[The Crown] Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves! [Val, gf'd]

[Nikki L'Evienne]

Timestamp: 46th Melora, Spring, Era XIV
(grandfathered as it follows on from this thread )

The two women walked into the Crown Inn and Tavern, together. The first of the women, the one with long chocolate-brown hair and moss-green eyes was Nikki L'Evienne, sister to the Regent. ALthough, of course, no one knew that save her sister next to her.

This darkening, Nikki wore a deep emerald satin dress. It had tiny straps holding it up, which was a deviation from her usually strapless wear. The front of the dress was plain, although the neckline was lower than most women wore. It gathered in at the waist slightly, although its skirt was long and sleek. Other than that it was completely plain. However, the back of the dress was a different story all together - there was no back to speak of, the back only began at the beginning of the skirt. She wore a small gold chocker- necklace with a sparkling green stone at her throat and two similar green stones glittered in her ears.

As she stepped in to the Crown, walking in first with her sister mere steps behind her, Nikki turned to her sibling and grinned "Shall we order a bottle of wine and see what's on the menu?" she asked. Of course, she meant the menu for food, but her appraising glance up and down the nearest attractive man made her words sound like she meant something quite, quite different.

She turned to Val and beamed a grin, looking forward to a darkening out with her sister. Of the bodyguards there were no sign and the two women were out to paint the town red.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

It might have perhaps seemed a trifle strange for an attractive human woman such as Nikki to enter the Crown with a part-vysstichi, were it not for the fact that there was an obvious family resemblance between the two. For once, a smile was on Val's face as she waltzed in behind her sister.

Umbrosus followed next, though he simply sat down by the door to wait. He would keep a watchful eye on the pair of partying L'Eviennes, but he wouldn't interfere with their fun. The massive canine settled down on his haunches and waited for them to finish; he was patient, and could wait a long time if he needed to.

Val returned the grin that Nikki gave her. "Of course," she responded. Val didn't actually know the protocol for having a fun darkening on the town -- she'd never done it -- but she trusted that Nikki would be able to tell her. She was already conscious that it was a special darkening; in her frankly rather revealing red halter-dress, she both looked and felt radically different than usual.

"So..." A bit of mischief played in her eyes. "After we eat, what do we do next? You'll have to...have to forgive me, Nikki. I'm not the expert hedonist that...that you are, and so I'm relying heavily on you to...educate me." She glanced in the direction that Nikki had just looked. Val almost pitied any man that Nikki set her sights on; she was fairly certain that he wouldn't stand a chance against her sister's not insubstantial charms.

[Nikki L'Evienne]

ooc: ZOMG. I totally didn't subscribe to this. So so so sorry. Have subscribed now!!

"After we eat?" Nikki asked with a grin. "Well, I guess that after we eat we drink, we dance, we maybe get up to some mischief or another.... perhaps try some new places or even just, I don't know, sit and chat and torment every red-blooded male in the place with our beauty?" she grinned delightedly at Val as she sat down at a table surrounded by soft luxurious chairs, crossing her legs carefully as she did so. That done she lifted a hand to the nearest waiter and gave him a dazzling smile that would have most men on their knees.

"I wonder.. woud you mind awfully getting us a bottle of chilled white wine and some menu's? Thank you so much!" she asked, almost purring whilst she watched him carefully as he scurried off to do that and her grin deepened in amusement.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" she asked, turning to her sister and smiling."When I said that we were neighbours and took you on a tour of the Palace. Do you recall?"She looked almost wistful when she spoke, but then stopped to see what Val's memory of that time was, whether it was a good memory or not so good for her sister.

When the wine arrived she poured them a glass each, pausing to dazzle the poor waiter once more and turned, attentively, back to her sister. "What did you think of us all that brightening?" she asked, curiousity etched on every inch of her face.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Val laughed at the thought of tormenting the men in the place -- her own attractiveness wasn't something she usually thought of, though she was aware of the fact that she and Nikki were getting some decidedly carnal looks. Then she watched her sister handle the waiter with a mixture of respect and something that might have been envy. Nikki was smooth, no question about it, and watching her work her magic on men was almost like watching a master swordsman take on a class of students on their first brightening.

The question that Nikki asked wasn't one she was expecting, and her face fell a little, a somber look coming into her gray eyes. She took the glass of wine, but she didn't immediately drink it. Instead, she stared into the liquid, looking at the rippling reflection of her own face.

"I remember...I remember everything," she said at last. The ambient noise from the other patrons in the busy tavern seeped into her ears. "I was...I can't even tell you how frightened I was, Nikki. I'd taken the whole trip to Prime with Ada -- and I'd only met Ada once before that -- and then I was with Milo again, except...except he was someone important now. Not that he wasn't important when he was Consul, that's not what I mean, but...but he was the leader of the Empire, the Intendant, and I felt out of place."

She rotated her wrist, and the wine swirled within the glass. "I wasn't dressed for it...I remember that. And I was so hoping things would...would go well. But...but she didn't like me, Nikki. The moment I walked into the room, it was as if a light had been turnd off. I was an outsider...a tainted interloper...one of those inkies." The unpleasant epithet punctuated her sentence like a bowshot. "And I knew...I knew that nothing I did would ever be good enough. That my presence would always cause tension, would always be hard on Milo. I'd run halfway across the Empire, but you can't ever get away...get away from yourself, Nikki."

There was a pause, an uncomfortable pause, and then she looked up at her sister. Her eyes were wide and sad, but a small smile bent her lips. "But you...you were different, Nikki. You laughed with me...made me feel like...well, like family. And even when we went up to my room, and you stayed when everyone left, and I took off my headscarf and cried like a child, you...I don't even know. You cared about me, Nikki, and I knew that we would...that we would be friends. Not just sisters, but friends."

And with that statement, the smile on her face grew wider, and some of the sadness lifted. She raised the glass to her lips and took a swallow of the liquid inside, feeling it warm her as it traveled down her throat.

[Nikki L'Evienne]

She listened to Val's memory of that time that they met and she nodded, somberly. "I can't imagine how frightened you must have been. Milo as the Regent, as the Intendent is someone who is a scary figure, and Nana is a.... well, she's a force of nature, that's for sure!" she said, looking at Val with a small smile. And then she spoke of the real truth. Nell. Nell's feelings for Val would always be a cause for concern. Nell who could not see beyond the skin of Valanthia, could not see the person.

Nikki picked up her own glass and looked down into it for a moment before answering "Nell's loss, Val. If nothing that you do is ever good enough, then that means that she's never woman enough to see her husbands sister instead of her husbands' sisters skin. That's her issue, not yours."

Never get away from yourself? Nikki rather supposed you couldn't, although she had no real idea why anyone would want to.The young woman in front of Val was an idealist at heart, a woman who had followed her dreams no matter where they led her. Young and foolish and wrapped up in herself, that was Nikki Sea L'Evienne. But she had other sides too.

"You were a breath of fresh air to me. I was lonely, Val" she said, quietly "I'm always Milo's stupid little sister, needing protection, needing to be looked after, needing someone to keep an eye on me because I can't look after myself. I love Milo, I do, and Nellie's like a sister to me in many ways, but sometimes she needs to remember that she's not any older than me. Just 'cos she's popped out all those children doesn't mean she's wise. It just means she's a loose woman!" she said, dropping a most serious wink.

"We're family, Val. It's too important to let go, isn't it? It's all we have at the end of the brightening. We have each other. Across the Empire or in the next room, it doesn't matter. We're sisters and that means that we're there for each other every time. Every single time. So how about we have a toast....?" she asked, looking at Val with a grin of wickedness.

"Lets raise our glasses to the strength of sisterhood and the frailness of men..... and the combination of those two things leading to a most interesting darkening indeed?"

She raised her glass and offered it to her sister to clank together. After all, this darkening was theirs and they were ready to party.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Nikki's words brought Val a certain amount of wistfulness. It was nice to have her sister on her side, and even nicer to hear Nikki say that their relationship was important to her. For a moment, Val had an intense pang of longing for a world in which they could enjoy that closeness more often, in which this kind of evening out wouldn't have been a one-time special occasion, but a regular event.

But when Nikki grinned at her, she couldn't help but return the expression. She raised her glass in agreement, and then downed another swallow of her wine. Best to leave those thoughts for another brightening and instead enjoy this moment.

"You know," she said with one eyebrow raised, "Milo's always talking about you and your...erm...talents with the men. But I've never really...seen you in action. You must understand...I'm very much a novice when it comes to these...these kinds of things. Perhaps you'd...well, you know...give me a demonstration?"

With that half-joking challenge, Val leaned back a little in her chair. It wasn't something she would normally have asked, but it wasn't as if Nikki wasn't likely to do it anyway -- and it did seem a shame to miss a showcase for her sister's talents. She swirled the liquid in her glass, and waited to see what Nikki would come up with to do next.

[Nikki L'Evienne]

"Milo's always talking about my talents with men?!" she asked, looking almost comically horrified. "You are joking!? He's such a buffoon, he really is!! What is it that he thinks I am... he'd... you know, Val....."

She looked at her sister and shrugged, accepting that she was about to say what she was about to say "I've never... well, you know, been with a man in an.. intimate way. Never found anyone I wanted to go that far with, truth be told. There was Jimmy Hands, but Milo put paid to that, and there was his brother Frankie, but Frankie was a bit too quick with his fists for me to be with him anyhow.... Milo thinks that I'm jumping into bed with everyone that I come across and he just couldn't be more wrong, truth be told. "

She shrugged again and then smiled softly. "What our beloved brother doesn't realise is the difference between flirting and.... well, anything else" she said, sipping her wine gently "And believe me, the difference is small indeed to those who choose not to notice, but massive in the really real world. And honestly, Val, the first trick is to identify a target and never, ever let him realise that you were the one to make the first move. So - since I'm the expert at flirting, a talent I readily admit, why don't you pick one of the men here this darkening, and I'll see what I can do about getting us some drinks?"

She sat back and looked at Val with mischief in her eyes. If she was going to play the role, she was going to play it well and raise to the challenge, she decided. And so, let her sister choose the target and she would use her not-insignificant charms.

ooc: so sorry about the delays - and I'm not going to get any better, I'm afraid! But I'm asking someone to peer mod us, so if you respond as Val and then hopefully we'll have a victim!! I'll let you know.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Val, who had never even kissed a boy who was currently alive...or at least who was currently both alive and still human...was sympathetic, and her expression would show it. Everyone thought vysstichi girls were easy too, no matter what the facts were. She had to admit that Nikki's admission was a bit of a surprise to her, but the more she thought about it, the less strange it actually sounded. Nikki was a tease, to be sure, but in some ways it was as hard to know what was actually going on in her head as it was with her much more taciturn sister.

Nonetheless, she returned Nikki's slightly mischievous expression with one of her own. Then she scanned the room. There was certainly no shortage of available targets. Tall legionnaires out for a darkening of carousing, artists, students, and even members of the minor nobility were scattered around the Crown. For a moment, she almost felt dizzy.

At length, her eyes settled on a man, possibly in his mid-20s, at a table near the center of the room. He was dressed very nicely, in a manner that meant he was probably some noble's son or a relative of one of the more prosperous merchants. He had fairly long, sandy hair, and strong, slightly square features. He was currently engaged in conversation with a lean, slightly nervous-looking man whose fingers were drumming on what appeared to be the case of a violin or something similar. Frankly, Val thought this second man was more interesting, even if he wasn't as conventionally handsome as the first.

"Them," Val said, with the barest nod of her head in that direction. "Let's see if you can get anything out...out of them. Me, I wouldn't even...even talk to them, probably, not under normal circumstances, but I want to see if your...not inconsiderable charms can keep us from lightening our purses any further."

She leaned forward a little in her chair, hardly even sure what to expect. She almost expected Nikki to cast some sort of spell -- although, if the truth were to be known, Val was actually the one with that talent, though it wasn't well-enough developed to be of much use in this instance.

OOC: No worries. And ooohh...exciting!

[Milo L'Evienne]

If the two gents seated center stage, so to speak, were aware of the scrutiny of the two young lovelies they didn’t let on. At least one of them didn’t. As for the other, a keen eye might pick up on fingers wrapping on a violin case, briefly picking up a speedier tempo but even that evened out once he shifted uneasily in his chair. Suffice to say the source of his fidgeting was somewhat of a mystery all in all given the crowded nature of the tavern, perhaps only a reaction to something come up in conversation with his tablemate. Who knew?

While the blonde possessed an immediate appeal, come of both kindly genetics and a way of carrying himself that screamed learning and self-confidence, the other man’s appeal was a subtler thing.

He was lean, certainly, with long graceful fingers. An artist’s hands and he was dressed in loose clothing tailored towards a earthy leaning as opposed to the brighter and richer cut of his companion’s garb. His hair was dark brown, slightly wavy and pulled back loosely bound, he was wearing round spectacles that somehow emphasized rather than concealed gray blue eyes surrounded by thick and long black lashes. His was a thoughtful and distracted expression, as if even in the midst of a noisy tavern, his mind was always turning with thoughts of his own. And yet he smiled at the right times, nodded or remarked in kind when it seemed appropriate, enough to satisfy the blonde seated across from him that he was fully engaged in their conversation.

The both of them were drinking of course, the blonde a tumbler of something gold and pale, the bespectacled fellow a glass of dark red wine, and both of them having been served just a moment early by a busty waitress who winked at both before departing with a dramatic sway of her hips. Not surprising, both pair of eyes followed her departure briefly before turning back to their conversation.

peermod!

[Nikki L'Evienne]

Nikki grinned at Val and nodded. "Nice choice" she remarked, quietly. She did not get up, or move at all at first, instead she watched the two men carefully, gauging the expressions and the movements. Then, she uncurled her legs and made her way to the bar. She happened to walk within their line of sight, of course, but she did not look at them. Not at all. She walked to the bar with a soft, swaying movement and on the way there she was humming a tune gently to herself.

At her destination she leant gently, gracefully, against the deep wooden bar and waited to be served. As she did so, as she waited her expression was wistful and wide eyes, her long hair falling down around her shoulders and her eyes seeming to hold some great secret. She had practiced that look a number of times in front of the mirror and on this darkening she looked both slightly vulnerable and as though she was thinking deeply of something.

When asked what she wanted, she ordered a bottle of red wine and two glasses. These she placed on the tray provided and she then turned and walked back to her seat. Her eyes remained fixed on Val as she walked back, her graceful steps taking her close to the two men.

Certainly close enough that they would notice.

That done, she arrived back at the table and leant forward to pour herself and her sister a glass of wine. "Now, the question is, are they bright enough to take the bait, or will it involve more direct approaches" she said, quietly as she poured and then she sat back down, her expression once again arranged in a slightly lost and yet deeply thoughtful manner.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Well, Val was impressed. And, speaking strictly, Nikki hadn't even really done anything yet.

Val didn't have any idea how her sister managed to pull off that expression so perfectly. If she hadn't known that the whole things was an exercise of sorts, she would have assumed that Nikki was just a shy, vulnerable soul with a subliminally seductive walk, someone who needed a masculine presence to take care of her. It was so subtle that Val would never have realized what was really going on if she hadn't been in on the whole thing.

Then Nikki returned to the table, and Val realized that now she was a part of the act too, and so she should do her best, if not to contribute, at least to not spoil Nikki's effect. As curious as she was to see if it was working, Val carefully avoided looking over at the two men. Instead, she gave a soft smile and a nod to Nikki, and then lowered her eyes to her glass. She didn't take a drink immediately -- she'd already drunk more than usual, and she'd have to carefully measure her alcohol consumption out for the rest of the evening if she was going to avoid making a spectacle of herself. Instead, she stared at the liquid, sloshing it back slightly from one side to the other.

After doing that for a few seconds, she looked back up at Nikki, waiting to see if her sister gave her any more cues. Plus, she didn't want to miss the show. If Nikki was going to put on a display of her obviously prodigious talents, Val wasn't going to miss any of it. It was almost like reading a textbook on flirtation, except with better examples.

[Milo L'Evienne]

Suffice to say the two gents noticed when Nikki passed them by. The nobler of the pair, so to speak, went so far as to turn his head in a way he imagined was the height of subtlety in order to follow her progress to the bar. Not so the bespectacled fellow, but then again the seating arrangement had it that he’d a nice view already from his vantage. Neither, it should be added, were so ignoble as to gawk.

Sparing a second to turn round and speak to his companion, the blonde grinned while the other shook his head with a smile that given they were comments too faintly said to be heard beyond their table, could be taken for agreement, or a humored disapproval of his companions comments. But whatever Nikki was up to, she’d certainly managed to make an impression.

And when she passed by again with her tray, the blonde had opted for the good grace to turn straight in his seat first, added the notion that now he’d the better vantage for watching her stroll back to her table. The other had the good grace moreover for not twisting around in his own seat, but instead, lifted his eyes curiously as she passed. After all, she did look a bit lost. And come to think of it, once he finally gave way to temptation and turned briefly around in his chair to spy both Nikki and Val, and not at all hard on the eyes either one of them he'd admit, so did her companion.

Nikki’s journey to the bar had accomplished the act of deftly baiting the hook. She and Val, their efforts combined had moreover managed a good bite on one count, and a tentative nibble on the other. What further would the sisters do then to set the hooks and reel in a pair of likely prospects?

[Nikki L'Evienne]

Val played along with more than a little aplomb. She looked down at her glass and swirled her drink around, adding to the feeling of both of them being beautiful, mysterious and generally "good catches". She grinned at Val, the softly seductive smile with just a hint of mischief evident on her face.

And the two men were watching. She smiled at Val and leant over, whispering to her sister "Well, they've noticed, and I think that they're interested. Shall we see how much they want to play?"

As she finished speaking, Nikki nodded her head slightly, even though it made no sense in relation to what she was saying, and glanced at the two men from under her eyelashes. Although it was a subtle thing, it was something that they could see, and she whispered once again to Val. "I'm not blushing.. I'm not going to blush"

Of course, as soon as she told Val that she wasn't blushing, she did indeed begin to do that. She flushed slightly and looked at the two men demurely before she turned away, taking a gulp of her wine.

"With a little luck" she said, quietly, looking at Val carefully "They'll come over here. I'd rather that happened, it keeeps the power firmly with us. Which is where we want it. If we have to go to them its more brazen, and they're not interested in brazen. If they don't come over, I'll spy out someone who's arguing with someone else, there's always some of them, and then get close to it and nervous. It'll appeal to their need to protect...."

That said, she smiled at Val and leant forward, her face intent as she spoke "Tell me, Val, how far do we want this to go?"

That was an important question, so she thought it best gotten out of the way right now. How the evening panned out was, after all, something that she and Val could decide together and if Val wanted some male company in her bed that darkening, Nikki would do her best to provide it. However, if she wanted nothing more than flirting, Nikki would make sure that it was just that and nothing more.

After all, this was their darkening. So she waited to see if the two men would respond to her apparently quite naive attempts at flirting and come over or whether she needed to be a bit more blatant.

Nikki smiled gently, her fac