[Xephia]

Xephia awoke this morning in a positive mood. She had been a resident of New Alexandria for little over a month now and was beginning to form a routine. She pulled off the covers and grabbed a towel before leaving her tiny box flat and striding to the shared bathroom with all the confidence of one who has lived there all her life. After bathing in warm, flowery scented waters, she covered her modesty and made her way back to the flat, dashing into the kitchen to grab some sweet fruit to break her fast.

She dressed in a functional dress of heavy chocolate brown cotton. The sleeves covered her arms and skirt fell to the floor without very much aplomb, but the moderately cut sweetheart neckline and gathering in at the waist showed enough of her better features to balance out what would otherwise be possibly one of the most conservative dresses seen on the streets of New Alexandria. She finished off the look by whipping an old off white kerchief over her head to keep her long ebony tresses out of her face, and started cleaning house.

It didn't take long to finish as this was part of the routine. The windows (from the inside, at least) were sparkling. Unfortunately, spring was coming and the leaks in the cieling were becoming an issue. She'd have to do something about that, as she seemed to spend more time washing away damp and mould stains from the ceiling than anything else, the stuff was just prolific! Besides, she was a proud woman, and having such chipped nails from this constant scrubbing was a constant matter of deep and hidden shame for her.

It was at this point that she took the time to collapse into the sunken sofa with a book on the medicinal properties of herbs grown in alpine regions the likes of where she originated from. It troubled her somewhat; just about everything she owned she had brought with her from Oteri Hill and whilst it was very appropriate for that region, she really needed to read and stock up on local things. When her alpine flower tincures ran out it would be expensive if not difficult to procure them in this low lying region, and she knew very little of local herbology to gather and prepare alternative remedies from what was available in the surrounding area.

With this in mind she decided it was about time she expanded on her knowlege in the field. She had yet to land herself a permanent job and was scraping by so spending a little extra now would be a sound investment in her future. With this in mind, she took up a warm black shawl over her shoulders to keep out the early spring chill and went out into the world to see what she could find.

After wandering the now more familiar streets of New Alexandria she happened upon a moderately large book store. Stepping inside she noted the clean, polished wooden bookshelves and brightly shined brass fixtures. This was definitely a prestigious store, but all the better for finding something along the lines of what she was looking for. Taking note of the neatly painted signs dotted about the place, she ascended a circular staircase onto the first floor where medical literature was shelved. It was serene and quiet. Dotted about the place were side tables and plush arm chairs with various occupants sampling the tomes before commiting to parting wih their hard earned coin.

She let her gaze sweep over the herbology section for a good ten minutes before taking five different books out to peruse (she would struggle to afford even one, so she had to make sure it was the right one). She settled, somewhat awkwardly in the luxurious surroundings, into a vacant two seat sofa, placed three of the books on the shiny coffee table before her, and prised open the stiff spine of A Compendium of Medical Plantlife in Elysia vol. 2: Alexshire.

[Kazuma]

While she was browsing through her first choice, another shopper would come by from her open side, dressed in a simple black coat jacket made of cotton, a white dress top and dark blue denim pants fitting his legs perfectly with room for ample movement and suave leather, long-toed shoes. He had his own books to browse through -- two in fact, both novels -- but as he set this beside the first anyelos' pile, his right hand moved to lift the topmost volume on the woman's pile and he took it.

Kazuma settled down lightly beside her, flicking his hair back with a quick toss of his head as he read the title of the botany book, the author...and then he turned to face the apalos to his right as he hovered the canvas-covered thing to her side. “Pardon me for intruding but would you mind terribly if I browsed this ahead of you?”

[Xephia]

"No," she started, "go ahea..."

Xephia had become so engrossed already in her first item that she had barely registered this other customer. Now, she looked up to acknowlege him and the hairs pricked the back of her neck slightly. Not fear, no, for she was more than versed in Vampires, but an involuntary and subconcious reaction based upon the fact that for 60 years she had actively avoided any member of the species, and based on a certain hatred that her history had sparked within her. There was a touch of paranoia too, that Alaine would one day come after her...

But no, she would not let this get the better of her. This...man, if he could be called such a thing, seemed respectable enough, and she was so far away from home, there was no possible way that her old enemy could have caught up with her.

"go ahead."

It was curt, it was polite enough, it did the job.

She wanted to pick up the remains of the pile and find another seat but then that would be showing weakness. Instead, she turned her nose back to the book and turned the page. She wasn't really reading anymore though; her every sense was focussed on the creature beside her.

[Kazuma]

Kazuma smiled at her, a healthy one in spite of its lack of teeth while he maintained his fangs a secret. It had been a habit of his to do so in public unless he was talking to a friend who was fine with his nature or, well, a fellow vampire because hiding it from one would be just stupid. “My thanks,” he said to her as he placed the book on his cross-legged lap and cracked it open.

He spent some seconds in silence, changing pages every so often and running the tip of his fingers lightly down the bulk of texts when he found one that interested him, stopping at the illustrations some of the pages provided...his eyes passed through the texts in a convenient speed that after skimming through the chapter he had opened to, he was soon flipping the book close and over to read its spine, check its back...

“Here it is,” he said to her, although would have preferred not to talk as the kind apalos was clearly absorbed by her text as he leaned over, his arm crossing her front while he replaced the book from where he took it. He planned to draw back -- but the titles at the spine made him tilt his head to the left, hair cascading to that direction as he read.

And then he looked at the book she held. Well, someone was very interested on plant life...

“Are you a botanist?” he asked, albeit out of the blue as he straightened up only to retrieve one of his books -- The Descent of War by a certain Tryphon Agapios -- and put it on his lap. “I don't mean to pry, but I just could not help but notice your devotion to our vegetative friends...” he flipped his book open.

[Xephia]

Xephia began to regain some of her compsure as the man read through the book. Childish paranoia abated by rational thought, she concluded that he most likely did not know Alaine (she for one was a little unsavoury for someone so seemingly cultured) and began berrating herself over and over again for holding prejudices. He seemed harmless enough and they were, after all, in public here.

A long time ago her father had told her about an oath that physicians on Earth had to swear, the top and bottom of it being that they would use their knowlege to help anyone no matter what. He had impressed upon her that if she was to follow in his footsteps and become a peace keeper it would do her well to keep this in mind, for what peace can be achieved through prejudice. She calmly reminded herself of his wise words as she turned the pages of her book, and she became a little more relaxed. She didn't even react, outwardly anyway, when he put the book dwn in front of her.

“Are you a botanist? I don't mean to pry, but I just could not help but notice your devotion to our vegetative friends...”

Hmm, so her new aquaintence was feeling talktive.

"My interests in plants is more practical than academic," she replied after a slight pause.

She turned her head slightly towards him, but still only managed to look at him out of the corner of her eye. A slightly nervous smile flashed accross her face, she couldn't help but smile when talking about her trade, it was her passion in life. Another pause followed, she felt awkward...

Oh great, yeah, woman of mystery over here. Say something else!

"Er, because I'm a Herbalist."

She was grinning a bit awkwardly at this point.

Some convincing herbalist you make right now, Xephia!

[Kazuma]

“Ahhh...” said Kazuma with experience as he nodded at the brunette beside him.

...what was the difference between a botanist and an herbalist?

“Lovely,” he said before he could betray his confusion and even cleared his throat as he adjusted his position on the couch and the book on his lap. “So you...” he twisted his body more to her direction curiosity riding on the crease of his brows as he made gestures with his left hand while he tried to chase and gather the thoughts flying around in his head. “Have you been doing this for a long time already, Madam? I mean... I don't mean to assume of course, I merely made a guess with regards to,” he indicated her pile of volumes by his left hand, his right one keeping his novel on his lap, “the books that you've taken interest on. I don't see anything that might be an introduction to your profession, is what I mean to say.”

In spite of Kazuma's blunder of words, though, it was clear that he wouldn't mind knowing a little more of her life as an herbal expert.

[Xephia]

Well, this isn't awkward at all...but at least he seems...harmless?

Xephia's internal monologue continued to run rampant in her head, but she was really beginning to like that someone was taking an interest in what she loved to do.

"Well, my father was a herbalist too you see and he ran the family business attached to our home so I've always been around it. But...hmmm, lets see...I must have started my formal training when I was..."

She ran her hand absently over her head scarf as she tried to remember when it was, feeling a little self concious about the fact that she looked so simple and out of place here.

"...I'm not sure exactly, actually, but it must have been just shy of 100 years ago now. The only problem is I'm from..."

Well done, if Alaine HAS sent out one of her kind to get me they're sure to be looking for the daughter of generations of herbalists and healers around my age. Clever...DON'T be stupid and tell him where you come from...

"...quite far away, and I was trained mostly in the use of the local herbs, so I'm just trying to expand my knowlege on the curative properties of the plants available here in Alexshire."

Her inner voice sighed in exasperation. If only her mouth could keep up with her brain. But she could make time to berrate it later. Right now she was giving away her life story to a Vampire, and whats more, she didn't even know if he knew that she knew that he was a Vampire. She wasn't even sure for certain herself (yeah sure there were those subtle signs that you can begin to pick up on after having been very closely connected to a Vampire, of course, but until you get a glimpse of those fangs you never can be 100% certain) and she was so lonely now that she had settled down and stopped being a vagrant that she would jump on the chance for just a little conversation beyond the pleasantries of nice weather.

[Kazuma]

In spite of the fact that Kazuma had just conveniently turned 100 about two days ago, it amused him that he was still in awe of anyone who lived...well, as long as he had. Having heard the anyelos confess to him that she had been in the practice for his entire life already made him think, I wonder how old I was when she started doing that? Was I even around already? Human nature -- it was an odd thing to do away from in spite of his "monstrosity".

He also noted with a good nod how the apalos was not a local of Alexshire. Having lived long enough to at least gain a common understanding of these anyeli's origins and had a clue with the general area where most of the immigrants hailed from. That was a thing for thought.

“So you came here purely for academics? And will you be on your way home perhaps...in 6 months' time of studying? I'm sorry, I--” he laughed a little to show his embarrassment, smiling as wide and naturally as he could without giving away his fangs, “I must be confusing you, Madam, please forgive me. I'm a trader, you see, and recently I had a client who was interested with dabbling with the herbal business. To be honest with you, I have no definite background on plants whatsoever so I thought I might do my own research. You see now why my questions are so curious and perhaps, even bizarre!” He laughed, again. “As it is, I am sorry I had not prepared more refined questions to bother you with, Madam. Please forgive me but I really am curious.” Hands on his lap, he bowed to her direction.

[Xephia]

Xephia had yet to dip her hands into the business side of being a herbalist, however she had already noted from her book (inbetween sitting to read and being joined by her curious aquaintence) that there were one or two herbs here in Alexshire that reportedly did things she could never dream of using only her native alpine speies to do. She had promised her father that should she happen upon such discoveries she would report her findings back to him as he was always looking for new ways to serve his patients. Besides, she really was not a very proficient wildcrafter, one of the reasons she had found it so difficult to find employment here. If she could get a steady supply of local curatives from this fellow then perhaps she wouldn't need to worry about that, maybe she could even go into business for herself. Especially when she progressed on to be a healer...

"I intend to try my luck here, as a matter of fact," she smiled, "I did not come directly here, I have been quite a vagabond for some time. I wanted to explore the world. Village life was a little stifling."

She smiled quite a twisted smile but it was only because she couldn't help but grimace when she thought about the reasons she left home. However, she finally folded the book again and placed it upon the table, then turned back to give the fellow her full attention.

"But of course I will be making the occasional trip back to see my family. I hadn't thought about when exactly, but I've got a pretty flexible schedule. I don't see why we couldn't help each other out here."

She laughed, a charming girlish laugh, showing her inexperience when it came to this kind of thing,

"You must also forgive me, I've never touched upon the business aspect of this, let alone trade. What exactly is it you and your friend would hope to do and how could I be of service?"

This could end in tears...but then again, she hasn't been seen in quite some time and surley these men would have escorts or something...it would be nice to go back and visit the folks after all...

[Kazuma]

Oh, she was willing to help! Her deity bless her, whoever it is she believes on.

“Wonderful,” Kazuma said delightedly, a tone that might have very well been punctuated by a single clap of hands but he busied his with folding his own book close and setting it aside himself -- as the woman had agreed to give him her full attention, so must he her.

“I must admit, though, I only have the vaguest clue as to what my client wants to do and what we need,” he confessed as he slipped something out of his right coat jacket's pocket and revealed it to be a card case he flipped in his hand. “I have a feeling he might want to put up a store or simply act as a supplying point among the locals, if you know what I mean. The other day, however, he invited me to see the land he had purchased to begin his garden. It's not very big if you ask me, perhaps...” by the time Kazuma's brows would have arched gracefully as he peered at the ceiling, his card case would already be on the table and his right hand would be equipped by his Elysian visiting card (in spite of the fact that it could hardly be called as one and more an "egoist card" than anything). “...perhaps just a little under an acre? You'll have to take a cart outside the walls if you wish to visit it. As for me, I must act as his supplier and for that to happen, I need to seek out different sources I can get my herbs from and of course, it would be helpful if I knew what I was supplying him with, wouldn't it?”

“Anyhow,” holding the white-grayish card by their corners so that his name in thick, black serif and the number beneath it faced the anyelos upright, he said to her with another dip of his head, “Please accept my card.” If she was going to help him get started, he might as well treat her professionally!

[Xephia]

Xephia took the card and scanned it before popping it down her dress front. She didn't have a wallet or anything, her money was in a loose pouch and she didn't want to crumple it in there.

Man, I really need to get me a COM or something...

"Well, I'll certainly look into what you'll need to get started around here," she said, "but of course, different herbs require different things to grow to their full potential...would you mind if we could arange an appointment to see this garden? Perhaps I can give you two a few pointers?"

She glanced over at her books, "of course I'm new to the local varients, but plants are plants. Give me a week or so to do my research, I'll be able to tell you what you'll be able to make a greater profit from and what is in greatest demand...I should imagine you don't want to waste your time on things no one wants to buy?"

[Kazuma]

“But of course!” Kazuma said a-matter-of-factly with his own happy face and a small shrug of hands. “Who would want that, really? First, I must thank you for offering us your assistance so instantly like this, though. Really, you have no idea how much help you would be for us.” Even if she was still studying Alexshire's herbs, an herbalist was an herbalist! With one hundred years to boot for experience, at that.

“I had a feeling my friend would be depending on me solely to give him a start as to what kind of herbs he would work on so I thought it might be wise to start with healing herbs, common or special. But beyond that, I haven't a clue what else might be good to market. There are, of course, certain ones that have health benefits and we are not restricting ourselves to the local herbs but there are so many that I will take forever to trim them down to the essential few.” He laughed. Oh the irony of what he said! “You see now how clueless we are! It's not hard to see how badly we need help, I should think.” And here he chuckled. He looked rather jolly and would have blushed a little except...he pretty much just lost the capability to do so. Oh woe is he.

“Anyhow, an appointment is a wonderful idea, Madam,” Kazuma agreed to her suggestion with a face at peace with it. “The garden is not much right now, just an empty plot of land with stacks of building materials. Nevertheless, my friend would be delighted to receive the help of an experienced herbalist.” Never mind the fact that he was the one making the decisions now. “I hope you don't mind my asking, though, but would there be a way we can contact you or a name we can use to call you?” Because if there wasn't, then this was going to be difficult...

[Xephia]

Xephia thought for a minute. Having no COM obviously put her at a disadvantage here...she really didn't want to give her address out to any strangers, let alone one of Kazuma's nature, however genuine and pleasant he seemed. She had to conceed though, she may not have a choice now that she had agreed to help.

"I'm afraid for the time being I only have a contact address...is that alright? I need something to write it down, too...."

She blushed furiously, boy did she feel completely ill equipped right now, but then again she hadn't planned on making business contacts here today. She pondered what it would be like going into business with these fellows. Was his friend a Vampire too? Her heart thumped away in her chest and a vein in her neck pumped visibly under her skin as the worst case scenario's made their way through her mind. But, she conceeded once more to herself, she couldn't live in fear forever...a mild perspiration began to form over her brow and chest...oh boy...she needed to finish this up soon before she changed her mind...

[Kazuma]

“Of course,” said Kazuma with a nod, flicking his hair off his eyes as he lifted his head and he began to look around the bookstore, as well. “It would be better than nothing at all, would it not?” Although he wouldn't be caught admitting that it was a little less convenient than say, just giving him her COM details. It seemed a little less personal, too, as opposed to knocking on her door but this was coming from a man who took it for a fact that everyone had a COM.

“Excuse me,” he whispered to a passing uniformed Dracovari whose eyes glimmered at Kazuma's sight and he hurried towards the vampire to lend his ear with a dip of his upper body. “We'd like to borrow a pen and paper if we may...”

“Most certainly, Sir,” the man said as he rose and hurried towards the closest counter without even having waited for Kazuma to thank him.

Kazuma left it at that and simply smiled at the anyelos. “So where were we...ah, of course,” arching his brows at her, he said, “I must ask, what name must I use to introduce you to my good friend?” Because telling his friend, "a brunette anyelos herbalist I met in the bookstore" was obviously going to solve his problems.

[Xephia]

Xephia laid pen to paper and jotted out her name and address in the whimisical but elegant cursive handwriting that she had picked up from her father,

Ms. X. Athoryx, Flat 7, The Copperas Building, Dophis Street, New Alexandria

and folded the weighty, cream paper in two, handing it ver to her new business partner.

"It's Xephia Athoryx. I must appologise for the inconvenience that this must cause you but you see," she rolled her eyes in mock jest at herself, "I'm just a country bumpkin. I haven't a COM and I haven't anything else to give to you."

This time she really did blush bright red. She wasn't prepared for anything of this sort, although when she thought about it perhaps her lack of such a device was holding her back in this bustling, modern city.

She chuckled bashfully and looked up at Kazuma from below her lashes,

"But, I shall certainly have to invest in one if this gets going, shan't I!"

[Kazuma]

“You definitely shall!” Kazuma agreed with a bright smile, punctuating the thought with an aerial period by the tip of the folded paper he held. He reopened this to read through the details one more time, then flipped it back and placed it on top of his card case with attention. He wasn't going to admit that the fact that she did not have a COM startled him slightly, however. How can people live like that? Then again, he was born in a time where imaginations cannot even go as far as visualizing electric lights so he shouldn't get ahead of himself, he knew. Some places just don't consider these fancy luxuries a necessity...

“I'll talk to my friend about receiving your assistance, Ms. Athoryx, and when I get word, I shall send you a note in your home address. And perhaps we can discuss a schedule from there,” he assured her. “Are you particularly busy this week, though? Or perhaps the next. I'd at least like an idea of when you might be free in case my client should be interested to meet with you, if you don't mind.”

[Xephia]

Xephia smiled, and gathered up the books she had collected,

"I will be doing an awful lot of reading, I'm sure, but I have no other commitments this week apart from tomorrow and the day day after that. Whenever you and your friend wish to meet me again after that, I will be most happy to oblige."

She made an awkward gesture with the books she had brought up in her arms,

"Now, if you'll excuse me Mr Uemori, I should get to putting at least some of these books back now"

She hadn't really had the chance to browse through all of them but the first book had contained quite some useful information already. One thing was for certain, she needed to get out of here and think through properly what she was doing, and the conversation seemed to be coming to its natural terminus. What had started as a pleasant day of book shopping had turned into an uncomfortable conversation with an intimidating stranger, which in turn was now a business proposition of sorts.

Wow, I wonder what else this week could possibly hold she pondered as she stood up, waiting to give her goodbyes to this charming yet strangely, and secretly, terrifying new aquaintence.

[Kazuma]

Had Kazuma known her history with vampires and how she had found him out in spite of his careful movements, however, he would have politely excused her from his new business venture and even stepped out of the bookstore himself. Hatred, disgust or fear of vampires were things he understood -- how wouldn't he when he had once hated what he had become?

But alas, such was not the convenient case. His left hand moved smoothly first to slide Xephia's address and his card case off the table then to slip it in his left pocket as he took to his feet at the same second, both his hands soon ready to reach for the top half of the anyelos' pile. It simply would not do to have her struggling with all that weight when he could help, after all!

“Please allow me to help,” Kazuma offered with a kind of delighted insistence as he said so.

[Xephia]

She graciously accepted Kazuma's help. Where she had grown up, men were always gentlemen and this was the same in small towns and villages the world over, she had found, but not in the big cities.

"Thank you so much," she smiled, "It's so refreshing to find at least someone here who knows his manners!"

She walked back over to the shelves and began replacing the books, keeping a hold of the one she intended to purchase. She nearly had a minor heart attack when she saw the price, but it would be a good investment, she kept telling herself, should this business venture take off.

"So, this is farewell for now?"

[Kazuma]

Kazuma's smile spread sideways at her comment on his manners as he slid the first three books to his direction and he bowed to it shallowly. “Always a pleasure to act humane,” he said and would have laughed except that would probably reveal his fangs to the whole world. He took it as a compliment, though -- his manners were one thing he was proud of, the one thing that remained with him throughout all these years. It's good to have someone notice it once in a while even if his gestures often threw a few people off, he could see. But whatever, he's changed enough as he is, he doesn't need another reason to transform.

Whether he was just an expert bibliophile who knew how to carry n-tons of books or it was his blood as a vampire helping him along, it could not be said immediately. But he was graceful in his movements even as he sought the shelves for the books' proper homes, keeping his shoulders squared, his chin up, and his feet steady as he moved from one side to the other, fingers tracing through the spines, eyes skimming through the text as he slipped one book after another.

“So, this is farewell for now?”

Xephia caught him with one last book to return and Kazuma turned to her with a smile and another gracious nod to her direction. “Until next time, then, Ms. Athoryx,” he said pleasantly. “Thank you for offering your assistance to us.”