[b]Eclair![/b]

"What do you... Ecky, all the maid-knights are dating. [i]Everybody[/i] knows that. If a maid in a suit of armor shows up with a bunch of Khaganate treasure and goes [i]daaaaaahling, I would just absolutely adore buying accommodations for a compatriot,[/i] and then a super-intense maid - who's still wanted by the Civils, by the way, let me just remind you of that - rolls in and starts asking a bunch of questions about her? This is kink. This is absolutely kink. I don't know what the game is or what win condition you're working towards - and before you ask, I don't know where she is, either, she said she'd be back at the end of your stay - but I do know what kink looks like. I work at the [i]Chrysanthemum,[/i] for Civelia's sake."

Maybe it's the drink talking, but she is emotionally compromised about this. Perhaps Timtam has somehow compromised her. That's why she's looking so intently at you and then looking away, more than once. Yes. You have discovered one of Timtam's agents in the Chrysanthemum. She's working with the enemy. What was she promised? Power? Money? Probably money, from the looks of her. You [i]must[/i] grill her for information.

"Maybe it's a chastity thing?" Mayzie says, giving you a Look. "I would have noticed a belt, but I know some people do it just with willpower and that's the sort of thing [i]you[/i] would be into..."

[hr]
[b]Handmaidens![/b]

The Architect Knight stomps back into the Stacks wearing wooden armor after several hours of Rootwalker... gardening? She's got more than her hammer: she's got a [i]plumb line[/i] and a [i]ruler.[/i] Very dangerous tools of architecting. But the Heartcompass she's got might be the most dangerous of all.

She's intending to do... [i]architecting[/i]. All [i]over[/i] the Stacks. She's got Rootwalkers as a workforce (despite Injimo doing her best to trim their numbers, pulling roots right out of spines). No idea what her plan is, though. She used to work for Queen Aria, but thankfully that deeply unpleasant incarnation of Yana is long dead and buried.

You know, in the woods.

[hr]
[b]Yuki![/b]

You catch up to these two right at the line to get into [i]Cafe la Faune[/i]. You can slot into line right behind them.

The tall, dark-skinned woman is breathing in and out, deeply, as if enjoying some sort of perfume or deeply enjoying the ambience. (It... [i]does[/i] smell nice around her. Really nice. She must have a really expensive perfume.) Her ears are very still.

But it's the woman in the suit who notices you. "Hey," she says. It's not a friendly hey, but it's holding a little friendly mask up in front of itself, trying to pretend that it's friendly with all the ardor of the lead in a school play. "You know that this, uh, cafe isn't closing, right? No need to run all the way over here."

She was watching you. She noticed you, specifically. She is wearing those starglasses, but she is still Looking at you.

Her breath is [i]sweet.[/i] Cloyingly sweet. You can tell that even over the lovely smell of the other woman's perfume. Like sugars breaking down. Like nail polish remover. Like the death of honey.

The flowers are shifting, ever so slightly, whenever she takes an irregular breath.

"You, uh, you girls big Fawn fans?" She smiles like a shark.

"Faun," says the other woman. It's soft, lyrical, pleasant. Much more pleasant than the shark. [i]Breathe deep. Relax. Stop worrying.[/i] "It's the Golden Faun. Darling." She takes another deep breath. The light glints oddly off her lips.

[hr]
[b]Cutie![/b]

You have a very important job here for the dinner rush. You need to go outside for ten minutes and invite guests in, and then you'll swap out with Staxy who does [i]such[/i] a fantastic drag performance of... well, of you. The other you. The sparkly idea of you that everyone's actually here to see.

And it is when you step out to do this vitally important task that you will notice that Yuki's here, and also that there is a tall woman in a dress like autumn who Looks at you when you come out. Like, everyone is looking at you, cheering a little, taking pictures on their tablets... but she Looks, and she breathes in, and she breathes out.

But also, Yuki?! Here?! How do you feel about [i]that?[/i]