It's like paradise, spread out with a butter knife :: [OPEN]

[bonhomme7h.livejournal.com]

Who: EVERYONE
What: Réjean has decided that more people ought to celebrate and help raise a bit of dosh for one of his favourite bars. See: flyer.
Where: The Apache.
When: Misdi night and into the wee hours of the morning.
Warnings: Discussion of Pickman's manky feet.

The Apache is much the same as it always is: dimly lit, with the jukebox playing in the background, and the bartender serving whatever's on tap. Tonight, the bar is packed with people from all across the city, different cantons and cohorts, all out to celebrate surviving the fungal plague. Patrons are encouraged to buy tickets for a door prize with the proceeds going to repair the damage tunnelling ants made to the cellar.

Comments

[defenestration]

"And the same to you, Miss Decima. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh." Adrian won't halt her progress if she's on a mission to get to that jukebox, but he offers a nod of his head and a warm smile in greeting.

[rhinemaid]

Mission accomplished and she drifts back in his direction, just for the moment; she's feeling effervescently social this evening, it's pleasant and she's going to enjoy it while it lasts, even if it leads her to chatting to one of her bosses slightly inebriated. It's not as though that's actually a first.

(Lex was kind enough to keep an eye on her while she sobered up after their lunch, which she figures was only fair since he'd bought her the wine after she warned him about what a cheap drunk she is.)

"You didn't get into any trouble during the plague, did you?" That's a greeting.

[defenestration]

Back home, Adrian isn't generally in the habit of socializing with employees, but he's never been the kind to be dismissive of them either. And in a place like this, with no reputation to back him up, it would be social suicide to begin presenting an attitude about employer-employee etiquette.

Besides, Ilde isn't quite your typical sort of employee.

"No, I was very successful in keeping myself safe. I understand I'm luckier than a lot of people in that regard." Smarter, too, but that's not really polite to mention.

[rhinemaid]

Arguably, she's not your typical sort of anything.

"Real estate prices are going down like knickers," she says, blandly, which is both a fantastic and terribly British simile and relevant to the luck that many of Baedal's citizenry lacked - between the plague, the fog-madness and Christ knows what else that happened in the chaos before it had passed. "But everyone I know seems to have come through well." Well enough.

[defenestration]

The drop in real estate prices might be a sign of bad luck on the part of Baedal's residents, but it's music to Adrian's ears. He lets a thoughtful expression slip past the congenial reserve for a moment, but replaces it quickly enough with another smile for Ilde.

"Well enough is better than not at all. Was your part of the excursion a success?"

[rhinemaid]

"It was." And she's got her boon to show for it, though she hasn't quite managed to make use yet; she wants to, and then she doesn't, but she does, and then she doesn't know what to say...

...but she's not thinking about that right now. Tonight is not for that.

"Sonja does fogruns sometimes," she says, after a moment, "and we've been before. It was what it was."

[defenestration]

"I'm pleased to hear it." He's had at least something of a briefing already from Lex, and this isn't the time for interrogations anyway.

"I hope you can find a few minutes to introduce me to Sonja. What exactly is the purpose of 'fogruns'?"

[rhinemaid]

"Profit," she says, with a flutter of her hands - how much luck he'll have getting anything especially clear on any subject out of her at a time like this is heavily debatable, especially given her wandering attention. Conversations stray according to her mood, and she's a mercurial little thing when sober. "There's money in what you can bring back, if you live."

[defenestration]

They can always talk details at another time and place, for now it's enough that she's piqued Adrian's interest. Research labs need funding, a lot of it, and any way he and Lex can increase their sources of income would be welcome.

"What kinds of things do you find there?" He's really not concerned with the surviving part, despite having never actually ventured into the fog. It's that superhero ego.

[rhinemaid]

Ilde shrugs. "Talk to fogtraders for that. I found my hat out there." The cowboy hat she'd been wearing when they last spoke- there's a great deal else, out there, but she's been a little preoccupied the times she's been into the fog.

[defenestration]

Adrian isn't terribly interested in hats (they cover up his lovely hair, you know), but he imagines if there's money to be made on it, then there's more than just random articles of clothing to be found. "I'll do that, thank you."

He tilts his head toward the bar. "Will you let me buy you a drink to celebrate your return?"

[rhinemaid]

"I only let nice gentlemen buy me drinks, but I'll make an exception for you, Mr Veidt, since you're so pleased to see me." Her idea of being friendly toward men has always involved a great deal of cheerful mockery; she's of the considered opinion that it's good for them.

(Until quite recently, it would've been fair to say she didn't know any nice gentlemen. Boromir breaks the curve, it's sickening.)

"A brandy alexander," she adds, looking back toward the bar to gauge how long it's going to take the bartender to get to them.

[defenestration]

Adrian doesn't take offense at the teasing, he's gotten used to Ilde's manner, and even if he had felt offended, he knows how to keep it to himself. Offenses are best dealt with subtly, and after one has had a chance to determine the proper caliber of revenge.

He orders the drink she asks for, and a refill on his own scotch. "I feel as though I've been rather left out, Mr. Luthor has been monopolizing all of your time. Now that things are quiet again for now, and you're almost finished with your work for us, what do you plan to do with your time?"

[rhinemaid]

"I've been picking up music students," she says, shrugging once and leaning against the bar as they wait for their drinks. Music teaching is both flexible, profitable, and relatively stable work - in other words, ideal for her lifestyle in this city and in general ideal for her temperament. Presumably Adrian can't imagine her in a nine to five any better than she can. "I offer piano, violin and cello mostly, but I think I could handle any instrument."

It's matter of fact, not a boast; music is a powerful intrinsic gift, and it isn't really fair to compare most musicians to the enchanting Nix. Her students, of course, already have the advantage - that enchantment carries into her teaching, and the adept skill she can teach could play fairies down out of the woods to hear it.

She can also lure listeners to death by drowning with the power of her singing voice, but let's not go into that.