( closed ) on the move collecting numbers

[indissection]

WHO: Sidony + Byerly
WHAT: Awful agreements being made
WHEN: The day of Byerly's news post
WHERE: A study off the main hall
NOTES: Terribly flirting. Byerly. Talk of dead bodies and so on.

The hardest part of the whole situation is making her handmaiden stay behind. It's not as if she minds, particularly, if the girl comes along - surely the woman has her best interests at heart - but the truth of the matter is that this agreement is something that must be made in private. Sidony is more than aware of how the Chantry views anyone with an inkling to dissect or inspect the dead too closely, and this sort of arrangement could get her in a handful of trouble with the religious folk. She's just arrived to the Inquisition - she wouldn't like to be sent to the prisons just yet.

Perhaps in a few years, when she has written a book on her discoveries. Perhaps then she will admit herself to the jailhouse for her 'crimes'.

It doesn't take her long to decide on a dress and a cloak to wear - it doesn't matter who she's seeing, she has to at least try and look her best, especially for a first acquaintance - and then she's slipping out of her room. She's not foolish enough to be ignorant of the danger she is putting herself in, wandering off to meet an unknown man in the middle of the night, but she has a small knife at her waist and more wits than most people might credit her for.

It takes very little time for her to make her way to the small room, parchment and quill in her arms. If she's to make an agreement with this man - who, judging by other reaction on the crystals, has something of a reputation - she will make sure she has it in writing. Signed. She will not allow herself to be made a fool of, no matter how eager she is to have access to the dead. The things she can learn - she knows it is a great risk, but to be able to do the things she has only ever read about...

Slipping into the room, shutting the door quietly behind her, Sidony begins to light a handful of candles, just enough that she can see to write. Not enough for a dim glow under the door, she hopes.

Comments

[bouchonne]

Byerly, meanwhile, shows up with far cheerier accoutrements under his arm: a bottle of green wine from the Antivan coast (light, dry, bubbly, about as far from the threatened "Dragon's Piss" that one could get), looking decent if not exactly his best. Doublet well-made and finely embroidered, but shirt-laces strategically loose to reveal the curve of his throat, breeches tight on his lean frame. He's a handsome man, with the sort of eyes to make a girl swoon if a girl were interested in masculine eyes - but he undercuts that handsomeness with the sort of smirk that tells any sensible girl, trifle if you wish but do no more, this one is a danger to good names.

A cheerful clear knock on the door, and then he barges in without waiting for an invitation. He steps inside, bows deep and sweeping to the comely young lass there, and then flings himself down into the most comfortable-looking seat.

"Byerly Rutyer, at your service."

[indissection]

He is more handsome in person than she had imagined, at least. His voice was pleasant enough but she has learned from experience that those with less lovely features tend to use lovely words to try and compensate - there have been a number of people who have spoken to her at gatherings and parties who had made her nose wrinkle from their foulness of their face. At least the man she was to enter business with, as odd as the business might be, was pleasant enough to look at, even with eyes that don't seem as interested as they could be.

Her eyes, noticeably, do not dip to investigate his throat. In fact, as he bows Sidony offers her own curtsey, not particularly put out by the entrance. She might not have been here first, after all, so it would not have been sensible to wait. Instead, she moves, walking slowly over to the table, running her fingers along it before she takes her own seat, smile soft with a hint of promise, even if that promise might not be fulfilled.

"Sidony Venaras at yours." She dips her head again. "It is a pleasure to meet you in person, ser. I had not expected such kind people in the Inquisition."

[bouchonne]

"Oh, my dear Lady Venaras, you should not have expected them, and nor should you think that you're finding one in me," he responds at once, his manner still pleasant and cheerful and warm. His eyes sparkle in the manner of one telling a private joke, one with a delicious punchline. (But, aware of how ominous that might sound if understood in the wrong context, Byerly remains sprawled out in his chair, not moving a hair, not wanting to actually alarm her.)

"Everyone here at the Inquisition who is not imprisoned here wants to serve their self-interests. So it is the case with me - seeing your medical skills helping certain people I know - and so it shall be the case with you - developing your skills on the battlefront. How much experience have you had?"

[indissection]

"I think you mistake my meaning in kind." Sidony shifts, settling down comfortable, adjusting her dress just so that it covers her legs properly, a smile on her face. "I did not mean considerate, certainly, but generous. This agreement between us will be beneficial and that is something I could not have predicted. I doubt there are many people here who would be inclined to allow me to continue my studies as I wish."

Still, that's the one question most people ask. They look at her and ask - what has she done? What experience does she have? How many battles has she seen and how many people has she treated? She waves a hand absently, flicking at her papers absently, as if she's unconcerned.

"Enough," she shakes her head. "I've done more studying than I could care to name and I was given the chance to work with some of the best tutors and minds that Nevarra had to offer." She had even been given the chance to speak to some Mortalitasi, but that's need to know information and he does not need to know. "I'm more skilled than my face might suggest."

[bouchonne]

"Hm," he responds as he begins working the cork from the bottle. He takes it slow, keeping his motions pleasing and smooth, not allowing himself to jerk or grunt or do anything that would make him look less than capable.

"A practiced answer," he observes. "One that you've given a time or two before, I fancy. Who else have you had to argue your case to? - And don't worry, my dear, I see some wrinkles forming on your forehead and around your eyes; you'll look haggard and aged soon enough."

[indissection]

"How dare you," she says, with no heat in the words, teasing more than anything else. It's said with a smile - Sidony isn't offended. She's nearing twenty four, not fifty, and she has more time in the world than perhaps she would be content with to be pretty and underestimated. She would prefer to be taken seriously for her art and her trade, but that is not what people think when they see her name or her face. They see a lady, one to be wedded, not a doctor with knowledge and certainty.

"There are a few people here who want to know my experience before they'd have me treat them. With the number of physicians here already, plus the healers with magic, I have had to prove my case. I want only to be an asset, you understand, not a burden. I understand resources are thin enough."

[bouchonne]

Byerly sighs, showily disappointed, when she doesn't rise to his bait. But he can't quite bite back the smile that curls the corner of his lip. This one has a stiff back. She has her feet underneath her. Such a dreadful quality in a woman. Absolutely awful.

"Kind of you," he comments, running his hand through his hair so that it falls over his forehead in a very becoming sort of way. "And you've no magic of your own? Carrying out healing with your hands and nothing else?"

[indissection]

Sidony, at least, has nothing but a smile on her face, soft and gentle, more teasing than anything else. She wants this man to be enchanted by her and she thinks he wants the same in return from her - a mutual respect for one another built on a careful admiration on their appearance and their mind. They're both being very deliberate in their actions and it makes her lean forward, resting carefully on the table, showing off some of her... Assets as she leans.

"No magic whatsoever. It was never something I was gifted with, unfortunately. I would likely have become a healer still, even with magic, but without I must use my hands and my books. They are all I have and, so, they must be enough."

[bouchonne]

It's interesting. He can't tell whether the flashing of her cleavage was accidental or not. It looked very deliberate in terms of her movements, to be sure, but at the same time, there have been absolutely no telltale glances at his wrists or eyes or throat. So he touches his lower lip, lowers his eyelashes, and gives her a properly smouldering look, just to see if there'll be some reaction.

"So do you think you'd be better, if you had access to magic?"

[indissection]

"Not necessarily. I think that if I were a mage, and trained in healing, I would be taken more seriously by some. There are a few people across Thedas who think that a woman with a title and youth to her name cannot be taken seriously as a physician."

Her eyes flick up and her smile curves, pleased when she sees him looking at her, but she doesn't seem to pay a huge amount of attention to the smoulder. Instead, Sidony looks him in the eye and tilts her head, resting her chin on her fingers and leaning forward.

"I assume, given your offer, that you will be taking me seriously."

[bouchonne]

What an odd creature she is. He's encountered women aplenty uninterested in him, but none that seem uninterested and flirtatious at the same time. So he settles back and stops putting quite so much energy into his smoulder, instead answering, "Well, as a rule, I take nothing seriously."

Then he pours them both some wine. As he does, he says, "But you seem quite determined, my dear girl. And I like helping people. If it turns out well for me, all the better."

[indissection]

“Our arrangement will be mutually beneficial, of course. I am looking forward to more study and your... Friends will have their own physician. One who does not intend to ask them how and why they might have come about their hurts and wounds. Not unless they’re interested in spinning tales, at least.” Leaning forward, she takes one of the glasses, holding it carefully in one hand.

“I’ve brought paper and ink so we can write a proper agreement. We can use code, of course, but I like to make sure I know exactly what I’m agreeing to, without the trouble of one of us misremembering the terms. It’s not to be taken as a slight. You understand.” She smiles that same, soft, flirtatious smile again, eyes dancing over his face, playful.

[bouchonne]

What an odd creature. So Byerly takes up a glass, and purrs in response, "I'll sign it on paper, and happily. But wouldn't it be so much more pleasing sealed with a kiss?"

[indissection]

“Ser.” Sidony ducks her head, as if embarrassed, a smile curling over her lips. She sips from her wine before she places it to one side, looking up at him from a careful flutter of her lashes. “Why can we not have both? Then I will be twice as pleased.”

[bouchonne]

"Doubly legally binding," he says, smiling sultry at her. He takes a deeper drink from it, then reaches out and touches her fingertips softly. "So what shall our contract say?"

[indissection]

“A gold coin weekly for services rendered. There is no need to dictate what those services might be. Then something of me being a private physician of sorts, should disaster strike. It would explain why I might be found in your company.” Her thumb brushes over his fingers, tracing the shape. Distal phalanx, middle phalanx, proximal phalanx. “No one will be witness to this contract but us, but I will add a clause for secrecy too. Is there anything you would add?”

[bouchonne]

His thumb presses against hers, tracing the line of her thumbnail.

"The gold coin and the weekly schedule must be flexible," he says. "As my mortician friend is the one who will set the schedule, and we must bow to the vagaries of his schedule and his demand."

[indissection]

“Of course. As the services are rendered, then.” Thumb against thumb, like a dance. It’s intimate and she finds some joy in that, from something she had been denied; it was to protect her virtue of course, but that is no longer a concern. “I would not wish to upset your friend.”

[bouchonne]

"Then I've no objection at all."

He pulls back his hand, spreads his fingers across the desk.

"The contract is agreeable to me, my lady."

[indissection]

“I am glad to here it. Arrangements can be made for where I might see the bodies once I am settled and we have one to discuss.”

She looks almost mournful at the loss of his hand, but glances up.

“I believe you have earned the right of my name.”

[bouchonne]

"Have I?"

He reaches down to grasp his glass of wine. Fixes his eyes on hers. Without blinking, keeping his gaze steady, he lifts his glass to his lips. And he takes a sip, long and slow, then murmurs her name:

"Sidony."

[indissection]

She watches him carefully, almost hawkelike. There’s nothing wrong with him, she thinks, and he’s perfectly handsome - it has made flirting with him quite easy. He is good to look at, charming and agreeable so far, and she’s pleased that they have come to an easy agreement. She sips from her own wine, tilting her head gently before she leans forward again.

It’s difficult to resist the urge to rise and take advantage of the situation, but she already has what she wants. There’s no need to push her luck.

“It sounds quite lovely on your tongue.”

[bouchonne]

"Ah," he says, and goes in for another sip. Usually, by now, you'd expect a woman to be blushing. You'd expect her breath to be coming a little quicker. He's very good at this game. Apparently, she is as well - perhaps?

He doesn't break eye contact. He purrs, still gazing at her, "May I hear mine in return?"

[indissection]

“Should I please you as well? You have been most generous.” Sidony thinks she knows the game being played here. It’s far more dangerous than anything she had done in Nevarra City, but many of those that tried to court her there were twice, three times her age. Byerly Is not and it seems he knows how to encourage a woman to be... Willing.

Her smile curls and she settles in her chair. She keeps her eyes on him, not breaking the contact.

“We’ve made quite the partnership, Byerly.”

[bouchonne]

"Haven't we?" Then he reaches up and glides his fingertips over his cheeks. "Now. I was promised, I believe, a kiss to seal the deal."