( open ) once you step down

[bheidh]

Who: bheidh & OPEN
When: IC 6/16
Where: Shopping District + Pleasure District
What: A field trip of exploration ( getting lost ) and an evening of entertainment ( working )
Rating/Warning: None

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( shopping district )

( She feels so lost - out of place, does Leliana. The bright lights, stores and tall buildings are quite a way away from Thedas, and they're as unfamiliar as they could be. Leliana's no stranger to shopping - from markets to the higher end shops of Orlais, but this is quite different. This doesn't feel the same as the shops that Leliana knows, especially not when she's had little opportunity to shop in more recent years.

Though Leliana can keep it from her expression there's something in the way she moves - her slower steps, her gaze around the streets - that shows how out of place Leliana feels. She's curious - occassionally stopping at a store window to see their wares, but for the most part she's walking along down the streets - just trying to figure it all out.

Modern technology had been mentioned to her in that last 'game' - in what Leliana had thought was the Fade. What the man had called virtual reality Leliana had thought was something else, but in the days since - and with nothing so familiar (or demon-y) happening Leliana's wondering just how right he may have been. As ridiculous as it all is. She doesn't want to let her guard down - to just accept it - but this is far from Leliana's dreams, and with so many here that she knows of, and with less fight to escape than she'd have thought-

It's partly why Leliana's exploring the area. Gathering her bearings is one thing, to know that if she needs to she knows where to go - to get supplies, to find somewhere secure, but also to gather information. She may be removed from Skyhold but tricks and training don't just leave you, and finding out everything that Leliana can would aid her greatly now. And those she knows )

( pleasure district )

( It's late evening when Leliana's at work, and surprisingly it's the most familiar thing about this whole experience. Though her 'uniform' isn't quite what Leliana knows from the Chantry it's closer than the outfit she'd arrived in (jeans, Cassandra had called them).

The work isn't quite the same - Leliana knows how to woo and to tease, to get close to people and enchant them, but she's never been a whore. It's what she has to do - no worse that killing a man, though Leliana is using it for her own means too. For those that pay extra - to take the Sister for a private show - she tries to ask what she can, to trade as many peeks for secrets as possible.

Her 'part' - or act, as her boss tells her, involves singing, and it is something of a relief - a comfort. It feels just as the game did at times - enchanting, singing, getting what you need. She pulls on the tales from Thedas, songs passed among the bards as Leliana moves around the room from patron to patron. For now she's still clothed, not that the uniform gives her much for clothing, trying to see who she can extract secrets from that night )

Comments

[bheidh]

In part.

( There certainly hadn't been any stripping in the Inquisition, or lately, but it did possess some similarities to being a bard. More so with Leliana also now trading in secrets as well as skin )

They may have disagreed with the rest.

[animated]

[ He quirks an eyebrow ] Do I get to know what you're talking about, or do you have an air of mystery to maintain?

[bheidh]

You may find out yourself.

( Which is not exactly an answer, or even subtle that it wasn't. It did depend on if he visited the pleasure district, though )

I wonder how many were so accurately selected.

[animated]

Ah, okay. We’re going with mysterious, I see.

[ He takes up his pile of books again, resuming his shelving as they talk. ]

Wouldn’t surprise me if there were a bunch of us. Part of me wonders if they do it to make us feel more at home, or if they’ve just got weird senses of humor.

[bheidh]

It could easily be both.

( Something familiar with a twist - humour to CERES, at least. It was highly likely given all of this effort )

It could tell us more if some didn't have their suggested job.

[animated]

I wouldn't put too much stake in it. Maybe someone just doesn't find the suggestions funny, or they're sick of doing whatever they did back home.

[bheidh]

Perhaps.

( Unless that is what is said but not the truth. She can’t help but keep a suspicious mind )

Were you offered anything else?

[animated]

Um, let's see. Literature teacher and matchmaking consultant. The first one kind of ties in with the book thing, I guess, but the second one is just silly.

[bheidh]

Silly, but perhaps with reason.

( Or very likely not. Wasn't that the point of their previous questions - that they really had no idea? )

It could suit you.

( She's also 75% kidding, whilst sounding serious )