Logs:Poaching
| |
|---|
| |
| RL Date: 30 June, 2015 |
| Who: Lilah, Cendon |
| Involves: Fort Weyr, Bitra Hold |
| Type: Log |
| What: Lilah goes to Bitra to poach and finds so Cmething else instead. |
| Where: A gambling den in Bitra |
| When: Day 20, Month 2, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
| Storyteller: Rose/ST |
 |
| The small 'hold' is the type that pops up in every Interval, constructed of wood on one of the crossroads across Pern. This hold, however, caters to a very specific type of clientele, with free-flowing booze and cards and a rougher crowd. It is certainly not the type of crowd that one would expect to find any weyrwoman, nevermind an Acting one. That is likely why Lilah does not wear her knot, though she is clad in those leathers that mark her distinctly as a dragonrider, for whatever measure of protection that extends her in a place like this. Yet, the red-gold hair and the questions after anyone looking for employment, it doesn't take long for someone sharp of mind and sharp of eye to send a messenger off to Lord Cendon without alterting the goldrider to what they know. Currently, she sits at one of the tables, cards in hand, as she plays very carefully to only remain with her own coin. Firelizards are handy creatures, particularly when trained, and word finds Cendon quickly with a message returned that commands them to keep the Fortian goldrider there long enough for him to arrive at his leisurely pace. Entertain her. Beguile her. Let her win and then lose just enough to want to get it back. There are other issues to be managed and people to be dealt with after all, and when the Lord finally arrives, he is looking as neat and proper as ever, the gleam of his boots seeming to never have touched the ground. He enters and stands by the door, accepting a docket from what passes for a steward here, then slaps it back into the man's chest and saunters over, taking his time with the scenic route with this table or that person, never speaking but always keeping Lilah in sight. It is rather brazen, the way that Lilah offers the dealer, in the middle of Lord Bitra's territory, "I am sure that you know how to manage an establishment like this. But when will you get the opportunity?" She even smiles, a soft thing that is more charming than her usual gestures, as she flips her cards over on the table. And as Cendon watches, it is obvious that no one has ever taught the goldrider the skill of being aware of her surroundings at all times for even the slightest change, or at least not in a way that has ever stuck with her as part of herself, because she does not notice him. It's only once he's close enough that the dealer's gaze lifts to him that her own slides to catch on the Lord Holder. For a place like this, the dealer is a lot more charming than a gambler might expect. He favors the bartender style of dealing than the stoic, impenetrable fortress type and when Lilah speaks to him as such, the brazeness evokes a low, rumbling laugh, a crooked smile, and an appreciative once, then twice over of the way the riding leathers hug her body. "If I were managing an establishment like this, my eyes wouldn't have time to appreciate our customers as well." Cendon smiles at this, standing just at the edge of the table and catches the dealer's eye, who accords the Lord a sharp nod of awareness. It's then, when Lilah's own gaze slides up that the Bitran Holder's smile deepens and he takes the seat next to her. A few fractional mark pieces are tossed out, much to the dealer's surprise. "Has the day of better circumstances finally arrived, dear Weyrwoman?" "One could consider them better circumstances," agrees Lilah, any charm of the dealer lost to the ether at the appearance of the Lord Holder who draws the goldrider's full attention. (Poor dealer, always bound to be less than, at least in some eyes.) Caught out as what she is, now she'll offer the polite, "Lord Cendon. Fort's duties, for all that this is not an-- official visit." Those dark eyes linger on Cendon, even as her fingers pick up marks to match him and place them out again to replace the bet she lost before. "It isn't?" The man's dark eyes widen in askance, but he doesn't clarify the vagueness. Not now. "I had expected you to have visited much sooner. And yet I hear stories of visits to Benden's wineries and places across Pern, but Bitra?" Cendon feigns a hurt he does not feel deeply, well, carefully balancing the fake with seemingly genuine feelings to aim for amusing. Without asking, or because he asked much earlier, two glasses arrive, cleaner than what is usually served, and placed at the Lord's elbow, at which he passes one to Lilah. Even the rougher crowd knows to give their benefactor a good, respectful distance. "Ante up," he says, adding some more into the pot before waiting for the cards to be revealed. One of Lilah's brows curves upwards, but humor is found in the way her gaze lingers over the Lord Holder. And it is as she move to accept that glass, that she challenges in a warm question, "And do you listen for many stories about me, Lord Holder?" Again, she reaches to flick a matching bet onto the table carelessly. "I certainly have been remiss in my promise to visit--" even though, surely, it was never a promise, "But even this visit, I have to admit, is with a different purpose." "Would it please you to know that I do?" Cendon is as brazen as Lilah. He hasn't confirmed he does. He hasn't denied it. But, will it please her? "This... unofficial visit." "Yes, but I wouldn't believe it," Lilah answers with a wry edge to her words, the bare corners of her lips curving in a smile that is otherwise repressed as all of that challenge lingers on Cendon. "That you hear them-- Coincidence, rumors. Not that you listen for my name specifically." "Oh, my dear, then I won't lay it on thick with how your hair captivates the soul and your eyes penetrate deep." Cendon's smile broadens into a grin and that might actually be a hint of a wink at Lilah, but it's too quick to be absolutely sure. The cards are revealed, the charming dealer having found solace in the role of stoic bystander now, and Cendon, unsurprisingly, wins. He reaches out and brings the marks into his fold, then reaches out again to capture a curl of Lilah's hair in between two fingers loosely. "Another?" Lilah answers him by pushing the pile of her marks forward, before lifting her glass to her lips while watching for his reaction. She doesn't object at all, it seems, to the capture of her hair, since she does not pull away. Cendon doesn't react to the marks, but does release the hair, flicking it gently back into place so it wavers from light force. When he looks to the dealer he nods, but refrains from pushing out his own set of marks. A new deck is brought over and the dealer cuts it, then deals. The Bitran is silent throughout, glances at his cards, and smiles thinly. There were a number of turns Lilah worked as a dealer herself; she gives little away about her own cards and plays with a certain level of skill. Against the Lord of a Hold known only for gambling-- Well, she may not fair so well. It does not help that the cards she is dealt are only middling at best, or that she continues to watch Cendon as he plays. Eventually, she turns her cards over. The dealer winces. Cendon smiles. "If you plan on poaching someone, you'll want someone better than him," he advises, standing and balancing out Lilah's wins with a pouch of his own marks. "Next time," his voice is pleasant, in spite of the warning, and the hand to Lilah's shoulder is accompanied by the drop of his face to brush his lips against her cheek and ear, "You should come for pleasure rather than unofficial business. I will make it a point to personally show you around." This close, the tension that accompanies anticipation is hard to miss as the goldrider keeps herself still while Cendon leans in, nor is the slight flush of her cheeks. Yet Lilah's words are seemingly light where she answers, "As long as you promise, Lord Cendon, that I do not need to worry over representing my Weyr the next time I come." For all that her actions do not seem too worried about representing her Weyr this time. "That is not a promise I can grant. If you had been anyone else in here, you would be lacking ears about now." He must be joking. Cendon's rich voice is too pleasant to not be. "Have a good evening, Lilah." The emphasis on the name pairs with another brush of his lips, this time to her leathers-clad shoulder. "And you," manages Lilah simply, her gaze catching on him in a lingering thoughtfulness both for the joke before and the brush of lips now. And before it is too late, before he draws away and is gone, her fingers lift to curve against his cheek in a light gesture of her own. |
Comments
Faryn (14:10, 1 July 2015 (MDT)) said...
You'd still be really pretty without ears, Lilah.
Alida (22:38, 1 July 2015 (MDT)) said...
If Lilah ever wants discrete self-defense lessons... *Ahem* ^^
Leave A Comment