etrayalogs | A warrior and a rogue walk into a bar

Vax enters the club, which seems far too big for the number of people who probably hang out here on a regular basis. With the population shifting all the time, they'd need the whole city to show up to make this floor look full. It's a shame; he actually likes to dance after he's had enough to drink. At least it's easy to spot Sciel without crowds.

He's a reasonably tall elf with long, dark hair, dressed in dark leather armor and a cape. In his world, he wouldn't stand out quite so much for his clothing, but perhaps for being a touch handsome, which is practically a requirement for rogues, isn't it?

Her words are met with a smile. The kind that says he's used to being scolded, and he takes a seat at the bar. Enough time has passed to make him a little sober again, so he can handle another round of drinks.

"Vax'ildan, but everyone calls me Vax." Except for his sister when she's annoyed at him. "What's yours?"

Her gaze roves over him, the drama of his garb, the unusual cut of his ears more obvious than they were on camera. She's intrigued. It makes her feel a little under-dressed, but not in a self-conscious way. It's nice to be around pretty men.

She takes two glasses and pours two drinks to get them started. Also as promised, they are generous. No one pays for anything, so why not?

"Sciel." See-el. Already too short for a nickname, she's afraid!

She slides one drink in front of him and settles against her side of the bar with her own in hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Vax. I promise I won't part you from your money, unless you really want me to."

Vax approves of the size of the pours, but he's going to get drunk faster this way. He'll try not to drink it too quickly, since he would like to talk to her. Likewise, it's nice talking to a pretty girl, and he doesn't often have one pouring him a drink.

It's true, there's no shortening that name, but he does like to give nicknames to people he's fond of. Maybe she'll get one, too. His friend Pike's name is short, but her nickname Pickle is cute, just like her.

The drink is accepted with his thanks. "Money doesn't hold any meaning here, but we can always find a game to play. For instance, that's a very interesting tattoo." He nods slightly, his eyes gazing down at that part of her body before the faintest of blushes makes him look at her face again. "Must be a story there, right?"

“Mm,” she hums, over the lip of her glass, and she lowers it for the moment. “It’s a style common to the architecture of the city I grew up in, but this design is from the Academy I trained in. When you walk into the foyer, it’s sprawled all up the back wall, ten metres high. I just loved to look at it, and thought everyone else should too.”

Just as well, given she’s never had much luck drawing the eye to her modest bustline otherwise, and it’s flattering when it works. Look at that blush!

“Are we making this a story for a story, then?” She grins. “What do you do for adventure?”

A modest bustline is hardly a turn-off for Vax. He's more of a whole package kind of guy, and charisma goes a long way. Which she definitely seems to have in spades.

"Academy? Are you a scholar?" Or maybe it was an academy of a different sort if there was training involved. "Just so you know, I've never been the best with book learning." Not that his father didn't try.

He does owe her a story since she gave him a reading. "At home? Kill monsters, mostly, and take other contracts for coin. At least, my friends and I did for a while before things got dire. Now we're hoping to kill dragons before they destroy everything."

“A children’s teacher, actually,” she says. It hardly has any prestige to it, at least not when it comes to smarts, but Sciel cares little for giving off that impression. She smiles, enough to crinkle the corners of her eyes. “But that’s a regular school. The Academy trains adults in martial and survival skills.”

She takes a swig of her drink, the rim of her glass brushing the long-faded scar across her nose. When she lowers it again, she leans fully against the bar, her weight on her elbows.

“So you’d do fine without books, I think.”

Especially if he’s killing monsters as a profession. Even with the Academy, there are plenty of Expeditioner corpses littering the continent. Someone with a good track record is faring better than most.

She tilts her head slightly, bangs falling into her eyes.

“I saw a dragon in a fight, just once,” she says. “You must be pretty good if you can take a run at them at all.”

She teaches children? Vax smiles approvingly, since he has a soft spot for kids. When she leans against the bar, Vax picks up his drink to avoid looking at her tattoo region again. Well, he might have looked a little. After a drink, he sets the mug down and similarly leans against the bar, resting on one elbow. She does have pretty eyes, so he'll look there, instead.

"It wasn't easy." Vax doesn't want to give the impression that dragons are as simple as fighting anything else. "Working together, my friends and I have killed two, but there's more. Stronger ones. If we can't figure out how to deal with them, it'll mean the end of our world." A faint shrug. "Not that I can do anything about it here but worry." And he's been stuck in Etraya for far too long.

She does have pretty eyes, thank you, green-gold and bright, surrounded by dark eyeliner and a generous dusting of freckles. She holds his gaze easily, her attention on him relaxed.

“It’s a problem we all have in common, at least,” she says. All of their worlds are dying, and there’s no better impetus to work together than an obstacle that will risk all of their lives. There’s sympathy on her face as she adds: “But don’t give in to worry just yet. We have a saying at the Academy —– Tomorrow Comes. Some things are just going to take time, and tomorrow will still be there. When you’re unable to move forward, there’s no harm in taking time to enjoy yourself in the meantime.”

Vax doesn't shy away from her gaze as she looks at him and smiles a little as she tries to encourage him. He can be a bit brooding at times, so it doesn't always work on him, even if the sentiment is appreciated.

"It's a good motto." Vax has never had too many issues with enjoying himself. After a battle, he and his friends often let loose to celebrate and relieve stress. Without them, though, Vax gets into his dour moods a little more often than he should.

"And how do you like to enjoy yourself?" Drinking appears to be at least one method, judging by the pours, which he approves of.

"There is very little I can't find some fun in," she says, amused.

She's always been that way, to some degree. Perpetually in motion, seldom home, springing into trouble on the smallest whim –– frantically, in her youth, more calm and sure in her 'old' age. This is who she is.

"But let's see! I have favourites. Most of all, I like dancing, going to dinner parties with lots of wine, challenging fights, meditation, and looking at beautiful people."

Vax thinks she would get along with his friends in a number of ways, except maybe the meditation part. That requires peace and quiet, and Vox Machina is anything but quiet. Not even when they try to be. The last one on the list amuses him.

"What kind of fighting? Do you use a weapon?" Reaching into his cloak, he brings forth a dagger, which is casually twirled in his hand. "I like daggers, personally, but my sister favors the bow."

Sciel grins when the blade comes out. He's an intimate fighter, then.

"Any kind," she says. It's true. She's just as thrilled in a brawl as she is slicing her way through a great monster's fleshy underside. "I favour a double-ended scythe, but I know my way around most blades. Dark magic, too."

She drains her glass.

"So you're up close and personal, while she keeps her distance from the fray?"

"A scythe? That's a pretty serious weapon." He's both surprised and impressed if she can swing one of those around.

Vax finishes his own drink as well, but he's open to another pour. As for how he fights alongside his sister, Vax nods.

"Yeah. We've always made a good team. And the rest of our friends have a variety of skills, too. We cover a lot of bases."

"I used to be a farmer," she replies, and as he sets his glass down, she eases up off the bar to look at the bottles again. Something different this time, just for the novelty. She continues as she looks at the labels: "Harvesting souls isn't much different from wheat, as it turns out."

She is only partially joking.

She turns back to him to pour, her attention settling on his handsome face again. She can pour by feel for both of them.

"Are your friends here?"

Edited (typo) 2025-08-20 19:05 (UTC)

While Sciel turns to look over the labels, a sharp *clank* is heard from the bar. Vax almost toppled his glass when she said 'harvesting souls'. "Uh, yeah, I suppose not."

His glass is offered when she turns around again and offers to pour him a new drink.

"You know that city we were just in? I think I saw my sister." It was a little crazy at the time, so he's not entirely certan. He wasn't exactly himself.

"I was hoping I'd see her here, too." Maybe Vex will appear soon. Vax hopes so but also doesn't want her to feel stuck in this place like he does. Still, he can't keep the hope out of his voice. He clearly misses her.

She turns around with a raised eyebrow, her smile growing wider anyway. Clumsy, is he?

“Careful now,” she says, as she pours, and her voice dips sympathetic. “I saw a dear friend of mine, too. I’m worried she and your sister are still stuck there… hopefully with a roof over their heads and full bellies, until they can get here.”

It’s been on her mind near constantly, but she’s glad she’s maybe not the only one.

She slides the glass back over to him, short of a distance as it is, and she lets her hand linger just long enough to casually brush his in the pass-off.

“Are you alright?”

Sometimes, he just doesn't act as cool as he'd hoped.

"I hope you see your friend again." As for Vex, he knows she'll be fine no matter where she is. She's good at taking care of herself. Vax, on the other hand, always feels a bit lost without her ever since they were kids.

The drink is accepted, his slender fingers curling around the cool glass. When he feels the subtle touch, he looks up from his drink to her eyes, recognizing the sympathy there. It's kind of her to ask.

"Yeah. It's just, I've been stuck in this city for a long time now. I had given up hope of seeing Vex'ahlia. Now that I have, but I don't know if she'll appear or not.. it's kind of like those first few months all over again."

“Me too,” she says. “But I know we’ll see each other again, just as you’ll see Vex.”

Didn’t even need to draw a card either. She holds his gaze with that still-sympathetic smile. Vax and Vex. Lune and Sciel. What pairs they are.

“How long have you been here?”

Her optimism is appreciated. Is she saying those things because she believes them or just for his benefit? He doesn't know her quite well enough to say for sure, but it was still nice of her to do it.

For a moment, he gets a bit lost in her eyes. ".... Oh, uh, ten months. When did you arrive?"

“A little bit over a month,” she says. And she repeats, with a small measure of surprise and a slow blink: “Ten months?”

It hasn’t been that long for her, and she also hasn’t been alone here for more than a few minutes; familiar faces had turned up before she could even leave the hospital.

“Well, it’s more imperative than ever that your sister makes her way here. That’s far too long to be without a loved one.”

Vax nods a little, but he also tries not to get his hopes up. It's difficult enough as it is waiting to find out if she'll arrive with a batch of newcomers or not. If she's not there... he'll be crushed.

"Tell me about your friend. Did she go to the Academy, too?"

Yes, he'd like to talk about something else before he drinks the whole bar dry.

She knows a redirect when it happens. Her smile is gentle, and she decides that the bar between them is too much of a barrier. He needs a friend, not a confessional, so she picks up her drink and takes it with her as she rounds the bar top, and she slides onto the stool next to him instead. She’s just short enough that her feet dangle, and she pivots in her seat so she’s still facing him. She can serve them from this side, too, when the drinks run low.

“Lune,” she says, fondly. “She attended for most of her life, actually. She’s an incredible scholar, very gifted, and she never stops asking questions.”

She leans in, near conspiratorial.

“And she’s absolutely covered in beautiful gold tattoos. They make mine look like nothing. You’ll know her the second you see her.”

Vax doesn't mind that she takes the seat next to him. It's nice to have the company, no matter what side of the bar she's on.

He looks over to her, nodding a few times when she describes her friend. "I'm sure that will stand out. If I see her, I'll try to help her find you." It sounds like the two of them are close, so he'll bet Lune won't wait to search for Sciel.

“That’s kind, thank you,” she says, beaming. It’s easy to, thinking about having her friend back and being in new company at once, and she takes another swig of her booze.

She finds herself leaning one elbow against the bar, watching him with humour blossoming on her face. She reaches over with her free hand and prods him in the bicep.

“I didn’t scare you earlier, did I? With the harvesting souls thing.”

She’s teasing, just a little. He doesn’t seem scared at all, but a falter is a falter.

Vax shrugs at the thanks, since it's not really a big deal. People here are always looking for others. It's nice to help out when they can. A few have even said they'd keep an eye out for Vex for him.

The gentle poke is enough to get him to smile again. Her question is answered with a soft laugh. "No. Where I come from there are many deities, including one for death. The Matron of Ravens. I'm.. actually in her service." His smile is hesitant as he looks down at his glass. "I figured people here might get spooked by that, so I don't usually mention it."

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