by Glenn » Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:11 am
It made one wonder just what she had heard about Elliot Brown?
Did she know that he trained with Solena? The former Marshall Renea had a year ago and that had been a year ago. Did she know of his association with the scarred battlemage Niall? That had gone on for years, after all. Years and years. Did she know of the recent attempted murder of a potion-maker? Likely not that, but she had to know he spent his time in the Dagger, among her sister's old haunts. And maybe he was more suited for Agnieszka's company than for her's (Did she know Agnieszka had punched him in the face?), save for the fact he dressed more like one of her crowd, that he seemed to have the desire to climb upwards while Agnie just lurched forward. Polite society, though? Despite his manners here, she very likely heard that he had made Rhaena Olwak yell at him, that he had managed to insult the veiled woman in the most thorough ways. No one else had managed that in the last year and she was a social figure much whispered about. And then there were all those THINGS gone missing from noble houses as of late. Things gone missing and that strange ball of light or a woman with a tail spotted nearby. He had an association with one of those, too.
"Thank you." Somewhere he found his trained social grace again and sat. He even sipped the tea correctly. It was too rigid though, like putting a nice hat on a dog. Elliot seemed to lose his confidence and bravado in conformity. He could learn to go through the motions but he lacked the actual experience. Nela was probably good enough to tell, probably. It meant she ought to have quite an advantage. She was an impostor too (she had just said "ain't" after all) but one with far more practical experience and more than that she was on her home ground surrounded by her befrilled flunkies.
Yes, his eyes did wander a bit, first to that first flirty girl that had welcomed him and now scuttered away and now back to Nela. He was at an age, past it even. It had just taken a while to get there due to all the magic and adventure and distraction. What different paths these two had to a similar place, to this very table? He was, of course, at no loss for females in his life. Niall. Nova, Solena, and what would Petronela Kaczmarek thing if she knew he had a new patron of his own, the same dreamwitch that their entire generation had been terrified of while growing up, Galacia. That last thought brought back his grin, some of his confidence. What was there to worry about here.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a monthly donation." He was an inexperienced and occasionally awkward teen, just a few days off of a rather traumatic whipping. If the teahouse could teach him anything, it was probably foreplay. He seemed to lack it completely. "I'd like to be a friend of this establishment, Miss Kaczmarek."