11083/What's in the Five of Coins

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What's in the Five of Coins
Date of Scene: 09 May 2022
Location: The Velvet Room - Sitting Room
Synopsis: Cael and Lydia meet in the Velvet room - and talk about Cael's recent brush with death, while trying to figure out the contents of the bar.
Cast of Characters: Cael Becker, Lydia Dietrich




Cael Becker has posed:
    Behind the bar in the Velvet room, Cael is peering at the various bottles with puzzlement, occasionally pulling out a cork or unscrewing a top to have a sniff. She has several bottles lined up on the bar already as she tries to figure out what is inside the curiously labeled bottles.
    Meanwhile, her large white dog is stretched out on one of the sofas, shedding white fur on it while he licks his paws - and then the velvet cushions. Lying beside him is a large stuffed rabbit toy that looks rather well loved.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    It's not too late in the evening, and Lydia has decided to do a bit of research for her book. What better place than the library of the Velvet room which has, not only all *her* books but all the books of the various inhabitants as well? It's perfect.

    She walks through the door, the other side showing one of the corridors of the Asteroid, and pauses on her way to the library when she spies Cael and Bear. "Good evening," she says pleasantly. "I hope you're not planning on drinking them all."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "'Sampling' them all is not the same as //drinking// them all," Cael counters - but she does indeed pull out a series of shot glasses, into which she starts pouring very scant amounts. Will she end this evening sober? Absolutely not. Will she start developing an understanding of what liquors are in which bottles?
    Hopefully. Or what's the point of this exercise.
    Bear lifts his head to look towards first Cael - and then Lydia up on the balcony - briefly lifting his lips to bare a few teeth, but he doesn't show any further aggression.
    "So you work with Mr. Knight?" she remarks casually.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "No, it's not," Lydia concedes, "but even sampling them all is likely to get you rather drunk." She makes her way into the Velvet Room itself and parks herself on one of the stools that line the bar. "At least you won't have to drive to get back home."

    Bear gets a friendly smile, making sure to show no teeth, lest he mistake her smile for something more aggressive. She looks up in surprise at Cael's question, not expecting it. "I do," she says. "We worked to clean Queens of the Urean Brood... a rather dangerous offshoot of the Irappu clan of vampires... the clan that kidnapped and killed me."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Yeah, he said something about killing vampires," Cael remarks. "'Monster of the night' or some such - I dunno. He's a bit melodrammatic, yeah?" She grabs one last bottle off the shelf, sniffs at it, and then raises her eyebrows. "I think this one might be absinthe," she remarks. This prompts her to fill another shot glass with water.
    Moving around to sit on the barstools, she pours a little of her suspected absinthe into a glass, before dripping in the water, and watching a shimmery cloudiness form. "I think that's the thing absinthe is suppoosed to to. Huh," she remarks, before knocking back the sip.
    "Licoricey," she confirms.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia barks out some hearty laughter, "Melodramatic doesn't cover it," she says. "But, he's one of the good ones, and is skilled at what he does." She lets out a little chuckle, "We protect those who travel at night, or something like that, which does include the occasional vampire or two. I'm glad that he's never set his sights on me."

    "Two parts water to one part Absinthe," Lydia says gesturing at the drink. "Sweetened to cut the bite. I've never been one for it, to be honest."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Oh, I made sure you weren't on the list of targets. Not that I brought your name - he did. I simply said there were some 'entities' that met the criteria of the 'monsters' he named that I'd be unwilling to hunt. And he specifically said you were an ally." Setting down the glass that had contained absinthe, she starts sipping cautiously at the next shot glass. "Rum?" she muses thoughtfully. "Spiced rum?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia dips her head in appreciation. "Thank you for making sure I wasn't one of the targets. Not all vampires are bad. Most of them," she concedes, "but not all." She considers Cael for a moment. "They were human, once, and you can hold on to your humanity if you have the will and desire. Some aren't given a choice, though, through no fault of their own and others find it easier to succumb to their beast and become the monster that we're made out to be."

    "The ones not given a choice... sometimes when you're turned, you're bound to the one that turned you," she explains. "That was the plan that the Irappu leader had for me. I know a vampire who was enslaved for over four hundred years before she was able to finally break free. These unfortunate souls should be given a chance to be free to make their own decisions, but if they're attacking you... well... it is unfortunate, but you /do/ have to defend yourself."

    Her nose flares as she takes in the different scents of the alcohol and nods. "Spiced. I can smell the cloves."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Yeah, well, if someone's attacking me... I'm going to make sure they stop," Cael confirms simply. She takes another small sip from the glass, letting it sit on her tongue for a while before she swallows, and picks up the next glass.
    "Anyways, Mr. Knight asked me to join with his cause... in return for a favor he was doing for me." She makes a face and adds in a mutter, "Not that I enjoy being taken advantage of when I'm over a barrel."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods, lacing her fingers together. "Exactly."

    "What kind of favor did he do for you, if you don't mind me asking," she asks curiously. "Here," she says, pointing to one of the shot glasses. "This one smells like a Rye. Give it a try."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Rye whiskey isn't bad," Cael agrees, picking up the glass, giving it a cautious sip - and then nodding her approval. "It's not bad. Not bad. I think that's the- uhh... Oh. It's the Six of Swords. I wonder if there's any logic to this?" she muses.
    She takes a second sip, focusing on the bottles, and keeps her gaze there as she remarks, "He helped me remember my second trip to Duat."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Second?" Lydia asks, raising her eyebrows. "When was that? I would have thought one would have been enough for you."

    She pulls out her oversized purse and starts rummaging around in it. "Here," she says pulling out a pen. "Let's start labelling these."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "It wasn't exactly planned," Cael remarks in a subdued voice. "...I got shot." She knocks back the rest of the scant amount in the shot glass before adding, "But Sara got me back, so..."
    So... what? Alls well that ends well? Were things 'well'?
    "I suppose I shouldn't be ungrateful. He did me a service."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia scowls, realizing that Cael went to the Duat the normal way: by dying. "Oh goodness," she says, her brows furrowed with worry. "I'm glad they were able to get you back. Dying is an unpleasant experience, to say the least. I'm sorry you went through it."

    She shakes her head, "I don't remember what happened to me when I died. There are days when I'm curious, but mostly I think I'm better off not knowing."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I think there are reasons people don't remember that - usually. I, uh- I'd say you're probably better off not knowing." Cael takes a deep breath in, and lets it out slowly before she adds, "But I needed to know. I- well. I left the spirit of my sister behind Duat, and I needed to know what happened with her, and if she was okay or not. That that came along with remembering my own death? Was a trade off I was willing to make."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Alis is gone?" Lydia asks with some surprise. "What happened? Is she finally at peace?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael's eyes close for a moment, and her hand tightens around the shot glass still in her hand - while Bear looks towards her, finally jumping down fromm his position on the couch to sit at her side, his head nudging at her leg. "She's at peace," she finally says, as one hand lowers to Bear's head to stroke it. "She took my place. Had her heart weighed, and continued on to the Field of Reeds. So... at least now I know we'll meet again someday."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia is silent for a moment and nods. "It's hard losing the ones you love," she says sympathetically. "Especially so the second time around. Did you get a chance to say goodbye at least?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "We did - yeah," Cael confirms. She's sitting at the bar next to Lydia - with an array of bottles in front of her, all labeled with tarot card images, and nothing else, most of them containing amber hued liquids. She's poured small samples of each into shot glasses.
     "She said it wasn't my fault, and that I should live, and be happy, and look after Jon, and Sara, and Bear." She moves her hand so she's scratching at the side of Bear's neck instead as she adds, "So that's what I intend to do."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Good," Lydia says with a nod. "Jon, Sara and Bear need looking after." She gives Cael a lopsided grin, "Especially Jon. Don't tell him I said that."

    She gets up from the barstool, and starts heading towards the library. "I'm headed to the library to do some research. Come holler at me if you need anything."