Re: All Together Now
As he and Ikram continued their conversation at the bar, the sound of a light contralto voice -- the kind of vocal tonalities that Vonon usually only heard from Human females -- spoke just loud enough to be heard abouve the general din.
"Vo?!?" the somehow familiar voice exclaimed with only a touch of incredulity, followed by an amusing idiomatic expletive in Vargr. And a well pronounced expletive, at that.
Vonon turned around and immediately saw the human female that Ikram had been speaking with, earlier. But, beside her was another Human female who looked very familiar.
To the Human eye, Vonon's next action -- dipping his head down a little, then pulling back as he raised his muzzle -- might have been mistaken as a shocked pulling away; but he was really taking a full breath, getting the Human's scent to all his sinuses, so that he could compare it to his scent-memory. And although it had been some years since they had last met and she had changed her appearance since her last vmail, a Vargr never forgets a scent. Especially not the scent of a friend.
But before Vonon could respond to his old friend Sharik, she had already given Ikram the once-over, and continued talking,
"Well," she prompted Vonon with a raised eyebrow, "aren't you going to introduce us?"
But then she didn't really wait for a response from Vonon, she turned to Ikram, herself, and spoke.
"Shana." the dirty-brunette haired woman noted simply in an off-hand manner as a sort of introduction. "Shana Mepede." She gave her familiar or informal name, appending it with some Vilani word that sounded familiar to Vonon, but he couldn't remember what it meant.
Sharik extended a hand towards Ikram; Vonon knew that she expected Ikram to kiss her hand, and that this was a little test she used to get the gauge of some people. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out...
"And where are my manners?" Sharik quipped playfully, pulling the other woman in closer with her free hand.
"I was speaking with them before I saw you." the other woman said to Sharik with a chuckle in her voice, then she turned her attention to Vonon and Ikram, "I am sorry gentlemen, did I forget to introduce myself?"
Vonon saw his opportunity to jump into the conversation and, assuming a stern pose, glared at Sharik.
"Being sorry I am, terribly, terribly, gentle-haroo." Vonon said in broken pidgin and adressing them as males, "But mistaken you are being. Use of yours the familial pronoun conjunctive, when crappily speaking Vargr, you did, named me your sister, you have. Perhaps, maybe, of feathered ornithope, in corner, scratching itself, you were thinking?"
Vonon held the glare for exactly three heartbeats, before he burst into laughter.
"Shar'r!!" Vonon shouted joyfully, using the Vargr nick-name he'd given her, years ago, as he opened his arms to his old friend, "What in Klono's Frozen Beard are you doing on this cosmic ball of backwater? Are you slumming, again?" he jokingly reproached.