Ari ♫ ♪ ♬ (gracenotes) wrote in emillion, @ 2013-09-17 13:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, arielle chiaro, jakys rawles |
Stay a while and we'll dance together now as the light is falling...
Who: Ari & Jak
What: Catching up (and a job)
Where: The Spoony Bard in the Theatre District
When: 9-ish tonight
Rating: PG
Status: Complete!
Settled in one of the back corners of The Spoony Bard's barroom, Jak Rawles rocked his chair back on its rear two legs and used his feet to dip back and forth to the beat the band was keeping. It seemed like a good night; Full without being packed, more than a few brave souls jostling and jumping together out on the floor in front of the stage. And the band definitely knew how to work the crowd, belting out jaunty ditty after another in the hopes of drawing out as many dancers as they could find. So Jak didn't really mind having to wait for Ari. He usually had to, after all. And it made him feel better about the times when he'd be tardy to one of their meets, distracted by one misadventure or another. Nursing his drink and still rocking back and forth, the young man let out a shocked bark of laughter as he watched a brief bout of action play out on the floor; Apparently a man out on the floor had decided to get a little too liberal with his hands, and his partner had decided to repay him in kind, slapping him hard across the cheek before stomping back over to her friends. Watching it all with a grin, Jak promised himself that he'd take a spin or two around the floor if Ari hadn't shown up by the time he'd cleared his drink. Fortunately, Ari wasn’t running too late this evening. A quarter hour here or there really made little difference in the bard’s world, but she generally tried not to keep people waiting much longer, unless she disliked them. Fortunately, it was very hard to dislike Jak. Accordingly, she entered the tavern a handful of minutes after nine, glad to see that the perpetual celebration had not waned. She did prefer a lively evening over a quiet one most of the time, especially when she wanted to be distracted, and besides, there was nothing quite like business in plain sight. No one would think twice of two young people sharing a drink, some conversation, perhaps a dance. The small envelope pressed against her ribcage, under her blouse, would wait until the end of the evening well enough. As she approached the young man’s table, she took in the scuffle on the dance floor, shook her head. “You know,” she said, once Jak was in earshot, “it is so very comforting to know that good manners are still alive and well in this city.” "It was a good slap, at least?" Jak offered with a laugh, greeting Ari with a wide grin as she drew closer. "Ma always said that was 'the most important thing a young girl could learn in this day and age'." Thinking back on the many blows he'd received from his sisters over the years, the boy winced for a moment. Once the young woman was close enough, Jak sprung to his feet and was upon her before she knew it, drawing her into a friendly, enthusiastic hug, "How are you?" He asked, leaning back, "Did you get here alright?" “She has the gift of common sense, your mother,” Ari laughed. “It is indeed a skill that will serve the modern young woman well for many years, though I tend to prefer a quick knee to the groin myself -- gets the message across faster.” She returned the hug, giving him a squeeze of her own, still bemused at just how very tall and broad he’d gotten. At this rate, all of the children she had recruited all those years ago to carry her messages would be taller than her soon. When he pulled back, she grinned up at him and answered, “Oh, you know me, I manage to walk the streets unmolested somehow; I am not running from droves of adoring fans yet, though the night is young.” As she took a seat, the bartender was already coming over with a glass of wine, which was one of the many benefits of being a frequent visitor here. “I feel as though I haven’t seen you in weeks. It seems as though I’ve been on the road -- or rather, in the sky -- near constantly since early Leo. How have you been? Working hard as usual?” Settling back in his own seat, Jak shrugged simply then took a sip from his own drink, "Working, at least? I mean, I got a couple of odd jobs and did some busking, so I'm alright?" He smiled sheepishly, feeling bad admitting to just how little work he'd managed to scrounge up. Ari felt like one of his sisters-- only less violent-- and he didn't want her to worry about him. "I managed to get a lot of practice in, though," he tacked on after lifting his drink to his lips again, hoping that would make things seem better. "What about you? Did you do anything fun whilst you were travelling?" She thanked the bartender for the wine, then turned her attention back to her companion. “Did I,” she said with relish. She did love telling stories. “Let’s see -- I got accosted by giant scorpions whilst seeking buried treasure, took a half-nude corsair to a ball organized by my mother, to her great chagrin, broke several hearts at the beach, I believe, found an almost certainly haunted cottage and now have a few curious letters from its former occupant to translate, and followed all this up by barely escaping with my life from some massive, unseen monster emerging from the Mist.” Even with the various illegal ventures edited out, it was quite the assortment of tales. “I have also,” she added, “been preparing for auditions for Faram’s Mass oratorios, which is not nearly as entertaining, but I suppose one cannot play all the time.” She sipped at her wine before adding, “There will be more work than any of us know what to do with, once winter comes; there’s nothing like dreary weather to have people begging to be entertained.” Though hopefully he could find some sort of stage that did not have him busking out in the cold. She did worry about him sometimes, but he was green yet. There was only so much she could reasonably offer him in the way of work that wasn’t strictly legal -- for now, she trusted him to deliver her messages, but if she required backup on a job she almost certainly called Aud. Still, perhaps she might think of something for him, before the weather turned, especially considering Aud’s current situation… Setting his drink down, Jak gave Ari his full attention as she recounted her tale, wide eyed and obviously thrilled by what she had to say. His face fell a little as she went on to talk about the winter weather and what it would bring, but he kept his tone cheerful, "Wait. Go back to the giant scorpions. ...and the half-naked corsair." “I really need to introduce you to Captain Wil,” she said with a shake of the head. “He defies description, really. He gave me a ride to Ordalia, and then we decided that he might as well stay, and, well, let us just say that we both are old enough to have known better than to wander into the desert after drinking, so let that be a lesson to you.” She gestured with her wine glass, added, “The scorpions did not fare as well as we did in the altercation, and we did find the treasure, though it was rather underwhelming. He didn’t wear a shirt to the desert, either, so I suppose it would have been odd had he worn one to the ball. I actually think he may not own a single one,” she mused, “now that I think of it.” "A half-naked Corsair Captain who doesn't own shirts…" Jak echoed, grinning from ear to ear, "I think one of my sisters had a book like that, once. None of them would own up to it being theirs, though." Downing the rest of his drink, he knocked his mug against the table and laughed, "That's amazing, though. A real life adventure." Casting a brief glance out over the dancefloor, the young man watched the flurry of limbs and movement for a few moments before turning back to Ari, "You know, if you ever need someone to carry your treasure around for you, I'm your man." “Written by Violet Saint Clair, no doubt,” she said with a giggle. “But the real life version is better, I assure you -- though he’s rather hard to understand at times, but then, I suppose it adds to his charm.” And even Violet Saint Clair didn’t write romances about shirtless corsairs and wide eyed Mages’ Guild councilors, but that was Wil and Merri’s private business and not something to be aired in public, at least, not until Jak had met the two of them. “Definitely remind me to introduce you the next time he’s in town,” she said instead. He had been gone a great deal lately, but she had hopes that he would winter over in Emillion and not someplace warm and far away. “He may just take you up on that offer of carrying treasure around, too -- I do not get my hands on it nearly as often as you would think,” at least, not the kind one found buried in far-off places, as opposed to the kind one liberated from well-guarded safes, “but I do not think he knows how to go without adventure for longer than a few weeks, and you wouldn’t be the first fresh-faced young protege he’s taken under his wing, though I warn you, don’t fall in love with him.” Her expression said she was teasing, although there was some truth to her words, too. Wil did have that effect on people. “I’m afraid I don’t have any treasure for you today,” she said, seeing this as the perfect segue and lowering her voice to a murmur that ensured he would hear her but those surrounding them would not, “but as I told you over the network, I do have something that’s come into my hands that you might be able to take care of.” She reached under her sash, the motion of her hand hidden by the table, and tugged the envelope down and out from under her blouse in one smooth motion, passing it to him under the table. “If there’s an answer,” and there would be; it was a negotiation yet, not an agreement, “I do believe the sender will pay to receive it, as well.” Jak had been about to argue that he didn't fall in love with random corsairs… often, at least, when Ari turned the conversation towards work. Trying to turn his thoughts away from airships and adventures and instead focus, he reached out for the envelope beneath the table, subtly tucking it into his belt. "Does it need to be a speedy delivery?" He asked with a grin, already anticipating a trip up onto the District's rooftops, "It's a clear night out, so I could probably do it tonight if you needed." “I wasn’t told,” she said lightly. This particular job wasn’t urgent, so she really didn’t mind one way or another. Still… “I am certain no one would complain if it were done sooner rather than later. I daresay it isn’t too far.” The name and address on the envelope belonged to a woman who lived in the Bazaar District; she, in turn, would deliver the letter to her master, for heaven forbid Lord Erroll permit a courier from the unsavory part of town near his pristine garden, whether or not he was planning on paying someone to rob his rival in the Parliament. Ari wondered how many of the people who ended up hiring her realized that they had, at one point or another, already been her victims; she had seen the inside of Lord Erroll’s estate on two separate occasions in the past, and she had been an invited guest neither time. “But,” she said, “that is for later. Send me a message if anything interesting happens,” such as Lord Erroll’s inevitable reply, “but for now, I do believe it has been entirely too long since you’ve asked me to dance.” She took another sip of her wine and told him, “You ought to remedy that, lest I start thinking you don’t like me anymore.” "Well, if that's the case," Jak replied with a laugh, already pushing himself up out of his chair. Moving briskly, he stepped around the table and was at the young woman's side before she knew it, bending forward into a theatrical bow whilst extending his hand to her, "Would you do me the honour of showing the crowd how it's done?" |