(2022-08-04) Dangerous Passages

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Author:	Mishell
Summary:	Geth takes the backdoor route to what he desires.
Rating:	M for Mature 17+

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The Salty Sailor is not terribly crowded, in the late afternoon. Jo Sparkwire is settled at a corner table, back to the door, settled in as if it's a familiar and comfortable place. She seems to be expecting company, given the bottle of rum and glasses sitting next to her. For the moment, the bottle still appears to be full, and she's fully engaged with writing something in a notebook.

A fabulous blood elf enters the tavern, fashionably late. He's dressed in snug-fitting plum-colored velvet trousers and a matching court coat embroidered with silver thread, under which is a scandalously plunging off-white shirt and a silver choker. His hair is gathered into a long ponytail that cascades luxuriously over one shoulder, with artful strands pulled loose to frame his high-cheekboned face. As usual, he plops himself into the chair next to his intended companion without asking first. This time, he doesn't say anything, but waits for her to finish reading.

Jo looks up at the sound, and closes her notebook, focusing on the fabulous elf with a small smile. For herself, she's simply dressed in a dark purple dress, no Cobalt tabard today, her brown hair tidily done up in its usual twin buns.

"Geth!" She says, by way of greeting. She gestures at the bottle. "We were talking about rum, so I thought… but I mean, you can also get something fancier, if you want. Um. You can conjure something fancier anyway, this is not a fancy place."

He takes a moment to look her up and down, which doesn't take long, ha ha. "Look at you, wearing purple. Is that for me, you little minx? And don't worry about the drinks, I do love slumming now and then. It's exhilarating." He proceeds to open the bottle and pour with a little flourish after each glass.

Jo grins, and takes one of the full glasses, lifting it to clink his glass.

Geth holds her gaze as they clink glasses, a little smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "So. This is you in your natural habitat, hm? I liiiike."

"Oh yes, I've had a base down here for months," Jo nods, "Ever since I happened into an apartment. I mean, I'm only here like one night out of ten. You know. Teleportation and all. I have a friend, another gnome, who always conjures something terribly elaborate when we're down here," she crinkles her brow, and looks up at Geth. "Actually, you may have met her before? Cognitia, she's kind of loosely attached to Gerhold."

"Not so loosely, as I understand it," he says with an absolutely wicked smile. "But no, we've not met. Unless I was too high at the time to remember. I know her largely by reputation. Will you be disappointed if I don't conjure something? I would hate to disappoint you." He gives her big sad eyes.

"You couldn't possibly," Jo giggles, taking a small sip of rum. "Anyway, the other gnomish friend I meet down here usually just prefers the rum, straight. So I go both ways."

"Oh do you." He winks, and then dramatically pretends to take a note.

Jo blushes, but doesn't stop smiling. "So anyway, I heard you ran into my apprentice?"

Geth wrinkles his nose. "Yes, sorry about that. I'll watch where I'm going next time…" He takes a sip of rum, and does the same nose-wrinkle. Which doesn't stop him from taking another sip.

Jo looks from the bottle to Geth. "I hope I'm not disappointing you? We can go somewhere else."

"Like where?" He gives her innocent green eyes, just a half-shade bluer than most Sin'Dorei's.

Jo ticks off on her fingers, clearly considering and discarding a number of locations. Finally, she says, "Okay, this may actually be the nicest bar in Booty Bay. I've got a few bottles of this and that at home, but otherwise…"

Geth waits patiently, taking another sip of rum.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Jo smiles apologetically. "I've got a few different types of rum and some gnomish gin, if you're interested. Or we can stay here!"

"You never cease to delight and surprise me, Cozy. That has to be a record for the shortest time between my sitting down and a girl saying, 'Let's take this back to my place.' Most impressive." He smiles, running a fingertip around the rim of his glass. "I'm happy either way, darling."

Jo's mouth drops open for a moment, and then she gives a short laugh. "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean… it's not that you're not gorgeous, but I just… I was only thinking you said you wanted to see my home, anyway…"

"I'll confess I'm eaten alive with curiosity," he says, not even batting an eye at the seeming rejection. "I keep trying to imagine it and it changes every time I try."

"Because I'm a gnome?" Jo asks, taking another sip of rum. "Ever spent much time in Gnomeregan?"

"I've taken a peek. I keep trying to combine Booty Bay aesthetic with gnome aesthetic in my mind and it resolves rather chaotically."

Jo shrugs, and says with a smile, "You could add to it that I have a sort-of sometime roommate with the 7th Legion, to make it even harder to picture?"

"Oh, a soldier roommate. More intriguing by the moment. What's the sort-of sometime about? They're off at war?"

"On leave now, actually. She's just, you know, about as nomadic as I am, and has a lot of other interests. I just haven't seen her around here in a while."

"Well if you trust a Horde rapscallion like me I'd be happy to see this mysterious piratey gnome soldier haven. But so long as I have the pleasure of your company, I am a contented man."

"I thought you were above all those petty, political barriers?" Jo smiles, taking another sip. "But sure, for your curiosity, though I'm not offering… you know."

Geth puts a hand to his heart, eyes wide. "I would never presume, my lady. I might cry myself to sleep later from disappointment, but I'd never presume." He smiles and tosses back the rest of his glass of rum, presuming their time at the bar is coming to a close.

Jo puts the cap on the bottle, and picks it up to take with. "I do hope it lives up to your inability to imagine." She heads out of the bar, trusting the Sin'dorei to follow her.

Geth does, winking at a staring goblin on his way out.

It's not that far of a walk to the apartment, and Jo doesn't take a circuitous or confusing route. From the outside, it looks like any of the neighboring apartments. Jo pulls out her key with one hand and unlocks the door, pushing it inward. She smiles back at Gethennis and gestures him onward.

Geth makes excited Plotfingers, smiling brightly and a touch mischievously before heading in behind her.

The apartment is tidier than usual, possibly because Jo suspected she might have a visitor. It is still very cluttered. There is a workbench with half-finished projects, and a postboard above it with a variety of half-written schematics pinned to it. Other notable features, aside from the typical contents of an apartment, include a star chart pinned to the wall, and a bookcase with a row of tidy books. There are pretty high level arcane texts, romance novels, and a thin, faded sketchbook.

Geth's eyes devour every detail of the place with unabashed fascination. He takes his time savoring every detail in silence, walking around the room and not being remotely coy about the fact that he is nosing into her unfinished projects and book titles.

There are a couple of rarer fundamental arcane texts there, which look old and often-used. The romance novels are mostly by human authors, because there really aren't very many gnomish ones. On the workbench, there are several silithid bug prototypes in various stages of completion, as well as what looks like a small mechanical version of a Zangarmarsh glowfly.

"Ever read any Quel'dorei romance?" he inquires, somewhat incongruously, as he is currently leaning in almost nose-to-nose with one of the proto-silithids.

"Hm?" Jo watches him wander around with some amusement, but she doesn't seem discomfited at all. "I don't think much of that made it into my bookshops. Any good ones you'd recommend?"

"Well, that depends. Do you like nine hundred page epics that encompass decades of futile longing and usually end with one or the other party dying? They do get smoldering hot in places but for some it is too high a price to pay."

There doesn't seem to be any indication of Cobalt Company work, but he might notice some papers stacked to the side of the workbench that seem to be faded lesson plans, labeled "Gwen" on the top page.

"I suppose it depends on what they get up to otherwise. Is there excitement in those epics? Thrilling adventures?"

"Yes, generally of a political thriller or 'ranger adventure' subgenre. The love scenes are extremely explicit but also rather… poetic? I'm not certain how well it would all translate into Common, frankly, as many of our words have some rather filthy double meanings."

Jo nods understanding. "That's always especially difficult, translating wordplay. I know a lot of things really don't translate from gnomish, either. Or sound terribly mechanical if you go word-for-word."

"For example, there is a Thalassian word for female genitalia that is actually more commonly used to indicate a narrow passage in a cavern, or abstractly speaking, an exhilarating near-death experience."

"So if you had a near-death experience while spelunking with a lover, and you wanted to make a joke…" Jo laughs. "Is that a terribly common predicament, for your people?"

"Spelunking, no. Innuendos with triple meanings, absolutely." He winks, fingertips grazing the 'Gwen' lesson plan.

"I have to admit, I've not had many cave dates. I like the open air too much, I think."

"Do you have an interest in astronomy? I notice the star charts."

"Oh, that was for a… commission… so to speak," Jo smiles, her eyes going a little distant as she looks at the star chart. "I suppose I ended up studying it enough that it sort of grew on me, though."

"Ah, you do custom work? Fascinating. I'll have to keep that in mind. What sort of things do you make?"

"Usually friends bring me ideas, and I try to make them happen," Jo pulls open a drawer, rummaging around to pull out a collection of twisty glass tubes. "Like right now I'm working on… a baby feeder? For babies that are born too little."

"That's adorable. Does that happen often? I'm afraid I know very little about babies."

"I know more about them… now," Jo grins. "That's more or less how it goes. A project, and new knowledge. I don't think it's terribly common, but it can happen. More often in some situations than others."

"The only baby I have any experience with is my nephew, and he's… unremarkable in every conceivable way. Rather dull I'm afraid, though his face is absolutely to die for. Takes after me, I think."

"The feeder is more mechanical, though," Jo puts away the glass tubes and rummages more. "I do like to make things that are kind of a combination of engineering and magic."

"Of course! If one is brilliant at two things, why not combine them, I always say. For me it's magic and pleasure, for various definitions of that term." His eyes brighten for a moment. "Do you like wearing jewelry?"

"Who doesn't like pleasure?" Jo grins. "And yes, if it doesn't get in the way or catch fire, why?"

"Well, that was my father's trade, before he ran off through the Dark Portal, and I learned a great deal of it from him. My pieces are… less powerful, and more beautiful, though his were not ugly by any stretch. The name. Jadelight. It's not on account of my glorious eyes." He smiles.

Jo looks him over curiously. "Are you wearing any of your own pieces?"

He lifts his chin slightly to show off his elegant silver choker. "I am indeed. Have a look. Feel free to lean in teasingly and get my hopes up." He actually kneels to make the inspection easier. Or perhaps to be scandalous.

Jo moves in closer to look at the silver choker. She is utterly absorbed by the craftsmanship and does not seem to mind the proximity.

The intricacy of its design is subtle, and does indeed have to be admired from close up. It looks as though it was woven from many fine strands, and seems almost organic, as though it grew rather than was made.

She says quietly, "How do you make something like that? Precision-work magic?"

"Mm hm. It's terribly fun. And this one doesn't even involve gemstones, which adds a whole other flavor to the process."

Their respective positions would make it almost impossible for your average rake not to make a move of some sort, but he remains perfectly still.

Jo reaches one hand forward to touch the choker lightly. "Now that would be fun to learn, though I haven't done all that much with jewelry myself."

"Oh, don't you dare surpass me at the one thing I'm good at, you fiend," he says with a little pout.

Jo takes half a step back, giggling and looking up at him. She blinks her eyes nervously when she realizes how close they're standing. "I don't think there's much risk of that. But I could show you mine. I have a few things…"

"I showed you mine, only fair you show me yours…" he purrs.

Jo raises an eyebrow, but then turns to go back to her workbench. She goes through a few drawers, before she pulls out what looks like a small mechanical butterfly. She holds it up, and then slides it into her hair. The multi-colored wings move slowly.

"The closest thing I have on hand right now to jewelry," she says with a smile. She reaches up and taps the butterfly, and it takes flight, fluttering around her head, leaving a small barrette behind.

Geth lets out a slow, enchanted breath, still on his knees. "Oh, you must make me one of those. Have you ever had occasion to wear it publicly?"

"You like it?" Jo says in surprise. "Sure, I can make you one. I haven't… I mean, I'm a mercenary captain I don't have a lot of places to dress up on the regular."

"Tragic," he says, shaking his head and rising to his feet. "We'll have to do something about that. If you don't mind being on display in Silvermoon, that is."

Jo frowns at that. "Well, I'd like to see the city, but wouldn't I be…" she gestures uncertainly, "…taken prisoner or something?"

"You might be in a cage, briefly, but only if you felt like dancing. The parties I attend these days have absolutely no political undercurrents."

"Well, then, if there were a way to portal in or something… and, you know, avoid dying. I'm really not a fan of dying."

"Yes, yes, I could take care of the portal, and as for dying, very unlikely, except in a metaphorical Quel'dorei romance novel sense if you get too carried away. If you want to get carried away I could oblige you." He stops and puts a hand to his heart, eyes widening. "I don't mean personally, of course, darling, no means no! But you just tell me what sort of person drives you wild with desire and I feel certain I could cause such a person to manifest for the evening… and only for the evening, no strings attached."

"Oh, I don't think I have anything like that which I could ask to manifest in the middle of Silvermoon, but…" she hesitates. "…a party could be fun? If you're sure nobody's going to arrest me or anything."

"Absolutely not. No law and order allowed at a Jadelight party. I might have to apply some ungentlemanly force to some of the guests to preserve your honor and dignity though, fetching little thing that you are. Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Jo laughs. "Trust me, I'm not as fragile as I might seem."

"You know, while we're on the subject of various exhilarating, death-defying passages, it occurs to me that we might kill two birds with one arrow, as it were."

“Oh?”

"Well, the easiest way to get you to Silvermoon would be via the portal in my townhouse… and the easiest way to get you to my townhouse might be via the portal we previously discussed. Only, now that the cat's out of the bag about my political affiliation — thank you EVER so much, Fauntleroy — I doubt such a portal will be feasible between my home and your headquarters. But what about here? Neutral ground, politically. Private and unwatched. Direct. And as you're one of Cobalt Company's captains, I could still almost as directly slip your Company any information and items that could be useful to your endeavors. Provided you keep me apprised of what you need."

Jo hesitates, looking around the apartment. "I suppose that would be fair. From my place to yours. Two-way, this time, though, right?" Jo looks up at him.

"Only for you and me, darling. Like its users, the portal should absolutely go both ways."

Jo smiles at that. "Well, okay. I'll have to look into how to restrict it like that, unless you know how to… but I bet I could figure it out."

"A shame I didn't manage to charm your little apprentice; she could likely do it in her sleep."

"I'll get it sorted. And nobody else needs to know, right?"

Geth gives her a slow, wicked smile. "It can be our thrilling little secret."