"Milady."

There are no stories of the past worth considering in this moment. There is no novel assessment to be made about the situation. There would be little point and zero value to either. Even the basic assessment of the likelihood that Mayzie had already been weaponized against her, or whether she'd recognized Eclair with the same speed as vice versa (not a ridiculous question: Eclair was a sunny blonde in her youth. still, irrelevant).

Opportunity. This is the first real opportunity to gain substantial knowledge since she'd come to Vespergift. And it would walk away from her in the next thirty-five seconds if she let it. That demands a straightforward approach. Call it earnestness to be generous. Call it desperation to be not.

She lifts out of the water. Sparkling droplets caress her bare body like a robe, dripping off of her even as new ones run down from her hair and a dozen little alcoves in her curves. She bows, to the delighted squeal of an attendant now boiling the pool with her own flustered bemusement. She pays all of it no mind.

"Have I offered you offense? Then I must make amends."

Her tail swats at the surface of the pool, spraying water in an arc that splashes down like rainfall. As it catches the light streaming in from the stained glass windows above, the droplets briefly flash in color: a dusty rose and a sigh of forget-me-not. For one instant, Eclair sparkles. Someone sighs, and touches a hand to her cheek.

"Come and share a meal with me, if you please. My treat." she steps forward and reaches out her hand, though stops short of arresting the cart, "Before you say no, consider this: it comes with a free opportunity to prove you are smarter than me. To my face. Has it been so long you can't see the appeal?"