Quest for Inspiration [Social, Open]

Dull. Boring. Too mainstream. Not nearly flattering enough. Not enough skin. Too much skin.

These were just a number of the thoughts that were running through Hunter's head as he threw yet another wadded up piece of paper into the growing pile of paper balls at his table. Each of these was a sketch for his next new outfit project to work on. Key word being 'was'. While most knew him as a eccentric, circus-loving mage that mostly kept to himself, he prided himself on his ability to design and make clothes. Recently, he had been running low on new ideas, so he decided to come and sit in the guild hall and wait to see if any of the people coming and going gave him any inspiration.

So far, he had had no luck. A thoroughly used tea cup and a sketch book that was missing half of its pages were testament to the amount of time and failed concepts he had gone through. He had started his little excursion around noon, but now it was starting to get into the evening, as evidenced by the sun beginning to make it's trip towards the horizon. The brilliant oranges and reds of the evening sky were becoming apparent through the large windows nearby. The young man sighed loudly.

He was getting nowhere fast.

Hunter reached up to his well-worn, slightly rumpled top hat and took it off, placing it ceremoniously on top of the mountain of rejected designs. His white hair was still in a ponytail, but the inherent frustration on his face showed that he was halfway to furiously running his hands wildly through his hair. He eventually slumped against his table, his tea cup being slid aside as he did so. Miraculously, the heavily used cup and saucer weren't knocked off the table, but hovered dangerously next to the edge. He held his sketch book unceremoniously between two fingers as he looked at his current design in progress. It had the styling of a somewhat regal kimono, but showed a bit more skin than most anybody of regal personage would consider showing. He had a few notes around the general design discussing possible colors and maybe moving onto a more belly dancer style if he threw away this one.

Hunter closed his right eye, leaving only the yellow one exposed as he stared and pondered. It certainly wasn't his masterpiece, but maybe he'd keep this one. It was certainly better than the first kimono he'd drawn earlier in the day, which had been placed quickly in the reject pile before he was even halfway done. Unfortunately, the only person he was aware of within the guild that could pull of this design would maybe be the guild master herself, but Hunter wasn't wont to bother her. For all his eccentricities, Hunter wasn't often keen on bothering others of authority or he believed to be possibly very busy. Far be it from him to task her with possibly modelling the outfit when she more than likely has important guild master duties to handle.

Another sigh escaped his lips. Maybe it was time for him to head back to his tent and call it a day. "I suppose one can't rush genius."

A tongue swiped across a pair of lips, the taste of the kill prevalent despite returning from the feast. The appetite bestowed by one of her ancestors proved frightful at times, the woman knowing she could eat refrigerators whole and remain hungry, and yet the process remained weirder than the appetite itself. With time the sight and sensation would no doubt become little more than a customary habit not unlike breathing or blinking, but for now watching a creature almost the size of a cottage vanish within minutes without so much as lifting a finger fascinated her. She’d been careful, opting to hunt far from the town and guild hall so people needn’t witness the odd display of fang-rimmed portals diving upon the body, chunks disappearing with ease as the teeth sunk in and then that very portal vanished and erasing the piece’s existence with it.

Extreme heat remained a nuisance to her, no longer the threat it once was and yet the tailed woman found her distaste remained stalwart. Early morning and evening became her primary hunting times, allowing the comfort of a cooler temperature and saving the guild some money when it came to food expenses…or maybe it simply saved her wallet? Regardless the end result remained the same: money saved and one less dangerous critter close enough to town to cause discomfort.

Entering the guild hall Mao pushed the scarf off her head, letting it rest lightly around her neck as she sighed in bliss. The cool breeze wafting through the building felt pleasant as it tickled through dark strands of hair and caressed her two fur covered ears. Briefly she considered pushing her sleeves up before banishing the thought, deciding she’d cool off soon enough.

Despite having just ate the notion of a snack piqued her interest. Something sweet. Perhaps light? With a hint of cinnamon! The train of ideas continued to flow until she reached the eatery. In the end the desire for a pastry morphed into a cup of spiced milk as her mouth cried out for a drink over bread. Armed with the cup she sipped lightly and peered about, confirming her mate wasn’t about, at least at the moment. The woman held a knack for showing up as she pleased, though more than likely she was attending to something related to the guild.

”Or she’s been summoned again,” Mao murmured, sipping at the milk again as she scoped the room out again. Various tables already held occupants discussing one thing or another. Simply intruding upon their conversations turned her off, a few of the tables ones she knew to avoid for other reasons. A few steps towards an unoccupied table however she stopped as something skittered across the ground, Mao belatedly realizing paper littered the ground in various places. Searching for the reason didn’t require much effort as the cause lifted the slightly gutted sketchbook to reveal an outfit design, one that caused her to blurt out the first thing on her mind, ”Aiyana would look good in that.”

An “eep!” escaped soon after as the realization she’d spoken that far more audibly than she’d meant too. It just seemed like something the woman would don though, visions of outfits past having flown by Mao’s eyes – though she really could only vaguely recall that nymph one from the photo shoot…but…then again for reasons beyond her understanding that whole thing remained a hazy memory – and she knew that it’d at least be something the vixen would try on in a heartbeat. ”Though the design would have to allow for her tails…naturally…”

There was no small amount of resignation in his mind as Hunter was preparing to sit up and leave the guild hall for the day. While he did have a somewhat successful design in his hands, he could have been taking a job or cleaning up his tent. No doubt his staring, drawing, and paper wadding were also causing some discomfort to the other guild members. Another large sigh escaped his lips as the man began to slightly sit up. It seemed as though he had just wasted a perfectly good, yet rather warm day.

Before he could properly sit up straight and retract his outstretched arm, it appeared that someone had actually approached him and was inspecting his design. This was rather odd to the white-haired male, as normally people tended to shy away from him and left him to go about his business. He always suspected it was his eyes and eccentric demeanor that scared off others, but, for once, someone was actually taking an interest in his work. Well, his secondary work. Being a circus ringleader and mage came first after all. But that was neither here nor there.

To fully look at the girl that had come up to him, Hunter opened his right eye, revealing his heterochromatic gaze. Despite her somewhat out-of-the-norm appearance, something that he could sympathize with considering his white hair and oddly colored eyes, she seemed a nice sort. Her extra features reminded him of the Pharaoh's Call guild master, but he didn't quite think Aiyana's ears were as tall as this girls, and she certainly had less tails than the guild master. Perhaps there was a relation of some sort there. But, then again, it was wrong to make assumptions about people based on appearance.

Taking a brief moment to compose himself, Hunter adjusted his jacket and retrieved his top hat from atop his veritable pyramid of failed conceptual designs, before standing from his seat and bowing with hat in hand. "Thank you ever so much for the compliment, m'lady! I am happy to see that someone can appreciate this design, even if I find it somewhat lacking, and am pleased that you think it could befit the guild master! Though I do concede the point that I'd have to make adjustments for the tails." It was at this point, that Hunter realized that he still had his sketch book in his other hand, and was looking like an utter fool. The white-haired man chuckled before resigning himself back to sitting in his chair.  Placing his sketch book down whilst laying his top hat beside it, he took note that the woman was carrying with her a drink, and motioned to the open seat across from him. "If the lady requires a seat, then I'd be pleased as punch if you'd join me. Let me just clear off the table."

Wrapping his arms around the veritable metric ton of scrapped art, Hunter gracefully and carefully placed the wads of paper onto the floor before returning to his seat. It was surprisingly heavier than one would have expected a paper ball pyramid would be. Taking note of the fact his tea cup and saucer were near enough to falling off the table, he promptly put them back in front of him, before finally turning his gaze back to the furry-appendaged woman. He rested his chin on the knuckles of his right rand, revealing his yellow guild mark. "Might I inquire as to your name, ma'am? Or am I being too forward?"

Fantastic mismatched eyes met hers, Mao enjoying the contrast of the complimentary colors. Against his snowy locks they only stood out further and evoked a small smile from her. More than personal traits though she enjoyed his outlandish clothes, noting the fun hat as the man took a bow. The action left her a bit unsure, eyes darting to the cup in her hand and reminding Mao that she shouldn’t do things willy-nilly lest she end up cleaning the floor and so settled for the motions of a curtsy aside for her hands, preoccupied with the cup.

”Ah, thank you it’d be my pleasure,” she softly voiced, taking a seat opposite the interesting fellow. Over the rim of the cup she watched as the slew of papers he’d deemed worth not balling found themselves in a much neater stack by his chair. Curiosity nipped at the tailed woman, curious to see what some of those drawings might entail. Were they more outfits? People studies? Perhaps scenery? Or maybe notes? Multiple possibilities whorled in her mind and yet she didn’t want to risk insulting or annoying the fellow either.

Briefly she wondered if he were a newer face, the girl no longer worried about spontaneously forgetting people as she’d once been, but completely erasing the fear proved a little more difficult. ’No…he’d be easier to recall, I’m sure of it,’ she reassured herself, ’If nothing else I’d remember his style of dress. It seems so fun.’ Things one might view as impossible to work with he somehow brought together in a cohesive and delightful manner.

Bejeweled eyes drifted for a moment to the bright yellow mark before returning to his mismatched eyes and she found herself with an odd quandary: which eye did she stare into? Despite how often people declared one should look others in the eyes…in practice it proved hard to really focus on both at the same time and in the face of mismatched ones even harder. She settled for staring a bit more at his nose as she set the cup back onto the table, ”Not at all, I’m Mao…” she hesitated for a moment, a bit unsure, ”Mao Nakiri.” It wasn’t truly her last name, merely one for being in Fiore for studying the people and yet that mission ended with her revolt. Yet the idea of trying to claim one of her families’ last names struck her as far too odd when she felt so little connection to them. ’I suppose for now it’s easier to stick to that one.’

Finally she mentally let go any ponderings about the man’s drawings as her curiosity about the artist grew and she smiled at her table partner, ”It’s a pleasure to meet you and to see a new face here. If you don’t mind I’d like to know your name as well…and if you’ll indulge my curiosity a little, I’d love to know what brings you to Pharaoh’s Call.” A smile stretched into place, her mannerisms casual as she regarded the relaxed artist, curious. It’d been a bit since they saw a new face so she couldn’t help wondering what inspired him to come to this peaceful guild.

There was something inherently intriguing about this woman. Not many people were this courteous to others upon a first meeting, but she seemed relatively kind and sure of her self, sans the few times she had to stop and think something over for a moment. It was encouraging to Hunter to think she was trying to figure him out, as it meant that she was actually interested in a conversation, and not just making a passing comment on his work. The white-haired young man so did love a good chat. He loved talking almost as much as he loved tea. And that was saying something.

As she accepted his offer to sit down, Hunter began to look her over in greater detail, noting that he couldn't quite place her hair color. It was somewhere between black and some dark blue, so the only color he could quite quantify calling it was a slightly bluish raven. A color of which was a stark contrast from her green eyes, but made for a stylish combination. "I believe I could design something that'd look good on her. Those large ears and hair color open a lot of creative pathways."

Whilst waiting on her response as to her name, Hunter lightly retrieved his pencil and sketch book, before turning his page from the kimono to a fresh one. He began to draw at a surprising speed, his eyes turning back to look at her every few seconds, before returning to his new work. If she looked closely, she could see his current debate between designing a scarf pattern or a lovely sun hat. Or maybe a sun hat with a scarf wrapped it for practicality. "I feel a bit of my muse returning to me. I suppose I flourish with a bit of creative challenge."

When she revealed her name to him, the circus mage had to cease his sketching for a moment. He began tapping his pencil against his chin, attempting to figure if he had ever heard that name before. "I maybe have heard the name Mao before, but I am uncertain about the last name. Could be just my imagination, but it almost sounded she was uncertain about her last name by that pause. Though, I could just be looking too much into it." Pushing his thoughts aside, Hunter gave Mao a light smile, and bowed his head in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mao."

Before the young designer could return his gaze to the design ideas in front of him, Mao began to politely ask about his humble self. The white-haired man cocked his head at her curiously. That was a first. Not many people asked more than his name. He normally had unnerved the person he was talking to at this point with his antics. When he began to ponder just what to tell her about why he came to the guild, a small frown passed his lips, before his own mental conditioning replace it with a wide grin. It wasn't right for a entertainer to frown. Not in front of others, at least. "My name is Hunter Tarot, madame. Circus Mage extraordinaire, master tailor, and, as of a few weeks now, a new recruit to Pharaoh's Call... Which of course you could already guess by the mark and the fact I'm sitting here. Or, I at least assume you figured that out. You seem like a bright young miss."

Hunter looked down at his sketch book as he questioned what to tell her. He hadn't exactly been frivolous with information about his past and reasoning for joining the guild. He only gave the guild master a sort of general overview when he joined, and even that was pushing his trust meters to the max. Normally, when someone asked, he'd attempt to distract them and run off. But, right now, he didn't entirely feel on skipping out on the friend of whom he just made the acquaintance of. So, he began to form what he wanted to say, apprehension clear in his eyes and by the fact he began fiddling with his pencil. "As for my reasoning for joining a independent, peaceful guild like Pharaoh's Call? Well, let's just say, I don't exactly  have warm and fuzzy feelings for the Legal or Dark guilds. If you ask me to go deeper than that, chances are you can maybe get the story out of me, but I barely even gave guild master Aiyana the whole story." And with that, he almost mindlessly began sketching once more. "Besides, I like the more non-killing directive of this guild."

Whether inspiration struck anew or the man couldn’t help himself at the moment he took his pencil back up and went right back into the craft. Hobby? She wasn’t entirely sure at first. She just wanted to know what the end result would be though…she slightly wanted a peek at the in progress work as well. Unfortunately she couldn’t manifest eyes quite like those fang-filled portals, munching a bit more her thing than sight beyond sight or some such. However she didn’t let it phase her too much, the odd woman not minding the quirks of most others. Besides as far as Mao cared she’d interrupted him and more than likely he was tolerating her presence. Regardless she bowed her head in turn to his before taking another small sip of her sweetened milk.

Hesitance filled the air, the woman unsure if he liked her prodding or found himself surprised by it. She couldn’t decipher what it was really. It merely left the girl with a slight panicked feeling, hoping she hadn’t offended him unwittingly somehow. ’I must’ve asked too much? It sounded like a simple question at first…but everyone’s got things they don’t want to mention either…probably…I should’ve thought of that!’ There were plenty things the beast woman wouldn’t mention to strangers after all. The realization that she forgot others might feel the same left her feeling utterly silly, a small sick feeling gripping her stomach.

Like it’d never left the smile returned and the man properly introduced himself. ’Circus mage?’ She held vague knowledge of a circus, reading a bit about it, but it wasn’t something she’d experienced firsthand. Her people didn’t possess such things, not for people of her status though she wouldn’t be surprised if it held some similarities to shows those who weren’t mere “mixed breeds” and bred “tools” might watch. She hadn’t seen one since coming to Fiore for a multitude of reasons so Mao could only ponder what this entailed. ”Ah, its fine, you don’t have to go in depth. It was rude of me to ask,” she reassured him, a short and light laugh escaping, ”people often have something they don’t wish to talk about, I’m sorry to have pried as much as I did. But…I am happy to hear you like the non-killing aspect.” Some might view it a little odd admittedly, but outside of extenuating circumstances Mao couldn’t fathom the need to steal another’s life. As one who only recently earned the right and ability to live her life the act of stealing another’s felt so strongly awful the woman couldn’t fully describe her dislike for it.

”More importantly,” Mao continued on, eager to try and sweep the unsavory feelings away, ”I hope you’ve enjoyed your time thus far with our guild. I know the location’s a bit sandy and warm…sorry…I’ve…I’m not particularly knowledgeable on ‘Circuses’ and what might be favorable or not to them. Are deserts bad? Is a circus something that can adapt to other cultures? What…erm…what does one do in one?” By the end she’d leaned forward a bit as an eagerness to understand filled her, eyes wide with earnest curiosity. Surely he wouldn’t mind talking about that instead?

After a momentary debate whilst his companion was having her own thoughts, Hunter had decided between the head scarf idea and the sun hat. He circled the sun hat with a scarf tied around it, noting underneath the drawing that he would need some straw for the hat, and some silk for the scarf that would go around the hat itself. At this point, the white-haired man began to think that maybe he had come off to stand-offish in his last statement. Perhaps he should have just mentioned his liking for the non-killing rule of the guild and left it at that. He did so hate to come off rude.

Right before Mao responded, Hunter had just finished a basic outline of a polka dotted sundress that, by his mental height measurements of the girl, would reach about her knees. Below it was a basic line of possible suitable shoes to go with the dress: wedges, sandals, sneakers, etc. In reality, because he had the subject of which he had this possible design right in front of him, he felt more confident about the outfit in general. "Doesn't hurt that she has some grace about her that helps me envision the design."

Hunter put down his notebook and pencil for a moment, halfway to give her a moment to see what he was working on, and halfway to rest his hand for a moment. His sketching hand had taken a severe amount of punishment in his arduous task to find a new design to work on. Hunter waved the appendage back and forth, wincing slightly at the soreness as he listened to Mao apologize about asking a too personal question. It was nice of her to say, and yes, it was a very personal part of his life that he didn't like talking about. He wasn't going to get angry at her for asking, but it was something that would take a little while to talk to anyone about fully. The young man smiled and waved her statement off. "It's no trouble at all, Ms. Mao. It's just a bit of a sensitive topic. Nothing to worry your kind self over." His hand went to carefully, almost affectionately pet his top hat, a heirloom from his father that he had had to resize over the years. "And yes, I do enjoy the guild master's rules against killing. Everyone deserves a chance to be brought to justice or to reform, instead of needlessly killed."

The young man realized that after all his sketching and chatting, his ponytail was starting to come undone. Reaching back around his head, Hunter took the hair tie out, letting his white locks fall around his head and down past his shoulders. A surprising amount began to shift around to his face, covering both of his eyes and nose in white hair. Oh dear. Hopefully Mao did not think him some kind of ruffian for having his hair so unruly out of a ponytail. The thoughts pertaining to himself from others points of view were very important to him as an entertainer. "I apologize for suddenly  becoming very... unkempt. Let me just..." Wrapping his hair tie around his wrist, Hunter began to pull his hair back again.

Just as he was about to get his ponytail back into place, Hunter froze, and he let go of his hair. Once again, Hunter's eyes were covered by his hair, and as he slowly and somewhat shakily revealed his eyes again, his expression was of shock. While his eyes alone showed no small amount of surprise and utterly being flabbergasted, his mouth slowly began to drop open. "She doesn't know what a circus is? SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT A CIRCUS IS?!" At a speed that seemed almost comical, Hunter quickly reached for his sketchbook, quickly flipping the sundress page over to begin sketching at a breakneck pace. In a few short moments, he had an exact sketch of the circus tent he lived in, not so far away from the guildhall. Leaning forward, he turned the sketchbook around to show it to Mao, and Hunter began to speak in a voice of whimsy, "Why, my good lady, a circus is a place of majesty and wonder! People come from miles around to attend! There's acts of all magnitudes and skill sets! Sword swallowing, tightrope walking, the flying trapeze, elephants balancing on large balls, tigers jumping through flaming hoops! At the circus, you can see anything and everything! The food, the sights, the memories! There's nothing quite like it! Some of the greatest circuses have performed in sandier dunes than ours, and there's no place on Earthland that a circus can't adapt to! For the sake of entertainment and whimsy, there's no place a circus can't go!" It was as if the person Hunter had been a few seconds ago had been replaced with someone entirely different, his posture was full of confidence, his words with bravado, and his were bright with wonder. It was truly something to behold.

The drawing proved interesting, the woman almost believing she might’ve been the target, but her desire to avoid being overly egotistical decreed it probably wasn’t. Still the design looked nice, though at the same time she stealthily admired his hat a time or few. There was some fun in top hats, a classiness one saw in nobles and yet his pertained a certain flare that left one imagining themselves wearing one of a similar style. ’Though finding hats really isn’t that easy.’ Cramping one over her ears often proved more uncomfortable – and sometimes deafening if she stuffed them inside instead – that Mao generally avoided them. Admired them, but avoided them.

It was easy to wave it off, Mao occasionally having a bad hair day despite the care she spent on her tail. Sometimes life just wanted to throw those curve balls and yet they made for excellent relaxation days, simply letting the unruly hair twist itself more as she curled up in bed with a good book or laid amidst a pile of pillows and let whatever odd concoctions her brain threw together play before her mind’s eye. Though she felt he might’ve overreacted, who was Mao to criticize? Aiyana mentioned at times she apologized too much herself but…well Mao supposed it was merely habit at this point.

What happened almost immediately after, as she started questioning the man about circuses, surprised her! A brief pause as he digested the question – she saw some of the surprise wash over the visible parts of his face, more sensing it in the air than anything – before he whipped right into motion. The brief break his hand received ended abruptly as he drew a replica of what she could only guess to be the home of a “circus.” In a recent hunt she vaguely recalled a structure looking exactly like that having popped up, though she refrained from venturing too close to it. If it’d been anything of worry then someone might’ve said something or mentioned it, but nobody acted concerned lately aside from the desert’s denizens maybe coming a little close here and there. Since her feeding schedule more or less regularized though they’d been decreasing in sightings lately.

From the way he spoke this “Circus” sounded truly magical in ways she couldn’t quite comprehend. The enthusiasm with which he spoke proved infectious, excitement flowing through her at the idea of perhaps attending this exotic show. At least it sounded like a show or performance of some sort, one filled with amazing acts that undoubtedly filled people’s minds with wonder and sparked imagination of possibilities they could follow in the future. The fact they could go anywhere made them more admirable, the people related devoted to their craft…Hunter’s sheer joy in the subject pushed Mao into a dreamy state, mind trying to piece together these things and yet sure that she wasn’t doing it justice. Though the suddenness of his transformation from polite to enthusiastic proved a little alarming, overall it left her wanting to visit a circus…

”Wait…does this mean a circus is in town now?” she asked, breaking out of her momentary daydream. ”I saw a tent quite similar to that recently nearby…do you suppose they’ll be performing soon?” It sounded quite fun, something she was sure the other tailed woman would enjoy too no doubt. Granted Mao would just about cloak herself in layers like usual, keen on being overlooked for personal reasons. She wondered though if perhaps he might know, being quite the fan of them if not perhaps a connoisseur of circuses. Mao supposed it might be rude to ask him rather than find out for herself, but they enchanted him so much surely he must know? ”Erm…if you pardon my asking, I take it you’ve been to many of them? What would you say is perhaps a favorite part or…few…well, I mean, you’ve listed so many things they sound quite amazing! I’m just curious if there’s something that really catches your eye when you attend them…” Oh gods now she felt rude, probing like that, but she couldn’t help it. Her mouth moved before she could reconsider, the tailed woman merely wondered what might’ve captivated him the most while wanting to get an idea of something to particularly look out for amidst all the wonders.