Closed The Tea Connection (Amelia)

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Summer 3, 513 AV It had been a while since Valerius Nitrozian had enjoyed a quiet evening at his favourite cafe. His work at the Kelvic Research Institution and his recent promotion to Doctor Alzelin’s assistant had kept him occupied. It had been even longer since he had spent the evening with somebody else. There had been a distinct lack of interesting and well mannered people in Ravok recently. The women either seemed to dress like men like that impossible Tock or had thoroughly dull personalities. And the men … he didn’t even want to go there. Amelia Cross though was at least mildly attractive, she looked and acted like a lady and had all the right connections. Getting to know her – and her father through her – would be beneficial to his goals. As of now Valerius Nitrozian was lacking useful contacts among the Black Sun, apart from his cousin Trevinus who was a difficult man to deal with at the best of times. Besides that, it would also be good if he were seen with a woman that was not his sister or his slave in public. He knew very well that his lifestyle was not normal for a man in his twenties. He arrived in a ravosala just as the sun set and painted the sky in different shades of orange, red and pink. He ordered the ravosalaman, a slave, to wait at the dock, and then he walked up to the cafe and went looking for one of the waiters. A few silver mizas exchanged hands, and then the waiter led Valerius to one of the tables outside, on the patio from where one had a perfect view of the canal. „What would you like to eat and drink, Mister Nitrozian?“ the man asked politely. „Nothing yet. I am waiting for somebody, a woman called Amelia Cross. Please take her to my table when she arrives. We will order something then.“ The waiter nodded and walked away, and Valerius leaned back a little in his chair, watched the canal and waited. OOC* credit for the thread title goes to Veizor Coolwater

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia was still emotionally and physically drained from the recent initiation. Her hands were bandaged and the wounds, even though shallow, hurt and required regular treatment. A few times she had wondered, was magic really what she wanted? Would she want to go over all of that torture, to gain the knowledge of something she wasn’t sure how she’d use? Well…the grand oath was signed, the initiation done…even if she had changed her mind, there was no path to return to. She was now bound to learn magic, and she was aspired to make her mentor proud.

But in the meantime, while she was restrained from actual magic usage until her body would feel rested, she thought there wouldn’t be any harm in enjoying herself. And the offer to finally see Valerius again came almost as a sign, a blessing. She still wasn’t all that found of the man, as much as Amelia herself was hiding her emotions over a well painted face and empty compliments, she found the Nitrozian to be far too distant and cold for her liking, he reminded her of an old and overused play…then again, he was easy on the eyes and her father was not only highly supportive of her getting to know him, Amelia herself saw a few benefits in it. Above all else, the spot they were meeting at, the studio of Yae Varone, was a favorite place of the young girl and her sweet tooth.

As always, she had found her way to Yae Varone in no actual hurry, letting the ravosalaman throw a useless, but oh so pleasant for the girl, lap around the noble ring. When she finally arrived, she paid the man with a polite smile and entered the café. Once in, she looked around, wondering if she could spot the man, but no luck there. ”Mrs. Cross I assume?”’ came a strong voice of a man, right from behind her. She turned around and nodded. ”Mr.Nitrozian is expecting you, please, follow me””Do I look that lost?” she couldn’t help but wonder as she made her way to the table where the redhead was waiting. One thing she had to note, his choice of table was lovely. If she had trouble finding his speech entertaining, she could just enjoy the view.

”Pleasure to finally see you again” she said in a warm voice, but she was cut short with the man interrupting ”would you like to order now? Or should I come by latter?”

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As the waiter finally guided Amelia to his table, Valerius immediately rose and pulled a chair back for her, ever the gentleman. He even smiled more or less warmly at her (a smile that was not entirely genuine). „I’m glad that you had time for me, Miss Cross“, he said to her. „You look wonderful today.“ In his opinion it was always a good idea to compliment the people that he wanted something from, and of course it helped that Miss Cross did indeed look quite acceptable so that he didn’t have to lie. Apart from her bandaged hands. Valerius arched an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly as he noticed that. What had happened? Was she hurt? Or did she suffer from some kind of skin condition? He frowned for a moment as he considered that possibility, but a second later the frown was gone again. Staring at her would be unwise – and impolite on top of it, especially as the waiter was still watching them. The question about her hands could wait, he decided. He wouldn’t start a conversation with a woman that could potentially be useful by asking her about what had most likely been an unpleasant experience. She might be offended and think that he didn’t have any manners. He would make small talk for a few chimes before he started discussing the really important things. „I would like a cup of coffee“, Valerius informed the waiter. „And some of that excellent chocolate cake. What would you like to have, Amelia?“ He turned back to her. „I will pay for everything of course since I was the one who asked you to meet me here.“

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia just smiled and thanked him for the compliment, she was unsure of how sincere it was, but she had no right to question it if she wanted to get on the man’s good side. ”You are too kind, if anything, I should be thanking you for having me” and as she had said it, it made her wonder, why had Valerius done this in the first place. Their first meeting was casual, confusing and Amelia didn’t seem like she had made a good enough impression of herself to attract the attention of a Nitrozian. But that question seemed off-putting, so she’d leave the answer to a bit of observation and analysis.

”didn’t expect anything less” the young Cross usually toke advantage of her dates paying for her, she could strip them of their gold in quite a short period of time. Then again, this man was not her date and if she wanted to use him, being a gold digger wouldn’t pay off in the long run. Not to mention, there was little she could actually do with him and his money in this place ”A…blueberry slump…and a strawberry rose tea please.” Yet another polite smile, and with that, the man excused himself to get the order.

As the man left, she looked over at Valerius, not really bothering to take on an act of a coy damsel as she looked him over, properly this time. ”A lot of time has passed, hasn’t it?” she asked, but didn’t really wait for an answer before continuing ”Tell me, is your research at the KRI coming along well?” she was interested in keeping the topics light, yet keep him as the discussion topic. For several reason really, first, people tended to be kind to those who found them fascinating and were interested in them. But the most important reason, was that Amelia herself was rather secretive and didn’t like speaking of herself, since she was always afraid of saying the wrong thing.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Indeed“, Valerius agreed as she remarked that a lot of time had passed. „I had hoped that we would be able to meet again sooner. I found our last meeting quite interesting. We could both benefit from associating with each other. Don’t you agree, Miss Cross?“ He smiled very lightly. Contrary to popular opinion Valerius could smile, he just didn’t do so very often, for a variety of different reasons. „You made excellent choices by the way. While Yae Varone is most famous for her coffee, her tea tends to be quite delicious as well.“ „But you asked me about my research at the KRI. It is going quite well. I don’t remember if I told you anything about it the last time we met, but I have recently received a promotion. I am assisting Doctor Gaius Alzelin personally now and may soon become a doctor and a researcher in my own right. We are currently researching the effects that a variety of different diseases have on Kelvic. It’s a fascinating field, but not without dangers.“ He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her as if he weren’t worried about the dangers involved in his research at all. In truth he was, of course. He tended to clean himself obsessively after a day at the KRI. He would never tell that to anybody though. It was a sign of weakness, a flaw that he intended to get rid of as soon as possible. „But tell me about yourself, Miss Cross. How have you been? And how fares your father? Unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to him that day. He seemed to be quite busy.“ As he heard steps behind him, he turned around. „Ah, here are our drinks“, he remarked. As the waiter put them onto the table, the tea in front of Amelia and the coffee in front of him, Valerius thanked him, and the waiter went away again to get the second part of their order.

[Amelia Cross]

When Valerius had noted their last meeting interesting, Amelia was not quite sure on how she should react to it. She wasn’t sure was it sincere or a joke, a mock? Because she herself found struggling and cursing a few decisions she had made last time, hopping she wouldn’t do it now, to avoid it she wanted to keep this topic shut and answer with nothing but a smile. However, she couldn’t help but chuckle a bit towards the end. It had been quite a time since she was last referred to as ‘Miss’, it seemed that everyone had gotten a habit of calling her ‘Mrs’, what was confusing at first, but she had gotten used to it, enough to not even notice it when she had been welcomed by the waiter. ”I just don’t enjoy coffee, I prefer sweet things and coffee is a bit too sour for me, even when most of the cup consists of sugar and milk”

As she listened to Valerius speak, Amelia ha to admit…it was a fascinating field to explore, she was curios of kelvics...and especially the species known as ‘Dire’,though she had met only one of them so far, the white wolf of the Bronze Woods of Syliras…but the sight of the huge white wolf just didn’t leave her mind, always popping back up when she heard the word ‘Kelvic’, yet the mention of diseases didn’t really fly pass unnoticed, a quite clear shiver passed over her whole body as her mind visualized the most disgusting results of such a field of science”studying diseases and their effect seems to be of a higher goal, but just the thought makes me want to run in fear…tell me, how do you handle it? Do you not have any fear to speak of?” she wasn’t really questioning Valerius and his bravery, she was, for a change sincerely amazed, because the study seemed to be bout dangerous and filthy…neither of those the women enjoyed

”My father is not really found of chatter, meet and greet so to say, he likes his work close to the point and done fast...but his entertainment slow and larger than light...he has been good” her attention from answering distracted by the waiter setting her tea in front of her, she just nodded in acknowledgment as she let herself look at the tea for a brief moment, examining the light color and the white tea cup ”as for myself” she wasn’t sure how to answer to this, there was no interesting or even silly answer to give…she had just…been.

She looked down at her bandaged palm, spreading up her fingers as if showing it off ”I’ve been doing some hard times with my studies, sometimes lessons get a bit too practical” she chuckled a bit and then decided to push the topic of discussion back to the Nitrozian.

Amelia rested her elbows on the table, and her chin on top of her crossed palms ”But please, tell me, should I be scared of any jealous women wishing my death for simply drinking tea with you?” the answer to this question would determine a lot, mainly, how she would see this meeting as from that point onwards, and was it worth her trouble, or should she shake him off as a useful man to know, but not useful enough?

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Fear is a pointless emotion“, Valerius informed Amelia and took a sip from his coffee. It was exactly the way he preferred it, with only a hint of cream and just enough sugar that it didn’t taste bitter. „It is unpleasant. When I’m in a situation that has the potential of making me afraid, I simply ignore the fear until it is gone. I refuse to feel it, to let it overwhelm me. Besides, in the case of studying diseases at the KRI the risk, the danger is worth it, and the environment is relatively safe.“ There was something that almost resembled a smile visible on his face for a moment. He liked it when others admired his bravery, even if parts of his bravery were fake, a mask that he wore. „I was not fond of chatter either for a long time“, he remarked as she talked about her father. „Just like your father I usually like to get my work done quickly and without any interruptions, but sometimes a conversation can reveal interesting information or even be enjoyable.“ He took another slow sip from his coffee. The Nitrozian sat with his back completely straight and made the simple act of drinking look like a from of art. „Forgive me, Miss Cross“, he remarked as she mentioned her studies. „I seem to have forgotten what it is that you study. Would you be willing to tell me?“ He looked at her banadaged hands again, but decided to let the topic be a little longer. They had just met. Her next question made him frown a little. Women were one of the topics that he did not enjoy – there were very few that were attractive to him, in that certain way – but of course he did not tell her that. Making the right impression was of the utmost importance. Honestly was negligible, especially if it could have negative consequences. „There will always be women that are jealous of another woman because of something as simple as drinking tea with or even talking to a man. I’m a Nitrozian, not married and have a promising career ahead of me. I do not think any of them will seriously entertain thoughts of murdering you though. I tend to avoid associating with madwomen.“ „And you, Miss Cross? Should I be worried that a husband or a lover will suddenly show up and challenge me to a duel because he is making certain assumptions?“

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia nodded her head in agreement, even though she didn’t agree to his statement completely. She admired a lack of fear, especially in settings as simple as research of dangerous things, but fear was a driving force of survival, while most bravery was reckless. She was a frightful and cautious creature herself. She would think over everything a hundred times before acting or announcing her final word, avoid things that might cause pain or put her to any forms of harm or potential danger. To her, fear was not a bad characteristic if you felt it to a reasonable degree…and bravery might as well be the synonym of stupidity.

”I’m sure you and my father would find much common things to speak of, after all, poison and its effects are a close thing to him and the way you work with the diseases and kelvics could be a good rooting ground for conversations...” Amelia herself began suspecting why Valerius had been so pleasant and willing to meet her. She was a nobody with a little above average face, that was fake…she was useless…he was interested in her father. That was the only reason why he would ask of a man who he knew nothing but the name of. But strangely, she wasn’t offended by it, she was used to it, the few who learned her father’s position within the Black Sun, always found it to their gain to be kind to Amelia. While Amelia, found it amusing, since her father was nothing but an agent with a split religion and no real influence.

Now the topic of her studies was a bit harder, she didn’t expect him to ask her that directly. The art Amelia was learning in the institute, was hypnotism, but letting Valerius know that might set him off and make him think she was using it against him. Reimancy was a dangerous form of magic, and she wasn’t sure how one would react to it…not to mention, she didn’t study it at the institute, but with Clyde…but she didn’t know any other things she could name ”personal magic… ” she explained, hopping he wouldn’t be interested in further explanations.

The little frown from Valerius didn’t go by unnoticed by Amelia, but since she didn’t understand the cause of it, she didn’t comment on it. Answering the same question herself, was a bit of a challenge. She smiled, ran her hand through her hair, trying to win herself a bit of time to think over an answer. She was tempted to do some name dropping, but she didn’t know how well he knew the men she was about to call up on…so that was not the safest rout to choose ”I don’t associate myself with mad men either, so you shouldn’t worry about drinking tea with me”

”So tell me, how does a scientist spend his free time? Or do you not have any?”

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„I hope that I will get the opportunity to meet your father again sometimes. I would love to talk to him about my work“, Valerius remarked. „Poisons and their effects are of some interest to me as well.“ He decided not to mention any details for now. He had poisoned (and killed) a Kelvic under the supervision of Doctor Gaius Alzelin, but for now it would be better if Miss Cross wasn’t aware of the nature of their experiments. She might disapprove and use the knowledge to harm him. Being interested in poisons and actually using them on living beings, even if they were only Kelvic, were two different things. As she mentioned studying personal magic, he arched an eyebrow. It was obvious that the revelation surprised him. „I am not very familiar with magic“, he admitted. „I had a mage work for me once, an animator. She was a strange woman.“ Tock had been strange – and strangely entertaining – but that, just like the poisoning of Kelvic, was hardly the kind of topic you discussed over a cup of tea with a woman, especially a woman like Amelia Cross. „That is the extent of my experience with mages, I’m afraid. May I ask what kind of discipline you are studying?“ Valerius didn’t like magic. He was suspicious of it, and he knew at least that mages who used their magic too much often went insane. He didn’t let Amelia know that though, but smiled politely and tried to appear at least somewhat interested. „I’m relieved, Miss Cross“, he said as she informed him that she didn’t associate with madmen either. „An assassination attempt would make this evening much less enjoyable. As for my free time …“ He was about to tell her just what he did when the waiter brought the second part of their order. Valerius thanked him and waited until he was out of sight before he began to speak again. „I do of course have free time, even though it is somewhat limited these days. I quite enjoy studying foreign and extinct languages, such as the Ancient Tongue. I am a graduate of the University of Zeltiva and hope to continue my studies in some form. I also enjoy fencing, when I have the time, the occasional visit to the Pit, art, and as boring as it might sound politics.“ „But tell me about yourself, Miss Cross. What do you like to do? I have heard that most mages possess some knowledge of the Ancient Tongue. Is that true?“

[Amelia Cross]

The way Valerius was so distant and even a bit cold about poisons. It was a bit off putting to the girl. She was used to the people who associated themselves with poison to be quite eager to speak of them. Of how you get certain rare ingredients, how proud people where to speak of accomplishments in philtering. Some would even discuss the effects of poisons that would cause some sort of delusions. So it made her wonder, was the interest in poisons just an act of this man? Maybe to get to know her father? ”nonsense, a Nitrozian has little to no use of my father” but then what?

Every part of her mind cursed at the Cross, she knew that mentioning magic would be a bad call. She had only heard fairytales of cities where magic is not looked down upon, and Ravok is not one of them. Even if the Stryfe does use offensive magic, even if her father convinces Amelia that almost every member of the Black Sun uses magic, most often hypnotism, it is not a form of art that is appreciated in the city, what is quite natural. After all, it was magic that nearly destroyed these lands so long ago. But all of this, does not help Amelia in her slippery situation. A false word, and she is fallen away from the man’s good grace forever. Even if she was not sure had she gained it.

”Those are the weak, that fall to the temptations, I on the other hand have a strong will, not to mention, I study defense rather than offense” she began, ignoring the fact reimancy was more often considered a battle discipline, Mr.Nitrozian didn’t have to know that, calmly taking a sip of her tea ”Not to mention, I do not wish to be of a danger to this city or its people, I wish to help and protect…the studies in the institute are dedicated to the purpose of preparing me to serve our city, our god” The girl herself was proud of her answer, she saw it as coming dry out of water. Maybe even earning a few points in her favor, as she saw the man as someone who was a proud Ravokian, you could say she saw him as a man who was soaked in the propaganda of this city. So any signs of favoring it, might be good. She hopped good enough that he would not notice that she didn’t name the exact disciplines she studies.

Theoretically, the discussion of free time should have been a lot easier to speak on, but this whole meeting came to be like a game of chess. Every word and move had to be thought over, and while this was a challenge and a fun change of setting to the usual treatment. It was hard to tell was it for the best. ”you must be a gifted scholar, the Ancient tongue, I’ve heard that it’s a challenge to learn ” one of the few honest compliments she gave. Languages were a gift, knowledge beyond your own race and the more you had, the richer you where…the girl herself was not gifted with linguistics.

She didn’t comment on fencing, she found that a boring practice, but better to keep quiet than say that. The Pit had not made a good impression the girl, so she couldn’t really say anything good about that either. Art was near a default interest for someone who lived in Ravok. ”who ever told you, that politics are boring?” she couldn’t help but question, without really thinking along. As she had quite some fun talking and discussing them with her father, though, that was as far as it went.

”Knowledge’s of a language aren’t really something that comes to you along with knowledge of magic, it takes time, so I must admit I have no clue of it as of now. But I intend to pick up its studies once I get to Zeltiva” she explained, and hopped the topic of magic and her not knowing something, was done for…at least for now…”I enjoy a lot of things, though studies are by far a priority…I also love horse-riding and might I say, that the lakeshore is a wonderful place for it. Other than that, I enjoy singing and dancing… theater has a special place in my hearth and…” she wondered, should she mention it or not, fortune telling, it was a good hobby, she didn’t have to say that’s how she earned a living. ”I also enjoy fortune telling, a fun hobby I picked up while traveling”