Merely Observing

[Kane Night]

Kane pushed the door ajar with his foot, peering inside before deciding that he could indeed go in with out finding trouble. This was just one of the many hassles, as he viewed them, about being new in a place this large. His eyes adjusted slowly to the dimness of the Tavern as he stepped into the building. Kane pushed the door back closed with his foot as he looked around again. It made him appear a bit giddy of the new surrounding but he was just a cautious person when it came to enclosed places like this. He drummed his fingers upon the handle of his dagger as he walked toward the bar.

Kane's walk was slow as he surveyed the people in the room with him as best he could with out making it too noticeable. His eyes stopped searching around as he reached the bar, setting his arm upon it. He nodded his head to the person working the bar as he order a simple mead which he probably wouldn't drink any way. He was here merely to find a bit of time to think and a way to see how the others moved about it. Taverns were oh so useful for this he had learned over the years. Kane paid the man and took his drink, moving swiftly to a table situated in the corner of the room. There was a light not to far from him which cast shadows over his face, just the way he liked it to happen while he was trying to watch others.

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira had been in the tavern for hours. Last night her life had been ruined, and this morning she had woken up, barely said good morning to anyone, and left the house. She had been feeling strangely empty, and hadn’t known where to go or what to do with herself. So she had found herself at the tavern’s door, and not really knowing what she was doing she had walked inside.

Over ten large glasses of random alcoholic beverages later, she had effectively drowned out her sorrows. Not only had she drowned out her sorrows, though, she had also gotten herself hopelessly drunk for the first time ever. If either her mother or father saw her like this, there would be hell to pay at home. But she couldn’t really think about that now, of course, since all she was focused on was alcohol.

Throwing down another gold piece, the bartender greedily swiped it up and poured her some more to drink. She grabbed for the glass, but missed it terribly, not even noticing that she had overpaid the bartender by quite a lot for the fifth time in a row. Finally managing to grab the glass, she downed it easily, slamming it back on the table and hiccupping a few times.

Someone else came in and ordered a mead, retreating to a corner table, but Mira didn’t pay much attention to him. Reaching down into her purse she found- no money left. Groaning loudly she stood up, bracing her hands on the bar for support. Finally managing to stand up straight she waved goodbye to the bartender and people there, and started walking slowly, and very crookedly, toward the door, completely oblivious to the dangerous looks on some of the men’s faces, and the unnatural gleam in their eyes.

[Kane Night]

Kane had begun to sip at the mead in front of his absently. He drummed the fingers of his left hand upon the table as he watched the room. That was when he saw her. The younger girl perched upon the seat at the bar, throwing down a golden coin. Kane's eyes narrowed a bit as the bartender snatched it up, quickly storing it away before handing her the drink. He grimaced as she downed the drink with terrifying speed only to slam the empy container back onto the bar.

His dark eyes followed her carefully as she attempted to make her way out of the place, obviously drunk. There was no telling how old this girl was and she didn't know how to hold or alcohol, that is if she had ever even drank anything like it before. Kane looked hurriedly about the place to see the eyes of the others upon the girl as well and not in a very nice manner. He let out a frustrated sigh and pushed his chair back.

Kane walked swiftly to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as if he was claiming her for his own. "Come sit down with me. I think it will be the best decision you have made all day from the way you look at the moment." He hoped to god that she wasn't an angry drunk and would listen to his offer. He pushed her a bit in the direction of his table but in a very gently manner. "Please come talk with me for a bit." Kane nodded his head.

He had no intention of letting this girl walk away from him now. Some thing terrible would happen to her if she did and even though she was not his to watch after he would feel horribly guilty knowing that he had just let her leave when he could've atleast tried to persuade her to be more reasonable.

[Mira Nightingale]

She was almost at the door when she tripped over her own feet, steadying herself just in time before she slammed into the wall by the door. Groping the air for a moment, she squinted her eyes at the door, trying to tell where the doorknob was. She reached for it, but missed it by quite a lot. Frowning heavily out of annoyance and concentration, she tried again and almost got it. Not even paying attention to what was going on around her, she didn’t realize that someone had come up behind her until he had slipped an arm around her shoulders and started steering her towards a table.

Hiccupping for a moment she followed the man to his table, not really understanding what he was doing or who he was. Then she spotted the mead on his table, and eyed it for a moment before licking her lips. “Can I have,” hiccup, “some of that?” she asked him as she swayed slightly, clutching onto him for lack of any other support as they stopped walking right next to the table.

[Kane Night]

Kane let out a tiny sigh of relief as she let him lead her back to his table placed in the corner. He was that he had chosen that particular one for himself or he might have been very cautious about sitting this girl down in here any more. His brows furrowed a bit as she asked if she could have some of that. At first he had no idea what she was talking about but then he noticed his cup of mead with a little chuckle. "Why yes of course, but let me get you your own cup. I have already taken a drink from this one and I'm sure you would not like to share with some one you do not know. Just sit here..." He made a downward motion with the heel of his pale as if it was to help her understand that he meant for her to stay put.

Moving as quickly as he could with out drawing too much attention he slipped back to the bar. His eyes narrowed at the bartender as he stared at him. "I want some water for this girl over here and I don't plan on paying you for it considering all the money you have already cheated her out of today. And I will be informing some one about this very soon if not the girl herself." He gave a little nod to show he meant it and quickly jerked the cup away from the man after he had filled it with water. Kane let out another sigh as if this were a tiresome thing for him.

Kane placed the cup infront of the girl and stared at her. He slid into his own seat across from her and shook his head. "Can you by any chance tell me your name?" He thought she might be a bit too drunk to even give him this information but it was worth a try was it not? He made another sweep of the room to make sure that no one was watching them and was happy to see that every one had returned to their business so it seemed.

[Mira Nightingale]

The man motioned for her to sit down, and Mira did so, although it took her a few tries to find the chair. Once she was sitting, the man went to get her some mead, although her fingers itched to have the drink that was right in front of her. Not knowing the person who had drunk out of it didn’t bother her at all, but if she wasn’t inebriated then it probably would have bothered her a great deal to drink out of it. Then again, if she wasn’t drunk she would have been long gone by now.

The man returned with her drink and she accepted it, taking a long drink and finding it actually quite refreshing. She didn’t even realize that it was water and not mead. Water was most definitely better for her anyways. She would be having an awful headache in the morning, but at least she could use it as an excuse not to visit with her horrendous fiancée.

As the man sat down in his original chair and said something, Mir’s brain didn’t pick up his words right away. “My,” hiccup, “name?” she asked him slowly, taking a long moment to think about it. So she gave him her name… the complete name with title and new last name after the wedding added onto it. “Lady Mira Annabelle Nightingale Bryant.” she said, slurring her words a little. “Once I marry that fat old man.” she added angrily, drowning the rest of her water as if it were actually the mead she thought it was.

[Kane Night]

Kane chuckled as he nodded his head to her. "Yes your name..." He eyes followed her face for a few moments. Her eyes were blurred and obviously from the trouble she was having it was effecting her quite badly. His mouth dropped a bit at her name but then he'd always heard long names and found it horribly foolish to give your child such a hassle of a name. Apparently his parents had thought the same, leaving him with the simple name of Kane Night...no more no less.

Once against his brows knitted and his lips formed a frown. "Fat old man?" He smiled in amusement at hearing that but gave a tiny shake of his head to show that he had sympathy for her. "I take it that you are being forced into this marriage then." Kane also found this a foolish thing. Should you not let your children find happiness in their own way? "Do you have another then? I mean...some one that you care for more than this other...man." He had been on the verge of saying old man but had caught himself, stopping it short.

Kane took another drink from his mead, deciding that drinking this one wouldn't hurt him in the least bit. As his eyes followed her every movement trying to make sure that she didn't decide to move again, he tried to think of things to keep her occupied. "How long have you been in here today?" He quirked his brow lightly as he asked her.

[Mira Nightingale]

“Pompous, ugly, old, fat, rich, slobbery man.” she corrected him, her eyes traveling toward his mead once again since she had nothing left to drink. His other question settled over her, and she squinted her eyes in deep thought before shaking her head, hoping she was answering the right question. “Nope!” she said gleefully, giggling for no apparent reason as she placed the empty glass of water on the table with shaking fingers. “Been here a long time.” she finished, answering his other question. She had no idea how long long was, but it was definitely quite a while since when she had walked in it was light outside, and now it was almost dusk.

She eyed the man for a moment, before she broke out into a random grin. “But you’re not ugly or old or fat.” she told him perkily. “I don’t know about rich or slobbery though.” she added to herself as a bit of an afterthought before she looked back at him and giggled again. She shook her head to exaggerate her point before she continued. “Nope, not ugly or old or fat,” hiccup, “You’re actually nice looking, huh stranger?” she finished, giggling randomly again.

[Kane Night]

Kane smiled out of amusement. Apparently this girl really despised this man though she would probably never say that straight out had see been sober, which she was far from at the moment. He nodded his head in response to her answer. "Oh really? Well you probably should've left hours ago then. Taverns are very safe at night you know. You never really know who you'll run into here." He stood briskly and got her another cup of water, setting it infront of her before returning to his seat. "Just in case you wanted more." He nodded his head and took another drink from his mead which was quickly growing hot.

Kane bursted into rather loud laughter, getting a few rude glances from the other sitting around them. "Rich and slobbery I am not. I'm actually rather poor though I am working on gaining more money. As for ugly, old, or fat... I know I'm not old and fat but the ugly I'm a bit ify on." He grinned at her, close to laughing again considering this just her druken talk. "Well thank you but you shouldn't be telling that to some one you do no know. It could get you in a great deal of trouble seeing as how you are promised to some one else." He smiled and shook his head as she giggled for the second time. "And my name is Kane."

[Mira Nightingale]

“Where’s Kane?” she repeated rather stupidly, not understanding what he meant. Then the fact that Kane was his name crossed her mind and she bit her lip. “Oh, oh! Kane is your name? It’s uh,” hiccup, “nice to meet you Kane.”

“I don’t want to leave.” she pouted, although her words were ridiculously slurred. “I want more to drink, because I’m thir… thirs… thirsty.” she finished, having trouble pronouncing the word. Kane got up and brought her back another glass to what she hoped was mead, and she took a sip, the water feeling even more refreshing. Considering the amount she’d had to drink, she’d either be sober in the morning, or in several hours at the very least.

“Nope, not ugly.” she clarified, shaking her head. “Old, fat, slobbery man Bryant is ugly.” she said, again, as if she hadn’t gotten the point across before. Then Kane mentioned something about being promised to him and she frowned heavily, trying to figure out why that couldn’t be true. “Not… promised.” she said slowly, trying to think things through. “Won’t marry him…. I won’t.”

[Kane Night]

Kane nodded his head lightly to show that it was indeed his name. "Yes well let's hope you'll think so tomorrow." He smiled softly as he watched her. He actually wished that he hadn't met her quite like this because there always was the chance that she would remember nothing about having ever seen him by tomorrow. But he hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Kane's brows furrowed a bit as she said she didn't want to leave. "Don't worry I'm not making you leave now. I'd escort you out of here and back home any way. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." That made him sound a bit attached to her though he didn't mean it that way. He just wanted her to make it home safely and him being with her he would know that she would indeed be safe. "You can drink all of that you want. It might actually improve upon things." Kane crossed his arms lightly upon the table, drumming the fingers of his left hand upon the wood.

He laughed lightly. "This man must be absolutely dreadful with the way you are talking about him." Kane glanced about the place and smiled at her, letting his gaze fall upon her face. "Well....how do you plan on getting out of marrying him if you don't want it? Run away?" He chuckled. "Surely he can't be as bad as you think he is. Maybe he honestly cares about you?" He raised his brow a bit.

[Mira Nightingale]

“Tomorrow is a,” hiccup, “long way away.” she said, nodding her head to exaggerate her point. “Why would I not know you tomorrow? I know you now. See? Your name is Kane!” she said, smiling as she drank more of her water, her thirst obviously slacking for the moment. “And you’re not a ghost either.” she added after a moment. To prove her point she reached out and carelessly ran her fingers through his curly brown hair, before nodding again. “See? You’re real. So I know you today, and tomorrow too.”

“That’s nice.” she replied absently, not really listening to him as he mentioned escorting her home. She didn’t need an escort, but since she seemed to be having trouble walking, maybe an escort would be helpful… just a little.

“He is too absolutely dreadful.” she grumbled back, frowning once again. “He does not care about me. He met me once for two hours and then we got engaged. He just wants my dowry.” she finished, her words sounding strangely sober for the moment. “Don’t know how I’m not gonna marry him.” she added, shaking her head; her words reverting back to the slurs and hiccups that she had before.

[Kane Night]

Kane shook his head. "You never know..." He smiled warmly at her with a small chuckle. "Well I'm glad that you can remember my name for more than five minutes." He grinned. "Just because you can run your hand through my hair doesn't mean I'm not a ghost. I travel like a ghost. Here for a bit and then gone with out a trace. Most people don't even know my name. So consider yourself honored." Kane bit his bottom lip. "Well we'll see about that tomorrow huh. I'll make a point to see you atleast once." He didn't know what good it would do him to befriend this girl but he wasn't exactly stopping it.

Kane pouted slightly, his brows knitting again. "Oh well...I'm sorry then." He ran his hand back through his hair, giving a slight grumbled as his curls slid back into their same position. Some times he hated his hair but it was just something you had to adjust to. "Why don't you find some one you really do love then? That would be what I was doing had I been suddenly found in an engagement."

Of course Kane thought that he would never find himself in that position. He wasn't much of one for love and showing emotions for others other than friendship. He believed love to be a pointless thing because it only ended in pain but he was trying to persuade her on that course because that was what most girls did want.

[Mira Nightingale]

“Okay.” Mira replied with a nod, trying to stay focused on what he was saying, although the words wouldn’t really stick in her mind. All she had caught from what he said was that he was going to visit her tomorrow. The problems associated with that statement didn’t even cross her mind, although tomorrow, if he did visit her, she would most likely know those problems very well.

“My parents will only let me marry someone rich and influential.” she muttered bitterly, taking a long sip of her water as if it was alcohol. As she eyed the water, wondering if she should drink it all again, she heard a different noise begin in the background, and grow louder.

Shaking her head to make it go away, it still wouldn’t, so she looked toward the source and instead of something annoying, saw a man playing a violin. There was a hat on the ground at his feet, obviously for collecting coins that people would throw in. Sadly, she had no money left.

[Kane Night]

Kane gave a soft sigh as he noticed that her attention was slipping. Here in front of him was some one he could spill his heart to and she would never even remember a word of it. He chuckled at the idea of it as he looked at his glass of mead, leaving his eyes from her face.

"Well that's a terrible thing for them to do. Rich men usually have no brains. Hence the reason they have advisors and servants to do all of their things for them." He gave a gently nod, a curl falling into his eyes. Kane reached forward and picked up the cup, drowning the rest of it in one gulp. He ran his hand back through his hair before looking up at her.

Kane grimaced as he heard the noise of a violin start near them. Oh how he loathed those things though he had once had great love for them. That of course had been when he was a boy and foolish to the ideas of grown men. He watched the man and stood from his seat. "Mira...I'm leaving now. Do you wish to come with me? I think that I should take you home." He felt no need to explain the reason for his sudden change in emotion and reasoning for leaving.