The 'Hospitality Den'

From behind one of the more opaque curtains, the curvaceous figure of Madame Naoki enters the room. For this occasion, she has chosen to wear her sheer, wrapping red dress. (Having cleaned it thoroughly since the last time it was used.)

It trails behind her, across the carpet as she moves fully into the room with silent steps. Presently, she spots Eli, fiddling as he is with the curtain. For a moment, she simply watches, one eyebrow coked upward. What is he doing? Her tail twitches. An irritating proverb comes to mind.

Instead of approaching, she continues moving into the room, and speaks.

“Sir Eli. Greetings.”

She keeps her gaze trained in his direction, and attempts to discern what he’s up to as she moves over to the sunken seating area, and begins to rearrange some of the pillows.

Keeping one eye trained in Eli’s direction, Naoki proceeds to finish her pillow arrangement, creating a stack to form a sort of makeshift chaise lounge chair. Seating herself, she lies on her side, resting her chin in one hand and draping her tail across the top of the chair.

“I see. Have a seat,” she gestures to the opposite side of the seating area.

“And how are things proceeding over there? Any interesting developments? I trust you’ve come with more than simply greetings.”

As Eli takes his seat, Madame Naoki remains essentially motionless on her perch, studying the man as he moves. An interesting sort, she thinks. There’s a story to that sword, that much is clear. Perhaps he’s one of those ‘retired’ military sorts. She idly wonders how and why he worked his way into the employ of that little eccentric gnome, Victor. Eli could just have easily found a position within Isra’s military or governmental structure. Or anywhere else, really. His archetype is a desirable one for many types of organizations. She listens as he delivers his update, and nods thoughtfully before responding.

“Fair enough, fair enough. I don’t have anything particular in mind for him to work on just now, aside from continuing to develop and fortify the castle. I’d like it to be capable of functioning as a castle, with all of the defensive bells and whistles associated with that, if need be. If he needs any resources to make that happen, let me know.”

When presented with the gemstone, Naoki sits up, and carefully plucks it from the table with thumb and forefinger. Holding it up to one of the lights, she examines it as a skilled lapidary might, having a considerable amount of experience in gemstone appraisal by this point.

“Your sources heard correctly. There’s something about them I enjoy. Perhaps it's the uniform transparency. Perhaps the way they’re cut to be so smooth. Maybe the way they feel in my hand, or the extrinsic value placed on them for the other properties, even though they’re usually quite useless. This one is a nice one. Emeralds are always are, really. Thank you.”

Naoki nods her head in thanks, and slides the gem into the pouch on her hip, clinking slightly as it joins its fellows. Afterward, she returns her gaze to Eli, to see what else he might have to say.

“Is it.”

Taking the gem back out of her pouch with apparent ease, Naoki takes another moment to consider it. Not being gifted with any manner of magical ability or magesight, the gem looks exactly as it did. A small, square-cut emerald, rolling about in the palm of her hand. Enchanted with necromantic magic, apparently.

Powerful stuff, too. Not even simply reanimating a corpse, but placing it under her control. She wonders as to the… realistically? The finesse? Sometimes necromancy results in shambling zombies. Other times, when a high degree of skill is employed, the dead are indistinguishable from the living. What degree of necromancy would this gem result in, is the question. One that might not ever be answered, she supposes. As interesting a thing as this is, she can’t quite see a use case for it. But, she supposes. It will be quite useful if such a situation ever does arise that would necessitate its use. So whatever. Handy.

Nodding slightly, she returns it to the pouch.

“I see. I appreciate it, though I don’t have any immediate plans for its use. Forward my thanks to Victor.”

Naoki turns her appraising glance next onto the man sitting opposite her. Just like the gems, he seems to be a multifaceted sort. Perhaps some inquiry into the man himself would be… rewarding.

“How about you, though? You strike me as an interesting sort. How did you get involved with Dr. Frankeneblin?”

Both pointed ears remain trained in Eli’s direction as he relates his story. And an interesting one, it is. Sir Eli here must have some manner unique talent or skill, to have been selected in that way. Perhaps he’d elaborate, or perhaps she could rub the information out of Victor, next time she sees him.

“What’s it like, working for him? I can’t imagine it’s the most… pleasureable work. It must be rather stressful, working with such hideous things each day. Do you ever wish you worked in a more comfortable profession?”

She punctuates this sentence by stretching out luxuriously across her side of the couch, extending her arms upward to reach as far as they can toward one end while pointing the tips of her feet down in the opposite direction. Though the movement itself is nothing is not casual, it has the almost certainly intended side effect of displaying the fullness of her figure. Each curve illustrated and outlined by the tightly fitting dress, the topmost portions of which threaten to rip, very nearly lacking the tensile strength to contain her two most prominent assets.

Yet, she still looks to Eli with a politely inquisitive look. Still evidently interested to hear his answer.

At Eli’s mention of ‘putting the bodies to use’, Naoki’s brow wrinkles almost imperceptibly; a small motion that doesn’t even begin to reflect the intensity of her disgust. Way to kill the mood. Goodness knows she has her own fair share of kinks, but that is not one of them. Defeats the purpose. Worse than acting alone, even. All… cold and such. An affront to the very concept. Nodding slowly, she straightens; sitting up, and folding her hands in her lap.

“I see.” Her tone has dropped all pretense of subtext. Simply speaking the words without any emotion to them.

She continues to nod slightly, training a judgmental gaze in his direction. For a moment, she simply sits. Thinking. Considering.

But no. There are standards, hidden somewhere between those two pointed ears of hers, believe it or not. And this man does not meet them. Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures, perhaps, but now that she knows where he’s been, there’s not a part of him that’s appealing. (Which is to speak nothing of the mental image. Massive turn-off.)

“Well. You should consider spending some time here in Isra to relax. Just outside the Citadel, there’s a little place. The Moonlight Eclipse. I own the place, actually. And I’ve seen to it that it’s the finest establishment in Isra, and quite possibly the world. My suggestion is, once we’ve wrapped up here, to head over there and spent a couple hours relaxing before returning to Frankelblin’s castle. They’ve got fine dining, music, women, all of that. I think you’d enjoy yourself. Here…”

Turning to one side for a moment, in a funny sort of hand movement, Naoki produces a coin. A Midnight Sun Eclipse. Evidently, sleight of hand is something she has been practicing. In a much less practiced motion, she sets the coin rolling on its side across the table. Upon reaching Eli’s sword, it topples, falling on its side with a soft metallic noise.

“My gift to you. Now. Is there anything else you’d like to address, or?...” She trails off, unsure if he has anything else. If not, this hasn't quite been the most productive meeting. 

“Oh, is it not.”

What she’s referring to isn’t clarified.

“Fair enough, then. I misunderstood your previous statement. I don’t have any strong feelings about what he’s doing over there with the corpses, then.”

Moving to the next topic, she leans over the table some, placing her elbows on her knees to get a better look at the sword, though she does not reach for it.

“I do have a child. An adopted child, but a child nonetheless. Skarlet. Though a strange and unfortunate series of events, she was subjected to a severe form of amnesia roughly two years ago. It’s somewhat strange, because she, as a person, is only that old. Only two. She only has two years worth of memories and knowledge. Yet, her body, and skills of language and motor control, are more in line with a woman of twenty. She’s taller than I am. Only by about an inch, and not counting my ears, but if you were to place us side by side, one would not guess that one was the parental figure of the other. It’s somewhat strange. Definitely abnormal, but I love her all the same. She is still definitely a child, and I will continue to support her in a parental capacity for as long as I’m able to.”

A short pause as Naoki completes that thought and moves to the next, “I will give Liz the sword in your stead. How would you like me to present it to her? Would you like me to allude to your existence, or?...” She trails off, unsure. This conversation has taken a number of dips and dives, and she hasn’t quite caught up, or decided on what sort of note she intends to end the meeting.

“Well. For what it’s worth, it may calm you some to know that Liz is doing quite well. I met her… a handful of years ago at this point, purely by chance. She was working hard in one of Isra’s traditional legions. Doing about as well as she could have been, so low on the totem pole. I spoke with her a bit, and took a chance. Sponsored her. Sent her to officer training, and she took well to it. Was a Lieutenant for a while, and I recently promoted her to her current position as General.”

Staring out one of the windows behind Eli, Naoki reflects for a moment before continuing.

“She’s bit audacious at times. A bit stubborn at times. But her heart is in the right place, and she does good work. For me, and for her city. Very trustworthy, she can be relied upon for important work. You can take some small measure of pride in that, I think. … I do. … Is there anything I should tell her about the sword? Usage instructions, history, any of that?”

Madame Naoki nods slowly. This isn’t quite what she was expecting out of this meeting. Readjusting herself in her seat, Madame Naoki crosses one ankle over the other and re-fixes her gaze on the man sitting opposite her.

“It’s been my pleasure. I’ll be sure to relate this information to Elizabeth when she returns.”

Standing from the couch, Madame Naoki takes a moment to stretch her back before stepping partway around the table and extending her hand to Eli. When she speaks, the only inflection in her words is one of sincerity.

“It has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Finch. You’ve heard my instructions and suggestions, so I’ll not repeat them, but I have just one more. … Visit again sometime. I’ve not the time to converse at length now, but you seem like an interesting sort of man who might have a lot to say. I’d like to know you better, and next time you come, who knows. You might have a daughter waiting for you.”