Legend of Ransera

The Velvet Cabaret
16 Searing 121

Someone had already come to relieve him, but Aurin just sat at the bar with a nice concoction of whiskey, chocolate schnapps, fortified wine, and cardamom bitters. It burned, but it was only at first and then it just warmed the throat and the belly like a friendly hearth fire. He would smile and wave where necessary, but those who were currently on duty did a fair job at fielding most of the attention so those who were not could relax a little before finding their own beds or other delights.

Perhaps he used a bit of his trick to blend into the crowd, a subtle bit of Masquerade. He certainly used his other trick to watch how the energy of the crowd actually flowed. Though it was no longer his priority to locate and deescalate trouble, he was management and so it was always at least a priority. One of the new girls, a fine dancer, came and asked him a few halting questions and he tried to set her at ease, though arm her with what she needed to know to thrive here in what could be a party, but could also be shark-infested waters.

She smiled and walked off, a bit more confident than before, which drew eyes to her. Confidence was like that.

He listened because he always listened, but he was waiting for another presence to make itself known. Aurin couldn't actually go home to seek his bed until Torin returned with his new key. It had been a good gift, he thought, access to Aurin's home, trust, and the chance to do a bit of metalwork specifically for Aurin. The lad did enjoy being of service, which helped Aurin to master him properly. Some people needed someone to follow. Aurin didn't normally think of himself as a leader, but he was taking to the role suddenly.

There were plenty of conversations within earshot and he was a past master at dividing his attention between several, passively listening until something caught his interest and focused his attention. It might make for a good test of Torin's perceptive skills to have him try to suss a bit out before they went off to whatever sins awaited them that night.

A smirk slid over his face as he turned his head toward the door, aware of Torin's presence before he was even visible.

At Torin's look of caution, he reached out and gently encircled his wrist with his hand and pulled him close, whispering in his ear, "Just a trick of mine to blend in," he assured him. "I might look funny because you were actually looking for me so your eyes keep trying to slide past me and it wars with your intention to see me. Just relax and your mind ought to make peace with it."

He nipped Torin's ear.

"Find the quiet within you and then let your ears hear everything around you," he said quietly. "Don't judge what you hear. Just let it pass through your mind. When you hear something that connects to something, your mind will note it. Otherwise, you are just letting information pass through you. A part of you will never forget it, even if you don't actively remember it."

His hand brushed Torin's backside.

"If you can tell me someone's secret, I'll take you home with me and we can wrestle naked."

Aurin liked to think he wasn't just a teacher, but a fun teacher. He almost promised he wouldn't distract Torin with any sort of molestation, but that wouldn't be any fun and if he was going to play his masquerade trick to blend in, he might as well enjoy doing things that nobody would notice when normally they would. And he didn't think Torin would mind him making it more difficult to concentrate and, if he did, his whines could be quite amusing.

"You have five minutes to suss out a secret. If you can't, I'll make you take me home and then take yourself home." With the motivation provided, Torin should have no problem focusing. After all, the tip that might lead Aurin to acquire some interest in the theater next door had come from the innocent blacksmith.

It was nice to be able to rest his hands on Torin's hips and rather lazily let his gaze wander around the room. He could see how his touch titillated the blacksmith's aether, which was gratifying, though he made himself keep tabs on those conversations he had been monitoring, not worried that bold gazing would attract attention, screened as he was by a bit of magic.

They were still tricks to his mind, not proper magic. Proper magic was huge and awful, but he could do a few things that were useful, and that was enough. In theory, he might teach Torin the trick of sensing; he remembered how it had been done to him, though he wanted to wait, practice, and know it better before he did so. Perhaps once Torin had time to ride out the strange sickness that would follow. They might even schedule it so he was in his new forge but not already overwhelmed with work orders as Aurin was certain he could be if he marketed himself properly. If he didn't know much about the actual arts of blacksmithing and runeforging—proper magic if ever there was one—he could at least advise on the business side of things, effectively pulling a forge into his budding keiretsu with some investment.

When Torin began to report, Aurin compared what he brought with what he had already observed himself. And now, he could also observe how Torin's aether reached out into the world, even just for mundane perceptions. It was strange to think that all life was interconnected, but the trick told him so and he knew it was a true sight.

The lord in blue's proclivities were hardly a secret among the staff of the Velvet Cabaret, but they were valued for their discretion. He spun Torin around by the hips so he was facing him. His little masquerade reached out to include Torin now, so the wheat-haired young man ought to see Aurin clearly now. He smirked.

"Sounds like you and the lady in pink have some things in common," he noted drily. "It would be best you keep all that you have observed a secret. Some people are free with their desires here. Others want to maintain their decorum and only explore those things in private, and we are paid well for our confidence. But those secrets could certainly be useful if you needed to put pressure on them for anything..." He couldn't really think of a reason why Torin would, though.

"And I don't know if the cook is the one who hates that table or the servers themselves, but I'll have to speak with them and make sure they aren't putting our clients at risk—even the annoying ones." Of course, Lunaria wasn't above messing with annoying clients from time to time, but that was her prerogative. Aurin would most likely just make sure the staff were more close-mouthed about what they were doing if they were going to do that.

Aurin smirked at Torin all through it, though there was a warmth to it.

"Not looking to get anyone in trouble except perhaps you," he promised. "But why wait until tomorrow? I could take you home right now like you asked and we could wrestle." His smirk sharpened and he doused his throat with the remainder of his drink and slid off his barstool to sling his arm around Torin and head toward the door. They were of a height, so it wasn't awkward. They were both broad-shouldered, though Torin's continued to put on bulk from his work at the forge. If they were to wrestle, Aurin was going to have to fight dirty.

Good thing he always did.

Under the aegis of his Masquerade trick, nobody paid them any heed. But he paid all heed to those around them; just because their eyes slid off the pair like water off a duck's back didn't mean he wasn't always aware of his surroundings. His ears plucked bits of information from out of the air until they were out in the alley behind the Velvet Cabaret and walking toward his cottage. Summer nights could still be brisk this far north and he held Torin close. If he teased, he was amiable enough until they reached his door.

Then, with little warning, he shifted his weight and shoved Torin against his front door. It wasn't hard, but it was abrupt. And then he leaned his hips against Torin's rear, effectively pinning him to the door. It wasn't violent enough to be considered unarmed combat, perhaps, but it was either a prelude to that or foreplay. When he kicked Torin's feed into a wider stance and dug his hips into Torin, it might have felt a bit more like the latter.

"Are you going to unlock my door," he growled into his ear, "or did you want me to unlock yours right here where people might see?"

The next morning, Aurin woke up early to piss. He was pleased to have the day off, though, because that meant he could climb right back into bed with Torin. When the apprentice had his own forge, he wasn't going to need a furnace. He was one. That made living in Kalzasi's climate all the more comfortable, though. He dozed for a while, then rolled over to spoon the man, reaching under the covers to do things that would most assuredly wake him up.

"Breakfast," he demanded when he heard an appropriate gasp. Then he rolled onto his back and tucked his hands behind his head.

"Then I suppose we could wrestle properly since you want to know how to defend yourself, or me." It amounted to the same thing in the end. And the wrestling they had done the previous night was fun, but wouldn't stop an assailant.

He settled comfortably while Torin stoked the embers of the fire for hot water and heat. Aurin wondered if he would continue to want to serve when he became his own master, if he would become more independent once he got his feet under him. If he did, that would be fine. Relationships changed and even if Aurin wasn't the best at acknowledging relationships with titles, he recognized that this was one. There was a pang in his heart that Arry didn't feel comfortable with their friendship as it had been, but it had never been Aurin's intention to trap him in something he didn't want—from the very first, he had advocated for Arry's freedom.

But time would tell how things turned out. Perhaps they would find a new, happy equilibrium if things panned out for Arry and his minstrel.

In the meantime, he rolled over to watch Torin do things naked. It was strange, but with his trick, he could See how Torin's aether left a mark on the aether of the room. He rather liked the idea that it would take far longer for Torin's presence to dissipate than him leaving the cottage.