Meepsie
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“Kalka…. We seem to have a problem.”
“Only for you. I know you like the flashy entrances and all, but have you looked at the joint? This entire courtyard is a flashy entrance.”
Sure enough, Auric’s display of gold and jewels fell on blind eyes. Everyone seemed too distracted by everything else around the venue to notice. As much as he hated to admit it, Kalka was right- with a thousand spectacular sights a minute in the courtyard, one more wouldn’t be of much importance. It probably worked better on people who didn’t see something like his entrance every day, he reasoned.
Auric’s face dropped, but quickly lightened up at a strange sight. Two odd creatures playing in a fountain. How quaint! It was delightful to watch them. Free from the cares of the world, having fun, sharing treats….the businessman wondered what that was like. Just him and…. Someone else, he supposed… having fun and enjoying life with a close friend. When was the last time he felt like that? He couldn’t remember.
Auric was lost in his thoughts for a while, standing and staring at the makeshift water show, until his assistant appeared by his shoulder.
“You’ve got that deer-in-the-lanterns-look again. What’s up? Still not over that entrance thing?”
“Look at that, Kalka. A strange rodent-man, and a winged horse playing in harmony! They seem to be having fun here. We should go join them!”
The young secretary knew Auric well enough to realize he wasn’t kidding. As he began to saunter towards the fountain, she quickly yanked his hand again with one of hers, the other firmly covering her face as she did so.
“NO, lead-head. Think of your image. A businessman of your caliber can’t be playing around like that.”
“But I so badly want to! It gets quite hot in this outfit, you know. I could use a way to cool off. Unless you’d prefer to go to my own baths privately later?” His tone switched from disappointed to playful in an instant.
Kalka prepared to deliver another kick to her employer’s shins, but with a surprised gasp, he immediately tore from her and bolted off- not towards the fountain this time, thankfully. Though, to her, where he was headed was probably worse. The golden hulk that was Auric was making a beeline for two women talking further down the path to the manor. Turning around, he called for his assistant to join him.
"Ah, There she is! Come, Kalka! Let us make our presence known!”
The silver-clad secretary tried to catch up to Auric, but it was too late, at least in her eyes. Mikae the Magnificent and her guest barely had time to conclude their conversation before a booming voice interrupted them.
“Why Mikae, I must admit… I’m hurt. How could you have started the festivities without me? Do you not know that the party only begins when I enter the room?”
While the other woman seemed a bit shocked, if not mildly annoyed, Mikae’s grin never faltered.
"Auric, dear! I am so glad you made it to grace my home with your presence. You and your companion look simply lovely this evening. And- Oh!"
With a flick of her fingers, Mikae picked a coin off of Auric's shoulder, giving him a mischievous look as she did so, before throwing it into the fountain. "An auspicious beginning to our evening! Shall we make a wish?"
Auric's eyes lit up again, but he quickly shook it off. It's not like he was a stranger to coin tricks, after all. Collecting himself, Auric strode even closer to her, softly gripping the palm of her hand as he did so.
"It would seem mine has already come true, Mikae. A reunion with an old friend. Tell me, have you been formally introduced to my assistant?"
"No need for introductions. We’ve met… I'd recognize that charming attitude anywhere."
Mikae wasn't exactly lying, of course- the two had brushed shoulders at plenty of events- but they had never really spoken beyond polite pleasantries (as polite as Kalka could manage, at least). Now that the situation was more private, the twos’ dynamics were out in the open- and as Auric quickly found out, they weren’t exactly positive.
—----
Kalka took a moment to nod politely to the woman who was cut off by Auric’s intrusion. “Sorry about that.”
Thankfully, she didn’t seem to mind much. Kalka was spellbound by her demeanor. Even after such a jarring event, she seemed calm and composed. She seemed to be a frequent attendee to high-class events, and her outfit was evidence of that: her dress echoed the vibrant colors of a coral reef, the gentle winds blowing it like waves over the delicate patterns. Not to mention her face- it was beautiful, almost spellbinding to Kalka, almost shimmering in the enchanted lights of the area….
Wait a second, she thought. Faces don't shimmer.
As the walking aquarium passed, though, Kalka couldn't help but notice another slight stutter in her form. Whatever that woman was, it certainly wasn’t just a pretty face in a strange dress.
Illusionists. Great. One was bad enough, but two?
Kalka had a bad relationship with tricksters and magic-users. All it took in her old life was one errant spell, one magic item, one illusionary disguise to ruin an entire job. To be frank, not much had changed since her 'promotion' to Auric's attendant, as the good-natured businessman often found himself the target of con men and swindlers looking to take advantage of his naivete. She'd never seen Mikae try anything like that, in all fairness, but she never ruled it out either.
“And how have you been, my dear?” Mikae crowed, gesturing a hand to Kalka.
"Fine, thanks," the young girl responded. "Though everything is a bit... spellbinding.... for my liking."
The older woman chuckled. "Still not a fan of magic, are you? I certainly hope my friends and I can help you with that tonight."
"I'd prefer you didn't."
Normally, these two would have shared nothing but a few glances and respectful nods- but tonight was different. Here, they seemed almost ready to dismiss one another at a second's notice. Kalka hated enchanters, rich people, and smug people, in that order... and at the moment, Mikae was all three.
--------------------------
Caught between two incredible women. Auric would have probably enjoyed being in that situation, if the tension wasn't so thick he'd need a masterwork blade to cut it. Between his closest confidant and a powerful sorceress, there really were no sides to take here that wouldn't end in an injury of some sort.
As quickly as he was able to, Auric swung his arms around the shoulders of both his secretary and the fellow member of high society. If driving a wedge through them didn't work, he could probably at least hold them apart using his bulk. Unless Mikae did magic, that is, or if Kalka got mad...
In fact, now that the businessman thought about it, he was probably much more likely to be a casualty of this situation than its savior. But it was worth a shot anyway.
"Why are you so conflicted, my beautiful friends? There's enough of Auric to go around."
Almost immediately, the girls' focus dropped from one another and onto Auric. Mikae recoiled back as she howled in laughter, far enough that if the man's arm was not there to catch her, she may have fallen directly onto the ground.
"You haven't changed at all, have you?" she snickered. "Here I was hoping that maybe you'd have gotten a little less flirty, what with your friend here tagging along everywhere."
"Oh, you certainly know me better than that, Madam. It would be downright unfair of me to keep all of this beauty to myself."
"Is that referring to you, or the young lady?"
"You know the answer to that already, my dear," said Auric, with a flip of his golden hair. To be honest, he never really understood half of the things this woman said. But if she was talking about someone beautiful, who else would it be?
The emerald-eyed enchanter gave Kalka a strange glance.
"Oh? Do I, now?"
Kalka shifted uncomfortably in place, fiddling with her belt. While her employer specifically asked his secretary to leave her weapons at the estate this time, he wouldn’t rule out her hiding one or two in case they had to deal with party crashers- or enchantresses who just so happen to strike a nerve. Auric had never been good at reading Kalka's emotions (though he suspected many of them were variations on 'sarcastic'), but even he could tell she was beginning to see red.
"Mikae, my darling, may we have a moment?"
"Of course.”
Turning his gold-clad back to the host and lifting his arms, Auric towered over his assistant, placing himself between both women. He let out a heavy sigh, and his face contorted, not into a snarl or visage of anger, but into a look of disappointment.
"You're being much more aggressive than usual this evening, Kalka. I must ask you to rein it in a little. Have you forgotten where we are?"
"Nope. It's a fancy party, alright. You can tell from the smell of pretentiousness in the air."
"Exactly! An exclusive event, full of all the finest things this world has to offer. It's almost as if the heavens above have showered us with delights for the evening. It makes me quite upset to see you not enjoying it."
"Yeah. Almost. There's one thing here that certainly isn't my idea of paradise. And it ain't the rat playing in the fountain, I can tell you that much..."
Enough was enough. He hated to do this, but something was really wrong with his secretary tonight. Normally, her sarcasm was tolerable, if not a bit endearing. But this was too far, even for her. Something had to be done.
------
"You are simply ridiculous. And to think we were getting along fine minutes ago. It's a beautiful night. Are you really going to spend it having petty squabbles? Not if I have anything to say about it. I cannot have it from my assistant. I WILL not have it."
Kalka swallowed a lump in her throat. Just her luck. The disappointment in Auric's eyes had shifted to a stone-cold glare. It was the same look she saw when he stepped into the battlefield, more than prepared to kill people. Sure, that didn't work out too well for him, but then again, she wasn't a gigantic hard-skinned mercenary with an arsenal of fungus ammunition.
"At this moment, your duties have changed. I would like a bit of time to catch up with my old friend here. As your employer, I order you to go have fun while I do so."
The young girl's olive skin almost turned white. She had braced for the worst...but not for this.
If you asked Kalka what 'Fun' was, she would tell you stories of knife-throwing, game hunting, and the occasional back-alley or barroom brawl. Getting stuck in a flashy outfit with hard-to-walk-in shoes and mingling with people who could buy and sell her like nothing was an extremely far cry from 'fun'. But here she was. Not only was she dressed in an outfit that would make her old friends burst out in laughing fits, but she had also managed to infuriate both the host and her boss in one fell swoop.
She barely had time to respond to the curious order before Auric turned back around and swung his arm around Mikae. The enchantress seemed to give Kalka one last smirk as the pair headed to the mansion's entrance.
"Now then,” bellowed Auric, “ We have a lot to catch up on, don't we? Allow me the honor of walking you inside while we do so."
And there he went, happily strolling down the lane, with Mikae close by, his face back to normal as if nothing had ever happened. It looked like something Kalka had seen in one of those sappy musicals Auric dragged her to. She couldn't hear what the two were saying, but judging by the loud laughs and the sweeping gestures, there was probably a lot of boasting involved. Probably about money and business deals. Rich people stuff.
Another night of dealing with conversation and the whims of the upper class. Same frustrating evenings as ever, she thought. But on the other hand... Auric wasn't bothering her this time. Was she really mad about that part?
Okay, maybe Kalka was a little frustrated with this whole 'plus one' thing in general. It was great to be able to go to town on the free food, sure, but putting on the ritz and pretending to get along with Auric's business partners and 'friends' was never pleasurable. Kalka usually ended up tuning anything they said out, unless it gave any indication of 'under-the-table' offers. As for why she was so angry at Mikae in particular.... Even without taking the rumors into account, thinking about that made her head hurt. Questions for later, she decided, once she was out of this horribly sparkly outfit.
Then again, it might be good to have some time to herself, Kalka thought. Usually, when it came to these upper-crust events, she'd end up stuck to her employer... for convenience, companionship, security, or ease-of-kicking, she never knew (though she liked to believe it was the last one). Perhaps the reason she hated these fancy forays was because she never made any attempt to blend into them. And without Auric to butt in, now seemed as good of a time as ever to give it a shot. He'd probably come around apologizing soon enough.
Maybe, just maybe, she could try a little bit of that 'networking' thing. That illusionist... with all the trouble she'd had with illusionists and shapeshifters in the past, it might be nice to talk to one for once. And she wasn't the only person of interest here. Reporters, nurses, attendants- the works when it comes to those who end up hearing things they really shouldn't. for someone like Kalka, this place may as well have been a buffet of useful assets- or possible threats. The girl had learned long ago that in most cases, anyone she met would be one or the other.
Making contact with them, though not in a method she was used to, would probably be a good idea. And if they could chat, or dare she consider, be friends (whatever that means) with a few, all the better. With her resolve as bright as the silver sheen on her dress, Kalka stepped into the mansion, eager to seek out her own ways of having 'fun' on a night like this.
But she'd keep an eye on Auric and Mikae, too.
Just in case.
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