Ebonymist

To the left of the crowd, two beings that had come and gone several times during the past few months were currently seated at a small, rather wobbly table. The first -a tall, rawboned man with skin as white as milk and eyes of curious amber-gold- hunched slightly so that he might accomodate his long limbs, staring intently into thin air. Either he was currently deep in thought, or he was daydreaming. Either situation seemed equally plausible at the moment.

His female companion, on the other hand, was observing the activities of various people that happened to pass by their table, with rather marked interest. Morrigna had, for once, foregone the bleached-bone riding leathers she was normally seen in, for a simple tunic and leggings of green velvet. Her steel-colored hair was unbound -also an unusual sight- and hung down her back in curling waves. Her mossy-hued eyes were at half-mast, and she suddenly jerked upright, something or another having caught her attention. Uncrossing her legs -her knees creaked audibly as she did so- she gave her friend a curious glance.

"You seem even more quiet and withdrawn than usual, Von," she remarked. "Something on your mind?"

The lanky man turned his searing gaze upon her, and considered his words carefully before speaking. "Crowds make me... uncomfortable," he admitted, absently tracing grooves in the wood of the table with his fingertips. "As you well know, my, ah, people... were a rather solitary sort-"

His statement was abruptly cut off in surprise, for Morrigna had siezed his palm and was examining the index finger critically. "That scar," she mused. "It's not even started to heal, even after all this time." Vondros tugged rather pointedly, but she kept her grip.

"Such things," he replied, glancing at the bandlike scar that she referred to, "do not heal easily even with time. Particularly for me. You of all people should know I do not have the strongest of constitutions as a result of the last war."

"True," the woman allowed, finally letting go. "But wouldn't you say it's high time you at least attempted to rejoin the outside world?" She gestured around her. "This is a good time as any to start." That statement earned her a withering glare.

"And if they knew what I had been before the last war?" he retorted. "The elves we met on the way here nearly feathered me with arrows when they managed to make the connection." He drew the edges of his cloak tighter around his bony shoulders. "They viewed me as an enemy before the war, and there truly is no reason why their opinion should change."

"Ah, Vondros," she sighed. "Forever the optimist."