brave_kreyu | OOM All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness -Part 10

"Thank you, all of you," Xenophon and Kirke say to the three of them. "We owe you so much."

Artemesia grunts. "Not a matter of owing. Been when you are, just paying it forward."

"The world isn't fair, or just, but that does not absolve those who live in it of the responsibility to try and make it so," Kreyu says quietly. She rubs against Skellig again. "Is the House of the Setting Sun still in operation?" she asks Artemesia.

Artemesia cackles. "Oh, aye, their patrons have too much influence to let anyone shut the place down. Bit rich for my purse, but they'll spoil your Sokratis proper. Maybe you too, although I doubt they've had a talking moggy for a customer before."

"I know in time you two will have the opportunity to do the same for others as we have done for you," Skellig adds. "That is what we would ask for as repayment. We have settled your debts otherwise."

Those tablets were destroyed for a reason!

He lifts his glass of liquor to his mouth - the second 'shot' is easier now that the taste is one he's had before.

"And they may not have ever had a talking moggy as a customer," he teases. "But one thing I have learned since being chosen by this one is how to get her whatever she desires." Like chin scritches - she definitely desires those!

Chin skritches are very good indeed! She purrs quite loudly.

Artemesia laughs at his teasing. "Never doubted she'd choose well, when she picked someone to settle with." She eyes the position of the sun. "And I should be getting home to my Penelope." There's warmth, love, pride, in those words.

"We look forward to meeting her," Kirke says. Xenophon nods.

"Time to go, then," Artemesia says, sliding out of her chair. "Fair warning, you're like to hear stories about what I got up to with Kreyu, back in the day," she tells the two of them.

Xenophon smiles. "I'd like that."

Xenophon and Kirke both clasp forearms with Skellig in farewell. They are a bit sad to leave, but mostly excited about their future.

As they exchange their farewells, Skellig allows a hint of his Light to bleed off into each of their energies - it isn't much and won't last forever, but it is a subtle boost that will aid them in getting through the coming days and weeks when a hint of extra help is needed.

It isn't as if the 'talking moggy' has the ability to settle up their tab with the bar (though he wonders if the mere presence of her on his shoulder would be enough to blow all their minds if she spoke) so Skellig handles that himself, returning from the counter with a small bottle of ouzo (and a bottle of wine for her) in tow.

"Shall we take our leave, Moggy?"

"I believe we shall." She nuzzles his cheek. "But somewhere secluded first, perhaps? It would be best to fit the appearances the staff of the House expect."

Also, his wife REALLY wants her hands back.

"I think I can find us a suitable location easily enough."

After all, there are many places within the streets and alleys of a busy dockside town where a man can slip off and disappear - especially one like Skellig, who is well-versed in the art of making himself unnoticeable.

But she will need a space to change...he has one of her chitons in his bag, and a few pieces of her jewelry.

"This should work..." He muses, using his hearing to 'check' through the doorway of a smaller storage building - empty, minus some crates and stacks of heavy grain bags that line one side of the room. He steps inside and moves to the far side of the crates, where there is a bit more space, light filtering in through the open window.

Anyone that might walk by will find no reason to enter or look inside. It is like the window or doorway do not even exist!

"Thank you, love," she says as she leaps from his shoulder.

Her transition to her winged human shape is lightning quick, and then she is pressing her naked body against him and snogging him QUITE thoroughly. Her hands are in his hair, her wings mantling over them both.

This is one of the few instances where Kreyu has ever managed to actually startle him - his wings (hidden by his amulet) flare slightly as she pounces on him, a rough grunt of surprise (mixed with pleasure) escaping his lungs as she knocks him back into the wall.

Her mouth is on his, her hands in his hair, her body pressing firmly against his...

...it is going to be a moment before his brain catches up! In the meantime, he does what comes natural - kiss her with the intensity she's bleeding off into him, wrap his arms around her body to pull and keep her close.

She breaks for breath, panting a little. "Could have you right here, but will be better if the House of the Setting Sun lives up to its reputation."

Her grin turns slightly wicked. "I plan to make my husband purr for ME."

"Gonna make me cause a scene when we walk out of these doors," Skellig replies, catching his breath with a faint laugh running beneath his tone. "Your husband... your husband will do more than purr tonight."

With that wicked grin and the glint in her eyes, he knows he's in for it.

"Just what sort of 'reputation' do I need to be aware of?"

"I will be generous, let you cool down a bit," she teases.

She steps out of his grip, reaches for the bag with her chiton. "It is a place of entertainment for the wealthy and the powerful," she explains. "Sex is the primary entertainment they offer, though they dabble in food, drink, dance, and music."

"I know what questions to ask the proprietor about mundane things, but I was hoping you would have a look and a listen around while I do that. Your senses will be better than mine at getting a real read of the place." Especially his abilities to sense echoes and emotions.

He is definitely reluctant to let her out of his grasp - but from the way he exhales and forces himself to look elsewhere while she gets dressed, it is obvious that just that one spark of her energy crashing into him has caused a hint of a ruckus through his system.

"That should be easy enough to do," he agrees.

"Do you want to stay simply a night? Or should I also go back to the clearing and grab our gear? It is not a far walk..."

"It might be prudent to have everything with us, just in case," she says after a moment of thought. Once the chiton is pinned, she adjusts her hair as best she can without a reflective surface, then slips on her sandals.

The trip to fetch their things is uneventful, and they wend their way toward the richest part of the city as the sun nears setting. The House of the Setting Sun IS in the westernmost part of the city, poised near the edge of a ledge overlooking the sea to catch the rays of the setting sun. It is far, far, smaller than the complex of the House of the Blue Lotuses.

"I suppose the size makes sense, if they cater to a smaller crowd."

"We look the part well enough," he offers encouragingly. "Even if we are not in our finest wear, we are traveling, and it is wise to take precautions..."

He glances over at her, reaches out to tuck a stray strand of her hair back into place.

"The name is appropriate," he adds.

"It truly is," she replies, holding his hand. Inside, the space is luxuriously appointed, with oil lamps carved out of alabaster and elaborate paintings on the wall of seascapes.

She kisses him on the cheek as she goes to ~~grill~~ ask questions of the proprietor.

The energy here is good, a hum of satisfaction and pleasure. The House treats its staff well, and although sex work is still WORK, there isn't the lingering darkness of someone who hates their job around.

One particular alcove might catch his eye. There is a stained glass window there, small pieces in a riot of hues. With the setting sun coming through the glass, the colors they cast on the white marble floors are a glorious show of shifting light.

Grateful for the energy being positive, Skellig allows himself to relax slightly as he moves around the space - clearly those who work here are valued and compensation is fair for the services provided. He picks up lingering snippets of conversations as they filter through the air: If there is any hint of trouble with a customer, it will be dealt with accordingly...if anyone wishes to be entertained by more than one host at a time, they are paying appropriately...

But it is the window in the alcove that catches his attention, and he is studying it as a woman approaches with a tray holding small glasses of some sort of liquor.

"A drink while you wait, sir?" She DID see the woman that he walked in with, but that is not stopping her from being prompt with the offerings. "Or something else, perhaps?"

Skellig turns and glances at the tray, keeping his eyes on the tray, not on the other things she is...presenting.

"I would recommend that vintage, if you're thirsty," a man's voice can be heard from a couch in the alcove. "She has excellent taste."

He's graceful, as he rises from the couch, and a very handsome man. His dark brown eyes and smile are warm, his black hair and beard neatly trimmed. The pattern on his chiton is an elaborately woven scene of colorful birds in flight, of the very finest linen. The golden jewelry too suggests that he is a man of very high status.

"It is rare to see a new face here, and rarer still to meet one who properly appreciates beauty when they see it." His eyes go to the window and its rainbow. He offers his forearm to be clasped in greeting. "Please, call me Ajax."

His other hand takes a drink from the tray. "Thank you, darling Thia." He's not looking at her assets either, just her eyes. She giggles, pleased at his attention and not just for professional reasons.

"Have traveled quite a way," Skellig admits as he clasps the man's forearm in return. "A fine vintage would be most appreciated. I am called Sokratis," he says, before reaching for a glass from the tray.

His eyes shift to the patterned linen of the other man's chiton, and the birds that seem to flutter with every slight hint of movement that Ajax makes. It is almost as if they are actually taking flight! Fine craftsmanship indeed.

(What Skellig doesn't entirely realize is that his glances at Ajax's outfit...look also like he is checking him out for other reasons.)

"I have heard many things about this fine house while on the road, and so far I have yet to be disappointed." He lifts his glass in a hint of a toast before he drinks. That is an excellent vintage...

Edited 2024-09-14 19:46 (UTC)

"A pleasure to meet you, Sokratis," Ajax replies, warm and genuine. And not JUST because he thinks Sokratis is checking him out.

"This place is my home away from home these days. It's lovelier, quieter, and there is far more pleasant company to be had, whatever kind of company one desires."

He sips his wine, makes a pleased sigh. "Excellent as always." He grins, touches the pattern on his chiton with one finger, as he's noticed the direction of Skellig's gaze. "Arachne does very fine work indeed, even if her client is a man who prefers the less traditional in chiton patterns. I'm afraid even MY charms won't open up a hole in her schedule for a least a season, but I could try and get you in to see her then?"

"I may have to take you up on that offer," he says. "The embroidery work has incredible detail. It is almost as if the birds move in flight at the same time you do."

Skellig realizes that he is...staring a bit. A faint flush rises to the tops of his ears, the back of his neck. "My apologies, it is not like me to be so...intrigued, but I cannot help it."

There is a couch with a low back and plush cushions in the alcove, nodding his head towards it, Skellig sits with Ajax's invitation.

"No need to apologize," Ajax assures him. "There are so few here who appreciate such things, who truly LOOK, that is a joy to meet another who sees as I do."

He sighs. "People look, but they don't see what's around them." He gestures to an art piece with birds on the wall. "Take that piece, for instance." There's the faintest irritation in Ajax's energy at the sight of the piece.

Skellig will be able to tell what is wrong with it at once, as someone who HAS wings. The wing angles are all wrong for a bird who would be leaping into the air as the image suggests.

"The wings are all wrong," Skellig says bluntly. "That is not the way that they move when they go to take flight. They reach, pull for the air, not act tucked as if they are in a dive. They would end up in the water in a spiral, like that."

He glances closer at the art.

"And the shadows are wrong on the water, based on how the sun is moving... and the wind is blowing the reeds opposite the branches above."

He sips at his wine. "I have quite a fondness for birds," he offers as explanation. "And flight."

"Exactly," Ajax replies, tone slightly triumphant. "And yet I don't think anyone other than you and I have ever noticed it on their own."

"I am fond of birds as well, have envied them their wings." His smile turns fond, wistful. "I have studied them, observed them in the wild, learned their songs as well as a human can."

He chuckles. "I built myself a set of wings once, when I was younger. Broke my leg in two places with the fall when they didn't work, but those few seconds in the air were glorious."

Edited 2024-09-15 03:27 (UTC)

Choosing his words carefully, Skellig nods. "Flight is something to envy, that freedom that comes with breaking free of the hold of the earth's grasp. The curve that holds us here is unbreakable, and yet sometimes... we can get close."

Like leaping from a cliff's edge into the river below, those moments before your feet hit the water. Or swinging on a rope from a tree branch, that split second when you reach the top of the arc where you are weightless...

Edited 2024-09-15 03:46 (UTC)

"Yes, that freedom." There is a joy in Ajax, a feeling of connection with Sokratis that he hasn't had in....a very long time.

"I've never met anyone else who understood that before, that longing." He leans toward Skellig a little, not so close as to intrude on his personal space, but closer. He chuckles, low. "I had not planned on company this evening, but a wise man knows that plans ought to be subject to change."

His eyes flick to where Kreyu is still talking to the owner. He gives Sokratis/Skellig his warmest and most charming smile, his voice dropping low and intimate. "If you are interested in intimate company for the evening, I would be eager to oblige. Your lady friend would be welcome also, either as an observer or a participant, according to her preferences."

It's clear that while he finds Kreyu attractive it is Sokratis/Skellig he is most interested in, that has drawn his desire.

Edited 2024-09-15 04:04 (UTC)

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