< Session2 | The Royal Travessians
pigeon The Travessians head towards Wolfsblood Manor, bickering vaguely about their new refugee hanger-on.
Rosemarie is very proud of having saved her first person! And also hoping that it will become clear what to do with her at some point, since logistics issues are not a huge part of her readings on how to adventure.
Hermes "So, like, how does one go about selling a slave one's 'acquired'? Just saying. I hear they go for a lot. Lots of money in it. Mom was telling me about it."
Torvar "We are not going to sell her as a slave."
Rosemarie "We're not--what he said." Rosemarie then looks briefly chagrined at agreeing with Torvar about something.
Hermes "I didn't say we were. I was just *wondering* about it. Sheesh. Have some curiosity, Tor."
Rosemarie "Only EVIL PEOPLE sell slaves. Or, um, exotic foreigners, I think? Not us, though, definitely."
Torvar "Curiosity is something I try to AVOID."
Hermes "But, Rose, if we go to another country then *we* would be the exotic foreigners, and thus it would be okay to sell slaves. And, c'mon, let's face it, this place around here? Doesn't actually reek of the benevolent hand of a kind master, if you know what I'm saying." Hermes also raised an eyebrow at Tor. "Trust me, we know. We know."
Rosemarie "Well sure, the goblin bandits weren't kind," says Rosemarie, who doesn't know what Hermes is saying.
Rosemarie "And you avoid everything except being a JERK, Torvar."
Hermes "Hey, peasant girl, how much did you like the king and queen of this joint?" Hermes asked. He looked at everyone else. "What? It's a valid question."
Catriana "Hermes, stop being an idiot."
Hermes "Being an idiot is my most endearing quality, Cat! And you'd better watch it. We're goin' to Toby's place, right? I could be your best friend or your *worst nightmare* in that kind of situation."
Peasant Lady? shrugs. "I never really saw them. They seemed pretty good until the goblins came and killed us all."
Rosemarie "See!" says Rosemarie to Hermes. She wasn't worried, really.
Catriana sighs. "Endearing, right. How could I forget?"
Hermes "That's a stunning endorsement. I retract my criticism without reservation," he said, smiling while he said it.
Rosemarie sidles a little closer to Hermes so she can whisper to him, "I heard that Cat and Toby were..."
Torvar "What are you saying about...what are you trying to say, Hermes?"
Hermes said, "Oh, really. Oh, *really*." He nodded with Rose's whispers. Then he said over to Torvar, "I'm saying the term is 'absentee landlord'. Look around you, Tor! I mean, OK, look, this place is a pit! A filthy pit! Did you see the hovels that these people were living in? Not huts. Hovels. My garderobe back at the palace was bigger than *that*."
Catriana scowls in the direction of her family, and then steps off the path a bit to pick a pretty flower
Torvar "They're peasants. They build their own houses. They have as much space as they need, not as much as they want."
Rosemarie looks sort of uncomfortable and confused that Torver and Hermes are still going over this. "Come on, guys. Obviously Mom and Dad did a good job."
Hermes "I much prefer having as much as I want," he said, shrugging. "Hey, Cat, don't go too far, okay? There are, like, goblins around and we wouldn't want you dragged off."
Torvar "When you get older you'll understand that not everybody is as well off as we were. When I was up north with the Roaring Bear Tribe," he begins reiterating a story the rest of the family has heard a thousand times.
Catriana "Like you care!"
Torvar The moral is "shut up and be more responsible."
Hermes "Oh, ye gods, not the Roaring Bear Tribe story . . ."
Hermes "Cat, c'mon, *of course* I care." He went over to her and said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "C'mon. We'll get over to Wolfsblood and . . . things'll be okay."
Rosemarie "Oh yeah? Well when Lady Evenbright went to the troubled kingdom of Vestellia..." Not noticing Hermes and Cat, Rosemarie counters Torvar with one of her recent readings.
Rosemarie The moral is sort of muddy, but seems to have something to do with elf guys being hot.
Catriana "Yeah," she says sullenly, "Sure. Whatever. You'll just ruin it for me, I know it."
Torvar "Rose, that was in a book. I'm talking about real life here. Remember it?"
Hermes "Not if you pay me enough," he said to Cat, smiling, joking. "I'm very loyal for the right price, and Rose spends all her money on armor and weapons."
Torvar "Hermes, stop extorting from your sister."
Rosemarie "It was BASED on a true story. At least as true as your Roaring Bear thing, which by the way gets longer and fancier every single time. Do they even HAVE a secret holy bear order?"
Catriana "ha ha."
Torvar "Hey. Just because none of the rest of you ever got to go on a two-year pilgrimage to the frozen north doesn't mean you have to be jealous. If you had...I mean, if our parents had..." he stops, and clears his throat.
Hermes "Look, Cat, you can either come on with us, and . . . try to be a little . . . I dunno, we're going to TOBY'S, be like we're going to Toby's, or I'm going to tell a story with a moral." He cut his eyes to Torvar and Rose. "And some of you probably don't want that."
Torvar "I am kind of interested in finding out what you think moral means."
Rosemarie stares at Torvar for a second, her eyes big, then looks away blinking really fast and ostentatiously pays attention to Hermes and Cat. "Yeah, Cat. Wolfsblood Manor will be great."
Torvar "I'm sure it will be fun."
Catriana "Oh, sure, it'll be just great until I find out that Toby loves someone ELSE, or that he... doesn't think I'm pretty or what if I'm all covered in dirt or something it'll be terrible!"
Hermes "Well, since Torvar *asked* for it. I was out drinking at the pub with some of my friends, and the miller's daughter came in and was giving me the eye. So I'd had a lot of beer in my by this point so I go, what the hell! And my friends go, she's been with every guy in town! But I ignored them and for a week my crotch was totally *on fire*. The moral is, don't screw skanks."
Torvar "Cat. Cat, Cat. Of course he thinks you're pretty. I mean, you can't date him. He's basically a slacker, you can do better. But I'm sure he likes you."
Hermes "Cat, hey, if he does that, I'll call him out and cut him up."
Torvar "Hermes, never tell stories again."
Rosemarie gets a sort of horrified and distant look in her eyes at Hermes' story, then it sort of rolls off her like water off of a really optimistic duck's back. "You're way pretty," she says to Cat. "Anyone can see that."
Hermes "Tor, I'll make you a deal. I'll stop telling my stories if you stop telling yours, okay?"
Torvar "My stories are educational, not crude."
Hermes "Blind people, people with salt in their eyes, people whose eyes have been jabbed with sticks. Lots of people."
Hermes "Tor, trust me, what I learned from the miller's daughter was very, very educational. *Very* educational. I mean, there was just a whole hell of a lot of education there, let me tell you."
Rosemarie "Ignore him. He's just mad because there aren't a lot of beautiful girls at Wolfsblood Manor, ever since Tobias' cousin went south to marry."
Rosemarie is maybe talking slightly louder, the better to not hear Hermes' clarifications.
Hermes "I could accept rich."
Catriana "What do you mean I can't date him? I hate you!"
Hermes "For heaven's sake, Cat, don't listen to *Torvar* about *dating*. You'd be better off going to Rose . . . well, okay, probably not better off going to Rose, but still not well off at all. You should come to me about it. I'm the guy who can get you *results*."
Torvar "Cat. Listen. Do you really want to date a guy who spent three years in mage school trying to learn how to build a still? And never figured it out?"
Catriana "Yes!"
Rosemarie glares at the boys. "And who have YOU been seeing lately, Torvar? You're the oldest son, and all."
Torvar "I...but..." Torvar sputters.
Catriana "You don't understand, Toby is special!"
Hermes Hermes whispers over to Rose, "The rumor is that Torvar doesn't swing that way, if you get what I'm saying."
Hermes "You know, a little loose in the weapon's belt."
Torvar "Seven Fires and I have a long-distance relationship, thank you very much," Torvar snaps back at Rose. "It's just hard for her to get down here from the frozen north."
Hermes whispers to Rose, "Now he's talkin' about his imaginary girlfriend . . ."
Torvar "You MET her, Hermes. She punched you in the face that one time."
Hermes "Was I drunk? I don't remember that."
Hermes "I don't remember a lot of things. Man, I've been stealing hooch since I was twelve."
Torvar "Cat, I..." he shakes his head. "You talk to her, Rose."
Rosemarie starts to ask Hermes what he means, then her eyes get big and she whispers back. "Like Prince Lwylld in that tragic story about the lost knight and...? /Oh./"
Hermes laughed. "Yeah, Rose, *you* talk to her." He nodded to Rose about Lwylld, too. Nodded meaningfully.
Torvar "Probably you were, yeah. Also, she hit you pretty hard."
Rosemarie falls back a bit to walk next to Cat, glaring at the boys to keep their distance.
Hermes "Wait, wait, that chick with the . . . and the . . . oh, yeah! Right. I totally nailed her that night. Totally."
Rosemarie "Okay Catriana, ignore the guys, they're pigs when they're not being stuck-up. If Toby is special, they can't possibly stand in your way."
Torvar "Rose, that's NOT what I meant."
Rosemarie "PRIVATE conversation!" More quietly, "So you could freshen up a bit if you want, but it's okay, because he'll see your real beauty no matter what you're wearing or how long we've been walking."
Catriana discards the daisy she'd picked, now crushed beyond hope. "The guys ARE pigs."
Hermes Hermes shrugged. "I'm a pig."
Torvar rolls his eyes and keeps walking.
Catriana leans against a tree, "But I'm not the pretty one."
Rosemarie "What? No way. You're totally the pretty one."
Catriana laughs. "You've got to be joking. Or blind."
Hermes "Or poked in the eye with a stick."
Rosemarie shakes her head. "Toby has feelings for you! He gets this dreamy look on his face whenever he's watching you when you're not looking."
Catriana "Or maybe he's been watching YOU"
Rosemarie "What? Don't be silly. I have to save myself for my love..." Rosemarie sighs wistfully and without any apparent trace of irony.
Hermes "You should try hard liquor, Rose. It's easy to find true love with a jigger of whiskey in ya."
Catriana looks up at Rose, half-smiles, and sighs again, walking back to the others to catch up. "Well, I'm sure you'll find him."
Peasant Lady? wonders to herself about her rescuers.
Hermes wonders about the peasant lady. And how much she'd fetch on the open market.
Torvar The conversation continues much in this vein for a few miles, until finally Wolfsblood Manor can be seen on the horizon...
Hermes "Okay, sis, this is your hour to shine. Show them some of that famous Rosemarie personality." He shoved Rose to the front to be their spokesperson. The only way Hermes could deal with people was, after all, lies and intimidation.
Rosemarie looks a little nervous, then leads the way in her now slightly dinged adventuring finery.
Torvar The doorman raises an eye at the approaching adventurers.
Rosemarie "It's the Travessians! We're here with important news, and we've come a long way."
Torvar "Oh, yes, please, come in. And how are your parents?" The doorman smiles.
Hermes Hermes said, with mock cheer. "Dead. Yours?"
Catriana looks uncomfortable.
Torvar "Hermes!" Torvar looks actually angry.
Rosemarie looks briefly stricken, then recovers. "That's part of the news," she says to the doorman.
Doorman at first chuckles, then realizes the seriousness of the rest of the family and grows quiet. Bowing, he motions them inwards.
Hermes said, "You've always stressed the importance of telling the truth, Torvar."
Torvar "That's for me. For you I stress the importance of not talking out of turn."
Hermes "I didn't know we were taking turns, Tor. I just thought I'd get the uncomfortable shit done with all at once," Hermes snapped.
Rosemarie "Guys," Rosemarie said softly, stepping inside.
Torvar "Yeah, I'm sure the DOORMAN really appreciates that."
Torvar "Cmon, let's get something to eat or something."
Hermes "Rather than him making inappropriate small talk?" Hermes said, but snorted. "Whatever. Yeah. I haven't had a good bath since before we fought those goblins." He said to the doorman, "Also, goblins. Did you know there were goblins around? You might want to pass that up to your bosses, too."
Rosemarie "And that's the OTHER part of the news," Rosemarie sighed.
Catriana hangs back a little, seriously contemplating staying outside.
Torvar Once the doorman hands them off, the butler takes over, politely and quietly informing the family that Vladimir and Elanya Wolfsblood will receive them for dinner in three hours time, and that they have the run of the manor until then.
Torvar spends this time on a brief snack, a quick bath, working over his armor and weapons, and trying to make sure his siblings don't do anything stupid.
Rosemarie goes to get out of her armor, clean up, report to her diary, and make sure Cat is dressed pretty for dinner, in that order.
Hermes Hermes gets some wine, baths while drinking, tries to clean off his armor and weapons, and then goes lean on Toby.
Catriana lurks in the gardens, hoping nobody will find her.
Torvar Dragomir also lurks in the gardens, but bumps into Catriana and goes and finds some other place to lurk.
Tobias isn't hard to track down -- he's in his room, trying to enchant a pack of pornographic playing cards so the pictures move.
Hermes will knock on the door and step in. "Toby! Tob-meister! Toberiffic! How's it goin', brah?" He handed Toby the half gone jug of wine. "Look, man, I've got a super big favor to ask of you."
Tobias leaps up and hides the cards when the knock comes, then relaxes slightly on seeing Hermes. "Hey, Herms. What are you doing here?"
Hermes "Oh, you know, the usual. Killing, like, a dozen goblins, saw my parents get ripped apart by this total jerk, blah, blah, blah. Sorta the regular. So, you know, since our castle's been taken over by a diabolically powerful megalomaniac dragonrider, we figured we'd stop by to see how the Wolfsbloods are doing. *And* you get to help me by doing me a *huge* favor."
Tobias "What? Your parents? Dragonrider? What the fuck, Hermes? Are you serious?"
Hermes "You're missing the point, Toby. Focus. *Focus* on doing me a favor, right? Here's the deal. Cat is taking it pretty hard and she's totally hung up on you, okay? I mean, she's an idiot, but there it is. And we both know that you're not hung up on her. But this is really important. You're gonna be totally sweet with her. Okay? That's what we're focusing on. *You* being sweet to *Cat*."
Tobias "I...uh...it...Cat? You want me to be...sweet to her?"
Hermes Hermes nodded. "Yeah. That's what I want. For you to be sweet to her. You're going to be interested in her and her feelings and all that horseshit. I know it's a pain in the ass, but that's the favor you're going to do for me."
Tobias "What...what ARE her feelings?"
Hermes "Do you give a fuck?"
Tobias "Aren't you ASKING me to?"
Tobias "Also, it's Tobias," he catches up.
Hermes "Oh! THOSE feelings. Well, she's pretty sad because, y'know, the whole mom and dad getting torn apart by the megalomaniacal dragonrider. So she's sad. Probably pretty pissed off at the guy, too. I think that sad and angry cover the basic bases." Then he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, Tobias, now. Very manly."
Tobias "'sright," he says absently, hitching up his pants. Then he stops. "Okay. What the fuck is up with this mom and dad torn apart dragonrider thing? That's really...I mean...that's horrible!"
Hermes "That's it! Act like that! Like you care! She'll totally go for that," Hermes said.
Tobias "I...I do care! That's awful! What are you guys gonna do?"
Tobias looks very concerned!
Hermes "Well, some day I imagine going and finding the sonofabitch and tearing out his eyeball so I can skullfuck him to death, but I think that's more a long range thing. In the short term? I dunno. I was thinking of finding some rich woman to marry or something like that."
Tobias "I..." Tobias gives Hermes kind of a creeped out look. "Okay. Okay, you want me to be nice to Cat. I can do that."
Tobias "Hey, did Rose come too? I haven't seen her in forever."
Hermes grabbed Tobias' chin. He looked him in the eye. "Focus on Cat. Okay, are you hearing me, *Toby*. Focus on *Cat*. I've killed half a dozen goblins and you know what I found out about it? I kinna like it. The sound my sword makes as it pops one of the motherfucker's lungs. What does this have to do with Cat and you being nice to *Cat* and not paying attention to *Rose*? Well, you're a smart boy."
Tobias looks away very rapidly, and steps back. "Yeah. All right, Hermes, whatever you say, okay?"
Tobias "Listen, I gotta get ready for dinner."
Hermes patted Tobias on the shoulder. "Good lad! And, I know you're a worldly man, so if you do this favor for me, I'll be more than happy to tell you where the goblins hid the loot they got. We couldn't carry it all, you see, so there's still a lot back there." Lying came naturally to him.
Tobias "Yeah. All right. Thanks. Thanks a lot."
Hermes "You're totally a brah, brah. You don't think I won't be looking out for one of my friends? Get back." He was smiling. "You and me, friends forever, right? I just need this little thing."
Tobias looks up at Hermes, but he's not smiling. "I'll take care of it."
Hermes "Excellent. I knew I could count on you, Tobias," he said, like he didn't notice how cool Tobias was being. "I'll let you get ready for dinner and all, wash up, make yourself look nice for Cat. And when that's not enough, just remember that goblin loot that I talked about. We probably won't be back here a while, so we ain't got no use for it, but it'd be a shame if no one had a use for it, right?"
Tobias "It sure would, Hermes," he stared back.
Hermes winked at Tobias. "Great! You're just a great guy for doing this. See you at dinner." And he would retire, having done what he came to do.
Tobias lets out a deep breath, and starts getting dressed.
Rosemarie After finishing a hurried report to her diary, Rosemarie realizes there's only so much time to get ready for dinner, and goes hunting Catriana. Some servant tips her off about the garden, so she heads there. "Cat?"
Catriana hurriedly chucks a daisy chain into the bushes, upon Rose's approach. "Uh, Hey Rose."
Rosemarie "Come on, dinner's soon! Let's go get you dressed."
Catriana "I am dressed!"
Rosemarie looks her over with a critical eye, honed on years of romance novel fashion sense.
Catriana looks rather like the scruffy heroine who has her hair up in a ponytail and wears glasses, except glasses don't exist. Also she's kind of muddy and has a few splashes of blood here and there.
Rosemarie "You are, that's true. Now it's time to get you dressed for DINNER." Rosemarie hauls on her arm a bit.
Catriana "Ahhh! geez, fine." She reluctantly lets herself be dragged along by her sister, but secretly, she's hoping that Rose will help!
Rosemarie "Okay, first! You need to take a serious bath, and see if you can find some scented soap or something, because goblins are way not romantic. While you're in that--and get all the dirt from under your fingernails!--I'll find you a dress. Then I'm doing your hair." Rosemarie looks inspired. "You're going to be BEAUTIFUL."
Catriana "My fingernails are just fine!" She looks down at her hands, "Well, MOSTLY," she adds defensively. "But I guess I could use a bath.."
Rosemarie "Okay, go do that." Rose pushes Cat into the room where the bath is ready--being on a /mission/, she naturally assumed she'd be able to bring her sister in--and calls through the open door as she ransacks the available clothing. "So Toby's the one, huh?"
Catriana stumbles a bit, glaring over her shoulder, then starts pulling her clothes off and dropping them in an untidy pile. "Yeah... he's so cute, don't you think?"
Rosemarie "Definitely," Rosemarie agrees. "Although he's not really my type. And you two have lots in common, I'm sure."
Catriana brightens, scrubbing herself vigorously with the soap. "Yeah, like... like everything!"
Rosemarie "Like he was in mage school, that's good. I bet he's totally into intellectual girls." Rosemarie arranges the available dresses in order of how much Torvar would disapprove, selects one midway through, and grimly eyes the available cosmetics.
Catriana "Yeah, he's going to be an amazing mage someday." She looks a bit dreamy, and then ducks under the water to scrub her hair. Anything else she might have said is obscured by the bubbles
Rosemarie has an unworthy moment of skepticism, then reminds herself that's Torvar's problem. "And you are too, so you'll have TONS to talk about," she says instead when Catriana comes up for air. "All right, get out of there and let's get you dressed!"
Catriana climbs out of the bath, wringing her hair out, and basically scrubbing the water off herself with a towel.
Rosemarie "Okay, so guys like to feel important, but you won't take any crap from him, right? Not that I think he'd give you any, of course." Rosemarie oversees the dressing with the sort of bossiness she complains about in their older brothers.
Catriana "Right, of course." She endures the bossiness in the hope that she'll end up prettier. "I don't take crap from anyone!"
Rosemarie During the hairdressing, Rosemarie has a somewhat pensive look on her face. Finally she says, "Torvar doesn't want to think about it, but some of us are going to have to get married soon. But don't rush into anything, right?"
Catriana "Married?" She looks alarmed for a second in the mirror. "I don't want to get /married/ yet. We've got to avenge Mom and Dad first... or else we never will."
Rosemarie "Well of /course/ we have to do that first. I meant /afterward/. Just keep it in mind, you know? The family future can't exactly rest just on Torvar and Drago."
Catriana "Torv's gonna go marry that frozen chick someday - if she's REAL."
Rosemarie "Hermes said--" Rosemarie breaks off with kind of a funny look on her face, torn between gossip and the very real possibility that Hermes was full of it. "Well anyway, I'm not sure if Seven Fires ever plans to settle down around here."
Catriana "Said what?"
Rosemarie "Never mind. Look, now TRY to remember that your hair is pinned up and don't just go slugging people, okay?" Rosemarie steps back to inspect her handiwork.
Catriana turns around akwardly, reaching up to feel her new hairstyle. "I think I might tip over."
Rosemarie "And don't touch it too much, or you'll fidget it apart. Okay!" Rosemarie looked between the two of them. "We are so great, we might be able to make up for the boys and NOT totally embarrass the family in front of the Wolfsbloods."
Catriana "Alright. Let's go kick some ass!"
Rosemarie "With good manners!"
Hermes After leaving Tobias, Hermes would saunter through the manor, poking around here and there, drinking from his jug of wine now and then. He was looking for things that might accidentally fall into his pouch before they left, and he already had a number of lies that he could tell sorted out in his head if he was caught.
Tobias Oddly, the valuables in the manor seem to be mostly large and wired to the walls -- paintings, suits of armor, ceremonial weapons, things like that. There are no vases, golden trays, busts, or any of the stuff one normally expects to see in a noble house. Some jewelry might be found in Elanya's room, of course, but Elanya might be found in there too...
Hermes Hermes would look both directions, take another swig of wine, and go into Elanya's bedroom. He had a number of lies that'd work *here*.
Tobias Hermes rounds the doorframe to find Elanya staring right at him, wrapping a robe hastily around herself.
Hermes Hermes stammered, "Oh, oh, gods, I . . . oh, I'm so sorry, madame!" He bowed and tried to escape like he'd just walked into the wrong room. He looked around to see if anyone else was there. I mean, wearing a robe in the middle of the day? But he was naturally suspicious.
Hermes He uses that as an excuse to do a quick case of the place, too.
Elanya "That's all right, Hermes...it is Hermes, right?"
Elanya "Do try to be careful, though. Not every place in the Manor is safe, you know."
Hermes Hermes paused. He nodded. "Yes, yes. I'm sorry about all of this, I'm just . . . my head . . . I'm not myself, right now." He tried to get eye contact. For the first time he noticed that Tobias' mother was a very attractive woman.
Elanya There's a pretty obvious decent-sized jewelry case on Elanya's nightstand, where she's standing.
Elanya "Don't worry about it. We all have days when we're not ourselves." She smiles, oddly, with a glint in her eye.
Elanya "Run along, now. I'll see you at dinner."
Hermes Also: "Not safe? Anywhere I should . . . I mean, yes." He stood up straight. "I'll be very happy to see you at dinner. I'm sure you'll be radiant as the sun." He bowed - he was a graceful guy - and then retreated.
theButler "Dinner is served."
Hermes can't wait to get seated, because he's been eating road food and he's very hungry. He's also a little tipsy from the wine. All things said and done, he was feeling pretty good about himself.
Rosemarie "Thank you for your kind hospitality," Rosemarie says to their hosts. "We hate to come here bearing only bad news."
Catriana sweeps in after Rose, looking as regal as she can while feeling so sheepish.
Dragomir walks in quietly, well after the others have been seated; he's quiet, and his face is stolid and a little haggard.
Elanya "That is quite all right, Rosemarie. On the contrary, I'm horrified to hear of your loss and of the monsters you encountered in your travels here." She looks genuinely concerned, although Cat and Rose have the insight to notice she's feigning it to some degree.
Torvar is also mostly quiet, watching the faces of his siblings.
Hermes said, "Taking care of the goblins was a pleasure. And you look radiant. As always, madame."
Elanya "If necessary, we are quite willing to assume the responsibilities of protecting the Travessia lands from invading enemies."
Hermes hadn't even vaguely considered Travessia lands in all of this - of rule and protection. After all, he was fifth in succession so it was a virtual impossibility that he'd get the throne. Hell, he didn't even want it.
Rosemarie shoots a slightly concerned look at Drago, but she can talk to him later. She's a little bothered that Elanya doesn't seem to be taking their news completely seriously. "From what we heard," she says carefully, "there are still some goblin problems in your territory. Naturally, the Travessian lands are our responsibility, and we mean to uphold it."
Hermes On the other hand, Elayna was rich, kept herself up and was single. He said, "Hmm," to himself.
Elanya gives Hermes a smile. "You're such a sweet child, Hermes. Tobias was just telling me how much he was surprised to see you here."
Tobias looks up, gives a cursory frown and slouches over his food, then glances at Catriana.
Dragomir picks at his food.
Catriana is trying very hard not to stare at Tobias, but she keeps stealing glances his way.
Tobias essays a cursory smile. "I'm...I was very sorry to hear about your parents," he says to Cat.
Hermes shot a glance over at Tobias. "Well, he's a good friend of mine," he said, and then turned and tried to act mature and sophisticated. He sighed, heavily, "It has been a trying time for us all. I needed to unburden myself and who better than my close friend?"
Torvar Anyone eating the salad is treated to an odd experience -- their lips seem to be tingling slightly, in an unfamiliar way (not that there's really a familiar way for your lips to tingle).
Tobias takes time out to glare at Hermes.
Elanya "But of course, Hermes. How long have you two been friends?"
Torvar Both Tobias and Elanya dig into the salad with every evidence of relish.
Catriana looks down at her food, "Thanks... It's... I miss them a lot."
Rosemarie "So we won't be taxing your hospitality long--but obviously we needed to tell you what happened," Rosemarie nodded to Elanya, while simultaneously trying to keep an eye on Cat's hair and barely noticing the funny way the salad tasted.
Hermes "Oh, we've been close every since he came back from his studies," Hermes said.
Hermes ignored Tobias' glare as beneath him. He was playing to a bigger audience, now.
Elanya "Of course, Rosemarie. Will you return to your keep, then, to look after your lands?"
Tobias "Yeah. I can...that must be really upsetting."
Rosemarie shoots a quick glance at Torvar or Dragomir as older and thus more in charge. Did they have a /plan/?
Hermes And Hermes would also eat the salad. He was hungrier than a salad could fill, but he was hungry and glad to get anything at all in him. He licked his lips a bit at the tingle, and looked over to see if anyone else had noticed it.
Catriana fidgets with her dress, and wipes her lips with a napkin. "We're going to avenge them though!" she says, with forced enthusiasm.
Torvar rouses himself. "We feel that it would be best to make sure Drakhan isn't coming back before we head for home," he says quietly.
Tobias "Oh really?" he says to Cat. "That's really interesting."
Torvar "It might, of course, be necessary to appoint a temporary seneschal or guardian, while we are on our trip."
Rosemarie pats her lips absentmindedly as she finishes her helping of salad. "Right," she says in agreement with Catriana and Torvar."
Torvar "Someone we could trust to return control of our territory when we returned."
Catriana pushes the salad away and looks for something less weird.
Torvar Anyone who knows anything about salad notices that this particular one seems to have come with a surprisingly full helping of strange blue buttercup-like petals.
Hermes noticed Catriana push away the salad. He doesn't do it that obviously, but he will just wait for the next course. Though he's definitely got a sort of black cat feeling about it all.
Torvar The next course is quick to arrive -- some sort of consomme. No apparent tingling is involved.
Hermes Hermes will palm one of the flowers that he suspects being the culprit. So he can hunt down what they are later. He also looks to Elanya's and Tobias' plates to see if they're getting a bunch of the flowers.
Torvar They are -- if anything, more.
Elanya "Hm." Her eyes sparkle as she takes a sip of wine. "I am sure we could offer such services. Perhaps we will discuss it after dinner?"
Rosemarie notices the flowers, but only passingly. "That sounds like a good idea," she says to Elanya, not sure that it is at all.
Tobias "So how do you...plan to avenge them, Cat?"
Catriana "I'm going to blow his head up!" She pauses. "Well... I still have to learn that spell, but I /will!/"
Hermes avoided the politics. He wasn't even sure what was going on with the killer of their parents. He would eat the soup, but now warily, tasting it like it might be, well, poison."
Tobias "That sounds cool. I have a spell that blows things up, actually. Maybe I could...show it to you, after dinner?"
Catriana "Really? That would be so great!" she smiles, thankfully.
Tobias "Great!" he smiles. "All right, then."
Rosemarie brightens a little at the signs that Tobias and Catriana are getting along, though she's still a little pensive. "So have things been quiet in your lands?" she asks Elanya, partly out of politeness and partly because of... well, everything.
Dragomir sighs again.
Dragomir looks like he's eaten something bad -- except for the fact that he's barely touched his food.
Torvar "All right, Drag?"
Rosemarie shoots a /look/ at Dragomir--this whole thing is awkward enough already.
Elanya "As quiet as ever. The Wolfsbloods have always had a...unique approach to patrolling, but for now it seems to be working."
Hermes eyebrow raised a bit about the patrolling comment. He said, "You should tell us, Elanya, what your secret is so we can use it to protect our mutual border."
Catriana digs into her soup with slightly more enthusiasm
Elanya "Secret?" She smiles. "Why, whatever do you mean?"
Hermes "Just that your lands are always so peaceful that anything you might want to teach us - and I'm sure you could teach us a great number of things - would be appreciated by us all." He made eye contact with her.
Dragomir looks at Rosemarie sympathetically. "Sorry, sis."
Rosemarie smiles at Dragomir, only passingly annoyed and mostly worried. She hadn't thought very far past reaching Wolfsblood Manor, so she didn't realize how awkward it would be here.
Rosemarie She gave a little nudge to Catriana with her foot--go Cat!
Torvar The meat is served.
Torvar It's...very rare.
Elanya "I'm sure, Hermes," she catches his eye. "But I never discuss business at table."
Rosemarie continues to make polite conversation, saying good things about the food and such even when it's a little off.
Catriana takes a first bite of the meat and tries to hide a grimace. She steals a glance to see if Toby's meat is so rare too.
Dragomir looks over at Torvar to see what he's doing with his dish.
Hermes says, "I doubt that we'll have too much pleasantry to discuss, Lady Elanya. I mean, with all that's happened." He wasn't too worried about rare meat. He was quite hungry and meat filled a person up.
Torvar digs in, although admittedly, living with a barbarian tribe in the frozen north can give you a taste for rawer meat.
Dragomir "I... don't feel well," Drago announces quietly, to no one in particular.
Torvar "What's wrong?" Torvar looks concerned.
Dragomir grimaces. "My... stomach..." He winces as if in pain. "I don't think I can eat anything," and he pushes his plate away.
Torvar "All right. That's all right, I think we're nearly done here. Did you want to get to sleep?"
Torvar "Or stay and talk?"
Rosemarie "It's been a really long day for us," Rosemarie says to Elanya with another concerned look at Dragomir.
Elanya looks worried as well. "Perhaps we ought to adjourn, then," she says, and claps her hands. "Would you -- " she refers to Torvar and Rosemarie -- "care to join me in the sitting room?"
Elanya glances at Hermes after saying this.
Hermes didn't know what to make. He decided to interpret it so they were all invited. "Of course. I, for one, find all of this discussion fascinating."
Hermes saw the look in Elayna's eye and raised his cup to her a bit before drinking. He said, "I'll see that Dragomir is take care of." Which would leave Tobias free to make time with Catriana. He was feeling very smug.
Elanya whispers in Hermes's ear as they walk out: "You're cute, kid, but tonight's not your night. It's...the wrong time of the month, put it that way." She grins again, showing her teeth.
Rosemarie nods to Elanya's invitation and follows her to the sitting room, giving Cat's arm a brief squeeze as she gets up.
Hermes would whisper back, "You can't stop me from dreaming about you, though." He's catch her eye until she was out of sight.
Tobias is meanwhile inviting Catriana more or less politely into his room.
Catriana "I... I really shouldn't. Maybe the garden would be better?"
Tobias "Uh...sure, I guess."
Tobias leads her into the garden, instead! He finds a nice romantic spot, with a swing or something.
Catriana smiles, picking one more flower as she heads to the swing or something, tucking it behind her ear. "Just look at the sunset, isn't it lovely?"
Tobias "It sure is. But...not as lovely as you."
Catriana blushes, "Do you really think so?" Her eyes are huge as she looks up into his, so full of hope.
Tobias briefly considers his options, then: "Yes."
Tobias leans into her, putting his arms around her...
Catriana does not notice his hesitation, and blushes again. She closes her eyes, leaning into Toby's arms
Tobias kisses her.
Catriana hesitates at first, remembering Rose's advice, then kisses him back
Tobias holds her tighter, then tighter, then, suddenly, his fingers are claws, digging into her back, tearing her dress...and the mouth on hers is suddenly filled with canines.
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