Esmerelda gives Gaska's hand a firm shake. "That's probably better for your health."
Taking her hand back after their hearty handshake while shrugging, "I haven't been very good at thinking things through clearly as of late. It's why I just sort of...got out of the house, through my window. I didn't want my friends worrying about me....but....hindsight...they probably will when they find my bed empty and my window open." She sighs and rubs her temple.
Esmerelda gives Gashka a wry grin. "Do you want to talk about it? Maybe a stranger's perspective might help."
Using her hair to hide her face she gives a slight nod, "It might help to have a fresh one. I've thought things around in circles in my head about pretty much everything to the point that nothing makes sense anymore. There's just a lot of stuff going on and I don't know what to make of any of it really." She pauses for a moment, "It's kind of a bit of a story though. Do you really want to hear it? I don't know how to keep it short and have it make sense."
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Esmerelda laughs. "I have all night and I bet you couldn't be more long-winded than my friend, Arista. Or my sister when she's talking about her wedding...Anyway, I'll listen. Would you like to go somewhere and get something hot to drink? Or do you want to talk right here? I'm fine with either option."
Starting to feel the cold she kind of smirks a bit, "Maybe it would be best if we went somewhere and got that hot drink. I don't need to get sick on top of sneaking out. I'm a big girl, can pretty much take care of myself...don't really need weapons for that, and this place seems pretty safe...mostly...but, the place we came from was not safe at all and so I'll understand if they get upset about me taking off. Okay...enough of the jabbering out in the cold. Where's a place with something hot to drink around here?" She says, amazingly with taking very few breaths or breaks between sentences. Pausing for a moment she smacks her forehead, "Oh I am so stupid. I forgot, I have a way of letting them know I'm fine...again, I wasn't thinking." Moving the material away from her large left bicep to reveal a strange tribal looking tattoo, she touches a corner of it before speaking, "Anyka, I'm sorry I just ran out. I just need some time to figure some things out, but I'm okay. One of the townsfolk found me wondering and we're gonna go somewhere that isn't freezing to talk. Maybe getting someone else's perspective of things will help me figure them out. I'll be home later, please don't worry." She then removes her finger from the tattoo and looks up at the pale looking woman, "Okay, now they won't worry since Anyka knows that I'm alright."
Esmerelda smirks. "If you say so. So where we go depends on what you want: coffee, tea or hot chocolate?"
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She gets a curious look on her face, "What's hot chocolate?"
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"Oh dear..." Esmerelda says. "We're going to Hadrinn's then and you'll find out."
After everyone heads to bed, Chris begins working on the antitoxin.
She kind of shrugs but nods, "Okay....ohhh...is that the place with the really good food? Where that party or whatever was at tonight?"
Esmerelda nods as they head to the dwarf's establishment. "There are a few places with good food here."
"Chris is as pretty good cook, so we haven't eaten out at a lot of places yet. We haven't really had time to try them all." She says as they head to the restaurant.
"There's no rush if you're planning on sticking around for a while," Esmerelda says. "While I enjoy eating out, it'd be nice to have a meal at home."
She holds the door open for Gashka and picks a table in the corner for them to sit at. As they pass by Hadrinn, she orders two hot chocolates to save the dwarf some time.
"I think we're gonna be living here now. Especially since my folks showed up yesterday with my siblings. They've lost pretty much everything, so it's like starting over for them and I don't think they're gonna want to keep moving around now that they're in a house again. Sorry....I told you it was a story and I can't really start in the middle or none of it will make any sense."
Sitting down at the table she pulls the cloak around herself to try and keep people from noticing that she's in her pajamas. She knew she felt out of sorts at the moment, but she didn't want people to see her and start thinking that she was some kind of crazy lady.
She thinks for a moment as they sit at the table, "You know...maybe some evening you can come by and have dinner with us. That way you get to have a home cooked meal sometimes. After Chris makes the antivenom and gets some rest tomorrow we're going back down in the mines tomorrow to get rid of whatever other nasty things are down there...so it might be a while before we're home again though." She says thoughtfully.
Hadrinn brings a couple of mugs to the two women in the corner and heads off again without a word.
Esmerelda sips on her hot chocolate. "You just met me and now you're inviting me to your home for dinner."
She chuckles. "This town sure does something to people. So, go ahead with your story."
She kind of shrugs as she looks at the strange dark looking liquid in her cup, "Well...you don't seem like a threat or anything, and you're willing to listen to my tale....so I think that warrants at least a dinner."
She takes a testing sip of the steaming drink, "Mmmm...that's really good. So...about my story...."
She then starts back from when they were taken by the piper as kids and everything that happened, the loss of Narima to the dark power that they couldn't stop, the return home and everything that happened after with getting Terra away from her abusive mother. She gets a little solemn in some places as she recounts things to Esmerelda. She talks a lot about Tikkle and the things they did as kids, she explains about her "sisters" and how they became a force to be reckoned with. She then goes on to explain everything about the piper/carver stuff that they went through, the meeting of Chris and everything that happened after that, up to getting shunted from their place in Cadranite to that crazy Nicae place. Meeting up with Derika, Vishanti, and their suspicions of who Derika was. She leaves out specific things about their trip to Valwick, like the floating city...but just says that they met some people along the way that needed help with a daemon problem and that they had an oracle that was able to tell them that they were sisters. She explains that only she, Anyka, and Chris were brought here from their world and that they thought they had lost everything and how suddenly finding herself with another sister was a little crazy to her and she couldn't figure out how to deal with it...but she felt she was doing a pretty poor job of being an older sister. She then explains about the suspicious characters they ran into and what happened at Yulia's, then pretty much sums it up by explaining about some planar traveler bringing her parents and her siblings here the other day and everything they told her.
Finishing her hot chocolate she looks up at Esmerelda, "I told you it was a long story. Then...like a day or so ago, Chris tells me that he has feelings for me, that he pretty much did from the day he met me, but that he didn't feel he had a chance since I was with Tikkle. Chris is a really good friend, and I don't think he's trying to pressure me or anything...but I just...I don't know how I feel yet and everything is just so overwhelming and I never seem to say anything right...and maybe I seem a little crazy, but I'm afraid of losing anyone else. I don't want her thinking that she's invincible or something and what if the next thing she throws herself at actually kills her?" She just shakes her head, "I don't know...I don't know what to think about anything anymore. I know it's a lot to follow too, but I thought if I didn't explain from the beginning that it would be even harder to explain."
Sighing she looks back down at her now empty cup, "I care about him....but...I don't know if I love him and I won't play with someone's feelings if I'm not sure how I feel. He said the most important thing to him is our friendship, so no matter what I decide he'll be there for me. He just wanted me to know how he felt I guess. Everything is just really confusing right now and I'm feeling...a little lost I guess." She finishes before finally getting quiet to give Esmerelda a chance to digest everything she just told her which was pretty much her whole life story up to the present.
Hadrinn brings by some refills during the moment of silence between Esmerelda and Gashka and takes the empty mugs to the kitchen.
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"Well, I found out I had three brothers and a sister when I arrived here," Esmerelda says. "I was raised by my grandparents and I spent a good portion of my life pining after a man who had no interest in me. So...maybe I do know a bit about your problems. Well, I mean, I can relate to them."
She sips on her hot chocolate again before continuing. "You've been through a lot and lost a lot. But...your life begins here, if you let it. I think you really know how you feel about this Chris guy. You're afraid to admit it because of what that means for your past and your future. Your past is gone, though, and you owe it nothing. Your future will be here before you know it and doesn't it deserve something nice? Here's the bottom line: he cooks for you, listens to you, comforts you and you are comforted by him. He doesn't expect anything out of you except for you to be you and you don't expect anything out of him. That's something a lot of people wish they could have."
Esmerelda shakes her head. "Anyway, never mind that. My sister is an intelligent, spoiled, clumsy goofball. I spent my entire life around people who were well-trained and righteous. Being able to even sit in the same room with her, let alone talk to her was a task. It takes time. I would protect her, but she's her own person at the same time. Sometimes, you've gotta stand back and let them be who they are for better or for worse. She'll learn how to be more cautious eventually. You can't teach that to her, you just have to be supportive as much as that bothers you."
She sips on her drink while allowing her hair to fall in her face. She was trying to hide the tears that she could feel beginning to fall from her eyes. Esmerelda's words piercing something in her heart, that her mind had been fighting against. Chris was a good man and he loved her, she couldn't just stand on a dock for the rest of her life waiting for Tikkle to come back...because he wasn't going to, not ever.
She takes a couple more sips of the drink as she tries to clear the lump she feels in her throat. After a couple minutes she says, "So...I just have to give my heart permission to move on....and I have to let Derika make her own mistakes?" Her voice gave away the fact that her emotions were getting the better of her, even though she tried like hell to hide it.
Esmerelda smiles. "Sounds simple, doesn't it? But, yes, that's what you have to do."
"It doesn't feel simple though...." She replies, her voice sounding a bit broken up in places.
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"I know it doesn't and it feels like you're giving up some control," Esmerelda says. "You're going to have to tell your brain to shut up and listen to your heart. I did...finally. I may not be the happiest person in town, but who knows?"
She shakes her head, "I don't think I ever...felt in control...of anything. Stuff would just happen...and we just had to...to deal with it the best we could. There is a difference between then and now though...and I know that. I hear what you're saying though. There's no point in waiting for...someone that isn't coming back. Every time he set out to sea, I used to wait by the dock every day...I think...I think my folks are afraid I'm going to...to do the same thing now, except now...his ship will never come back and I just have to...really realize that and accept it and understand that I'm not alone. It feels really really...horrible sometimes...but I can't keep punishing myself for something I had no control over." She says as she tries to hold back the torrent of feelings that were fighting to get out.
She shakes her head again, "I feel so stupid sometimes."
"Nah. Everyone who's been through things like you've been through feels the same way. You're not stupid. You just realize that you still have growing to do."
She nods and finishes her second cup of hot chocolate, feeling slightly buzzed by the sweet rich chocolate drink. Looking up at Esmerelda she wipes her eyes, "Yeah...I guess so. It kind of scares me I think...a little bit."
"Good, if it didn't scare you, you would be crazy," Esmerelda says with a grin. "Feeling any better, though?"
She nods and wipes her face again, "Yeah...it helped, but this drink has me feeling a little buzzed or something. I mean...I know it's not like an ale or anything...but it's just so rich and sweet. It's really really good though....and...thanks."
Esmerelda puts a gold on the table. "You want me to walk you back to your place or do you need to do a little more wandering?"
She thinks about it for a moment, "I think it's a little cold outside for me to be wandering around much more, but I wouldn't mind the company back to the house. That way you'll know where we are when we invite you over for dinner sometime. I think...I think I should talk to Chris. I'm sure he's still up working on the antivenom, he's very dedicated to keeping us safe." She seems a good bit calmer now that she's had a chance to express the pain of her past and uncertainty of her future...though there is more hope in her eyes than there was earlier.
Once they get back up in the room, Derika closes the door and looks at Vishanti. As she starts to get changed into her sleepwear she gives her wife to be a curious look, "Is everything alright love? You've been pretty quiet since dinner."
Once she's done cleaning up the kitchen she takes Vishanti's hand and heads upstairs to their room, "Ready for some rest my love?"
"Yes love, I'm fine. Just a bit tired I suppose." Vishanti says, taking off her boots and hanging up her belt. "I'm definitely ready for bed"
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Pulling back the covers on the bed after getting changed she nods, "Yeah, me too. That was some day we had." She says while crawling into the bed and waiting for Vishanti to join her. She yawns loudly before smiling at her love, the woman that would be her wife in just a couple of months.
Gaining the familiar sensation on her arm, Anyka listens to Gashka's message. Tapping her arm she sends a reply. "Okay, stay safe. If you need us we'll find you sis."
With a sigh, she glances over at the open window smiling slightly as she turns over, welcoming sleep.
She nods to a message that only she can hear, "Anyka messaged me back and just said to stay safe. If she was really worried, she would have followed me. I think she knows we're finally safe here in this place."
Standing up from the table she stretches and yawns, "I just need to stay up long enough to talk to Chris about some of this stuff, and then I really need some sleep."
Getting undressed and pulling on a nightgown, Vishanti gets into bed beside Derika, happily curling up into her arms. "Definitely not one I'm in a hurry to repeat." she says with a smile.
She yawns again as she holds Vishanti against her, "Me either...love you." She says in a soft tired voice as her eyes start to close.
"Love you too.....With all my heart." Vishanti says softly as sleep begins to claim her.
A soft smile forms on her lips as she falls asleep, holding the love of her life in her arms.
"Well, let's get going," Esmerelda says. She holds the door open for Gashka as they leave the restaurant.
Gashka walks with her back to the house a little quietly as she thinks about what she should say to Chris.
"Alright, here we are," Esmerelda says. "Have a good night, Gashka. It'll be okay."
She nods, "Yeah, you too." She says before opening the door quietly and sneaking inside. Closing the door softly she locks it behind her before walking into the kitchen to see if Chris was still working on the antivenon.