An unusual meeting in Duskvol

The contrast between Cyrene's abode and Laudius was a stark one. The man couldn't help but let his gaze wander around the room, taking in the difference in lifestyle. A part of him felt wrong for being here, like he was intruding into a place where he did not belong--he couldn't possibly belong.
"I--uh..."
The man floundered to make a sentence. Between Cyrene's appearance and the alien environment he found himself in, Laudius felt overwhelmed. It was almost like he had just been given a sixth sense, and then was expected to utilize it in a room full of its stimuli.
"I've never actually had tea."
That was apparently the only thing he could manage to come up with as he blindly followed Cyrene over to the table. Thankfully, he at least knew the rules of chess--even if he hadn't seen it played in over 8 years.
"I also don't know how much of an opponent I'll be--it's been years since I've played."
 
"I haven't played that much either so we'll see who holds out." Cyrene picked up the team mug in front of her. It was a peppermint blend that was supposed to promote energy and happiness. Hopefully it would work. "Never drank tea? Well, that's going to change." There was a happy smile on her face as she pointed to the cup. "Try it. It's one of my favorites. If it's not to your liking, I'll brew a different one."
 
Laudius took the cup gently into his hand. It almost felt like it would crush in his grip if he shook it too hard. There was an experimental, almost wary sniff taken of the drink. The resulting scent did not exactly mix with his usual sustenance--but what the hell. After a couple of sips though, he had to put it down, with a face trying not to contort.
"I don't think jumping from bottom-of-the-barrel beer and crappy coffee to this stuff is a good idea."
The man took a deep inhalation to calm himself and looked at the board. Cyrene had seated herself on the white side, which if he remembered correctly meant she had the first move.
"So, do you normally invite men you've barely known into your room for drinks and a game?"
 
"Those that I find interesting, yes." Cyrene chuckled. "Though, you would be the first I have found interesting. So this is new to me as well." She looked at the tea. "Do you prefer coffee? I can get you coffee instead of tea." She sat back, carefully moving one of the middle pawns. "My plan is to see if I was right about you. If I am, I plan on taking you to the Silver Swan tonight."
 
Right about him--what did she mean when she said that? They had barely talked to each other, and best he can tell Cyrene hadn't been watching him. He could be entirely wrong about that, but why him?
"I wouldn't say I enjoy coffee so much as I tolerate it to get my job done. It keeps me functional in the morning."
Laudius took his time with the board. It wasn't just his immediately next move that mattered, it was how that impacted the next several moves that mattered. It wasn't that different from fixing a generator really. You wouldn't get anywhere from just fixing the immediate problem, you needed to think all the way through the consequences.
"Dare I ask what you are trying to find you were right about?"
 
"That you are a far more interesting man than you think you are." Cyrene winked. "And I think you and I could have a lot of fun tonight at the Silver Swan. So I hope I'm right." Her eyes discerned quickly that he probably had not ever been inside such an establishment. Her moves on the board were aggressive, just as her personality denounced. Perhaps too obviously aggressive. In between turns, she had gotten up and gotten some coffee from downstairs. "Not sure what Grandpappy brewed today; I hope it's good."
 
"I'm not familiar with the Silver Swan. Is this an establishment I should know?"
Laudius decided to set a trap on the board, noticing Cyrene's aggressive stance that charged ahead looking to capture his pieces. One innocuous move, seemingly just to get his rook out of the way of one of her pieces, was the setup. He waited to bait in where he wanted Cyrene to go until three turns had passed, then struck. After the trap was sprung, he sat there with Cyrene's Queen, as well as both of her knights and one bishop and a few pawns, while she had mostly his pawns, as well as one bishop and one rook. He had caged the king to the corner of the board, and was attempting to close the game off.
"This... isn't bad."
Laudius spoke after drinking the coffee, some manner of dark roast that actually was pleasant rather than liquid fire keeping him alive. But even he wasn't sure if he was referring to the drink itself--or the company he was with
 
Cyrene's eyes twinkled; she had been right. "You've got me. No matter what I do, next turn will be checkmate." At his comment, a slight hint of crimson filled her cheeks. "Well, it's not like a sea monster asked you for drinks and games. I'd hope you enjoy this a bit." After a moment of thought, she got up to look at her closet. "Well, I guess I was right. Thus, I must make myself appropriate for your first time at the Silver Swan." She left off the last two bits of the name to let it seem innocuous enough still.
 
Laudius finished his coffee before looking up at Cyrene. She seemed to still be under the impression that he was more than he actually was. As to why that was the case he still had no idea.
"You still haven't told me what exactly the Silver Swan is."
Was it some manner of bar, another restaurant, a club of some kind? It wasn't exactly surprising that he hadn't heard of it, Laudius knew barely any establishments that weren't near his place of residence. But when it came to dealing with this woman... he had his misgivings. Of course, leaving meant going through the old man downstairs, and Laudius didn't quite have a death wish.
 
As if she could read his mind, Cyrene looked back at him with a squint. "What are you afraid of here? You're still acting like I have a knife to your throat." Her eyes fluttered and sighed. "I'm not looking for anything strange. I'm not looking for anything beyond having fun." She turned away and stared into her closet. "Is spending time with me so...torturous?"
 
"No it's not tortuous!"
Laudius found himself speaking up slightly--and he couldn't even really pin down a reason why.
"I--I've never had anyone interact with me just for fun as you put it. So I keep wondering why you saw fit to ask me here and even talk with my manager to allow such a thing to occur. It doesn't make any sense to me. I'm just some run-of-the-mill worker who spends his days a the lightning barrier."
Laudius took in a deep breath, having spoken louder and faster than he meant to. For once in his life, he wasn't just being given orders, and his brain was trying to puzzle out the reason why. Why was she doing this to him?
"That... and your grandfather threatened to make me disappear if I upset you."
 
"...oh Grandpappy!" Cyrene laughed. "He's actually my Grandpapa's brother. My Grandpapa..." Cyrene paused, chewing her lip. "Yeah...you don't want to meet him if you think Grandpappy is scary." Her eyes zeroed in on him like lasers. "Maybe you need to be taught a lot more about fun then. Because I think you're probably a very fun person. You also, despite your nervous position, did not let me win to try to win favor. You pressed the attack. That tells me far more than you realize."
Cyrene continued rummaging through her closet. These were clothes that she had picked up while in the Academy for social occasions. However, she wanted to make sure she stood out at the Silver Swan. "...what's your favorite color?"
 
Laudius found himself pondering the ideas Cyrene brought forward. Probably more than he should have, but he was still on edge, and that combined with the new environment to bring his mind into a tizzy.
"What exactly is a fun person? Is it someone who has fun, someone who is fun to be around, or someone crazy that you can make fun of?"
Laudius found himself pouring over years worth of memories, trying to remember when was the last time he had done anything for the sake of enjoying it, drawing blanks on every single one. He probably would have continued to do so if it weren't for Cyrene's question. It was so far removed from his current thoughts, and so out of the blue, that it brought everything in his mind to a screeching halt. Trying to process both what had been asked and formulate an answer.
"Bwuh?"
Was initially all Cyrene got before he actually was able to give her an answer. Though perhaps his reasoning was a bit off.
"I would have to say black... Why?"
In a job where bright flashes of electroplasm and warning lights were the norm, darkness meant safety. It was also calming when he lay down and had the blackness surrounding him, allowing him to drift off in peace.
 
"Black it is." Cyrene pulled forth a silken black dress with her usual high thigh slit. "One moment." She stepped into the washroom, closing the door to a crack. The sounds of undressing could be heard from the door.
"A fun person is someone that one enjoys being around. I enjoy being around you; hence, you are a fun person." Cyrene was really starting to question if this guy had done anything more than work his whole life.
 
Ladius couldn't help but question the woman's choice in attire. He himself was only dressed in a worn white button up, a pair of scorched flannel pants, and a thick leather vest. If she was going in that item of clothing, she was either over-dressing to an extreme degree... or he was under-dressed to a similar extreme. Given the way things had been going so far, he was rather inclined to believe the latter.
Still confused as to why the woman thought the way she did--and why she had not informed him to the nature of the place they were going, Laudius found himself simply sitting down while she changed a scant few feet from him.
"But why do you enjoy being around me? I haven't really done anything for that to be the case."
 
"I'm not entirely sure myself." Cyrene admitted. "But I want to keep enjoying it." Cyrene came out, dress on, hair slicked back into a chignon, red lips, and gold jewelry. "...I'm gonna do you a favor." Cyrene flipped out the room and seemed to walk down the hall. She came back with a set of men's clothing. Black everything, from nicer pants to silky shirt to vest. "Uncle Silver doesn't wear these very often because he prefers flashier clothing. But you two are close in size. Go change. Trust me, where we're going, you're going to want to." Cyrene winked and held out the items.
 
Wait, she didn't even know herself what the reason for all her actions was? Laudius felt like he was going to have a migraine from his confusion and lack of answers. Then she brought in the outfit.

What.

"Um..."
Laudius had never worn anything beyond work clothes or similar for probably the last decade... maybe longer. He hadn't even worn so much as a clean button-up--this was a big jump.
"I don't--I've never worn anything like that before."
Laudius was unsure if he should even take the clothing. As if he would somehow contaminate it with his presence.
 
"Don't worry about it! Just think of tonight as us exiting the real world and entering a fantasy land of wonder and fun!" Cyrene twiirled for effect. "Just slip into the washroom and get those on. I'll help you get anything buttoned or whatever when you get out. Now off you go!" It was clear she was not going to back down from this.
 
Laudius couldn't help but wonder if this woman did live in a fantasy land--or at least did so in her head. Everything she did seemed so far removed from reality he couldn't begin to predict her. Outside of her actions within the game of chess, she was a complete mystery.
"I'll--I guess I'll get changed then."
Laudius entered the washroom, and under normal circumstances (not that anything about this was normal) may have taken a second to appreciate that it was larger than a closet, and actually had a predetermined place for bathing, rather than the metal basin he had. As of now, that was one of the furthest things from his mind. Why was he going along with this? Was it her exuberance, the threat of imminent death from her "Grandpapa," possession by a wayward spirit, or was he just so bored and tired he didn't have the will to fight anything? All four seemed equally likely at this point, and Laudius tumbled the possible ramifications, both good and bad, of each reason. The man who walked out of the washroom was barely recognizable from the one who had walked in. Without the dirty and baggy clothing he looked like he could actually belong in a ballroom of some sort.
"This... looks odd."
Laudius had seen himself in the mirror within the washroom, and he was uncertain how he felt about this massive change in appearance. The only thing that appeared the same was his mess of black hair. Which looked like he had chopped it himself and was only rinsed with water and an extremely coarse soap.
 
Cyrene immediately took a comb to smoothing that hair a bit. "You won't look out of place. You actually clean up quite well. I knew you had a cute face and all; didn't know you would clean up quite so well." Her broad grin seemed quite large on her small face. "The Silver Swan will be quite a bit of fun to the both of us." When she was finished combing the hair a bit, and after fetching a small pair of scissors to fix the uneven ends, she stepped back. "There. I think we're ready to go after you go take a look at your hair to make sure I did an okay job." Her eyes sparkled as she took him in; boy, she had made a good choice.
 
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