open | with the sound of my heart

[sulahnan]

WHO: Athessa, Madi, Lucien, Skull, and YOU!!
WHAT: catch-all
WHEN: mostly Satinalia and later
WHERE: Kirkwall and The Gallows
NOTES: post-murderhaus h/c is gonna go here

Comments

[coquettish_trees]

[ She laughs softly for besotted, and nods along. ]

Can you think of another reason a lady with a décolletage like mine might take the opportunity to close her hand and press it to her chest?

[bouchonne]

Firm. Ample. The color of rich sweet cream.

[ Helping. ]

[sulahnan]

Well, if his eyes follow your hand, you could cover a glance elsewhere, maybe signal with your other hand or the tap of your foot. Or —

[ She discards a card based on how much she likes the art on it and draws another. ]

— to slip a little something in your décolleté for later.

[ Please let that be the right word. Athessa smiles at Lexie, fairly confident that she did well, even if she's not winning the card game. ]

[coquettish_trees]

[ The glance she bestows upon Byerly for his 'help' is that particular sort of warm exasperation that promises pleasant recompense later on in the evening. When her gaze returns to Athessa it remains warm, but shifts to approval. ]

Exactement! A lovely opportunity to see which parts of me those at the table are watching, improve my hand, perhaps lure you into believing that my attention has been captured and thus it might be a safe juncture to make some hand improvements of your own...

[ She waves her hand: and so forth. ]

And what you heard in our exchange?

[bouchonne]

Wit. Charm.

[sulahnan]

Do you want a play-by-play, or am I looking for a point?

[coquettish_trees]

The former; I find it a useful practice to simply set out observations before attempting to piece together the full meaning.

[ She draws, slips the new card neatly into her hand, ]

And if you speak each step aloud, it aids me in learning how and what it is you notice.

[ Another card placed face-down before her. ]

Our dear Ambassador has already said 'wit' and 'charm', so you shall have to start elsewhere.

[bouchonne]

That's right. No copying off me.

[sulahnan]

[ Athessa sighs and shifts in her seat to rest her left arm on the back of the chair — and accidentally elbows Byerly in the process. Not hard, but notable.

She clears her throat and pitches her voice up slightly, adopting a vaguely Orlesian accent. ]

Why, my Lord Ambassador! Should you like to be dealt in, or are you well pleased by towering over ladies and looking at their cards?

[ Pitched down, now, and more Fereldan. She holds one finger across her upper lip to represent a mustache. ]

Very well pleased. Don't let her hustle you out of your money, my lady.

[ Back to Orlesian-ish. ]

I should be delighted if she managed it.

[ Then, in her normal voice: ]

And then you recommended switching to defensive plays one or two turns after the appearance of a dubious ally. If he's actually here to help you, I shouldn't let him know that I suspect him from the get-go.

[coquettish_trees]

[ Alexandrie laughs delightedly. She'd meant more generally— tone, subtext, other such things— but opting for full recall is even better. ]

Ah, you have been playing listening games with Bastien! And I see you grow a mustache quite quickly these days.

[ She leans forward to better whisper to Athessa in loud conspiracy. ]

Alors dis moi, what do you think. Has Monsieur l'Ambassadeur come here to play on your behalf or mine?

[ It's half a facetious question, but not entirely without merit. Even if he'd only come over to join them for conversation, it hardly takes Byerly any time at all to get his elegant fingers all covered in mischief. ]

[bouchonne]

[ Byerly recovers from his grand wince at that elbow to his midriff, leaning forward to say - ]

Oh, I can't wait to hear what she says in response to this.

[sulahnan]

[ Athessa purses her lips in thought and, having leaned forward to hear Lexie's stage whisper, leans back to look up at Byerly. Assessing. ]

I think he's here because he got bored, and now that he knows we're playing, he'll play on behalf of his own entertainment.

[ In other words: pourquoi pas les deux? ]

[coquettish_trees]

Monsieur l’Ambassadeur?

[ She tilts her head at Byerly with a smile, obviously inquiring after confirmation. ]

[bouchonne]

[ He grins and blows two kisses, one for each of them. ]

Precisely so. Because the game is low-stakes. I am on the side of nothing but chaos, because chaos is a delight. Now, if the outcome of the game actually mattered, that might be a different story. You cannot, alas, use the information you've learned about me here and apply it to a different situation - if you're surveilling a target, you must be certain to observe him in many different circumstances. 'Tis the doom of many an amateur, drawing conclusions based on insufficient knowledge.

[sulahnan]

Then I suppose it's a good thing that I've observed the both of you under a range of circumstances.

[ She taps her fingertips against her cards, and tips her head in concession. ]

By the same token, you've both seen me in a gamut of circumstances. Does that make the odds better or worse?

[coquettish_trees]

[ Alexandrie lifts her hand to let the blown kiss 'land' on her finger like a winged thing and clucks softly at it with saccharine affection before turning back to tilt her head at Athessa. ]

Shall we find out?

[ A gesture at her hand, prepped to be laid down. ]

[bouchonne]

[ No comment from the peanut gallery this time. ]

[sulahnan]

Is that a no, then?

[coquettish_trees]

Your cards, mademoiselle!

[ Alexandrie lays her own down with a flourish that suggests a much finer hand than she has. Or perhaps it’s a flourish because it’s comically awful.

She still looks like a cat in cream, laughter barely contained behind her smile. ]

[sulahnan]

Right, sorry—

[ She fumbles to pass her cards to her left hand so she can set them down without flourish. Her hand isn't great, but it's not comical. ]

Knights of Dawn and Roses.

[bouchonne]

[ It's that motion that draws Byerly's attention to the injury in her arm. His smile fades away, but he doesn't comment. ]

[coquettish_trees]

[ When he is there, she is watching him. Always, when he is there, some part of her is dancing attendance on the way he stands, how he looks, and so even with her eyes on the cards Athessa is placing down she registers the fade of his smile like colour washing pale in her periphery, sees the source of the change.

They have not talked yet, she and Athessa, about the arm. How it came about. Everyone will worry for her, she'd thought, let one person say there are things in the world that keep going. And so, card games by the fire. Bard practice. Little enamel buttons, currently being dutifully escorted from the center into Athessa's pile of them courtesy of this last round. ]

Ah, you have them all! What shall I tell Marie?

[sulahnan]

[ If Athessa has a sense that there's been some shift in the vibe emanating off of Byerly, she doesn't show it. Perhaps because she's busy dividing the buttons into three equal piles. ]

I'm sure you'll figure something out if you don't win them back.

[ She pushes one pile of buttons across the table to Lexie, then another to where Byerly would fit seated to one side of the women. ]

After all, we have to have a rematch since— [ How many plays back was it? One, two, there it is. She reveals the high-value card that Lexie discarded, batting her lashes the way Lexie had at Byerly. ] —I didn't win on my own merit.

[bouchonne]

[ He does come around now, taking the chair that's clearly been set aside for him. It allows him to take Athessa in more fully. He doesn't comment on her state - not yet - but there's a sharpness in his dark eyes, a tension in his hands, that would not be there normally. ]

Deal me in, then.

[coquettish_trees]

[ It spreads, that tightness. Out from the loss of his smile into the most expressive parts of him, and Alexandrie sighs inside herself. He’s not going to be able to relax now.

She cannot be the slightest bit cross; it is part of what she loves in him, that there are times he cannot see pain, people he cannot see pain in, without becoming brittle.

But she would rather not have Athessa pick the unspoken tension off of him. Thinks it better that she addresses the source, with sympathetic curiosity, while the cards are collected to be dealt again: ]

How is your healing?

[ It’s not specific. The arm, the psyche, anything Athessa chooses to ascribe to the question. ]