capeandcowllogs | in and out of stages

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in and out of stages

WHO: Zevran (

niceassassin) and OPEN.
WHERE: Around the City.
WHEN: The night of Saturday, May 14th.
WARNINGS: Terrible references to sex. Anything else on a case-by-case basis.
SUMMARY: Zevran goes out to try to make up for the lost time during kid week. Come help him out, join him, or try to foil his plans: whichever is your fancy.
FORMAT: Whatever you prefer!

By noon on Saturday, the memory of the past week is clearly stretched out in Zevran's mind like a poisoning victim, and by late afternoon, he can no longer tolerate it. It has been a very long time since that kind of vulnerability and sentimentality was so fresh in his recall. Oh, yes, moments of it escaped during his journeys with the Grey Warden, but they were mostly controlled. This, this is different and unwelcome.

Fortunately, by the time dark is falling and the artificial lights that seem so excessive to him are coming on around the City, business as usual has mostly picked up again--at least in some places. The denizens of the City, newly freed from the spell, will be seeking contact with other adults. So the most popular of social places are scrambling to be ready for them--be they parks or clubs. Zevran's usual haunts are still getting their feet back under them: the gaming stores, the fantasy bookshops, they remain closed for now. But he's determined to take a positive view of things (all the better to forget how frightened and deluded he was before the spell ended). This is an opportunity to try out new grounds, to find out if the less nerdy demographics in the City are just as willing to enjoy the company of an attractive elf with a foreign accent and a ready smile.

And so begins this night's adventure: drifting from bar to pub to club, idly attempting to seduce the bouncers outside the latter, investigating the people within. And maybe keeping an eye out for anyone interesting outside, as well. It is a moderately cool night; he has an excuse for a jacket. Which means he can bring his dagger along, just in case violence enters the equation. He is not averse to that.

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He shook his head and glanced up from his drink to her, smiling only faintly. "Magic is normal to me. Killing dragons, not so much, but I have done it. They are absolutely terrifying but a fair deal for the treasure," he added. "At least, that has been my experience. I don't think we will ever have the same definition of normal. But it's not so bad, is it? I am looking forward to ruining other people's definitions that way."

"There are plenty of ways to get treasure without killing anything more than the ego of whoever designed the security system." Because that's where her mind went from what he said. "And you don't have to be from another world to enjoy ruining definitions."

"That doesn't sound to my taste," he confessed. For a moment, he looked like he might say something a little more serious, but it passed, and the shadow was gone from his eyes. "Think of all the training I would need to understand this modern world's security systems! And could you even find an instructor unattractive enough for me to concentrate on the lesson? I think not."

She looks at him a bit curiously, but doesn't press him on what he hadn't said. "Considering I'm probably the best teacher for that..." She gives a bit of a wry smile, making it clear she isn't actually fishing for a compliment here.

The simple fact was that a crowded bar was probably not the best place for him to talk about how the only thing he knew how to build a life around was killing people. Maybe later, maybe in another place--maybe not at all. "Yes, you see, that does pose a problem. Perhaps you could teach me about where you got that wonderful outfit I saw you in before. I would not mind being slightly distracted for that."

That got a grin. "Stole it from this country's military." Or the one back home, but same diff. "Their security was fun."

"Now that sounds like an excellent story." Zevran looked briefly wistful. "Do they make a lot of leather like it? I keep finding things that look like leather, but...they are something called plastic. Or a type of it, anyway. It's upsetting."

"Plastic's cheaper. All a lot of people can afford. You just have to know the right places to shop." Selina does, of course. It's not hard when you have money.

"My purse is not very full here," he confided. "No one is hiring in my line of work. At least--no one I wish to work for." Because there was always someone looking to pay to have their dirty work done...but he'd grown pickier about his employers, recently.

"A different line of work, perhaps?" Her tone was perfectly neutral and she certainly liked him well enough. But she wasn't much of fan of the assassination thing.

He flicked his gaze sideways and half-smiled. "What different line of work do you see me pursuing, then?" His question was innocent enough (insofar as anything he ever asked was), but there was a peculiarly sad undercurrent to it.

"Not sure I know you well enough to be handing out career advice." She studied him for a moment. "What do you like doing. Besides the obvious."

"You know all there is to know about me." He turned to meet her eyes directly, his voice low. "I am a murderer and a lover, and I enjoy both, but I take care to treasure my freedom. There is not so very much more than that to discover."

"So am I if you want to get technical. Hell, so are a lot of people." She takes another sip of her drink. "One of the earliest lessons I learned was what you do to survive doesn't define who or what you are."

"A nice lesson." He didn't sound very impressed. Actually, he sounded a bit distant. It wasn't really a lesson he was ready to learn, himself. He was getting there, but--he wasn't so close yet. "What of when it does?"

She looked a bit distant herself. Memories she didn't want springing up, perhaps. "Then you aren't fighting hard enough."

His voice was casual. "Or perhaps it has been a very long time, and there is no longer anything left to define?" He smiled at her, at odds with the subject. "Let us not depress ourselves, Selina. Surely there is something better to discuss."

He gut a long steady look in exchange for his smile. Really, she hadn't expected a topic like leather clothing to end up here. Usually it ended up other places.

"Pick a subject, then."

He hadn't expected it to end up here, either. It wasn't something he tried to talk about. But even when he did...throughout the conversation, his tone had been far more matter-of-fact and casual than grim. At worst, a little resigned.

"Mmmm." He thought for a moment. "What are the most interesting places in this City? I should learn such things, if I am to be a proper upstanding citizen."

"I've always been a fan of museums. One of the best ways to get a feel for a city." And to find things to steal, but she was playing nice these days.

That stalled him. He blinked. "Museums? Really...?" He thought about it for a moment. "Do many of the works of art feature naked people? That might do it."

She grinned despite herself. "Some do. Is that really your only interest?"

He looked, briefly, almost trapped. Zevran didn't like having to admit to caring about more than sex and violence. "I...enjoy fine materials," he finally said carefully. "Gold and silver."

She looked a bit curious at that reaction. "Museum of Natural History," she replied. "They have some beautiful displays."

Which she usually visited when they were closed.

"Hmmm." He allowed himself to look honestly thoughtful for a moment. "Where I'm from, such things would be kept in nobles' private collections, displayed only for bragging rights with other nobles. Unless they were religious relics--then perhaps the Chantry might have them."

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