It's been a long time.

[name_of_thorn]

Walking quietly about the Nexus this evening is a figure that appears to be some sort of elven king, if one were to judge by his elegantly medieval dress, the circlet upon his brow, and his fae grace. Deep blue, runic tattoos cover every inch of skin that shows, from face to neck to hands. Unlike most elves, however, his ears are relatively rounded

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[just_instinct]

Batgirl keeps her distance, but she's incredibly curious about the tattoos and the man's overall appearance. She's not socialized enough to know not to stare, and the skintight mask she's wearing suggests puzzlement as she considers the question.

"Anything." She corrects herself with effort, as if English isn't quite her first language, "...any price." As to the second question, she shrugs her shoulders--hasn't been here long enough for that.

She gestures to her face, and then points at his, wanting to know about the tattoos, but not quite having the eloquence for a verbal question.

[name_of_thorn]

"'S a hard thing to commit too, though, isn't it?" He notes her struggle with speech, but reddens slightly as he realizes the unspoken question. "Um. I didn't do it to meself. My father did."

[just_instinct]

She shakes her head, an emphatic negative. "...it's the only thing." She says softly, "The right thing."

Batgirl pauses, looking sad at the answer, assuming it wasn't a voluntary process, then. "Sorry."

[name_of_thorn]

"The right thing isn't always easy. Not in my experience at least."

He smiles, a little sadly, but the blush is lessening now. "Thankye. It doesn't bother me as much as it used to, but it doesn't like sunlight."

[just_instinct]

She nods to that--definite understanding there. And she's probably a little embarrassed that she can't carry her end of the conversation, but she's doing her best.

Oh, and there's something people do when they meet each other, isn't there... She points at herself. "Cassandra." Then she points at him, and makes an open-handed, palm-up, quizzical gesture.

[name_of_thorn]

He seems sympathetic and patient enough, willing to interpret her limited speech as well as he can. "Thorn. I 'ave another name, but Thorn's the only one I use." He'd shake hands if she made the attempt, but it's against his own instincts to offer one. "Do ye mind me asking what it is you do?"

[just_instinct]

She relaxes, even smiling a little, and nods, repeating slowly, "Thorn." She kinda likes how it sounds, but resists trying to say it again, wanting to at least appear normal.

At 'what you do', she pulls up short mentally, because it's a daunting question with such limited vocabulary. "...Help people."

"You?"

[name_of_thorn]

He smiles back encouragingly. "I named meself that."

Her hesitation makes him wonder, especially since the answer is so vague. The costume has given him some clue, however. "D'ye, um... fight crime or something? I'm... well I'm sort of a king, and I try to teach people to respect and 'elp each other, and break down the social classes. I'm not a very kingly king, but I wouldn't want to be."

[just_instinct]

"Really?" A mixture of surprise and admiration, now. "Why?"

She nods happily at the 'fight-crime' bit, relieved, because those are the exact words she wanted--and then listens intently to his answer. She doesn't really understand breaking down social classes, but if it goes along with helping and respecting people, it can't be bad. "Good." She says, thinking on it. Her geography, like a lot of other things, leaves much to be desired, but...

"Where?" She would love to visit your kingdom, Thorn.

[name_of_thorn]

"It was supposed to be a sort of joke, I was a thorn in everyone's side. It was better than anything they called me." He gives her a lopsided smile.

Despite the medieval gear, Thorn is more than familiar enough with the nexus to recognize a vigilante in costume when he sees one. "Um, not 'ere, it's an earth, one of the ones in the middle ages. They don't know about the Nexus, and they'd just be afraid if ye tried to introduce them to it. When people visit me from 'ere, they 'ave to be careful to dress to fit in." It would not do to have guests marked as witches or something equally horrific to the medieval mind.

[just_instinct]

"Ohh." She smiles back, kind of pleased with the ingeniousness of that approach. Kind of like empowerment, taking your own name. "I like it."

Cass nods readily, understanding that, too. "...a disguise." She pulls off the mask, looking between it and him, "Like this?"

[name_of_thorn]

"Thank ye. It still suits me."

Thorn is unsure if he should be honoured she so readily shows her face to him, but he tugs at his medieval clothes. "More like this. I'd rather 'ave blue jeans and a sweatshirt, but those aren't invented yet, there. People already think 'm weird without my bringing strange clothes and technology in. I do keep an MP3 player 'idden in me room, though." He grins sheepishly, unwilling to give up that wondrous piece of the modern world. Thorn loves his music.