[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn's breathing is almost ragged as Anguish breaks contact.  Her body wants more of this woman and it is quite difficult to keep her actions in check.  Panting, she nods, "Yes.  Alright.  Maybe.  There is wisdom in your words."  Her mind races; this is the first person she has seriously contemplated taking home that she has not paid for in a very long time.  The entire dating process has not interested her in years and while she enjoys being someone's eye candy, she really dislikes the expectations that go along with that, especially if the date turns out to be less than satisfactory, not to mention the possibility of the person wanting to complicate things.  No, it is much easier to call up an escort service and have a perfect lover delivered to her door.  The thought wanders into her mind that Anguish might be acting on orders from her mistress, but the sensory readings she is picking up indicate that the Dryad is actually into the decker.  She realizes that the feeling is mutual and is not sure how to handle that.  **Frag it.  Who cares?  For once just quit analyzing everything and go with it.  Who knows?  You might just enjoy it this time.  Take a chance.**

Robyn nods again.  "I was blinded more than forty years ago and have come to live with that.  For the first time in many years I wish that I could see again.  You are indeed exotic to my touch and I am sure equally so to look upon.  I want.........I need.........to experience you, and not because others are mundane and boring.  There is something else.........something I cannot quite explain, even to myself.  I am sure that part of my reaction is due to your skill, but................"

Robyn stops as three people enter the room and take seats.  She laughs softly and says, "It appears that break time is over.  The set lasts thirty minutes and I can leave here soon after.  I will need to pay my respects to Vanya."

[BrickyardBabe]

Anguish nods, managing to keep- barely- from kissing Robyn again. Wouldn't want the casual observer to get the wrong idea. Anguish doesn't know how insular some of these people are, or what damage she might do to Robyn's reputation if she were to be seen being intimate with a pleasure girl. Instead she curtsies perfunctorily and half-whispers, "I will be waiting, cherié." Slightly more loudly, she adds, "Alas, I must miss this next set. I should go check on the other adepts and pay my own respects if I am to be vanishing soon." With a last caress of the back of Robyn's hand, Anguish withdraws.

Despite her words, Anguish lingers in the doorway, watching the musicians start to play again before tearing herself away from the spectacle that is beautiful music played very skillfully. Returning to the main club floor, she makes the rounds of the party, checking in with Miele, Alexis, Julia, and Holly, the youngest of the adepts and out on their first or second assignations. Of them, two are well and one is extremely occupied, judging from Julia's small whimpers and the low grunts of at least two male voices. Only Holly is distraught. Anguish finds her kneeling just as she herself had been, but her makeup is tear-streaked and wide red welts mar her back.

Sighing mentally, Anguish draws close and enfolds Holly in an embrace, then spends the next twenty minutes talking to her quietly in French. She gets the whole story, carefully noting the names of the three Vory soldiers who thought she'd be more fun if she was weeping and what they did. Yes, it was an adept's mission to provide an outlet for the aggression of others, but she gave her signalé, her safeword and they did not quit.  Briefly, Anguish considers exacting retribution herself, but she dismisses the idea just as quickly. bad to start a turf war with the Vory at their own party. She would tell Melissa, and Melissa would make her displeasure with the situation extremely clear to Kurzhnev. Anguish gives Holly a tablet of bliss, not liking that she is feeding the girl's addiction but also not wanting her to fall apart or be punished for breaking her assignation by going home. Once the girl tabs it and Anguish sees that it's taken effect, she leaves Holly to her high. A quick check of her 'link shows that Robyn's set is just about finished, and she goes back toward the performance space to wait for her new friend.

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn immediately feels the loss of the Dryad as she leaves the room and is a bit surprised at the unfamiliar emotion.  She tries to shake it off as her companions return to the room, removing her cello from its stand and running through a bit of practice.  She wonders at what she is feeling and where it might go. 

Sheila calls the group to order and signals the beginning of the set.  The two violins, the viola, and the cello are magnificent instruments and those playing them are very talented indeed.  The audience is spellbound for the entire set, even requiring a ten minute extension.  Vanya pokes his head in on his rounds and is so enthralled that he stays for the rest of the set.  The beautiful girl on his arm expresses a bit of annoyance that they are not listening to something more lively but shuts up at Vanya's sharp glance.  At the conclusion of the set, he is the first to approach the quartet and congratulate them on a great performance.  He spends a few extra moments with Robyn, speaking in a soft voice so that the others do not hear, before moving on and then leaves the room.  It takes several minutes for the room to clear and get the instruments packed away in their cases.  All four women hug and congratulate each other before leaving.  Sheila tells the others that she will text them later when something comes up.

Robyn is the last to leave, almost afraid to see that Anguish is not waiting for her.  Her heart leaps when she catches the Dryad's scent and she smiles broadly.  "Vanya was at the set so I do not need to track him down.  Are you able to leave now or do you have other responsibilities as part of the contract here?"

[BrickyardBabe]

Anguish shakes her head, then mentally kicks herself and says, "My responsibilities begin and end at being a party favor for which ever guest decides to enjoy me." Her melodious voice carries no trace of resentment, no hint of bitterness despite the harsh statement. Either she is a master actress, or she has accepted this as her lot in life. Or both, as her reputation would suggest. "As you have taken that mantle upon yourself, I am at your complete disposal. Making the rounds was just a courtesy to make sure that I missed nothing and that the other girls from Valerian are doing alright." Stepping close, Anguish runs a hand along Robyn's arm and her breath is hot on Robyn's ear as she whispers, "Claim your prize, lady Lysander." Then she nips Robyn's earlobe, pressing against her and shifting waist, hips, and breasts in a slither of silk-shrouded flesh before stepping back and tapping the cello case with one hand. to indicate it by sound. "May I take that for you? Your arm must be tired from playing and I am rather stronger than I appear."

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn frowns for a moment at the words Anguish uses but does not have an adequate response just now.  The nipping of the earlobe and the closeness of the Dryad send these and other thoughts racing into the void as her attention is focused on the reactions of her body.  **Oh my god.  I have got to get home and get this woman out of her clothes or I will just explode.** 

When Anguish taps the cello case and offers to carry it, she hesitates for only a second, handing the expensive instrument over with a smile.  "Thank you.  Yes, my arm is a bit tired just now.  That is the purpose of the breaks, but five sets is a bit much.  But Vanya wanted it and what Vanya wants............"

Robyn leaves the rest of the sentence unspoken as she bends down to remove a narrow red and white striped cane from an outside pocket of the case.  Unfolding the cane, Robyn leads the way out to the coat check area to pick up her shawl and order a cab to pick two up at the front.  After tipping the cute girl behind the counter, she takes the elevator to the upper floor exit and leaves the building.  Robyn pauses to say good evening to the two bouncers at the outer door, then walks carefully along the circular pathway to where the cab will pick them up.  She stands close to Anguish, feeling the desire emanate from her new friend and the resonating reactions within her own body.  Once in the cab, she cannot resist turning her head to the Dryad and kissing her with more passion than she has felt in years.  Fortunately, the ride in the taxi is mercifully short.  Mercifully because if it was to last any longer, Robyn would not be able to control herself. 

Robyn slots a credstick into the pay slot when they arrive at their destination and the side doors pop open, allowing the women to leave the cab.  Anguish finds herself standing outside a fancy shopfront with the sign ROBYN'S in ornate lettering above the wide door.  The lighted windows are dressed with shelves that advertise books.  Real books, with pages and bindings.  Robyn instructs the cab to wait and turns to her companion.  "Anguish.  I want you more than I have wanted another person in almost forever, certainly many years.  But I need to make something clear before we enter my home.  First, you have to know by now how my body is reacting to you.  Second, and most important, I want you here only if you want to be here.  No mistress and prize unless you like roleplay.  No servant.  And certainly not because you have to be here.  If you wish to go now, I will tell your mistress that you performed exquisitely and are to be commended.  So tell me, do you wish to come upstairs and share my bed of your own free will?"

[BrickyardBabe]

To a normal person, the cello might have been heavy. To an ensorcelled banshee, however, it is barely an inconvenience. She follows Robyn to the cab, resisting the urge to scoop her up too just to get there a few seconds faster. Robyn is perfectly capable, and doing anything like carrying or leading her could make her think that Anguish views her disability as just that, and Anguish desperately wants Robyn to like her. So she follows, and once in the autocab she wastes no time climbing atop Robyn's lap, luxuriating in the feeling of the other elf.

When the cab ride ends and the pair find themselves on the street in front of the shop that bears Robyn's name, Anguish feels her delicately sculpted eyebrows climbing. When she sees what the shop is selling, they rise higher still and a delighted laugh escapes her lips. She smothers it as Robyn speaks, and her delight vanishes on a wave of uncertainty and surprise. She opens her mouth to give a flippant answer, as she always does when wrong-footed, but shuts it again with a click. I want to be here. Not because of the drugs, or fear of Melisande, or because I need to feed, but for her. She examines the thought with near-total surprise. She doesn't know Robyn, and in the living sculptures of Valerian house even the beautiful elf would hardly warrant another look. She has no magic, no touch of eldritch. She's a lovely musician and a beautiful woman, but otherwise...why? Why her?

Because she knows what you are, and who you are, and where you come from, and she doesn't care. That is more a prize than money or power or beauty by far. Even if its only for a night, she could make me happy...

Anguish is stunned by the brief self-examination and she blinks back sudden hot tears. Then she smiles, a slower, more tentative thing than her rehearsed joygirl's expressions. "Robyn...I would be delighted." She catches sight of their reflections in the glass of the window and touches Robyn on the shoulder as she has an idea. Her wanton sexuality has retreated somewhat in the face of her sudden emotion, but it never abates wholly and Robyn seems to enjoy it, so the touch turns into a caress as her hand travels lower, and then a teasing squeeze before she asks, "Earlier, you said you wished that you could see me. Do you...would you like that? I can make it possible, for a moment."

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn has silently been dreading the answer to her question and the relief at the actual answer is palpable.  She silently sends a message to the cab and its doors close before the auto-driven machine heads off to its next fare.  The hand on her shoulder is a caress of something she has not felt in years and cannot be completely duplicated by the paid lovers she has been seeing for some time.  She leans in to Anguish and her body reacts appropriately as the hand travels down her back to squeeze her ass.  The question surprises her and she turns her unseeing eyes to the Dryad.  "You have absolutely no idea how much I would like that.  Even if only for a moment.  Is it something you want to do out here or inside?"

[BrickyardBabe]

Anguish shrugs without stepping away. "That is a choice for you to make. You would be seeing through my eyes. Even I cannot restore sight to the sightless." Her lips twitch. "Yet. I don't know if a blind woman has any use for a mirror, so if that is a convenience your home lacks, then we can use the plate glass window of your lovely shop here. Which," Anguish muses, "You probably also haven't seen. But if you think the shock of sight will cause you to stumble, or you want to wait until all of my clothes are off, then inside may be best." She turns and kisses Robyn fully, now accepting of the direction of the night and no longer inclined to examine it under the microscope of old hurts and new fears. Her teeth drag across Robyn's lip again and she feels for the same shiver she elicited at the party. Teasing, she murmurs almost into Robyn's mouth, "The teeth do it for you, don't they?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn laughs.  No, my home is apportioned much like others.  There are several mirrors, even though I have no real need for them."  Turning her face to the Dryad, she adds, "If it can happen once, I would like to see you naked and in my arms and smiling at me.  I have had the shop front described sufficiently that I would rather see you." 

Robyn bends her head to the kiss and shivers as the vampire runs her teeth across her lips.  Considering the question when asked, she answers honestly.  "No.  Yes.  Sort of.  YOU do it for me.  I have not felt so.........so like this in forty some years.  The teeth are something new and certainly add to you, but it is you that turns me on.  And we had better go inside before we are both naked on the sidewalk."

She lashes Anguish's teeth one more time then straightens, moving to the door.  She sends a mental command and a piece of the fronting slides open, revealing a sophisticated maglock.  She softly speaks a phrase into the device while placing a hand on a touch screen and her eye to a scanner.  When all is verified the panel slides back up and the door gives a soft click.  Robyn opens the door and steps inside, holding the door for Anguish to enter behind her.  Soft lights wink on as she shuts the door and moves into the room.  Soft and expensive carpet covers the floor and her guest can see a large number of wooden shelf units filled with books along the walls and rising from the floor in several areas.  Comfortable leather couches and chairs are scattered about the large room and there is an odor of old leather throughout.  Robyn gives a sharp whistle and a large dog rises from where it was probably asleep and comes to her, stopping short to give a low growl, but not baring its teeth.  Robyn steps forward and rubs the dog's head before kneeling to scratch its ears and curve an arm around its neck.

She looks over to Anguish and says, "Anguish, this is Pytor, my constant companion.  Or mostly constant.  It was just too inconvenient to take him tonight.  He is my set of eyes when I go out and keeps me from stepping into the street in front of some bloody lorry.  Come here and let him get your scent.  He won't bite, will you, good boy?"

Anguish moves forward and reaches out to let the dog sniff at her and realizes that it is not real and must be some version of the newer realistic-looking drones.  It certainly acts like a dog, even to sniffing her hand and wagging its tail at being scratched and petted.  Robyn stands and smiles at the dog, which turns to walk beside her as she makes her way to the rear of the shop.  Anguish sees a section of the shop that is glassed in and has another of the sophisticated maglocks at the door.  Through the windows, the Dryad can see three shelves with books and some actual scrolls on them.  The shelves are not as full as those in the main room.  Three leather chairs are arranged around a small wooden table.

Robyn walks past this room to a winding spiral staircase leading up and down.  She holds onto the railing and walks to the upper level, which opens to a short hallway ending in a door.  No fancy maglock here, but a real lock that requires a ley Robyn takes from her handbag.  She unlocks the door and opens it to usher Anguish into her private suite.  Again, lights come on as the three enter the room.  Robyn waits for the door to close behind her, but not one second longer.  Already almost to the breaking point, she releases her passion on Anguish, catching her around and placing her lips on the Dryad's willing and ready ones and allowing her hands to roam across her companion's body, feeling every curve.

[BrickyardBabe]

The dryad grins around the kiss before surrendering to it, raising her arms to the back of Robyn's gown, searching for, finding, and undoing the zipper she finds there. She breaks the kiss just long enough to peel Robyn's dress off and cast it aside, breathing, "Calista...my name is Calista." Her own dress follows a moment later, revealing the trim expanse of her stomach and the delicate points of her hips. Her nanotattoos, an abstract black rose inside the point of her left hip and a winding floral pattern that runs from thigh to ribs on her right side glimmer in the light, bespeaking the colloidal silver alloy suspended in them to keep her regeneration from simply absorbing the designs. Her body is as lush as it seemed in the dress, her form a masterpiece of hard lines and soft curves won through endless effort.

Now nude save for her boots and accessories, Anguish grabs for Robyn again, spinning around to press the blind elf against the door. She kisses Robyn's lips, cheek, and jaw, before dropping her mouth to Robyn's throat and pricking her skin with razor fangs, hard enough to hurt slightly. Robyn's reaction draws another smile from Anguish and the banshee puts her hands on Robyn's hips. "Bedroom?" She gasps out as her hands move up to capture Robyn's wrists and press them to the door above her head. "I don't think we can wait much longer."

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn presses the kiss, pushing her tongue into Anguish's mouth as the Dryad feels for and finds the zipper holding her evening frock up.  The release of the two gowns means that she can feel her lover's skin against hers and she is immensely turned on.  She murmurs the woman's name several times, as if to lock it in place somewhere, although that is not the case.  She cries out in ecstasy when Anguish turns her against the door, narrowly missing the cello case on the floor.  The feel of the sharp teeth against her skin, followed by the slight sting of the bite brings a loud moan.  When asked about the bedroom, she gasps, "First door on the right past the living room." 

Robyn feels Anguish's arms go around her and lift her up, carrying her through a large but barely noticed living room to the master bedroom.  When the Dryad swings her to her feet, she places a soft hand on one breast and presses away, saying in an almost breathless voice, "Wait.  Calista.  Please.  I want to see you as I can, with my senses.  And once there it will never go away because I remember everything.  Lay down on the bed, face up."  When Calista is on her back, Robyn begins exploring her body, letting her hands and tongue do the work better than her eyes ever could have.  Every perfection and every small flaw is permanently engraved into her mutated memory.  She joyfully touches every part of Anguish's body, reveling in every scent, taste, and touch.  When done she looks sightlessly at the woman under her and moves to cover her body so she can begin kissing her again from her lips back down to her thighs, where she settles in happily until Calista explodes.  Robyn is not professionally trained, but she has decades of experience to draw on and is no slouch at giving pleasure.

[BrickyardBabe]

Calista, too, is remembering everything. Her adept's mind is capable of processing scents, sounds, and feelings as easily as sight, storing them perfectly. She knows that she will be able to recall this perfectly, for the rest of her life, and the knowledge makes her glad. She does as Robyn asks, and what starts as small mewls and moans and breathy gasps turn into shameless and full-throated cries, shrieks and screams and pleas without words. It has been so long since she was treated as a lover rather than an object that she'd forgotten what it felt like. By the time Robyn finishes with her, Calista is little more than a quivering, happy mess, and only the desire to return the favor a thousandfold keeps her from drifting off in a post-coital haze.

As Robyn climbs back onto the bed, Calista rolls over and takes Robyn's hand, placing it on her lips as she had before, so that the other woman can feel her wicked grin. She says nothing, but continues where she had left off before, kissing her way down to where she might mimic Robyn's actions. The elven woman has experience, and knowledge, and a raw desire that the young dryad cannot match, but Calista has...well, she has Calista on her side. As a mage, an adept, a trained courtesan, and with a richness of experience that belies her years, Calista throws all her desire and many skills into play. She manages to refrain from biting Robyn fully, but the run-up to Robyn's own quaking, shuddering climax is marked by a great many teasing nibbles.

It takes a long time. Calista has all night, and she wants to give Robyn a night to remember.

When at last, many minutes later they are finished, Calista slithers back up the bed to lie with one arm across Robyn's stomach and her head on Robyn's shoulder. Her leg is draped across the other woman's thigh, her small, manicured toes rubbing Idly at Robyn's calf. "Thank you, Robyn. That was..." she sighs happily, "wonderful." Calista wears a big, happy smile and delights in feeling Robyn's chest heaving with the aftermath. Licking her lips, she asks, "I believe this is what you wanted to see, is it not?"

Calista doesn't wait for a reply. The words were more an indication of intent than a real question, and her hand comes up to rest on Robyn's cheek. Whispering in a torrent of Sperethiel, Calista crafts a spell, one of the first she'd ever learned. The magic flows from her, and even a mundane like Robyn can feel the monstrous power in the spell as it brushes against her mind.

Just how powerful is Calista?

There is a moment of disorientation, even pain as Robyn's mind is forced to accept a sense that had been lost to it for decades, but the spell bridges her to Calista's own mind and Calista copes handily. After a few seconds, there is a blur, a sharpening, and a moment of vertigo as Robyn is suddenly seeing for the first time in a long time. The view is wrong, offset from the rest of her senses, but it only takes a moment to realize and accept that she is seeing through Calista's eyes. The world is vibrant, sharp, even more than it would be for someone who hadn't seen it for years, as Calista's banshee senses are uncommonly well-honed.

Calista grins, looking at Robyn carefully so that the other woman can see how pristine and lovely her form has weathered the decades of darkness, then props herself up on one arm to look at the mirrored doors to the closet, the reflection showing Calista laying atop Robyn, smiling and obviously very pleased with herself and her lover.

[Mercy Merchant]

The series of shuddering explosions of pleasure rock Robyn to her core.  She has never in her life experienced so much raw joy and satisfaction.  Like Calists before, her voice cries out in animalistic sounds that have no words.  The teeth cutting into her leave more than marks; they act as a connection between two lives that have long suffered.  Time is of no matter and seems to stand still even though it passes for the outside world.  Robyn's climax is massive, her body writhes on the bed until spent and she can barely whisper her pleasure because her throat is raw. 

In her weakened state, she is incapable of resisting the magic Calista pours into her, even if there had been the slightest chance she would ever resist.  The spell forces her to react to stimuli she had long been unable to rely on and the effect is almost painful at first, as she cannot recognize the point of reference.  Then Calista calms her and explains that she is seeing through the Dryad's eyes.  In wonder, she gazes at herself through her lover's eyes, taking everything in.  "Oh my God.  Look at me!  Almost all of my ink was added after I was shot.  This is the first time I have seen myself.  Hmmmm.  I guess I have aged rather well, all things considered.  It looks like my exercise has kept me trim.  Now let me look at you."

She looks at Calista in admiration.  "You.....you are so beautiful.  What can you see in an old wreck like me?"  Robyn lets her eyes wander down the length of Calista's body, even pushing her leg aside to gaze at her thighs.  With a grin, she slides down the bed and lowers her head to begin licking at the Dryad again.  This time she can see herself doing it, which adds to the flame of desire rising in her.  She lets up for a moment to whisper, "You were not expecting to sleep just yet, were you?"

[BrickyardBabe]

Calista gasps. Then a wicked idea strikes her and she reaches down to entwine her fingers in Robyn's hair. Anither whisper, another pulse of magic, and suddenly sensation joins sight. Now Robyn can feel everything Calista feels, from the cool sheets on her back and the hair between her fingers on down. The effect is immediate, and Calista spurs Robyn on with her throaty, magical voice, a chorus of liquid sounds that convey far more than words. The build up is even faster this time, Calista's spell firing Ribyn's efforts and their mingled pleasure pushingbthem both over the brink in only a few minutes.

When its over, Calista laughs. "My gods, that was amazing." She breathes dreamily. She turns to look at Robyn, snuggling close. "Thank you." She strokes Robyn's hip and asks, "So...a book shop?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn does not feel the pain of the magic this time, but the effect is dramatic.  She is already hyped on her own highly developed senses of touch, taste, and smell that she almost drowns in sensory input when the power settle in.  The combined effect is massive and she feels herself reacting to what she is doing to Calista.  Not able to resist, she snakes a hand down to touch herself and her own cries mingle with those of the Dryad.  The shared climax is enough to leave Robyn limp as a wet noodle and some part of her brain is thanking whatever contractor had built this place with soundproof walls.  She manages to weakly crawl up to where Calista can look her in the face and she can see herself smiling at the other woman.  She manages a faint response, "Amazing.......yes.  Never better.  Bookshop.  What bookshop?  Oh.  This bookshop.  Yes.  Remind me to tell you about it sometime.  Maybe over breakfast."  Robyn lifts her head.  "You will be here in the morning for breakfast, right?"