It should have been no surprise to Cyran to see so many familiar faces relaxing in the resort, though it was uncanny how many of them had the same idea to visit the same hot springs all at once. Most were faces he had met during the Black Harvest Ball, and many during the truth or dare game that he preferred not to think about too much.

The spring he was currently relaxing in was empty, which suited him just fine. He wasn’t fond of crowds, though he wouldn’t mind some company and conversation. He sipped at his drink, sinking deeper into the water. Ashamed as he was to admit it, he got cold easily, and since he’d arrived up north, he hadn’t been handling the weather well.

As he unwound, letting his tense muscles relax, Cyran spotted a couple of acquaintances passing by. He waved at a few, inviting them over to enjoy the springs. It would be nice to talk without any unnecessary political drama or high-stakes party games in the way for once.

Through half-lidded eyes and the feeling of weightlessness in the warmth of the springs, he notices the new entries as they drift in. Curiously, he recognizes a number of these people; Kamille drifts in, her hair tied up loosely— she's far from home, isn't she? He recognizes a scruffy goat-man who's already settled in the pool— wasn't he at the Black Harvest Ball?

And... oh?

From where he's submerged in the water, Caedes' pale eyes narrow at recognition of a certain charcoal tiefling as he enters with a small band of individuals that he doesn't recognize. The changeling leans an elbow against the edge of the pool, resting his cheek against an open palm while the young woman with him looks his way; Zarius' gaze follows briefly, then snaps back to her.

He can't hear what they're saying from here, but the look on his face certainly looked a bit like, 'Don't you dare'. He watches lazily while Zarius and his group stride off to another pool, eyes narrowing quizzically— did he... warn her about him?

Movement in the water draws his attention away before a cold paranoia can settle about what might have been said out of earshot, "... Char, I thought you wanted to stay in the room." The water next to him stops rippling, and forming in the pool, Charlotte's ebony head peeps up at him with eight big eyes. "I mean, you're welcome to the pool, but you might scare a few people; might be best to swim quietly."

Her eight legs kick out of sync to keep herself afloat in a manner that's charmingly clumsy, and the spider vanishes from sight again. The water keeps rippling.

It's while he's turning away from her that he notices, across the pool, Cyran— wasn't he at the Black Harvest Ball, as well? It's... weird, but his memory of Cyran at the ball feels... a little fuzzy. It's the same kind of feeling with the goat man; he remembers seeing both there, their presence akin to shadows or phantoms, but he just cannot pull forth memories of any specific interaction with either of them.

He's not sure he even knows the goat man's name.

Weird.

With a shrug of his shoulders, the changeling stands up in the pool; he takes a moment to grab his towel, and takes it upon himself to switch sides. A little ripple of water follows him, slow and steady, while Charlotte doggy-paddles her way across the pool with all the elegance and grace of a drowning fly.

"Well," he remarks, sliding back beneath the water to sit just adjacent to the elf, "Cyran... it's been a while, hasn't it?"

Vakker noticed Cyran and Caedes at the other end of the pool. He remembered the conversation with Cyran and Zarius had been rather enjoyable. Zarius also seemed to be here, with some elf and a girl that looked a lot like him. A close relative, for sure. Probably his sister, but what if that was his child? That would be quite the development he hadn't considered. This would change his latest novel quite a bit! No, it was too early to assume that. It was probably just his sister. Anyways, he also remembered Caedes, though he knew Caedes wouldn't really remember him very well if at all.

He and Cyran made eye contact and Vakker smirked. He stood up and made his way over to the pair, watching as a weird ripple also made its way across the water, as if an invisible bird was bathing and trying to swim forward at the same time. He raised an eyebrow, but decided to just let it be. The others didn't seem bothered by it.

"Cyran, it's funny seeing you here as well. One might think you're following me. I'm starting to think what you said at the ball was more true than I'd believed." he joked, looking to Cyran before turning to Caedes.

"I believe I saw you at the ball, but never had a chance to actually introduce myself then. My name is Vakker." he introduced himself, holding out a hand to Caedes.

Cyran nearly jumped at the sound of his name being called- Caedes hadn’t been especially stealthy in his approach, but Cyran had been so lost in his own thoughts that anyone could have snuck up on him. “Ah… Good afternoon, Caedes.” Cyran said somewhat sheepishly, remembering their last encounter in Moonglade. He was beginning to suspect that this was becoming a pattern.



“Yes, it has been some time.” He said, giving Caedes a polite smile. Some time that Caedes remembered, at least. “I saw you at the Black Harvest Ball, but I didn’t get the chance to speak with you.”



Little ripples in the nearby water caught his attention, and Cyran noticed Charlotte bobbing her way through the water, little eyes peeking above water. “Hello there, Charlotte.” He greeted the spider as cordially as he would any other person. He wasn’t sure if spiders could normally swim, but Charlotte was determined to make an earnest attempt at it, even though her uncoordinated legs were out of sync. “You’re an excellent swimmer.”



As Charlotte made her slow crawl to them, Cyran turned back to Caedes. He was about to ask if Caedes had arrived here with Zarius- he’d seen the tiefling around with a woman who resembled him- when he made eye contact with Vakker on the other side of the pool.



The Satyr smirked, picking himself up and making his way over.



“Cyran, it's funny seeing you here as well. One might think you're following me. I'm starting to think what you said at the ball was more true than I'd believed."



“I believe it was you who advised me to take advantage of Frost Gale’s hot springs, Vakker.” Cyran replied, pointedly ignoring Vakker’s teasing about what he’d admitted during the truth or dare game. That damned party is determined to haunt me. “And far be it from me to ignore such wise counsel.”



Vakker introduced himself to Caedes in his usual smooth demeanor, holding his hand out. Distantly, Cyran remembered that Vakker had been interested in learning more about Caedes back at the ball, and seemed disappointed when Zarius had merely deflected and changed the subject. “Why don’t you join us?” He paused, glancing at Caedes. “If that’s okay with you, of course.”

With so many people flooding into the area, it's somewhat difficult to pick out specific individuals. There's assuredly some sort of festival/convention happening to draw such a steep incline of visitors. But, even in the crowd, a certain group is easy to pick out and easy to recognize, especially because two of its members are made of metal and possess crimson, lifeless eyes.

Their iron-taloned feet scrape across the ground. Other visitors give them a wide berth as, even unarmed, they're a menacing sight to behold. This is in spite of the fact that their patron and escortee is so wholly unintimidating that her presence is actually more settling than unsettling: negative menace.

It's almost difficult to recognize Veliky for two reasons: firstly, her hair's down; secondly, instead of her usual business/military attire, she's wearing a towel as a dress. For most women, a towel would only cover the essentials - for her, it may as well be a ballroom gown. Her two Blixtbots™ are also wearing towels.

She gives no token of acknowledgement to the spring's occupants before casually hopping into the spring. The splash is insignificant, like the ripples of a pebble in a pond. It's also the easiest method for her to enter, as her legs are largely restricted by her towel cocoon. Her bots don't enter the pool; they only loom behind her like bodyguards - or statues.

By the time Veliky has fully entered the spring, little is visible of her except for her head, bobbing just above the waters like a ball floating in the ocean, only somehow with less emotion.

The ball rotates to look at Caedes. She knows him. Never seen him this unclothed before. She wonders, briefly, if Zarius has seen this much of him yet. She continues to rotate, sweeping her eyes along the perimeter and noting both Vakker and Cyran, or so she thinks they were called. For the second time, Veliky's attended a semi-large event, only to find that just about everyone she knows, and then some...

At least there's more to look at in this one. Not in this pool, though.

Her eyes flit boredly between Vakker and Cyran. She doesn't know much about them, save that Vakker shares certain... interests with Veliky. But there's a specific interest that comes to mind, seeing them in one place, barely clothed.

"Have you two hooked up yet?"

“Just as skittish as ever, aren’t you?” a quiet, but deep laugh escapes the changeling’s lips when Cyran jumps upon his approach; this time, he hadn’t even been trying to hide from him. “I recall seeing you at the Black Harvest Ball every now and then… I hope you don’t mind my ill manners for not saying hello.” He smiles in a way that’s apologetic, but he genuinely doesn’t remember much about Cyran at the ball.

He’s pretty certain he never said hello.

His pale gaze turns up to another man as he approaches— a satyr, by the looks of him— and he simply offers a polite smile. His eyes drift to Vakker’s hand, almost regarding it skeptically, before he reaches out of the water to take it. “Caedes.” he introduces himself with a nod. “Nice to meet you.”

Suddenly, the elven man regards Charlotte— and Caedes throws a glance to his side. It seems her cloak is, perhaps, too much to focus on while she’s swimming… because she’s dropped it. He breathes a wistful sigh, smiling at the spider while she paddles her way over to them. Every now and then, she seems to forget how to swim in a straight line, and bobs in a little circle before correcting her path to them.

Excellent swimmer, indeed.

“Excuse me,” he excuses himself as he stands to his full height; the water ripples as he moves enough to grab Charlotte around her middle. Her thin forelegs reach to support herself against his forearms. He pulls her through the water, allowing her to glide with little kicks of her back legs until she’s close enough to them that he releases her to swim freely.

Charlotte continues her impressive display of awkward, eight-legged doggy paddling as she heads towards the side of the pool, kicking like Caedes never helped her to begin with.

“There we go. Good job, Char.”

Bubbles rise from Charlotte’s clicking mandibles, as if she’s trying to talk underwater, but no sound actually reaches past the surface. Caedes settles back into the water, keeping an eye on the black widow as she does her little kicks; finally, she reaches the side of the pool, and disappears as she touches the side.

“She doesn’t bite.” he regards Vakker with a polite smile. “You’re welcome to join—”

“Have you two hooked up yet?”

Another familiar voice interjects with a greeting so shocking that all he can do is complete the sentence with a sound. Not even a comprehensible sound— just a sound that sounds like something between a choke and a cough.

He turns his head to see a head floating in the water, her blonde hair weightless as she looks between the three men present. First, when did she get here? Second, what… Caedes follows her eyeline to Vakker and Cyran, and he raises his curled fingers to rest against his lips as he regards them with a new acknowledgement following Veliky’s comment.

“Well… perhaps I’m the one who’s interrupting? Should I give you some privacy?”

Vakker wasn't pleased to see a giant spider in the bath, especially one that could turn invisible. He didn't really like spiders. Eight legs was entirely too many legs for one creature to have. They could also be poisonous and make sticky, annoying webs. Nope, not a fan. He was tempted to just leave the pool to get away from it, but this one seemed to be the pet of Caedes from the way he interacted with it. From its clumsy attempt at swimming, the pool might also just be the safest place from it. He would certainly be able to see it coming from the splashing. He'll just ignore it for now.

His attention was suddenly taken off the spider by what sounded like a water drop falling into the pool. He looked over to see a very familiar Halfling's head floating atop the water. She was the one who had put that whole Truth or Dare game together, Veliky. She was staring at the Satyr and the other men he was with for some reason.

"Have you two hooked up yet?" she suddenly asked.

Good lord, how completely tactless! Vakker could hardly believe she'd just come out and ask such a thing, but he wasn't embarrassed. He actually had to hold back a bit of laughter. She definitely had similar interests as him, he should have known from her actions at the ball. This would be fun.

"Not yet, but we'll get there soon enough!" Vakker called back confidently to Veliky as he threw a hairy arm over Cyran's shoulder. "How about you and your big, fuzzy boyfriend?"

"Don't worry, you're not interrupting anything at all. We don't need any privacy." Vakker replied to Caedes concern about interrupting something

He was so hung up on Veliky’s abrupt arrival, and rather blunt question, that Cyran almost missed Vakker confidently putting an arm around his shoulder and assuring Veliky that they would be getting there.

Getting where? There was nothing to get to. Cyran had answered a hypothetical answer, and he hadn’t missed the strange expression on Vakker’s face when he answered the question that night. He assumed Vakker had taken offense to what he said, and he’d been willing to drop it. But now, Vakker was definitely teasing someone, though he wasn’t sure if it was Veliky or himself.

He stared at the arm slung around his shoulder, bewildered. What is happening right now?

Well, if Vakker was going to make fun of him, he could play right back. He smiled at Veliky, hoping he looked convincing. “Yes… I’m actually a bit of a romantic, so nothing at all until I’m wined and dined. And Vakker’s completely okay with that. Isn’t that right?”

He immediately turned to Caedes, a look of desperation that said, please, for the love of the gods, do not leave me alone with them.

He had no idea if Caedes would be a voice of reason or if he would stoke the fires and make it worse, but at the very least, he didn’t want to be left alone while Vakker was engaged in some sort of game with Veliky to prove… something. He wasn’t actually sure what.

“Yes, please stay, Caedes. The more the merrier.”

To Veliky, he said, “It’s good to see you again. I hope you’ve been doing well since the party- I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced yet, but my name is Cyran. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The tiny, floating head bobs up and down in the water, though its eyes remain trained on the cuddly couple across the bath. Its are completely blank.

Then, at one side, its lips curl up in a light smirk.

"Nice."

Kamille will probably want to hear this one. Another successful mission.

"Veliky. No surname, don't ask. Beist and I have been getting along great: haven't seen him or heard a word from him since the confession. In fact, I should thank that elf lady; after her dare, he'll probably never talk to me again." There isn't a shred of sorrow in her voice.

Her smirk fades, returning her to her standard, resting Veliky face. Beside her, in the water, eight small, equidistant depressions appear, sending out little ripples that Veliky - if she even notices - doesn't acknowledge.

"That lady was pretty, actually. Weird eye. Mysterious. Smelled like the ocean; interpret that as you will. Is she here?"

Suddenly, the nature of the depressions is revealed. Manifesting out of thin air - quite a lot like Charlotte, except more blue and glowy - is another spider, this one made of cogs and metal rather than chitin and mandible. While it doesn't appear the same as it did at the party (now lacking the coat of black paint and the miniature feline ears), this is undoubtedly Stalker: the only of Veliky's bots to veritably skitter (except for Pawn, on occasion). Its stability on the water is astoundingly balanced, achieved with a mathematical precision that only a machine can muster.

"Mistress Veliky, report: Civilian Vi'ira has not been located within the Sludge Pits. Query: would you like me to commence a search for her?"

Veliky lazily looks to the arachnid bot. She actually seems rather exhausted, almost at the brink of sleep.

"Hm? No, no, belay that query."

The bot chirps in compliance. Now that it's visible, it's become amazingly still, almost like a lily pad. Its only movements are those caused by the water itself.

Meanwhile Veliky just continues to relax. Plastered on her face is a look of bliss that appears as unusual on the CEO's demeanour as a zebra is in a canoe.

"Anyone you're eyeing tonight, Caedes?"

“...”

Vakker unsubtly sweeps an arm around Cyran’s shoulders, his smile as dashing as it is sleazy while he confidently answers Veliky’s abrupt and invasive question. Caedes, meanwhile, has no real idea what’s going on between anyone here with anyone else that may or may not be present… but the mention of Veliky’s big, fuzzy boyfriend has him believing this is some kind of inside joke he’s not in on.

The exasperated sigh he breathes is quiet as he sinks back into the water. It’s enough to leave only his bare shoulders peeking out of the water while Cyran smiles and talks about what a romantic he is, and… now he’s not sure it’s a joke. Cyran’s look of sheer desperation at him speaks otherwise, and… ah, a dare.

He looks to Veliky out of the corner of his eyes as she relays something about Beist— big, fuzzy boyfriend makes a lot of sense, now— and something about a dare. There was a game of something going on at the ball, wasn’t there? He looks beyond the group while he tries to recollect some memories, but they feel scattered in his mind.

As Stalker appears and speaks to Veliky, however, something else notices first: Charlotte reappears behind Caedes, all eight, spindly legs placed firmly on the rock edge perked at attention. If a spider’s eight eyes could sparkle, she just might; there’s an excited urgency in the way she skitters behind Veliky to reach the rock lip adjacent to the smaller spider.

She reaches out with a long spindly foreleg, pawing at Stalker’s metal carapace, like she wants his attention. “^Stalker,” she greets, her tiny whisper of a voice barely rising above the bubble of the hot springs.

Caedes tilts his head slightly to look at Charlotte; he hasn’t had the heart to tell her that ‘Stalker’ is just a bot, yet. His attention soon splits, lying on Veliky when she regards him with a question as equally as unexpected as the one she had pitched to Vakker and Cyran.

She also looks very relaxed.

It’s weirding him out a bit.

Did she eat something weird before hopping into the hot springs?

He laughs softly.

“I don’t know what you could possibly mean by that, Veliky.” he answers her with an innocent smile, his tone is sickly sweet in a way that suggests he knows what she means, but has no intention on answering the question as it's presented. He absently draws a pattern in the water with two fingers, “I came to rest in the springs I’ve been hearing about since I set foot in Frost Gale, no ulterior motives attached.” He flicks droplets from his fingertips. “And, anyways, I came alone. Given the lack of wining, dining, and big fuzzy boyfriends currently present... I’m guessing this isn’t a planned double date. What brings you all to Frost Gale?”

With Cyran's condition of being wined and dined jokingly set, Vakker decided to continue the joke further. He wanted to see just how far this could go. Would Cyran quit and admit it was a joke, or would they actually get anywhere? A game of chicken sounded fun.

Vakker removed his arm from Cyran and turned back to get the attention of some food venders that were near the springs, motioning them over. While his back was turned to the group, a tattoo that covered  nearly his entire back was exposed to the group, showing an image of a giant ram's skull with a crown lopsidedly placed on its head and icicles hanging from its curled horns. After a short moment, four glasses and two bottles of wine were presented along with trays of different foods on skewers, appropriate for eating in the hot spring. Vakker placed his back against the wall again and opened one of the bottles.

"Fine enough wining and dining, or will we have to go somewhere else when we're done here?" Vakker asked Cyran jokingly wile filling the wine glasses.

At Caedes mention of coming here alone, Vakker showed a face of mock surprise.

"Really, you came here alone? Well, just you and your spider, I mean? I thought you would have come here with Zarius since I saw you two arrive at the ball together. So you two arrived here separately? It seems like everyone had the same idea at the same time." Vakker said teasingly to Caedes. "Would you like some wine and food? You're both welcome to have some as well." he added, looking to both Caedes and Veliky.

He had been quite tempted to offer to be Caedes' big, fuzzy boyfriend, but didn't want to get in between him and Zarius. Also, he was pretty sure such a thing would anger Veliky, who he had no reason to anger. She even seemed to have a similar interest as him.

“Oh. You actually went and got…” Cyran trailed off as Vakker poured the wine, brow furrowing in confusion. He only made that joke because he thought the satyr would be embarrassed at the idea of romancing Cyran of all people. But it seemed that whatever game he was playing, he was clearly committed, glancing at Veliky every once in a while.

Cyran stared at the wine glass like it was poison. On one hand, taking it would basically be admitting that he was willing to be courted, giving the wrong idea to the others in attendance. On the other hand, that food did smell good…

His stomach growling loudly, in the end, made the decision for him. Cyran hesitantly reached out and grabbed the glass, taking a small sip. “This shall suffice.” He mumbled, neither playing into Vakker’s game nor outright denying it. He leaned back, face completely red, though it was unclear whether it was from embarrassment or the heat of the water.

At least Vakker and Veliky weren’t only terrorizing him. The two had targeted Caedes as well, digging into his relationship with Zarius, whom Cyran had spotted earlier with another tiefling. It occurred to Cyran that he had actually yet to get a definition of the relationship the two had, having only talked to one or the other exclusively, and Zarius had dodged the question when Vakker asked at the ball.

It seemed he wasn’t going to let the subject go that easily, based on the way he latched onto Veliky’s blunt question in an attempt to dig further, Cyran wouldn’t press. Instead, he chose to answer Caedes’s previous question.

“Well, I actually was here because Vakker recommended the hot springs to me.” Cyran admitted. It was the truth- after their conversation at the ball, a vacation to get away from everything sounded nice. He just hadn’t expected to run into the man himself…

… And now he realized he was feeding right into this relationship game.

Damnit.

Cyran delicately resisted the urge to submerge his head in the water and let himself drown.

“What about the rest of you? It is an awfully strange coincidence we all picked the same day to take a vacation.”

"Hmm..." Veliky quietly hums as Caedes deflects her query. The water is barely below her lower lip, which is curled into a serene grin. "Hmm......" she hums again, eyes half-closed, when Vakker offers food and drink. A nearby server interprets this as acceptance, placing beside her a bottle of wine that's half as tall as she is. "Hmm........." she hums when both Caedes and Cyran ask just why, exactly, everyone came here so suddenly. The gap between her eyelids of growing slighter by the second...

"Gah- bffllublub!" Suddenly, her eyes fill with panic and her head goes under. Her arms raise to splash about; fortunately for her, it's only a fleeting struggle until she prevails against the spring, bringing her now-soaked head above the water again. She's looking left and write, worried and alerted by something unseen.

"Ugh, I hate when she does that!" she complains through clenched teeth. "Give me a second."

She turns around and clambers up to sit on the edge of the pool. Her towel-cocooned legs don't even reach the water. There's a look of intensity and strain on her face as she puts both index fingers to her temples, concentrating on something...

"Kamille?" she whispers telepathically^[1] to the peering, raven-haired woman in an adjacent pool. "Yeah, it's me. Prime BL happening over here. Vakker/Cyran, the satire and the... elf, I think. They're drinking wine and talking about y**i stuff. I'll try and keep you posted."

Ugh. Looking at guys is not a favoured pastime of Veliky's - especially not at times like this - but it's necessary to maintain a... business relationship with the pyromantic. Maybe, one day, she can convince her to broaden her perverted horizons.

Meanwhile, Stalker rotates seamlessly in the water with pin-precise movements until it's face-to-face with Charlotte, the other spider that Veliky has yet to notice.

"Civilian Charlotte, greeting: my sociological processor indicates that it is good to see you again." Its metallic pedipalps shimmy and shiver, assessing Charlotte's condition. "Query: I observed multiple abnormalities in your hydrodynamic locomotion. Would you like me to instruct your swimming?"

Now that she's above the water, there's something terribly strange to be noticed about the quarterling: nestled directly in the centre of her sternum is some sort of white stone. Were it affixed to a chain, it would resemble a necklace; instead, it appears to be set into her very skin by a bolted, metal ring.

---

1. Message (Kamille)

“If you do not take it elsewhere after the wining and dining, I will be taking myself elsewhere, instead.” Caedes’ voice is light, tinged with a soft laugh even while he jokes, but the smile on his face holds something like a mild warning.

It is, upon mention of Zarius, that the smile fades, but a mildly inquisitive look remains. The tiefling had mentioned Vakker only briefly after the ball and had said he was shifty… Was he trying to pry for something, now? The changeling’s gaze shifts slightly, turning to where he knows the tiefling is lingering in another pool, before looking back at Vakker.

Caedes blinks at him, his smile still polite. “Is it surprising that we might arrive together separately, for some reason?” he inquires, head tilted at Vakker, as though he doesn’t understand his implication. He makes a gesture with a hand at his offer, “I’ll take a glass,” he answers, looking leisurely towards the server as he simply sets a few glasses between him and Veliky— and a wine bottle that’s taller than she is.

Comical.

She also looks like she’s already drunk, honestly; he's not sure if she needs more.

“... Is that right?” he answers Cyran.

Now he’s really not sure this is a joke. Caedes picks up the wine bottle and uncorks it with his teeth with a startling lack of effort— the server gives him a bit of an odd look— but he simply breathes a sigh as he tilts the bottle, filling up his own glass.

He’s idly pouring Veliky a glass, when she suddenly starts to writhe and flail as she goes under. He winces, brows furrowing as he places the wine bottle down between them. Veliky resurfaces, clamboring her way to sit on the rock pool. “Veliky— are you okay?” He regards the woman with a cocked brow, having been ignoring most of her drowsy mumbling up until she started floundering like a fish out of water. “You’re a bit… distracted, today.”

He picks his glass up between his fingers, letting it rest in his palm as he sinks back into the water. He rests one elbow against the lip of the rockface, idle gaze drifting back to Cyran. “I was just in Frost Gale, really; I haven’t had a break, and it’s cold as sin, here. Heard someone talking about a hot spring, and decided I would go.” He offers Veliky another glance while she’s focused on something totally unknown— and his eyes almost immediately fall to the stone on her chest.

…What is that?

Out of decency, he looks away— but he takes note of the strange stone.

Charlotte, meanwhile, gently clacks her mandibles while Stalker rotates to face her; she has no expression, but something about the way she stands seems to suggest that she’s quite happy to be recognized by the other spider. “^{It’s good to see you too…}” she remarks, her voice quieter than normal as she speaks. “_{I’m not a very good swimmer… but you are very good… it’s like you’re not swimming at all.}”

Vakker gave a slight chuckle to Caedes.

"Perhaps you are misunderstanding something. I simply meant somewhere else to eat, if this food wasn't fine enough." Vakker said to Caedes innocently.

"It is a little surprising that you two came here separately since you'd arrived together at the ball. I just would have assumed if you two were both here, that you'd have done the same as then. I just thought you two were close. I spoke to Zarius a bit at the ball. He said you were close friends. He had a very high opinion of you." Vakker replied smoothly, pretending not to notice any of the suspicion in Caedes voice.

Vakker took a sip of his own glass of wine. He raised an eyebrow at the Halfling nearly drowning, but shrugged when she popped back up and excused herself. That was strange, but he had more important things in mind. Namely, shipping Zarius and Caedes and Toying/Flirting with Cyran. He looked back to Caedes and continued.

"You should relax and open up more. We're at a hot spring, not many better places to relax you know."

Vakker picked up a skewer of small chicken pieces that smelled delicious. He bit off the first piece, sliding it off the skewer, and then nonchalantly offered the same skewer to Cyran.

---

Smooth Talking