Dazzled

@Foxy

In her homeland, Lunette would have claimed that she knew what a city was. She had lived multiple mortal lifetimes in one, after her husband had first asked her her hand. She remembered the marketplace, the taverns, the pariah dogs darting through alleyways and feeding on discarded, rotted food (sometimes she has a suspicion that her husband's work to cultivate of a pack of a purebred hunting dogs, which became a status symbol for the family over the years, had initially been to curb her desire to coax said pariah dogs into letting her take them home) as people shouted over each other in streets.

The shouting had always quieted when she'd walked by, of course, the common people turning to stare at the Duchy's Eternal Beauty with a strange awe that Lunette had never fully understood, but had grown accustomed to seeing.

Here, though. Here, in Manta Carlos, the awe was Lunette's, for she had never known a city like this. She was but a speck, another drop in the river of bodies flowing through the streets, if one who had a tendency to stop at random or veer in different directions. Her eyes did not know where to linger as she found herself staring up at towering buildings or drawn to the vibrant businesses and their colourful signs, gaze bouncing from sight to wondrous sight.

Most people who passed her by grumbled at her erratic movements, and dismissed her behaviour as that of a typical tourist, or as close to a 'typical tourist' as the city got. Lunette was entirely oblivious to them, save for the moments when she would catch sight of something unusual, be it a garment or an inhuman feature, and would find her gaze following them, however briefly, before it was pulled somewhere else again. This place...this place was amazing...so alive and full of possibility...

It was a miracle she hadn't walked right into somebody much sooner, really. The collision of her inorganic body against another had negligible force behind it, as she had been walking at such a slow pace, but concerned alarm still sent her hopping backward, her boots landing heavily against the pavement. The tall woman's head ducked down slightly, half-hiding behind her flowing, silvery hair as her gaze aimed itself toward the pavement sheepishly. "I apologize," she said quickly. "I was not giving my attention to the path ahead..."

If Lunette had ever been one for pride, it'd be bruised at this point. She had been a consort to nobility, advisor to two generations more of it, and, now, she couldn't even keep herself from tripping over another person in a moment of distraction.

The assurances of the stranger eased Lunette's embarassment, his voice instantly soothing her alongside the words themselves. Her gaze rose up to meet his eyes as he introduced himself, and, for the barest moment, she lost her voice, taking in the sight of Vinanye as if spellbound by a piece of beautiful art. There was something to his features that teased at memories from lifetimes ago, but blended into something that was still entrancingly new to the immortal who had spent lifetimes inside the same walls.

Lunette was oblivious to the magic in the air manipulating her perception, but even if she had been aware of it, she would have been hard-pressed to care. She smiled and held out her own hand to take his, not at all self-conscious of her stone-like flesh, as she recovered her ability to speak. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Vinanye," she replied smoothly, "I am Lunette."

The compliment, though, that was what made Lunette beam with delight, a soft giggle escaping her lips. "That is very kind of you to say!" She reached up to run her fingers through her hair, now wishing she'd done more with the silvery strands this morning. "You are lovely as well," she added with utter sincerity, only dimly aware that most would have used the word 'handsome' instead.

Tearing her gaze from Vinanye's azure eyes proved itself to, in fact, be possible, as Lunette's eyes moved to the window behind him and let out an eager sound somewhere between a squeak and squeal. Without thinking, she moved to step around him and peer through it herself, not quite pressing herself to it but coming close. Then she realized what she was doing and glanced at her newly-made acquaintance; she was reasonably certain that that could have been considered rude on her part.

"This city is so beautiful," she said, half an attempt to cover up her sheepishness over her behaviour and half to explain said behaviour in the first place. "I have never been anywhere quite like it. I find it all very distracting."