NCC - The Alchemist & The Artist - [MsBloom x emDash]

[MsBloom]

Jamie stood in a corner of Yurik River's official store, looking at some of the more common potions he made and sold, waiting for him to finish his business with a customer. She had a medium sized leather pouch slung over her left shoulder. When the customer left she approached the handsome hybrid with the most piercing silver blue eyes she had ever seen.
"I have your latest delivery," she said and nodded at the door as a signal that perhaps he should close the store while they did business.
She placed the pouch on the counter but did not open it, yet. It contained most rather generic artefacts a couple of vials of Greenie, some Burning Fluff, that she knew he used in his potion making but also a small piece of dead wood covered in Devil's Cabbage Spit which he used in some of his more exotic potions. In the pouch were also a few Black Sprays and this time she had actually come across a Bracelet as well and hoped he would pay handsomely for it. Enough for her to clean up and go to the wealthier part of town to see her friend Giles' gallery opening. Normally she didn't care but this time he was going to show some of the nudes he had painted of her when they first met. It was the first time he showed any of them and he had asked her to be there, in case any of the prospective buyers wanted to meet the model.

Once the store was closed she opened the pouch and laid out the dozen or so items on the counter for him to examine them.
"Still no progress on how to get to the Golden Orb though," she said updating him on this most unique and desire object that was thought to have the ability to grant a persons deepest wishes and desires.

 

[emDash]

Yurik's store, Curio, is a small one, tucked in the part of town where rent isn't too high but the shopfronts are old enough to start to begin toward trendy. A cross between an old general store and antique shop, it's fitted out with apothecary cabinets by the cashier counter and some glass display cabinets for trinkets. The place smells like wood, glass cleaner and that pungent aroma of dried plants, herbs to flowers and good old fashion incense. He tries to keep that to a minimum, keep his involvement to a minimum, but anyone worth a damn knows he's the man who gets the stuff, with a head full of info, and not necessarily the staff that operates the shopfront in daylight hours.

It just so happens that he is there when Jamie comes in, but of course he is, since she has some idea of his schedule. Or maybe he has some idea of hers, but either way, over time, they're found unofficial times where their likelihood is to cross paths. Their working friendship works like that. Near to closing hour anyway, he watches the older woman walk out the door and into the late afternoon with her paper bag of goodies, then turns to Jamie.

The mention of delivery has his gaze skip down to the satchel on hip and, without word, he crosses the distance to turn locks on the door and flip the bold CLOSED sign on the window. A pulled blind gets swiftly yanked down to seal off prying eyes and he nods her towards the counter. Rounding the back of it, he stands on the business side, pressing palms to the clean wood and watches as she pulls one item after the other out and lays them out.

He pulls his hands back to the edge, flipping heels of palms front facing and keeping fingers away. 'I don't know how you haven't lost a limb or two, handling this like it's candy,' he quips, casting a glance up at her with a quirk of lips. Jamie handles things carelessly which, he supposes, comes from familiarity with The Zone and she's clearly equipped - she's the seller after all.

The moment the bracelet slides out onto the counter, he doesn't conceal the pop of interest in bright eyes and reaches for it. He has his own, not bracelet, but beads around his left wrist, worn on old leather woven with thread. They're polished gemstones, black mostly, like imperfect pearls dug out of the earth. It's not the only jewellery he wears, but it's the only one that slips out of the sleeve of his black button-up to show itself. Running his thumb around the bracelet held in his hand, he inspects it in the low glow of overhanging lights. It's not the first one he's seen, but he still hasn't figured out how the damn thing is made.

'Still no luck, huh?' Laying the bracelet back on the counter, he flashes Jamie a small smile. 'You need more eyes.' People willing to go looking with her. Trouble is getting anyone loyal. Someone who wouldn't sell her out. It's a popular, mythical item. Hell, he wouldn't mind finding it himself.

Leaning off the counter, he nods down at the displayed items she laid out across his counter. 'What do you want for this?' Business. He's always on about business. Not clipped about it - he's rather casual with her, anyone really, giving off a near-friendly vibe but not quite. It's like how he mixes a black buttoned down, neat collar and all, and pairs it with some worn fitted jeans, hitting that right chord of smart-casual. Although, with that mop of dark half-curled hair, he leans more toward casual.

[credit: Curios pic from Namkoart on Deviantart]

 

[MsBloom]

"I've had the best teacher," she said when he commented that it was odd she was still in one piece considering how often she actually went into The Zone and the things she brought back from it. No one else had for instance managed to bring out spit from the Devil's Cabbage and the simple yet highly effective method of throwing a piece of dead porous wood attached to a pianowire at it and let the wood soak up the poisonous gel it spat at any object that came within four feet of the plant, with deadly accuracy, was a secret she had never let anyone else know. Perhaps the man before her might guess her method but that was the extent of it.

Information about The Zone, its traps, anomalies and artefacts was hard currency among Stalkers, as the people going there were called. Everyone had their own entry point, their own safe routes and their own tricks to avoid the spontaneously self-igniting fires, Jolly Ghosts, Meat Grinders and Mosquito Manges. This was also the reason, Jamie reasoned, that no one had ever found a safe passage to the location of the Golden Orb, because no Stalker trusted another enough to share and compare information. Even the fact that her mentor Redrick Schuhart had taken ann apprentice was uncommon enough to have raised a few eyebrows, until it became apparent that Jamie was no ordinary Stalker, that she had abilities most humans didn't.

He was right though. It would probably take two to retrieve it. It's location was not unknown, at least not entirely but the tin shed where it was rumoured to hover an inch above the floor was covered in a silvery web lika a giant spider's web and there were many incidents to suggest that while it appeared harmless it was deadly. Everyone that had touched it, with or without the special suits many Stalkers used, had died within twenty four hours from some mysterious condition that no medical doctor had been able to explain. It could not be cut with knives, or scissors, but it was rumoured that one could push through it with just the palm of the hand, which in turn meant one had to touch it. It was almost as if it was sentient and could sense the presence of a living organism, letting such pass through to be trapped and die inside while it repaired itself. It wasn't entirely clear whether it was protecting the Golden orb or an extension of it.

"Two hundred," she said and picked up the bracelet with it's strange health enhancing properties, holding it lightly between two fingers.
She was about to add that it is two hundred for everything except the bracelet and that she wants another hundred for it but she has done business with Yurik often enough and long enough to know he would never pay that much for what else she has brought. Two hundred would have to include the bracelet.

 

[emDash]

'For the bracelet?' Yurik's mouth twitches as if he can read what she's thinking and he's not far off.

Teasing gives way to an exhaled breath as he pushes off the counter to stand tall and loosely cross his arms across his chest. Bright eyes drift from Jamie down to the displayed goods, darting a glance from one item to the next, again to the bracelet, and back up to the woman who proves to be more resourceful than most. It doesn't mean he's going to go easy on her, because if he did and word got out, well, that would cut into his profit margin. 'I'll give you one-fifty for the lot,' he says with a soft nod to the counter.

He expects her to bargain. They always do. Sometimes she wins. Best she doesn't know what he's really after or when he's offering charity. Yurik's good at playing it cool and keeping those cards close to his chest. He's like that about everything. Including what's actually in those little bottles and blends of tea toxins. Or who he fucked last weekend that left that nearly-gone lovebite sitting just inside the collar of his shirt.

 

[MsBloom]

"One fifty? The bracelet alone is worth that, at least."
She looked up at him and then down at herself. One didn't have to inhale too deeply to know that no amount of perfume would take away the pungent stench her clothes gave off. Sure most of it came from her leather jacket but even without that she wouldn't be let anywhere near the uptown gallery. What she needed was new clothes, clean clothes and clothes that didn't look like they came from a second hand charity shop for the homeless. She was not homeless and she had enough pride to not want to look the part for her friend's opening.
"I kinda need the money for new clothes," she said and looked back up at him and explained why. She was going to an art exhibition where some she had modelled for some of the paintings.
"It's a friend of mine and I promised him I'd be there. One fifty will barely get me a ride up town."

She knew that Yurik was of course a business man firstly in these situations but considering how long the two had done business together and how he sometimes actually slipped her a quart of whisky as part of the payment, or a couple of pills to keep her for a weekend she also considered him a friend, a friend who had at times helped her avoid what there was left in the city that resembled law enforcement. That could of course all be related to the fact that she knew some of the more exotic substances he used for his decoctions but she liked to think it was also because he liked her on top of needing her skills as a Stalker.

 

[emDash]

The man gave a vague shrug of his shoulders but it was accompanied by a smile and a gleam in his eyes. He knew that the bracelet could fetch a nice price and he could tell her that she could go somewhere else, to someone who, unlike him, can't make similar things. Granted, his isn't bracelets which has far too much work to forge, but once off tokens and balms that sped up recovery. What he wants the bracelet for is to figure out the maker of the magic and puzzle over that. It's too good of an opportunity to pass up.

'Well, why didn't you say so?' he says when she comes clean of why she needs cash. Dropping arms down to his sides, he tilts a hip to lean it against the counter and gives her a once over. 'Yeah, I can see that those aren't going to cut it. Are you after some nice gown or do you prefer a nice shirt and tie?' Drawing his gaze from her to an analogue clock mounted on the wall and back again, he adds, 'If you're quick about it, I can send you to a friend before the shops close. You can put it on my tab.'

Tilting his head in a nod to the items on the counter, he lets his smile grow towards a grin. 'I'll give you one fifty for these. And I'll give you a ride to your soirée if I can come as your plus one.' Yurik doesn't even know if there is a plus one with that invitation but he doesn't mind gatecrashing a good party. At this one, he gets to see Jamie painted, literally, in a different light and he's curious to see what an artist might put to canvas with this particular subject. That and it's a great opportunity to rub shoulders with some future clientele.

'What do you say?'

 

[MsBloom]

One fifty plus clean clothes and a ride up town. It was a much better offer. They would have liked to show up to the show in a nice tight dress and shock Gilly. Then again just showing up in clean clothes that didn't stink of the streets might achieve that as well. A dress would certainly be nice but it would also be impractical for the life she otherwise led. Still though her mind kept going to a dress and so she said that a dress would indeed be nice for the occasion and then, just to be perfectly clear she nodded and accepted his offer.

She then followed his instructions on how to get to his friend's shop, told the elegantly dressed goblin shopkeeper that he had sent her and that she was to select a dress and put it on his tab. The man behind the counter nodded and the frown he had given her as she entered the shop in her dirty, smelly black jeans and shirt turned into a polite smile. His name certainly did carry some weight around the city and it had helped get her out of trouble a few times with some unsavoury types as well as so-called representatives of the so-called law.

Half an hour later she found herself standing in front of one of the store's full body mirrors wearing a sleeveless, low cut body suit with a long black see through skirt over it and a fresh pair of shiny black leather boots with five inch platform heels, She looked good, so very good. A shower, fresh make up would be just what she needed to transform from street trash to someone who could pass for an actual human at Gilly's opening, and that was what she asked for when she returned to Yurik. She knew he had a small overnight apartment at the back of the shop because she had woken up there more than once, sometimes wearing nothing but her underwear.

 

[emDash]

The apartment is how she remembers it. Nothing much more than a single bedroom, bathroom and a living area with a kitchenette. It's clean though, except for a few dishes in the sink and a pile of laundry in a hamper in the bedroom. The products for cleaning body and house are all organic, likely made by himself or those he works with, with mild scents and good for the skin. There's no sign of production or supplies kept in the apartment, those are all off site with the rare lot, like the new supplies he paid for in cash, locked up. It is just a plain, low-key apartment that he uses as a crash pad when he's kept around the city for work. And there's fresh towels.

Yurik's sitting in the corner of the couch when Jamie's done with the bathroom. He's had a close shave, rubbed some stylish wax to tame his short handful of curls, and is dressed in all black, trousers, shirt and tie. His jacket is thrown over the back of a kitchen chair and those leather loafers he's wearing look relatively new. His gaze flicks up from his phone when she walks out of the bathroom. Silver-blues graze the full length of her new kit and track her movements through his bachelor pad.

'You clean up well,' he says and it's meant to be a compliment - he's better at them than that, but he also likes to give Jamie a good ribbing.

 

[MsBloom]

"I do don't I," Jamie said with a smile that actually looked like a smile and not like she was about to tear your throat open.
"Cosy place you've got here," she said and looked around, almost as if she was seeing it for the first time.
It was of course the first time she was there sober. That would have to change. She was feeling her nerves and her left hand trembled. Her first instinct was of course to put it into her pocket but the dress didn't have any pockets so instead she simply asked if he had anything to drink.
"Preferably whisky," she explained and caught sight of herself in a mirror by the door that led to the back alley rather than to the store front.
He was right. She did look fucking amazing even though she only just recognised herself wearing a dress.

 

[emDash]

Sliding his phone into his pocket, Yurik sets his elbow on the arm of the couch and watches Jamie admire the place. He casts a glance around the room, which has a couple of paintings hanging, nothing noteworthy, and mostly abstract just to brighten up the space. There's no real personal touches around, other than his notable preference for organic skin and hair care over commercial shit, and the clothing hanging in the bedroom closet. At best, he lives in the place half his time. When he's not, well, he's elsewhere.

'Whisky?' Pressing up from the couch, he arches his back with a little stretching pop and walks into the kitchenette, separated to the rest of the open space by the breakfast counter, and pulls down a whisky bottle from the top cupboard near the fridge. Old fashioned whisky glasses are set out, side by side, and he pours a good dose of his mid range into each. After capping the bottle and returning it to the cupboard, he brings her a glass.

He offers it to her wordlessly and looks over her shoulder at their reflections. They do make an interesting sight. Both in black, freshly styled and sharp. Young and ready for fun with the uptown folks. Yurik knocks back a large mouthful before he fingers a length of her hair. 'You smell much better,' he says and smirks faintly at her reflection. 'Ready to go woo your friend?'

 

[MsBloom]

Jamie had barely closed her fingers around the glass before she downed the golden amber liquid, swallowed and even though it was just a few fingers worth she can feel her left hand steadying. It won't be nearly near enough to get her through the day but it's a good start. Having him stand so close behind her helps a little too, even though she knows he isn't interested in her in that way, despite having all the parts he desires in a lover. It's the other parts she has that doesn't excite him. They would make a lovely couple though. The way they look together. Two beautiful young people, dressed up to the teeth, outstanding yet at the same time subtle and probably quite expensive as well. She had not dared ask the shopkeep how much the dress was but it must certainly have been more than the 200 she had asked for.
"Thanks," she said and shivered as he touched her hair freshly washed and perfectly styled to look like she had just woken up and not bothered to drag a comb or a brush through it.

It was quite a transformation and seeing the two of them together like that in the mirror had other parts of her shivering as well but she knew it would simply not happen. She knew because she had vague memories of having tried to seduce him in that very room after he had had to come pick her up in the alley outside her usual watering hole O'Malley's. It was of course only vague fragments but she did remember him rejecting her advances.
"One more?" she asked and noticed that her voice was much less passively aggressive than usual, almost polite.

One more whisky later she was indeed ready to go uptown and shock Gilly by showing up not only clean but dressed up for the occasion. It should be fun to see his face when he recognised her and even more fun to see his reaction when he saw who she came with.

 

[emDash]

The whisky glass is about an inch from his lips when she asks for another, leaving him to lower his own and cock his head at her with a ghost of a smirk. He holds out his glass to her, reaching around her arm to offer it out. 'I'm driving and hard booze on the breath won't win me any favours.' People won't take him seriously if he goes in there smelling like whisky. He was only drinking with her in solidarity.

Nabbing keys and locking up, he takes her out to his modest SUV. He travels enough and needs the space, sometimes for passengers and others for boxes, but it needs to be decent enough to turn up to better parts of town without looking like a sore thumb. If it wasn't for that, he'd not bother spending big on a purchase for himself. Yurik likes to funnel that cash elsewhere. Businessman or not, he's a bit of a Robin Hood. Monetary value wasn't high on his list, which is almost ironic considering he has a shop and likes to bargain, but it's not to fill his own pockets and live like those that they're about to go meet.

It's a comfortable ride, cleaned out, with a lingering smell of herbs and plants but that's toward the empty back seats. He lets her choose the music as long as the volume is down low and he cracks his window open a couple of inches to let the air blow in while they cruise in the directions she gave him. Small talk is kept small, unless Jamie has some things to say. He can tell she's nervous, less so now with a couple of drinks in her, so he refrains from asking details about the artist or the painting or their relationships. He figures she has some sort of value there if she's bargained her way into nice clothes and put herself out there. It's kinda sweet.

'So what's our cover?' he asks her as they're approaching and he's looking for somewhere to park. 'Friends? Acquaintances? A business partner that bartered his way into attendance?' The last one is given with a flash of pearly teeth.

 

[MsBloom]

Jamie took the offered glass and downed it like a shot.
"Thanks," she said holding out her left hand in front of her.
It was completely still which meant that she would at least get through the next few hours. She didn't want to show up piss drunk for Gilly's event. Nor did she want to embarrass Yurik by arriving alongside him in said state. She valued the friendship of both men far too much for that. She also knew she would never have managed it sober. The only thing she did sober was going into The Zone because even a split second of hesitation, or a half inch misstep, could mean death out there.

She cast one last glance at herself in the mirror before following him to his car, which really was far too new, far too expensive and far too posh for the neighbourhood in which it was parked but Jamie knew that no one, not even the most desperate of junkies would ever dare steal it, or mess with it, or him for that matter. He held far too much power in his hand even if none of it was official. He knew people and people in power relied heavily on his decoctions, potions, salves and talismans. It was of course also because of his generosity which was well known in the neighbourhood but perhaps less known in other parts of the city, the part to which they were now going.

Jamie knew a little about the reputation he held uptown, enough to know that he was a good man to know and that his name did carry weight in high places. He had after all gotten her out of serious trouble, the kind that could easily have sent her to the deeper parts of Mirkwater Penitentiary for the Criminally Insane where she would have been forgotten about and left to rot. Being a Stalker was after all a dangerous profession, even outside The Zone.

"Boyfriend/Girlfriend?" Jamie added with a smirk just to tease him.
He knew very well that it was a coupling she wouldn't say no to. She then shrugged and looked at him.
"I suppose we are friends, right?" she said.
They had certainly known each other long enough and scratched each others' backs enough to be called that, even if perhaps he had done more for her than she had for him. Then again. She always went to him first whenever she had salvaged something rare or even unique from The Zone. It was not an exclusive deal but not only did he pay better he also appreciated her work more than most other buyers on the black market. And of course every once in a while he did things like what he had done for her today, clean clothes on his bill, even if it was perhaps not clothes she could wear every day but perhaps she might have use for a nice dress sometime in the future as well.

 

[emDash]

Jamie's tease is met with a widening grin and a short, soft laugh. 'I'm not that good of an actor and I've seen your poker face. You don't have one.' While he does keep a relatively low profile and doesn't scream his lovers across town, one can't be both reputable and completely under the radar, and sometimes loose tongues wanna talk. 'You have a shut the fuck up before I stab you in the eye face and guess what Jamie's thinking facade.'

'And anybody that's been on my dick wants to tell the world about it,' he adds, which is not that accurate. At least he doesn't think. He's simply talking shit as he pulls into a parking spot and shuts off the engine.

Ducking his head, he glances out the front window with his brows raised high and drums long fingers on the steering wheel. 'Let's go, shall we?' Unclipping from the seat, he climbs out and buttons up his jacket. Despite not going as her date, he still comes around to escort her like a gentleman. He offers the crook of his arm and leaves his lock car behind, scanning the surrounds and taking in the sights as they head for the entrance. A subtle flare of nostrils draws in scents, familiar and unfamiliar alike. It smells like old money and the green eye of envy.

'And yes,' he murmurs, casting a glance her way, 'we are friends.'

 

[MsBloom]

Jamie might not have a good pokerface but she was in many cases an excellent liar. You didn't survive years of living on the streets if you weren't. The problem with her poker face was that in many ways she was kind of like The Hulk as a way of managing her traumas and emotions in general, always angry, and apparently it always showed. Alcohol usually didn't make it any better which was why she had resolved to not have another drink before the event was over. She knew she was there to be seen and observed in reference to Gilly's nudes and that meant she had to behave like a human and not some gutter trash with a unique skill set.
"I'm sure they would," she agreed and nodded.

She stepped out of the car and walked, her hand resting in the crook of his arm, the last half block to the gallery. He sense of smell might not be quite as acute as his was but one didn't have to actually smell it to catch the scent of old money rubbing shoulders with a crowd of young hipsters while carrying around glasses of red wine that probably cost more money per bottle than Jamie saw in a month.

Despite looking the part she felt totally misplaced as she made her way through the crowd of people standing around looking at the paintings and she did notice a few heads turning to look at her but for the moment she ignored them.

Gilbert Kovalev was dressed up like a decadent nobleman from at least a century and a half ago in light grey trousers and a matching vest with a red shirt underneath, a black coat and a a top hat. His long blonde hair hanging freely down past his shoulders. He had a glass of wine that he hadn't touched in one hand and a polite smile on his face as he walked among the people the gallerist had invited. He knew one or two of the younger crowd but mostly they were strangers who had come to evaluate his work, to put a price on it. He was feeling awkward as he always did when people looked at his art with eyes that dollar signs attached to them.

Then his eyes lit up as he saw her coming towards him. He had barely recognised her the way she was dressed up. He couldn't remember ever having seen Jamie in a dress or a skirt, except fot the one time when he had dressed her in a see through white skirt and drawn her lit from behind.
"And who's your boyfriend then Jamie," he asked with a smile and a wink at her.
"Gilbert Kovalev, or Gilly, if you find that more to your taste," he said and held out his free hand towards the elegantly handsome man at Jamie's side.

 

[emDash]

There's plenty to look at in the gallery and his bright gaze drifts from person to painting, picking up snippets of conversation as they wander. He lets Jamie lead, despite her being on his arm, and strolls along at a relaxed pace showing genuine interest in his surrounds. On the verge of asking Jamie if she wants a wine, he notes the man in the top hat and lets the question fall away as they approach.

He gives the guy a once over, not at all that subtle, taking in the attire before he does the man beneath. Being called the boyfriend earns a ghost of a smirk and a glance to Jamie, before he's reaching for that outstretched hand. 'Yurik,' he greets with a casual handshake. 'Nice to meet you, Gilly.' Really, a man dressed as the other is, he should address with title and all but he refrains from that, opting for the less formal approach.

'But boyfriend I'm not,' he adds with a smile and another glance to Jamie and back, amused and barely suppressing it. 'So, don't worry, Gilly. I'm not about to step on toes.'

 

[MsBloom]

"My usual bad luck," Jamie fills in.
"I've got the wrong parts on top of the right ones."
Gilly nods and smiles as he takes Yurik's hand.
"My pleasure I am sure," he says and glances at Jamie before looking back at Yurik.
Goddamn the man is handsome, so tall, and seemingly strong. He can just imagine that toned muscular body underneath the shirt. Not to mention those eyes.

Knowing very well when she was superfluous Jamie turned away from the two and took a deep breath. Time to face the crowd. There were many now that looked her way making obvious comparisons between her and the paintings. She slowly approached and while still ignoring their looks took in the first painting she had modelled for. She was reclining on a Victorian sofa wearing nothing but thigh high leather boots and a fur shawl collar that covered her left breast leaving the other exposed. Her left hand hung over the edge of the sofa, holding a riding crop, and the other rested on her hip, mere inches from her small, flaccid penis and below that just a hint of her vagina. She had a seductive cattily smirk on her face.

The painting was inspired, as Gilly had told her, by an old song based on an even older book by an Austrian writer whose name will forever be associated with sexual submission by a band who took their name from a book about the underground sex and fetish clubs from before the city forgot its name. It also shared title with the song as well as with the book.

Next to her stood a woman in her fifties with a fascinated look on her face almost staring at the painting, at the more unusual details. The woman then glanced sideways at Jamie, back at the painting, now examining the face rather than any other part of the model's anatomy. Jamie sucked in air through her teeth and cast a glance back at the two men who were now seemingly deep in conversation about something. Gilly had even swallowed down half of his wine.

 

[emDash]

'And there she goes,' Yurik says, watching Jamie wander off with squared shoulders. He watches her for a long moment, taking in how the crowd around the paintings treat her. Head softly cocking to one side, he notes body language of Jamie and the one's nearest her. For a moment he gets lost in it, having to suppress the little protective surge that rides up his spine and tingles down to fingertips.

Swallowing the beast, he takes a breath and turns back to Gilly with a smile. 'So, Gilly,' he begins, 'I love this outfit.' The top hat makes Gilly seem taller than he is. As it is, Gilly's a couple of inches taller than Yurik, whose no slouch by any means. They're almost evenly matched, except for their body composition - the shifter-elf's handsome facade carries his bulk in shoulder and lean muscle hidden under fine cut clothes.

He glances away as a waiter passes by with drinks, snagging one for himself and checking if Gilly had wanted another, before nodding his thanks. 'Jamie wasn't clear, is this your opening? If I'm reading between the lines, she's the inspiration for those paintings that they're ... admiring over there?' Gawking, he was going to say but remembered his company and who is rubbing shoulders with. Sometimes Yurik has trouble playing the part. His own background is much closer to the poverty stricken, homeless folks he tries to help than being born with a silver spoon.

 

[MsBloom]

"There she goes and what a sight it is to watch," Gilly said.
"Then again it's not for everyone," he adds and look back up from Jamie's ass to Yurik's eyes to see which of the two statements he would most agree with.

He takes a gracious elaborate bow when complimented on his outfit, lifting the hat off of his head and then as she stands back up tossing his long blonde hair back over his shoulders before putting the hat back on. It does make him look a little less decadent.
"I'm fine thanks," he tells the waiter and turn to look at Jamie as she is clearly being flirted with by some old money cunt who would probably pay almost as handsomely for a piece of the model as of the painting in front of them both.
"The way I see it it is her opening. I just provided the paintings for it. She is the real piece of art. I just put it to canvas," Gilly said mysteriously and took a sip of the wine.
"She is a bit rough around the edges perhaps but she has it in her to work a room like this," he continued and shook his head at how obviously the woman was trying to pick up Jamie and just how uncomfortable Jamie was about it even though there had been times when that was how she made her money, and how she had initially paid for her room at that run down excuse of a hotel.
"She just needs the confidence to get herself out of the gutter where sadly she believe is where she belong. But I am sure you already know that as the two of you seem quite friendly."
This makes Gilly wonder why he has never met this Elven hybrid before, not only because Jamie seems to know him quite well but also because he himself is of Elven descent. Perhaps their families simply move in different circles.

 

[emDash]

Sipping his wine, he listens to Gilly talk but his gaze roams around the room, darting from one person to the next. He's drawn back to the painting that's mounted in the same line of sight as Jamie and the woman trying to pick her up, considering Gilly's take on the situation. Not only the painting but the idea of working the people around them. 'Isn't that what everyone is doing here? They're just coming from different angles.' Everyone wanted something and usually it was from other people, often at their expense.

'They like it rough,' he says with a glint in his eye. 'The danger. The White Knight complex. You name it, they're after the rough bits. But only long enough to get a taste.' Putting the glass to his mouth, he drinks from it slowly, practically eye-fucking Gilly while he does it. When he lowers the glass, it's nearly empty.

'We're not that friendly.' Yurik's fine to tease and taunt, but he draws the line to make sure there's no misunderstandings.

Earlier, he hadn't been moved either way on the statements of watching Jamie go and not being for anyone, seeming neutral if not in agreement, but he circles back to it now. 'I'd love to give her what she wants, but she doesn't have your jawline.' Lifting his hand toward the other man's face, his gaze skips from chin to mouth and locks eyes as he slowly reaches to stroke his thumb along the strong line of Gilly's jaw, emphasising his point. The touch is brief and light. 'And I'm a vain barbarian, a simple man.'

Part elf. The blood is in him. So not all man. There's more to him. It's his eyes that give that blood in him away, that and the attractive features that most of their kind has. His can be overlooked, blend in with humans more easily, diluted yes, but he's a shapeshifter and the beast in him is all masculine. He's closer to his shifter brethren than his elven side. Their families surely move in different circles.

 

[MsBloom]

"Nor does she have your eyes," Gilly responds with a smile.
"Though I must admit that if one does overlook the softer parts of her anatomy she isn't a bad fuck.," he added, signalling both that he had been intimate with Jamie but that when push came to shove he preferred a more masculine anatomy.
He looked over at his model who seemed to have managed to both avoid having to be intimate with the woman and at the same time convince her to buy the painting she had been eyeing.
"I'd bet you half the paintings worth that she will hang it in her bedroom and rub her dried up old cunt to it every night imagining what it would be like to get fucked by Jamie. I told she's good when she wants to."

Gilly was from old money himself but more importantly from an old Elven family with a mansion up state but even though he had grown up in relative comfort he had never felt at home among people who considered themselves better than others for the simple reason of having been born with a trust fund and a guaranteed place at an ivy league university, memberships in all manner of more or less secret and bizarre societies. He had perhaps not entirely rejected his family's wealth or influence but he had chosen a different path for himself, a path that was perhaps closer to the old ways of Elves, back in the days before the Human's began to spread and assert their dominance.

He was a gentle man for the most parts, never one to engage in violence of any sort, which was how he and Jamie had first met. She had basically saved his ass from getting a beating to write endless ballads about. She had not been more than a lost kid back then. Now, through his influence he hoped, at least in part, she was less lost but still had a long way to go before she accepted her own worth and value as a person and not just as a skilled Stalker.

Gilly lifted his hand to touch Yurik's hand as it touched his jaw.
"A vain barbarian sounds like something to enjoy," he said and glanced around the room.
"Sadly I am occupied for at least another hour, perhaps two, before the gallerist will allow me to bow out of this spectacle."

 

[emDash]

If there was enough wine for him to choke on, he might have done that, as it is the last mouthful slides down his throat at a quick swallow. He's clearly not expecting to hear Jamie being spoken about the way she is, at least not by the man dressed up like a nobleman. Nor the old woman that Jamie had convinced to buy a painting. 'I'm not a gambling man,' he lies since half of his living is made from offering bargains that are somewhat of a gamble, 'and definitely not an art connoisseur, so I'll leave what the woman may or may not do in the hands of someone that knows better.' Yurik's smile is wide, flashing teeth and laugh lines.

He has better things to think about than some old lady masturbating, any woman masturbating at that, and he drops his hand after Gilly's touch to the back of the man's elbow. 'Don't keep them waiting,' he says, nodding to the crowd and stepping back. 'It was lovely to meet you, Gilly.' With another smile, this one holding traces of amusement in the edges, he moves on by to go seperate ways.

An empty wine glass is traded for a second that he intends to drink at a much slower pace. It's his time to work the room, which he does with a quiet charm and an ease to integrate into social situations. A little flirting goes a long way and alcohol tends to loosen tongues - he has no qualms settling in to hear about opinions of artwork to politics, catching names, circles of influence, trades and little bits and pieces he can file away. When it comes to the crunch of anyone asking about him, he's simply Yurik, a small time antique dealer with a humble attitude but a killer smile. He picks up body language like nobodies business and those keen senses give him that extra edge - scent tells more than the designer of the cologne. In a quiet room, he can pick up a lie by a nervous pulse and a bead of sweat.

Throughout the night he keeps an eye on Jamie and Gilly both, catching each their gaze more than once, but seems happy to be doing his own thing. He does, of course, admire the paintings, not only for the subject but for the skill that captures a distinct mood of each. While he might not known shit about art, other than some price tags and a couple of names, he can still appreciate it on some level.

It takes him a good hour to get through that second glass of wine and by then he's itching to get out of there. There's only so much he can take. It's then that he makes his way to Jamie's side when he gets the opportunity, lightly touching her back as he pops up beside her. 'This place is making me cagey,' he tells her low, tone light, 'do you need a ride back?'

 

[MsBloom]

"It was quite lovely to meet you as well Yurik," Gilly said not really wanting to end the conversation, at least not for the purpose of having to mingle with the other guests.
Had the option included bringing this man back to his studio apartment for a good hard fuck, possibly after they shared a nice dinner and some wine first, then he would have been out the door in the blink of an eye. The man had left him aroused, excited and curious. There was of course always the option of a quickie in the back rooms of the gallery but it simply wouldn't do, not with this man because there was more to the way Gilly felt than just pure lust. There was something about the man Jamie had brought that stirred emotions deep inside him and now as they did have to part, for what would hopefully be only a brief period of time, Gilly held the man's hand and lifted it to his lips and gave it a kiss.

He then watched Yurik walk away to mingle with the guests even though for the most part it looked more like he was just standing close to them watching what they were watching, listening to them talking about anything from Gilly's technique, his chosen subject for the main items. Some of the other guests might even have noticed him arriving with the young woman who was portrayed in them, some of them might have asked him about her but none would get a straight answer from him about her.

Gilly's eyes caught Yurik's several times during the evening and each time they did he smiled and felt his body twitch with excitement. He certainly wanted to get to know the man much better, to learn about who he was.

Jamie mostly walks around aimlessly from painting to painting allowing herself to be gawked at. Some are even as bold as to ask if the paintings are representative of her anatomy and as much as she would have liked to just strip out of the dress and show these stuck up rich people that they were she didn't but rather nodded as politely as she was capable of and assured them they were.

As time drew on she had a few glasses of wine to help keep herself steady without becoming too drunk to behave herself as Gilly put it. Every time her eyes were caught by Yurik's she too smiled at him but also raised her eyebrows as if she found the whole event dead boring and that she would rather be anywhere else than at the gallery. So when she suddenly finds Yurik at her side with his hand lightly touching her back she agrees that it is time to leave. Unlike Gilly she has made no promises about how long to stay and she certainly has had enough of stuffy old money.
"After he can get away from this ... this ... This Gilly is going to host a much more private event to celebrate his first solo show. It will be back at his place and there won't be nearly as many old farts there, maybe a few of the younger hipsters. I think he went to art school with some of them. I mean, if you want to come I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all."

She had seen the way Gilly looked at Yurik, felt the chemistry between them before she left them to go mingle and sell the paintings. She had seen the way Yurik had looked at Gilly too. There was at least another hour before Gilly would be allowed to leave and Jamie suggested that perhaps the two of them could grab a burger, or something else to eat in the meantime.

 

[emDash]

He's never had a man kiss his hand like that before and it lingers with him throughout the night. Oh, he's had men kiss him in all sorts of places, but on the hand, like an old fashioned courting move, is new. It was cute. Makes him wonder how old the guy is, but all of that can be filed away for later. He gets busy networking and chatting, which is broken up with an electric glance from Gilly or a bored one from Jamie, both who get a quiet smirk from Yurik, whose gaze gleams with barely concealed mirth. He's enjoying himself playing with the uptown folk.

Until he's had enough and the more wine ingested by the others, the louder their voices, and the louder the volume, the more he notices the strong perfumes that he could overlook earlier. Getting out of there before he's overstimulated and gets twitchy at insipid remarks is the best bet. The mention of Gilly having a private party after this shindig does perk his interest and poses the question of what to do before then or if he wants to cut his loses now and seek out the other man at a later date, but then there's a mention of burgers.

Stomach practically growling on cue, Yurik smiles wide. 'Never have I heard a better suggestion.'

He steers Jamie towards Gilly so they can bypass the other man and say their goodbyes, however temporary. He times it so they're not interrupting any conversation the man might be having. 'We're going to find something to sink our teeth into,' he tells Gilly with a quick grin. 'Uncouth savages that we are.'

'Lovely exhibition,' he adds, casting a glance around again then back to Gilly, his hand still at the small of Jamie's back, 'congratulations on your success. I'lll bring Jamie back to your after party.' It's an opening rather than an assumption that he'll be coming along, leaving the statement hanging between them to secure an invitation from the host himself.

 

[MsBloom]

Freshly made burgers, still hot to bite into with fries that didn't look or feel like the faded remains of dead flowers and taste like cold grease, were something of a luxury in Jamie's world. The burgers and fries she usually ate came from the trash bins behind cheap burger joints downtown. Adding a supersized coke that still had bubbles to the menu it was almost like a gourmet meal in her world. Better yet, he had offered to pay for it so it was free on top of everything, as free as anything ever is of course. She did try her best not to gobble down the food like someone half dead from starvation.

Their exit from the gallery had been almost better than their arrival and she was fairly certain that most who had seen them leave would be convinced they actually were a couple, as she might have suggested to some of the more persistent guests to avoid their offers of private showings in their homes. She wasn't sure he had picked up any chatter about his girlfriend or how he would have felt about it if he did but he hadn't said anything about it.

She had smiled and winked at Gilly as they left, loving the confidence with which Yurik had basically invited himself to the after party. She had seen the look in Gilly's eyes as he watched them leave, seen how longingly he had looked at Yurik and that little smile that told her he most certainly didn't mind.

"That was the best damned burger I've had in a long time," she said patting her belly while swallowing down a burp.
"Ready to go to a party," she asked and looked at the analogue clock above the counter.
Gilly would almost certainly have arrived home by then with his friends from art school. It wasn't far away and it only took them five minutes before they stood outside the studio apartment with a view of the river separating the city from the mainland.