Peony Haired Dancer

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The show’s about half way over. Lia wishes she was the final act, but she’s not that big enough of a name yet. Keyword being yet. A human male with red hair sprinkled with grey comes on stage and she stands off on stage left. “I can see many of you have enjoyed yourself thus far, but the show is far from other. Tonight, we have the dancing beauty, the girl with peony hair. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Lia to the stage!”

The audience starts clapping. On cue, she shimmies to center of the stage, moving further right every type her hip moves that direction. Once she starts moving, all eyes on her. The audience watches fascinated and enthralled.   A little magic always goes a long way… She spins. She turns her head and offers smile to the crowd before bend backwards as far as some contortionists. From there, she snakes her arms up and her body follows. She rolls her stomach with a flutter while circling her arms up. Her arms slowly fall back down in line with her chest while going into a shoulder shimmy. Her arms go down before shooting back up, and she does a split on the ground. Her arms snake at the side as she pulls herself to her knees. She brings her arms forward, points, and winks to someone in the crowd. She goes to her back, doing stomach flutters before doing an inch worm back up. She undulates her belly again before beginning to stand. Her legs move fluidly up, but as she rolls her shoulders back one at a time in an almost jerky pattern. She circles her arms in front of her, reaches toward the sky, before moving her hands and down her sides and down her hips while keeping a hip shimmy. She takes her arms back to in line with her chest. While doing a figure 8s with her hips, she does lifts and drops her chest simultaneously and in the same rhythm. She turns her back to the crowd, keeping her hip shimmy while raising snaking her arms back toward the ceiling. A girl comes along and gives her a veil, which she bends backwards to get. She spins around with the veil. She tosses it forward before pulling it back. She holds it behind her as she does a chest shimmy. She walks toward the end of the stage doing a Queen Sheba walk. She drops to her knees and does hip circles. She throws her veil on to the man in front of her before getting up. Standing up, she bows before the audience.

“Ladies and gentleman, please thank the amazing Lia!” She leaves the stage to crowd cheering for her.



It takes her awhile for her to get cleaned up and dressed into something less revealing. A few acts go by before she manages to leave the dressing room again. She wears a long sleeved white blouse, red and black shirts, and a gold and black bodice. She quietly makes herself to the back of the tavern to watch the rest of the show.  Her life seemed to bring her back to the Bloody Mary, always.  Well, her life probably technically started here, so maybe it wasn't all that surprising.  She relaxes back in her chair, watching the current act.  Good musician.  And with more experience.  That's why he's later in the evening though.  Soon the tavern is filled with bawdy songs that would probably impress her mother.

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Stepping into the Bloody Mary it took Clover's eyes a moment to adjust to the light. She considered the place a dive and normally wouldn't have chosen to dane such a place with her presence, but she wasn't alone. Behind her entered another three halflings, all male, one was older than her, probably twice her age if not more, she had never asked, but he was the one her had taken her on to join his trading caravan, the other two were young, younger than her when she started even, most likely they were her juniors by ten years. She owed him her kindness so here she was, sitting with the three as each of them had an entire pint, a size of drink that was unheard of where they had come from. She on the other hand had a much more sensible half glass of wine that she had every intent of nursing throughout the night.

The night slowly progressed, Clover made small talk with her old friend as the two younger halflings became increasingly enthralled by the show, eventaully some pink haired trollop came onto the state and did some sad little dance that Clover felt wouldn't have been out of place if she'd be slowly throwing off various parts of her clothing to the crowd. Her companions clearly did not feel the same way about this woman that Clover felt, and with the way they were lapping her little dance up all that Clover could be thankful for was that they had not started to throw their coin on the stage.

Some time after the girl had left Clover had been abandoned at the table now, the other three had wanted to join in with the singing of songs that would have made their mothers ashamed of them. She put her bare feet on the edge of the table and leaned back in her chair she balanced percariously as she watched the various people come and go from the place all watching the show.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a young woman who looked familiar for some reason, though no matter how Clover tried she couldn't place the girl, maybe she'd come into the shop in the last little while and that was where she'd seen the face before. Either way this girl seemed out of place, maybe even sad.

Fortified by what had turned out to be her fourth half glass of wine she walked over to the seat beside the girl, she took a long sip from her drink before speaking to her. "Evening..." She took another sip before continuing. "I can't help but think that you seem quite out of place in a dive like this." She watched the girl, wondering what her reaction would be. A simple whore would simply walk away, Clover didn't think she was one, but she couldn't think of another reason for this girl to be here alone.

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Lia looks around at eye level for the other person before her eyes fall on a girl of much shorter stature. She’d almost could be mistaken for a child if her face didn’t seem older than that. Well, this was better than some of the guys from the front row coming over to bother her. She laughs a little, “Out of place? But I’m more in place here than anywhere else. I’ve spent too much time here or maybe too little, considering that I occasionally find myself missing it.”

She gestures to the stage, “Besides, it’s boring to wait backstage before leaving. The show is out here, and I’d like to see those whom I am opening for. Only way to know how to approve and move up to a better position in the format after all.”

“So how about you? How did you get here? You don’t seem to enjoy this place like the others. It is a pretty rowdy night though admittedly. I guess not the worse-it-has-been kind of rowdy, but a moderate kind of rowdy. Other nights are tamer here. This place isn’t cheap to stay at, and the people who don’t do anything cheaply tend to prefer it to be calmer. Sometimes.”

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As Lia spoke Clover pulled her knees up to her chest as she sat on the chair until her feet were on the edge of the chair with her toes sticking out from under the hem of her skirt. When Lia explained that she had been the dancer up on the stage no too long before Clover nearly spit out her drink in surprise. She seemed like a less terrible person now, it was strange.

"Move up you say? Is that your dream?" She asked and took another sip of her wine. Watching the girl, Clover had heard the business life of a dancer was something like ten years, twenty if you were particularly good and started young, and this girl at the oldest half of Clover's age, perhaps a year or two into her journey of such a career.

When Lia asked Clover just what had brought her here she pointed her thumb at the three plastered halfllings standing near the stage with mugs held high as the did their best to sing along with the musician. "Business."

Clover thought about just how to ask the question she wanted to, but phrasing it as "So does stripping down to your underwear and prancing around like a harlot for a bunch of drunks, really pay the bills?" seemed like a poor way to ask. "With such long days, I can't imagine that your work starts and ends with that one show. What is it that you do with the rest of your time?" She took another sip of her wine, the glass quickly getting disappointingly low.

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Lia shakes her head, “No. That would be performing at the castle and places in the 1st district. Not that the 2nd district isn’t nice and all, but the 1st is a whole lot nicer.” The first district, where the noble and wealthy lived. Lia could only imagine living there at this point in time. Currently, that was far outside her price range. Travelling around suited her fine for the moment after all. She wanted to be a person everyone wanted to know. “Small aspirations aren’t worth having.”

Lia laughs a bit as the girl mentions business. The other halflings seemed to be having fun. Now, it did lead to the question what the halfling girl’s business was. “Well, it’s jovial business for sure. I guess, my business is as well. I take it you’re not one for songs. Or well, these kinds of songs. Honestly, he sung a hell of a lot worse last night, but he drank twice as much then.”

Normally, when she was asked that question of what she did most of the time, people thought one of two things: (1) she had some other source of income or (2) her life was a non-stop party. “Nothing nearly as entertaining as this. Finding gigs and negotiating contracts. Working on new routines. Practicing. Finding musicians to play behind me when the house doesn’t provide one. Sending letters to keep up relationships with other people I’ve performed or travelled with in the past. You’d be surprised how dreadfully boring the life an entertainer is when we are away from a stage. I also do a bit of singing, but honestly, nothing gets people to pay you as much as shimmying on stage. I enjoy both equally, so I don’t have any issue with it. So what do you do, Ms…?”

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Clover finished her drink as she listened to Lia talk, and signaled that she wanted another to one of the girls who had been walking around the place. Giving up the pretense and getting a full glass of wine this time.

As Lia spoke about it being jovial Clover had to nod in agreement with her. "I think the two younger ones have never been away from home before, I'm almost surprised their parents let them, they're practically still in diapers." Clover took a mouth full of her wine.

When Lia asked Clover her named she slammed down her still mostly full glass of wine on the table they were near, her cheeks had finally started to turn red. "Taptfjord! Clover Taptfjord, but most humans can't get their tongue around me name, so they just call me Tappy in stead." Clover was feeling great, her entire body was warm and had a slight floating feeling to her actions. "And what about yourself? They called you Lia, but that's just a stage name isn't it? What's your real name?" As she spoke her head was slowly falling to the side, and Clover couldn't quite understand just how Lia was managing to float at such a strange angle, but she desided not to ask for the time being.

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Lia looks amused as the small halfling orders another drink. Now that was a glass for the average sized human being. She can only imagine how tipsy the petite girl must be at this moment. Lia hardly drank much in bars unless in the company of close friends. Dulling one’s senses in an area like this hardly seemed like the best idea.

“Well, this must be a great experience for them, but I’d expect them to have a bad hangover tomorrow if this is the first time out like this. They always do… I’d leave a glass of water by their beds or wherever they pass out.”

Taptfjord is a mouthful of a name. Mostly, fjord was a difficult word to pronounce in general. Her own name was easy to say, but she has her nickname for years. “Lia is my name. Well, short form. Short for Thalia. But people always reduce names to a single syllable if they can. Besides, Lia sounds nice and is easy to say. Would you prefer Ms. Tappy, Tappy, Clover?”

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"Yeah I guess, but really they're still kids, I mean hell the older of the two told me he's only 35, I mean how in the hell did he convince his parents that he was ready to go?" Clover took another sip of her wine. "I guess, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be the one holding their hair when they've decided to use the chamber pot."

When Clover was asked what she would rather be called by Lia, she found herself moving to an even more stark angle before correcting herself, ever careful not to spill her drink. "Perhaps Tippy would be a good name for me right now." Clover laughed at her own joke. "I dunno..." Clover rocked back and in her chair a little bit. "Mostly only traders and customers call me Tappy, only my fr-" Clover stopped herself midsentence. It had been a long time since anyone had called her Clover. "Everyone I work with calls me Tappy, the miss is optional, unless you're a trader." Clover took another sip of her wine, a small shiver running up her spine.

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Lia raises an eyebrow when Tappy says they were only 35. However, she reminds herself that halflings age slower than humans and many other races. Thirty-five… what did that translate to in humans years? “Well, whenever a kid starts working, it becomes very difficult to get them to stay home. But probably a morning puking will get him to grow older that much faster.”

Lia offers a smile at Tappy’s joke. Now, she was getting worried about these halflings getting home alright. Maybe she could convince someone to help them home at the end of the evening. Lia, herself, would be an ineffective escort, being neither intimidating nor capable in a fight. Or she could offer a smile and sweet words to the tavern keeper and suggest they give them a room here at the Mary.

Continuing the conversation, she says, “Well, seeing as I am not a trader, Tappy, it is. But you work with traders, so are you an artisan or something else?” She waves over someone to hand her a drink, but asks for only water at the time being. Watching Tappy made her thirsty.

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Clover didn't notice that Lia raised an eyebrow when she mentioned the age of the other halflings. Instead she continued to rock back and forth, a warm small ever growing on her face.

When Lia asked if Clover if she was an artisan, Clover shook her head vigoriously and gabbed a hand practically under Lia's nose "Do these look like the hands of some dirty artisan!?" She demanded from the other woman, though before she could answer Clover withdrew her hand. "I'm an a'otec'ry and am a alchi'emistess" She sat there for a moment and then laughed at something that had caught her amusment. "But we're the same. You makes contracts, I makes contracts... all contracts all the times!" Clover then did her best to stop her swaying, but only half succeeded. "Yous knows whats I's hates..?" She blinked slowly. "Contracts!" with that she finished the last of her drink, and was plainly confused as to how she had come to having an empty drink when she looked inside of the glass.

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Lia stands straight up as the halfling shoves her hands in her face. “I meant no great disrespect. I was merely curious,” she says, pulling on the strands of magic that travelled through this world. Her words are as sweet as honey and as soft as silk. They leave a positive impression in the mind as the sound of her voice dances in the ear. In all honesty, she didn’t really understand why Tappy was offended. Being an artisan or craftsman was a fairly respectable profession.

An apothecary and alchemical mistress was a more interesting profession than artisan however. She smiles as Tappy mentions contracts. “There’s no real way around it, I suppose. Pervasive things in every profession even down to more menial work.” Lia orders a drink for Tappy as the halfling stares at the empty glass. “So what is everyday life like for an apothecary and alchemical mistress?”


(OOC: Lia is using a charm spell to improve Clover’s disposition toward her.)

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Clover shook her head when Lia apologized for a perceived disrespect, perhaps Clover had been a bit harsh on her, if only just a bit. She hadn't meant to sound mean, but comparing her to something like a stone cutter had just seemed so rude in the instance, either way now that was all water under the bridge.

When the new glass of wine that she hadn't even ordered came for her, she made a happy noise with her first sip of it. When asked just what her job was like she looked away thinking how best to explain it to someone who was not studied in the arts. Before Clover answered Lia's question, she got up and walked over to the other woman, for some reason that Clover wasn't aware of this felt like the right thing to do. With the wine glass held in on hand, Clover quickly climbed onto Lia's lap and leaned her head into the nape of Lia's neck.

"What's it like working as an apothecary and alchemicalist?" Clover repeated the question back to Lia. "Oh you knows, there's alot of talking, some research, and than more talking. Mostly with third sons of petty nobles who have no hope of anything in life except a quick death for their older siblings." She paused to take a sip of her drink and then snuggle into Lia's shoulder a bit before continuing. "Your skin is so soft and nice, you know that?" Clover currled up a bit more in Lia's lap. "What were we talking about?" Clover looked up at Lia, her face having become completely flush now.

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This wasn’t the first time someone curled into Lia’s lap without her asking. And it made Lia just as uncomfortable as it did the times before. While she might wear revealing clothes on stage, close personal contact like this, particularly with a random stranger, made her feel awkward. She stands up as straight and stiff as soon as the halfling touched her leg. For a moment, she curses her mother. Her mother received a lot of Lia’s curses, but it didn’t seem to do much other than make her feel slightly superior.

“Thank you,” Lia replies as Tappy complements her. But what she really wants to tell the halfling to get off her. She tried to find a possible way to regain her personal space. “We were talking about nobility, and what happens to children born past the heir and the spare. However, the show is almost over. I assume you wish to rejoin your party?” Indeed, the current bard with the rowdy songs was on his last.

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Clover didn't notice as Lia's body went stiff, though she no longer felt any need to bury her face into the nape of Lia's neck or any other part of her. Though a drunk at rest will still at rest; and Clover remained on Lia's lap. "Oh right! Those petty nobles, with their 'I want you to make my pethdic lead into gold' crap! As if I wouldn't be doing that already if I knew a way to make it into gold that wouldn't kill me, them, and anyone one who touches it!" Clover took another drink of her wine.
Casting a glance over to the others she'd come there. "Nah I'm good here, if they need me, they can come and gets me." She stuck her tongue out at the boys still singing their songs. She looked back to Lia. "Then of course there are both guys and gals that want love potions, love potions! Have you ever heard of such a thing!?" Clover gave out a long and exasperated sigh. "You know what it's like when people just wont take the hint?" Taking another sip from her drink Clover looked up at Lia, giving the woman a broad smile.

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So much for the halfling leaving her lap and rejoining her own friends. At least, Tappy no longer had her face against her neck. That was far too intimate of a gesture. Still, Lia would probably have to answer questions about the nature of her relationship with this halfling for the next week. Lia can’t help but wonder if Tappy has any sense of personal space. Surely, this wasn’t just uncomfortable for her?

Lia can’t help but laugh as Tappy mentions people not taking hints. “Incredibly.” It was the story of her life really. “Well, it’s like the stories. Lead into gold. True love with a sip of a drink. Actually, I think the stories with love potions tend not to work out. Maybe they were hoping some of it was true?” Lia suggests. She looks around to see else she might free herself, and notices food at other people’s tables. “Hey, would you like to get something to eat? I can get up and put in an order for something?”