16072/Magic Lessons

Magic Lessons
Date of Scene:	13 October 2023
Location:	The Dungeon - Hellfire Club
Synopsis:	Mistress and Apprentice cross paths after a time apart. Nico's still full of spirit. Selene's still an energy vampire with a commanding presence. What could ever go wrong?!
Cast of Characters:	Nico Minoru, Selene Gallio

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Nico Minoru has posed:
Nico Minoru. Runaway. Daughter of doomsday cultists of the rare variety that A) Had a direct physical connection to their gods and B) Were less 'A cult waiting for doomsday' and more 'A cult causing doomsday'. Fortunately, after a little bit of patricide, matricide and... deicide?

Nico's not actually sure on the last one. The Gibborim definitely disappeared with a lot of flash and thunder and stuff about 'Woe be upon you', but she hasn't run into any of their cultists in a good long while. So maybe she /did/ commit deicide.

Nowadays? The only thing she's likely to be killing is shots. It's a professional hazard for runaway dropout turned... whatever duties she gets assigned at the Hellfire Club. It all started out so simply. She met Selene Gallio. The woman positively dripped magic and charisma.

And a few short discussions later Nico found herself in the Hellfire Club, not a full initiate, she knows there's more to the place than just a bunch of high priced clubs and bars and some /real/ ambitious gala events now and then, but she hasn't asked for more about the Club, and Selene hasn't told.

And it's been nice to have the routine, check her schedule a week at a time, work the job. Bartender? Shot girl? Dancer? Hostess?

They're all easy, and they're all temporary and she doesn't have to worry about connections. She's practically invisible, just another delight of the club. And no one ever wonders what they do outside the club, and so... she's practically gotten used to not worrying about that cult looming out there somewhere.

And as of late she hasn't even worried about Selene, it's been... weeks? Months? Some time since their last lesson. She can only assume the intense woman's been busy.

Not that Nico's not busy tonight, dolled up in a black top that's really just a series of criss-crossing leather straps that keep her this side of the legal definition of decent, with another pair of thin straps coming up over her hips, where a pleated schoolgirl skirt nearly acts like a belt, covering enough to flash upper thighs with the slightest motion but not flash any /more/.

With that and the spiderweb patterned stockings and thick-soled buckled boots, Nico's rocking 11 out of 10 levels of Goth, as she darts and spins and swishes and sways, delivering drinks across the club to the time of thumping music.

It's a living, and really, that metallic arm of hers just looks like incredibly ornate costuming. Plus, she can use a little witchfire to light cigarettes.

All in all, Nico is adapting, like she always has. This is just one of the nicer ways she's done it over the years.

Selene Gallio has posed:
It is impossible to say when Selene Gallio arrived. There was no entrance, no parting of seas in her wake. Simply one moment, amidst the rest of the chaos of those seeking out an evening of pleasure, or self-discovery, or both, Nico would have felt the eyes of her would-be tutor upon her.

It might be unsettling at first, the unmistakeable feel of someone, or someTHING observing. But the source would not be hard to locate and identify. The Black Queen, seated off to the side in a booth, alone for the moment, in such a depth of shadow that she may as well be a black hole absorbing all of the meager light given off by the area around her.

Her eyes, however, are clearly fixed upon Nico, an enigmatic smile resting upon her pale face.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Nico has no innate ability to sense danger, or magic, or even really all that much magical aptitude not fueled by blood magic and her Staff of One. But there's something in the air, a charge that builds and flows as Selene makes her arrival. While her tutor watches her, she notices so many glancing, entranced...

It's really only natural between the feeling of eyes on her intently, and the way the crowd seems like a flock of birds frightened by a nearby predator that they know could lay waste to them in a moment.

Nico's steps are swift, sure... and just a /little/ more showy with an undeniable spring and bounce once she's worked up the nerve to head right towards Selene in that darkened corner, "Mistress Gallio! What a rare treat to see you dropping by during... office hours as it were?"

Eyebrows perk, those dark, shadowed eyes of Nico's gleaming with energy, life... and a spark of playful delinquency, "Can I get you something? Serve you in some way?"

Of course she knows the answer is almost certainly yes... and that it won't be that the Black Queen desires an appetizer sampler.

It's just one of those feelings.

Selene Gallio has posed:
While Nico may not have any sense of danger, Selene certainly has enough of an influence to place a tingle on the back of a neck. Maybe there is a bit of that in the air, to capture Nico's attention. Or maybe it is just the airs around Selene.

Her lips curl into a smile at Nico's approach, approval of the alacrity with which she is joined. She does not shift her posture, a lazy lean into the depths of the booth, lacking her cape at the moment but stretched out languidedly, allowing the black leather corset to shimmer just a little bit in the faint light, the long black boots emphasizing the pale expanse of her thighs until the Hellfire Club uniform thong keeps her modest, in a place where modesty is fleeting, at best.

"Oh, I am sure there are all manners of ways that you can," Selene replies with a purr. "But for the moment, at least, let us say that I am indifferent as to how." Is she really, or is this a test? Unclear.

"I do believe your duties here are near their conclusion." Noble of Selene to wait until an impending shift change to drop in, of course.

Nico Minoru has posed:
If Nico's concerned about Selene's lacking of proper regality due to lack of cape, she's certainly not showing it. Her eyes drop to admire that corset of course, it's not as though the young woman isn't a fan, and hasn't got some of her own. They might not be quite so fine, but... well, that just leaves her reason to admire and ambition to focus on improving her lot in life!

Nico blinks and tilts her head thoughtfully, brow furrowing... eyes focus a little bit more, like she's not letting the vibe of the club breeze her along without worrying about time, glancing down to a slim leather band, a tiny /analog/ watch of all things on one wrist, "Oh... my, you're right!"

Eyes glimmer playfully as she hums out, "Of course, that just means my time here on the floor is over, no? Which means, consequently... I am /entirely/ free to serve your needs, Miss." She hums out a playful, low tone. "I might even be able to skip the next three minutes of my shift. Something tells me the shift manager won't be terribly burdened if I'm assisting someone so valuable to the organization as you. So consider me at your service." She even clicks her heels together sharply, legs straight, back arched, standing at attention.

It would be downright formal! If those dark eyes weren't glinting with irrepressible rebellion.

Selene Gallio has posed:
Clearly, Selene does not mind the attention and admiration. While she dresses the part according to the code of the Hellfire Club, she has never indicated that it bothered her much. Her eye own gaze drifts over Nico's fashion choices with a nod of approval.

"You doubted me?" she asks, with a wisp of a smile and an unturned eyebrow as Nico confirms the time on her watch. There is something halfway between amusement and accusation in that tone, and Selene does not seem inclined to make it easier to discern which is ruling that reaction.

Selene offers a vague wave of her hand at the pronouncement of the time. "As if I could not claim you from the floor three minutes into your shift with impunity." As Selene, she could with ease. As Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, she could by right. But the rapid adjustment of posture, and poise, would seem to save Nico from any ill repercussions, earning another slow nod of respect.

"Close out your shift, and when you return, come with something delightful." She offers no clues as to what that might be. Another test, perhaps.

Nico Minoru has posed:
There's a brief little lick of Nico's dark painted lips as she shakes her head, "Oh no! I mean, really, I don't think anyone's shift time /matters/ if you request service. I was just surprised how fast it went..." She perks an eyebrow playfully, "Or was that a demonstration of some sort of temporal magic? My my. So many layers of mystery."

She snorts softly as her words nearly stumble over Selene's to the same effect, "Yes, well, if you nab me three minutes /before/ a shift do please at least make someone aware... at least insofar as them not thinking I've decided to skip work! If anything I imagine they'd understand I'm about to be put to far more intense purposes anyhow in your... clutches? Would it be clutches? Grasp?"

she taps a fingertip against her chin slowly like this is /desperately/ important to consider. But it doesn't stop her from spinning about with more gusto than she's used on the floor in the evening. Does this mean that skirt flares up to the point where modesty is a laughable dream? Absolutely. But then, Selene puts the VI in VIP, she deserves Nico's utmost efforts.

Which has her wracking her brain on her way to cash out and clock out... something delightful. Like the Club isn't full of every possible item of that description... does Selene expect her to pick one? The right one? Bring a range of possible answers?

Well, that's a problem for future Nico in like... thirty seconds to figure out. Good luck to her!

Selene Gallio has posed:
"Pleasure and magic are all part of the same spectrum," replies Selene, allowing her white teeth to flash a grin over black painted lips. "I am well versed in both, of course, so it could just as easily be either, or a combination of the two." Although for her part she remains in her idle repose, simply watching Nico as she works things through in her mind.

There is amusement on the face of the Black Queen as her pupil tumbles through words with all the inefficiency that Selene herself lacks. A good contrast, of course. As Nico slips away, she admires the retreating form from her hiding hole in plain sight, watching to see just what inspiration strikes the girl's mind.

Indeed, there is just about everything to be found, right there. Which is the right one? Maybe there are many correct answers, and it all depends upon how they are played.

Nico Minoru has posed:
Nico is practically running on autopilot when she cashes out, logs out of the point of sale system, tallies up her tips, because it's all so very... distant. It's just a job. It's not... bringing something delightful. To Selene. The ultimate riddle... but she thinks she's got an idea of how to cover her bases.

She's still got a little spring in her step when she reappears, skirt bouncing, flicking, her hips aren't swaying, no no, that's far too passive a term. They're /rocking/ side to side with each step, rhythm like a metronome, steps calculated to draw that skirt about as far up her thigh as can still count as thigh with each step.

And in that metallic hand of hers is a bottle of champagne, green glass frosting with near icy condensation, and two champagne flutes in her other hand.

Of course there's no way that champagne is the reason for her confident stride surely. But perhaps Selene will find it a suitable tribute for the evening. If not, well... Nico doesn't play poker often. And she hasn't got any sleeves. But she's pretty sure she's still got some cards up hers.

She'll just have to find out as the night proceeds. Which, really, is the best way to learn. Selene really is a fine teacher.

Selene Gallio has posed:
As Nico makes her approach back towards Selene's booth, the Black Queen is already rising. An undulating process, begun with legs uncurling and stretching out, a rolling of her midsection as if gravity were pulling her body along from her feet, until she pours herself up from her seated position into a stance.

Her eyes twinkle with amusement as she takes in the bottle, but she asks nothing about Nico's intent for that, or anything beyond.

A flicker of eyes towards a shadowy corner, beyond which is one of the many secret passageways riddled through the Hellfire Club.

Doing is, in fact, the best way to learn. And Nico really is an eager student.