Body Language

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

(not really closed, though you should ask first)

"If I may, my Lord, present my daughter De'Ryanna for you're approval." A sweeping bow and a wave of his hand the then Baron Tryone le'Cree rose and stepped back from the Kings dais and moved to the side, allowing them to see past his wide frame and see the veiled young lady.

Layered Maroon silks covered her from head to toe. They didn't bulk and they didn't hang overly much; they were tied about her body with strings of small polished copper coins that sounded as a brushed cymbal when she moved. She presented herself in a bow, knees near to the ground and hands to the side. The skirt fanned out around her. On her head a transparent veil covered her hair and draped down over her face; the only thing seen was her sharp brown eyes and they looked straight at the king.

The twelve year old was bold. No one ever attempted to stare down the King, but she was and he looked back just as hard. The Court was a buzz with pockets of whispered rumors on who the people were that stood before the Throne. The older man, Baron Tyrone le'Cree, was known by name to many of them for his pocket on the jewel trade, but the broad boy and kneeling girl had appeared out of nowhere two years ago and rumor had it that they were 'gifted'.

In this land there were certain men and females who possessed 'gifts' the ability to do things that were often kept to stories. It was said to be tower full of these women and another of men, but the people in this land had never seen many. But they certainly were older than the youths they saw now.

Such tales the King had heard and he lifted his head as he turned in his chair to lean forward with his right arm.

In clear words the King spoke out to the girl for the entire congregation to hear. "I hear you are about the age of my daughter, but I find it hard to believe the talk that I hear about you in my lands, and about the way you dance."

"My Lord is to wise to not listen to talk," the voice had not yet reached it's maturity but it carried a smooth and captivating sound. It reached the ears of the King and spread out to the rest in the room. She had taken hold of the Source when her Father introduced her and spun out a simple weave of Spirit that was focused on drawing their attention. "If it pleases my Lord, I will dance for you..."

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Movement never lies.
It is a barometer telling the state of
the soul's weather to all who can read it.
~Martha Graham
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De'Ryanna loved to dance and one of the forms she excelled in was the Cecchetti method of ballet. It was one of the more challenging forms and required a vast amount of discipline and dedication, something her mother saw she needed and had therefore enrolled her in classes at a very young age. It required her to think of each movement from parts of her body – foot, leg, arm, head – as they related to each other and to make them move in grace. The style gave a true illusion of dancing on air.

For her it wasn’t simply a dance or art form, no, it was a way of smoothing all of the madness and anger that boiled inside. It was a glimpse of the person she was inside, beneath it all, that she always kept guarded from the world.

Once she had left the guardianship of her Foster Father and the court of the King she nearly hung up her shoes and put that part of her life behind. But it wasn’t something that was done so easily, and she took to practicing in the quiet hours of the early morning or the peek of evening.

Even here, in the Tel’Ranaemyn Inn.

It was early morning, the time of day where a person would be confused as to the time if they did not know it already, and De’Ryanna made her way down to the gym. A matte silver satin robe was tied around her and went to the floor, her hair was pulled into a bun behind her head, and a bag was around her shoulder. As she went, she didn’t sense that anyone was around at the moment and that suited her just fine as it meant that she wouldn’t have to bother with them.

Once she got to the Gym she bypassed the equipment area and headed to the open space of the sparring arena. The area was flat with nothing around to get in the way. Spacious and would suit her need. She stopped when she reached the corner and set down her bag. Untying the rope that held the robe closed she gave a roll of her shoulders and allowed the satin fabric to fall back and collect around her shoulders before she finished pulling it off. Underneath that robe was a long sleeve tan nylon leotard that split down the back in the shape of a ‘V’ with a few cross strings over the skin. The front collar scooped just below the neck. A pair of tights, same color, was on her legs. Every curve of her body was easily defined and the tone in her arms and legs obvious. A short wrap skirt of silver was tied about her waist and kept that chain that was underneath from being obvious. The finishing touch was the pointe shoes.

She let out a smooth breath as she rose up on her supporting leg – the right one – to the tip of her toe, all while the other leg lifted and well turned out with the knee bent at approximately 90-degree angle behind her, arms extending upward and out. Her knee and ankle were in perfect alignment. The movement was very fluid, very together and she was perfectly still as she held the pose.

Grabbing a hold of the Source she did a weave of Air and opened her bag just enough to push play on the player and ‘A Kiss in the Dark’ by Ernesto Cortazar III filled the arena. She waited out the count of the first few measures before the left leg moved around to the front and she turned into a fifth position stance. A temps levé – a hop from one foot to the other with the foot arched - and she began to dance.

For the dance she did a partner was not required and she sought to drown out everything and let the music fill her. But it had a long way to go, the music was peaceful, her soul was not. That is why she was dancing.

With each turn she spun away one of her cares. With each spring she lifted a worry and pushed it underfoot. Her movements were dramatic and expressive as the music reached its crescendo, yet they were precise and fluid at the same time.

There was a story in every piece of art - but not everyone had the ability to see anything besides a beautifully performed dance and not the illustrated internal struggle. De'Ryanna's dance told of someone who longed for something they could not have. Side-step move with a waltz turn, then one leg would stretch forth, foot at a perfect point, before a partial turn with the toe dragging on the floor. A quick jump and the action repeated with the other leg with a turn in the other direction.

When her arms reached out they always moved out from her body but never made contact with her torso. It was a caress without physical connection that expressed a desire for touch. In an upward leap her back and neck bent to form a smooth compositional arch before landing on the tips of both feet. Knees were bent at perfect 45 degrees and she stood up smoothly, hands turned out at her side.

The movements continued for the length of the song, al the while her breathing was smooth and controlled. She didn’t focus on anything but the song and the movements of the body. The end was marked by ten continuous perfectly executed spins. The music died down with the last spin, and she slowly pulled out of it. Arms fully extended above her as she stood again on the tip of her toes. Then, as the last few notes hung in the air, she came down from the position, legs moving out as she slid into a vertical split; ending with her forehead touching the floor and hands gripping around her foot.

[Om Kennedy Yajna]

Toby was up early a lot. Some of that was because of dreams. The rest of it was because once upon a time he wanted to be the next Kennedy on Capitol Hill. When a guy wanted that kind of career sleep took a backseat to ambition. He was a natural back then. Until that day. The one back in college when he started wearing gloves all the time.

He was wearing them now. Same black ones he'd been wearing at the bar with the tips cut off. And shorts, wife beater, sneakers, towel around his neck. He had a serious five o' clock shadow. More like an eleven o' clock shadow, he hadn't showered yet or shaved or anything. Just woke up and left his room to head to the gym to strain his muscles to put his mind on something other than what'd woken him up.

He assumed the place would be empty. He used the gym regularly but no one would know it because when he was here no one else was. He didn't do it on purpose it just happened that way. Imagine his surprise when he heard music before he'd even gotten situated on one of the machines. Gyms back in the States had music sure, but it wasn't any kind of music like the type playing.

He decided could ignore it. Pulling the metal rod out and putting it back in lower to add more weight to the machine. He leaned back and did almost a full set of reps before he admitted to himself he wasn't concentrating. He wasn't even repeating a mantra. This wasn't going right. He tossed his towel on the ground and got up. He had no clue what he was going to say or do when he found out who was playing the stuff but he was gonna do something.

Course that was until he saw who it was. And what she was doing. The look on his face was one of a kind rare. You'd think looking at him that he'd just walked in on her in the shower by accident or something. But considering most of her dance get-up was nude colored maybe his look wasn't so off? Probably why he just stood there. He didn't see the whole dance.

He saw enough to know he didn't know what the hell he was supposed to do when she was done and bent over on the floor like that. Stay or leave say something or don't laugh or applaud or what? This was totally out of his element. He was a musician. He went to concerts even the opera sometimes for the music but he never went to any kind of dance recital. So nothing he said was going to be real helpful to her he figured. He took a step back thinking of leaving without saying anything. But then he thought what if it was too late and she already knew he was here? He had this feeling that she might for some reason. Then just leaving would be worse.

"I'm uh in the next room." He went with a statement of what was obvious. To him anyway. "So if the clanging gets too loud lemme know. I can switch up to free weights." Trying to be polite he put his eyes somewhere else. Did this casual lean in the doorway thing. "You know I might just do that anyway. Free weights." It'd make it easier on her right if she didn't have to come tell him to keep it down? "So.......don't mind me."

He said that and he still couldn't help thinking he handled things totally wrong.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Maybe, just maybe if she stayed still and didn't say anything then the person who entered into the vicinity of the room would go away. It was a vain hope that she knew wouldn't work but she had the thought anyway when she had become aware of them somewhere during the dance. De'Ryanna was not bothered by the thought of an audience for she was use to being watched; she simply did not care to have one.

Therefore she stayed in the vertical split position and willed herself to ignore any of her senses that may have given her a hint as to who was there. This technique was working; she was able to switch her focus on relaxing her muscles and breathing - that is until the person spoke. If her eyes had not already been closed they would be now and she kept in the sigh that rested just inside her mouth. Anyone could have entered and yet it had to be him.

What was she suppose to do now and how much had he seen? Did that really matter if he could see her now? The robe she had on earlier was by her bag on the floor near to where he was. She could use the Source and pull it over but then he would at least know that she could make things move and she wasn't sure she wished him to know any of that. at least not under these circumstances. She could either stay in this position or get up and retrieve her things.

She went with the logical choice.

Letting go of her foot her hands moved up her leg as she sat up, rocking back to the side slightly to enable her to bring the back leg around and together with the other one. It wasn't rushed or dragged out and it was just as smooth as her dance. Tobias was just a person like anyone else; there was no reason for her to feel apprehensive about him walking in on her dancing. He was just a person, though there was something different about him this time.

It was in the way he had said his words. Last time they spoke he had a type of confident arrogance about him and now he didn’t seem to know what to say. De’Ryanna pulled up her knees and stood, silently counting to three before she turned around to face him, her hands together and in front of her as she looked him over.

The first thing she noticed was that he wasn’t looking at her but somewhere else and the realization of this caused a small frown. He had always looked at her before – most likely even made a point of it – so why was he unable to look at her now? He was dressed for the gym, so she couldn’t complain about his appearance, though she was interested in getting a better look at the beard.

She found herself staring at him despite herself and she let out a quick puff of air and moved forward one step at a time. It was a Dancers Walk and it was normally concealed by the long full skirts she always wore leaving people unaware of how her toes pointed with the forward movement and every time her foot hit the ground it was at a graceful in turned step. He was only a man and she could do this. If he was going to be working in the next room then the ice and this strange awkwardness had to break somehow.

All she had to do was act civil. De’Ryanna stopped when she was nearly arm length away from him, heels together and feet turned out, and moved her head to the side looking to catch his eye if he was still looking off in another direction. “Could you not have at least greeted me with a hello?” She asked as she straighten her head, speaking steadily but without the business tone or snap of before. “Hello Tobias. Shall I have a sharp razor sent to your room?”

[Om Kennedy Yajna]

Truth told he didn't expect her to come over. He was expecting a short answer from right where she was and after it he would've went back to his weights. When she headed over he looked back at her. Made sure it was eyes to eyes. He didn't want to give her an excuse to smack him again because she caught him looking at something else.

His mood was different from it was at the bar she was right. Couple of reasons for it. He'd just woken up. What his dreams were just before he woke up. And he hadn't done his mantras yet today or any meditation. He was like one of those gurus who meditated so hard core that they could levitate right off the ground and it wasn't because of any talent with hocus pocus like people here in Rhy'din. This was about transcending. The higher self taking control over body and mind. Some gurus lifted themselves when they were connected. Tobias lifted weights. Sometimes the amount he benched was a number so high people would say was impossible. He didn't manage that always. Just the times he reached the higher self.

Even when he didn't reach the higher self the meditation helped a lot. Without it he was out of whack like now. His surprise seeing her dancing and dressed like she was didn't help any. But now that she'd come over and didn't bite his head off he tried to pull himself together.

"Nah, s'alright. If I decide to throw in the towel on this world I'll just stick my head in the oven like the poets do." So he couldn't keep himself from making a smart ass comment. Or smirking. "Now if you didn't have that real big oven in the kitchen that I noticed when I was elbow deep in dishes the other day, maybe I'd've taken you up on the razor." That's what she got for picking on his beard. Who the hell shaves this early in the morning?

But then he'd be serious. Shrugging. "I was trying to keep it short and sweet. You know, let you go back to it. Because even if a guy likes it, De'ryanna, he doesn't want to get slapped -every- time he sees a lady." He was teasing. Hopefully she wouldn't take it as an invite to deck him. One hand pointed towards where she'd been dancing. "Or are you done already?" When people danced he had no clue how long they danced for. Or how long she was dancing before he'd come down to the gym. The bad news what that he kept talking. "But if you're done well......" He moved. Hands gripping either side of the doorway he was standing in while he gave her a look up and down and his tone said it all. "Hellooooooo sister."

You'd think he was trying to get hit. Good thing Sammy wasn't here, who knows what she would've said if she saw this. Because Toby never talked to anyone like this before.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Look at that, Tobias was trying to be funny as he joked about stuffing his head in the oven. Cute. It was cute and she liked the sense of humor he portrayed. De’Ryanna didn’t have the best sense of humor and he may not have meant what he said to be a joke, but that is how she took it. Because of that he was treated to something very few people ever get from her: a laugh. It wasn’t a loud type of laugh that caused a person to throw their head back, or the type that split a person’s sides. It was a light trickle of laughter that came from the smile she wore and was likened to the sound of bells. It caused her face to light up and even show her for her age. In the span of five seconds the laughter was gone yet a small smile still remained.

“I could always help you into the oven.” She mused; perhaps she was trying to make a serious response comical? “Someone has to shut the door.” It was true. There wasn’t a good way for him to close the door himself if he were actually looking to cook himself. It wasn’t a bad thought, neither was the image she entertained of him washing dishes although she wondered how that worked. There was something about his hands and how he took things in with them. She wondered, while his hands were in the water did he take on the properties of water? Or did the washcloth and dishes that were likely in his hands negate it? Perhaps she should ask.

De’Ryanna was about to do just that when he spoke again and best of all, he said her name. The context he said it in, it worked for her and the comment about being slapped was almost enough to get another laugh out of her, but that was before she saw him grip the wooden doorframe, take that stance and give her that look followed by those words.

That changed everything. It was true that she had taken him in from head to toe before but it wasn’t in the same manner. She would never admit that it was anyway. Whistles and call-outs, they were not foreign things to her, she only didn’t know how to handle them when they happened and usually would ignore them. An easy thing to do if walking – which was usually the case – but they were both standing still and he made her acutely aware that she needed to cover up.

What was it her mother told her to do in situations like this? Oh yes, to do the unexpected. Therefore the smile she wore took on a sly edge and she took a half a step forward as her right arm extended to place the tips of her fingers on his shirt. Inside the girl was a bundle of nerves ready to explode. Interesting things happened last time she touched him, like her hand pressing into his cheek… but the touch she did now was barely a touch at all. She tipped her chin upwards to look at him. “Is that the only thing you like?” Came her whispered words, those fingertips moving up towards his neck though as soon as they left the fabric of the shirt those tips lifted a bit. Just above the skin to avoid physical contact.

A slow partial step forward placed her closer to him and eye contact remained. She could do this. “I will make sure my next touch leaves a lasting impression.” That, he could take how he liked.

Her fingertips did not go any higher than his neck and as she pulled her hand back down she sought to quiet herself for she could hear her heart beating in her ears. That was one of her mother’s tricks. Perhaps she had done it incorrectly.

[Om Kennedy Yajna]

He meant it to be a joke. Kinda dark humor but that was typical for him. Probably why he smiled like he did when she laughed. He considered that a win. De'ryanna didn't strike him as the type of person who laughed at just anything. It egged him on. "You don't shut the door. You just flip the gas on and stuck your head in. I would say just ask Sylvia Plath. But you know. She'd dead. Poets. Can't live with 'em..." So much of that was off-color. Hopefully she'd still think it was funny.

He was lucky she didn't ask him about the dish washing and how his mutation worked. He could handle that question most times. But not before he meditated and got himself together. His mutation had derailed his life and seven years later he still wasn't too good facing it. It took a lot to push past it every day. The tattoos, going to India, the dirty hippy behavior, the weight lifting he did all of it for a reason. To keep himself going. He had Sam to watch out for he couldn't let himself fall apart.

Then she got close. And said what she did. She looked up and him and he looked down at her hand. Watching it. He noticed she wasn't touching him. His hands slid off the door frame and he dropped his arms at his sides as he looked up at her. The look was pointing out to her that he wasn't touching the door anymore. In case that was why she wasn't touching him. Did it mean he didn't mind when she did? That would sure be something. He was a don't touch kinda guy usually.

His move was his only answer to her thing he liked question. Typical of him to avoid really answering a question like that. He only answered the lasting impression one. "They always do." She could take that however she wanted. He knew how he meant it though. Ironic since he wasn't in the best head space to talk about his mutation.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

This time when she laughed her eyes drifted shut as her head lowered to turn away from him. It worked out for her benefit because it allowed her to break the eye contact that had been established. If she had been further away it would have been easier, but she was the one who stepped close and now she simply had to deal with it. And maybe if both of their attitudes had been different this would have been a different encounter all together. It didn’t make any logical sense to her as to why this encounter had her feeling so flustered.

“I’ll keep wet towels and cloths ready,” was her reply to the poet comment. Perhaps in finding common ground they would be a help to the other. At least they could share in the same type of humor.

When she opened her eyes a few moments later she was looking at her bag that was off to his side and a few steps away - she also noticed that he had taken his hands down from the doorframe and her eyes shot back up at his. Why did he remove his hands and because he had done so, was he still as hard as the wood? He was looking at her and she was looking at him. Perhaps his comment was only fact because the things he absorbed stayed with him a while and it meant nothing more than that. What was she suppose to do now? She needed time to reason out the answers to those questions and why she was feeling slightly intimidated. She should have stayed at the middle of the floor.

Her right hand was still raised, though it was closer to her body, and she hugged her left arm around her waist as her thumb subconsciously ran across her concealed chain. Maybe it would keep her focused, she wanted to feel the eleven o’clock shadow he wore upon his face but to do so fully would require more than a brief touch.

The hand had all the intention of brushing against his cheek before she stopped and slowly made short shakes of her head. “I can’t risk it.” The hand balled into a fist and she pressed it against her lips as she drew in a breath. “Not right now.” Tobias had some sort of power and she didn’t want to risk giving that info to anyone. If she were in control of her emotions it may be different.

“Excuse me,” it was nearly spoken under her breath as she turned her head away and made move to get her bag.

[Om Kennedy Yajna]

She should have stayed in the middle of the floor. Tobias was thinking that too. Soon as she walked towards him everything got turned around. Even though De'ryanna didn't end up touching him if she did she'd've felt he was still hard as wood. The properties of the stuff he absorbed lingered for a couple minutes even when he didn't want it to. Took some time to get out of his system. When Tobias wanted it to stay it stayed. Force of will. He could walk around solid as a rock for a good hour after touching one. That was the longest he'd trained it to stick around before he stopped training it at all.

He stopped trying to train his mutation after that thing that'd happened his freshman year in college. With him all roads lead from that same damn disaster.

He watched her. Hovering her hand near his face. Furrowed brow as he waited to see what she was going to do. The thought crossed his mind, was it that huge a deal to touch someone who would feel solid as the wood he'd touched? But he knew better. In the early college days it was a real party game. Having him touch all kind of crap. Hands all over him afterwards. He didn't wear gloves back then. Back in the day when it was good to be a Kennedy good to be at Princeton and good to be on the road to Capitol Hill.

It caught him off guard when she said it was a risk and took her hand away. Could've been a risk for him if hadn't already absorbed something. Only a small one since she wasn't going to touch his hand. But how'd she know that? "Risk what?" Now she was walking away. What the hell? He started walking after her. Didn't think about it, just did. "Do you think you're gonna get a splinter? It doesn't work like that."

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

She didn't have that far to walk, luckily her bag wasn't too far away, but that wasn't the point. The point of it was that she had to get away from him for a bit. A minute, two minutes, even longer just so she could breath and pull herself together. But even as she stopped by her bag she heard him coming after her and she knelt down besides her bag, putting her back towards him. "I'd risk a splinter. That wouldn't be anything new." The zipper of her bag was being difficult for some reason. "I don't know what will happen to you if I touch you, as I am now, for more than a few seconds." Maybe she would forget zipping the back. "I don't need you absorbing anything harmful and blaming me for it." She spoke to the bag for she didn’t want to look at him.

Toby stopped behind her when she was at her bag. She was giving him a view of her back. Did he say something off? If she did this when he looked her up and down he would've gotten that. Right now though he was confused. "As you are now?" He kind of remembered what she said the other day. About both of them having gifts or something like that. "Don't worry about me absorbing anything. I don't. I won't unless you touch my hands and only then maybe." Because he was wearing the gloves. He had better control when it was just the tips of his fingers touching things.

Her actions had gone still and there was a smooth slump to her shoulders, her chin lowered. "My touch may give access to your gift." she said it quietly. While it wasn't possible for her touch to connect the one she touched to the one who owned the chain about her waist, she didn't know that for certain and therefore restricted touch even more so than she had before. Something happened when she was emotional, the problem was she never tested what. "If I touch you, I risk making someone like you." she pulled her grey robe from her bag and wrapped it around her arm as she turned around to look at him. "Would you still want me to touch you then?"

That was a different story. He didn't look happy about that possibility. "No. It's not safe." He crossed his arms. It probably subconscious closing his body off to keep what she said from happening and putting his hands away kind of. Why it wasn't safe wasn't something he wanted to think about right now. He hadn't meditated yet. So he changed the subject because she took out a robe. "Listen De'ryanna I didn't come in here to bust up your dancing. If you want to keep going I'll go."

"I was done." It was a stated fact and she took up her bag, shouldering it as she stood though she still kept her head down and was looking away from him. She had said too much and she probably should have kept her mouth shut and not said anything at all, but that wouldn't have made sense and would have been wrong. She still wanted to touch his face, to feel what that shadow there felt like and if he didn't have any abilities she may have, especially after what he said about her touch. But now it was different and she saw how he crossed his arms A quick clearing of her throat and she picked her shoulders back up and her chin. "I had only to prepare for the day," though now she would do well to dance again, but she knew her heart wouldn't be in it. Turning back around to face him she kept one hand on her robe and another on her bag. "The gym is yours. Don't let me disturb you. No need for you to go. "

He needed to prepare for the day too he knew that. But this wasn't right. He came in here and now she was running off. No matter what she said he felt bad about it. It looked like what she said wasn't an easy thing for her to day from how her mood changed up. But he appreciated it more than she could know. Had to be something he could say or do to let her know. "Hey." He took a step so that he was in front of her. Didn't want her to bolt on him. "I'm glad you told me that. I really appreciate it I mean. What I can do.........it can go real bad. I'd get this cured if I could. If things were messed up for people like me and Sammy back home and I didn't have to protect her." So long as she would he looked her in the eyes.

Bolt on him, like she did when he had breakfast at the bar the other day. She could have stayed around, went back to the bar like he had asked, but instead she had made up an excuse - for she didn't have to leave at that very moment - and left. This was another time she was trying to find an excuse to leave. He stepped closer and she drew in a breath and steadied herself and met his look with her own. "We have to do what we can to protect those around us." Even if they would have it another way. "It's something we must do. " Her left leg lifted in a move to step back, but never made it further than her toe upon the ground. "Do you miss touch, Tobias?" It was a question that more or less came out. She didn't have people to talk to about things like this and it was a thought considering what she still wanted to do.

Even Sammy wasn't brave enough to ask him that anymore. Probably because she'd tried a lot before and got tired of him not answering. "Yeah. We do." There was no way he'd go after any cure until the day he knew things were safe for Dex and Sam and himself. If that turned out to be never then he'd never be cured. He accepted that. The other question stalled him. "I don't know." A shrug. His jaw set tight. Suddenly he didn't seem so relaxed. "It's complicated." That was normally where his response ended with Sammy. After breaking up her dance Toby didn't feel right about giving De'ryanna the same canned response. "You mean people right? I haven't been close enough besides my sibs to care you know? Most people aren't worth touching anyway." He said most.

“And of people touching you? For you've invited mine twice since we've met." the slap didn't count. What she expected to her as a response to that was something along the lines of how he wouldn't be making that mistake again after what she told him about herself. That's what she was readying herself for. He was tense now, probably the same as she was , it was the reason why she was holding on to her items. "I don't usually touch people, or have them touch me."

He thought about college again back in the day when he was a party game. The answer would've been different then. "I prefer people keeping their hands off me. Not because of my mutation. Because most people have grubby hands and bad energy." Wasn't that the truth. Was it ironic a dirty hippy was calling everyone else grubby? He smirked. He dropped his arms from his chest. "I don't usually give those kind of invites. Why are you taking them if you don't touch or be touched?" If she was going to ask him these questions only fair to ask her them back. "Is it because of your gift?" The one she'd implied she has the other day when she said they both had gifts. Did she have something like he had? That'd be something.

Beyond what she told him about what would happen if she touched him, she didn't talk about it. Mainly because she acted in a way that no one wanted to ask or get to know her better. It had worked and no one really tried to get to know her really. Now it was getting hard to maintain composure and keep eye contact. If he was looking close enough he would see the corners of her eyes twitch a bit before they stopped. "It could be taken that way." she said before she looked away from him. "If you're going to ask such personal questions it should be somewhere aside from here." Being alone with him was starting to wear on a part of her because she had never spent this much waking time alone with one person before. "A past experience and the risk of transfer make me wary." It didn't help that while she was in Court no one was allowed to touch her, being young it was just something she started to accept. If the two of them ever really got talking, she could even relate to him about being a party game. In a way. "You interest me, like your beard. And therefore I want to touch it."

"If -I'm- gonna ask personal questions?" What a hoot. It made him laugh a short laugh. She was the one that got personal. He might've pointed that out but what she said next floored him. A past experience and the risk of transfer? She could've been talking about what happened to him saying it like that. "Yeah. Yeah I had something like that happen and it can't happen again." It was vague but more than he'd ever told his sibs. Dex and Sam prolly guessed that much on their own but not from anything he'd said. What De'ryanna said next he couldn't help the grin. That was rich. "My beard?" Was she serious. "I just haven't shaved yet?" It wasn't some fashion choice. He didn't offer somewhere else to go. He was fine here. If she wanted to go somewhere it was on her.

An now he laughing at her, for that's what it was because she certainly didn't see anything funny. She stood up straighter and squared back her shoulders. Sometimes she picked out the oddest things to mention about a person. And yes, she was serious about it. "So you must shave every day unless you want to look like a mountain man?" The stage process is what she hasn't seen before. It's either been a beard or not, not somewhere in between. "Your hair, your stance, your way of dress I've seem it before but I haven't seen you in a beard and it is out of place and takes away from the rest of you." A straight answer. She thought he looked fine without the beard. "I would trim it for you if you didn't think that I was looking to slice your neck."

She was getting uppity. Like the day at the bar. It made him keep his grin. She was like a cat. So damn proud. "Yes De'ryanna I'm a hairy bastard. One step up from a caveman bet you're not surprised." Since she didn't like how he kept himself up. "You shave and trim guys often?" He had to ask. He just couldn't picture her doing something like that. "I don't think you'd slice my neck. If I did I could take care of that before you came at me with anything sharp anyway." Could only slice so deep when someone was hard as a rock. That's right. Hard as a rock. Laugh it up. "Should I think you wanna slice my neck?"

Call it her fall back. It was easier to put up that front and it served to keep people from wanting to be around her much. But Toby stayed smiling and so perhaps it wasn't working, and after he saw that there was another side to her she didn't know if it could really deter him unless he let it. "I don't want to slice your neck, if I wanted to be rid of you I would not be so messy about it." Slitting a persons throat always caused blood to go everywhere if you cut it in the right place. If Tobias wanted to stand, she could stand and retain her stance for a long time. "I have never cleaned a males face in that regard but am confident that I can do so." Her eyes left his and they trailed over his clothing and that beard. " I also know that you are far above a caveman no matter how you choose to present yourself to the general public. Cavemen do not know how to clean up like you do."

He wouldn't have picked on her at the bar if her attitude put him off. Growing up he'd dealt with plenty of girls with attidues like hers and worse. Course almost all those girls changed their tunes fast when they found out who he was and who his family was. "Well ain't that a relief. Wouldn't want my corpse to cause a mess. Now I know who to come to if I feel like being murdered." Since she didn't say it wasn't that she didn't want to be rid of him just that she wouldn't slice his neck. "It's not the same thing as shaving legs, sister." A smirk. Just in case that's what she was thinking. "I've got reasons for how I present myself." He was standing where he'd been this whole time. He didn't mind this conversation here.

De'Ryanna laughed again and this time it was a bit longer and therefore she used the hand that held her robe to cover her mouth so she wouldn't go on for long. He knew who to go to when he felt like being murdered. It was funny how she laughed at things which related to death. "I would rid the Inn of the body and the mess before it was a problem. We can test that theory whenever you like." Her fingers were curled in and her hand upon her chin. "As well as any other theory you may have. The way you dress doesn't make who you are. You're not the same stablehand who knocked upon the desk. "

"Then we should give you a few practice runs just in case. I'll be sure to absorb something heavy that'll match dead weight. You might want start lifting if you're gonna move me all over yourself. I'm not a light guy twinkle-toes." He grinned. That was a dig. "Is that your theory? I'm the same guy. Never was a stablehand. My Uncle Jack was president back where we're from. He was assassinated. Then my Uncle Rob tried to run but he was assassinated before the election. Uncle Teddy's still a senator. With a family like that you have to clean up alright." One of America's most famous families and he was living in an Inn on another planet in a room with no furniture.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

"Don't goad me Tobias," Hand coming down from her face and her arms crossed over her waist. "I'm a lot stronger than I look and there's nothing to stop me from picking you up and holding you against the wall save for my own will." That was the first thing that came to her head, though saying it like that was almost a pleasant thought. Almost. Perhaps it was because she could imagine an expression on his face. Then he said the bit about his family. True, she was not from Earth - she wasn't from Rhy'din either - but that did not mean that her studies had not included various areas. What he said and his last name all made sense now, and how he knew how to dress. But he as here instead of there, perhaps his life there wasn't fitting into the plan of his folks.

"Oh -really-? Well hell." He stepped to her side. Elbowing her side. "Don't let your own will stop you." He elbowed her again. "Right?" He reached up and gave her a pull back by her bun. "Huh huh huh?" Each huh he punctuated with an elbow first then a bun pull and then a little shove if she didn't clobber him by then already. Obviously he was goading her. It was good natured goading. He wasn't looking to get her spitting fire. He was a lot stronger than he looked to but that wasn't important. What was important was getting her to show off her shit. Another invite to touch him go figure.

The first elbow nudge was okay, she brushed that off with effort, but when he pulled at her hair he had crossed the line then and it changed her demeanor. She knew that he was only pressing her because of what she had said, but that didn't matter, and she could feel the anger - in the form of annoyance - rising up in her. She also felt the beginning of warmth around the chain she wore. In an instant she had grabbed hold of the Source and before he got the third 'huh' out of his mouth she created a strong weave of Air - they were invisible weaves unless you were able to touch the Source as well - and slammed it at him to push him away. What would it feel like? This one was similar to being hit with a fifty-pound ball. It wasn't a lot, but it would possibly move him a few inches if he was really grounded. She didn't move when she did it, didn't have to. Though afterward she ran a hand across her waist.

He was grounded. He was expecting her to do something. A girl who hit a guy after a couple comments wasn't going to sit through being nudged and stuff so he was prepared for her to hit him somehow. He expected her to move though and to see the hit before he felt it. So when he didn't and got hit anyway it made him stumble back more than a couple inches. Least he didn't fall. Knocked the wind out of him though. "Damn right." He was grinning. That was great. "Now I can say you've hit on me." He winked at her. Was he strange for getting hit by a chick and liking it? He wanted to get her to do it some more. But he thought wiser. He had to ask though. "What was that? Telekinesis? Something you were born with?"

De'Ryanna was more upset at the fact that she was going to have another scar on her stomach that would have to heal then about the joke he had made about being hit. And that burning sensation was staying and would grow hotter the angrier she got. "I was born with a lot more than that." And she sent another blast at him, this time it was at the back of his legs at the knees for her goal was to get him down. She could have lifted him but didn't see the point. Note that if the room had no air in it at all, this wouldn't be possible. As she sent that she stepped towards him. "Is that why you wanted me to touch you? You want me to use force against you?" Pointed question to match the narrowing of her eyes.

If he knew anything about scars or burning he wouldn't have egged her on. She should tell people those things. He didn't think she was going to wail on him again. The fact that she looked upset should've told him something was wrong. The hit made his knees give. Bare knees knocking on hard ground which probably made a hard body depending on what the floor was made of. He didn't get up. Looked up at her from his knees. "What else were you born with? It's good for me to know De'Ryanna for when I touch you." When. He didn't right now though. He was looking over her anger instead. "Is there something wrong with me admiring a girl who can hold her own? You said we could test any theory I had and now you're pissed that I did." Did she not remember saying that? "Not real fair."

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it." Did he? She didn't know fully what she meant but she knew it probably wasn't this. He was hard wood. A little more in, where the two people usually sparred, the floor was made of the same material type as a boxing ring. As for her telling him about the implications of her anger, well, she hadn't told anyone about that save one person and that was because they had seen the chain themself. She stood in front of him and a bit more than arms reach away. He was still on the ground and she wasn't fool enough to think that he might not spring from the ground and tackle her. Just in case she should probably put up a shield around herself. Should but didn't because she was thrown off by that simple word, 'when'. "You want to know what I was born with? Fine. Listen closely and then you seal it all away as a reminder to stay away from me. I was born with the ability to tap into a powerful Source of elemental properties that allows me to do things from simple tricks to killing you by stealing the very air from your lungs or crushing every bone in your body without lifting a finger," not everyone was powerful and different people were stronger in various elements. Out of them all she was the strongest in three of them. She paused after that as she worked up the ability to say the last one. "I can also turn into a wolf. Satisfied?"

"I do? I didn't think you the type to use pick-up lines." That's what he would've thought she meant if it was someone besides her telling him he could test theories. A chick had told him that once and no doubt that it was what that chick had meant. He wasn't going to retaliate. He wasn't looking to spar. It took a lot to get Toby pissed off with all the meditating and mantras he did. And he didn't want to hit her. Why would he. He liked her. The one thing he did was stand up. So she could see his confusion better. "Is that supposed to make me want to stay away from you? Or do you want me to stay away from you? Where I'm from there are people who can do all sorts of crazy. Like me. Or Sammy she can do some scary shit with fire and ice. Our brother Dex can suck the life right outta people and use it to do all sorts of crap. And because of our mutation sometimes I wake up and I'm in his body instead of mine. Or Sammy's body instead of mine. Without even asking for it. So if I'm supposed to be scared by what you do De'ryanna I'm sorry I'm not. Unless you're changing your mind and telling me you want to use all that to murder me after all. But that'd be my fault for telling you you could." That was the first time Tobias had told anyone on this planet that he and his sister switched bodies.

There was a slight winch of pain in her eyes because when he rose to his feet she tightened her arm about her waist and the hot chain hurt. The feeling had stopped where it was because she had capped her anger. it was only simmering and would soon die down. Started doing so as he was talking. He could wake up as different people? Or have that them in his? Where else would they go? That was the only logical reason to her. "There's a devil who has attached himself to me and he could get to you through me if I'm not careful." Her voice wasn't weak, but it veered on the edge of shaky. Perhaps there was a bit of fear there. "That's why you should away." There had been people before who expressed interest, but she could have cared less about them and she made sure that they knew it. She told him because she didn't want him getting hurt because she had grown quite fond of him and seeing him around.

"There are devils everywhere. Some people back home say my great granddad sold his soul to one and that our family's cursed because of it. That that's why Uncle Jack died, and Rob, and John, why Uncle Teddy's a drinker and a whole load of the rest of my family have done bad shit and why the family got cursed with triplets who are all mutants" He Dex and Sam. "So there's one devil. Then there's the people where I'm from who call themselves angels but they're really devils that think mutants like me deserve to be locked up and stripped of all rights. Those devils have been after me for years too. So I guess that means you think you should get away from me?"

"No," she said it softly and wanted to divert her eyes but didn't. He had an interesting family background, surely her sister would have been overjoyed to hear a story like that and would make many different stories from it, but De'Ryanna wasn't like that. "No I don't think I should get away from you." Nothing was going to happen if she touched him or allowed herself to be touched. Internally she was bracing for it. Whether the 'when' was today or weeks from now, it would come sooner or later. After all this talk she did feel better and yet worse than she had before she arrived this morning because now she had a jumble of feelings tossing around inside of her. "You may call me Ryanna, if you like."

"Then it's settled." But it wasn't right. To him it looked like she told him everything. What she could do and change into and the devil around her. He'd told her about the Kennedy Curse and about the mutant hunters to make a point. But if they were talking about why people should stay away from them there was one more thing about him. The reason he never said to anyone but just monitored himself by not touching anyone. He couldn't say how he discovered this. He'd never said that aloud even with all the therapy meditating and whatever else he'd been put through. But he could say what it was. To be right by her. "I can carry disease. If I touch someone and they're sick. I absorb it and there's no way of me knowing that I did because I don't get sick. It's just there until it's not anymore. And depending on how the disease gets passed." He passed it without knowing it that's what he left implied. "You should know that Ryanna."

Some diseases were incurable, or at least they caused a great deal of damage to a person in order to cure the person. To what he said she could only nod and pull in her bottom lip while she did so. That had to be a hard thing to live with, not knowing if you could pass something deadly to people or not. Maybe it was how she felt about unintentionally connecting people to the devil? "Fortunately for you my body heals itself in time." Being a were and all. If it didn't the shifting would probably kill her. "Unless you plan on striking me with silver." That was suppose to be a joke. A bad joke probably, but a joke nonetheless. That was another reason she was annoyed at the chain on her waist. It left marks because it was silver and until she found a way to remove it.... "Then it is settled."

"I don't plan on striking you with anything." Jokes were lost on him right now. It'd taken a lot for him to say that and it put his mind somewhere he didn't want it to be. He needed to lift. He was from a different world. What she said she could do was impressive. But he had a hard time believing she could heal from everything. Maybe because of how he found out that he could pass disease in the first place. He'd warned her though and that was more he'd done for anyone else. "Don't mention what I told you to my sister she doesn't know." He muttered that. Gaze going elsewhere. "I gotta get to it." A thumb in the direction of the weight room. "If I don't I'll be all messed." Specially right now.

She didn't even know if she could heal from everything and she wasn't wanting to test that theory out any time soon. There were a lot of things to think about and she smiled at his words. "I'll keep your secret, and you'll keep mine." The one she really meant was about the devil and the were thing. The power, she didn't mind if people knew. "Thank you for the talk. Goodbye, Tobias." To help them part ways she took the backwards step.

"Sounds fair." He smiled back. Heavy smile but at least he managed. He headed to the door and stopped long enough to say one other thing. "Take care Ryanna. Nice moves." Took him that whole time to realize he hadn't said anything about her dancing besides asking whether or not she was done and if she wanted him to leave. He went straight to the weight room. It was the first time in a while he didn't have a clue which mantra he should chant. A lot of stuff came up in the conversation with her. Until he figured it out he'd just settle for Om for every press.

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