"Yeah, that is kind of weird." Maybe this particular imp just isn't that smart. Smart enough to keep going invisible, though. Celi reloads her crossbow and aims in the direction she last saw the tiny devil, holding her fire until it reappears.
Testing the weight of Adolina's blade, Ginetta turns her head this way and that, watching for the imp to reappear.
The Ravens prepare for the imp to return to visibility, scanning for any signs of her return. Adolina moves to the stairs, hoping to snatch at the imp if possible, while Celi prepares to fire her crossbow again.
"We can't keep doing this..." Laria mutters. "But damned if I have any better ideas." Rexus glances around wildly, his sword cane in one hand.
The imp makes her reappearance - right next to Adolina's shoulder, and she drives her stinger tail towards the noblewoman. It lands in her throat - although she's able to throw herself just out of the way enough that it misses her artery, it still sends her staggering slightly - far more painful than something that size has any right to be. Poison pulses in her veins, tightening muscles and leaving her numb.
Celi holds her crossbow fire for a moment, before letting fly at the imp - but her proximity to Adolina means that the gnome has to pull her aim, throwing it off and sending the bolt flying past.
Laria utters a sharp cry, lunging at the imp as she leaps from the table. A hand blurs past Adolina's face as she grabs at the flying devil, but once more, the imp dodges out of the way, tongue flicking out of her mouth mockingly as she says something that the women don't understand. The halfling woman hisses something in reply, readying herself to attack again.
Grunting in annoyance, Ghorza all but threw herself at the imp. Her silver pick was raised with lethal intent. The idea of it escaping filled her with rage.
Ginetta's eyes narrow and she grits her teeth in rage as she races forward to attack the imp, flanking with Ghorza.
"Foul evil-doer!" she cries out in a voice unlike her own. "Face the wrath of those that carry the vengeance of righteousness!" She stabs with her borrowed weapon.
"Adolina!" Curse it all! Celi doesn't have any antivenom on her. All she can do is reload and try to shoot the imp. Again.
Ghorza rushes up the stairs to attack the imp that hovers near Adolina, but her close proximity to the noblewoman allows the red-skinned devil to duck around her and avoid the attack.
Ginetta lunges around the stairs, thrusting upwards at the imp, who is unable to evade this time, getting pierced in the wing by the rapier instead. She yelps, pain spasming across her face, but doesn't fall.
Adolina feels her muscles lock up even tighter as she struggles with the poison that surges in her veins.
Celi fires her crossbow once more, but it sails haplessly past the group surrounding the imp.
Rexus grunts, looking around for some way to help with the combat, but finds nothing.
The imp's wounds knit shut as she focuses on dodging and avoiding the attacks that the heroes might possibly throw at her - but as magic whirls briefly around her, she fails to disappear. Scowling, she instead beats her wings upward, attempting to get out of the Ravens' reach. Easily evading any attempts to strike her, the imp sails back across the room, flying over the boxes once more.
Laria rushes across the room, leaping up atop one of the boxes to get in close with the imp once more, shouting something in the same language as before.
Ginetta moves across the room to where Laria leaps and shouts. She gauges the boxes and distance, calculating the odds of her making a similar leap.
Celi can't think of anything to do other than keep shooting and hope she gets lucky. She reloads her crossbow and tries again.
Ghorza rushes across the storeroom, leaping and swinging with her pick, tearing into the imp, who just manages to avoid being hit with the worst of the attack.
Adolina continues to fight the poison in her veins, but her body just isn't quite up to it, as her muscles continue to wrench and pull, keeping her from exerting her full range of motion.
Ginetta advances, measuring out the path to the imp, while Celi fires her bolt at the imp once more.
Rexus rushes to Adolina's side, gently helping her back to her feet. She feels his welling sense of destiny embrace her and empower her. "Adolina, stay with me. You can beat this."
The imp attempts to turn invisible again, but isn't quite able to do so, magic fluttering uselessly around her. She scowls, then throws up her hands. "Alright! I surrender! I'm done!"
Laria snatches at the imp, catching her in one hand, then grabbing her tail in the other - the devil doesn't even bother evading. "Why should we believe you?" She asks.
"Because, contrary to what you may think, I'm not stupid. I don't want to die."
”And I don’t want ANY MORE BLOODY FOOKING DARTS IN ME NECK!” Ghorza yelled, shaking her pick at the imp. Her face radiating barely contained rage. Shaking as she fought the urge to launch herself into an attack, she took a deep breath. Her face as hard as stone, she forced herself to be civil. Or at least rational. She had been a merchant, afterall. And there had been customers nearly as aggravating.
”Thus far Ye’ve tried to murder us. And have only stopped when that attempt failed. This is not a good start for building trust. So let’s try this. Make us the first offer. What is it that ye want, and what do we get? All deals come from mutually benefiting, aye?”
She let the implicit threat hang that if negotiations failed then the fighting would begin anew. But it was also true that she really didn’t want to get shot again, so she was open to hearing the imp out.
Ginetta oh-so-desires to question the imp ... and then squeeze her until her tiny little eyes pop, but she leaves the subtleties of interrogation to Ghorza. Instead, she slips Adolina's rapier into the wide sash around her waist and joins Rexus at the noblewoman's side.
"It's going to be okay," she says, taking Adolina's hand in her own and wrapping her other arm around the woman's waist. "We'll get you taken care of right away."
Ginetta looks over at Ghorza and Celi. "We're going to get help for her. We'll be back." She then attempts to lead the young woman to the ladder up to to the tavern above.
Celi gives Adolina and Ginetta a worried look, but nods anyway. "The Newt Market isn't far from here, it's right outside Nightways Gate. Someone there will have antitoxin for sale." She loads another bolt into her crossbow (for all the good it will do) and watches Ghorza interrogate the imp.
Ginetta nods at Celi's suggestion. "Thank you," she replies, her attention on the woman at her side.
As the noblewoman and actress leave the room, the imp's eyes narrow slightly, but she's distracted by Ghorza and Laria. "Look, I get it - you all don't have any reason to trust me, and I have tried getting rid of you, yes. But let me be clear - I don't really want to be here any more than you want me here."
"What do you mean?" Laria asks, glowering down at the devil.
"My name is Blosodriette. I've been in the Material for... I don't even know how long, now, locked away in that basement. I'd really like to go home." The imp replies. "So I want to make you a deal - I don't want to die, obviously, and you don't want a devil who knows you've got plans to revolt against a diabolic regime running around. If you destroy my contract," she gestures at the paper that is concealed by the spell, "I'll be sent back to Hell, and you'll be free of me."
Ghorza looked at the imp critically, weighing whether or not to just go back to swinging her pick. At length she said ”Anyone here able to read this contract?” She assumed it would be in infernal.
"Back again, ma fée?" her mother comments, finally turning from that blank canvas she'd been gazing at for over an hour. Well, blank except for the bold splash of crimson in one corner that she'd only placed there a moment ago. Ginetta looks up from the thin book she'd been perusing with crimson cheeks and hastily shoves it into the stack next to the cot where she'd been sitting for all that time. Her mother was never want to carry on conversation if she'd been disturbed, so Ginetta had long ago learned the art of waiting.
"Encore des problèmes de filles?" the pale woman asks, a knowing smile curling her lush lips.
"What?" Ginetta questions, confused, before a few words filter through her primitive knowledge of her mother's native language. "No! No ... not really."
"As well as you do on la scène, I would expect you to sound more convaincante." The woman sets aside the brush she'd been holding and comes to sit next to her daughter, her luminous eyes returning to the unfinished work.
"Well, it's mostly about ... I'm planning on moving out of papa's flat and into one of my own."
"C'est bon," her mother replies with a nod and a smile, her eyes still fixed on the canvas. "A young woman should have her own space for when she intends to invite over her amant" She turns to smile with affection at her hugely blushing daughter. Giving a quick kiss to the girl's forehead, she rises to her feet and returns to the work in progress.
"She's not my lover," Ginetta protests. "We haven't even really ... I am going to ask her to dinner, though, at Tuvine's."
"Dinner at Tuvine's would be lovely, ma fée. It has been too long since I've tasted his Sole Meunière."
"I just hope I don't scare her away again. She seems so nervous at times." Ginetta frowns in thought.
"Quand, ma fée?" questions distractedly as she picks up a brush and a palette covered with a myriad of colors.
"Oh, probably tomorrow night," the half-elf replies. With just the faintest of murmurs in response, Ginetta knows her mother has settled into her creative fugue again and will stay that way for a while. With nervous hands, she retrieves the hastily-hidden tome from the stack nearby and opens it again to the page filled with prose that caused such flutters in her stomach.
~~~~~
"Miss Cicerdos! It's such a pleasure to have you with us tonight," the perfectly dressed man gushes as he leads Ginetta and Adolina past the archway and into the restaurant proper. "And how is your beautiful mother doing? She has not graced us with her presence in many months."
"She is doing well, Matei, thank you for asking," Ginetta replies as she nervously reaches down to take Adolina's hand, perhaps sensing the young woman's desire to flee already. Giving it a reassuring squeeze, she follows the gentleman as he leads them to a small table among others on a slightly raised floor along one side of the central room. The lighting is subdued and candles provide the majority of the warm illumination with the exception of a few hooded lanterns near the entrance.
Removing her fur-lined cloak, Ginetta is wearing a low-cut shimmering green dress this evening. The sleeves are full, but the shoulders are open to expose her faintly freckled skin. Her auburn hair is styled up this evening and her makeup is designed to enhance and emphasize her green eyes.
Pulling back the chairs for the ladies, the man quickly vanishes into the shadows with a promise to return with an excellent wine.
"I was worried that you might back out tonight," Ginetta says with a shy smile. "I have a feeling that I scared you away last time." She gestures at the room with its low-keyed lighting. "This way we can have a little more privacy." She places one hand on the table, hoping her companion will reciprocate. "I'd really like to get to know you better outside of ... you know." She shrugs. "And you're free to ask me anything. To you, I'm an open book." She winks.
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The warmth of Ginetta’s hand in hers is enough to draw Adolina back to the present and she offers a polite smile and nod to the restaurant’s greeter as he leads them both to a table. Ginetta removes her cloak and suddenly Adolina can’t tear her eyes away from Ginetta’s collarbones and the freckles that dot her pale skin, following them as they trail down towards – No! Bad! Stop! What are you doing? She’s your friend. Isn’t she? But this is a ? Is it? Did she say it was? Should have worn the blue dress! Ginetta doesn’t mind the cold and she’s made a real effort! You want to impress her! Those freckles – I wonder how far they go?
The world shudders back into focus and Ginetta is looking at her, smiling. She’s said something and looks… nervous? Vulnerable? Oh gods what did she say? Adolina frantically casts her mind back, cutting through the voices in her head to the one she actually heard. She fiddles automatically with the lacy cuffs of her jacket, soft, deep purple and one of her favourite pieces of clothing. It is dark enough to not fall afoul of the Lord Mayor’s new sumptuary laws, snuggly cut enough to emphasise her figure a little and above all warm, perfect for keeping out the chill of a Kintargan night and still, she hopes, looking pretty.
”You l – l – ook,” She begins and then stops, takes a deep breath and grasps the hand lying on the table to give herself a little extra courage. ”You look lovely.” She has to bounce into the last word to avoid stuttering, which means ‘lovely’ comes out rushed and slightly higher than the rest of her sentence, but she doesn’t stutter and for Adolina at this precise moment that is a win.
”H – happy to be here.” And she means it too.
"Thank you," Ginetta replies, her smile widening. "I like your jacket. And the way you've arranged your hair really enhances your amazing cheekbones." She gives Adolina's hand another squeeze. "If you enjoy the dinner and are interested, there's a small place just around the corner that always has the most wonderful little evening performances." She gives a conspiratorial wink. "It's not exactly endorsed or entirely legal for that matter, but you can see some incredible talent. They take old favorites and ... play with them. A little gender-bending. A little improvisation. A little naughtiness. All in good fun, of course."
The gentleman that seated them returns and presents a bottle of wine that Ginetta approves with a quick nod. He pours two glasses of the rich red wine and then, like all good servers, vanishes entirely.
"I would love to take you there," Ginetta declares with a smile as she takes a savoring sip of her wine. Keeping her eyes locked with Adolina's over the top of her glass.
"Oh, Mademoiselle Nymellara, I am overjoyed to see you tonight."
Ginetta's eyes shift to something over Adolina's shoulder and widen.
"It's been too long, mon ami. How is your sister?"
She slowly returns her glass to the table and Adolina can feel her hand tense up.
"Doing much better. Thank you for asking. Your usual table?"
Ginetta takes a deep breath. "I'm so sorry for what's about to happen. This is not how tonight was supposed to go," she whispers.
"Non, non. I am having dinner with my daughter this evening and I see her right there."
The perfectly dressed man appears at the tableside and with him is an elegantly dressed elven woman. A fur stole partially covers a pale pink evening dress. Her nearly white hair trails loosely down her back and she looks Adolina up and down with her emerald eyes before leaning down to place a kiss on Ginetta's cheek which the singer returns out of habit.
The elf turns to the server who quickly produces a chair and holds it out for her to take a seat.
"I did not know that your ... friend ... would be joining us this evening, ma fée," she questions, her eyes turning back to Adolina.
"Why are you ...?" Ginetta begins and then replays her last conversation with her mother in her mind. She didn't invite her, did she? No, no she didn't. But then she didn't exactly not invite her. She closes her eyes, but grasps Adolina's hand a little tighter.
"Adolina, this is my mother, Nymellara. Maman, this is Adolina d'Jhaltera and we are on a date," she says, putting particular emphasis on the last word.
The elf's face lights up with intrigue and she looks the girl up and down again. "Call me Nym, mon ami, everyone does." Her eyes narrow slightly. "Jhaltera?" she repeats. "Où ai-je déjà entendu ce nom?" She considers for a moment before her large eyes widen slightly. "Ah, oui. Candlelight At Dawn; I was moving from still-lifes to more evocative pieces. Does your father still have it?" She then shakes her head and her lips curl up into a smile. "I seem to remember doing some custom pieces of your father and mother. Très risqué."
"Maman!" Ginetta snaps, her face a crimson, bringing the faint freckles on her face into sharp relief.
The elf turns to Ginetta. "Qu'y a-t-il, ma fille? Avec un visage aussi simple que le sien, elle doit avoir une personnalité incroyable pour t'attirer autant. Peut-elle tenir tête à la compagnie que tu fréquentes?"
What is it, my daughter? With a face as plain as hers, she must have an incredible personality to attract you so much. Can she hold her own with the company you keep?
At Ginetta's look of utter confusion, Nymellara rolls her eyes. "You should really spend time to learn elvish, ma fée. The breadth of music available to you in your mother's tongue is unmatched."
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”That sounds lovely.” She says, meaning every word and then realises that Ginetta isn’t listening anymore. She barely has time to turn before a whirlwind of energy and lyrical elven is sitting down at their table and the situation hurls itself through awkward and into downright unbearable.
That being said elven was her first love as a language. Not the true one – that’s Azlanti – but the soft syllables and lyrical sound of even the most mundane exchange in elven is something that Adolina loves. This exchange however is less than pleasant and as Ginetta’s mother belittles her daughter with disdainful thoughtlessness Adolina finds herself bristling.
”C'est une œuvre mineure dans la collection familiale” She says cooly, ” Mon père l'a placé dans la cuisine pour que les domestiques puissent en profiter.” How’s that for ‘keeping up with the company’? ” Personnellement, je préfère largement la musique à la peinture, mais je trouve que c'est la marque d'un grand artiste de savoir quand il a contribué à la création d'un chef-d'œuvre et qu'il doit le laisser s'épanouir sans surveillance inutile. N'êtes-vous pas d'accord?”
It is a minor work in the family collection… My father had it put up in the kitchen for servants to enjoy… Personally I much prefer music to painting but I always find it is the mark of the great artist to know when they have already helped create a masterpiece and need to let her thrive without unhelpful oversight. Don’t you agree?
Perhaps her anger is misplaced – this woman hasn’t done anything to her really but Adolina has put up with bullies and snide comments for years and years. Just this once she is standing up to them, just this once she’s being brave. So she keeps the cool, fake smile plastered across her face and resists the urge to cower, apologise or flee.
Nym's hugely expressive eyes narrow just the tiniest of bits and she meets Adolina's gaze with a penetrating stare.
"Ce n'est clairement pas une souris timide, je vois." she finally says as her full lips curl up into a slight smile. Clearly not a timid mouse, I see.
"Tu dois me pardonner, mon ami. Je suis très protecteur envers ma fée, et nombreux sont ceux qui tenteraient de profiter de sa renommée grandissante pour servir leurs propres intérêts. Ma fille n'a pas toujours fait les meilleurs choix en choisissant ses… amis." You must forgive me, my friend. I'm very protective of my fairy and there are many that would attempt to take advantage of her rising fame to further their own ends. My daughter has not always made the best choice in choosing her ... friends.
Ginetta's eyes move from Adoline to Nym and while it's obvious she's not understanding the details of the conversation, she understands that there's an exchange of some importance taking place.
The elf raises a delicate hand only slightly and the server is there almost instantly.
"What can I do for you, Mademoiselle?" he questions obsequiously.
"I have decided that I would like my usual table, mon ami," she replies, rising to her feet and collecting her stole. "Ma fée and her amour would like to dine privately this evening. Please see that their needs are met on ma dépense."
"Absolutely, Mademoiselle. Their wish is my command," the gentleman replies, pressing a quick kiss to Nym's outstretched hand.
The elf turns back to Adolina and leans down to give a quick kiss that barely touches her cheek.
"Ton accent est incroyablement excitant. Si ma fée ne t'avait pas déjà à l'œil…" she whispers in the girl's ear. Your accent is incredibly arousing. If my fairy didn't already have eyes on you ... She pulls away and repeats the kiss with Ginetta, albeit with more motherly affection. Whatever she whispers in the singer's ear causes the woman to blush intensely. "Maman!" Ginetta protests.
The elf laughs and after turning to throw a suggestive wink towards Adolina, saunters away with the server in tow.
"I am so sorry about that," Ginetta manages after a moment spent regaining her composure. "She really is a force of nature. I love her more than I could ever express, but there are times ..." She shakes her head. She takes another sip of her wine. "What did she say to you? Please tell me it was nothing rude." With a quick glance over her shoulder to be sure the woman is truly gone, she continues in a quieter voice. "If she was rude to you then I'll be having words with her."
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”W-what did she say to you?” Adolina asks a moment later, obviously trying to move the conversation on to any other topic. ”She doesn’t know I’m your p-patron?”
When questioned regarding whispered words, the singer's face fills with color again. "She ... uh ... just mentioned that we should have fun tonight." Ginetta's eyes shift away.
"I don't think she knows that you're my patron, but I don't imagine that she would care."
The young woman is saved further embarrassment by the return of the server to take their order. Once the forms have been followed and the man has taken his leave to play his role, Ginetta refills her own wineglass and offers the same to Adolina.
"I am glad she likes you, though. She's never really cared for my friends." A shadow of sadness crosses her face, but then quickly vanishes. "She made some inane comment about songbirds among blackbirds, but most of it was in elvish, so ..." She shrugs and then her lips curl into a mischievous grin. "It pisses her off to no end that I don't speak much elvish. She considers it a failing."
Taking another sip of wine, she decides to shift the conversation.
"So, you've met my father and you've met the crashing wave that is my mother. What's your family like and when do I get to meet them?"
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”My father d-died some years ago.” She replies when Ginetta asks. ”My mother is quite re-tired now. It was a love match but she was not nobility s-so when Father died she was cut out of the social c-circles. Lucky her” Then the second part of Ginetta’s query catches up with her and she blushes again.
Why is she asking that? Does it mean something? I didn’t mean to meet her mother! Is it to make up for that, or is she going to propose? Why would you even think that? Do you want her to? Yes! No? Maybe… why would she even - ?
”I-i-i-if you like?” She eventually manages, her voice rising into an awkward squeak as nerves surge through her once more. She clenches one hand below the table and makes a valiant effort to push on. "C-c-canton is my older brother. He's head of the house now so I ask him if I can get married."
Shut up! Don't make this awkward!
"A-and there's Trevon. You'd like him."
Now breathe. Smile and don't run away. She's nice. She's your friend. Everything is ok.
"Marriage?" Ginetta replies, raising her glass and throwing Adolina a playful smirk. "But we haven't even had dessert yet, much less kissed." Her eyes lower to the other woman's lips, lingering there for a moment as her own lips part and her tongue traces over her teeth.
Her playfulness fades somewhat.
"Is that something that you see in your future?" she questions after a moment. "Marriage I mean. I've never really thought about it. My mother isn't a proponent and maybe that's colored my view on the subject. I'm not directly opposed, though."
She picks up a crisp breadstick from the basket at the center of the table and places it between her lips for a quick bite.
"I imagine if the right woman came along ..." she adds with a shrug and then a smile.