Half-breed Encounters(Der)

@"Nightstripe"

Needless to say, Eph was impressed. Someone so well-bred and so refined - she'd thought people like so were myth once. It nagged her thoughts, as if his very existence was a physical anomaly. "Okay, I'm very intrigued now. Your kind of person doesn't pop up all that often - oh, not the half-spider thing - I mean polite, well-mannered, and really damn awesome-looking. Seriously. I keep remembering Battle of Wits."

Had she any, she'd have brought out a bottle of alcohol and some cups. This was the kind of moment that better fit if one were sitting with folded legs with a tiny bowl of alcohol. Having none of that, she simply sat herself down on the grass.

Her idea was rather straightforward, but as usual, her explanation wasn't quite so. "You said you were curious. Well, so am I... so what I'm thinking is, we'll be here and play a little game called Interrogation. Uh, yeah, there are no rules. I didn't think this through. Turn one's yours, by the way."

@"Nightstripe"

Eph craned her neck forward, squinted, and raised questioning eyebrows in disbelief. She did say no rules, but this was notwhat she meant or expected. "Really? My breeding cycle? The shedding thing - okay, that much I understand. I'm a lizard, lizards shed, do I shed is the question. But seriously... my breeding cycle? Is this some next-level hyperadvanced flirting thing?"

She sighed and slinked down the tree, its bark lightly scraping her dress. "I guess I did say 'no rules'... fine then. Not cool but fine. I'm... pa says seventy-two? It's a long story that involves some stupid wizardry. Took up advertising, but I'm only a first-year because of all my shifting for various reasons. Magic... not really? I can magic, like I demonstrated on you earlier, but aside from that kinetic drain, not much else."

A terse breath issued forth. This proved to be a very not-well-thought-out idea on her part, and she expressed that irritation with a claw on her face. "Magic items, yeah... with a witch mum, I'd be more surprised if I didn't know. Counter-magic - it's there I think..? Not sure about that one. Shedding - yeah, I shed. I'd rather not go into too much detail about that considering last time I shed I had a very, let's just say, fun day. And - no, I am not saying anything about my breeding cycles."

@"Nightstripe"

Eph's eyes contracted and sharpened, as though she was glaring. Her expression was harsh and cold, her tail gripping tight on a nearby log. However, her expression softened mere moments later, her grip disappeared and she sighed. "Yeah, I can't be intimidating or anything. Doesn't suit me."

She sighed again, and shook her head. "Okay, my turn. Sorry though - they're not going to be quite as... piercing. I'll be plain. Basic. Why are you in Manta Carlos? Oh, and feel free to be as detailed as you can or want to be. It's storytime.'

@"Nightstripe"

"Pretty damn smooth with that tongue of yours, I say. You study speech or something?" The contrast between Wesker's well-bred speech and manner, and her own playful and unrefined straightforwardness made Eph think. Maybe this was what could have happened to her if she had been raised by people who weren't En or Millia.

At Wesker's mention of anomalies and goals, Eph's nose perked up as if she caught a whiff of something interesting. Her expression darkened a bit though, a weird combination of both bubbly intrigue and some sort of ancient distrust. "Funny you should say that. I'm sure I'd have had a much more peaceful life if I wasn't offered refuge like you say. But yeah, don't mind that." She laughed a bit bitterly, remembering the earlier parts of her stay in the civilized part of Manta Carlos where she came to terms that she was always going to be different.

Eph snapped her fingers arrhythmically in thought, trying to remember what it was she wanted to say that had been forced out of existence by Wesker's breeding cycle comments. "Well, I did want to say 'don't ask a girl about her breeding cycle,' but I think I made that clear. Let's see... what else - ah."

Something came to mind, though it was most likely something unrelated. "You seem like a pretty decent, if rather blunt - yes, I'm really not going to let that cycle thing go - person. Which just begs for one question: what's your dark side like? Oh, and don't deny it. Everyone has one. No one's a saint. Not even that angel church lady downtown."

@"Nightstripe"

"No, no questions," Eph said, shaking her head and her right hand with a taut smile. "That was real nice, what you just did... clean and cut-dried. Like a press release of sorts. Actually, scratch what I said earlier - I have questions, but I have this feeling that you're not going to answer them straight anyway."

She reached out to take the paper and took a long look at it, face furrowing more with each passing moment that she did so. "Wow, I did not know this club existed. I know some people who'd know and would probably have reasons to join, but I did not know this existed. Damn."

The paper went into the recesses of her petticoat, tucked neatly into a pocket inside the left chest of her clothes. That challenge issued forth made her expression soften, and she said jokingly, "You're making me curious too, Wesker. Stop it. Being curious isn't a good look for me."