((I'll let JL set the time as Celestina's travel in the GA could take a season. ))
Edit:((I'm going to explain this a bit more now that I have time. Celestina will have a route that she will be humping through the Alps with a mule. I'm guessing that it will take some time. THat is why I was looking at some input from JL))
((I'm assuming that since the Mid-Summer Fair is before the Summer Solstice, and this happened the day or two after the Summer Solstice, that she's good on time and nothing that happened didn't happen.))
Fiona returns to her bedchamber and watches Korvin sleep for a couple of minutes before she slips out of her clothes and climbs under the sheets, cuddling up next to him with her hand between his legs and starts to drowse herself. When he finally starts to stir, she slides down for some sausage and eggs for breakfast, taking her time. When she's done, she smiles at him. [color=blue]"Do you want to stay here today and sleep it off? Or do you have to go?"
If I stay here, do we have to sleep?
Fiona grins mischievously. [color=blue]"I thought you were tired. We've had a long night. But, no, we don't have to sleep the day away. I don't plan on getting out of bed if I don't have to, though." Fiona kisses him tenderly and pulls him close, getting comfortable. [color=blue]"Celestina sends her love, by the way. She's a beautiful, wonderful woman. Thank you for introducing us."
And she goes no farther than the chamber pot that day, napping between taking pleasure in Korvin, and having Moire bring them breakfast in bed, and lunch in bed, and dinner in bed.
((Not sure what more I want from this story. Just wanted to rp some with Alexei and lay the groundwork for some exposure xp in single weapon or brawling or something.))
(Continued/moved from "An Unexpected Vis-i-tour"))
Once Gerulf and Tranquillina have gone, and it's just Fiona, Stultus, and the ruddy mice, Fiona takes a sip of wine and sets the cup on the floor next to her, looking at her host intently.
[color=blue]"You are a curious man, Stultus," she finally says. [color=blue]"And you have piqued my interest in more ways than one."
She shifts a little bit to get more comfortable as she sits tailor style against the wall. [color=blue]"I enjoy a bawdy sense of humour as much as the next person, and maybe more than most. But I still find myself wondering.
"Not to sound vain, but I've grown used to people not refusing an opportunity to spend some raucous time with me. I know you said it was you and not me, but I am curious as to what you meant? Did the circumstances make you uncomfortable, or was it something else?"
Stultus sighs. "I don't know that I'm drunk enough for this conversation, but what the heck." He clambers into a chair, putting his eyes on a level with Fiona's. (He also checks that all the mice are still in the lab, out of earshot: they remember the damnedest things, usually the ones he doesn't want them to remember.)
"I have a little problem with my little soldier, Fiona." He gives the Ex Miscellanea a wry look. "Yes, I know where your mind just went, and it can turn right around and come back out again. The soldier ain't that little, and the problem can't be fixed with Corpus spells. The problem is that when the soldier stands at attention, sounds the charge, and rushes forth into the breach... my heart usually follows."
"Now, that's not too bad of a problem, ordinarily. But as you said it yourself, to you it's... raucous time. Bed sport. Making the beast with two backs. A bit of healthful exercise, and a great deal of fun besides." There's no judgment in his voice, and certainly no censure -- he is merely stating what is. "Unless I miss my guess, that is also how you keep your lovers from each other's throats: all of them know that it is just sport, and that you're firmly and unquestioningly in charge of picking your partners. All of them know the score, all of them know the rules, and all of them know that the rules are set in stone, so there is little ground for jealousy among them. Am I correct in that?"
Fiona nods slowly, understanding exactly what he means. [color=blue]"To you, it's not just fun and games. You want to love the one you're with. Without love...it may not be meaningless, but it doesn't mean as much. Believe it or not, I know just what you mean." She smiles, but says nothing for a long moment, looking like she's deep in thought.
[color=blue]"But you're right," she finally says. [color=blue]"I sleep with who I want to sleep with, and if anyone thinks they can tell me I can't play with someone...well, they're going to miss out. I've only had to put my foot down once or twice, though."
Her smile broadens, and she has a twinkle in her eye. [color=blue]"So. Now that we know where the line is drawn, we can play the game. It'll be refreshing to have someone to have fun with and not have to worry about them trying to climb under my skirt."
She leans forward conspiratorially. [color=blue]"One favor, if you don't mind?" she whispers, almost purring in her ear. [color=blue]"Can we keep the fact that we're not sleeping together just between us? I'd hate for it to get out that there are men immune to my charms."
Stultus waggles his hand back and forth. "Yes and no... and then again yes... and y'know what, it doesn't matter. You understand for the most part where I am coming from, and that is more than good enough for practical purposes."
Stultus smirks. "Of course. Just be sure you keep up with the straight lines."
[color=blue]"Oh, I've never had a problem keeping up," Fiona says with a grin.
She then gets up and quickly adjusts her clothes and musses her hair, then makes a half-hearted effort to finger-comb her hair before she turns to Stultus. [color=blue]"Shall we?" she says as she opens the door to rejoin the others.
Stultus shakes the last few drops of ale from his mug into his hand, rubs the liquid along his nose to give it a suspicious sheen, rumples up his clothing, and follows Fiona outside with his best cat-ate-the-canary expression plastered across his phyz.
Placeholder - short scene between Stultus and Fiona, late night 1228.4 right after the Stultus/Eski... I mean Tranquillina scene.
Stultus comes wandering through the garden, and (after ascertaining with the servant that Fiona has not yet gone to bed and is not 'entertaining' anyone) sticks his head in the door.
"Sodalis. Got a favor to ask. You wouldn't have about half a bottle of that Creo-Ignem-vis-masquerading-as-alcohol stuff of yours to spare, would you? It's been a week for 'learning experiences', and I'd like something to wash them down with. If you'd be so kind."
[color=blue]"Of course, Stultus. Would you like it in a skin, or a goblet?"
"How about in a Rego Aquam spell?" The dwarf snorts, mouth twisting. "Corpus requisite. Direct delivery of alcohol to stomach. WHAM, and you're plastered, with none of the tedium of getting drunk in the first place." He eyes Fiona with a small smile. "No such luck, huh? I'll have to invent that spell one of these days. Anyway... your choice whether it's a skin or a goblet, just be aware the goblet probably comes with a dwarf-sized vent."
Fiona grins at Stultus. [color=blue]"Ah, but getting drunk is half the fun...the other half being who you're getting drunk with." She gets up and leaves the room, returning a couple of minutes later with a bottle and two goblets, one noticeably larger than the other. She sets the smaller one in front of Stultus and fills each of them about half way.
[color=blue]"Just so you know, the nearest chamberpot is in my bedroom. And of all the things you could be doing with your mentula in my bedroom..." She grins with a wink.
She raises her goblet to Stultus in a silent toast and takes a sip with practiced ease. She sets her goblet down and leans forward, resting her chin on her fingers. [color=blue]"So...what's on your mind?"
Paul comes in, "Quiet night in Fiona, or do I need to run around? It's positively crowded with cats, drakes, and that soldier guy, Alex wants a dog. And there's his ape he says indicating Stultus, And what's this I've heard of mice? I need a drink already, Fiona. I know I have thumbs, but I can't poor it easily!"
Fiona smiles at her familiar. [color=blue]"A quiet night in, I fear. Some people just don't recover as quickly as others," she says with a grin and a wink at Stultus. She gets up to get a small bowl, sets it on the floor, and pours Paul a bit of God's dram.
[color=blue]"Ah, yes...the mice. The murine militia. The rodent rebellion. Do they show any signs of spreading, Stultus, or are they content to harass you and Rahere for now?"
Stultus shrugs. "I haven't paid them much mind, lately. However..." He leans over, staring at Paul past the edge of the table. "If I could request that you give them a wide berth," he says directly to the cat, "I would much appreciate it. I know for a fact that they can easily defeat a normal cat. While you are, of course, not a normal cat, and I don't know who'd win if you tangled, I'd rather not explain the consequences to Fiona either way. Deal?"
He picks up the goblet and takes a healthy swig, coughing as the whiskey sets his esophagus on fire. "What's on my mind? Oh, the aforementioned lessons. First Cumhachd showed up: although she's been mostly civil to me, it's still stressful. Then Alexei administered an object and very painful lesson in what my TRUE place is at Mons Electi. Then Rahere got pissed off at Alexei's object lesson and went and pissed all over Alexei's quarters, requiring me to go apologize to that fu... er, Flambeau. That's lesson number two -- don't experiment when binding a familiar. And finally, Tranquillina chimed in with two reinforcements of yet a third lesson: that some people are so hell-bent on screwing up their own life that they should be allowed to do so, lest they drag you down with them."
((And here's where the timestream of this thread goes to a heck...))
In the summer of 1228, before Roberto has left on his mission...
Abigail comes through the portal from Harco as if in mid sentence, "Just stop pestering me, alright? I'm fine. The birth was easy, and the child is well cared for at Phoenix. My father understands this, which should be good enough for you." With her is another person the grogs have never seen before.
Abigail looks at one of the nearby covenfolk, "I realize I have no standing in the covenant as Korvin's apprentice, but this man is here at my father's insistence, under the terms of the contract of fosterage he has with Master Korvin. We need to find him guest quarters, or something."
The man just stands there looking at Abigail, until she realizes she was speaking in Hebrew, which she then repeats in Latin. He still stands there and shakes his head. Continuing to the man next to her. "Rabbi, I told you they would not listen to me, follow me to Korvin's quarters, he'll have to see to your arrangements."
((Just noticed that Pinhas has Reb before his name, but he isn't a rabbi, or is he? Reb is supposed to be for a man who is not a rabbi...))