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

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)

That offer takes Skellig by surprise - that is certainly not the direction he expected their conversation to travel in - but his outward reaction is relatively restrained.

(Inwardly, his heart rate jumps a bit, and his adrenaline surges faintly. His body... simply doesn't know what to do with such a proposal.)

"I...I am quite flattered," he stutters softly. "My wife and I..." My wife is not interested in sharing. He trails off briefly for a moment, studying the wine in his glass.

(Is his heart rate doing this as an effect from the wine? And the earlier ouzo? Why does his skin feel flushed? His metabolism usually doesn't react this way... would Kreyu want another partner? Would he want another partner?)

"We have been traveling for some time, I am...unsure of...her desires."

Kreyu picks up on Skellig's jumping heart rate, his adrenaline. She has finished questioning the owner and walks quite quickly toward her husband.

"I understand," Ajax replies. "I would not press either of you, but I would have kicked myself later if I had not made the offer."

Kreyu assesses Ajax as not an ACTIVE threat and slides onto the couch next to Skellig without an invitation of any kind. She wraps her arm around his shoulders, leans in. "Are you alright, love?" she asks, voice soft.

There is a definite sense of 'MINE' in the way her arm is wrapped around his shoulders, the way she's leaning into him.

"Quite, darling," he replies, voice equally as soft. "You should try this wine, the vintage is excellent..."

"No need to offer her yours, sir," Thia 'interrupts' smoothly, approaching with tray in hand to offer a fresh glass to Kreyu - and refills to both Ajax and Skellig. "The House keeps a healthy stock of it on hand for our guests."

And just as quickly as she arrived, once the wine has been passed to each of them, she (and her assets) move on elsewhere. Once she has gone, Skellig lightly clears his throat before he speaks to Ajax.

"This is my wife, Kreyu. Kreyu, this is Ajax... he and I were...discussing birds and flight, among other things." He glances over the embroidery on Ajax's chiton once more. "And you are wise to offer us your company," he adds. "For it is better to take the risk than regret not."

Edited 2024-09-15 04:47 (UTC)

Kreyu offers her thanks to Thia, tries the wine. It IS quite good.

She unconsciously pulls Skellig just a little bit closer when the offering of company is mentioned. "I am not surprised that you would desire the company of a kindred spirit so lovely as my husband," she tells Ajax.

Ajax chuckles. "You have excellent taste, Lady Kreyu." His expression turns more serious, wistful. "It has been many years since I have felt such connection with another soul as I have with your husband. A prince meets many, but true connection is a far rarer and more precious thing than gold."

Skellig's outward reaction to that admission is a warm, soft smile play the part, you must keep the appearance up that is gentle and pleased. "Absolutely," he agrees, as he reaches up to place a hand atop Kreyu's where she has placed it on her shoulder. "Of all the precious gems, gold and silver...none comes close to matching her as far as what I value most."

Through their shared touch, she will be able to sense that he is unsettled (but not in a negative way, just oddly flustered, like a bird who has gotten caught in a sudden gust of wind and now his feathers are all askew and in DESPERATE need of preening) but he is also actively pulling just the slightest bit of her Karma from her - something that he doesn't do often.

(It is weaving through and wrapping around his Light, their energies aligning.)

Yours.

Edited 2024-09-15 12:36 (UTC)

Something in her settles at the feel of their energies aligning. Hers. The motion of her fingers on his shoulder should hopefully be soothing. She doesn't dare preen his actual feathers in public.

"You are a man to be envied, Sokratis," the prince toasts them both. "If I marry at all, it will likely not be with such affection as you have with your wife."

Kreyu goes through her mental list of who's who. "You are the youngest of eight living sons, if I recall correctly?"

Ajax chuckles. "I am indeed, Lady Kreyu. And the one my honorable father has made it clear he finds a disappointment in every sense of the word." Ajax's tone is light, joking, but there are echoes there of old pain.

Preening his actual feathers in public - even with them hidden by the enchantments of his amulet - would be too much for him to handle right now, and he is grateful she is aware of that. Her fingers stroking his shoulder are enough.

"Eight," Skellig says softly, tilting his head slightly - he appears as if he is just listening to another hint of conversation from another alcove, but what he is actually hearing (and absorbing) are the echoes that filter beneath Ajax's words, the sadness and frustration, the feelings of being seen as a disappointment, the yearning for approval and love from a youngest son who needs his father.

He lightly squeezes Kreyu's hand, intertwining their fingers - to steady himself more than anything. "That is many lives to compare to your own, but there is no need for it. Each of us are individuals and will walk our own path."

Ajax's smile turns wry. "My honorable father was always content to be the one doing the comparing," he quips. (Not that he didn't compare himself to his brothers, many times.) "My nature, my choices, all disobedience a half step from treachery in his eyes."

"To cage a bird is no kindness, however good your father's intentions may have been," Kreyu says, voice gentle.

Ajax leans toward them, lowers his voice to a whisper. It COULD look like the beginnings of negotiating a sexual liaison later, to an outside observer. He meets Skellig and Kreyu's eyes, gratitude in his gaze for all his smile is still all charm. "Your words are kind, but you should be careful not to speak them at court."

A shadow passes over his expression for an instant. "No, I would advise you not to go to court at all now, however far you might have traveled to reach it. You are either too late or too early for it to be safe there."

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