2017-04-01: A Ruined Proposal
- Log: A Ruined Proposal
- Cast: Lily Keil, Cassidy Cain
- Where: Adlehyde
- Date: April 1, 2017
- Summary: Nobody knows why Cassidy Cain decides to do what she does half the time; it may be out of personal curiosity or to satisfy her whims at any given moment. Perhaps it might even be out of boredom. But this latest escapade has her pretending to deliver a small, ring-sized box to Leon Albus that is supposedly meant for Lily Keil, and just /happens/ to run into the woman it was meant for in the local tailor's shop.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
It has not, precisely, been a busy day for Lily Keil by her standards. This doesn't mean that she hasn't found uses for her time, however. The sun is rising in the sky by now, big and yellow and bright over the thoroughfares of Adelhyde, and Lily has already traced a path down one of the main roads and back again. Specifically, from her hotel, to an apothecary, to a junk dealer out in the fairgrounds, and then to a food stand a couple of streets off from the main road. Specifically, this one sells Nortune bratwurst, and Lily had taken up a spot against wall, where she keeps letting her gaze flick back and forth along the road as she eats. That was roughly an hour ago, and she hasn't gone far.
Now, the black-haired woman, wearing a red dress with a black bodice and swirling skirts, is inside a shop--a glover of moderate quality. There is a certain vigilance to the woman that's subtle, but easy to spot in anyone who recognizes that sort of thing. ...She's also covered neck to toe in clothing, including warm black gloves even given this sort of food.
Or she would be wearing those gloves were they not sitting on the table beside her, while the glover measures her fingers and looks very, very nervously at her hands. It's a back room that she requested, and it could have been modesty... But it wasn't. The room is wide, the size of a small office when accounting for all the space taken up by models and needles and thread and samples of fabric and leather, with a covered window and a couple of seats. It's obviously more of a workspace than anything, but customers are sometimes brought back here for fittings.
Lily flexes her hands in the meantime, rotating her wrists as she looks down at the strange line-dominated patterns covering her hands and extending up into her sleeves, as unnatural as anything.
She settles her gold eyes on him whenever he stares, and he moves quickly back to his work. It's lit in here only by lamps at corners of the room. She's paid for a little extra privacy, as a conversation with the assistant might indicate.
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
The mid-morning crowd in Adlehyde is teeming with bodies; the well-dressed mingle freely with the salt of the earth, and food stalls peddling all manner of street eats are everywhere. The air is thick with the expunged exhaust of cooking smoke, enticing those who are out for lunch, the surrounding hubbub punctuated by the popping and hissing of oil and charcoal, and the delicious symphony of the fryolated arts as cut potatoes are sunk in baskets of grease, to be served hot and fresh to those who want them. There are more of these stalls than usual, then again, that isn't surprising given the call of the Ancient Culture Festival; savvy merchants have been preparing for the event by giving the rest a preview of their wares, and traveling chefs from all over are not immune to the siren's song of commerce.
As Lily wanders away from the bratwurst stand, to slip into the tailor's shop next door, her eyes would catch a sparsely populated common room and a wide front counter. While she's being measured, the door behind her opens, a slender figure moving in, wandering past her to head for the front desk. Drawing the waiting tailor in a conversation is a woman with a wide-brimmed hat; taller than the average female, lithe and dressed in beaten-up leathers. One set of pale fingers, surprisingly elegant despite the rough cut she makes against the finely-dressed gentleman she is standing next to, is curled over a white box with a thin ribbon threaded around it - the unmistakeable, careful presentation of some manner of gift.
There is a brief exchanged of pleasantries, and other low words, but snippets of the talk finally drift towards Lily; it can't be helped, the shop is small.
"Are you sure you cannae tell me where Mr. Leon Albus is staying?" she wonders of the tailor.
The man stares at her blankly. "No, sorry miss..."
She sighs, lifting a hand to scratch the back of her neck. "He's usually wandering around here during the daylight hours. Look, he bought something from me and I intend tae deliver, you know what's going tae happen tae my reputation as a local businesswoman if I cannae do a simple delivery? You sure you've nae seen him?" She gestures with her free hand. "This tall, about one hundred and eighty, hair like mine? Well-dressed like this guy?"
The gentleman next to her blinks as her thumb jabs in his direction.
"Er, well...there's many men like that around here..."
"Nae! He's..." She makes a show of it, fingers rubbing her chin contemplatively. "Gray eyes, almost silver, dinnae tell me there's many around here with eyes like those. Good looking lad, if I say so myself, and I've seen plenty. Find it hard for me tae believe he's never been in here when he dresses the way he does."
The tailor lifts his hands, spreading his fingers. "Sorry, miss, but I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone with..." His brows furrow. "Silver eyes. But I'm new and I'm still trying to get to know the regulars. I'm really sorry."
The woman rolls her head back to turn her green-and-gold eyes upwards, exhaling a quiet breath.
"Well, alright. It's nae your fault. Maybe I should just drop this off in the bar we went drinking in." She frowns at the white box. "Something might happen tae it, though, I dinnae trust any of the bloody degenerates around here."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily, hand still out before her to be measured, looks into nothing in particular as she fouses on her hearing, her free hand falling to her side for the moment with fingers slightly curled as if holding something, though there is nothing against her palm. With her back to the wall of the backroom, she doesn't see who's there. The conversation goes on, and Lily offers no other reaction... Not that it would be visible from here, of course.
The tall woman hears 'Leon Albus' and her teeth press ever-so-slightly together. She listens further, barely reacting to requests to move her hand more than to do as she's asked. She pauses, evetually.
"Excuse me," she murmurs to the man doing her hand measurements, somewhat brusquely. "I'll be right back." She takes a deep breath, gearing herself up.
He blinks at her, looking down at his nape measre and up at her. "But we're in..." Pause. "Fine. It's fine! I'll start working."
Standing up, Lily takes her own gloves and slips them back onto her hands before she walks out of the back room towards the counter. A hand slips into her long hair and shifs it back again.
"You can give it to me," she says, looking over the only other woman out here who must match the voice. She steps closer--there's no weapon at her hip.
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
She is about to turn around to head back out of the shop when Lily suddenly fills her vision, dressed in her sleek blacks and reds. Face to face with the woman in the wide-brimmed hat, finally, she would have a chance to get a good look at her.
She is lithe, with green eyes flecked with gold, and a face that lends easily to expression. How she manages to remain pale under this heat and the glare of the sun is a miracle in and of itself, though considering the brim of the hat she wears, it probably does the work of keeping her face out of the sun. As overheard earlier, her hair is much like Leon's, of a pale gold that frames her face and tumbles in a wild, free tousle down her back. Of a height to Lily, the only two women in the shop provide the picture of very startling contrasts; Lily's dark hair and appearance are impeccable, wreathed with the cool composure only a lifetime's worth of discipline can instill. The other...
The blonde radiates /something/, wild, restless energy that sets those virid irises on fire, and reflects off the sharp, cutting smile that lifts the corners of her mouth and reveals a hint of brilliant white teeth. Her traveler's ensemble is well-tailored, but the wear on its fringes suggests days spent in some manner of journey or another, fitting a woman who can never sit still, or remain stationary for overly long. Much like Lily, she has no weapons, or at least nothing visible, but considering she has just introduced herself as a local merchant, she wouldn't have a reason to, and she is only here for a simple delivery.
That expressive face shifts into a look of aggravated consternation, brows furrowing at Lily. "Tae you, you say?" she says, skepticism laid thick on her brogue. "Well, I dinnae mean any disrespect, lass, but I dinnae know you and while what I'm carrying is small, it's precious, y'ken? So you'll have tae forgive me if I dinnae just hand it over, when I know absolutely nothing of who you a-- "
There is a pause. She stares at Lily openly for a moment.
Her lips part in astonishment. "....oh, /shite/," she breathes, taking a few steps back. "Oh bloody, fookin /shite/! Please, please, /please/ tell me you're nae his Lily!"
She surreptiously tries to hide the box behind her.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
It's less of a mystery how Lily must remain as pale as she is; any number of reasons present themselves immediately upon looking at her, not least of which being the contrast with her dark hair. There is something sharp to her in this way, as her attention settles on the older woman and looks her over. If Cassidy weren't a simple merchant, she might spot the way Lily's eyes go to any number of possible places for weapons. The hips, the calves, hanging from this shoulder or that shoulder. But Lily says nothing about this particular search.
This wild energy so distinct from Lily's down demeanor gets an immediate lifted eyebrow, and she does not smile in return at that lovely expression. Lily by turn does not look so worn as that in the attire.
She waits though, completely calm in the face of an expressively furrowed brow. The woman from Kislev has almost a blank expression as she waits for an answer, and she doesn't change much at the skeptical reply. It's something that isn't bright enough to be confidence, but is close enough.
Then Cassidy stares at her.
Lily continues to look warily at this woman before her, and then finds a measure of exasperation at the problem there apparently is with her identity. "I am," she says, "And what is the problem with--"
Her eyes flicker to the small box again as it goes behind Cassidy, and her eyes widen. "...That's..." She flushes, red in the face. "We don't have--"
"Yes, it's me!" she snaps, flustered.
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
Whoever this blonde merchant is, her confirmation of her identity does /not/ help matters. Her face visibly drains of color, as if to mirror the way the fetching red flushes over Lily's cheeks when she realizes, or at least deduces, just /why/ she's trying to hide the small box behind her back and the way she's audibly lamenting over this confrontation. A pale hand lifts, to scrub the side of her face, shaking her head in a disbelieving fashion; all in all, she looks absolutely floored by this unfortunate coincidence.
The tailors at the front desk and the gentleman in the fine suit stare at both women, especially once the blonde breaks away and starts pacing back and forth, visibly agitated by this turn of events. Both hands come up this time, fingers clutching the small white box and its festive little ribbon, scrubbing her face with both hands as she moans within her palms.
"Oh shite. Oh shite, shite, shite, shite. I've ruined it. I've bloody ruined it. I had tae come /here/ of all places and....oh /God/, it's gonna come out, and I'll be ruined. Nobody's gonna buy from me again now that people are gonna know I cannae be trusted to keep a surprise a surprise! I dinnae /want/ tae be responsible for breaking the lad's wee bloody heart!"
She turns to Lily, looking at her. "And he was so bloody /earnest/ when he looked me in the eye and told me he loved you while we were negotiating, and...ach, lass, I'm so bloody sorry!"
The two tailors and the gentleman look at each other and realization dawns among them.
".../wow/, yeah," the younger tailor says. "If that's what I think it is, you /really/ ruined it."
The older tailor nods, crossing his arms over his chest. "I wouldn't trust a jeweler if I knew she just kept telling my wife whenever I have a surprise planned for her."
"Ah say, ah say, ah say, don't tell me you /ruined/ the poor boy's proposal!" says the gentleman in the crisp suit from around his cigar. "Speaking as a man, ah would be furious!"
"I KNOW!" the blonde cries, pointing at the peanut gallery. "I /know/, alright?! You dinnae have tae tell me I ruined a surprise, I dinnae know she'd be here! It's not like I know what she looks like!"
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Meanwhile this blonde stranger's... discomfort? Horror? Whatever it is, Lily sees it as she finds herself unable to look away, even as the other woman starts pacing, of all things, pacing back and orth while Lily is left standing there, lifting a hand as if to reach out but not at all reaching very far.
It's a nice little box.
"That-- " It's hard to get a word in edgewise, given her own quieter demeanor as compared to... well, lots of people, but especially a /merchant/. Especially when...
Well, when the merchant apologizes.
The men chime in and Lily buries her face in her gloved hands. "Aaah..." It sounds, for a few moments, like she's going to cry, as a reasonable woman might in this scenario. The sharp breath she draws in makes it worse.
She lets go her face and says, loudly, "Stop commenting on my marriage like it's any of your bloody damned business!!" Huff. Huff.
"I've been planning to marry him since I was eleven. Little things like this... are fine. There's no broken heart." Pause.
"So just give me the damned box!"
She hasn't stopped blushing in the least. Not even a little bit. If anything, she's more embarrassed than before.
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
I've been planning to marry him since I was eleven.
The small hubbub generated by this most unexpected of conversations fall dead silent as all eyes in the room turn on Lily when she tries to reassure the blonde woman that she hasn't exactly destroyed anything, and that the fact that their relationship was headed there regardless was, at least to the woman in question, a foregone conclusion. There are furrowed brows, of course, from the men and a startled look from the only other woman and for a few moments, the black-haired sorceress would find herself in the center of attention in this small tailor's shop.
Finally, the younger tailor pipes up: "Awww, well, ain't that the cutest damned thing I ever heard!"
So just give me the damned box!!
The unladylike demand coming from such a well-dressed lady nearly makes the younger tailor jump out of his skin and cause the older tailor and the gentleman to keep staring at her wide-eyed. The blonde 'merchant' steps in at that, pointing another finger at the young apprentice.
"You heard the lass, shut it!" she exclaims. "One of the most important days of a young woman's life just went awry and none of you lads are bloody helping!" And she's /still/ holding onto the box, despite Lily's demand for it. While she can't blame the sorceress for wanting to know what's in it, she doesn't appear ready to hand it over just yet, not when it's clear that this incident has probably just potentially ruined her business. But she takes a step next to Lily, her displeasure writ openly on her face. After all, she /too/ was a woman, and the movement is as much a show of solidarity as it is a gesture of sympathy.
Right?
Right.
"Come on, lass," the woman huffs, turning to head for the door. "Let's go sit down and talk, and I can give you your gift and you can tell me whether I did a good job or not on it. You dinnae have tae listen to these lads, what do they know anyway, ay?" She beckons for the woman to follow, and soon, she's out the door.
The two women (as lady would probably be stretching the term too much where the blonde is concerned) eventually end up in an open air cafe, the better to watch the array of bodies rushing through the town of Adlehyde's beating heart. Situated under an umbrella to keep the sun away from their faces, a waiter has just left them alone after taking whatever orders they might have dispensed. And true to what the green-eyed woman has promised, she sets the small white box and its ribbon in front of Lily.
"For what it's worth, I trully am sorry, about all of that," she says. "Your Leon thinks the world of you, enough that he'd tell a hapless stranger that within minutes of meeting her. A rare one, that. You cannae even begin how many lads I've come across my business who wouldnae just say how they feel. Like they'd..." She gestures sideways with a flick of her wrist. "Explode or sommat, spontaneously combust if they ever say they're over the moon for someone. Pity, that. The world could use more of that kind of honesty."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Cute?
Lily flushes a bit harder and glances away even in the middle of her demand beore ptting her head up high. Even as the others stare at her, though, Lily's topaz eyes flicker between each of them. Then she speaks. It's very unladylike, and the red-faced woman with golden eyes turns her head to look at the merchant as she speaks She did make her demand, of course, but she doesn't move to try to /take/ it any more than she already has in demanding.
Lily straightens, and can only take some satisfaction in the younger tailor jumping. Here, though...
Well, no, they aren't helping. The step next to her is a surprise, as is her expression. There's little way to answer immediately.
"...All right," she answers the blonde woman, and nods firmly after a moment. "Nothing," she agrees. She looks over her shoulder., and then follows the merchant as they go. She follows easily and quickly, and despit her cooling embarrassment, she continues watching vigilant in ways that she really just can't turn off. Further, she chooses a seat closer to the wall in this cafe. She places an order, and leaves her gloves on.
The box gets a glance down. But something about what the woman says...
"He has a good heart," Lily answers the woman before her, and she says it softly, not so roughly as she did while angry. "The world could use more men like him. ...But this one's mine." A small smile. "I think at least as highly of him. I'd do anything for him." Lily looks down at the box, and considers for a moment.
She doesn't move to open it. "...I don't really care about any other man in that context. I never have."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
"He was quick tae tell me he loves you, but not that the two of you were childhood friends," the blonde remarks, folding her fingers on the table; long and nimble, they are devoid of any fripperies. For someone who claims to be a jeweler, the only accessories she wears are several black-leather thongs strung around her neck, laden with seemingly cheap, silver charms. "But ay, he certainly has that. A good heart. In fact, that was how I met him."
The merchant leans against her chair; unlike Lily, she has no qualms showing her back to the crowd; either she has no fear or has no reason to be paranoid, but a legitimate businesswoman generally has nothing to be apprehensive about when she's engaged in day-to-day peddling. She falls silent when the waiter finally returns to deliver whatever it was they ordered earlier. For Lily's companion, it is cup of rich dark chocolate, served with a hard, almond-encrusted cookie. Nothing too expensive, but nothing too cheap, either.
"A pair of urchins tried tae rob him," she tells Lily. "Tried tae snatch his wallet in the middle of the street and tried tae distract him by offering him a flower. They were poor, y'ken, you can see it on their clothes. But your Leon decides he was gonna /buy/ the flower instead, and it stopped the would-be little thieves right in their tracks. They just dinnae expect that, methinks. Trust they dinnae see kindness showed tae them all that often. The only reason why I noticed was because it was happening right near me, and I've lived here long enough tae know how the local purse snatchers operate. I was about tae go help him out, but he resolved that issue on his own."
She picks up her cup and takes a quiet pull of the decadent drink, lips pursing to delicately blow at the rising steam before doing so. "So I tell him about what almost happened tae him, because he dinnae know, so he introduced himself like a proper gentleman and offered tae buy me a drink as thanks. That's when he mentioned you, since he wouldnae buy anyone more than one drink, unless it was you. I thought it was sweet. He's a loyal one."
Setting down her chocolate, she picks up her cookie and dips the end of it in. "I mention street kids around here dinnae have many bankable prospects. Most're just desperate tae have something tae eat by the end of the day, and they'd trade that out with favors for scum that operate around these parts. And then he asks me if I could look out for the two that tried tae steal from him, could you imagine that? I was floored. Here I was, looking this lad right in the eye, /telling/ him that these kids just tried tae rob him and he asks me tae look out for them. So I said ay, I would, but only if he'd buy something from me and I mentioned my business. He agreed. And the result is...well. That."
She nods to the box.
A teasing grin lifts the corners of her mouth. "Was he always that way?" she wonders. "Too good for this world, I mean."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily lets out a little breath, almost a laugh, at the blonde's remark about what was said and wasn't said. Her eyes are naturally drawn to those long fingers... and what are entirely lacking on them. It draws her attention further to those other accessories. None of it stops her from talking. Or listening.
Lily waits and nods to the waiter when he returns delivering what they ordered; for Lily, she ordered fine bitter coffee and nothing to go with it.
She looks to the woman before her who explains. Her eyebrows lift at the urchins, and then she smiles slightly at Leon's action-- ruefully. "I believe they don't," she allows while the woman takes a pll from her drink. She pauses at that.
"It's a good rule," she points out pleasantly.
"...That sounds just like him," Lily says lightly, picking up her cup and taking a sip. "There are a lot of things like that that he does that I wouldn't have done, and I'm aware of it." A beat, "He's been like that as long as I've known him. Much too good for this world. ...Not that that's necessarily saying much."
Lily sets down her cup again and looks thoughtfully at the blonde, and then the box. She reaches out to take the box, hold it in her hand. "It was very kind of you to think to help him." She picks up her coffee and sips it again.
"And to step in for me, when I was so embarrassed." She sips her coffee. "...Forgive me. I'm not much of a conversationalist. But..." She stops, and looks up at the merchant again. "...You say he often spends time around here... But he doesn't. I picked the store I was in specifically because he wouldn't be here even if he needed a tailor, so I wouldn't run into him. He doesn't visit these particular side streets often. So why did you say that he does?"
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
She waves a hand when she tells Lily that she was being kind. "I dinnae think I was being overly kind," she tells her after she's bitten and chewed on the end of her biscotti. "If you want me tae be honest, the tableau annoyed me enough tae decide to step in because I dinnae think anyone ought tae be that open and naive given that it's war time, what with all the blockades and the shite going on with Aveh and Kislev and everything. But he was just so kind that I s'pose it won me over. Dinnae think it was possible considering I think of myself as a cynical lass, but I s'pose it's not too late for me if I can still feel something when I see someone being kind."
The woman laughs, her head tilted back. "It's the business, y'ken. All the wheeling and dealing and whatnot. Do it long enough and it takes something out of you."
When Lily points out what she does, the woman shakes her head. "Nae, that's not what I meant. I /assumed/ he had been in there once or twice because...well, I have an eye for goods, y'ken, and for a drifter, he's verra well dressed. I figured it was a better guess tae make my inquiries there as any. And what I meant by 'around here' is around this area." She gestures to the town square. "This was where I met him, out in the open and I tried tae find him since this was around the hour I ran across him also. If I had nae any luck, I was thinking of just simply stopping by the bar he and I shared a drink in and leaving it there in case he came back, but like I said, lass. I dinnae trust anyone other than me holding valuable goods tae be delivered tae someone. I'm more afraid of it getting lost than anything else, especially after the lad's already put down a deposit."
She inclines her head at Lily and extends a hand across the table. "Forgive me, I dinnae introduce myself, did I? The name's Cassidy Cain, shipper and purveyor of luxury goods. It's good tae meet you, though tae be frank, I dinnae expect tae meet you so soon...and especially not in this fashion." She has the grace to flash her a sheepish smile. "Ruining Leon's surprise and all."
Cassidy extends a finger to tap on top of the box. "He mentioned the two of you were from Kislev, served together in the military. So I tried tae keep that in mind...something classic. Old Empire style setting, maybe - simple, ay, but elegant, too. Though I dinnae know...how either of you would feel about that. He /did/ mention that the two of you left the country in a bit of a hurry, though he dinnae explain why."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Heh. Is that so?" Lily asks at Cassidy's insistence she wasn't being so kind-- at her honesty, as she puts it. The younger of the two woman nods after a moment as if weighing it over. But she doesn't leap in verbally to respond; she sips her coffee, and nods once again about the business. A spark of something like quiet recognition flickers in her clear, strange eyes.
But Lily does wait for the answer to her suspicions. She is quite still as the woman moves to correct the impression, her hand on the table with her palm coincidentally pointed at her-- though her fingers are in the way. She watches... and seems to relent after a moment, her hand shifting down to rest palm-flat against the table.
She hesitates for a brief moment at the hand across the table, before she sets her lips together and slips a hand out to shake Cassidy's. Her hand has a delicate form, through the gloves, but her grip is strong. ...Then, Cassidy knows she's a soldier. "It's good to meet you too," she says smoothly if quietly. "Lily Keil." A pause, and a small smile. "Oh believe me, I was surprised."
She pauses again, and glances to the boex before she looks up to Cassidy. "It's a good impulse," Lily answers. "I'd have to see it." She considers. "But if he mentioned that much... Well, if he chose not to tell you why, I'll do the same. We had our reasons is all I'll tell you, and I don't expect to ever go back." She looks... distant, saying that much, weighed down. "It doesn't matter. Luxury goods sound nice, but I rarely have time for them. It's convenient at least that you know we're military. Specifically, I was a medic."
She picks up the box. "I'd like to see what's inside here, but if he meant it as a surprise, then I won't open it without him. ...Besides, I never get surprises that I like. I usually get surprises that make trouble."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
For all of her traveler's dress and unpolished demeanor, when Lily takes Cassidy's hand, one would expect a frontier woman such as herself to return a grip as strong as the ex-military officer. She would find no such thing; the merchant seems to eschew the typical human instinct to return a firm, solid grip with a matching one, to signify wordlessly that this is a meeting between equals. But the blonde's grip is gentle and almost boneless, just the very faint squeezing of those pale fingertips around Lily's fist; it does not come from a place of apprehension, either - there is no impression that the woman is afraid that she will crush Lily's hand at any additional exertion of force.
Either it demonstrates a lack of confidence or confidence in spades - that the other woman has nothing to prove that she doesn't feel the need to exert equal footing right away.
Her hand slipping away, she returns her attention to her hot chocolate. "Well, I dinnae think anyone would want tae go back after what's happening now," she says. "Better get away from trouble than stay in it, is what I would say tae that. You only have one life, lass. If you found yourself on the road with a good man, I say make your own adventures while the two of you are together, live long, full lives, and fie the rest. Nothing lasts forever, not even love...as strong and as pure as that love might be. Enjoy it while you still have it, while the two of you are still alive."
There's a small smile and an incline of her head. "But you seem tae have a good head on your shoulders, I think," she continues. "Forgive me if I spoke out of turn. I was married once also, y'ken. Tae someone I knew almost my entire life. I know better than many how fleeting that truly is, no matter how many years are involved. Dinnae know how I managed tae land in this business of trying tae make people happy when I know how painful it is when it all ends, but I'm old enough tae know that when it comes tae that kind of thing, you take in the good with the bad." She inclines her head to look at Lily. "Sommat tells me I dinnae need tae tell you that, though, if you're resolved tae leave your country and never return."
At what she says about the box, she laughs. "Oh, ay. If nothing else, you'd be sparing me too. Like I said, I dinnae mean tae spoil the surprise, but if you would like tae open it together, be my guest. I hope you'll come back and let me know what you think of it, then, ay? When you finally take a look. I hope it's tae your liking."
She finishes half her cup of hot chocolate. "A medic, you say?" she wonders. "So the front lines, then." She whistles lowly. "I cannae even imagine...I dinnae have too much of a stomach for blood, y'ken. But tae be surrounded by wounded in the thick of it...what's it like? I imagine...well. Horrific."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
It's without doubt a strange handshake to Lily; when her grip is so very not returned but with that much softness, she pauses for a moment, already conscious of her own hand. She lets her eyes flicker down to examine--cursorily--the other woman's hand, as if for any obvious signs of injury.
She closes her fingers when her hand is back, looking at Cassidy through her words. Nothing of the idea of fleeing from danger seems to catch anything positive in Lily's eyes. Her mouth is closed, but for when she picks up her coffee and sips again, looking with a sort of focus that doesn't abate.
"Mm," Lily answers, rather than words, at the matter of taking the good with the bad.
"I'll drop by your shop," Lily suggests. She pauses though, hands around her hot cup, and watches Cassidy at her questions about what it is that she used to do. The darker-haired woman seems to straighten a little and look out into the city for a moment at whatever thoughts those statements-- those questions-- bring to mind. It doesn't last for very long at all befre Lily looks at Cassidy.
"...I suppose you could call it that. You grow accustomed to those sorts of horrors. I've had my hands covered in the blood of men and women I cared for. It means for me that I look at a body and I can imagine any one of many wounds I've seen and treated on it, even someone I'm speaking to. It means..."
"...What it's like, aside from bloody, and wet, and cold? It's like..." Pause. "You learn you can't save everyone. And you learn when it's best not to try. It's like that. And when it isn't like that, it's knowing what it's like to stitch up your friends."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
"Oh, it's nae like that," the blonde says with a laugh. "I work on commission, lass. That means I get the details as tae what the client wants, and I go tae a goldsmith. Normally the client trusts me tae make design decisions - what kind of metal, what kind of stone, what kind of style period and I negotiate the price, then tack my percentage on. People might think going through that rigamarole might make for a pricier product, but I've always been able tae negotiate a fair rate, and I've been in this business for long enough that people trust my tastes...and these transactions are discreet, which is an additional plus for those with...y'ken." She lowers her voice in a confidential manner. "Mistresses. This way, you get custom work tailored specifically tae the client, at general store prices...and when it comes tae these things, people like unique, y'ken." There's a grin at that, brilliant against the seam of her pale pink mouth, pride writ over her pale complexion. "I hope the dress dinnae fool you, but if you make a living selling precious items and if you travel a lot in between cities, you dinnae advertise the goods. That is a death wish on the open highways, what with all of the rampant thieving."
Her grin tempers into an easy smile. "I'm normally at the Saloon in the early evenings if you need tae come find me. I'm here for a while yet, what with the Ancient Cultures Exhibit and all. My business partner is interested in it. I figured we'd remain until it's all over before we hit the next town."
Cassidy falls quiet when Lily turns her thoughts inward and speaks of her experiences as a medic. To her infinite credit, the woman looks attentive, but maintains a degree of befuddlement; as if the merchant can't relate to the experiences that she illustrates. And why would she be able to? She has just confessed to squeamishness when it comes to blood, and has implied a long history of a life mired in commerce and transactions - a far cry, certainly, from the kind of life an ex-military medic leads.
"I s'pose when you're in strenuous situations like that you need tae be able to make that kind of quick decisions," she says slowly, carefully, cognizant that she has no foundation as to opine on that kind of life, but tries to say /something/ to continue the conversation. "It's verra far removed from what I'm used tae. Negotiations, contracts, that kind of thing. Usually I lay in bed tae think about the numbers before I can even say I'm making any informed decisions."
She inclines her head curiously at Lily. "I dinnae know much about being a battlefield medic. Does that mean you went tae school tae be a doctor, then? Should I be addressing you as Dr. Keil instead of Miss Keil?" Mischief brims in those gold-green eyes. "Or future Mrs. Albus?"
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Ah," Lily answers, and keeps her eyes on Cassidy throgh the explanation. The confidential whisper gets a dead look and an accepting nod. "I see," she answers, and her lips purse together in a look that almost makes her look the age of about twenty that one might guess of her, in interest she can't entirely voice.
"I'm familiar with the bandit problems on the roads," she agrees after a moment, and doesn't smile back... But she hasn't smiled often in their acquaintance, either.
"All right," Lily says in her dark, quiet voice. "I'll find you at the Saloon."
Lily glances to the box, and then she in't looking at the box. She doesn't watch Cassidy as she speaks, looking down into the table with a gaze that might cut through wood. It obviously isn't entirely a pleasant place to go... Nor is it distant enough for certain forms of clarity.
But Lily isn't the bigger conversationalist, either.
Her pale features are shaded by he umbrella as she looks over again. By the time she makes her next statement, Cassidy is already speaking again. Lily starts to answer that and then shakes her head with a little smile. "Now, when did I say I'd be taking his name? I have a lot of attachment to the Keil name. Both of my parents served." A beat, "I did a lot of schooling, all through my time at the military academy. I'm not a full doctor, but I can perform surgery and most other procedures that relate to immediate trauma. I could've studied longer... but I wanted to enter special forces, and that involved a lot of raw combat training, too. More often than not, I'd fight with the others, and then when the battle was over, I'd start treating our wounded."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
"Ah, my apologies," Cassidy says with a quiet laugh, leaning back against her chair and watching Lily with those glittering, virid eyes. "Too used tae dealing with the more traditional lasses. Far be it for me tae dissuade you from that, especially if it is the only thing that you've got tae remember your parents by?" It is a guess, given that Kislev is at war and she does not intend to return. "If that is the case, then of course you must honor them in some way."
She finishes her hot chocolate and cookie, pushing the delicate cup and saucer aside. That same attentive expression remains, when Lily divulges details about her schooling. "I hear a typical school for doctoring takes almost a decade before someone can be considered a full one," she muses. "Admittedly I dinnae know much about the profession. Always been a healthy lass, me. Still, it must make you terribly important in battle. Tae have a formidable fighter, who can also treat the wounded. War is bloody business, and between you and me I wish there was less of it. But I s'pose it's a job that needs doing."
After a pause, she sighs and retrieves her pouch. "Regardless, lass. I dinnae mean tae take so much of your time. I only meant tae deliver your gift and apologize profusely for...this coincidence." She lets out a small laugh. "As /bizarre/ as it all is. But I know I'm keeping you from your Leon, and you must be terribly curious as tae what's in the box, so I willnae keep you from it any longer. I hope you enjoy it. I simply couldnae help myself, y'ken. I've met all kinds in my work, but I dinnae think I met a battlefield medic before. I hope you'll forgive me, for the conversation running away like that."
She drops enough gella on the table to cover her snack, before she rises.
"You'll let me know if you like it, ay?"
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
There's a light shake of Lily's head at the idea of the apology. It doesn't last long enough to keep her large eyes away from the person at had. Something softens slightly when Cassidy voices her guess, as Lily is somewhat more affected by that statement than not. "I haven't decided yet," she admits.
Lily picks up her coffee and takes another sip, though it's certainly been cooling by now. She listens, nodding at the matter of longer schooling, blank on the the matter of her importance but for an increased distance in her gaze, and with little reaction at all at the matter of war. Maybe she would have said more, if not for the fact tht Cassidy keeps going.
"I don't particularly mind the company." Lily is and has been somewhat reserved in this conversation, and there is no exception here. She gives the impression of having more to say than she can quite decide to voice.
"Then you've met one now." She pauses. "...And I'll let you know. I'll see you again soon."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
"Oh, ay. I hope so." And for the most part, she means it.
With a wiggle of her fingers, Cassidy pivots on her heel and heads out of the cafe, retrieving her hat from the side of her chair and placing it on her head, tilting it like so. And just as quickly as she appeared, she slips through the crowd and vanishes seamlessly within the throng of bodies.
Whenever Lily returns with her gift....and parses out an undoubtedly very confusing sequence of events with Leon Albus, who most certainly had /not/ commissioned such a piece of jewelry for Lily, they would find that the box is, indeed, just a box. It is not booby trapped and doesn't contain anything particularly odious. In fact, whenever the ribbon is finally cut and the lid opened, they would find...
A brooch.
It is small, but of exceptional quality, wrought from yellow gold fashioned in graceful interlocking arches in the shape of a stem and delicate leaves. Small rubies flanked by tiny, clear diamonds form the blossom and on the back is the pin and fastener. Precious, yes, and undoubtedly expensive.
And Cassidy Cain just gives it away in exchange for a conversation.
Not like she would mourn the loss of it much; the brooch had been lifted, along with a gorgeous string of pearls that she decided to keep, from a wealthy heiress who had teamed up with a seasoned operator in the local Black Market, both of whom had been stealing from a longtime patron of Adlehyde's Adventurers Guild. She would have been content to send the evidence of their wrongdoing Morgan's way at his request, but after having spent the evening being belittled by said heiress, who had absolutely no idea she was being swindled, and with the same woman /setting her on fire/ after calling her a guttersnipe, taking her precious items without her even realizing it and the fact that Cassidy was in the process of /ruining her life/ was a coup de grace the conwoman couldn't resist.
And something tells her that Lily would probably appreciate it more, anyway.