Brianna
Stepping through the threshold and into the house, the kelahati looked around at everything, barely noticing when Zaeren handed her two stones, which felt foreign in her hands. She soon found herself scrambling to catch a pelt that had been thrown at her, and before Brianna could even ask the meaning of the stones, Danae had slipped inside the house and taken up position at her left side.
Be careful with this one, she warned, her voice directly in Brianna's mind. I don't trust the way he looked at me. He's dangerous, Brianna. I can see it in his eyes.
With her warning delivered, the kitsune vanished, appearing once again as a dagger at Brianna's left hip. The woman was left with nothing but feelings of confusion. Zaeren was a kind man, but it was true, Brianna had seen his bue eyes harden with Danae. The dagger's concerns resonated within her, slowly becoming her own feelings, clouding her mind even more. It wasn't long before Brianna realized she'd just been standing there dripping on Zaeren's floor and looking quite the fool.
"A-ah, right, right, dry off. Get warm..." she trailed off, setting the stones on a nearby table. She didn't know what they were, or how to use them, and instead closed her eyes and focused. The air around her grew warm, rippling gently with heat as she focused on both her air and fire magic. It took a few moments to dry herself until she was damp, and the effort left her feeling exhausted, but it was better than being soaked. Wobbling briefly, setting a hand on the table the steady herself, Brianna ran a hand through her damp hair and shook her head, clearing her head.
"Um, honestly I just needed shelter for a bit. Once I'm rested I'll be on my way to continue hunting and making my living," Brianna said, moving to a corner of the room away from the gaze of the dragon's skull. She did give the skull a cautionary glance, and stared at it as she moved by, tail bristling as she passed with unbroken eye contact, as though the creature would spring to life and devour her without hesitation. With an involuntary shudder, the feline cast her jaguar-skin cloak aside and made a nest in her corner of the room, nestling into the black, red, and gold pelt Zaeren had let her borrow.
His mood had become cold and sour. Brianna couldn't blame him; Danae had been incredibly rude and prickly, but it did little to lift her spirits. Instead his demeanor caused a pit of doubt to blossom in the depths of her gut, twisting it into a knot that made her feel somewhere between hunger and nausea. Perhaps it was also the home itself, so new and unlived in. True, the skins and mounts gave personality to the place, but nothing about it felt like a home. The fireplace hadn't been used in a great while, if even ever, and even Zaeren himself had admitted to only staying there when he absolutely needed to, though he had also mentioned siblings...
Glancing at him from beneath her bangs, still making herself as small as possible, Brianna questioned, "You said you have siblings? What're they like? Will you tell me about them?" Her eyes glimmered with curiosity, though she realized her query was rather invasive. "You don't have to, if you don't want to. It'd just be nice to get to know you a little better, is all."
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