An unusual meeting in Duskvol

"Um..."
Laudius felt heat rising in his cheeks. He couldn't remember if he ever was called cute by--anyone? This was not helping his mental state in the least. Though this time... it was perhaps a more pleasant type of confusion than that of imminent death.
"What manner of place... is this Silver swan precisely? I have never been anywhere that required such dress."
 
"It's a surprise!" Cyrene twirled again, with a laugh. "But I know the owner. So I know how to introduce you to it, little by little. You'll think it's strange from the outside, perhaps. But the inside is a plethora of fun and pleasure." Her gaze went back to him and grabbed his hand. "Let's go, Laudius!" Cyrene began dragging him out the door and down the stairs.
"I'll be back later!" Her hand raised to her Grandpappy, who simply nodded. A man with silver coming into his hair and grey eyes looked up from his reading.
"...I'll need those back eventually, niece." He shook his head.
"I'll get them back to you eventually then." She winked and laughed as she pulled him out the door and into the streets.
 
A surprise. Well great. Laudius did not have a great fondness for surprises. Surprises at work were always of the unpleasant variety: What do you meant that broke, we just reinforced it. Oh, there's a spill of unrefined demon blood in the maintenance shaft. Ten people were killed in the latest power surge from the wall. Actually that last one wasn't much of a surprise, sadly enough.

Laudius didn't have too much time to ponder before he was being dragged away by his arm. Any initial thought of resistance ebbed into the recessed of his mind when he came down and was face-to-face with "grandpapa" again. And then they were out of the restaurant, heading deeper into the city. One thing was for certain: Laudius would definitely remember this day. As to whether it would be a good memory or a bad one, the jury was still out.
 
Cyrene moved through the streets as if she knew them like the back of her hand. After a little while, they approached a river way that went through the city. There, sitting in the water, was a huge barge that was anchored down very well, as if it hadn't moved in years. It's prow was the head of a silver swan. Many people were going into the boat. Cyrene looked up at him.
"This is the Silver Swan."
 
Laudius was completely lost as to their location. He had never been to this part of the city, and he knew that he was going to need Cyrene in order to get back home in one piece. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the barge in question.
"It's... a boat. So what are we doing within it?"
 
"You'll see." That mischievous sparkle entered her eyes as they approached the gangplank up to the door to the boat. A man at the bottom of the gangplank straightened when he saw her.
"Miss Dupont." He bowed. "Always a pleasure to see you."
"Thank you, Gerald." She held out her hand and he kissed it. "Would you mind asking the boss for a private room? I've got a newbie with me. I don't think he's quite ready for the full Silver Swan experience."
"You know he'd do anything for you." Gerald winked at her. "I mean, you are the entire reason he got into this business and all. There's a room open behind the bar area. Shall I guide you back myself?"
"If you wouldn't mind." Cyrene winked back at Laudius. "Come with me."
Once aboard the Silver Swan, it was like a different world. Raised platforms of different heights had exotic dancers of various states of undress. Alcohol, tobacco, and drugs were rampant here. The people were all dressed like her and Laudius. However, it was as if they were allowing their wild sides out to play for the night. All these scenes flashed before their eyes as Cyrene firmly held onto Laudius' hand and pulled him back towards the bar area.
 
What kind of world had he just entered? Laudius couldn't believe what he was seeing. Here were people from the upper ends of society, or at least those who appeared to be so. These were those in management, those who ordered him around, supposedly higher in class. And yet here they were, giving in to the most base of desires. The man was starting to have a very different idea as to why he was here, and he wasn't sure he liked it.
Once they were in the private room, Laudius tried to compose himself and take in the scene around him
"How often--do you come here?"
 
"I come here to drink and watch." Cyrene flipped a switch and a one way window opened to where they could see the outside extravaganza. No one outside could see in, however. The private room had a comfortable chaise lounge, which Cyrene promptly took, a large plush couch, a fine crafted table with two chairs, and two cabinets that were currently closed. "I come here to forget reality and escape the pressures of this world." Her eyes clouded for a moment, but sparkled as soon as she looked back at him. "The owner and I have an agreement, so I'm basically a VIP without paying the costs."
Cyrene got up and walked to one cabinet, pulling out a bottle of wine and two glasses, sitting them down at the table. "This place is a world where you can be anything you want to be and no one will say a word about it." She poured the dark red wine into both glasses, then put the bottle up. Then she went to the other cabinet and opened it. The top was filled with different games; however, the bottom was filled with more interesting paraphernalia. "Ignore the bottom for now. Pick something from the top so we can play something while we drink and talk."
 
"So... You come here often?"
Laudius could understand how forgetting the world would be easy in here. It was like they had left the city of Duskvol behind, and entered a surreal fantasy. He did end up picking out a game of backgammon, and sat down beside Cyrene. Through the window he could see a painting of debauchery, each one more desperate than the last. They were all trying to forget their lives in this hell-hole, and the knowledge that even such people as these would do so--gave him some small comfort.
"I have not had wine before..."
With the sheer amount of alcohol on the vessel, Laudius did wonder just how coherent he would be by the time he left...
 
"I do, actually." Cyrene smiled. "It's my main source of great wine." She was already sipping on win and it was obvious she had a high tolerance. "Watching people and realizing that deep down, we're all the same. It doesn't matter where we come from, we all have the same base desires."
She noticed the game he had picked out and that he seemed to have pointedly ignored the bottom. Good. The stuff in the bottom was...interesting to say the least. "Backgammon? That's one I actually haven't played before."
 
"I... see..."
Despite the privacy of the room, Laudius was not entirely comfortable where he was. What would he think in the morning when he came back? Would he remember it as a dream? He couldn't say for sure, and for now simply chose to try and enjoy this.
"I have only played it once, at the behest of a co-worker. So we'll both be learning as we go."
Laudius tried some of the wine, and found it a bit sour for his taste, but decided against mentioning it. He would just drink it slowly.
 
Cyrene sensed the small tinge towards the wine and guessed its source. She took out another wine and picked out a sweeter, fruitier wine. She took the glass out of his hand, downed the contents, then poured him the sweeter wine. "Try this. It's sweeter." She had become so used to reading people that it was second nature at this point.
 
"I--"
Laudius didn't have time to protest before Cyrene downed the entire glass of wine and poured him a different variety. He thanked her for the glass, and thankfully this one was much more tasteful than the last. The game started, and while he tried to focus on what was happening on the board, Laudius found himself routinely getting distracted by the image of what was happening outside the room. He also wasn't certain how much wine he had consumed, since Cyrene kept pouting out more into his glass before it was finished.
"So--what do you do when you don't bring company here?"
 
"I go out there and dance." Cyrene was confused as to the entire concept of this game. But she was trying. "As you know, i love to dance. I could dance in here with you, but..." She paused for a moment. "I bet you'd be too embarrassed to solo dance with me." There was a slight pout when she said that. "Besides, you're too distracted by the dancers out there to want to watch me." There was a slight barb in her tone for that statement.
 
Laudius did recall that the first time he saw the woman sitting in front of him, she had been dancing... with a half-dozen other people. The ribbing him as she spoke wasn't exactly unexpected, it was the sudden bite to her words that seemed to shake him out of his reverie. Almost subconsciously he reached out and drank more of the wine... whatever happened tonight, he was going to need more alcohol.
"I... don't know how to dance. I've never tried."
The man left the comment about the other women outside alone. What could he say? The last time I saw a woman move like that was went I went to a brothel with two co-workers? Didn't exactly sound like a good thing to bring up in conversation.
 
"...you've got to be kidding me." Cyrene's jaw dropped. "Okay, that changes now." She bolted up and went out the door, coming back carrying a record player. She put on some soft piano music and held out her hand. "Come on now. You have to get up, take my hand with your right, and put your left on my waist."
 
"Bwuh--"
Laudius found himself alone in the room for a few minutes, left with only the hedonistic view and his thoughts to keep him company. Was it so odd he had never danced before? Dancing required physical exertion, and by the time he was done with work, he had absolutely no energy to do so. Even if he had, what cause had he to do so? He often had barely enough time to drink, go home, and pass out.

Laudius's thought process was interrupted when Cyrene returned, unable to keep the look of surprise off his face. He looked at her outstretched hand, to the record player, then to his wine glass, downed the wine in one gulp, and started to follow her instructions. Good though he may have been with his hands, this type of activity was not Laudius's forte. Cyrene would fine her feet being stepped on every now and then as she patiently taught him.
 
Despite her feet being stepped on, Cyrene handled it gracefully. It was a simple waltz she was teaching him, nothing too strenuous. Nothing like her rumba, tango, salsa, etc. After a few minutes of not getting stepped on, she grinned at him. "You're getting it." She was not going to tell him that her toes were aching at this point. The heels weren't helping. As they danced together, she kicked off the heels towards the wall, lowering her height by about four inches. "Gah, I'm short. When I first saw you, didn't know I was going to be going out with tall, dark, and handsome." A wink followed that last word.
 
Despite Laudius apparently having two or three extra left feet, he finally was able to move as he needed to--and without stepping all over Cyrene's toes in the process. He couldn't help but feel heat rising within him as he danced--and almost felt as if he continued that he might be able to somehow escape his mundane life. Perhaps it was the alcohol, perhaps it was the barge, perhaps it was the woman in front of him. He could not say what brought such a delusion upon him. It was only when Cyrene ditched her heels, and subsequently found herself much shorter than him that Laudius found himself speaking again.
"Well, I didn't know that I was going to be dancing with a young lady aboard a barge. I also didn't know she was going to follow me after speaking at a bar."
Dear lord, he had consumed a lot of alcohol tonight.
 
"Well, when I see a goal in front of me, I go after it wholeheartedly." Cyrene was surprised the guy was not stumbling yet. He had been drinking a lot tonight. "I am a teensy bit stubborn, just like everyone in my family." She spun outwards, then spun back in. Her face was very, very close to his. A hint of her sweet perfume would hit his senses within seconds. "Are you at least having fun tonight?" Her voice was husky and soft, alluring.