She’d watched the entire affair ticking over like a well-oiled machine from the other side of the room, hands folded in front of her, dateless and silently watching Audrey – no, Alys’ – presentation by Genevieve.
The smallest twinge, then, right where her heart ought to be. But she’d easily swept it aside. Ofelia Zhou was no noble, though she found herself at these affairs more often than a non-guildmate might. She watched, and listened, and once the collective gasps and pearl-clutching had settled back into the buzz of conversation, she finally relaxed. People flocked around Alys like chattering magpies (and was he here tonight?—yes, she thought she could see Redwald over there with Yukimura). Once the hubbub eased and an opening appeared by Vivi, Ofelia stole her chance.
“Nicely handled,” she said to the countess. Both women had played their hands in getting Alys Coulombe back into the spotlight – Vivi somewhat more openly.
It was no surprise to Genevieve when Ofelia appeared at her side. A great deal of effort had been made by the information broker to reintroduce Alys, and though Ofelia’s part was largely unknown, the smoothness of the transition was in great part due to her. “It would not have been so without your help,” she replied quietly.
There was still a mild discomfort for Genevieve around the circumstances; she had anticipated paying, and Ofelia had waived the fee. Eventually, there would come a time when Ofelia would desire something - never need; she doubted that she had anything that Ofelia Zhou would need aside from information to sate her own curiosity - and Genevieve would have to pay up. She’d prefer it to happen sooner or later, but kept such thoughts to herself.
“I do hope you are enjoying yourself?”
Favours piled up like an intangible currency, marked up just as clearly as Ofelia’s more concrete gambling debts. Gil here, a favour and secret there.
“Very much so. You’ve an interesting assortment of guests here, which is always a treat to watch.” Ofelia gave a nod of the head to the nearest clump of ‘Bards’, in all their shabby (and occasionally somewhat scandalous) finery. You could draw a clear line between the two groups in seeing how they mingled, like oil in water.
“Our job is simply to set up the pieces, knock over the first, and see how it all unfolds. How the rest of this plays out, well… we’ll see.” Another look at Vivi. They were much the same age, and she was a close friend of Lea’s and Mag’s – how had they so successfully avoided their paths crossing until now?
“How did you first meet Alys?” Ofelia asked, her voice equally low, crafting a small bubble of privacy as much as possible. “If I may ask, of course.”