Unexpected Amusement (for Bellamy)

[Catherine nó Gentian]

I needed to return to Gentian post-haste. The sun was sinking below the horizon, and I wanted to be home before dark. It was cold at this time of year, and during the night, the City showed a dark underbelly that was all but banished with the first rays of the sun.

Or at least, I like to think the sun banished all ills.

I passed by countless establishments that were brightly lit from within. The music and laughter was enticing, but I didn't have time to stop and amuse myself. I needed to keep going!

In my haste, I tripped on a cobblestone and fell to the ground, yelping in surprise as the fabric of my dress ripped, exposing more of my leg than I would have liked to show. It was just the sort of calamity that would befall me when I needed to concentrate on making my way to Mont Nuit!

As I tried to right myself, a shadow fell across my path, and I looked up to see a man leering down at me. Oh, merde. just when I thought things could not be worse...

Well, I thought. Perhaps it is a trick of the light, and his expression is really intended to be friendly...

"Hello, there, little rabbit," he said. "Out for an evening stroll, are we? I'd be careful if I were you, there are wolves about." He laughed as if it was the funniest thing a man had ever said, and I immediately cast about for an avenue of escape. He was very large, and I was reasonably certain I could outrun him...

"Oh, well, actually, I was just heading home," I replied, trying not to stammer. "I, can I help you, sir?"

"I'm not sure," he replied, giving me a grin that was nothing if not predatory. "Can you?" He reached for me, then, and I knew I didn't want his hands on me, even if he had come for an assignation.

"Stay away from me!" I cried, backing away from him as quickly as I could and frantically fumbling in the dark for something, anything I could use to defend myself. Fortunately, my hands found a broken wine bottle, no doubt tossed aside by a drunken patron as an afterthought. Oh, thank Naamah for wine!

I hastily snatched up the bottle and brandished it like I'd seen men brandish swords. "Please go away, Messire. Go back to whichever establishment you came from, please...or I'll have to--I swear to gods I'll geld you!" It was an empty threat, but it was the best I could come up with on such short notice. I didn't want to think about what would happen if no one took notice of my plight.

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

I was in a horribly good mood. I myself did not take assignations as often as I did before, but then again, I had been able to make my marque relatively quickly, it was not like I was required to. But love, all kinds of love, was what I was a master of and the patron I had returned from was an old patron of mine, since my first year's debut, a fellow musician, and a famous one at that. It was more than just my services. We talked, we sang, we played and tumbled into a rather exciting evening there after, but he had a performance this night and while he invited me, I declined, for I had places to be and duties in Eglantine as the Second. Adepts to speak with, children to wish good night.

However, as I headed back, I came upon a rather unnerving sight. She was shrieking at a much larger male. She was a frail looking thing, but a beauty to behold. Before I could even think about what I was doing, with my mandolin in one hand, I wedged myself in front of her, a stern hand on the man's shoulder. "I think it is best if you find some other entertainment for tonight, I am escorting this young lady home." I gave him a sharp shove, sending him into the wall behind him and quickly ushered her out of the area. I was walking quickly, not looking back and only slowed down once we were down the street. I only then realized I was instinctively making my way to Mont Nuit.

"Now, my lady, it's not good to walk around unescorted, where am I taking you?" I flashed her one of my charming smiles and gave her an assuring squeeze on the shoulder with my hand before giving her the distance she likely needed. Thinking better, I removed my cloak and gathered it so it would not drag and draped it over her, seeing her ripped dress. "There we go," I smiled softly and nodded. "The name is Bellamy no Eglantine. May I be graced with yours?"

[Catherine nó Gentian]

I was more than a little relieved when a man carrying a mandolin stepped between me and my assailant, and before I could so much as utter a word my attacker was shoved into a wall and I was being ushered away, still gripping the broken bottle.

"I-I am bound for Gentian House," I said when I finally found my voice. I shivered under his cloak, but not from the cold. "It's Catherine, Catherine no Gentian. I--thank you for helping me, m'lord. I-I do not know what I would have done otherwise!" I glanced at the wine bottle in my hand. "I suppose I have no further use for this..."

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

Gentian House? An adept? Well, I suppose I was more relieved then to realize that I had helped one of my own, not that I would allow any woman to be harassed if I could put some stop to it. "Now, again, it is not wise to go unescorted, make sure you have a carriage waiting for you next time, hm?" I said giving her a smile as I gently pried the wine bottle from her hand and tossed it in a canister. "Yes, you won't have a need for that. Besides, we're both heading in the same direction, are we not?"

I continued walking stringing her along until I saw her shivering though my cloak was heavy so I knew it was not from the cold. "No need to fear, no man in his right mind would dare cross paths with Bellamy no Eglantine." It was all in jest of course, I did not look like a formidable opponent other than with my height, but I was a well muscled man, if only from the cartwheels and handstands that I did at Eglantine House. I was more than certain I could hold my own for long enough. "Now, what are you doing all the way over here unescorted, dove? You should truly watch yourself next time," I said, brushing a stray strand of hair from her cheek to the back of her ear.

[Catherine nó Gentian]

His bravado made me giggle and blush like a fosterling who was just starting to learn about what men and women do to each other in the privacy of their own bedrooms.

"Oh well, I was out for a stroll," I replied once I had managed to control my giggling enough to seem coherent. "But then I lost my way and I could not seem to find my way back to Mont Nuit, and I did not manage to find any fabric for a costume for the Longest Night fete, either!" I shrugged. "And I suppose you know the rest." I grinned. "I am certain that I will not need to worry about meeting any more ruffians with such a gallant gentleman as yourself by my side."

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

Gallant gentleman, hm? I liked the way that that sounded and I couldn't help but strut, if possible, a little bit more with pride alongside her. "Well, if you ever lose your way in this district again, I am sure I am lurking about," I said with a wink. I knew the Artisan district like the back of my hand but for all its creativity, I knew it could be terribly hard to navigate through especially by someone who did not frequent it. So many colors and booths and twists and turns. It all got dizzying after awhile.

"Oh no, like I said, no one would dare cross my path." Midwinter masque, eh? "Well, maybe you should stop by Eglantine House if you are having trouble finding some fabric, after all, are we not known for our clotheswork as well as our music and acrobatic feats?" Ah yes, anyone talking to me could tell that I loved my house above all else and prided in where I had been placed, even if at times, I was still tempted by the coin of Bryony, though gambling was merely a secret habit of mine. "Come, why don't you spend a few moments at my house and I am sure I can find some extra fabric for you." She was petite and slim. It wouldn't be much to give up and I could refund the small amount with my own coin. After all, I would not be needing a new costume this year.

"And then, I promise my lady, I will escort you back to your House and will not rest until I know you are safe and sound."

[Catherine nó Gentian]

My blush deepened. "Oh, well, it's not necessary, I wasn't really planning on attending anyways. I was just curious to see what was available..." Ever since the Beltaine fete that I had attended I was wary of fetes in general.

"Besides, I am reasonably certain that I would not have enough coin for such fine fabric even if I had a desire to attend the fete," I continued. "But I thank you for offering, you have already done enough for me."

Gods help me, but I couldn't resist gazing at those blue eyes of his, and his smile was warm and even the way he winked at me made my heart race like an eager butterfly flitting from flower to flower.

"What do you do at Eglantine, Messire Bellamy?" I asked, curious to know more about my rescuer.

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

Not planning on attending? "Why, you must certainly attend," I said, quite adamant about this. "You are an adept and you have earned your place there and besides... you will not be alone, I will be there, masque or not, I assure you I will be able to find you." Hopefully. It was generally a skill of mine at the masque to find who I wanted even in a sea of disguised figures and well, I tended to stand out like the social butterfly that I was. There was always a mandolin in hand, my charming smile and a song on my lips at every fete I attended.

I smiled gently, trying not to seem like a strutting rooster as I said this, "I am the Second of Eglantine, my lady. I dabble mostly in music," I said, strumming a consonant arepeggio for her to test out with her ears. "But also in other aspects of Eglantine house. It's necessary with my occupation," I said with a nod. "I understand if you feel you don't have the coin, but I think it is imperative that you attend the fete, and I am sure the clothiers will forgive me for taking a small bit of fabric for you." Especially if I paid them back later. My purse was still jingling with coin, come to think of it, from my last assignation only minutes before.

"Don't worry chikadee, I just came from an assignation and I have made my marque nearly a dozen years ago."

[Catherine nó Gentian]

I didn't think it was possible for my blush to deepen, but it might as well have done so. "No, that's very kind of you, but I was thrice rejected at the last fete I attended," I said quietly. "I suppose no one was having any bad dreams at Beltaine." I gave him a little half smile.

I couldn't help but notice how his fingers danced over the mandolin. "Your instrument makes a lovely sound," I remarked. "Is there any truth to the rumour that musicians play instruments the way they caress a lover's flesh?" The question fell out of my mouth before I could stop myself, and I promptly averted my gaze, looking at him through my lashes. "I apologize, that was inappropriate..."

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

Poor thing... I could only think of this when she told me she was thrice rejected. "They merely did not know what they were missing," I offered with a very understanding smile. I myself had never frequented a place like Gentian, if only for the same reason. I was not a man who needed his dreams analyzed or was wary about where I was headed in life. Where I headed, I went.

I chuckled when the question fell out of her mouth. Well, there was little that embarrassed me and that certainlyw as not one of them. "Inappropriate? How is it inappropriate to ask of one adept to another, both in the service to Naamah?" My fingers danced across the mandolin with expertise in a complicated trill as if to allow her imagination to expand. "Yes," I chuckled, "one thing to know about a musician, an artist, is that their first love will always be their art, their music, their dance... the second, is that if you catch them in a moment of the passion for their arts, that is how they are, generally, in the bedchamber."

I knew it from my own experience and from patrons who were relatively famous musicians. There was an attraction from me to other musicians, one that I could not explain when I saw how they played, where we had a mutual understanding without words. A few flicks of their fingers could be an entire confession of love. "And a question for you... I know little of the ways of Gentian, how did you come to end up there?"

[Catherine nó Gentian]

I was still mesmerized by the way his fingers moved along the mandolin that I did not answer him right away. "I-It's difficult to explain to someone who is not also a Gentian adept, but I had a--a vision while I was being fostered at Cereus House. Apparently I was delirious for a week after the fact, but I do not recall what transpired beyond the initial vision."

I realized I was staring at my feet and I hastily looked up at him. "I suppose you could say that Naamah was very...vocal...regarding my fostering in the Night Court. To tell you the truth, I didn't think that anyone would believe me when I told them the whole story." I nodded at his mandolin. "Does your instrument have a name?"

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

"I see... I have never conversed in depth with a member of Gentian House, to tell you the truth, and I am quite curious about it. You will have to elaborate fully at some time when we don't have pressing matters at hand." It was about time that I got her home. It would be rather irresponsible of me to talk to her about all the details when it was already getting rather late in the night.

"I'm sure I would believe you, if you do have time to tell the story. There's no reason for you to lie about your way of finding yourself in the service of Naamah through Gentian house, the only one it will discredit is yourself if you tell a falsehood." I nodded and stroked my mandolin. "Well, no, my mandolin doesn't have a name, but she's very special to me. She was given to me by my father when he put me into Eglantine House." It was the last I had seen of him, but for a poor, traveling musician, giving up one's instrument was giving up his entire world.

[Catherine nó Gentian]

I shrugged. "In truth, that is as much as I remember regarding my fostering. I had a vision, and then the next thing I remember is the Dowayne of Cereus House staring down at me from where I lay in sickbed. I am afraid my life is rather unremarkable but for a few glimpses of things not of this world."

I smiled as he described his mandolin. "She looks like she has been well-cared for. Perhaps I could listen to you play sometime? Surely someone who loves her as much as you do would only produce beautiful music."

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

"How about I play for you something right now?" Playing and walking at the same time was an easy feat. I smiled at her, wanting to make her forget her troubles that came with her fostering and the upcoming fete. That was the magic with music, it could just make you forget everything with ease. I began to pluck at the strings, trying to find the right song for her. A ballad, of course. It started soft and ow as I began to sing the song of a young hunter who became enchanted by a beautiful nymph of the forest, but who refused to give him the light of day until he saved her from a wizard who looked to enchant her as her bride. Knowing so many ballads made it easy for me to try and pick one where the person I was serenading could imagine themselves as being that nymph, that princess, that knight, that sailor. I kept my eyes focused on her, occasionally flicking to look and make sure I was not running into anyone and smiled, sighing with content as I finished.

"How was that?"

[Catherine nó Gentian]

I clapped enthusiastically as he finished. "Oh, that was wonderful! You have a lovely voice, Messire." I leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"There you are, poor compensation for such a lovely song, but such work deserves some reward." I smiled. "I like to sing, sometimes, to myself, but I sound like a cat yowling during bath time compared to you..."

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

I smiled when she kissed me on the cheek. It was a bit forward, perhaps, but she had that innocent air about her that made a kiss hard to deny. It just seemed... naively cute, with nothing hidden behind it. "Poor compensation? A kiss from a lovely Gentian adept, why... I think not." I navigated the Night Court until I came upon the unfamiliar steps of Gentian House and gave her the lovely, flourished and sweeping bow of Eglantine House. "My dear, it is all about practice, though some talent helps, it isn't everything... I am sure you sound lovely as a nightingale."

[Catherine nó Gentian]

I blushed fiercely at his compliment. "I am sure you say that to all the pretty girls who mention that they sing to themselves," I said. "I--thank you again, Messire. I hope you have a pleasant evening, and perhaps I will be around to hear you play sometime." I closed my mouth, suddenly aware that I was babbling, and took a couple of steps away from him, where I curtsied, albeit a little awkwardly.

"Good eve, Messire."

[Bellamy nó Eglantine]

Suddenly, I laughed. I could not help it. The formality of the situation was rather... at odds with me. I had done it initially just to charm her but we had kept it up the entire night. "Please, Catherine, chickie... Bellamy, if you will." I could not help but grin, my eyes dancing with laughter. "I'm not so formal, I believe I have 'busted' myself out so to speak, but I can't keep up that kind of charade for long and I wouldn't want you to get the false impression of me, hm? Bellamy, Catherine no Gentian." I gave her one more sweeping bow, but in the process, took her delicate hand and kissed it gently. "Until we meet again, little dove."

[Catherine nó Gentian]

I felt my cheeks redden a little as he kissed my hand. "Good night...Bellamy." I had already made up my mind that I would see him again. He had the sort of face that could appear in one's dreams for days on end and the dreamer would never tire of it.

I let my hand drop to my side and ran up the walkway towards the main entrance of Gentian House, waving shyly at him before going inside.