#darrethxismadi

[rider-ismadi]

Hmm… wasn’t there a ballad sung about the last time a treacherous fool attempted to kill my rider?Jyrvir supplied serenely from where he was curled up for the night. A single giant green eye openned and peered in the direction of the tavern. Perhaps you should ask the minstrels to play it.

“I fear your skills at courting and flirting are in worse repair than my own, Lord Hand,” Ismadi replies grimly, pushing away the elixir laced beer. Gesturing to the tavern wrench, he signals he would like a new ale. While he wasn’t purging the elixir from his system, he wasn’t as comfortable imbibing as he had been. “My last lover was a first cousin, confidante and trusted general of the last king of Aldonia. Who attempted to slit my throat abed on the orders of the king who I had turned on my family for.”

“I don’t really believe you intend me harm, Lord Hand. I suspect that this is all a display of strength. Virility. Whatever, I don’t particularly care.” Ismadi shrugs and salutes with the fresh ale he’s been handed. “For what it is worth, it has been so long since I’ve been physically intimate with anyone that I care precious little who does the carrying. I apologize if I have at any point made you feel that this was all necessary.”

rider-ismadi​:

“Dragon riders have to think on the fly, as it were,” Ismadi saluted the other male and smirks as he pours some of the elixir into a beer stein. Closing the lid he sloshes it a bit to mix before sipping the beer-elixir. He did arch an eyebrow when Darreth spoke of his mother using the non fermented elixir as a cure-all. Not that he was unfamiliar with it, it was a common practice among the Children of Daganth. Just that the other was familiar with it in both fermented and non fermented forms. “Somehow, I’m not entirely surprised you would dare taste forbidden fruits.”

“If I didn’t have your attention in a certain way, you would have left by now.” Ismadi smiles as be continues to sip his drink. The euphoria of the elixir was mellowing out his anxiety and self-doubts. Which naturally made his tongue more limber and his filters less exacting. “Truthfully, I think it is you who has intentions on acquiring my attentions. You’re doing a great job, by the by. Most humans are flying high by just a whiff. That you’re sipping this as you are? Well, if I have to carry you to your bed, it’ll be an honor.”

-

“You have…no idea,” Darreth simply replied to the other’s statement and gave him a small wink. It wasn’t easy for Darreth to open up or like just anyone he met. Things needed to click, most of his life Darreth believed himself to be an introvert. In a way he still was, but he was letting others in a little more while keeping a firm guard up. So far, Ismadi didn’t appear to be as annoying and boastful as he first seemed to be. “That is true,” Darreth said, “Or I could wait for a perfect moment where you think you’re safe, and then cut your throat. You never know.” Of course, Darreth wouldn’t do that, he was just humouring the rider. Darreth could already feel the effects of the elixir, but it wasn’t as aggressive as when he first had it to drink, nor did he feel the slight over vaporized potency that he would feel when it was applied to his body as a child. Perhaps it was due to being much older now. Still, it wasn’t without its effects, and that was why Darreth drank it straight but took little sips at a time. “You’re adorable, Lord Rider,” Darreth teased, easing up a bit, “But usually I do the carrying. And it’s darling that you believe we’ll be in bed together.” He found himself scooting closer to the rider. “I mean…you might not be wrong.”

[darreth-thehand]

rider-ismadi​:

Location: A Tavern Anywhere (except Eddis)

Open to: Anyone (except House Canalo) — he knows and accepts you lot as royalty. Everyone else might as well be a sex worker.

Ismadi walked into the tavern dressed in his usual brown riding leathers, but this set was recently cleaned and oiled. He had also bathed earlier and had daubed a bit of myrrh behind his ears and wrists. The scent reminded him of Eddis, of Rockreach, of the family he turned away from. Of course, that was the point. He had lost a bet to Jyrvir and here he was “reconnecting with humans.”

From a belt pouch he pulled an ornate and intricately wrought piece of lapis lazuli jewelry that was over a hundred years old. He put on the table between the other person and himself. “Jyrvir thinks I have forgotten how to forge a human connection and suggested I seek out intimacy with one of my own kind. This is for your time and trouble.”

Darreth sighed and drank his ale, preferring to sit alone in the corner of the tavern. He had been newly appointed as the new Hand of the King. How did a formidable warrior such as himself become Hand to King Mathias? He was still figuring it out, but he knew Zakar had something to do with it. Given that they had been best friends since they were children, Mathias trusted Darreth to protect his boy. Perhaps a long time bond to one another contributed as a factor. Still it was all very new to the youngest Hand ever appointed. When King Mathias wasn’t present he acted in his place as the one to make final decisions. He advised as best as he could, taken on so much responsibilities for the kingdom already. Darreth may not appear as so due to how young he was, but he knew a lot more than people thought. He kept his intelligence more to himself as it was a great way for him to use as leverage when others underestimated him. Although Darreth did miss being able to fight when he could for Rhorm, he had higher duties to fulfill. The king wasn’t present during a Small Council meeting earlier and Darreth acted in his place as the one to make the final calls. Mathias trusted him enough to do so, and as long and tedious as the council meeting was, Darreth called the shots. It had been a long day, and he hadn’t seen Zakar anywhere, so he decided to have a drink on his own. But it was interrupted when a man, clearly dripping of scent of Eddis sat down and presented him with a Lapis Lazuli jewelry piece. The young Hand swallowed his drink and put his pint down. “Don’t take this personally, but I usually drink alone. I don’t know how things work where you come from, but throwing a piece of jewelry at someone instead of saying hello isn’t customary here.”

[rider-ismadi]

“How peculiar! When last I spent time in these lands, the Hands were always so much older than you appear to be. Less handsome. More careworn.” Ismadi shrugs lightly at the curiosity, clearly unphased that the other sought to stay on formal terms. Young men in positions of power tended to hold faster to the trappings of power under the impression that the symbols gave them power. “For what it is worth, I felt you had to be a Gentleman of considerable repute. I could not reason why else so handsome a man might otherwise be drinking alone, if only the company did not suit his taste or purse.”

“If that’s what you might prefer, certainly,” Ismadi pulls a wineskin from his back and fills a short glass half full of a luminous chartreuse colored liquid the consistency of drinking chocolate. “Given the constitution of the dragon riders, typical intoxicants take significantly larger quantities to have an effect. This elixir is brewed by the children for us. It provides a sense of detached euphoria, but can be purged from our system with a little water. By all means, try some.”

rider-ismadi​:

Taken from here for @darreth-thehand

“Ah, I apologize,” Izzy vaguely recalled that sex workers preferred to see payment upfront to separate the time wasters from the legitimate johns. Perhaps this establishment catered to a more up-market clientele where one was expected to be able to pay afterwards. He collects the necklace and puts it away before inclining his head respectfully, “Ismadi Meksi, dragon rider bonded to Jyrvir and sworn to protect house Canalo and the lands of Ondera. But please, call me Izzy or Izz. It is what my friends called me.”

“Why would you sit in a tavern if you wanted to drink alone?” Izzy asks as he promptly sits down on the bench opposite the younger man. Blithely unaware that he was attempting to buy a Hand of a king. He continues his line of inquiry quite earnestly, “Would you not be more comfortable and at ease in a comfortable sitting chair in a space of your own? With ale that is perhaps less watered down?”

He had to stop drinking as this man wasn’t planning on leaving him alone anytime soon. He put his glass down and looked toward the dragon rider who seemed to think highly of himself. “Well, Ismadi Meksi,” Darreth said, saying the other’s name as to make clear they weren’t friends, so he wouldn’t be using his nickname anytime soon, “I’m Darreth Shaed, Hand of the King to King Mathias of House Vastic. I have the sneaking suspicion you offered me that jewelry, under the impression that I’m a gentleman of the night. Which I am not.” Although the young Hand decided this gentleman clearly didn’t care what he said or thought, as he didn’t take the fact that Darreth wanted to be alone to drink into consideration. Zakar always did say he needed to make more connections outside of their friendship. “Is that what you can offer me, dragon rider?” Darreth asked, downing the shot of something stronger the barkeep handed to him. “I’ve had all kinds of ales, beers and whiskeys. Most of it tastes the same to me. So long as they do the job of intoxicating me, then I’m fine with it.” But a small part of him was intrigued in what the handsome man could offer.