Prompt Love is Blind: Lost or Found

[bees?]

Art by: Andreas Rocha
For Maevyth (Tipsy) and Enomi (Lucie)​

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The Bookwyrm was the premier bookshop in Crown’s Hold, if what one was after included obscurities, half-finished academic journals, and rusted-over curios. But amidst the trash could be found modestly-priced treasures, and so the Wyrm attracted all sorts of thrifty collectors and suppliers.

The shopkeep – a wide-snouted, scaled beastkin who resembled the silver wyrm sculpture that twisted round the shop’s signpost outside – busied himself by taking a broom to the main entrance. He hummed a gentle tune as he swept-swept-swept, the sound of it keeping the shop from feeling too empty.

Cool blue shroud-lanterns mixed with the warm oranges of the sky outside. The sun would be setting soon, and most had left to make their way home. All but the shopkeeper himself, and two weary souls looking for something they had not yet found...

 

[Enomi Hemoshi]

Enomi moved through the shop, dressed in a deep blue kimono with golden embroidery and a golden leaf pattern. Hair piled on her head and pinned with two silver hair sticks with matching leaves dangling from the end. Something that in Sonshan would have been casual and simple, not drawing any attention on the street, but here in Crown's Hold she'd gotten more than a few stares.

Ducking inside a book store, past the Scalekin shop keeper and into the quiet shadows. Her trip here from Aetochi had been uneventful and tomorrow she had an appointment with a local ink maker and bookbinder to discuss their process and materials. However, for today, she was just taking in the sights of an unfamiliar city.

The smell of the old books was welcoming and she told herself this was the perfect store for research purposes as she browsed through the shelves pulling something down here and there as she checked paper and ink quality of the pages. So engrossed was she in her browsing that she didn't realize someone else was there until her hand brushed against theirs as they both reached for the same book. "Oh pardon!"

 

[Maevyth]

The scent of old parchment, leather bindings, and faint traces of dust hung thick in the air, mingling with the subtle spice of ink and the lingering ghost of something herbal. Rain began drumming softly against the windows of The Bookwyrm, muffling the distant sounds of evening foot traffic beyond the threshold. The flickering glow of shroud-lanterns painted shifting pools of cool blue against the aged wooden shelves, their light catching on curling scrolls and forgotten tomes stacked in uneven towers.

Maevyth was oblivious to it all.

Tucked into a shadowed corner, she had traced absent fingers over the grain of a delicate vellum page, her mind drifting between potion ingredients, their measurements, and the lingering question of what was missing from her latest experiment. Verdenn’s Bane, Shadowbloom, Tear of Nyssari.

She should have cut down her stack of books that she'd gathered throughout the day, chosen only the essentials, but without Xenovia here to carry them, she had accidently overindulged. Now, she balanced the precarious weight of her findings in one arm as she scanned a particularly interesting row of tomes.

The books steadied her, anchored her thoughts—right up until the moment another hand brushed against hers.

A startled breath caught in her throat. She turned sharply, knocking shoulders with the stranger, and in that instant, her grasp faltered. The books tumbled from her arms, spilling over the worn wooden floorboards in a chorus of rustling pages and muted thuds.

Maevyth’s heart kicked against her ribs.

"Oh, pardon!"

The voice was unfamiliar—light, cultured, touched with surprise.

Maevyth exhaled sharply, blinking back her instinctual wariness as she took in the other woman—dark-haired, poised, wrapped in an elegantly embroidered kimono that, in Crown’s Hold, marked her as someone from elsewhere.

For a beat, the Deva simply stared, then let out a breath that could have been exasperation or amusement.

"Shit," she muttered, gaze flicking to the scattered books. "Should’ve seen that coming."

She bent swiftly to gather them, fingers brushing the nearest spine before glancing up again at the woman who had, however unintentionally, knocked her from her research-induced haze. Suddenly too aware of her haphazard appearance, the ink smudged across her fingers, the braid she’d no doubt fidgeted loose, the chewed pencil tucked behind one ear. Gods, she hoped her breath didn’t stink too.

"Are you okay?"

@Enomi Hemoshi

 

[Enomi Hemoshi]

A gasp sounded, as Enomi begged forgiveness, then the loud clatter as an armful of books fell to the floor scattering across the wooden floor of the shop. Some sliding a bit away, others falling upside-down with pages open. The calligrapher hoped that none of the pages had been bent accidently in the process.

There was a moment that the other woman just stared and Enomi shifted slightly on her feet, reaching up to self-consciously tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. The woman in front of her seemed to remember herself and bent to quickly to gather her books.

"I'm fine. No harm was done." She said softly as she knelt down to help collect the other woman's books, picking up one near her and holding it out a soft smile on her lips. Enomi stood and reached up to pull the book they had both reached for from the shelf offering it to her as well. "I believe you were reaching for this one?" She offered. She hadn't really wished for the book itself and had just planned to examine the paper and ink on which it had been written.

"I'm Enomi, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said offering her name to the other woman, taking in her appearance. Her eyes lingering on the ink stained fingers, a curiosity in her eyes that she held back on for now. It wouldn't be entirely proper to immediately be asking about where she got her ink and what was it's quality. Proper conversation was required first, as was polite.​

 

[Maevyth]

Her own name caught in her throat as she went to answer, distracted by the touch of cool fingers against her own as she grabbed her book back. There was a moment when she mourned the stain of her own fingers marring the clean visage of such a stately woman. Overwhelmed that she was by swathes of cerulean fabrics and flashing embroidery.

The apothecary realized her awkward hesitance and stood sharply with a cough, smoothing down the front of her tunic before offering a shy grin and a small arching salute of two fingers from a horn that was common amongst Devahni. "Maevyth." She shrugged. "Maeve to my friends." She patted the top cover of the book she had pulled from the shelf, a friendly grin forming. "I might even say this makes us friends."

@Enomi Hemoshi

 

[Enomi Hemoshi]

Enomi felt her heart race as the other woman's fingers brushed against her's. Though she was skilled at keeping her face calm, the politics of Aetochi made it important to be able to shield ones emotions. Everything could be exploited among the Intendent families.

A gentle smile graced the Aetochan woman's face at Maeve's offer of friendship. "Maeve." Enomi repeated, the sound unique in her accent.

Her eyes glanced at the woman's fingers as they tap along the cover of the book. Reslem's Field guide of North Ilican Botany. "Are you interested in plants?" She asked reaching out toward the book in Maeve's hands, but stopping before she touched. Hand close enough that she could feel the heat from Maeve's skin.

She pulled back her hand again, suddenly feeling embarrassed at the question, the smallest evidence of her flustered feelings around the Deva in front of her. Of course Maeve was interested in plants, why else would she be considering such a book.

 

[Maevyth]

Maevyth’s grin softened, just a touch, at the question. “More than interested,” she said, her voice slipping into that mellow rhythm she used when speaking of her craft. “I’m an apothecary, actually! My shop’s a district over, The Serpent’s Still. You might’ve heard of it if you’ve ever needed a sleeping draught, a rash cream, or something a little more promiscuous.”

Her eyes glinted with mischief, but the look didn’t linger long. She lifted the book slightly, fingers curling against its spine. “I’m trying to perfect an elixir I’ve been working on. Something stabilizing, restorative. I’m close, but there’s a piece missing. I thought maybe I’d find a clue in here.” A small shrug, casual but honest. “It’s easier to look for answers in ink and vellum than to wait for inspiration to strike mid-boil and ruin my potion.” The Eight above knew she had suffered plenty of failures due to her own hubris.

She tilted her head then, eyes flicking back to Enomi, curious and open. “And what about you? You don’t strike me as the kind to be browsing botany guides for fun—though I’d love to be wrong.”

@Enomi Hemoshi