

"The obvious lie here is that your favorite animal isn't lions." HE would raise an eyebrow looking her over. "I'm willing to be based on statements A and C, plus your rhythmic sound magic that you either are or were a singer of some sorts." He would tut. "And my heart bleeds for you, I know a great deal of singers and they all seem very..." he paused.

"Sad. I wish I could help them more, but so many of them have been used and abused. They're sold false promises, glitz and glamor, and then you get into it and it's just a gilded cage for a song bird."

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

He was caught in a loop, just like her... That made her resonate with him more than she cared to admit. Wanting to put it all in the back of her head, yet also wanting to acknowledge what he had just said, Ilya found the right words hard to come by. "Well, I can imagine just how difficult that might be. I'm glad you at least have a good head on your shoulders, to where you help whoever you can, however you can. It's a good trait to have."

Ilya felt more relaxed when the serious conversation switched to the more relaxed one, her eyes lighting up as a wide grin plastered on her face. "You got it wrooongggg." She sung in triumph. Theeen it got deep, again. Ilya just shrugged it off, "I actually didn't go to college at all, so the dropped out is wrong." She stuck out her tongue, "My favorite animal is actually foxes, but I wanted to go with a more noble theme, thus the lion beastfolk. Lions are on my top three though."

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

"I see." He would nod along as she made her admittances, and soon they would find the holes in the roof properly patched in record time. Just fast enough for them to wrap up this conversation it would seem. "I see, like myself you went for a lie that is more subtle than most." His emerald eyes would dance across her face for a moment, a hint of a smirk crossing his lips. "The easiest way to lie to someone is to either give them a lie they want to believe, or bury it in a partial truth." He would help her finish the last patch, climbing down off the roof before wiping some sweat from his brow.

"This game is marvelously realistic. The heat, the feel of sweat on your brow, the way the wind feels. I can see why people are so fascinated with it..."

Cracking his neck, he would turn to Ilya. "So the leak is fixed, the potions are delivered, now it's time to go into the woods and begin collecting ingredients, no?"

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

The sun was beating brightly down at the two that were set on a task, that seemed to go by almost too smoothly. The heat had started to get to Ilya, a bead of sweat dripping from the bit of skin at the top of her head, down her face. Dripping from a few of the hairs on her eyebrow, down onto her leg. She used the back of her hand to swipe the salty liquid from her leg before setting another nail in place. "That should do it!" She felt proud of the fact that they had managed to slave away at the roof in a minimal amount of time. It helped that Alex was pretty decent at this stuff, working as if he were two or even three Ilya's all working on the same thing. With his quick and efficient pace, Ilya had been left in the dust, feeling like she had to work harder.

I've got plenty of time to show off when we go to get all the ingredients... The lioness decended the ladder, following the same motions that Alex was taking. Ilya's feet planted firmly on the ground, and Ilya went to work in putting away the ladder and all of the materials/tools that they had used.

Once she was thoroughly happy with the way she had placed it up, she stretched her arms above her head. Taking in a deep breath, her eyes focused on Alex. Making eye contact as she shot him a toothy grin, "Yessir! Let's get our booties moving!"

She moved over to stand behind Alex's back. Once she was in place she pushed out her arms, gently touching the back of Alex's tunic. Then she began to apply pressure, attempting to push or usher him in the direction of where they needed to go.

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

The man would tense up slightly as she placed her hands on his lower back. He would lean back slightly into the woman as she pushed, playing along with the act. "Consider my booty moving." He would take a couple slow staggering steps, dragging his feet as she continued to press into him. He wasn't used to women being pushy like that, most people back home would never dare to lay a hand on him without Viktor throwing them through a window.

"You're being awfully pushy for this being our first adventure together. Most people wait till the third date." He would chuckle before leaning forward and breaking away from her, taking long strides to leave her in his dust, pivoting to turn and shoot her a cheesy grin.

"Come on slow poke, at this rate I'll leave you in my dust."

He would begin to shuffle faster making his way towards the edge of town. Adventure awaited!

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

Her small hands fell down as the giant began to break free from her. Letting him move along on his own, she followed after. "Oh shut up, dummy." Ilya rolled her eyes as she began to shuffle her feet in double time.

Not putting much effort into picking up speed, the lioness watched as Alex began to grow smaller the further away from her that he got. Her feet would pick up when he mentioned leaving her in the dust. She unconsciously altered the muscles in her legs, reverting them to be closer to that of a lion's. The woman's speed picked up considerably, the wind causing her hair to flutter about. It didn't take long for her to catch up, and even then to bypass him. "Who's the slow poke now, eh Alex?"

Her head swiveled back around to face the path as she pushed herself onwards, slowing down to match the pace that Alex set out. Her body feeling energized as the adrenaline began to course through her. The edge of the forest appearing within view.

Looking back the lion took notice of just how much distance the two had travelled. Impressed, Ilya slowed down to a stop. "That was fun!" She panted out, taking a moment to catch her breath. "How about we take a look at the list again real quick? We're a few minutes away from where the werewolf is rumored to be, but we might as well take a glance at the list so we can try and find some on the way."

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....

 

[Alexander The Great]

The woman picked up her pace, breaking from a light shuffle to a jog, and then a run. Alexander raised an eyebrow as she blew past him, and then picked up his pace to keep up with her. He was not about to have this woman try and show him up like that. His strides lengthened, his pace grew and soon the two were neck in neck.

They would leave a cloud of dust in their wake, barreling through the woods at a lightning pace. Soon, they would slow to a stop, the noble giant taking a moment to catch his breath. "I haven't run like that in a long time." He would wipe some sweat from his brow, stretching out.

"Christ, so we're already that far into the woods eh?" He would consult the mental list.

"
1. Bloodroot
2. Earth, Water, Fire, Air Elemental Dust
3. Flask of werewolf blood
4. Lilywood Fruit
5. Ravenous Moss"

He would rattle off the list from memory, counting on his fingers. "Some of these seem harder to get than the others."

@Ilya

 

[Ilya]

☀𓆱𓃬

​

lion's pride...

The time had come to look around for some of the ingredients, Ilya making a mental note of what she remembered of each item on the list. Her lips moving to voice her thoughts. "Bloodroot is like white flowers, almost daisy-like... They grow in forests, in batches of leaves or whatever... Elemental dust can be extracted from dried elemental flowers, which are found in the deepest parts of the forests, typically in giant logs... Or in the nook of tree roots. There's also supposedly a hidden grove somewhere near here, that has a 'holy grail' of elemental flowers. Supposedly some nature obsessed fairy grew all of those flowers when speaking to the druidic stone. Though it's supposedly a real trick to find. The other method we can use for Elemental Dust is to slay Elementals. Werewolf blood, kill the werewolf, extract the blood. Easy. Lilywood Fruit is found on Lilywoods, which are in swamp-like areas... I dunno how close we are to one, I'm kinda turned inside and out. But the ravenous moss will be easy, cause sentient moss gross like... Everywhere normal moss does."

Taking a deep breath she grinned, "Do you have any idea where we are in relation to the world? And which do you wanna do first from our list? If we work together, nothing will be too difficult!" She wanted the dinner, and the drink with a friend. Unfortunately everything felt rushed, her time with Alex would be over before she knew it...

@Alexander The Great

"Talking!"
Thoughts....