just take it in stride

"Is that amulet... fae?" Aisling heard him ask, making her instinctively look at the amulet around her hand. "A mage gave it to me as a gift," she replied plainly. There was no need to elaborate on the subject, she assumed and simply left it as that. The more important subject was about this walking should be dead person. Not like she strongly cares about it anymore, but it never stopped bothering her when she sees the shadow.

”Are you trying to pick me up?” Lochlann asked suddenly. ”The…’you should be dead, your time is coming, spend your last night live with me’ kind of approach is a little bit morbid, but since you look like you’re into morbid, I can forgive you. Can I buy you and Scaith here a drink?”

It would have looked like Aisling's reaction was delayed but it was more of that she was having a mental discussion with herself about "why on earth would this person think of something like that". After that moment of silence, Aisling went into a fit of chuckles, hold the cloth-wrapped object in front of her as she doubled over from laughter. Scaith on the other hand, took a step back, almost a little startled about his mistress' sudden fit.

"It's amusing how some of you people can think of nothing but sleeping with every other living being you lay your eyes on," she said after a couple of seconds, as soon as she calmed down enough to talk. "I am quite serious; the black shroud around you wasn't a joke. Whatever made you think I was even remotely interested?"

Lochlann sure didn't make an effort to deny her accusation, Aisling thought. She would actually go and say he might actually be a little too proud of it. Aisling would have said she had no time for this, but considering everything, she had too much time on her hands. She could probably try and play along.

"You flatter me, Lochlann," she said coyly, a little more than unfazed by his grin. "But maybe you shouldn't go around saying that to someone wearing a veil, don't you think so?"

She could try leading him on but then again, that wasn't really Aisling's sort of thing to do. After that line, she'd be curious of someone played him for a fool and messed with his head; that she would have liked to see. Unfortunately that wasn't going to be her doing that.

”Wouldn’t it be better if we talked about a black shroud being somewhere else…maybe on the floor, perhaps?” he said, arching an eyebrow and giving her another once-over with his eyes, observing her posture as much as her curves. ”I don’t think you’re interested, but I’ve found it never hurts to test the waters, so to speak.”

When Lochlann took steps closer to Aisling, Scaith picked up pretty quick and trotted forward to keep him away from Aisling. Aisling had to chuckle a bit from that. "It sounds tempting, but it seems you have to go through my babysitter for anything, Lochlann," she jested. Scaith neighed triumphantly.

”Why are you so interested in this shroud or whatever?”

"Call it my job or whatever. The shroud tells me when it's their time and ready to be ferried off to the afterlife," she explains, holding onto Scaith's reins to stop him from stepping any further. She could feel Scaith was just about ready to bite Lochlann.

”Are you saying you’d like us to duel for the honor of having you ride the winner?”

If Aisling had a face she could move around to make expressions with, she would have raised an eyebrow out of amusement. Scaith didn't think so similarly though. He was acting protective of Aisling, well aware that the other horse was a predator. He wasn't going to allow Lochlann to harm his mistress, now, would he?

But Aisling wasn't going to have it. Scaith was already showing signs of aggression towards Lochlann and as much as she would leave him to be harmed in Scaith's.... hooves, she'd rather not. Just as she would not kill for any reason, Scaith was part of that deal. Aisling held onto his reins tighter than earlier.

"Maybe that could be the case," she chuckled, "And it might be the same case had I bought the other five instead." That might have been messier. And probably something that would have prompted Aisling to leave and carry on with her ride.

”People have been making a lot of mistakes,” Lochlann said, frowning. ”I’m here. I’m not dying. I don’t even know if I have a soul, so I’m not going to the afterlife. I’m perfectly fine.”

"That's one thing dying men always say, Lochlann. Death lurks in every corner and no one can really stop it without desperate means," she said gravely. She titled her head to the side, "You — I can't really explain. You've cheated death more than once. That doesn't make some spirits too pleased."

@"ReD"

Aisling began to chuckle again. This time, she tied the object she was holding onto Scaith's saddle straps so her hands were free and stepped towards Lochlann, gently cupping his face in her hands. "That is charming to hear, Lochlann, but it would be better if you say that so some other ladies who want your attention," she said. Her voice was sweet but her words obviously didn't sound like it.

”If this is about the overdose, that was an accident, I’m not trying to kill myself,” Lochlann said. ”Despite how shitty it is, I like being alive.”

She let go of his face but didn't take any steps away. "That's what makes life so fragile. An accident can take your life whether you like it or not," she said, matter-of-factly. Aisling wasn't impatient; she know how most people didn't like the concept of death, let alone knowing their time was near. It was easy to understand Lochlann was denying it. "You don't have to try to die, Lochlann. You don't even need to do anything and death will come to you when it does."

”The spirits just need a chance to get to know me,” he told Aisling. ”I’m sure that they would find I’m quite good at pleasing them. Would you like to find out? You can pass a message on for them.”

"I'll keep to myself. Why don't you tell them yourself, dear? I'm a flag bearer, not a messenger. They'll appreciate the effort," she joked, lightly flicking his head up with a finger.

@"ReD"

"I don't need flattery with what I do, Lochlann," Aisling stated."To be quite honest, I'm not even supposed to be mingling around. A solitary messenger like me only brings the news but I shouldn't really be around people." She laughed. "I'm already stepping out of line."

"What is the point in anything, really? There's an end to everything and everyone dies in the end. So what is the point in being alive?" she said. She wasn't giving Lochlann actual answers; again, that wasn't really her job. "Lochlann, every other person has a different answer. You should figure it out yourself."

Aisling turned her back on him and turned her attention back to Scaith. Aisling wasn't going to tell him "no, you're going to die soon unless you plan to cheat death" but she wouldn't want to clue people in that sort of business. Inwardly, she was smiling at the thought of it.

She seemed to lean her head on the horse's, "I really don't understand why you're so persistent, Lochlann. Aren't you getting that heavy feeling that you shouldn't be too close around the likes of me?"