faderift | [ open] hijinks with sonia

Sonia has been on a number of diplomatic (and assorted) assignments, but all of them minor, and largely in groups. This is her first time on her own, and she is ready for it. In fact, it's about time. The Sonia of three years ago would have happily passed on such an opportunity with a bright "oh, no thank you", because the Sonia of three years ago was dead set on living her life as pleasantly and entertainingly for as long as she could. But things have changed since then. Many other things have not, but by the time she had come back to Riftwatch, something in her had shifted. She wants people to take her seriously now. She can be taken seriously, regardless of what her uncle thinks.

She may also have gained a little too much unearned confidence in the process of convincing herself of her own capability. This could not possibly go wrong.

But Sonia is not entirely foolish, and thought to ask for backup. A bodyguard for a meeting like this is always a good idea. Not just for her personal safety, but to send a message, and she is thoroughly convinced of his skill and reliability. It doesn't hurt that he's rather nice to look at.

She is dressed a shade more soberly than usual, trying to put on a serious show for their would-be contacts. Hands clasped behind her head as they walk, she favors Ellis with a sunny smile.

"Nice day for a walk to the wharf, isn't it?"

It is never a nice day for a walk in to the wharf.

Diplomacy is certainly not Ellis' forte. He knows they're going to negotiate, and that Sonia is doing most of the talking, and Ellis is here just in case of—

Well.

Sonia is in good spirits, which makes the task seem manageable. The request hadn't come with many details, apart from stay close at hand. Ellis can see their destination ahead, considers that they should maybe have tried to set any negotiations in a neutral venue, but its too late for that now.

"We've had nearly two months of rain, so being out in dry weather is a welcome change."

He gestures ahead of them, to the weather-faded sign.

"I'll open the door for you when we arrive, you enter first. Are you ready for this?"

Because they have a few moments, if she needs to make some mental preparations. Has she done negotiations before? Ellis hadn't asked, and it seems rude to question her about it now.

Oh, Sonia has experience with negotiations, of a kind -- when she still spent all her time at court in Denerim, social negotiations were a specialty. But fortunately, partying is not the only skill set she can claim. She's been groomed as a diplomat by her exceedingly diplomatic father, and she's been present at more than one trade negotiation. She understands how they work, how they ought to go down.

This is her first trade negotiation on her own, though, and admittedly, none of the negotiations she'd sat in on ever had anything to do with smuggled goods. But it's fine. A merchant is a merchant is a merchant. At the end of the day, they just want their coin, and Sonia knows how to bargain.

She takes a minute to shake out her hair, fluffing it from beneath so that it spills a little more artfully over her shoulders, and then smiles brightly at Ellis.

"I'm ready. I'll do the talking, but don't let anything I say distract you." There is, for a moment, a serious look on her face, deeply earnest. For all her unearned confidence, she really does want to do a good job. Then she smiles again. "And I'll be free of distraction just by having you here."

A momentary flash of a smile; that sincerity is something Ellis instinctively wants to safeguard. She wants to do well, he wants to do whatever he can to be certain she does well in this. His own apprehensions and misgivings about talking people into things can be set aside for a moment as he touches her elbow lightly.

"I can promise you my full attention."

Since theoretically all he's here to do is look mostly intimidating and interject if someone gets too rowdy. Neither is exactly a stretch of his ability. As he opens the door for Sonia, he weighs the pros and cons of taking out his mace. Maybe not right off the bat.

His initial impression: the room is clean, if slightly overcrowded. The table in the back is clearly where they're meant to be headed, judging by the expectant expressions of the individuals sitting around the table.

"There," he indicates to her quietly. "I assume that's the group about to make you an offer."

On some dubiously acquired coffee. It'll be interesting, if nothing else.

It's funny, how the slightest touch can make Sonia feel worlds more comfortable. She smiles beatifically at him before straightening and striding in through the door.

Sonia's gaze lands on the group at the back, nodding in agreement. They seem a little rough around the edges but a civil bunch, and in her experience, merchants usually are. Not very easy to deal with nobility if you insist on being unpleasant about it, after all. Granted, these might be smugglers, a breed with which she has no experience whatsoever. But, as they say, you learn by doing. Sonia makes her way over to them without a trace of unease, smiling pleasantly at all involved with a little nod of her head in greeting.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," she says cheerfully, and executes a neat little bow with a flourish of her hand. "Lady Sonia Barra, of Riftwatch. I believe we have an appointment."

One of the merchants (or maybe-smugglers) greets her with equal civility, offering her a chair. Sonia takes it without looking back at Ellis; she doesn't need to. A few pleasantries are exchanged, a courtesy drink poured, the usual diplomatic foreplay to a business deal. This, Sonia feels more confident in. She has spent her whole life learning small talk in its most powerful and necessary forms, and by all appearances, things seem to be going well.

Sonia folds her hands on the table and smiles at all present. "Now, I do believe you said you had some rather rare goods on offer. Riftwatch is certainly interested in doing business with you, if your advertising was true. I am authorized to offer you a competitive rate."

"I've never done this before," Sonia confesses, an air of conspiratorial excitement around her. She has plenty of experience drinking intoxicants, but smoking? She's never smoked anything before, let alone anything hallucinogenic. She keeps her voice down, watching Athessa with rapt attention. "What is it like, exactly? Is it anything like being drunk?"

Athessa shrugs a shoulder as she finishes rolling the blunt.

"Sort of. You know that moment when you're drinking when you realize you're drunk? It's like that, but without feeling sweaty or clammy or getting hungover the next day," She leans over to the fire and holds the blunt over the flames, rotating it so the fire catches evenly before she blows it out to leave a glowing ember. "Everything sort of slows down around you and gets...I dunno. Easy and comfortable."

She takes the first drag, a deep slow breath that she holds not quite as long as she can. So she can blow the smoke out and offer the blunt to Sonia. "Breathe out, then breathe in the smoke and hold it. Don't suck on it, and don't try to swallow it. You'll just end up coughing until your eyes water."

"No hangovers?" If Sonia sounds slightly suspicious, it's because that sounds too good to be true. But she watches Athessa with keen interest and unmasked fascination as she lights the joint and takes a hit. It's not as though she's never seen or even been around drugs other than alcohol -- she had just never had any interest and had had the benefit of enough people looking out for her that she'd been gently steered away from it. Really, it's just that Athessa's eyes look so pretty in the firelight, reminding Sonia dimly of their encounter in the baths, and Athessa just has one of those faces that's pleasant to watch. Sonia does not seem self-conscious about this in the least.

She takes the joint from Athessa delicately in her thumb and forefinger. Even if she hadn't confessed it already, it's obvious from the dainty grip far, far from the lit end that she's never done this before. She isn't really afraid of getting burned, but listen, when you've never put anything in your mouth that is partially on fire, you move with some caution. Besides, Athessa has given her such clear guidance, and Sonia is hardly a lightweight when it comes to drinking. This should be no problem. She puts the joint to her lips, and draws.

It is a classic beginner's mistake: trying to take far too deep of a pull. Sonia manages to breathe the smoke, but the end burns so much more quickly than she was expecting it to, and the smoke is also much, much thicker than she was anticipating. She manages to hold it in her lungs for about a beat before it catches hard in her throat and she coughs, explosively, burying her face in her elbow, the other hand holding the joint outstretched far, far away from her hair.

She can't help but laugh, taking the joint from Sonia just so she doesn't drop it or set herself on fire or something equally ludicrous, and pats her on the back gently.

"Ah, that was maybe a bit too much," she looks around and finds a cup for water and gets Sonia a drink. "It'll be easier once the high sets in anyway, give it a few minutes."

Oh, god, this feels terrible. For a good few moments, Sonia is convinced she has permanently burned her throat, or something, but then, even through the coughing, the burning in her throat starts to recede. She takes a few hurried drinks in between coughs as she can and, sure enough, her eyes are watering, little trickles threatening to escape the curve of her cheeks.

"A few minutes?" Sonia wheezes in astonishment. She'd only taken one hit, and hadn't even managed to hold it for more than a second. She assumed she would need to do it...well, more than once.

Is smoking weed...faster than drinking? And no one has told her??

"Yeah, well," Athessa gestures vaguely and takes another hit for herself. She jets the smoke out through her nose as she keeps talking. "It depends on how much got in there and how much you coughed out, and you don't wanna smoke a lot at once until you know how it'll affect you. One time when I was healing up from a fight I smoked way too much, and I thought I was dying every time my eyes were open. It was fine when my eyes were shut, though."

Is that reassuring? Seems like maybe I thought I was dying is less than reassuring.

"It's fine."

It occurs to Sonia now, too late, that maybe...this wasn't the best idea in the world? She doesn't feel any different yet, and she looks sort of bemused as she watches Athessa smoke. She makes it look so easy, even sort of graceful. That look changes to one of mild horror, though, and Sonia sincerely hopes that was a joke, or at least an exaggeration.

"But this is fun...some of the time, isn't it?"

Maybe she should elaborate on what she means by it felt like dying. No, she shouldn't. That'd be too much. So she instead waves a languid hand again, of course it's fun some of the time!

"It's fun most of the time, don't worry," And then, before she can stop herself: "It's just when it isn't fun, it leaves an impression."

"Ah, so not so different from drinking after all." Sonia smiles over her cup of water, coughing once or twice more just to clear the feeling from her throat. The smell is pungent at such close range, but not altogether unpleasant. She gathers her legs under her, sitting a little crookedly and leaning lightly against Athessa. "Do you prefer this to wine?"

Athessa taps the ash off the joint and nods.

"Yeah I can't stand wine."

Sonia sits up immediately, looking appalled. Indeed, looking as though Athessa has just told her she doesn't like to breathe air.

"You can't stand wine?"

She isn't offended, it's just that she's never heard anyone who knows how to have fun say those words in that order.

If there was any doubt that Sonia and Byerly were related, that reaction squashed it completely.

"Yeah it reminds me of something I'd really rather forget," Someday she'll have an easier way of talking around how Devigny ruined wine forever. But until then-- "So I do this instead."

"Oh." Sonia's shock, frivolous as it is, quickly subsides, and she looks more subdued. A sensitive topic, then, and not one she wishes to disturb if Athessa would prefer to let it lay. She quietly files that away in her mind, a mental note to make sure the wine is well put away the next time she invites Athessa over. And then she realizes she's never actually invited Athessa over, and makes an additional mental note to do that as soon as possible. After all, this is hospitality that must surely be returned.

"I'm sorry," she says, entirely earnestly, and bites her lips together. "I didn't realize. I hope I've never made you uncomfortable."

Being that she is, you know, frequently accompanied by wine. Just usually not in the bath.

Edited 2020-04-14 01:01 (UTC)

A slow smile creeps onto Athessa's features and she impulsively leans over to kiss Sonia. Just one solid smooch of appreciation for that earnestness.

"You're wonderful," she says, and sits back. She takes another drag and offers it to Sonia for a second try. "I still haven't figured out how to talk about it that isn't uncomfortable for everyone. 'S just one of those things." If Athessa were keeping track, she'd count this as the most casual she's been while talking about it.

She might be keeping track. Just a little bit.

That kiss is a pleasant surprise, as is the simple declaration of affection, and Sonia blinks, rose-cheeked, as a silly little smile unfolds on her face. Not fair, part of her wants to protest, she's not used to being so sweetly finessed like that -- but she loves it, clearly. It also immediately puts to rest any unease that she might have unwittingly offended Athessa in the past. A ridiculous notion, anyhow. Athessa is decidedly difficult to offend.

"Some things, there's no clean or easy way of talking about them," Sonia acknowledges with a slow nod, leaning back against her. She takes the joint carefully again, though with a slightly surer hold, and her next drag is far slower and shorter. She's still making a face, it's an effort to hold the smoke back, but she does manage to hold it -- and then promptly coughs it all out. Not as bad as the first time, though, and when she internally thinks my god, this is the price of fun? she remembers about hangovers.

"If you ever -- " She starts to offer with sincerity plain in her voice, but interrupted by another small bout of coughing. She clears her throat, shaking her head briskly, and looks back at Athessa. "If you ever want to try," she tries again, "I'll listen. Maybe it will come easier with practice."

"Maybe," she says with a lopsided smile. "But definitely not until we're proper stoned. Let's try this--"

She takes the joint from Sonia again once she's stopped coughing and takes a slow drag, then tips Sonia's face towards hers with a finger under her chin. Her lips just barely brush against Sonia's and when they part, she exhales just as slowly as she took the smoke in.

Sonia didn't know smoking could be so...sensual. As Athessa's fingers graze her skin, she feels something -- odd, something new, almost like a soft ripple in her consciousness, and then Athessa is giving her just the barest of kisses. Sonia shivers slightly, inhales a little to laugh and coughs again -- turns her head to the side just in time, but she feels awash in soft smoke, everything going pleasantly misty and hushed around her. She turns back with a quiet little laugh and kisses Athessa, nearly as gently, and then sways slightly to the side.

"Ohh," Sonia says softly, partly in rapt attention to Athessa's beautiful face, partly because she is just now experiencing what weed is like for the first time.

Athessa smiles against the kiss and laughs afterwards. She recognizes the look on Sonia's face despite always being on the other side of it.

"Ohh is right," she nods, and sinks down more comfortably beside the fire. "My favorite is this part where the sides of your face feel kinda tingly, like someone took the sound that bees make and magicked up two pillows with it and are just--" Her fingers flutter by her temples, then she presses her palms to her cheeks and presses in, smushing her head between two imaginary pillows.

ellis

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athessa

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what an absolute weenie

sonia is me every time i try to smoke a real joint instead of a vape

there's a little bit of sonia in every stoner

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byerly & sidony

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