Seeker [Aurin]

The Jewel of the Northlands

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Rivin
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:20 pm
Title: Slave
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2358&p=12476
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2473

10 Frost, 122

The first season of working for the the redheaded man, as Rivin's brain still sometimes thought of the man, had been enlightening in a great variety of ways. Being sent out to gather information or watch a subject and report back on them, or, once in a while, to retrieve in formation in a physical form (letters or other documents) had also felt both rewarding and freeing. Though he could logically understand that some work was likely uncomfortable, people referring to their jobs as 'slavery' or similar no longer made any sense to the Lysanrin.

The magus, though Aurin Kavafis did not think of himself that way at all, it turned out, ran a successful business, two of them, in fact, though only the one belonged to him, and being a part of that, becoming enmeshed in the machinations was enough to take Rivin out of his own head even on the really bad days. There were times he came begging for work, and it seemed as though Aurin understood because on those days there always turned up to be something that needed doing that hadn't been there until he'd come asking.

The first time the man had handed him a pouch filled with money he'd been confused enough to ask where it should be delivered to. But no, it had been his pay. Because he was working a job and when you did that, and weren't a slave, you got paid. He did not want to say he didn't need the money, and so he'd brought it to Sivan and offered it as his rent for the basement space. The elf had been disinclined to accept the payment but when Rivin explained that they could use it for mutual living expenses and had been quite pleasured about it, Sivan hadn't fought him.

It was what one did, when one was a free person. One worked, and then paid rent or living expenses. Doing these things made him feel more real somehow, as if he wasn't simply a combination of mental and physical processes, but a person in a way he hadn't felt like he had been for a long time. Probably since around when his mother had left, or been taken.

Because he wanted to know the big picture of what the business did and was for he kept a detailed series of notes in a cypher of his own making, the key to which existed only in his own head, of all the jobs he did and his speculations on them. Rivin had no intention of revealing Aurin's secrets to anyone, and was becoming, if not fold of the man, specifically loyal to him. It had taken him only a few weeks to make the connection between Sivan's runesmith friend and Aurin's runesmith friend. A few nights spent exploring had discovered the man's home and, another night spent spying had earned him a great deal of both new information as to the nature of those relationships and significant embarrassment. These knowings were not something he would bring up to either the elf he lived with nor the human he worked for unless one of them brought it up first. The suspicion that they both knew the other one knew him was strong, but there was no need to confirm it. Everyone had their own secrets and he did not mind being one even if he did not know the reason. In fact, he found he quite liked the idea of being a secret, particularly for people he was growing to like and trust.

He slipped into the window that led to Aurin's office in the theater easily, he could do it without having to think about it at all now. His comings and goings were known to the man who made use of Semblance in ways that Rivin's study of the subject had never mentioned. The note about his next job had been waiting for him at the current little room he rented, and he'd made his way over at the indicated time. The office was currently empty but waiting was something Rivin was specifically good at. If he was lucky the magus would wrap him in an illusion and send him out into the night to be seen, but not seen. It was possibly the most freeing experience he'd ever encountered, wearing someone else's face, and some of the only time he did not feel as though he was in danger of being recaptured. Other types of jobs were good in their own ways, challenging and interesting, and he would not be overly disappointed if he was not to be someone else, that night.
word count: 806
User avatar
Aurin
Posts: 939
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:03 pm
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1041
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1061
Letters: viewtopic.php?t=3581

The keen Lysanrin could hear Aurin's approach in the personal pattern of his footsteps, along with the conversation he was having with his secretary. And Aurin could sense him before the door even opened, and Rivin disappeared from sight before the door opened as well, though hazel eyes bored through him for a moment as he walked around his desk.

"...then I will just move money around until the Theater can buy the properties outright. When we agreed to absorb Zaichaeri artist-refugees, we made a public statement and we aren't going to renege now. Set up meetings with the relevant landlords. I'll tell Yserloo so he can make public statements at his parties, maybe get some traction with other winged folks to chip in elsewhere." His eyes dropped to various papers on his desk as his secretary made notes on a pad of paper.

"You really should take some credit for the good you do," his secretary murmured to himself.

"Nonsense," Aurin said, a vulpine smirk twisting his face into a rakish mask as he looked up. "My role here is the soulless money man. Elric is the artiste. Yserloo is the noblesse oblige. I'd be less effective if people expected me to be swayed by a sad, sad story." His eyes dropped back to the paperwork, and his secretary considered him with admiration. "Send off those meeting requests and then you're free for the afternoon."

"Yes, sir," the young man said. "Thank you. Good afternoon."

Aurin waved him off, and when the door closed behind him, the veil of invisibility fell from Rivin. The man signed his name to a document, then set it in a different pile. He read the next thing, and began signing off on those things that required it. A few got notes scribbled on them and another pile instead. But he ignored Rivin otherwise, allowing him metaphorical invisibility, at least, until he chose to engage. It was less a power move—at least to his mind—than a habit of empowering the shifty young man to feel comfortable in his presence. That was how he seemed to gather lost souls: Arry; Torin; hells, even his secretary who had a sob story of his own. The fox had a certain kind of dangerous charisma about him.
word count: 387
“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions.
I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”
User avatar
Rivin
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:20 pm
Title: Slave
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2358&p=12476
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2473

The Lysanrin was used to the feeling of Aurin's magic wrapping around him now, though he could not know what new form, or lack thereof, he'd been granted unless the simple examination of his eyes would do. If not he had taken to carrying a small mirror with him so that, were the redhead feeling tricksy, he would not be surprised by unexpected reactions from others. A glance down, in this case, was enough to let him know that he did not appear to be there at all. Taking his cue from this he kept quiet and still until the secretary (assistant?) had finished with his work and departed.

The aether, tantalizing and frightful, fell away from him almost as soon as the door had closed behind the departing human and Rivin pushed himself to standing from where he had leaned against the wall.

"A good evening to you, Magus."

He realized that, to his new boss, the term was something that did not apply, but it helped Rivin remember the power Aurin had at his command, and it was, perhaps, also a little bit of teasing? The Lysanrin was trying to get better at humor, which, of all the social graces, he seemed to have missed the most in his upbringing. He had struggled, when he had realized this fact, to recall a single time he had heard Ilex laugh and found no success. His mother had laughed, but he had rarely understood why, except that it had something to do with what he had just done or said. So far, the honorific had not earned him any form of smiting, so either the man was amused by it, or he was willing to ignore it. The fact that he referred to his use of runic magic as 'tricks' was something Rivin found fascinating and almost storybook. The heroes and villains in the books he'd read for entertainment and in a (rather vain) attempt to learn about the outside world, it was the sort of conceit one might expect from one of the characters. That the stories, even those based on history, were false in almost all their details was not obvious to him, but sometimes real people did act as though they believed themselves to be from a tale.

After a brief pause in which he thought these things, and also noted that Aurin seemed perfectly comfortable letting silence linger, he added,

"I received your note and am available for what work you have." Thus far he had always been available, without delay or reservation. The work was, if not his only joy, his only source of pride. It made him feel useful again, which he hadn't realized how badly he had missed until he'd had active employment again.
word count: 473
User avatar
Aurin
Posts: 939
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:03 pm
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1041
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1061
Letters: viewtopic.php?t=3581

Aurin worked until the Lysanrin engaged with him, and then he signed his name one more time before setting the stylus aside, turning and leaning back in his chair, and crossing an ankle over his knee. Rivin went from invisible to visible to seen in the span of a few moments, and those hazel eyes bored through him, seeing and sensing, weighing and measuring. The refugee had been a good investment, adding to the portions for foxes. He wondered for a moment what sort of animal Rivin would be; there was a fox and a serpent on the logo for his keiretsu. The horns invited obvious, easy answers, but just now he got the impression of a bird—a little timid, a little alien.

Finally, his familiar smirk twisted his lips.

To his mind, a magus was some archaic sorcerer with a tower like Torin's elven lover. While Aurin was technically a witch several times over, that all felt like a calculated action rather than an identity for him. If his tricks had grown in power, that only made them more effective tools, but they didn't define him; at least, not to his mind. But he didn't bother correcting him any longer. The idea that Aurin was some powerful magus seemed to make the Lysanrin a bit more comfortable, just as his glamours felt like armor against his past.

Aurin stood slowly, not wanting to startle his employee. Then he walked around his desk, fingers curling in a lazy invitation as he took his coat from the hook and draped it around his shoulders.

"Come along, then," he said, and led the way out the door. His secretary had been quick about his work and was already gone.

Aurin had people to observe next door at the Cabaret, and Rivin was going to go with him.

"I hope you know how to seem like you're having a good time."
word count: 323
“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions.
I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”
User avatar
Rivin
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:20 pm
Title: Slave
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2358&p=12476
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2473

A part of Rivin acknowledged that while Magus was an appropriate title for the business owner, Scoundrel was equally applicable. Not in the sense that Aurin was doing anything specifically wrong, particularly not from Rivin's point of view, but if he was going by storybook stereotypes, this man was not the one the hero would have sought out for wise advice and assistance. This was the man the hero went to when they needed things they could not get anywhere else.

Now Rivin was himself a part of the structure that obtained those things, and that, though such additional personnel never seemed to be mentioned between the leather bound book covers, was a pleasant thing to consider.

When Aurin moved, he watched, but he was no longer afraid a mercurial mood might cause the man to suddenly decide to char him to ashes. When the finger was crooked he leaned off the wall he'd been up against with a smile that was just shy of feral. It had never been anything less than a thrill when his employer had taken him out on trips before. Educational, and thrilling, and enough to wash away all thoughts concerning himself or his worries. If he gave off the impression of a hound eager for the hunt, he would not have minded knowing it.

The statement was not what he expected but he did not hesitate before answering with a little nod moving his curious expression.

"I can do this, yes. I have done this for work before."

Entertaining Ilex's guests as a charming assistant, or variations on whatever similar themes the Doctor dictated had become a part of his life years before. He had investigated the Cabaret and similar establishments to sate his own curiosity since arriving in Kalzasi and while he had never pretended to have a good time in any of them, it did not seem like much of a leap.
word count: 330
User avatar
Aurin
Posts: 939
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:03 pm
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1041
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1061
Letters: viewtopic.php?t=3581

Everyone seemed to know Aurin at the Cabaret, from the employees, many of whom saw him as a guardian and caretaker, to the clients, who remembered him as the man who ensured their good time, the man who got them what they wanted and what they needed, often knowing before they did. The fox-faced man did some glad-handing, introducing Rivin to a few of them under a different name attached to a specific glamour that had a character they had built together. Between them, he murmured to Rivin about connections between people, things certain of those people could get or do for them, and points where pressure could be applied for coercion if necessary.

His little black book was all in his head, but he was sharing some of the pages with Rivin, giving him more context, more threads to see the bigger pattern of the tapestry.

After speaking to the bartender in hushed tones, he indicated that Rivin should order whatever he liked; if he had no clue, Aurin would do it for him. Then Aurin caught a buxom lass by the waist and murmured into her hair. She giggled like he was wicked, glanced about the room, then nodded to him and led him by the hand to a pair of heavy velvet curtains. Aurin leaned his elbow onto Rivin's shoulder as his eyes traced the movements of her hips, her derrière, as she pulled back the curtains to reveal a booth set into the wall. She tied back the curtains for them as Aurin slid in and tugged Rivin in as well.

This would be a good vantage point to be sure.

"The booth is yours, gentlemen," she cooed in a thrilling alto. "Can I get you anything else?"

There was an almost hopeful lilt in her voice, and when her brown eyes moved from Aurin to Rivin, she inhaled such that her chest swelled like a rising tide of the sea.
word count: 329
“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions.
I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”
User avatar
Rivin
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:20 pm
Title: Slave
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2358&p=12476
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2473

Having multiple personas around the city thrilled the Lysanrin to the point that he had, at first, had difficulty not showing his excitement inside those characters. A little effort and a concentrated desire to do well had cured his urge to be grinning regardless of what the specific persona might be doing and now he could switch between the small stable as quickly as Aurin could switch his outward appearance. The currently one was newer and he hadn't quite pinned down all of the specific mannerisms, but finding them was as much fun as slipping into them once settled.

As they moved through the crowd his mind grabbed at faces and names, attached ideas to them as he made observations and his mentor gave him other pieces to their puzzles.

Ordering drinks was something he had learned, mostly on his own, via a trial and error method wherein he ordered something he saw, or had heard someone else order, and drank it until he decided if he liked it or not, and sometimes, if his persona would like it or not. When it was indicated that he should order something now he asked for a brandy mulled wine, which he certainly liked at this time of year, and had decided that the face he currently wore liked comfort as well as to be tipsy, so it worked for both.

Watching Aurin's particular charm work on those around him was fascinating, and it was now obvious to Rivin, as it had not been before, why understanding flirtation and sexual drives in others was useful, if not paramount in certain settings. It would be a hurdle for him as he did not seem to be attracted to anyone, or at least not based on their physical forms alone, but he was determined to learn. He would ask Aurin for lessons, which would be embarrassing, but he was getting to the point with the human that embarrassment wasn't really a deterrent. Not knowing how to react was worse than reacting poorly, at least in practice.

For instance, he had no idea how he was expected to react to the serving woman making it obvious that she wanted to be admired. Aurin's response seemed to be giving her that admiration, so he followed along, leering just a bit. His smirk could be knowing even if he was not, and that was the best he could do for now.
word count: 415
User avatar
Aurin
Posts: 939
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:03 pm
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1041
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1061
Letters: viewtopic.php?t=3581

"Keep our glasses full and I'll take you home and do that little thing you like so much..."

Her laugh came out like a nervous hiccough, and the flush to her cheeks was honest. She nodded aggressively, winked at Rivin, and then walked away, the roll of her hips an invitation. Aurin watched until the growing crowd swallowed her, then turned to Rivin and raised his glass.

"Courtesans keep many secrets. Some they share." He took a sip of his drink and considered Rivin. "Do you fancy this face you're wearing?" He conjured a vision of it for Rivin's eyes only. "This is the person you are now. This is who I'm introducing to all these people, the better to get you around in certain parts of Kalzasern society. I have agents in the Shokaze's palace and in the Midden, but you take to this like a fish to water... You have the potential to swim in various ponds. And you seem to enjoy the work, as well as the pay. I understand you aren't without funds of your own, but working for me, you won't be hemmorhaging coin just to survive.

"I like that you are observant," he continued. "I like that you can collect information and maintain enough emotional distance to analyze it. I can help you with that... at least, within the realm of information-gathering and other sorts of investigation.

"And I think that you like how I can help you blend into any situation with my glamours, even hiding the magic from those with eyes for it. And if your past trails you here, I can open you a portal to another city and you can disappear there for a while." His head cocked to the side, hazel eyes knowing too much, seeing too much, and still regarding him, still observing and learning more. Rivin wasn't the only one with a knack for observation.

"Are you pleased with our arrangement so far?"
word count: 335
“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions.
I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”
User avatar
Rivin
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:20 pm
Title: Slave
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2358&p=12476
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2473

The Lysanrin made specific note of the Magus' tone, his smile, the way he held his limbs, loose but somehow projecting both strength and an offer as he spoke to the serving girl. Her response, also, he noted, wondering how long it would take him practicing to recreate it on her, or a similar woman.

The lecherous, playful smirk of a grin that was his own response to her wink he had learned by watching a male musician who had regular nights to entertain at one of the inns Rivin had come to like. The man had used it often, and to good effect, on the serving girls who worked at the establishment, allowing plenty of time to learn it. Practicing later in whatever room he was currently renting had produced a semblance on the face Aurin currently had him wearing. His own face had been, unexpectedly, more difficult to work with. It was easier to copy an expression, a gesture, a turn of tone, when the persona he was currently wearing matched the one who had made it closely. Rivin did not match the musician, but this face did.

The woman's response to him was not so good as it had been for Aurin, but it was still quite satisfactory.

Once she had departed he nodded at the new lesson he was being taught, it made sense. People talked when they were relaxed and courtesans were trained to help people... relax. Taking a sip of his own drink, trying to imitate the easy grace with which his teacher did so he said,

"I do. It gives me freedom and also..." He tilted his head one way and then the other while choosing a word, "confidence. Not just that I won't be recognized for myself, but I have built into it a character of its own. I can be this man, and when I am, he is myself. Does that make sense?"

The relaxed, easy way he could sit, speak, flirt, in this guise was obvious to one with the perception skill of his mentor, he knew.

Having known that Aurin had other informants, it was still a surprise to know that some were so highly placed. It gave him even more confidence, knowing he was part of a group with a wide reach. Even without the color changes showing his eyes, blue in his current form, shone and he leaned forward almost hungrily at the suggestions that he might have many guises, and with them, many personas.

"I am very pleased, Magus. I want to learn, I will do whatever you require of me." His words were eager now, where in there first meeting they had been desperate. His grasp of the language was growing significantly now that he felt comfortable talking to more people with a magic mask covering him.
word count: 481
User avatar
Aurin
Posts: 939
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:03 pm
Location: Kalzasi
Character Sheet: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1041
Character Secrets: https://ransera.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1061
Letters: viewtopic.php?t=3581

"Good," he said tersely, and then relaxed into his Cabaret self. Aurin had other faces and other names, other personas he used, but he had become adept at being many different people without even changing his face. "I want to know Rivin—and you should be Rivin when you are with the alchemist. You need to remember who you are so you don't lose too much of yourself in these other faces. It sounds like you are a natural-born actor. Those I have talked to, though... the good ones... they find the parts of themselves that resonate with parts of the person they are trying to play, and those become the... hm... mooring between them. They exercise their imaginations like a muscle and the mask becomes them for a while. It isn't false. The ones who don't grandstand and jerk themselves off on stage, anyway."

His eyes fixed on the face he had given Rivin, gauging his understanding. Then he took a sip of his drink and let his gaze slowly pan across the room. Aurin had a knack for looking closely at things without seeming to. And he had been playing Aurin Kavafis for so long...

"Look at them," he said. "The courtesans. You are like them. Adapting to people and situations in order to get through them safely and profitably."

Aurin was going to have to contract a courtesan to make sure the Lysanrin could fuck properly, though, because sometimes the best strategy to get through a situation safely and profitably was to stick one's dick into it. There was no shame there; Aurin had bartered his body for many things over the years. Now he didn't have to, but he knew the currency would still be accepted in some situations.

"I have an operative who works largely in Adira's Promenade, and another down in the Low-City and the Middens. I'm going to have you team up with them on a couple of things. It will give you the opportunity to become familiar with the areas, my people, and how we do things." Hazel eyes turned on his. "Do you think you are ready for that?"
word count: 367
“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions.
I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”
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