IceAndWave/ConartistCheatsAndCrooks

Con-Artists, Cheats and Crooks

In which games are played, bodies are weapons, and temptation is acknowledged...

The 15th Day of Resplendent Fire, Realm Year 763

Venia knocks on the door again, toying with the end of her scarf to defuse some nervous energy. She is no longer sure if not feeling frozen solid is good or bad. The idea was never to get acclimated... oh, well.

Sian opens said door a crack, then a bit wider when he sees who it is. "Come in. Sorry if you came earlier... had some business to attend to."

"That's fine. It's not like this is especially important." She steps in, unwinding the scarf and hanging it on the coat-rack, soon followed by for her, a surprisingly light coat.

A muffled voice comes from the bedroom, "Who is it, Sian?"

Sian shakes his head a little, and calls back. "Venia. Sorry... we'll keep it down."

Venia lowers her voice, lips quirking up in an amused smile. "Recovering after the honeymoon?"

"Ah... heh. Not quite. Post-question bliss, yes, but the actual event won't be for a while yet."

"Mhm. Well, congratulations anyway. When you get around to it, tell me, and I'll arrange a party for you."

"Thanks." He snuffs a few lights so Aia can sleep, leaving a lamp on the small table for them to see by, and gestures Venia to a seat as he takes his own.

Venia does so, somewhat self-consciously taking a more modest pose than usual. "There's two specific places I'd like you to check on."

"And they are?" He pours them a drink each, reaching over to grab the bottle and glasses off the desk.

"The first is a pretty small brothel and gambling den. It's not the actual shop that is incriminating, but any ties to the group that operates it. The second is a fair amount of Gosul's employees seen in Greycove and Hood dealing with rather unsavory characters." Venia sniffs at the drink. Red wine.

Sian sips his before responding. "May as well try for the first. Hood is difficult to find sometimes, and Greycove is a fair way away."

"The last is bureacratic. I'll see if Cassia is interested in pulling some files for me."

"From where?"

"Gosul's offices, a couple of other places. His caravans never seem to be hit, for some reason. I'm going to see if there's a consistent pattern in the reports."

"Mrm. Thought you didn't want to involve her?"

Venia finally sips at her drink, rubbing at the slight lipstick spot on the glass with her sleeve. "Before I knew whether or not it would be worth it. If even two of these turn out true, it is."

"Hope you know what you're doing."

"I am arranging the downfall of someone I don't like. I've done this since I was... probably longer than I can remember."

"In a country you knew, with far more resources at your disposal." He looks at her evenly.

"There's a plan B. Nobody is in any real danger here except Gosul." Venia pretends to take a great interest in the state of her fingernails.

"Mrm. And your plan B is?"

"You won't like it."

"Even more reason to tell me. An incentive to make this work."

"There's about 5 people that need to die to touch off a war in the underworld. I can do it in two days." Venia says, "Warn a few people beforehand, invest well, pick up the pieces."

"Mmm. You know Asura would kill you, right?"

"No, she wouldn't. She has people for that. Besides, she gets warned, and she gets to make a show of cracking down on the criminal element."

"Good point." Sian sips his wine again, then sets it down. "I don't particularly like fighting, so... when would you like to go? Now, tomorrow?"

Venia blinks. "Why am I going?"

"Because you're the one with all the information?"

"I'm also the one who sticks out like a sore thumb."

"So get rid of the lipstick and elaborate clothing. Everyone here knows me, too."

Venia shrugs. "Fine. Just don't complain to me when it gets uncomfortable. Meet you there?"

"When?"

"It's a late-night house of ill repute. When you can get done explaining to your fiancee you're taking a Cynis to a cathouse, that's when."

Sian seems more amused by the snark than annoyed, getting up to go inform Aia of this in rather more flattering terms.

Venia finds something to wipe the lipstick away with, carefully stacking her jewelry on the table before stripping out of her dress.

Sian returns at this moment, averting his gaze despite having seen it all before.

"So, what's the plan?" Venia considers a moment, and then tosses the padded bra at him, crossing her arms against the chill.

"Well, unless you have some more information, we bluff our way through until we find someone who looks like he knows what he's doing. Then we go past him, and find who's really in charge. The usual."

"Not that. The details of how we're going to get to do such. I'll obviously need to borrow something of Aia's."

"This should be interesting." Sian opens up the wardrobe, and presents the clothes to her. "As for the details? We make it up as we go along, really."

Venia picks a couple of pieces out, tugging them on. "Sounds about right. And a coat, too."

Sian gestures to her right, where a couple are hanging.

Venia picks the simplest one, drawing it on tighter than normal to still accentuate her form. "Done."

"Not bad." He shuts the wardrobe.

Venia looks askance at the hat he soon rounds up. "Oh, dear. You aren't thinking what I think you're thinking..."

Sian grins evilly at her.

Venia pinches the bridge of her nose. "Well, it's not like I'm that far from it anyway at this point... but the class is insulting." She closes her eyes to remember the 'Hey, everybody, look at my ass!' walk, and practices a moment.

Sian finds himself watching said lovely butt, and has to look away. "No insult intended. It is the most logical setup."

"Sure, sure. Remind me to give Aia some lessons later."

"Ouch. No thanks."

Venia chuckles. "Why not? She has the hips for it."

"That's what I'm worried about," Sian grins wryly, before taking Venia's arm and heading out into the city.

An hour later, raucous laughter and thick smoke spills out of the open door and windows of the house of ill-repute that fronts for the largest criminal organisation in Tideholme. The smoke is heavy, thick with the smell of marijuana and other, less wholesome, substances, further evidence of which is the small pile of unconscious citizens, tossed out on their asses by the local enforcers.

Squeals and giggles emanate from above and one of the "workers" is poking out of a second floor window, her whole body shaking rhythmically from the attentions of her current client.

Venia picks her way through them on entirely too-high-heels, holding onto Sian's arm less for balance and more for supposed safety.

Sian is not opposed to this. He walks rather more steadily, looking for a place to sit that isn't covered in something unpleasant.

The two men on the door are large and burly, obviously employed more for their physical than mental qualities. They watch as the pair of Dragon-Blooded approach, one of them eyeing Venia appreciatively. "Lookin' fer sumtin'?"

Venia preens a little, but makes it clear she's got an escort for the evening. At least for now.

"The boss of the place, if you don't mind. I have some... wares, he might be interested in." He slides the arm about Venia's waist.

"Looks mighty fine," the man who looks like a semi-civilised ape says, "But we's got loadsa girls. Whut she got that's special, huh?"

"What's she got that isn't special? Look at her, man." His hand slides up a bit, and he squeezes her breast to demonstrate. "You won't see firmer flesh than that in this Direction, I can tell you now."

Venia whispers in Sian's ear, then slides out from under his arm. She sways over to the one who didn't speak and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss after a moment's thought. She steps back when he falls over and manages to avoid the spray of mud, assuming a coy look. "I can kiss other places, too."

Sian grins at the man still standing. "Gonna let us in now?"

"Woah, yeah. Gowanin." The man waits until Sian & Venia are inside before trying to shake his companion awake.

Sian turns the grin on his companion when they're through the door. "Nice work."

"Mhm. You can buy me a drink now." She makes a face.

"Done, and I'll run you a nice warm bath. When we get out of here, though." He wanders up to the bar.

"Can I help you?" the pretty and barely-clothed girl behind the bar says to Sian.

"White Crush. Two, please. And your name." Sian smiles winningly.

The drinks arrive in short order, the glasses mostly clean, "It's Sparrow."

"Sparrow, nice. How's things around here tonight?"

"Busy", Sparrow replies, "As usual." A loud grunt from someone at the bar some feet distant calls her away to deal with the customer.

Venia tosses hers back, sighing throatily as it burns down. She returns to scanning the interior of the place.

The interior of the building seems given over to the consumption of substances of varying legality and participation in various games of chance. Several varieties of cardgames are being played, as well as a dice-game that has lots of people yelling and laughing.

On a balcony to one side lounge a number of girls, all remarkably pretty and wearing clothing that does little, or nothing, to hide their bodies. One gets up from her seat with a rough-looking man and the pair take the stairs up to continue their transaction.

Sian makes a mental note of her name, and turns around to scan the place himself, sipping at his drink. "Seen anything?"

Venia nods at the dice-game. "Feel like making some extra spending money?"

"Mhrm. Been a while since I played, though..."

"I imagine you'll remember all the old tricks." She digs in her small purse and pulls out a nice mirror pendant, taking a moment to put it on and arrange it in the center of her cleavage.

Sian cannot help but admire said cleavage for a moment, but downs the remainder of his drink and starts off towards a table.

The dice-game has about twenty people gathered around a large round table with a three-inch lip. The dice themselves are twelve-sided, and three of them are thrown at a time, with a moderately complicated scheme determining winning and losing combinations. The croupier stands aloof at the far side of the table, his eyes on everything and everyone except when he rakes in the house winnings.

Sian watches this for a while, arm around Venia again, trying to recall the most profitable odds for this sort of game.

Venia flirts a bit with the closest eye-candy, silently amused at how the game slows in response.

Sian hails the man when he thinks he's ready, putting down a mild sum.

The croupier pushes a pile of chips in various shapes and colours over to Sian, matching the money spent with otherwise-useless tokens. Shortly it is Sian's turn at the dice.

Sian weighs them for a moment, then holds them up to Venia's lips with a faint smile.

Venia blows on them, lightly lashing a corner with her tongue to further skew the odds.

Sian grins, and with an expert flick tosses them across the table.

The dice skitter across the table before settling down, "Two. Four. Eight," the croupier calls, "Caster wins." Some more chips are pushed over to Sian and the dice move on.

Sian looks rather pleased with this.

Venia is as well, bouncing slightly at his side.

Over the course of the next few minutes several other people throw the dice, most of them losing their stake. A couple win, however, and the dice make their way back to Sian once more.

Sian puts a little more money on the line for this, again weighing them carefully before tossing them out across the table.

"Pair-eight, caster wins again," the croupier pushes another small pile of chips over to Sian.

"Not bad." He rakes them in.

The players at the table thin down, losing their money and leaving with nothing. But the number of people around the table doesn't change much, a crowd gathering spontaneously - a feeling of electricity in the air.

Venia leans deeply over to chat with the eye-candy's friend for a moment, carefully shaking the hidden hearthstone loose and concentrating to purge the poison from her system before she settles into the taller woman's arms. She pauses a moment before going up on tiptoes for a kiss just as Sian rolls again.

Sian catches a glimpse of the dicegod as Venia turns, addressing it quietly and promising a sacrifice if this dice roll goes well. He tosses the dice out just as the kiss ends, their rattling across the table finally drawing people's attention back.

The crowd gasps as the dice come to a halt, and then bursts into wild cheers, "Tr... Triple-three!" the croupier calls out loudly, "Triple-three, caster wins once again!" And a pile a chips roughly four times bigger than those Sian has already accumulated is pushed over the table towards him.

Sian manages not to look too full of himself, giving Venia a squeeze for her help.

Venia grins. "Maybe the dice like the show. Try again, dear?"

"Anything for you." He grins, and the dice go out again, and his pile of chips just keeps getting larger.

Venia occupies her time with her new friend, and leaning on the table to display the mirror and a pair of other distractions, waiting for the boss to arrive.

A small group of men, larger and uglier than the croupier appear from the crowd to whisper into his ear. The conversation, while short, appears urgent and ends with a nod. "Last throw," the croupier calls and hands the dice to Sian.

Sian eyes the men calmly, and then the dice, sensing the slight difference in weight. He looks at their reflection again, considering. The god within these new dice is different, twisted and mean-spirited, snarling in his dreamless sleep.

He hrms at this, hefting them for a moment, before betting roughly half of his pile (despite the gasps of the crowd). Their weight fixed in his mind, he hurls them precisely, watching the pattern as they click and bounce around the table, along the exact paths he intended. He hopes his calculations were correct.

Venia sighs sadly, and consoles herself with the blonde woman, deciding to see if she can follow a true Cynis kiss.

The gasp that explodes from the crowd silences everything else in the bar as the croupier says, in a near-whisper, "Triple-three, again. Caster wins." His face ashen and covered with a sudden sweat he pushes a huge pile of chips over to Sian. The crowd gathered around looks at him aghast, just as one of the men who spoke to the croupier moments earlier taps Sian on the shoulder and whispers,

"We need to talk. Now."

Sian smiles smugly at them. "Just what I was thinking."

Venia looks over at Sian and breaks from the kiss despite the unhappy sounds of her partner. "Do you need me?"

"Sadly, yes. I'll buy you a new friend later." He offers his arm.

Venia offers her apologies and slips under his arm, snuggling into his side possessively.

The man who wishes to speak to Sian, while not as inhumanly large as the two at the door, has the air of someone intimately acquainted with violence, and the crowd parts before him as he leads Sian & Venia out of the game-room.

Sian follows calmly, of course.

Venia pouts at having her fun interrupted, putting that special attention-grabber into her walk.

Leading the pair out and up some stairs, he knocks twice on an unremarkable door, and a quiet voice calls, "Enter." The door is opened, "You first."

Sian lifts an eyebrow at this, but does enter.

Venia obviously follows after.

Sitting at a small desk beyond the door is a small dark-skinned man, with two very large guys behind him. He gestures, towards the small couch against the wall, "Have a seat."

Sian does so, after scanning the couch briefly.

Venia settles in Sian's lap, resting her head on his shoulder and perhaps co-incidentally hiding her face from the small man.

"The pair of you have, in the last hour, cost me a great deal of money. Two triple-threes, I'm told," he leans forwards, "Now I find this to be a remarkably unlikely thing to have happened, so I ask you - how did you do it?"

"Luck, of course." He rubs Venia's side idly, as if out of habit. "That is the only way you can get a result, right? No cheating involved, from either party."

Venia snuggles a little deeper into his side, nibbling on his earlobe.

Sian smiles at this, entirely at ease in the otherwise stressful situation.

"Luck. Right. The problem with claiming luck is that it doesn't get you that second triple-three," the man stands up and walks around to the other side of the desk, "So I ask you again, how did you do it? And please, don't fuck me about."

"I'm a good throw? The mood was right? What do you expect me to say?"

"I suppose it doesn't really matter," he says, "The more important question is - Why are you here? You're not my usual clientele and I've certainly never seen her before."

"Passing through. Tideholme is a big city, lots of travellers. The place caught my eye."

Venia nips Sian's earlobe a little.

"A possible story, if it weren't for it being completely at odds with what you told my men on the door."

"Not really. I have merchandise;" he squeezes Venia again, "and this place looked like the place to sell it."

"And you decided to try and bankrupt me... why, exactly?"

"As I said... it was luck. I intended to bankrupt you with this lovely thing, not the dice."

Venia smiles over at the man, preening a little.

"And what special ability does she have that makes her worth such a price? I have a number of beautiful girls working for me already."

Venia perks up, "You want me to show you?"

"Feel free to demonstrate, pretty one."

"See? Cynis-trained, for one. Naturally shameless, for another... certainly hasn't ever turned down a request of mine, and I have varied tastes. Beautiful, still young..." He looks at her face, eyes apologetic. "Perfect slut. What more do you need?"

Venia grins, "Two of me."

"Well, true."

Venia gets up off his lap, and sways over to one of the two standing men. She looks him up and down, pressing herself suddenly to his front. "On him?"

The owner nods.

Venia tugs on the man's collar and leads him over to the desk, laying him out and climbing on top to unbutton her shirt. The rather distracting motion clears her to settle her hearthstone back into place, and she smiles at the owner, tossing her shirt to him and posing a little for his benefit.

Sian settles back to watch, arms flung over the back of the couch.

"Nice," he smiles.

Venia laughs happily, bending down to plant a deep kiss on the guard, rocking her hips back and forth as she holds onto his face. She rises up shortly with a pout, slipping back to reveal the slack-jawed guard and the stain at the front of his pants. "Not fair." She slides into the vacant seat at the desk. "Maybe you'd like to try? I promise, I'll be very very bad."

"An interesting offer, but I will pass, thanks," he smiles, "I wouldn't want to pass out in the middle of the busiest part of the night. Anything could happen."

Venia pouts again, a fetching sight. "Then was I impressive enough for you? I don't think he wants me to try again." She nods at the other guard, though does size him up consideringly.

"So," the owner of the house turns to Sian, "What price were you thinking of asking for her?"

"Make me an offer." He smiles disarmingly.

Venia slips out of the pants and steps out of them, the sheer fabric of her underwear showing the final result of the tattoo she bears coiling along one leg. She presses herself up against the remaining guard, smiling at him. "Hey there, big boy. Think you can last longer?"

He turns to look Venia up and down again, "Were you thinking a limited contract, or something more permanent?"

"Limited, for now... I'm happy to work out the details with you."

The other guard looks down at Venia, "What do you think, little lady?"

"Half a silver talent per month, and I keep three-quarters of her fees."

"If all you want your customers to do is look, that'd be fine. Touch is going to cost a bit more, I think."

Venia considers it, sucking idly on a finger before slipping her hand down his pants. "I think you want to try either way." She tugs at his hair and pulls him down into that same deep kiss, biting the tip of his tongue to accelerate the poison. She wipes her mouth as she supports him, pushing him back to slump in the corner. She flicks a bit of blood off her fingernails, dropping to her knees beside the guard, hoping Sian's negotiations

The house-owner haggles in a seemingly good-natured and relaxed fashion, the price and conditions increasing slowly, until he turns around and notices that both of his guards are now unconscious. "What the...?"

Sian steps up, casually grabbing the back of the man's neck and slamming him forward into the desk, repeating the action when he attempts to speak again. Eventually he slumps unconscious onto the desk.

Sian dumps him into the chair, and offers Venia her shirt. "Nice work."

Venia takes it, slipping it on and going to lock the door. "Half a fucking silver talent a month. Ridiculous."

"Rifle through his stuff, see if anything worthwhile's there. We can rouse him shortly."

"Anything for the lady." Sian starts to hunt through the desk and files, scanning papers quickly for relevant information.

Sian waves a few of the pertinent papers at Venia. "This what you need?"

"Yes. Take them. And wake him up, too. We need to cover our tracks, and I don't feel like burning this place down."

"Mhrm." He locates some alcohol from a cabinet, splashing it on the man's face.

"... muh? What are you..."

"We're going to talk. Make the right decision, and make some money for your trouble. Make the wrong decision, money won't be troubling you again."

Sian sits on the desk, taking the back seat and letting Venia talk.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? You won't live a week after this."

"I have an excellent idea now that I've read your papers." Venia smiles darkly, "I'd worry more if you weren't going to help, and you are."

His eyes narrow, "What do you want?"

"We're going to give you the money from the tables, and a little extra back. We want you to keep your mouth shut for a couple of weeks. Keep running your mediocre establishment, keep making money, and you won't be dead or shut down when it's all over with. Fair?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Mhrm. Now, the crux of the matter. What assurance can you give us we won't wind up betrayed here?" Venia stretches out catlike on the desk, considering him.

"You're not human, are you? Either of you?"

"You say that like being Exalted is a bad thing. I'm hurt."

Sian just smiles again at him.

She reaches out to touch his face, nails lightly scraping his cheek. "Not only do you trade with the Dead, you insult us on top of that, and after we made such a fine offer."

"Maybe one of your subordinates would prefer running this place instead. Did you see any on the way in that looked promising? Maybe the tart behind the bar?"

The man's eyes widen and his face pales, "Oh gods... That's not me, that's that fat bastard Gosul! He's in with the people who own this place, I just look after it and hold onto his records."

"Do you keep copies?"

"Copies? I don't like keeping them here at all. Why would I have copies? If anyone found out about those I'd be dead!"

"Make some. I want them by the end of the week." She gives an address to have them delivered to. "Sian? Anything you'd like to add?"

"Clean up the place, will you? I don't know about you, but I don't want to walk through pools of urine when I'm looking for a girl." He shakes his head slightly at the man.

He nods vigorously at Venia and Sian both, "Yes, of course, I can do those for you."

Venia slips down off the desk to slip her pants back on, making sure they're appropriately tight in back. "Give him the money, and let's go. The guards will be fine an an hour or two. I'm sure you can think of a nice, noninsulting cover story."

Sian looks regretfully at the sack of chips, but dumps them on the desk.

The proprietor looks at the chips, "Thank you."

Venia pauses a moment to compose herself, shifting back into the perfect slut mode, then waits silently at the door for Sian.

"Now be nice, or I'll win them all back again." Sian warns, while he remains sat at his desk, a large bag of chips in front of him.

Sian takes her arm as they wander out, holding her not quite as close as before.

Venia looks disappointed, but doesn't argue.

Sian inhales deeply as they get outside. "Much better."

"Mhrm."

Sian starts to walk off. "You okay?"

"Just fine. About what I expected."

Sian looks at her to check her expression. It's about the same as it was inside, though her eyes are rather clearer. He draws draw her close, now that they're outside, sliding his arm about her waist and starting to walk.

Venia closes her eyes, leaning her head on his shoulder. It's a rather surprising gesture from her of all people.

"Palace is probably closed now... you have somewhere else to stay?" The streets are mostly silent, which is normal, given how late it is.

"I could sneak back in."

"If you like. Descant probably has a few rooms free, if you feel like something more legal."

"Mmm..." She offers no further comment.

Sian sighs, and leads her towards the inn.

Venia is silent most of the way there, unable to really help the way she's pressed up against him.

Sian manages to catch Descant as the man heads off to bed, getting her a room near his. "Go on up. I'll be there in a bit."

Venia nods, kissing his cheek absentmindedly before she does.

The room is nice. Sian is indeed in after a bit, a bottle of wine in hand. "Want that bath now?"

"Later. It'll be nice before bed."

"Not sleeping yet?" He finds some candles, lights them, and pours a couple of drinks.

"No." Venia takes her drink and sips on it, tossing her hearthstone on the table with her other hand.

"What is that, anyway?" He sits, eyeing it a bit.

"Makes me poisonous."

Sian gives her a look halfway between annoyed and worried. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You tell me. Normally you're full of wry comments, but you've barely said a word since we got out of there."

"Just been thinking, that's all."

"Anything you'd care to tell me?"

"Maybe later. Let's just enjoy the wine for now."

Sian accepts this, as she's obviously not going to open up.

Venia goes through a bit of the wine before she works her way out of the pants and unbuttons the shirt again, laying back on the couch. She swirls her finger in her drink.

Sian watches quietly, not commenting.

"Mostly, I had never planned to stay out here. But now I find myself getting used to the cold, and the accents, and making long term plans."

"Is this a bad thing?"

She shrugs. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"If it helps at all, I think you're doing quite well here."

"Am I? I have no money, maybe two friends, no job, no way back home, and more than enough enemies. If that's good in the North, I really am worried."

"I don't have much money myself. I have a string of contacts, but few friends. I have more enemies than I can count." He takes a sip of his drink. "Different standards, I guess. I have freedom on top of all that, which is all I really need."

"I didn't ask for freedom. I had a nice place to stay, people that were fun to spend time with, the occasional interesting job, and more ways to gild my cage than you can count. Freedom has me cold, lonely, and pulling a desperate gambit just to get anything done."

"Sorry. I was only trying to help. I have little idea of what the Isle is like."

"Warmer, richer, and nastier than here." Venia drains her drink, closing her eyes.

Sian watches her again, trying to find some sort of solution for her problems.

"How about that bath, Sian?"

"Sure." He finishes off his own drink, and heads into the bathroom to run it.

Venia eventually passes by him and hangs her underwear off the first button on his shirt, slipping into the warm water easily. Bubbly, but not too much.

"Want me to go?" Sian asks.

"Why would I want that?"

"Privacy. You might be getting sick of me." He offers a weak smile.

"You've seen it before. Two and a half times. Why should I worry now?"

"Just thought I'd ask." He drags in a stool from the other room, and retrieves the wine, closing the door behind him to keep the heat in.

Venia takes the glass when it's refilled, sinking down into the warm water a little deeper with a sigh.

Sian is again silent, taking the occasional sip of his drink. He doesn't look at her much, regardless of her comment.

"Do I have some sort of rash I'm not seeing? Ugly spirits cavorting on my chest?"

"Not that I know of. It's just polite not to stare."

"I appreciate it when people speaking to me look at me. I've been ordered around by people too busy to look at me more than enough."

"We weren't speaking, last I checked. Just sitting."

"True," Venia smiles, "We should probably remedy that."

"Got a topic?"

"Made plans for the wedding yet?"

"Only vague ones. Something small, probably just me and her. Whitewall, if possible."

Venia nods. "Sian? Before you do..." She pauses, trying to think of an appropriate word. "I want to sleep with you. We've been close before, and it hasn't happened. And as we both know, temptation is strongest when it's something you've never had."

Sian blinks, not expecting this at all.

"And I think, unless it's the wine, that goes for both of us."

Sian is quiet for a moment as he takes this in. "... I am attracted to you, that I'll admit."

"I would expect so! And I also know that you seem devoted to Aia, and I don't want that coming between you two. I may have a moment of weakness myself."

"I like to think that my control is strong enough to resist outside temptation."

"Are you willing to bank something so important on it?"

"Not really. But who's to say that actually doing it won't give us a taste for more?" He offers that weak smile again.

Venia sighs. "Get undressed and get in here, would you? I'm tired of craning my neck to see you smile that 'Something is wrong and now Venia has to figure it out' smile."

Sian reluctantly does so, piling his clothes neatly on the cabinet then sliding into the bath across from her.

Venia passes him the washcloth she was using. "Better. And it'll keep the water warm longer."

Sian lifts the cloth, offering silently to wash those portions she has difficulty with.

Venia turns, and slides against his front, leaning forward and resting on her knees. "If you're uncomfortable about this, I can drop it, I suppose. I may be looking at things too seriously now."

Sian starts to wash her back, with cloth and warm hands both. "It is just somewhat difficult. I am trying to be loyal to her."

Venia mmms softly, back arching just a little as her head tilts sideways to expose her neck. "I know. I want you to be happy with her. but I think you were considering it after my performance earlier, and that was without Essence."

"To be honest, I was worrying about you." He rubs her neck for a bit, before moving back down.

"Oh?"

"Mhmm. I don't like seeing people unhappy, especially friends. To me, you didn't look that happy acting like that. But I suspect I am just thinking about how I would feel, and assuming that you would too."

"It is not my favorite thing to do, but it was useful, and worrying about me like that is sweet. Thank you." Venia arches back tightly and wraps her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek again and possibly accidentally giving him a fine view.

Sian just smiles a bit, trying not to look. "None needed. Like I told you, if I didn't care, I'd be a different person."

Venia nods a little, settling down to rub her cheek against his.

Sian rests his arms about her lightly, not saying anything.

"Do you think any less of me now?"

"'Now?'"

"After what happened earlier. Dragging Cassia into this. Enjoying your hands on me, even though you're engaged."

"No. Not at all. I am still determined to make you smile without that bitterness that is always there."

"Hrmph. Impossible."

"Might be, yes. But I'm stubborn."

Venia nods, and simply turns into a kiss, starting light and tentative. It again speaks volumes that the cynis is nervous about this.

Sian responds similarly, but his nervousness is less apparent.

Venia smiles, though not without some bitterness, reaching down to draw one of his hands up to her chest and closing it around a breast.

Sian just rests his hand there, not yet ready to be particularly active.

Venia closes her eyes, and just responds to Sian, half of her hoping she fails and the other half a bit impatient.

Sian runs his other hand down her side slowly, and kisses her again, watching her reaction.

Venia shivers, unused to not seeing what's going on. She doesn't withdraw, though, turning a little to give him a better view of her.

Sian sighs softly, and leans back, waiting a moment whilst she processes this fact. "I'm sorry, Venia... I can't. It feels too much like betrayal."

Venia nods, slumping down into his lap. "I tried."

Sian gently pulls her into a hug. "None of that... I'm not having you blaming yourself."

"It is me, though." Venia sighs, "I was too arrogant years ago. I was too frightened recently, and now I can't even bring myself to seduce you."

"I consider that a compliment. That you think of me as someone you shouldn't manipulate."

"Sometimes I want to, sometimes I want to strangle you, and the rest of the time I just want you to hold me and make me feel better."

Sian continues to do the latter, or at least tries. "Feel free to strangle me at any time."

Venia sighs. "Thank you for the wine, the bath, and the room. I'll pay you back for the last later. Goodnight, Sian." She doesn't have any trouble slipping out of his arms, and wraps a towel around herself, pausing a moment to remember where the bed is.

"No." He follows her out, grabbing her hand. "I'm not letting you go like this."

"Go like what? I have done nothing but speak the truth."

"And you feel terrible, for some reason." He looks down at her. "If you really want to do this, just ask Aia."

"I don't feel terrible, Sian... just sad that things have turned out like this. It's regrettable, but it seems that like the cold, I can get used to even that." Venia smiles, just a faint trace of bitterness that even her acting skills can't hide. "I need the rest anyway. Cassia needs to be briefed about Hood, and I need to start hunting a dress for my visit to Asura."

Sian shakes his head, not willing to let her drop it. "Don't be like this... accepting, defeated. Tell me what I can do to help you."

"I don't know. I came here thinking about the best way to leave. Now I'm thinking about staying. Even more so than my one hearthstone, the most important thing I brought with me from the Realm was that you learn from everything." She shrugs, "I'll have time to rail at the fates later. For now, I need to learn how to survive here."

"I'll help you. With whatever you need." He looks at her seriously.

"I know. And that's why you should go snuggle into bed with Aia, be warm, and be there when I need you in the next couple of days."

"Are you sure? Nothing else I can do?"

"Not a thing."

Sian sighs. "I hate seeing you like this, Venia."

"You'll get over it. I have." Venia slips her hand out of his grasp and heads to bed, discarding the towel along the way.

Sian wanders over and tucks her in, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Good night."

Venia nods at him, and rolls over, staring at the wall and listening to the door close.

Aia is awake and sipping on a cup of something steaming when Sian walks back into his room at the Hearth's Song. She looks up from her book and smiles slightly, "Welcome home, my love."

"Hey. Thought you'd be asleep by now." He moves over and gives her a kiss on the forehead.

"I was, then I woke up and you still weren't here." She kisses back.

"Sorry. Things took longer than expected." He strips his shirt off, and sits down beside her. "Good book?"

"It's OK. I borrowed it from Descant. It's a romance novel," she makes a self-mocking face.

"Lots of steamy scenes, I bet." He smiles.

Aia blushes slightly, "A few."

"Have to read them to me sometime, I think." He nips her ear affectionately.

"Mmrr..." Aia wriggles and turns to kiss him back.

Sian indulges in this for a short while, slipping into bed as he does. And also feels a brief twang of guilt, as he imagines Venia alone in her room.

Aia snuggles up against Sian, resting her head back on his chest. "Mmm..." she murmurs, "Better."

"Much." He settles his arm around her, just gazing at her body and features.

Aia rolls around to face Sian and smiles, kissing him, "You know... since we're both awake..."

Sian smiles back, just slightly, but it is not altogether happy. "You're not the first person to ask me that tonight."

Aia's brow crinkles, "Oh?"

"Mhmm." He runs a finger across said lovely brow, trying to smooth it out. "Venia."

Aia looks at Sian seriously, "Venia asked you to sleep with her?"

Sian nods to this, not trying to cover up in the least. "Yes."

"Did you?"

"No. But I was tempted." He gazes at her quietly, just as serious as she is.

"How badly?"

"More than a little." He briefly describes the bath.

Aia closes her eyes as she listens, not opening them before he's done. "You keep running into strange women, Sian," she smiles wryly, "Has this happened elsewhere?"

"Only the ones I've told you about before. Oriel, and Asura." He sinks down a little.

She leans forwards and kisses Sian softly, "Poor Sian, always meeting pretty women who want his body." She smiles softly.

"For those two, yes. But Venia... wanted more than that, I think."

Aia's ears fold back, "I'll ask her to leave you alone, then."

"I don't know. It's... difficult." He shakes his head, not really able to fathom it himself.

She hugs Sian and kisses him, "Why is it difficult?"

"Because..." He pauses, and sighs. "She's lonely. This place is very difficult for her to live in; she doesn't have any of her friends and allies around to help. And I hate it when people feel like that. Hate it when anyone is hurt. I want to help her, but... helping her in this case means betraying you."

"Poor Sian," she strokes his face softly, "You're too kind for your own good."

Sian gives her a grateful smile at this gesture. "It's just hard. Sorry."

Aia sighs, "I'll be honest, I would be hurt if you did sleep with Venia. I accept that your job might sometimes... need you to do these things, but with Venia..." She shakes her head, "But I won't forbid it."

"I won't. Hurting you is not an option, ever." He looks at her seriously.

"Thank you," Aia smiles and kisses Sian deeply.

Sian returns it, of course. "I'll only ever sleep with someone if you approve. You are my wife, after all, or will soon be."

"I know you will, Sian. I love you."

"Love you too." He squeezes her gently. "Sorry for killing the mood."

"It's alright. I'm glad that you told me, and I understand." She slides in close to Sian, wrapping her arms around him, "Good night, love."

Sian kisses her on the temple, and closes his arms about her as well. "Goodnight, Aia."