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Kella laughed with a surprising charm at Riconus's compliment, "Thank you, Sir. Let's hope the docks' men think so too, as it's a bit of a tart-ish costume."
Her crooked smile lingered a moment, "Didn't want to traipse into the city too out of character, Sir."
She glanced down at the ensemble, thinking to herself that she might have to raise the hem a little, but her ruminations were cut short when Riconus offered his hand.
Pretty as a proper lady, she rested her hand on top of his murmuring a mildly surprised, "Thank you."
For a single rosy moment, she was just going to pretend a pleasant, handsome Elf, with unseemly amounts of money was taking her for a walk on the beach. It was a pretty fiction for as long as it lasted, but nothing gold can stay.
Upon seeing her teammates Kella offered a courteous smile, but then remembered who she was dealing with. Her brief season with the old Jade Legion had placed her in the habit of being a mite social with her brothers in arms. With this lot, smiling was hit or miss, mostly miss.
Presented with an assortment of refreshments, Kella concocted a combination that spoke volumes about her personality: a bit of whiskey and a cookie. On instinct she almost put another cookie in some fold of her dress, but thankfully stopped herself.
Gads, Kella, you're not an entertainer missing meals anymore, you don't have to scavenge when the getting is good. What next? The silverware?
Interrupting her thoughts, she craned to see if Victoria was taking anything. By the slimness of the Elf's figure and the grimness of her looks, Kella surmised that she lived on air and occasional meals of others' suffering.
Settling into a chair, Kella munched at her cookie, looking more a kid being told a story than a covert operative about to be briefed. However, if she looked like a covert operative she wasn't really all that covert, was she? At least that's what she told herself to assuage doubt.
Kella chuckled warmly at Riconus's bit about favorite colors, but save that show of mirth her expression was mostly even during the sketch of affairs. It almost seemed as if she was memorizing portions as they left the Elf's mouth. Her head was stuffed with a great deal of stupid limericks and bawdy prose from her past life, it was high time she put such talents to nobler uses.
When the party dissipated Kella found herself alone in the circle of chairs, feeling a bit at odds with the others. Billiards she had lost too much money to her brother in to enjoy anymore, sleeping was out of the picture and chatting with Victoria struck her as painful. She tossed back a bite of whiskey. Well then. She was going to take advantage of a private beach and a change of outfit.
This time, she navigated the sand a little better being barefoot. The black bodice, gloves and shawl stayed the tarty dress went, replaced by a pair of gray trousers rolled at the cuff to accommodate her height.
At first, the Vagaran looked a little longingly to the gray sea as it stroked the shore, rhythmically pushing a tangled strand of kelp towards the sand. Like the Theylri, it bid her come find something in its treacherous arms, but what she was unsure. Beyond the razor line of the horizon, she imagined something glorious would raise its head from the sea, something nearer than the suns. But the ocean was silent on the matter, murmuring only the change in tide and hissing its collapse on the sand.
"What a fine view you have, Sir. It must be grand to wake and sleep near the sea."
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