Alise's Links
She definitely finds him dangerous and strong. An opponent she has no match against. So better to befriend him than make him an enemy. She likes the way he carries himself. He's confident, straightforward, she can read him like a book. She knows he hides a few secrets, but so does she. She's not one to judge.
Alise enjoys that he isn't overwhelming and overbearing. He does his job and does his job well, getting rid of the peskering clients that she herself cannot in her current state.
Alise, Alise, Alise. What a name. A boring name that stands out.
Alise is just like any other human. Any other disgusting human. Except... maybe not. Maybe she's different, something useful and sympathetic amongst all the other horrible members of her species.
It's a bit strange to describe how Esredes got to making a business partnership with her. A simple scouting of a human village on his own time, a strange girl wearing metallic gloves and sandals. He had to pursue and ask her why she was wearing such strange things, and while he didn't get an answer, he did get an invitation to a weapons store she and her partner operated. It was in showing up there the next morning that he was first impressed by her-- she was an intuitive and smart one, able to figure out Esrey's identity as a knochen after some back and forth banter. And as a result, the two worked out a deal. If Alise told him about every hunter that came into her store so he could track them down, he would see to it that her village was left alone. A deal considered fair on both ends. And so it was sealed.
As far as humans go, Alise registers in his mind as a bit of an exception. A human who agrees magic should not be used by humans, a human who understands her place. Someone who is straightforward and deadpan enough, yet has her own flavor of speaking that ends up working off of Esrey's almost too well. And while purely a business partner at first, it will slowly become more than that between them as Alise teaches him more about humans and how they work.
...Especially when she ends up getting experimented on again and suddenly becomes a freak of nature, a human who can transform against her will into a knochen. This is not a concept Esredes has ever considered before, and it screws up his elaborate system of twisted, set behaviors towards a human. And it leaves it up to him to have to teach her to act like one of his kind.
It's safe to assume that the two of them will end up forming a strange bond, defying all preconceived notions and assumptions of fate, especially on his end. But what will truly come of it all in the end, in having this one simple strange human as an ally of sorts despite his hatred and despite the trouble it could eventually land him in, is yet to be seen.
[1/25/18] After several meetings with her, he’s become much more relaxed and open around her, even taking an actual interest in her life. It’s been enough for him to reveal his personal nickname to her. And between hunters and creepy men and the scientist Thiessen out to capture her again, he’s also grown quite aggressively protective of her. No one hurts his special little exception human.
He won’t admit they’re friends, but they most certainly are, and now that he’s willingly bound himself to this partnership, there’s no going back.
Alise to Ceila is, simply put, quite the surprise. Ceila's made human exceptions before, but for Esredes to make friends with a human? She would've never imagined such a thing to be possible.
Since he came to her confessing this and asked her to help save her from an evil scientist and make sure she was okay, she's been fascinated in finding out just how and what it is that makes her different to him. In the meantime, though, she finds her quite adorable. Incredibly adorable. Everything from her appearance to the way she acts is endearing, even though she's not trying. Sort of like Esrey, in a way. She's beginning to understand why this one is special to him.
Regardless, she'll be happy to come in on their party again some other time and get to know the situation better. It's nice that the atmosphere of her house makes Esrey so relaxed. The gods know both of them probably need it. Maybe she'll have to tell her some embarrassing stories when they're alone again.