05-25-2020, 07:38 PM
“Perfecting?” She laughed, amused at his antics and playful in kind. “Such a bold claim.” Yet he was a particular pleasure to dance with, tuned to that indefinable rhythm as people sometimes were. Zhenya was naturally inclined to all things beautiful, and the fact he seemed neither shy nor leering with his easy lead of the moves flushed her with unthinking enjoyment. A rare delight.
“I’ve travelled some. Less than you have, I’d wager. I have particularly fond memories of Paris, though it rained much of the time I was there.” Coyness lit the depths of her expression, a tapestry of stories assuredly as long as his, though he was right about her ties too. “This city has my heart, though. Perhaps you’ll learn to love her too, if you intend on staying a while.” A brow rose in soft jest. There was a faint question on if, and perhaps some interest in the answer.
The twinkling cityscape blurred beyond the dark windows, and she pulled gently at the light as they moved; just a subtle thing at first, mixing the shadows to her own soft palette amidst the venue’s own. It was as natural to her as breathing, that slow coax of the stars from their pedestals, pulling the night around them in ethereal shimmers.
The question suggested he meant her personally, though Zhenya wasn’t clear exactly what truth he wished to charm from her lips. She laughed, but offered little insight to her own motivations if he was only using his ears. “Oh of course. Eph and I disagree on some of life’s fundamentals, but he’s exceptional at his work. If I sought to do business only with like-minded individuals I would be left very poor of choice. Pervaya will make good use of his wild ideas, I will ensure it.”
Her operators would always have every advantage she could afford them, once assured that it would not compromise them either. She did not intend any kind of moral high ground when she openly disparaged Ephraim’s ideals, nor did her tone suggest it. Morality was a pinhead to be balanced upon, to be sure, but Seven would not have to dig very far to learn the sorts of lawyers Pervaya leaned its weight on. Sometimes dangerous men needed such protections, even if she did not always approve. But it was all to one end: they were not the soldiers Ephraim envisioned, nor would she allow them to become such.
The lights coalesced, spinning lazily, their cores beginning to pulse with the music’s beat. “Of course, for the moment wild ideas are all they are.” She winked, since Seven himself was the apparent lynchpin in all that. “And you?” A separate weave of seidr flared at his ribs, half tickle and half poke. “You seem a man who might easily become bored, and I suspect you have little need of Ephraim’s coin. Or mine.” She was not digging for the leverage Ephraim hinted at; that was a secret they could keep, unless she was given cause to suspect foul play, and Seven didn’t seem unwilling to be here. She thought he would at least see through his obligations, but she was not much interested in obligations either; she was more interested in passions. “Do you always work alone?”
“I’ve travelled some. Less than you have, I’d wager. I have particularly fond memories of Paris, though it rained much of the time I was there.” Coyness lit the depths of her expression, a tapestry of stories assuredly as long as his, though he was right about her ties too. “This city has my heart, though. Perhaps you’ll learn to love her too, if you intend on staying a while.” A brow rose in soft jest. There was a faint question on if, and perhaps some interest in the answer.
The twinkling cityscape blurred beyond the dark windows, and she pulled gently at the light as they moved; just a subtle thing at first, mixing the shadows to her own soft palette amidst the venue’s own. It was as natural to her as breathing, that slow coax of the stars from their pedestals, pulling the night around them in ethereal shimmers.
The question suggested he meant her personally, though Zhenya wasn’t clear exactly what truth he wished to charm from her lips. She laughed, but offered little insight to her own motivations if he was only using his ears. “Oh of course. Eph and I disagree on some of life’s fundamentals, but he’s exceptional at his work. If I sought to do business only with like-minded individuals I would be left very poor of choice. Pervaya will make good use of his wild ideas, I will ensure it.”
Her operators would always have every advantage she could afford them, once assured that it would not compromise them either. She did not intend any kind of moral high ground when she openly disparaged Ephraim’s ideals, nor did her tone suggest it. Morality was a pinhead to be balanced upon, to be sure, but Seven would not have to dig very far to learn the sorts of lawyers Pervaya leaned its weight on. Sometimes dangerous men needed such protections, even if she did not always approve. But it was all to one end: they were not the soldiers Ephraim envisioned, nor would she allow them to become such.
The lights coalesced, spinning lazily, their cores beginning to pulse with the music’s beat. “Of course, for the moment wild ideas are all they are.” She winked, since Seven himself was the apparent lynchpin in all that. “And you?” A separate weave of seidr flared at his ribs, half tickle and half poke. “You seem a man who might easily become bored, and I suspect you have little need of Ephraim’s coin. Or mine.” She was not digging for the leverage Ephraim hinted at; that was a secret they could keep, unless she was given cause to suspect foul play, and Seven didn’t seem unwilling to be here. She thought he would at least see through his obligations, but she was not much interested in obligations either; she was more interested in passions. “Do you always work alone?”