Worse Things Than Hell.

[Tebrin]

"She drinks. I drink. That's the depth of a mortal friendship, isn't it?" He replies defensively, eyes snapping to eye her cautiously. He wasn't really sure how she would have -- ...ah. Amused. She apparently wasn't the jealous type.

"Rhaena does not seem the type to need to escape, dear, but perhaps. Maybe he just got bored of her in bed. Who knows? He is a mortal - they are not known for their loyalty," bitterness dripped from these words, eyes narrowing upon the trees ahead as they walk. "Agnieszka included."

"Ah, well. Regardless, he is inaccessible to us. He is, apparently, in some other world, on some other plane - and, somehow, was able to reach Rhaena long enough to tell her he was bedding other women."

He paused, hesitated in his steps, a grin dawning on him. "He -would- be perfect, wouldn't he?"

Her change of tone, the warmth of her body pressed to his, arms encircling him, brought him to a complete halt. Mumbling pleasantly and embracing her - as she desired - he leaned to press a fond kiss to the top of her head. "Mmm... you do know how I treasure your happiness..."

"But you drink too much wine, you -could- spare my pocketbook."

[Saraphael]

"And how am I to play the spoiled little rich girl if I cannot even get my abusive lover to pay for my wine, hm?" Ivory lifted up onto her toes, teasing his mouth with a taste of her own before withdrawing entirely. There was a sniff, a watering of eyes..

"Perhaps I should go play on another plane, world, whatever."

The glittering behind the called moisture was pure amusement, even as she turned her back and shoulders began to quiver in horrified sobbing. It was even a better show than the one she'd given the tavern a few nights previous. While it was true that her talents existed in certain veins, the mass of them were simple.

Pure manipulation.

She was going to pay for this one, even as she heaved in horrified sobs. All it would take was another stumbling upon them, and she'd even have a complete story waiting for sympathetic ears.

And all of that over a cup or two of wine.

[Tebrin]

"My bleeding heart aches for you, it really does. Because you have me -fooled- into thinking you genuinely upset, genuinely HURT." Deadpan sarcasm, and an open-palmed swat at a heaving shoulder in response. This woman would be the death of him - some hero was sure to come to her "rescue" sooner or later if she kept up this blather.

"You know damn well why I won't pay for your wine - because it amuses me. And you have SO much more fun seducing it from whomever happens to be sitting nearby. Dear Malaroth, for instance?" He brushed past her in a pointed display of apathy, continuing to walk through the woods towards the home they shared.

"And what will you do about it, besides? Tell them that I beat -- oh, WAIT..."

[Saraphael]

Sobbing broke into soft laughter just as quickly as it began, though she flinched slightly with the harsh slap. "You believed it the first time."

Malaroth was somewhat of a flop. He was vunerable, yes, but in that mourning-for-a-lost-love sort of way. That opened him more to Tybalt than her persuasions. "He never even gave me a second glance, you know. He is mourning." There was mockery in that word for all that they had both discussed losses among them both. It was different for mortals.

But, Tybalt was still striding away, and with a wipe of hands across cheeks, the youthful Ivory hurried to catch up to him. "The trick was quite obvious this time, though. You might not so easily see through it the next." After all, he could never tell when she was crying wolf. Could he risk that she was faking?

As she approached, her fingers moved to twine with his. "A compromise, Mithrael. If I cannot find anyone to pay for my wine, you will. Ivory really does not have much funds to her name for me to play with." A soft admission, but true. At least, he could hope it was truth.

[Tebrin]

"The FIRST time was just that - the FIRST. It will not happen again, I assure you." He smiled warmly at the trickster, digits curling easily with hers and squeezinig gently.

"I am sorry to hear that you've not the capacity to sway Malaroth. That is... truly a shame. And here I had such high hopes for you..." Tongue clucked gently against the roof of his mouth, smooth accent lilting a bit higher with no small amusement. "After all, aren't you supposed to make him -forget- her?"

Melodramatic sigh rewarded her continued pressure, eyes rolling skyward and darkening with annoyance - though she would know it to be faux. "Can't I just give you a loan for you to use? I thought we were trying to pretend we -weren't- sleeping together. Or did you still want to change that?"

[Saraphael]

"That is true. You do learn the tricks rather quickly," Ivory mused thoughtfully before cutting him a glare. "You are male.. at the moment. Would you be so easily swayed from your memories?" Such a question was a wicked one, considering how hard she had worked to get to this point -- mostly fighting against his fears and memories.

"You are more likely to get somewhere with a mourning soul than I. I would inspire him to little more than suicide. While amusing, it is hardly helpful at the moment."

There was a brief acidity to her voice, but it soothed with the trio tracks of conversation they were weaving in and out of each other. "The on and off again relationship of Tybalt and Ivory could be useful. Something to gain sympathy for, as well as a reason to be seen together in public occassionally.. whether it be together or hating one another." She lifted her shoulders in a nonchalant shrug.

"We need to start focusing on our goals -- now that we have worked out our companionship .. problems."

[Tebrin]

So easily swayed? Memories? It was... DIFFERENT for mortals. "Mortals do not mourn, for they do not truly know loss. He will get over it. And if not, suicide is still amusing."

Drawing to a halt, lips pursed together pensively. "Malaroth is not material to our goals - he is a curiosity. I may speak to him yet, I do seem to have luck with dead lovers. But what would we do with him, hmm? Aeryn's importance far outstrips him, and comparatively he is a minor detail, even in the end."

He reaches to rub at the back of olive neck, a grimace forming on handsome young features. "We may play it as is best for our interests... but you'd better be prepared for those honorable fools who refuse to contribute to the destruction of such a relationship."

[Saraphael]

"We can never be sure who will be a stronger ally. Ignoring one in favor of the other could be our downfall."

It was a quiet warning from one that never discounted anything. It was her duty to see things from as many angles as was possible. Her duty to remind him of such possibilities. True, Malaroth hardly seemed an asset, but there was no telling what kind of wicked strength might lay behind a shattered mind of grief.

"As for us, perhaps we should take a step back and allow Tybalt and Ivory to develop on their own. It could be quite amusing to watch our little mortals tear each other asunder without realizing why. More believable, as well."

Steps forward had her tugging lightly on his hand, but she paused and looked back at him as if to wait for him to begin moving again.

[Tebrin]

He was indeed ready to move - if only because she insisted. "Malaroth does not have... the assets that Aeryn does, dear." That is to say, control of the guard. That was one rather important asset. Fingers graze gently along her knuckles, before curling into her palm. Legs carry him after her, then, falling into a brief, brooding silence.

"It is so odd, Saraphael, to go through life as if operating a mannequin. It grows tiresome, does it not?"

Free hand flexed, turned over, dark hues focusing in on the mortal flesh that was his... and yet NOT. "Such a pitiful shell, compared to what we could be... could -have- been."

[Saraphael]

"What we are," Ivory corrected quietly. It was a brief moment of brooding silence between them that was broken by a wicked smile. "And that is what we are going to fix."

The Abyss had sapped her strength. It made her reliant on this shell of a creature. Being reliant made her angry, and anger.. that led her somewhere else.

"We can speak more of these things, later. For now, home sounds best." Shared, as was their agreement of the night before. Even if the lessers had already begun to accept her as something better than any of themselves.

A body of a young maiden was left far behind, untouched where it had found its doom.