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Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:14 pm
by Vanessa Quill
Willowby Street, East End, Zaichaer
The building she had taken Anton to this time was at least not in the Knob, but it still was not upstanding enough to have been found in the West End he called home. Tucked away in the recesses far off Willowby Street was what was legally a chemist's shop. It had all the correct licenses to order, prescribe and sell any number of wholly legal drugs to a beleaguered populace. It did this through a small front office, and could have earned its owner a modest living if that were all the business that was done.
Instead, just behind the chemist's shop was an entirely unrelated lounge owned by the same man. It of course had all of the usual trappings of a lounge, the overbearing scent of smoke, calming music played semi-competently, free flowing alcohol, and the friendliest waitresses Zaichaer had ever seen. So friendly in fact, that they would gladly make a quick trip to the chemist and retrieve any prescription from the chemist's office. And if someone forgot their prescription entirely? Well that was no matter either, as there were understanding doctors on standby waiting to write one on the spot for whatever was needed.
There were no doctors, of course, merely one that checked the inventory each morning and filled out bogus prescriptions for whatever was missing in exchange for a sliver of the profits. It was a thinly veiled front, but a thin veil was all that was required. The technicality of legality was often enough to keep things running smoothly. It was often easier to exist in the narrow gaps between laws than it was to openly defy them, especially in Zaichaer.
Vanessa opened the door for Anton and led him inside the lounge. The interior was dimly lit with candles and sparsely populated. The smoke that quickly assailed the both of them was not purely tobacco though, and mixed with notes of molasses and honey. The pianist looked up from his playing when he spotted them enter, but only so he could offer a curt nod before he returned to his slow melody. "It won't be like last time. I promise." his bodyguard said as she walked him over to a rather lavish looking seating area. There were plush chairs surrounding a well made wooden table, and Vanessa dropped down onto one of the larger couches to settle in. On the table was a large water pipe with three hoses extending from the neck to allow for smoking to become even more of a social event. Around them, the tables that were full of mostly sedentary patrons. Some quietly swayed to the music with a glossy expression, while others merely enjoyed the momentary peace that came with laudanum.
Zaichaer, it seemed, was a city whose populace preferred to disconnect from it. Alcohol, morphine, and opium featured heavily here, though prescriptions could be written for anything under the sun.
Patting the spot beside her, Vanessa called to Anton, "Come on, have a seat. She should be here any second. She's always been good at dropping in unexpectedly." Vanessa had not mentioned who 'she' was, only that they were friends and Anton should meet her. While that did not narrow things down tremendously, it did at least mean that Anton was absolutely going to be meeting a criminal. "You like me? You'll be head over heels for her." Vanessa said, giving him a good natured nudge.
She had learned Carina was in Zaichaer when she had come back to her apartment to find the entire place clean and tidy, but with someone else's clothes neatly folded at the foot of the bed. That was often the only notice she received when Carina made her way to Zaichaer, and she had grown almost used to the intrusions. She had invited Carina out to catch up while being anything but sober, and now Vanessa could not actually recall if she had told Carina that Anton would be joining them...
Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:36 pm
by Anton
"Somehow, Vanessa, that does not fill me with confidence," Anton said sourly. She had been his bodyguard for less than two months yet he had somehow already lost track of how many times she had promised it wouldn't be like last time - and it almost always was. It did not take him long to learn that almost all of her friends, companions, and other associates had some sort of grudge against her, and most took it as something of a challenge to try and enact their revenge for whatever old slight fueled them as soon as they laid eyes upon her. "But I am here, so I suppose I believe you."
His nostrils flared as the familiar scent of opium wafted over him, the perennially ill man finding its intoxicating melody an old friend. He had typically been given the tincture of the medicinal herb, forced to drink it to embrace a sweet oblivion to grant his body reprieve from the worst pains. Or to ready him for a painless death, during the worst of his attacks. It was as much a part of his childhood as the scent of kicked up dirt and the cry of feet upon stones was for his healthier and more energetic siblings, and he was probably the only person to enter into the doors of the drug den with a look of nostalgia upon his face. Nonetheless, the memories were bittersweet, for it was a drug he had taken only upon the worst days of his life.
"This is at least a more pleasant place than we usually meet your friends," Anton finally admitted, lulled into a sense of relaxation and calm both by that oh so sweet scent of home, and the gentle air of the piano playing. As a matter of course he refused to use Semblance while out and about, for one never knew who was watching, but now that they were safely ensconced in the lounge he finally asked her the typical question. "Is it as safe and discrete as it is comfortable?" The form always shifted, but the core of his concern remained. Will a Watcher see me here? He doubted it, they were in a drug den after all, but still, one never knew how often the technically legal enterprise was investigated by the authorities.
At last he allowed himself to sit, following the sound of Vanessa's patting hand to claim the spot beside her. As was his wont, he remained entirely stoic at her nudge, until his brain caught up with her words and he rolled his sightless eyes with a feigned sigh of exasperation. "I say one nice thing about you in front of Meadow, and you never let me live it down." The smile on his face ruined any chance of his mock disappointment being taken seriously however.
Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 1:32 am
by Carina
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Though Carina had her own apartment, she rarely slept in the same place more than two nights in a row. Nessa's apartment was one of those haunts, but the woman was a mess. She took it upon herself to clean, and by choice. It was a relaxing endeavor in an otherwise stressful life.
Carina stepped quietly behind the couch and stuck her head between the two of their's, just to turn and give Vanessa a kiss on the cheek. She stood up and walked around the couch, her hand trailing along the back and the arm. No hello and no introduction was offered; no questions were asked.
"You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, Nessa." The teasing smile was evident in her voice, and was followed by the sound of her collapsing in a chair to the side of Anton opposite Vanessa. She was dressed in oversized men's clothing, a truly monumental portrayal of the staggering depths her wardrobe provided. The shirt was rolled up at the sleeves, and large enough at the collar that it nearly fell off her shoulder; meanwhile, her pants were cuffed several times and precariously held up on her small body with a belt. Loosely tied boots and a loosely tied ponytail finished off the ensemble. She plucked a Kalzasern cigarette from a carton and and a match out of a packet, striking it and lighting the cigarette. After a drag, she looked pointedly at Anton with hawkish, appraising eyes.
"He looks so frail and nervous. Like a foal." She said, whether Vanessa protested about their relationship status or not. She leaned over in the chair and abruptly grabbed Anton's face in her free hand, lifting his chin up and turning his face to each side. After few seconds of analyzing and another drag on the cigarette, she spoke, smoke blowing into Anton's face. It was clearly tobacco, but accompanied by the smell of burning cloves.
"Clear skin, too. And I'll bet his body's never seen a callous." She looked at Vanessa on his other side, speaking as if the man wasn't even there. "You teaching him how to have a good time?"
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Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 7:48 am
by Vanessa Quill
"It's safe, aye." Vanessa said. "You can relax, stretch out a bit, and unwind." She added, doing her best to answer his concerns indirectly. Vanessa was not adept at being indirect, but she had been getting better in the last two months with Anton as a charge. "You ain't the only one here with your particular... ailment." She said, referring to his rune. If this place were a haunt for Order members, then surely they would have raided the place a dozen times in as many years. That is was still standing was proof enough to her that the den was beneath their notice.
Vanessa's mind took a split second to process that Carina had appeared, the gears only having just begun to turn when she was graced with a kiss. Expectedly unexpected, as ever. Vanessa followed Carina with her eyes, and reached up to brush her fingers along the woman's lower back before she was momentarily out of reach.
"Didn't think it would diminish our relationship!" Vanessa replied with a wry smile and lighthearted tone. "Figure most folk from out of town are already screwin' each other, so what's one more?" 'Out of town' was how she referred to Kalzasi without using the name, and of course she did only have a tenuous grasp on their social customs. Most came from gossipmongers in Zaichaer, and was thus half accurate at best.
"But no, he ain't my bedwarmer right now. Wish he were, though. Managed to sleep with a prostitute for free! Talk of the brothel, everyone wonderin' when he'll come back." Vanessa spoke proudly of his supposed accomplishment, leaning up against Anton's side and bringing an arm around him so that he was trapped between the two of them. "Aye, he's green around the ears and a bit sickly, but he's improving. I find he enjoys our outings, after he gets his grumblin' out of the way."
She watched Carina take her measure of Anton, then responded to her question. "With how he grew up? I'm sure this is the one thing he's more than a bit familiar with. Speaking of, what's your poison this evening?" She asked to both of them.
Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 2:31 pm
by Anton
The first thing that Anton learned about Carina was that she was quiet. Without his sight, he had become reliant upon his other senses when not using magic and had trained himself to notice the often overlooked sounds of opening doors and footsteps. Yet, he did not hear any of these from her, the first he noticed of her instead being the soft kiss she gave to Vanessa's cheek. His head moved on reflex to where he heard her sat down, as if examining the newcomer. A part of him wanted to as well, to see her as much as he could see anyone. Vanessa had said that this place was safe after all, but he resisted the urge. For the moment.
At very least he was unmoved by the initial taunt from the pirate's friend, for Carina was far from the first of that number to do so. Then again, he had heard it enough times by now that he could not help but wonder just how many cabin boys she worked her way through. The boasting from Vanessa on his behalf was also long expected by now, the woman apparently genuinely impressed by his 'feat'. He almost felt bad for not telling her the truth with how proud she seemed of him. Regardless, the two of them seemed close enough that her bragging did not embarrass him. He did not bother involving himself, neither sheepishly denying nor arrogantly boosting.
Instead, he seemed almost entirely passive, face remaining still as it looked in Carina's direction even when Vanessa brought him into her embrace. He remained calm even when his chin was grabbed, permitting the mysterious woman to examine him without complaint. Despite his best efforts, his eyes remained unfocused, failing to lock upon her own despite the two being face to face. Her lack of, and nonexistent respect for, personal space was the second thing he learned about Carina. He had still managed to keep his wits about him, though he was forced to concede that Vanessa was right. He liked her, the irreverent woman demolishing any sense of propriety while remaining aloof enough to draw him in.
And then that cloud of smoke was blown into his face, and whatever hold he had upon himself was lost as the Kalzasern scent washed over him. Tobacco was common enough to be of little note on its own, but the warm sweetness of the encroaching cloves set his aether scarred mind alight. It was a caress more tender than her actual touch, and only with it did color rise to his pale cheeks. And it was in that moment that Anton learned the third thing about Carina - she was dangerous. She spoke of him as if he were beneath her notice, treating him with an almost casual disregard. Every fiber of his being could tell what he was about to involve himself in. Even he could not decide whether what he next spoke was done in spite or because of that clear danger.
"My name is Anton. What may I call you?" He wasn't expecting to learn her name. He wasn't expecting much of anything from her. But what he expected and what he wanted were, in that moment, very different things.
Vanessa's voice cut through the fog his mind had become mired in as the smoke faded, and he was not certain if he was grateful for that. "I think I would like to try something new," he answered the pirate, though he remained facing Carina as he did.
Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 4:15 pm
by Carina
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"You know the whores love good conversation and polite boys." Carina inspected him for a moment more. His eyes did not meet hers, but they did not seem to meet anything, as if he was looking through her rather than at her. She glanced in Vanessa's direction, trying to decipher if he were already high. Her small hand still held onto his face for a few moments.
"Obedient, too." She smiled at her friend, and then she finally released Anton from her clutches and leaned back into her seat. There was a silence as she processed his question, filled by the crackling of the burning cloves and the piano music. There was surreptitious glance to the cigarette in her fingers, and then she addressed him directly for the first time. "You may call me Clove."
And just as quickly, she was back to addressing Vanessa. "You picked the wrong locale for stimulants..." She started, pausing as she ashed her cigarette in the tray and plucked a small tin from her person that was tucked between her skin and the waistband of her pants. She placed it on the table next to the hookah. "Not that I am without."
"What have you tried, then, Anton? Morphine? Opium?" She listed off the medicines people often used to cure their ailments, and he was so tall and thin she could only imagine he was sickly. She had used her own fair share of drugs for her own, though the most effective combination to quell her thoughts and slow down her brain remained elusive still. Even now, it was difficult to drown out the sound of the piano and the flitting of the waitresses between tables just to focus on the conversation. She wondered if it was smart of her to arrive sober in the first place.
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Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 5:50 pm
by Vanessa Quill
"Some conversationalist he was. Could hear her all through the whole damn place." Vanessa said, intent at first to keep hammering home the point of Anton's prowess. But then she noticed how utterly entranced her charge had become, and she knew that look well enough to draw back a bit. Not entirely, lest Anton notice how quiet she had become, but just restrained enough that he could drink in Carina's presence without constantly being dragged back to such banal things like the woman to whom he owed his life.
When Carina looked to her for confirmation on Anton's status, Vanessa neither confirmed nor denied any suspicions. She was not prepared to give Anton's secret away (even if he was doing a damned good job of that himself right now) but neither was Vanessa foolish enough to think she could lie to Carina convincingly. So a noncommittal shrug was all the answer she could give.
"Wrong place for stimulants?" Vanessa said, her grin returning in an instant. "Lass, you're as 'stimulating' as it gets. Look at him, you're torturing the poor boy." She remained flush against Anton's side, leaned forward only so far that she could keep eye contact with Carina. When she spoke of Anton now, she did not nudge him nor look to him for a reaction. Content was she to leave his mind buzzing away with thoughts of Carina.
"Honey, if it's from you? He'll take anything." Vanessa said softly, almost as though she hoped Anton wouldn't notice. As blunt and crass as she was, Vanessa did genuinely want Anton to enjoy their outings. That he was currently far more than content gave Vanessa every reason to exercise just a touch of restraint. "Some of that powder they got out there your way, maybe? Never felt stronger than when I was on that stuff." Then she leaned over towards Carina and said in a stage whisper, "Plus I've got to see what he looks like with a bit of pep! Lad's got to live a little."
In a drug den, falling rapidly in love with a criminal, and now Anton was likely to be offered drugs. Vanessa took her duties as a bodyguard unfathomably seriously.
Now if only she could get Anton to agree on that point.
Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 7:34 pm
by Anton
Anton let out a breath he did not know he was holding in when Clove released him, but he did not sink back into the couch upon being freed. Instead he remained upright, as if he had forgotten how to lounge in the brief moments spent being examined. Even were he of the mind to be embarrassed by Vanessa continuing to sing his praises, by now his bodyguard's voice had faded into the background along with the piano and soft sounds of the other patrons floating far away from the pressures and concerns of Zaichaer.
He did not know why he did it. It was reckless, dangerous, and stupid, even if Vanessa had promised him of the safety of the lounge. But there was no time for thought, only a desire. Anton's posture shifted ever so slightly as he tensed his lower back, the familiar surge of power rushing in to his body enabling him to indulge. Another exhalation, softer than the first, and his eyes focused upon Carina as he saw.
Carina's aura was as warm and tender as the smoke from her cigarette, a soft lilting melody emanated from the woman, coaxing him onward and deeper. It was a shockingly delicate song, one that required its listener to pay attention to it above all else to grasp its full scope. The more he focused, the more it promised, the tones slowly building and growing and hinting - yet never delivering upon whatever grand theme lay hidden, teased but never seen, within her deepest self. For a moment he was well and truly lost in its swirling sound, uncertain if he wanted to glance away from her. Or could.
The conversation between the two women had faded away, only half-heard, until she spoke his name. As if breaking the ensorcellment her own self had cast upon him, Anton was once more aware of the world. Shifting on the couch, he adjusted his 'sight' to take in the entirety of the room rather than fixate solely upon Carina in an attempt to avoid another such episode. He should have simply stopped using Semblance, but the taunting tones forever promising him were too much for him to ignore now that he had heard them.
"You seem to know me rather well, Clove," Anton confirmed, and to more than just the question of which drugs he had been prescribed in the past. It was that honest praise that shook him from his reverie long enough to confront the reality of his situation, of the nature of the incisive and enticing woman, and of how thoroughly deep he already was. He had give himself a chance to escape with that moment of clear thought. He did not take it.
"Vanessa does as well. If you have any suggestions for me, then I shall try them." There was no changing the fact that he was well and truly hooked, and he had no illusions in his mind that it was not obvious to both of them. Still, he tried his best to maintain a measure of decorum. They had, after all, only just met.
Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 7:47 pm
by Carina
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Carina took a drag from the cigarette one last time before she stamped it out in the ashtray. "I try." Was all she offered to both Anton and Vanessa's comments. From elsewhere on her person she plucked a razorblade in a protective case, and she held it between her fingers as she opened the tin. Inside was the same white powder Vanessa would remember trying with her before. It wasn't always her drug of choice, but she'd grown fond of the stuff to get herself going some days.
"You know, usually I'd bring it in from out of town, but I found I can get it from home just as easily. You know surgeons use it as a topical anesthetic in surgery? They sell it right here, too. Zaichaer loves to put the fun drugs in their tonics." She pushed the hookah slightly back to make a bit more room on the table, and then she was tidying a small scoop of it into rows on the table right in front of Anton.
"Cocaine is better snorted, in my opinion. Especially if you can get Nessa to sit still long enough to do a line off her tits." With her work satisfactory and a wink in Vanessa's direction, she pulled a bank note out of her wallet, rolled it up, and held it out in the direction of Vanessa and Anton. "Who first?" The question was directed at either of them, but her hunch was that Vanessa's companion was either blind or already incredibly intoxicated in some fashion and would require guidance regardless. "Just take this and breathe through it, through your nose while you go down the line."
"Don't worry about anyone seeing you. The good chemist pays his taxes. That's all the High City cares about."
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Re: Good For Your Health [Carina, Anton]
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:04 pm
by Vanessa Quill
"They always give the dying folk the good stuff. What a waste, I say." Vanessa put in sarcastically. She watched Carina cut the lines of cocaine, always taking an interest when a true maestro went to work. She spared a look to Anton, and knew that look well. The poor boy was gone. This time she could not blame him, Carina was utterly enrapturing. Even Vanessa was not immune to her wiles, though the former pirate did certainly claim to be above it. Oh but that just made it more fun to watch her twirl right back around Carina's finger without ever realizing it.
At Carina's next comment, Vanessa merely made a show of leaning back and popping loose the first button on her white top. "It's a lovely shelf, I'm told. Whenever she's not around folk usually say it's the best." She said it nominally to Anton, but just barely. She was content to leave him swirling in his own emotions for now, and she took the rolled up banknote from Carina. Then she pondered if she ought to give Anton the honors, or do so herself.
A thought then struck her like lightning. If Anton was lovesick now, then she was helping Carina prepare the coup de grace. "I'll go first, then maybe you can help our friend here get his first taste of it afterward? He's a bit... out of sorts, but he can handle it, can't you Anton?" She nudged him then, though she expected a dull response to her stimuli when he was so entangled by Carina.
Leaning forward, Vanessa lined the note up with the cocaine and blocked her other nostril. With a quick snort, Vanessa swept the banknote down the line and inhaled the powder through her sinuses. She reeled back reflexively, sitting up straight. After just a few seconds, she could begin to feel that familiar groundswell of confidence. While it would take a few more minutes to grip her fully, Vanessa already felt astounding.
The first to go were her pupils, dilating so wide that only a narrow ring of her blue irises remained. Then her heart begun to race, and she felt terribly warm. So warm that removing her jacket and slipping loose another button on her blouse simply had to be her next course of action, and she did both before handing the rolled up note back to Carina.
"Oh yep. He's going to love this."