Log--A Small Wager
A small scene that takes place in the local coffee house:
Leto does not take his eyes off of Nineve. He says, "Lady Estelle, would you be willing to take a commission from me?"
Sara ohs softly. "I don't plan my adventures. I just travel through the shadows with..." She pauses to glance over at Leto.
Sara says, "What do you have in mind, Lord Leto?"
Sara studies Leto watching Nineve, then looks back at Mozart questioningly.
"Sounds almost the soldier," Nineve says, shifting under the man's gaze. She reaches for her cup, fingers brushing to the top and spilling the contents. Hot tea over bare skin is always enough to steal someone's attention. "By the..." she exclaims.
Leto grins, "Well, Lady Nineve and I are sparring today. I would make a wager with you Mia Stella. If I win the sparring match today, You will allow Lady Estelle to do a painting of you. That is if you are willing to do it, Lady Estelle."
Mozart arches his brow again and sips.
Sara offers Nineve a clean handkerchief. She seems to keep a lot of them on her, to clean charcoals.
Nineve reaches for the kerchief to clean up the mess. Blonde curls fall about her cheeks to hide the blush that dawns there, reflecting in her mumbled words. "You are intent on trying to prove such a wager from last night," she grouses in a most unladylike fashion.
Mozart hides a smile with a sip.
Sara takes similar action behind her coffee cup.
Leto nods, "I do not deny it. So, how about it? Now, name your price for the wager."
Sara says helpfully. "If Lady Nineve is willing, I'll be delighted to do the portrait for-" She does name her price, it is double the usual artist's commission. Then she looks back to Nineve with wide, innocent eyes.
Leto is grinning widely now. He agrees to Sara's price with a gesture. His eyes still locked on Nineve.
Mozart chuckles, low. Almost subsonic.
Nineve casts a wary look first to Leto and then smiles faintly to Sara. "I guess that it is a wager," she sighs and settles back into her chair. The napkin still clutched between her fingers, no matter the damp state.
Sara says, "Maybe you ought to pretend to lose, Lady Nineve." With a teasing edge in her tone. "Then I can treat you to something on Lord Leto's expense."
Mozart says, "And if she wins?"
Leto says, "Yes, what is your price of wager Mia Stella?"
Sara says, "Maybe Lady Lucretia will kindly treat us on Lord Leto's expense."
"Oh dear, I rarely wager," Nineve replies and leans back to consider this. "Hmm... should I win, you must accept my statements for truth and spend one night with Cyndre and all of us drinking at the Mead hall" She quirks a brighter smile. "For the same of what the painting would cost." She drop her tone to a mock conspiratorial whisper. "And you've not /seen/ the amount of mead that my friend can drink."
Leto applauds briefly, "Well done, I accept the terms of the wager, all but one.
Mozart says, "Oh my."
Leto looks fondly at Nineve, "I will not allow you to run yourself needlessly into the ground with your statements. They are not true for the most part, and to accept them as such would insult both you and me. Do we still have a bet?"
Mozart looks to Sara. "I'm curious what those statements are. Are you curious?"
Sara measures a couple of nods to Mozart. "We'd make poor witnesses if we do not know the story in its entirety. Don't you agree?"
Mozart chuckles & salutes Sara with his cup.
Nineve arches a brow and provides such a statement for Mozart. "I voiced a simple truth of my standing with men," she flashes a smile to Sara and Jack at that. "Ah, but that is the crux... to admit that I could possibly be right."
Leto sits calmly and says, "Or you might be wrong. Time will tell there. You really are to harsh on yourself Mia Stella."
"And what," Sara drawls out, her gaze sweeps over Nineve. "Is your standing with men, Lady Nineve? It must be quite an opinion, to move Lord Leto to such extent."
Mozart grins slightly, around the rim of his mug, before sipping.
Deirdre orders a coffee at the counter, then looks around. She gives Sara a smile, then a general nod to the others before she moves to a table.
Deirdre sits down at the table in the back.
Sara turns at the stir Deirdre's entrance caused. She returns the princess' smile and bows her head politely.
Nineve 's smile twists into a cheshire grin. "That my dealings with men border on finding means to bear them insult or somehow find a way to taste the sole of my boots," she offers and her gaze steady upon Leto once more. "But the wager isn't of my social skills but martial."
Sara flips her sketchbook close. "Has she given you insults yet, Lord Jack?"
Deirdre's head turns at Nineve's words, and her expression is unabashedly curious. Whether it's 'wager' or 'martial', Nineve has her attention.
Leto returns the gaze steadily as he answers Sara's question, "Why Lady Estelle, first and foremost Lady Nineve is mia Cugina's dear friend. It would be very remiss of me not to care for one who is such. Besides, I am fond of her myself, if that is not already very apparent."
Sara smiles brightly at Nineve. "Why, my Lady, it seems that even if you win the battle, you will not win the war."
Mozart says, "Oh, quite."
Nineve grimaces and settles back into her chair. "You are an exceptionally difficult man," she notes to Leto, smiling faintly. She looks towards Mozart and then Sara. "We've only just met by a day or so ago."
Deirdre drinks her coffee in uninterrupted solitude, her expression and posture relaxed, and mildly unwelcoming. Then with a click of booted heels on the flagstones, she departs.
Leto smiles, "Yes, I am difficult at times. I also know what I like. So, do we still have a bet?
Sara tucks the ornate case back into a velvet pouch and gathers up the sketchbook. "What is time?" She rises to her feet. "Please do let me know the result of your wager. Have a good day, gentlemen, Lady Nineve."
Leto stands and bows to Sara, "Be well Lady Estelle, until we meet again.
Nineve says, "was a pleasure to meet you, my lady. And as the spar is this afternoon, I shall send word right after." She looks down to her own book. "Would you like to join us Lord Mozart?"
Mozart says, "Certainly. How long from now?"
"I will need a little time to prepare. There's one who will be exceptionally upset if he's not exercised and hears men's voice," she confesses and shifts to stand.
Leto says, "Well then, let us depart for the nonce. Where do you wish to conduct this Mia Stella?"
"The Oisen? Have you been there," Nineve offers. Though she finally reaches out and touches Leto's arm. "What does that mean? Mia Stella?"
Mozart says, "My star."
Mozart grins and sips.
Leto says, "Yes, it means My Star, You shine so prettily Lady Nineve, in so many ways. No, I have not been to that place, but I should have little difficulty finding it."
Nineve 's frown resurfaces and she gathers up her book. "Right, shall we say in a half hour by the water's edge?" She looks to Mozart. "You are welcome to join us, my lord."
Mozart says, "Certianly"
Leto bows formally, "In half an hour then. I look forward to it. Until then." He turns to Jack, "Lord, until then. Your presence there, and your company here has been a pleasure.
Nineve nods and rises. "Until then. For now, I will see to Gladigo's exercises," she replies and offers a bow to the two noblemen.