(D6, MA-LA, Renown, Open) Free Play

[Whisper]

"Maybe all my luck was spent to give me a chance to get to know you." he grinned. "I'll bring Hush the next time we get together."

[Mysti]

Would there really be a next time? Of course, she hoped there would be. But she was so heavily jaded that she couldn't dare hope.

"Well, I must admit, I'm glad you would think meeting me would be considered ... lucky." She chuckled momentarily. "Far be it from me to jinx it."

"And yes -- I would like to meet Hush whenever that can happen. Obviously he saw something good in you, to become your companion as he has. I've also heard it said that you can tell a lot about someone based on their treatment of animals."

Mysti pushed all of the bowls and pots and utensils to one side of the table for someone to come by and carry away.

"So tell me, Whisper, what do you do with your days. Or nights. Whenever an air genasi prefers to be active?"

[Whisper]

"Usually, I'm out gathering rare components, ingredients and reagents for clients." he explained. "When I don't have work, I hang around Sigil, running errands for other Indeps, relaxing at the Other Place or spending time with friends."

[Mysti]

Mysti slowly nodded her head understandingly as she reached over to grab another slice of bread. She merely nibbled at it from time to time.

"It makes sense then why you would be running around these forests -- having to pick hard-to-get leaves and flowers and whatever else a spell or ritual or whatever the bloody hell an incantation might need. My knowledge of magic is rudimentary at best."

After doing a little bit of nibbling, her next words were barely above a murmur and -- again -- somewhat melancholy. "I don't mean to monopolize all of your time, dearie. I would understand if you needed to be elsewhere. Of course, you are also welcome to stay for as long as you wish."

There was another pause as she looked toward one of the doors. "I don't have any particular place to be."

[Whisper]

"Honestly, there isn't any place I'd rather be right now." He shook his head. "I don't think I'm ready for another game, though. I certainly don't have anything left to lose."

[Mysti]

Mysti chuckles lightly and nods her understanding.

"I can understand -- though I doubt a second game would be so -- one-sided. I was actually concerned that you might've thought I was cheating."

She then gets one of those expressions where it seems she is gazing into the far-off future -- or perhaps some far-off place that Whisper has seen before in small doses. She just sits there silently for a few moments before asking out of the blue, "Do you think you'll live here in SIgil forever?"

[Whisper]

"No." He shook his head. "But, I think I'll always have ties here. What about you?"

[Mysti]

Mysti gave her head a very quick, almost imperceptible shake, but it was noticeable.

"Yeah ... about that ..."

She pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger for a moment as she thought of a response.

"I have an acquaintence here and there. Nothing more. I wouldn't call them ... ties ... per se. They're just people who know my name. Thing is ... I'm perhaps 200 years into an 800 year lifespan. I've been thinking about how ... much better everything would be if only the best of us lived so long ...but um ..." it looked as though she was about to elaborate on that sentiment but decided instead to go in another direction. "Anyway, I don't really belong ... anywhere. Including Sigil. Just a piece of dandelion fluff caught on a ceaseless wind."

She pulled apart the small piece of bread she had been holding. "I would go wherever I could find purpose. I even considered fighting in the Blood war."

[Whisper]

"Is there a purpose you have in mind?" he asked. "A role you'd like to serve?"

[Mysti]

"To tell you the truth -- I never gave it much thought."

Mysti started nibbling on the last piece of bread -- like some kind of half-starved mouse. Though she hadn't been hungry now in quite some time.

"I suppose I always thought I would know my calling once I discovered it -- had the opportunity to navigate its secrets. Nothing really seems to ever pan out, though."

She began to study the bread crumbs as if she were reading tea leaves or chicken entrails. "I've done a lot of things over the years. But ... it's one of the pitfalls of having such a long life. Unlike the elves ... whose pace seems in sych with their longevity. We dhampirs ... not so much. It's too easy to become bored, I suppose. After doing the same thing for 60 years."

"I'm probably ... over-explaining again."

Mysti fell into silence for a few moments.

"I probably don't have the discipline to be involved with the Harmonium forever. Especially if I start breaking the law in my own right." She chuckled a bit after saying that. But then, impulsively, she reached across the table and grabbed one of Whisper's arms without thinking. "What I'd really like to do is ... well, look around us. All of these portals. To know there are thousands of worlds literally inches from where we sit ... yet nigh impossible to reach. I could be truly content to wander the infinite planes for the rest of my days -- but only the comfortable ones that don't kill you instantly with toxic fumes or perpetual warfare ... unless I end up wanting to settle down again ... oh ..."

Mysti realized at that instant that she was holding onto Whisper's arm, so she lets go and sits back in her chair. She cleared her throat to mask her trepidation, saying rather quickly, "My apologies ... I'm usually not so presumptuous."