Flight

[Zana]

75th Ymiden, 717

Two trials ago, her Immortal father had given her his blessing; Zana had been shocked and surprised by that turn of events, it had to be said. She was beyond proud of her Immortal heritage, it defined her. In this small bungalow where she and Theo lived, she was going to set up a shrine. It was a few trials until the Lady Libertine opened, but no one was working there today. They were as prepared as they could be, Zana knew it. Yet they were both anxious.

They'd decided that, today, they were going to learn to throw knives. It would be useful because of the blessing from her father and the powers that gave to her, so Zana was pleased by that. She'd gone out and bought them both throwing knives, a set of five each and she had them wrapped up in the garden, where she had set up the target. Theo was out, Zana didn't know where, but he was due back before noon. Which gave her plenty of time.

She moved into the bedroom and sat on the stool, looking into the mirror on her dressing table. It was her dressing table, she had determined, by virtue of her being female and wanting it to be. Certainly, the only things on it were hers and she figured that possession was nine tenths of the law. "Good morning, Father," she said, looking into the mirror and gazing into her own ice blue eyes. She'd always been told by her mother that her eyes were like her father's, but now she knew.

In front of the mirror, she placed the small mirrored glass ornament of a bird. She'd seen it since she could remember, as a child in the brothel in Ne'haer, she'd been entranced by the reflections of light which shone from it. Her mother had told her that each of those little rainbows of light was her father, watching her and as a child Zana had believed her. In front of the mirror, she placed that. "You chose her, my mother, from all of them. Did you give her this? I never asked. It doesn't matter, because it's yours. To her, it represented you and now, to me, it represents you both."

Next, she took the small silver necklace with a bird on it. She looked up at Jay, the bird which was her constant companion and she smiled. "He was jealous. Covetous. And I was fool enough to fall for his lies. I put this here, Father, because it will never happen again." Hanging the necklace so it spun and caught the light, she lowered her head in prayer. "Your shrine, father. In your name. Every vanity before this mirror is for you."

Standing, she moved out and was in the garden when Theo arrived home. Unlike usual, Zana had pulled on a pair of tight trousers and a loose white shirt. She wore her hair down and her make up was minimal, but effective. As he walked into the garden, Jay took flight and went into the house. "Good morning," she said, moving to him and kissing him deeply. "Did you have a good morning?"

The target was set up in the garden and she gestured to the small table. "I bought you throwing knives. I thought it was more romantic than flowers." Her smile was teasing, but she was serious about the knives which she put in his hands. Should he look, the knives were beautiful. Their balance was perfect and the craftsmanship was without a doubt. "I got two sets like this for you. But I'm going to keep one until I'm able to throw the feathers." Ice blue eyes regarded him and her hand sought his, she didn't leave his embrace from the initial greeting. "I also got just normal ones for practicing in case we throw them into next door's garden and they won't let us have them back, or something. Or we kill someone in passing, I thought it was best not to be too identifiable, then."

Zana looked at him and her smile was wicked, "Want to learn to throw sharp things with me and then teach me to build up my muscles?"

Off Topic

Zana has paid 36gn
Throwing daggers: set of five = 2gn
Masterwork quality = *8 = 16gn per set.
She's bought one set for Theo, one for her. Currently, as described in the post.
Throwing daggers: set of five = 2gn x 2 = 4gn
Total = 36gn. Deducted from ledger as "Throwing daggers"

Feel my breath on your face, your body close to me.
Once you've looked in my eyes, I'm all that you'll see

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

Even though the dream of establishing his own place of business had become possible much sooner than Theo had anticipated, the actual process of putting the details together, officially, was moving at an agonizingly slow pace. It was frustrating at best, and made him restless besides. Still, there was always something to do. This trial however, his business outside the bungalow he shared with Zana, had nothing to do with the Lady Libertine. In fact he'd dressed the part much more than his usual lately, and had headed into the Dust Quarter in order to locate a man he used to know there, and speak with him. The effort had been worthwhile, Theo thought, and he'd returned home with more knowledge at least than he'd had before.

"Morning," he said when she slipped into his arms, and he could see that at least in the garden, she'd been busy while he'd been out. "It was a fair enough morning," he told her and smiled as he noted the target she'd set up. "I found what I was looking for at least." As for the knives? He looked over them with a great deal of appreciation and even grinned when he nodded. "More romantic, and less problematic too. Throwing flowers at any prospective target, I imagine would be much less effective than knives. Thank you," he said genuinely when told that the things were a gift. And they were fine knives indeed, he considered when picking one up to weigh it in his hand and get a sense of its balance.

"So I went to see someone I used to know in the Dust Quarter," he told her, referring to the handful of breaks he'd been gone. "I'd remembered him as someone with a real knack for throwing knives and had hoped for some insight. Otherwise," Theo added with a shrug, "We begin with no sense at all how to do this, and it's the blind leading the blind." He hadn't thrown any while he was there, the tavern he'd found the man in wasn't conducive to throwing knives around. However, Theo told her, a proper throwing knife ought to have a handful of traits. Only the points ought to be sharp, not the edges. In fact rounded edges overall, save for the point and extreme leading edge, ought to be rounded for safety. "They should be thick enough to avoid the tip bending, and weigh around 200 grams for the sake of accuracy."

To learn best, Theo added, the target for learning ought to be large and soft. The one she'd set up seemed to meet that criteria. In the beginning, the focus should be on proper rotation, rather than accuracy or power. As for stance, straight, relaxed and positioning, right foot forward with the left one slightly behind it. "Holding the knife," Theo added with a frown as he picked up one of the knives, "Apparently while throwing you're to hold it much like you would a hammer. Thumb on top, and making sure your fingers don't interfere with the trajectory of your throw."

[Zana]

75th Ymiden, 717

Theo was restless, she was the same. They were both keen to get the business open and these last few details seemed to be taking an eternity. Zana wasn't good at patience, she had discovered; she was much more an immediate gratification kind of girl. Still her grin at him when he described the throwing of flowers was a mixture of amused and pained. If they started to have to rely on him being a comedian, Zana considered, she was getting a new handler.

When he said what he'd been doing, though, a slight frown crossed her face showing her somewhat perplexed expression. "Is it a good thing you going back there? Once the Lady is open, could it be the kind of information that would harm our reputation?" The kind of information they were hopefully going to be collecting themselves, after all, and she wondered whether he'd considered that. He probably had, she knew, "I'm not saying it is or isn't, I don't know. I just wonder."

She fully understood his desire to find out about the knives, she explained, but the man in the shop where she'd bought them had been very helpful. He'd offered to give her tips, but she'd explained they were for her very protective older brother to help him with his anger management issues, and he had packaged them up and got her out of there quickly. Zana smiled as she said it, but the information was available in a number of different places and she wondered to herself if his tendency to pop back to the Dust Quarter was more about him.

Still, that was nothing to do with her and as long as his habits didn't impact her, she really didn't mind. She listened to his first explanation on the weight and shape of throwing knives and nodded. That made sense and she stood, straight and relaxed as she did when firing the crossbow, right foot in front of the left and then, Zana turned to look at him and her eyebrow raised incredulously.

"Theo," she said with a look of amused exasperation. "Look at me. Really, look at me," she gestured to herself. Loose blonde hair, skin tight trousers that were so tight they seemed to be almost painted on and a loose blouse ~ both items of clothing worked to show off her curves in different ways. Manicured nails, good make up and an amused expression. "Now have a little think and consider if I have the first idea how one holds a hammer. Really? Maybe, think about using an example of something that I know how to hold."

She frowned, then, just for a trill before her expression turned wicked. "Or then again, don't. That won't work and it could lead to all sorts of problems in bed." Zana had innocent yet impish down pat and she grinned. "Show me?"

Dangerous? I'm a dying breed. Poisonous like a centipede,
I'm capable of the fouest deed. Dangerous at night

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

Not a good idea to go back to the Dust Quarter? Theo shrugged while weighing one of the knives in his hand, checking it's balance when Zana asked. "It's a calculated risk," he considered. "I have connections there. Just a few. Most people don't remember you after you're gone. Not there anyway," he clarified. "The Glass Quarter, even the Earth Quarter, they know the Dust Quarter is there. They know about the poverty and the hopelessness. On the one hand they like to talk to each other about compassion and charity, but on the other, unsee it. For the sake of their trial to trial lives, they prefer to pretend it doesn't exist."

"However," Theo added regarding her concerns, "It depends on the type of reputation you prefer to build, what sort of respect you hope to attract. It's no secret, where I've come from. So am I going to craft my reputation as someone who's risen above it all, and turned my back on my roots? Or am I going to choose another tact, and play the part of the philanthropist? The man who hasn't forgotten where I came from, and hasn't forgotten the people I left behind?" He grinned and shrugged again. It was calculated, and not nearly as noble as the words themselves would make it appear. The lack of selfishness for personal and self-serving reasons, more or less. Wealthy combined with a cold heart and an isolationist or exclusionary disposition. It was a tired and overdone approach in Theo's opinion.

He shook his head and laughed however when Zana pointed out her lack of experience with wielding a hammer. "Then we're in the same boat, but I've watched others actually work for living. Manual labor, poor sods. Like this," he said and showed her, taking one of the knives by its handle. "That's for a full rotation however. I'm told the simplest throw is a half rotation, and you need to be roughly six feet from your target." Which meant that for a half rotation, the grip on the knife must change. Turning the thing round in his hand, he gripped it with fingers on the blade, blade facing him, and handle towards the sky. "But still, the act of throwing it, is much like that of using a hammer."

So she should throw the knife with moderate force, enough to stick in the target, but not so much that the blade would over rotate. "I suspect there's a learning curve here," he said, and smiled as he gestured towards the target. Ladies first, he told her, and stood back in order to give her room.

[Zana]

75th Ymiden, 717

He had, of course, considered what he was doing and Zana smiled at him as he explained how he was planning on being seen. She wrinkled her nose slightly and put forward her own philosophy. "I can assure you, I don't like to discuss compassion or charity. They both sound dreadful." Shrugging her shoulders, just slightly, she considered it. Why would people want to discuss something which was so messy and obviously not pleasant to look at, experience or be near? She very much preferred to not so much pretend it didn't exist as just ensure that it didn't impact on her. The dust quarter existed and that was fine as long as she didn't need to go there.

As for being a philanthropist? Zana smiled at him, "Philanthropy is not exactly my strong suit either. I'm afraid I'm rather too much my father's daughter." Greed, after all, was one of Delroth's domains. She considered, however, "although it might have its uses. Hmm. Maybe I need to learn to be more like you?" Zana grinned, wickedly.

When talk turned to how to hold the knife, Theo said that he'd watched others working and Zana raised a suggestive eyebrow but then turned her attention to the knife. So, depending on how far away, and how fast the rotation was depended on where they held it? That made some sort of sense, so Zana watched his grip and copied it. "It feels strange holding the blade itself. Alright. Stay out of the way, I don't want to hurt you."

The target was about six feet away and she concentrated on it, focusing her gaze and checking her stance. Comfortable, relaxed and then she threw. Considering it was the first time, it wasn't a bad effort, but it was too hard and she threw with too much force. The blade did indeed over rotate, hit the target but did not embed because it was not hitting with the correct edge. Zana frowned and sighed. "I'm not sure if I threw it too hard or not hard enough? Go on then, show me how it's done." There was a challenge in her gaze as she looked at him, but she was fairly confident that he was going to be better at this than her.

I'm so very picturesque, I'm so very cold.
Taste like roses on my breath. Graveyards, on my soul

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

Compassion and charity? Zana made a good point. Neither of those terms, on the surface, would seem to be cornerstones to the building of wealth, influence and reputation. Or at least more to the latter than the others. "Suit yourself," he said dryly at first, but Theo grinned a little nonetheless. "Some things I want and can do now. Other things, like the building of a successful reputation," he argued, "require more patience. A being willing to play the long game in order to achieve lasting results." Lots of things seemed dreadful, he argued. Or mundane. But some were necessary. And the ones that weren't still had potential, perhaps valuable potential.

He could pull of appearing to care a little more than others about the beggar on the corner who claimed he needed work and couldn't feed his young children at home. Even if Theo knew already that the beggar's work was a scam on its own. Theo laughed though when Zana wondered if she should be more like him. "It wouldn't hurt, if I say so myself. You might begin with small steps?" he suggested, though he was teasing when he added that she might swear off taking candy from babies or instead of kicking puppies, she might scratch them behind the ears instead.

"Too much flick in the wrist, maybe," Theo considered then after watching the flight of the dagger she'd thrown. He couldn't say for sure, he was as much a beginner at this as she was. Still, he'd give it a try himself and taking up the proper stance and raising his dagger, blade gripped between his fingers, he eyed the target and let it go. It flew well enough, rotated just enough and for a trill he thought it might stick. The blade found the target somewhere between edge and center, and even struck point first. But it sank into the target just enough that it didn't bounce off, but came unstuck quickly and fell to the ground.

Harder then, he guessed, though who knew yet how that would affect the rotation. They probably ought to practice that until they got it right. But as they did, Theo said, "The full spin through, a full rotation...I'm told you should be roughly ten to eleven feet back from the target. The method of throwing is mostly the same, except that for the full rotation, you need to grip the knife by the handle instead of the blade."

[Zana]

75th Ymiden, 717

"I suppose," Zana said with a more serious expression, "you need to consider what the end goal is for your reputation and work towards that. Like a dance or anything really." Turning her ice eyes to Theo, her amused expression returned. "What is the end goal reputation, Theo?" His suggestion that she stop stealing from children and kicking puppies though, earned him a shove. "Don't be horrid. I don't eat candy it makes you fat and I go nowhere near puppies, they have fleas." So there would be no scratching behind the ear. She reached forward, though and scratched behind his ear. "Does it work on boys as well as puppies?" Zana wondered and then grinned. "Or should I resort to kicking?"

Practice, however, was what was necessary and when Theo's knife stuck even for a half trill first time around, Zana rolled her eyes. "No one likes a show off, you know." Even in skin tight trousers, Zana had mastered the art of the flounce, it seemed, as she went to retrieve the knives, once she'd made sure he knew she was going. "So, I think Billie's going to be at the Lady more than she's going to be here." She gave a slightly ironic smile but said nothing on that, other than to point out, "one of the two of us is going to have to learn to cook, we're going to have to eat out or come up with a third option."

Whilst they practiced, Zana concentrated on the half-rotation for as long as she needed to. Having seen her last effort, she adjusted the distance she stood and threw again then, once she was managing to embed the thing in the target, she changed the distance until she was able to do so more or less most of the time. Rolling her shoulders, she considered, thoughtfully, "I would say that this is good for the muscles in my arms. Oh! I meant to tell you."

It was his turn to throw, so Zana was sitting on the table in the garden, cross legged and watching him. "You know how I took that temporary second job, singing? Well, I got a permanent position. It's a business club, lots of single men and the owner is a semi-regular in the Lap. I'm his favourite. He's open to a business agreement, where we recommend there as a place to stay, they recommend our whores. He'd like to meet you, but he's busy till the beginning of Saun. It might be a good place, I think."

Shrugging and purposely ignoring his increasingly accurate throws, Zana considered it. "If I'd wanted to, I could have made much more money there that night as a whore. But I think it was a worthwhile thing to do, it helps me build my singing skills and reputation too. Something we could use, actually. I thought we could host events there, if it works out." With a grin, she jumped off the table. "My turn."

Stance, grip and careful consideration, Zana was all focus as she aimed and threw. She attended to her breathing, making sure that she didn't make things difficult in a real combat and she pushed herself to ignore the ache in her arms. Visualising a person, not a target, Zana threw and the knife embedded into the target with a heavy thunk. Her smile was uncensored. "I approve. I'm going to like these. I want to learn gymnastics, do you know anyone that can teach me?"

Love is a temple, love is shrine, love is pure and love is blind.
Buy some love from the candy store. Get it on credit if you need some more

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

"My end goal?" Theo responded, and shrugged when she asked while trading places with her in front of the target. A half rotation. He'd rather not move on to a full one until he'd gotten his blade to stick. A number of times and closer to center if not dead on. "If I have my way, there is no end. No limit. You know that mansion down the lane with the sprawling lawns and the flock of peacocks roaming around the fountains? I intend to climb so high that the people living there look like paupers."

When she gave him a push and scratched behind his ear, it threw him off his mark and he eyed her as if meaning to scold her. But there was no fooling Zana when he grabbed her round the waist, pulled her to him and nipped her behind the ear in the most tender of places. "Not all dogs have fleas. Some just bite a little," he teased, and promised a little something for later that was a world away from throwing knives. But she was right. If Billie was going to be moving to the Lady for the most part, then one of them would need to learn how to cook. Or both of them. "The only other options are hire a cook to come in, to take our meals elsewhere or learn," he agreed. And it made more sense financially to do their own cooking.

The half rotation was going well, so he took a handful of paces backwards with her, and they carried on. The first throw under-rotated so he increased the force behind the second thrown, therefore the rate of flight. And though the blade stuck, it was farther off center than he cared for. Another one then, as he traded turns with Zana. When she told him about the second job she'd taken, on impulse, he might have questioned it becoming a regular thing. But then? Once she explained the thought process behind it, Theo reconsidered. "An unofficial arrangement? Mutually beneficial. I like it," he decided.

As for gymnastics, he could see the skill becoming quite useful, though he frowned as he threw yet another blade, much happier with the outcome this time. "I can't say I know anyone. But I think it would be a very good thing to learn." Like these knives, he thought, and wondered why he'd never thought to pick up the knack before now.

[Zana]

75th Ymiden, 717

Zana and Theo had been working together for pretty much a season at this point, living together a good while and the nature of their work meant that they were both very physical beings. His description of where the end goal was, or was not more precisely, provoked the same reaction from Zana as when he grabbed her around the waist and nipped at the spot behind her ear. He knew what that did to her, but equally she knew how to provoke the same in him. Wealth, she was quite sure, would be theirs and somehow they'd hit upon an excellent combination the two of them. Trailing her nail down his side and leave a single, feather light kiss on his neck, she let out a low purring growl.

"That sounds like an excellent goal. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't say it. But since it's you," her voice was low and husky, "I'll even consider sharing." But yes, sadly, they would have to do something about eating or starve. Zana didn't like the idea of starving, it sounded unpleasant and she tried to avoid unpleasant things wherever possible.

"Unofficial? Maybe," Zana positioned herself again, checking her stance, making sure she was relaxed but poised. "I don't know, though, the more legitimate business contacts we have," she threw the knife, the frown of concentration showing on her forehead, "the better for us. I think we should consider something more mutually beneficial and formal. Like an agreed," she threw and it thunked into the target. Half a rotation, not at the center of the target, but more towards the top, in the middle above the bulls eye, "negotiated mutual discount. We advertise him, he advertises us. It gives us credibility, a regular stream of custom and will benefit us more than him. But I can make sure he thinks he's got the best deal and if the deal includes a discount for him with me? He'll take it." She threw again, this one more in middle, but still above the bulls eye by a couple of rings.

"Plus, it's a step. To the merchants' guild, the council. Better things." Releasing the last one, Zana was apparently pleased at hitting where she did. She must be aiming there, specifically, because she'd managed to get them relatively clustered around there. She turned to look at him and smiled, "If I make them think they're special, that we have a connection and it's a mutual thing? If I can make them believe, just for a trill, that I want them back, that it's reciprocal?" Zana shrugged, ever so slightly. "Then they are much more likely to become regulars. I'd say the thing to do is make it official. Make it special and agree, reluctantly, to a discount with one of your girls, his choice. Use him and squeeze every drop out of it. I'll be there singing, keeping an eye that he keeps up his side of it." If it became of no use, then they dropped it like a hot potato and she'd expect the same in return.

But then, she'd be the first to admit that she didn't know business the way he did, so maybe the thing to do was to have that meeting come Saun? On the topic of gymnastics, though, Zana clicked her fingers. "Robyn! From the Lap. She was very ... " there was a glint in Zana's eyes as she searched for just the right word. "Bendy. I'll ask her." Then, she looked at him with an entirely innocent expression. "Would you like to join in?"

I love it when we do what we do, cos we do what we do till it's done.
I love it when we do what we do, cos we do what we do and it's fun.

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

Wealth, power, influence, the pursuit and promise of them, these things were as seductive as the woman draped over him with lips and fingers trailing across exposed skin. Some types of gratification however required a great deal more patience, but were worth it in the end. So was the more timely satisfaction that came from physical pleasure. Though it could be said there too that slow going, and patience, was its own virtue in that case as well. Whichever the case, while Theo possessed a great deal of discipline, she was also persistent and tried his resolve on a trial by trial basis. The embrace, the touch, the kiss he returned in kind, promised that he wouldn't be kept waiting much longer.

Official, formal agreements or those more unofficial ones made between gentlemen. Each had their appeal but she made a good point. One worth considering. "Maybe," he said, as he threw a few more rounds and then began to gather up his knives in order to put them away. "Alright then," Theo agreed. "I'll trust your judgment there." Besides, she was right. Seats on the council were a long way off. But still in sight if they played their cards right. Between the two of them there wasn't really anything they couldn't accomplish. And if it required a discount for the most valuable connections? Theo could live with that.

"Robyn?" he added when she mentioned it. He hadn't realized, though he might have had he gotten around to becoming more familiar with her in particular. "So many women, so little time and just one of me," Theo said dryly and grinned a little. "It appears that I need to get busy." But would he like to join in? How could he refuse? Zana didn't exactly make it sound like hard work after all.