[Leap of Faith] A jug of wine and thou, hold the bread (Tristan)

[Reilly]

Timestamp: Kalendryas, Winter Era XV PF

There wasn't a party for Reilly to go to tonight. So she was just going to have to make one of her own, which was why the shapely half-elf had decided to go to the Leap of Faith tavern.

As she entered, she scanned the room, tilting her head so that she could take in the whole scene with her good eye. She was looking for cute boys, mostly. Preferably cute boys who weren't here with someone, but if the boy was cute enough, Reilly was up for a challenge, supremely confident as she was that she would likely be attractive enough to make a boy change his mind.

Anyway, she sat down at the bar, but didn't immediately order anything. Instead, she put on a sort of thoughtful look, and placed her hand on her thigh. She looked at the bar, then down at the ground, and then gave a pensive-sounding sigh.

There. If that didn't get someone interested enough to come up and offer to buy her a drink, then this obviously wasn't a high-enough quality establishment. Just to be on the safe side, she ran through the motions again, and then waited. Any second now...

[Tristan L'Evienne]

„Can I buy you a drink?“ Reilly could hear a voice coming from her side. A young man had just sat down next to her. He definitely fit into the group of boys that she was looking for, cute and seemingly unattached. The only woman in his life so far was a giant spider that could very well be male since he had not found out how to tell male spiders from female ones yet, and it was unlikely to change anytime soon since the women who had reacted to his advances in any way so far had been ugly. The beautiful women of Demios were all lesbians it seemed.

He couldn’t help but wonder whether that extremely attractive blonde was one of them as well, but this time he just didn’t care. She was attractive enough that he would risk making a fool of himself. His pick up line hadn’t been the best – he had the feeling that he should have recited poetry or at least told her of his adventures in the Arakmatan desert if he wanted to get to know her better – but there were times when his brain just didn’t function particularly well, usually before he had drunk.

And so Tristan L’Evienne, most imperial little brother, enfant terrible, wannabe artist, club manager (and thane!) sat there, looked at her from out of deep green eyes and smiled his most brilliant smile, hoping that she would at least be willing to talk to him.

[Reilly]

It was not, perhaps, the most original pick-up line. But it did happen to hit on one of the subjects of the most interest to Reilly -- alcohol. She turned her head so that she could see him better out of her operational eye, and gave him a truly dazzling smile.

"Serale. Why yes, yes you can, if you've got the mind to." She actually winked as she finished the statement. This one was definitely not a lesbian, and she was more than a little interested in talking to Tristan. And why not? He was pretty cute, and he had already displayed excellent taste by picking Reilly out of the crowd.

The half-elven girl didn't name the drink she wanted, leaving it up to Tristan's choice. Reilly had never met an alcoholic beverage she didn't like, and she didn't imagine that whatever he chose would be the one exception. After all, this gave her an opportunity to be a little adventurous, and Reilly liked that.

"My name's Reilly," she added with a deliberately flirtatious toss of her blond hair. "What's yours? And do you come here often?" This was more of an open invitation to talk than it was a question that required a strict answer. Once again, she gave the million-candle smile.

The game had begun.

[Tristan L'Evienne]

„Waiter, bring the lady a glass of wine, your best“, Tristan immediately ordered. Only the best was good enough, and maybe she’d be impressed by it. He came closer to her and gave her a dazzling smile of his own, the kind of smile that made hearts melt and girls swoon. He was indeed cute, tall, dark and handsome and well dressed, with the best job on the island, exactly the kind of man that women wanted, one would think.

“My name’s Tristan”, he answered. “And this is my first time here, actually. I’ve only recently settled down here, after getting a job.” He hoped she would ask what kind of job it was so that he would have an opportunity to impress her further. There was after all nobody more powerful than the thane on this island, and it even earned him a few crowns.

“And you … Reilly …” He pronounced her name in a certain way that made it almost sound special. “Are you from this island? If I’d known that there were women like you living here, I’d have come sooner.” Again, not terribly original (he was waiting for the right time to start talking about thaneing, Arakmat and Milo), but on the other hand she did seem interested.

[Reilly]

There was some question as to whether Reilly actually had a heart to melt -- not because she was excessively cold, but because to most observers her emotions seemed almost willfully superficial. She was, however, more than capable of swooning, which was pretty much what she did on the inside at Tristan's smile. Certainly, he seemed to be a good catch so far. Of course, Reilly was also supremely confident that she was a good catch too.

She giggled at his last line. "Maybe it's a good thing you waited, because I'm not from here at all. I grew up in Enamoria, but I'm living here now -- I run the Sculptures and Charms shop." It was a reasonably well-known place, although she knew she'd never seen Tristan in there before. "What are you doing in Demios?" If he wanted an opportunity to start talking, there it was.

The glass of wine arrived, and Reilly picked it up with a practiced hand. She took a sip -- just a sip, nothing more than that just yet -- and looked Tristan in the eye, then looked down. It was a gesture of calculated vulnerability, but she had plenty of practice in making it look natural. Not, she thought, that she had a whole lot of need to work particularly hard just at the moment -- the man's interest in her was perfectly clear.

"And thank you for the drink," she added softly. She allowed herself one more sip, then settled back to listen to what Tristan would say.

[Tristan L'Evienne]

„Enamoria“, Tristan repeated and shook his head. „I’ve never been there. I’ve been to Jaedaxia, to Arakmat, to just about any place, but never to Enamoria. Did I miss anything?“ As she mentioned that she ran a shop, he decided that he would go there later on. If the owner was interesting, the shop had to merit a visit. Maybe he’d get a sculpture for Milo’s palace back in Prime, something that didn’t involve naked women or violence of course since that would have been inappropriate for the Imperial Palace.

„Me?“ he asked. He was pleased that she wanted to know what he was doing on the island. „I’m your new thane I suppose.“ He took a sip from his glass, a rather large sip. The young man had a comparatively high tolerance for alcohol – eras of practice. He didn’t get drunk easily, but when he did, it ended in a disaster. Once he’d found himself in the middle of a street, wearing nothing but a bathrobe. Of course now that he was thane and had a famous family, he couldn’t afford to drink as much anymore. He’d have to find a substitute for it.

„Lord Quentin decided he needed a change of scenery, and he seemed to be convinced that I would be a good successor. I won’t bore you with the details of my job – a lot of it involves paperwork and convincing people that there is exactly one way to make things better on this island – but I have to admit I’m glad that I’ve come here.“

„Demios is interesting.“

„You do believe me, don’t you?“ There was suddenly a worried expression on his face. „That I’m the new thane?“

She seemed vulnerable for a moment, so beautiful and vulnerable, and Tristan couldn’t help but look at her.

„You’re welcome“, he said as she thanked him for the drink.

[Reilly]

"Enamoria's pretty," Reilly said. "And we had great parties. And cute boys. Though it doesn't seem we have a monopoly on that last one," she added with a wink. Her fingers idly tapped against her glass.

"Ah, the new thane?" She tilted her head to look at him. "Well, that's certainly an impressive job! You said your name was Tristan? Wait...are you the Tristan then? Tristan L'Evienne?" She gave a calculated squeal. "Imagine meeting you here! I'm very excited to meet you."

Then she looked down again. "Of course I believe you, and I hope I haven't made a fool of myself getting so worked up. You seem very nice, and I'd love to get to know you better, but I don't want to -- you know, to embarrass you or myself." Reilly put on the same vulnerable face. "I'm not used to meeting celebrities at all, much less having them buy me drinks."

She took another sip from her glass as she said this. Reilly too had a good deal of practice in alcohol consumption, and she could tolerate a lot more than one might suspect from someone of her size and build. But she was being careful too, making sure she left a good impression.

[Tristan L'Evienne]

„I intend to organize a few great parties on this island“, he assured her, hoping that she’d stay if he did. “And the boys here are at least as cute as those that you have in Enamoria.” That had of course been a not too subtle reference to his own good looks. He was quite aware of the effect he had on women – and enjoyed it.

“Yes, the new thane”, he confirmed. “I’m the one. That L’Evienne person. Politician, philosopher, artist, swordsman and the Most Imperial Little Brother, I suppose. All in one person!” He laughed as he heard her squeal. “I’m likewise very pleased to meet you here, and no, you haven’t made a fool of yourself, not at all. I do enjoy your company.”

“And I’m not that famous yet. I’m still working on becoming that big celebrity. Until I’ve reached my goal, feel free to treat me like a normal young man that bought you a drink because he found you interesting.” Tristan was very good at calculated laughs and vulnerable faces as well, but the smile he gave her now was honest.

“I’d like to invite you into the Thanal Residence and show you around, but then you might get the wrong impression of me. I assure you, I am quite a honorable man, and thus I’ll ask you a question instead: Your thane is here, in front of you now, so is there something you’d like to ask him? Something you’ve always wanted to know?”

[Reilly]

"I'd like to know what I have to do to get that invitation to the Thanal Residence." Subtlety was something of which Reilly was capable, but she wasn't trying at the moment. The girl tossed her blonde hair back, and then finished the glass.

"I don't have much of a complaint with the politics in Demios," she added with a smile. "It's an easy place to run a shoppe, and that's mostly what I'm interested in doing here. And, even though it can get boring, it's safe, and that's something. I suppose that's what politicians like to hear -- no complaints!" Then her eyes lit up again. "I suppose if you've got plans for those parties, I'd like to hear about those."

"I guess," she added, "if I had any more questions, they'd probably be more about you than about your job. Not that I'm not interested, of course, but I'm sure a lot of people are only interested in your Thane business. I'm interested on the level of you being a young man that bought me a drink because he found me interesting."

She raised her eyebrows in amusement, and then some of the vulnerability returned to her face. "I'd like to know more about you, I guess. You, and not just what you can do for me." It seemed like the sort of statement he would like to hear, and Reilly was generally fairly good at supplying such statements.

[Tristan L'Evienne]

„You just have to ask – which you did in a way, didn’t you?” He winked at her. “Nobody can accuse me of less than honorable intentions if you ask.” Tristan didn’t mind at all that she wasn’t exactly being subtle at the moment. On the contrary – he loved women who were direct. “So consider this an invitation”, he continued and looked into his glass which was almost empty. He didn’t even feel drunk yet. Maybe he should pour himself another one. No, that would make him look bad. This brightening he was a gentleman, the young, intelligent and charming thane of Demios.

“No complaints? That’s good”, he remarked. “As to parties, there’s going to be a masquerade this winter. I’ve also thought about inviting a few dancers from Arakmat – but don’t let my assistant hear that! She does her job well, but where everything else is concerned she is rather old-fashioned.” She wasn’t particularly attractive either, old, with breasts down to her knees, but he wouldn’t complain about another woman’s breasts to this beauty. It didn’t seem wise, even if she had nothing to fear from dear old Zohana.

“You want to know about me?” He was rather happy to hear that. Tristan was one of those people that loved to talk about themselves. “I suppose this is the time when I tell you how great I am. I’m brave, I’m intelligent, I’m handsome, so you could do a lot worse than visit me. I like parties, I’m a thane, a part time poet, dancer, barkeeper, swordsman. I’m a fortune teller as well so I can tell you exactly what fate has in store for you. I’ve been to almost every province – apart from Enamoria unfortunately.”

“And now tell me about you. Unless you want to visit my residence right now? We could probably continue our conversation there.”

[Reilly]

"I'm happy to tell you about myself, but let's go do it in more comfortable circumstances." Reilly stood up, and prepared to follow Tristan to his residence. This wasn't an invitation she was going to turned down now that she'd got it.

"Like I said, I run the Sculptures and Charms shoppe now. It used to be Ruddock's, before he retired, and I used to work there as a clerk. Before he went off traveling, he gave it to me, after I came back from Archadoon and Jaedaxia and Enamoria again. It's not a bad living, and it leaves me plenty of time to do things I like to do. Like this, for instance." The smile on her face was dangerous, at the very least.

"I like pretty clothes, and cool drinks, and attractive, intelligent, brave men like yourself. And parties, but we've already established that." As she walked, she put a little extra sashay into her step, just so that it would be obvious that her level of interest was still high.

"And, since you brought it up, you'll have to tell me what the future holds for me. Do you know some of those Air'riela tricks, or do you have some other method." The girl turned her head and looked intently at the young thane.

[Tristan L'Evienne]

„I agree. We should continue our conversation in more comfortable circumstances“, Tristan said. He was quite happy with the way this was going, and it would be even more enjoyable doing it in private, without any people to distract them.

Back in the day, before he had decided to join the Imperial family, before he’d become Thane, he would have been reluctant to take a girl, any girl home unless she was the kind you paid for – he’d been living in a room above a tavern and forced to pretend he lived in a villa – but a thane’s residence was something you could show off. Not as great as Milo’s palace – he had to admit that – but it was still impressive. Just the kind of place to spend a few candlemarks with somebody you wanted to get to know a whole lot better.

“Sounds exactly like what Quentin did”, he said as she told him that Ruddock had given the shop to her before he had gone off travelling. “ Tristan was very good at doing dangerous smiles of his own. It would be hard to tell who was more dangerous, who was better at doing this and that, who was doing what on purpose and what not.

“I like pretty clothes as well – and cool drinks – although I have to admit that the attractive, intelligent, brave men don’t particularly interest me. I very much prefer women like yourself.” He smiled at her. “As for telling your future, I’ll do it once we are at my residence, although I can already tell you that it is probably very bright now. I do it with little bones that have runes on them. Don’t believe in reading cards or taking a look at what’s left of your tea or however those people at the carnival do it. Mine’s the real deal. One hundred percent real.”

“It shouldn’t be far. Just a few minutes walk”, he informed her. “Is there anything in particular you’d like me to show you?”

He spoke in that certaint one that left it completely unclear whether he was thinking about showing her his office, the kitchen or other boring things or something completely different. He didn’t really try to hide that he was interested either.

[Reilly]

"I'd like you to show me a good time. I'm counting on it, actually."

Reilly batted her eyelashes, a gesture that she'd practiced so many times that it was essentially automatic at this point. "And I'd like you to show me what the runes say. I've never done anything with runes, personally, but if you're convinced that they tell the truth, I'm sure that's the case."

The woman refrained from simply taking Tristan's arm -- she would prefer he made that gesture himself -- but she did walk quite close, close enough that he would almost be forced to take her arm if he wanted to walk comfortably. Reilly knew that some people would consider her to be somewhere between forward and brazen, but as long as Tristan didn't object, she didn't much care.

"I'm hoping my future is as bright as you seem to think," she said, her smile dazzling even in the low light of the street. The girl figured that was probably quite enough talking for now, so she held her tongue and simply allowed Tristan to escort her to his Manor. She'd never had a reason to see the inside of a Thanal Manor before, and even though there were other things she was looking forward to more, she was curious to see what level of luxury it held.

[Tristan L'Evienne]

„I’ll show you the runes then, when we are at the thane’s estate“, Tristan promised her. His voice was low, it sounded as if he would tell her something naughty and possibly slightly dangerous rather than show her what most people considered tricks that gypsies employed to get other people’s money. “And I swear they tell the truth. Do I look like a liar?” He gave her his most innocent, honest look. If he hadn’t been at the tavern, getting drunk, one could almost have believed that he was really just a nice harmless boy. Your ideal son in law.

She was so close to him that he couldn’t resist and took her arm, looking at her as he did it to make sure she didn’t mind. He was still pretending to be that nice, well educated nobleman, that perfect politician, although he’d probably drop the mask later on, if there was a later on. “Trust me, Reilly”, he said to her. “Your future is getting brighter with every passing second.” Not a particularly original thing to say, but then it had fit so well.

And they had already reached the thane’s estate. It was not the impressive palace that Reilly might have hoped for, but it was nice looking, everything considered. It was a sandstone building, in good, almost perfect condition, two stories, a balcony, a garden surrounding it. There was also a second building that looked like it might contain horses. In truth it considered just one animal though, a giant spider.

“My humble abode”, Tristan announced and released Reilly for a moment so that he could open the door for her. He was a gentleman after all, and ladies always came first. The antechamber contained a comfortable looking couch with red velvet cushions on it, a carpet, Arakmatan in style and a number of rather interesting looking paintings of foreign landscapes. They hadn’t been painted by a master, that much was obvious, but their style was original, slightly weird maybe, just like the man who had made them, the thane himself who always claimed to be talented.

The antechamber also contained a short, furry creature that seemed to be male – it was wearing pants and a shirt. It was a lutran. He was the thane’s secretary, and he bowed to both Tristan and his companion before he excused himself, not wanting to interfer in the thane’s private business. And thus said thane stood there, looking at her, with a very, very interesting smile on his face, green eyes shimmering brightly as if he wanted her to do something in particular.

“What do you think? It’s not Milo’s palace, but it’s got more rooms than you’ll ever need, and the lutran already came with it.”

[Reilly]

The thanal manor was probably the most impressive building Reilly had seen on Demios -- not that there was a lot of competition, given, but still, that was something. She wasn't immediately sure what to make of the artwork that greeted her as she swept in the door, but given that she made her living by running a trinket shoppe, her taste wasn't exactly haut coutre, and she would probably get used to it.

Her eyes followed the lutran momentarily before locking back in on Tristan's. "It's quite an establishment that you've got here. And I've never been to Milo's palace, so no need to feel inferior." She laughed cheerfully. "Anyway, I think you were going to show me around?"

There wasn't really any question regarding what she meant by that, and pretty much whatever Tristan decided to do at this point, he wouldn't encounter any resistance -- indeed, Reilly's limited supply of patience was already running short. This had already turned out to be a better night than she had dared hope, and she was figuring that it probably would remain so...