rin. (buyo) wrote in emillion, @ 2013-09-04 02:23:00 |
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“This,” Ari said, crossing one leg over the other and cupping her chin in her hand as she leaned against the rough wooden plank of the beachside bar, “may have been one of the better ideas I’ve had this month.” She lifted her glass to her lips -- pineapple, coconut, rum, ice, and a jaunty little red umbrella -- and sipped contentedly. “Bless your spontaneity.” It was utterly impossible to think of winter here, with turquoise waves lapping at the shore and a large number of highly attractive people in varying states of undress frolicking in the surf and across the white sand. Even in the shade provided by the bar’s awning, it was just this side of too hot, with a slight breeze coming in from the water making the temperature bearable. The aggressive heat of the Ordalian coastline was unlike anything Rin had ever known. Her Ordalia -- the place of her childhood -- had been atop mountains. She remembered with great clarity the stinging cold of early mornings. The way the village would resemble a frosted cake every winter, snow gracing every curved roof top. The lake, frozen over into a crystal mirror. The first time Rin touched down on continental soil, emerging from Izumi’s airship to blistering, oppressive heat, the desert captivated her. And today, it still did, providing a blissful (albeit temporary) escape from the quickly shifting seasons. Winters in Emillion made her oddly blue -- Rin wanted the lazy heat of summer, or the tempestuous winds of the mountains. Nothing in between. But with the soft breeze playing with her hair, and a colorful drink in her hand, she found it easy to banish those thoughts. “You’re a genius,” she said to Ari, with an open smile. “A genius I feel like I’ve barely seen, recently. How’s Virgo been treating you?” “A very busy genius,” Ari responded with a laugh. “The guildmaster’s ball was certainly a spectacle to start off the month, and a very interesting sort of job. Otherwise, I suppose I have been dividing my time between rest, play, and thumbing my nose at the rumormongers, though it seems it is almost time to go back to work.” She sighed contentedly, then added, “Which fact we are not allowed to discuss until Friday at the earliest.” Time enough for that later, even if she liked her work. In this particular moment, she preferred simply to relax. “Let’s see,” she said, taking another sip of her drink, “shall I tell you stories about my wildly exaggerated and oft-discussed love life? Somehow, those are the only stories I’ve been asked for recently.” She gave a very put-upon -- and very fake -- sigh and asked, plaintively, “I wonder why?” “We’re all living vicariously through you, that’s why.” Said with a smile, and an almost wistful sigh -- Rin’s own love life had been unexpectedly dormant for weeks. “Is the master plan working, at least? The rumors don’t seem to have abated too much, from what I’ve heard -- but you know how easily scandalized the district is. They’ll pick at anything, until something bigger happens.” That was true everywhere, of course, but especially true in the nobles district, where gossip reigned supreme. “Well,” Ari said, “I haven’t had anyone in the guild ask me for… help with the authorities in weeks, so I suppose they have either learned that I laugh such requests out of the room or they assume that anything made so public does not meet their requirements for… subterfuge.” She shrugged. “On that front, the master plan is serving me well enough. The nobles will have something else to talk about very soon, I’m certain -- we are about due for a scandal. People have been too busy fending off monsters the size of tall buildings to be bothered getting their feathers ruffled by silly things, but I am certain that cannot continue indefinitely.” And, she thought, in only a few short weeks, Audrey would be making such a splash that the likes of Arielle Chiaro, songstress and social climber, would be entirely out of mind for most people. “Present company excluded, I have very little faith that the nobility have any way of curbing their hunger for meaningless gossip. But, since you are living vicariously through my escapades, I suppose I can tell you that the desks at Bahamut Hall are just broad enough to be useful in a variety of manners,” she added slyly. She did not bother specifying whose desk. “Oh, you’re wicked!” Rin exclaimed, leaning forward with interest. She took a sip from her tall glass before continuing: “Next to you, I’m going to look like an old prude.” She spoke with playfulness, though the words were true. At her peak, Rin could rival Ari’s exploits, but she’d been plateaued for what felt like months. Perhaps it was the sticky heat of Leo that dulled her usual spirit. This trip, and Miles’ plans, would hopefully pick her back up. “I certainly haven’t done anything worth gossipping about, lately.” “Well then,” Ari said, “it’s a good thing you have me. I’m officially calling this an intervention. What about…” she scanned the beach with a critical eye, taking in the various revelers before pointing at a crowd of young men throwing a ball around, “that one?” she finally settled. “Not the blond -- looks like he’s a little more interested in his friend’s pectorals, doesn’t seem as though you’d be his type -- but the other one, with the nice tan.” She considered him a moment, watching appreciatively as he flexed his muscles and sent the ball flying, then added, “I am fairly certain you could get him to invite you dancing -- vertical or horizontal -- even if he doesn’t speak any language you’ve ever heard.” Ari always knew how to pick them, that was for sure. Rin’s gaze followed her friend’s, zeroing in on the man in question. He was handsome, with skin made golden by the sun, and a wide, easy smile. She contemplated him as he continued the game, oblivious to the thoughts (and stares) of the two women in the shadow of the bar. Oddly, Rin was almost hesitant, and she didn’t know why. She’d never had any qualms about falling into bed with an attractive stranger before. “Very tempting,” she said, passing Ari an approving smile, eyebrows raised. “I’ll have to make him tonight’s conquest.” “Lucky him,” Ari said approvingly. Against Rin’s charms -- really, the way she moved alone -- few men who had any interest at all in the fairer sex had a chance of resisting. “To your inevitable success, then,” she said, clinking their glasses together before slurping up the last of the icy slush at the bottom of her glass. “Maybe I’ll join you -- metaphorically. That dark one --” indicating a man with a thick mane of dark hair and deeply bronzed skin who had just emerged from the surf and was now headed for the group they had been watching -- “looks rather promising.” “Ooh,” Rin cooed, “You’re right. It’s like a veritable buffet out here. So many options.” As if on cue, the game seemed to reach a stopping point (or perhaps they had finished? Rid hadn’t been paying much attention to the logistics, to say the least). The men split apart, going for their respective water bottles, and the tan one she’d been eyeing before caught their eye. Rin waved good-naturedly, and adjusted her (or rather, Ari’s) black, scalloped-edge bikini top. He seemed to appreciate it. “You girls play?” he yelled across the beach, causing some of the sunbathers between them to give disgruntled looks. Ari gave Rin a meaningful and amused look -- see, he even speaks common Valendian, it must be fate -- and stood from her stool, setting her empty glass on the bar. She smoothed her hands over the translucent green wrap knotted low on her hips and called back, “That depends on the game. I am certain we can find at least one in common.” With another grin to Rin, Ari stepped out of the shadow of the bar’s awning and set course for the group of young men and their ball. Really, they stood no chance. |