closed | all work and no play

[coquettish_trees]

WHO: Lady Alexandrie and her Lounge Brigade
WHAT: Irreverence and indolence for the sake of morale
WHEN: Now
WHERE: The Unofficial Tevinter Embassy (i.e. the Asgard estate in Hightown), and other places around Kirkwall
NOTES: Catch-all for closed starters; pm/plurk/discord/smoke signal me if you want to plan something. ♥

The undead walk the land, there's mountains of work to be done, ten tasks for every hand, so...

Champagne, anyone?

Comments

forgive my tardiness

[hornswoggle]

Meanwhile John patronizes Lowtown stalls solely for the pleasure of haggling. It's all good-natured, and he inevitably tips as much as he saves; the benefit goes beyond the item. It's always good to have friends, especially friends who do a fair bit of trading. After all, John still has a crew to direct towards prizes now and again.

But he is not so attached to his routine that he doesn't welcome interruption. He wouldn't have expected to meet Lexie down here, though he doesn't say as much. Instead, he pinches a fold of the fabric from the opposite edge of the cloak in question, appraising.

"Considering this will be my second winter spent in Kirkwall, I suppose you have a fair point," John agrees. "But I've always found cloaks limiting. It seems like an invitation for someone to tread on your hem at the worst possible moment."

no, mine!

[coquettish_trees]

“Or the best,” she counters with a conspiratorial smile. “I have arranged to be terribly insulted by the clumsiness of others on more than one occasion. For the price of a dirtied hemline you might learn a great deal about how someone thinks of themselves, of you, of the two of you in relation.” The smile turns bright and carefree again, a woman concerned by little more than how well the fall of it might flatter.

“And they billow so dramatically!”

no for sure it is me who is tardiest

[hornswoggle]

While this advice could be mistaken as frivolous, John takes it simply as a reminder of her particular skillset. There's something impressive about how Lexie manages and anticipates people.

"Well in that case, how can I pass it up?"

At which point the merchant tending the stall brightens slightly. John directs a slight smile to him, before gesturing at the wares and looking back towards Lexie.

"And of course, I must offer to purchase something for you. Perhaps one of the scarves?"

ah, but here is proof that it is I!

[coquettish_trees]

“How generous of you!” she exclaims, drifting forward to make her own examination of the fabrics. It’s an exacting dance of a process filled with little movements and changes of expression that are meant to look unconscious on her part while she angles carefully so that they can be seen perfectly by the merchant: interest, curiosity, disappointment, lifts of scarves and their quick dismissal with tiny frowns. Eventually she looks at the merchant with raised eyebrows as if to say and are there others?, stretching her neck to peer behind him to where he might be secreting away something for a lady of discernment, and preparing to immediately reward their appearance with obvious delight.