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| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | The day after her arrival to Fallon House, Aszera comes down to find Lena at breakfast. The two talk and dance, as demonic ladies do. |
| Rating: | M for Mature 17+ |
Chain: Shena
It is fairly late the next morning when Aszera wanders down to the Fallon dining room for breakfast. The blue and gold dress is gone today, replaced by a clinging deep bronze silk gown with slim straps instead of sleeves. As a concession to winter, she wears a black jacket in leather over the dress, covering her shoulders. The heels of her shoes click on the floor, announcing her presence to any who might still be taking a late breakfast.
The only other guest of Fallon House to hear her entrance is Lena Coit, sitting at one side of the table with an open book, a cup of coffee and a now-empty plate. She glances up as the other woman enters, and she raises an eyebrow as she takes in the gown-and-leather with a glance. Aszera certainly took ‘ladies wear dresses’ to heart, but Lena wonders if she should have brought up formality and appropriate fabrics for the climate. She is in a dress herself, naturally, but it’s a relatively simple thing of warm blue cotton. Lena nods a quiet greeting and returns to her book. Breakfast is a quiet time, to allow people to greet the day on their own terms.
Aszera does not seem to have the same concept of breakfast. She comes over with her own plate and coffee and sits directly across from Lena. Drawing in a fortifying breath, Lena closes her book and looks up to her, smiling politely. Aze smiles in return, an automatic gesture, but Lena spots a certain weariness in her expression. Perhaps she hasn’t slept well, this first night in a strange place. Lena can’t blame her for that - it must have been a lot to take in all at once.
“It’s good to see a friendly face,” Aze says, and her voice sounds alert - maybe she’s just not as good at guarding her expressions, given her own lack of sight. “Or not see. Ugh. Mornings. Language.”
Lena raises an eyebrow, glancing at the sun streaming through the windows. “Morning might be over by the time you finish your breakfast.”
Aze waves a hand dismissively, starting in on her food. “I’ll just say I can’t see the sun, so it doesn’t count.”
“Can’t you?” Lena asks, narrowing her eyes. “I would’ve thought that’s the sort of thing…”
Aze shoots Lena a mock-hurt expression. “I’ll be an open book for the Fallons, but you could leave me some mysteries. As a friend.”
Lena raises one hand to cover a brief laugh, and says, “Fine, keep your mysterious sleeping-in habits. I expect yesterday was quite an exhausting day, anyway, meeting everyone, so it’s not so much of a mystery.”
“Oh, yeah, more stressful than the naga,” Aze says easily. “And more mentally demanding, maybe? I spent an hour yesterday going through the names and not-faces, just so I don’t make an ass of myself today.”
“There are a lot of people,” Lena says with a faint smile. “And more coming, from what I hear. So it’s probably for the best to start that early. And anyway, people will forgive you, if you make a small lapse in memory or judgment.”
Aze’s shoulders tense, and she turns her face down toward her plate. “Have you ever? Made a lapse?”
Lena stares at her levelly for a moment, and then says in a deadpan voice, “Of course not. I am absolutely perfect at social graces, I’ll have you know. Warlocks and folk with my particular history are known for it.”
That earns a quick exhale of a laugh from Aze, and she turns back towards Lena to say, “What happened, then? After you fucked up?”
“I’ll not go into the details of the time that comes to mind, because it’s a bit mortifying, looking back,” Lena says, taking a breath to suppress the heat on her cheeks as she recalls a familiar voice saying whether it was ignorance, careless, or a piece of malice… “The Admiral took me aside to tell me I’d made a serious error of judgment, and that I needed to right my course. It was not… a pleasant conversation. But it was a necessary one. I did right my course, and no more’s been said about it.”
“Her Grace didn’t have anything to say?” Aze asks, finishing off a pastry.
“Her Grace is not my employer,” Lena says firmly. “But I expect she knows about the situation. She’s not spoken to me of it, and I’m pleased with things to continue to stand so. The point is I won’t make the same mistake again. That’s something they value.”
“Right,” Aze says, letting out a low breath. “That’s good then, they let you live things down. I’ll keep that in mind. And I don’t intend to make the same mistakes over and over. Still, even with errors, I feel I’m making a decent impression on most people so far. And if not, at least I’m making an honest impression.”
“Are you talking about tea?” Lena asks, finishing off her coffee and setting the cup aside. “I thought that went rather well - I tried not to interfere much. I hope you didn’t feel too much on display.”
“That was sort of the point, wasn’t it?” Aze says with a dry laugh. “It was sort of like… the social version of when Sir Atley asked me to spar. Press the monster, see if she bites. See if she reveals something she’s trying to hide from you. I don’t mind, really, I get it.”
“You sparred with Dane?” Lena asks, blinking. “In Outland?”
“No, no,” Aze waves that away. “This was back in Icecrown, at the Tournament. Before the Citadel assault. You know him?”
That’s one way to put it. Lena remembers Theramore, and then how he looked at her after he heard she’d become a warlock. Then Ivrianna, announcing to the whole company that he used to pay her to… they had worked together after that, and he’d always treated her with respect. As she treated him. With all these thoughts, Lena hesitates for a little too long before she says, “Yes, he was a colleague… in Cobalt.”
“A colleague,” Aze repeats, with a faint smile. Briefly, Lena has the impulse to slap her. But Aze has no idea what she’s wading into here. How can she, if she’s never been told? Lena breathes in, considering whether she should give a clearer explanation. Or not.
Aze eats one last out-of-season berry and pushes her chair back from the table. The moment for confiding passes. “What are you up to after breakfast? I guess I’m on call, in general, but nobody’s called for me yet today.” Aze starts to stand, and then arrests the movement, possibly realizing how that sounds. Then she just shrugs and straightens.
Lena considers her. “I don’t have any special plans. I’m not going sailing today. Did you have something in mind?”
“You said you enjoy dancing,” Aze says, resting her hands on the back of the chair. “I was thinking… if we’re going to have a dance party, it would be good to practice. How’s your follow?”
“My…” Lena hesitates, looking up at the elvish woman. “I usually follow, if that’s what you mean.”
Aze nods, leaning towards her. “So you can follow me. Would you be in for just… letting me dance you? Rather than teaching. I’ll give you the steps, and then I’ll just lead. It’ll be fun, I promise. I’ll make it fun.”
“I suppose,” Lena says with a touch of uncertainty. “Do you mean sin’dorei style, like you were talking about before? Because I’ve got no experience there.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Aze says, circling around the table and reaching for Lena’s hand. “Come on, I bet you’ll be great.”
Lena lets Aze draw her away from the table, walking hand-in-hand out of the dining room and through the foyer, towards the ballroom with its open floor and piano.
“You’ve learned your way around quickly,” Lena says as they pass the main staircase. “It took me ages to not get mixed up in the corridors.”
“Oh, fel, no, I don’t have the whole place mapped out yet,” Aze says with a shake of her head, sending a ripple through her black hair. “But I have had two tours, and I remember the most important rooms. Bedroom, dancing, music, games, food.”
“Is that in order of importance?” Lena asks with a laugh. “And honestly, I’m impressed your tour with the Admiral was not of the same sort as your tour of his ship.”
Aze steps forward and turns to face Lena, stepping backwards and drawing her into the ballroom. “That might have helped smooth out my nerves, but no. It was an actual tour. Her Grace is here, so…” Aze shrugs and, and turns away to take off her jacket, tossing onto the small table by the door.
Then Aze takes Lena’s hands, holding them low, and says, “What I want you to do is step, step, step, tap. Just keep doing that. Three steps and a tap. I’m gonna start with footwork, and you can try to match me. If you mess it up, though, it doesn’t matter. Just keep the rhythm.”
Aze starts a simple pattern, and Lena follows. Aze’s hands are warm in hers. While it’s disconcerting to stare at a blindfold, she doesn’t drop her eyes to their feet - she does have some experience in dancing. The pattern is simple, but there’s some kind of fluid ripple of movement that Aze is doing with the step, and Lena can’t quite imitate it. She tries at first, and then just lets it go. Then the pattern begins to shift, changing directions, adding in occasional flourishes - which Lena doesn’t usually match - and ranging them across the ball room. Aze wears a faint smile, absorbed in the exercise.
“Two tours, you said?” Lena asks, picking up the thread of conversation once she’s settled into the rhythm. “Isla and Finley on the other, I suppose.”
“Yes, the ‘children’,” Aze says with a laugh. “The young wards. They’re much less easy to shock than I’d thought, from what he said before. And the little children are too young to understand what they should be shocked about.”
Lena smiles, thinking of Ery and the new twins. “Do you like babies? I’ve seen some people who are mesmerized with an infant in the room, but I noticed you kept your distance.”
Aze doesn’t answer for a few eight counts, and then says quietly, “I like babies. I don’t want to… overstep.” She takes a large step forward, gracefully trading places with Lena, who misses the first beat but hastily corrects.
“The Admiral adores them,” Lena says when she’s stable again. “I don’t think it’d be an overstep if you did, too.”
“I don’t know,” Aze says, the corners of her lips tightening. “And because I don’t know… look, Lena, you know me enough to know what I’m like. I went after Siamus to start with. I was lonely, he responded…” Aze executes another switching of places, and this time Lena keeps up. “I know I’m pretty. And I’m guessing for him, there’s a thrill in taking something a little dangerous to your bed. But that’s not enough to want to introduce someone to your family.”
“You don’t meet families often?” Lena asks with an amused smile, following another quick change in direction.
“No, not since…” Aze draws in a breath. “Still not sure what I did to earn this invitation. Still, I’m not welcome here, not really. I made that mistake - you saw me do it - and I won’t make it again. I’m allowed here, thanks to Siamus. Like I was with the Argent Crusade. Or in Dal…” Aze tenses, and throws in a few quick steps that Lena can’t follow. “What I mean is, it’s a chance, an opportunity, and I’ve got to live up to it. I appreciate that they let me meet their infant children. I will never touch them or hold them without a clear invitation.”
Before Lena can answer that one, Aze raises their hands slightly, resting between them. “Let’s do some turn patterns. Just keep the rhythm, and I’ll move you. Like this.” Aze raises her right hand and releases her left, tracing a circle over Lena’s head that pushes her to rotate in place with the movement. Lena follows. “I noticed you weren’t holding any babies, either.”
“I’m an employee,” Lena says, as she comes back around to face Aze. “It’s not my place.”
“An employee who moved in here,” Aze observes with a laugh. “Not the best move if you’re trying to keep your distance.”
“I have a place in Stormwind,” Lena says stubbornly, as Aze pulls her to spin under one arm, switching places again.
“And I can see you’re living there, yeah, for sure,” Aze nods agreeably, clearly amused. “But come on, Lena, you’re brighter than that. On the ship you’re an employee. Here, what’s your job?”
“I summon people,” Lena says, as Aze steps behind her and around, their shoulder blades brushing against one another. “As I did you. And for disasters.”
“So they keep you around in case of… what, earthquakes?” Aze asks.
“Tidal waves,” Lena says, thinking of Avrenne and Siamus falling, of that wall of water turning… she almost misses the next spin.
“So you’re not here because of any attachments,” Aze keeps hold of both of Lena’s hands and turns her in, arms encircling her as their sides come into contact. Lena draws in a breath at the unexpected closeness, and then Aze’s voice says in her ear, “Like Mr. Costentyn Shine. You two fucking yet?”
Lena is startled enough by the question to jerk away, but Aze doesn’t let go immediately. She pushes Lena forward, spinning her out of the embrace, and then releases her hands to take a step back.
“No,” Lena says sharply, glaring at the sin’dorei woman. And then, softer, she adds, “Not yet.”
“Why not?” Aze asks, crossing her arms.
“I already explained why not, when we were on the ship,” Lena says in frustration.
“You explained you wouldn’t sleep around with the sailors,” Aze says with a shrug. “Because you were working there, and they wouldn’t respect you. But we’ve established you’re not working here. Mr. Shine was never your… colleague. Or was he?”
Lena flushes at the reference to her classification for Dane. With that in mind, her voice is harsher than she intends it to be as she says, “Miss Sunstrike, you think you know me, but you do not.”
“Hey, whoa, Lena,” Aze says, approaching to place her hands on Lena’s shoulders. “We’re friends, right? What did I say wrong? If I don’t know something I should, then tell me.”
Lena doesn’t pull away, but she doesn’t relax either. “You’re assuming I’m the same as you. I am in some ways, but not this one. It’s not a secret, and I’m not ashamed, but it does make things harder.” Lena draws in a deep breath, and says, “I was not wild in the past, I was a prostitute. A surprising number of my acquaintances these days knew me as such.”
Aze moves closer, curling her arms behind Lena’s neck and lowering her voice. “Wait, so Siamus and Mr. Shine…?”
“No,” Lena shakes her head. “That is, they were in Theramore when I was working, but neither of them ever…” she trails off, glancing at the door with a touch of yearning, thinking of certain clients relevant to this particular conversation. At least that one doesn’t remember it. “There were others.”
Aze steps back, seeming to consider Lena. “Okay, so neither of them were ever involved in the business, and they know you’re not some blushing virgin. I’m missing something. What does this have to do with fucking Mr. Shine?”
“I can’t just…” Lena snaps, and then she reaches out to take Aze’s arm and pull her over to sit at a table. “I’m not going to have this conversation while dancing, alright?”
“Uh, okay,” Aze says, letting Lena drag her along this time, though she still looks faintly bemused. “What conversation? Are you not interested? You seemed interested, back at tea.”
Lena takes a seat, and rests her elbows on the table. “I am. And I think he is. It’s just… you know how this works. You must.”
“What, sex?” Aze settles across from her. “Yes, I’m well-versed. Maybe not professional like you, but I’m a very practiced amateur.”
“No, not… I mean love,” Lena says, trying to find the words, sort out what she’s trying to say in her own mind. “Romance.”
Aze tenses. “Okay, less-practiced there. What about it?”
“With Shine, I…” Lena clasps her hands together, looking down at them. “I’m enjoying the pursuit. Being pursued. But I don’t know if that’s… all there is.”
“Ah,” Aze says, sitting back in her chair. She’s quiet for a while before she says, “Much less practiced. It’s been a while for me, for this. Has he been flirting with other girls? I haven’t even spoken to him, except at tea, so I can tell you he hasn’t gone after me.”
“No, no, he’s doing everything right,” Lena says, closing her eyes. “But I think he would, either way. He’s no starry-eyed romantic, he knows what he’s doing. I just… don’t want it to end. It will, though, either way. If it ends without, then he may get angry. Men often do.”
“Um,” Aze leans forward again, as if peering at Lena with some kind of senses. “Why does that even matter? You’re a warlock, let him get angry. What do you want?”
Lena is surprised into a laugh, and she shakes her head. “That is precisely why I am warlock, as it happens. It’s been years, and it’s so hard to break these patterns of thought. What I want has never been my top consideration, but I…” she raises a hand to her neck, remembering his touch there, the feel of his lips on hers. The careful respect, and then the sudden passion. “I do. I do want him.”
Aze gestures with one hand, there you go. “Then why all the caution? Waiting to see if he’ll decide you’re too much effort? Whatever he wants, it’s probably not going to change just by waiting. I’ve watched Yara nurse enough broken hearts to figure that one out. So you might as well get laid, right? And who knows, maybe he really does want you, after that.”
Lena just stares at her in silence for long enough to grow awkward. Finally, she says, “I’m sure your sister appreciated your advice as much as I do.”
“You’re as welcome to it as she ever was,” Aze laughs, rising from the table. She reaches one hand towards Lena. “But here, let’s dance more. Maybe I’ll teach a few things, for you? Stuff that might be useful in both contexts.”
“Both contexts?” Lena asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Ballroom, bedroom,” Aze shrugs. “Just in case.”
Lena smiles and rises to take her hand. “Alright, then. Just in case.”