Aslo and Maeven's Collaborative Effort
A whistle can be heard as Kira Flys over top of him. Aslo watches silently with a slight smile. Watching her graceful turn and gradual descent always brought him a great sort of serenity. Motionless he watched until he saw that she had found a pleasant place to perch. He began distancing himself from the Raven Inn, and towards where she had landed. When he approached he saw that she chose a comfy looking place atop the head of a mechanized dragon, and prayed it wasn't a lethal mistake.
Maeven was beneath Fafnir, replacing his fuel lines as the dragon shudders above her and one of his limbs already completed twitches. He fumbles from side to side, attempting to get at the falcon before giving up with a huff, "Thiefkin, remove this insufferable morsel from me at once. It is undignified," The mechanist woman, who had flattened herself to the ground to avoid being crushed beneath him shimmies out from behind him to get a look, furrowing her brow. "Aw, but its just a falcon, Faf. You look good as a pretty perch. Maybe I should just leave you as some sort of statue, afterall." The dragon huffs, flicking his head to the side and tries to get at the bird with a huff of steam, though he couldn't quite get at it. Maeven smirks and wipes off dirt from herself, looking at the approaching newcomer, "Is that your bird?"
Aslo's smirk grows to a full smile as the woman addresses him. "No, she's more of a partner than a pet I think. Though she sees fit to follow my lead often enough." A practiced whistle and Kira took flight from Fafnir's head and returned to Aslo's shoulder. From her ankle he retrieved a small note of paper, and tucked it away in a pocket before proceeding. "Still she is a free spirit at times it would seem. Not many would dare such an act."
She blinks, looking over the creature curiously before smiling, "Sounds a little like Faf." An irritated grinding of metal comes from behind her at the comparison between him and the pigeon. Maeven chuckles and shakes her head, "What was with the note? Is it anything important?"
He shrugs at the question causing Kira a slight aggravation while she maintains her place "At some point it may very well be of great importance. For now it is paper in my pocket. It would be rude to read it, and neglect your company!" He gave a slight bow after this statement. "My name is Aslo, and if what I've heard is true you must be Maeven Lucre, no?"
Maeven smirks and nods, "True enough. Am I famous already?" She smiles as she begins putting two and two together, "You must be one of the Queens' Blades as well. I suppose we'll be working together quite a bit in the future, then?"
He nods in return as she correctly labels him a Blade "Famous? I'm unsure of this. I'm a collector of information you see, and information apropos a woman that travels with a mechanized dragon is neither common or non-descript. The larger things are the more men will see and recall!" He pauses a bit, realizing his habit of rambling had surfaced "But yes, it would seem we are to be colleagues, hopefully for some years to come."
Maeven furrows her brow, "Years? You really think this might take years? They never say that in the story books..." She crooks her head at Aslo, "So were you seeking me out to ask something? Or just a pleasant surprise?" Admittedly, she was a little nervous about how much he might know of her past. New beginnings could be brought to a shuddering halt far too quickly if certain information was to surface. He didn't mean to extort her, right?
"I prefer to think I'll survive in a conflict like this for a century rather than die in a matter of days. A personal choice I suppose, but then I've never been a fan of heroes, legends, and fairy tales." he brushed a shed feather from his shoulder before addressing Maeven again. "I should say that it was Kira who chose for me to come over here, but it has since become a very pleasant surprise."
She nods, looking back at her dragon, "I suppose. And I could use this break. All I've done since the attack has work on Faf. He took a real number in the battle." She wrinkles her nose, turning her attention back, "I could use the break. He's not really great company... Since you're a collector of information, do you know of any good places to eat here?"
"You do all the work on him yourself do you?" He clapped his hands together lightly, of course he had already deduced that, but it was still a feat worthy of applaud. He proceeded to place his hands slightly on his hips as he decided where they might be able to go. "Well I just came from the Raven's Inn. We rescued the establishment from James. What had you been involved with?"
"I do... and... Well, as odd as it might sound, we played a game with a child of Sloth... Which was apparently won through the power of cupcakes." She laughs and shrugs, "I think we might have gotten the easy side of things. From what I understand, there was a lot more risk in the rest of the Blades' campaigns. It was fun, though, and the girl is... odd, but sweet."
He laughs with her "Well I suppose the important thing is that we have succeeded in keeping them safe?"
With a large grin she nods, "I suppose so. Of course, it does leave me wondering how well we'll fare on our next assignments. I don't think sugar and spice will win the day next time."
“Having seen some of the company we keep, I should think the alternatives to sugar and spice are well handled." He thought back briefly to Griff and Murderok and their less than tactful mannerisms, but also how required beings like that could be.
She raises a brow, "Well, that sounds promising." She stretches before patting her sidearm, "I just hope they leave me chances to work the kinks out of my projects, at least. Can't let them have all the fun."
He began walking back towards the Inn motioning for her to join him. "Perhaps we can discuss your projects over some kind of meal!" Noticing her sidearm he added "With something like that at your side I'm sure you're bound to have plenty of fun."
She nods, "Sure, but I've had this one for awhile now. I want to keep making new things, but it all takes time and money. Drafting, design, construction, then test runs." She follows in his stead, hopping from spot to spot, trying to keep from touching the breaks in the stone steps. "There's only so much one woman can do, and I don't really have use for all my ideas, either." Her eyes drift to his belt and the vials she could glimpse from it, "Those bottles, are they a hobby or just a tool of the trade?"
He watches as she hops along, his curiosity piqued, but not so far as to ask. "I suppose you could say they are a bit of both. They do have their uses in my line of work, as do fresh ideas for that matter..." he began to think for a moment as they moved along. Him casually pacing forward, hands behind his back, and her hopping from stone to stone.
She stops, balancing on one foot as she glances at Aslo, "Maybe I could provide some fresh ideas. I always felt I had my biggest breaks when I had someone to sound ideas out to." She beams, straightening herself out, "I admit, not very crafty with chemicals, but run the basic information by me and I bet I can think of something..." She pauses, a thought coming to her, "Actually, I might need your brain for a future project with Faf. If you know anything that could do the trick, it needs to be combustible."
"I should be able to think of something suitable to your needs, given some time to think of course. In the meantime, funding for projects shouldn't be too much of an issue." He glanced towards her with a knowing sort of smile, and tapped the breast pocket where he had stashed the note "Information always pays eventually."
For a moment, her careless expression disappears, replaced with something far more serious, "I'm sure it does..." She places both feet on the ground, "I imagine you'd make a fortune in another line of work. Why join the Blades? It can't be the job security, or the safety..."
He stops along with her and gives a sleight shrug. "I imagine I could make a King's ransom- or should I say a Queen's?" He smiles slyly at his own joke before sighing "But then what good is a fortune and safety if the world is ash and rubble?"
"Its why you spend it before, so you have what you need to pick up the pieces, I imagine." She looks over Aslo, curiouser by each passing moment, "Never would have slated you as the sort to play hero, though. Dashing enough for it, I suppose. No, you simply don't have me convinced."
He laughed "The fact is money truly means very little to me, I'm more interested in seeing things put right but what's a man to do? Perhaps with time you'll come around to the thought of me as a hero."
She rolls her eyes, "Suppose we'll be hearing the bards sing praise to the mighty Aslo, next thing I know. I hope the infamy just doesn't get to your head. You're a pleasant person to be about as you are."
He shakes his head "No I should think not. While I respect the bard for the work he does, and their willingness to share, it wouldn't do to have them praising my name."
Maeven quirks a brow. "So my hero is humble, then. Or is he simply a charming rogue. I can't wait to see how the story unfolds," she rests her hand on the door to the inn, "Would you like to keep talking over lunch?"
"I suppose really only time will tell." Opening the door and holding it he allows her to enter first "How dashing would I be if I no longer spoke to mi'lady?"
A faint smile of amusement passes over her lips as she brushes past him, "I never thought I'd meet such a gentleman." She looks at the inn, surprised that this place had not so long ago been one of the locations of an attack, not when it looked so quaint and well-kept. "You sure no one else demands your attention? As much as I'd rather keep you all to myself right now, I wouldn't want to keep you from any duties you might hold."
A wolfish grin overcame him as he followed her in. He recognized the cat now trotting hapily about the Inn, oblivious to the threat it had been so shortly ago. He rolled his eyes a bit, letting a hint of sarcasm take to his words "My sole duties are to Queen and country, and I've been ordered to attend a ball."
She smiles, the idea of a ball a terribly enticing one, "Well, wine, women, song, it surely won't be too bad for you. Of course, if you're into that sort of thing. Otherwise, I'm sure there's plenty of word to go around. Only the whole world is supposed to be there... Or at least many of the 'important' people it has to offer."
He pulls out a chair and offers her a seat "Such luxuries are not things I indulge in often, but it does raise a golden opportunity for important contacts. That much you have correct."
She takes the seat offered and gestures for Aslo to sit across from her. If he was not after the money, then perhaps he desired power. She leans forward, resting her elbows on the table and her head upon her hands, "Well, then we have our Queens to thank for such a chance to meet and mingle, then. I can't help but think its meant to serve another purpose, though... An exciting mystery we're in the midst of, I would think. But, perhaps I'm too cynical. Perhaps they really thought to simply honour us."
He bows slightly and makes a gesture of thanks in her direction "I should think we have lots to thank to our Queens don't we! Perhaps it's to put us on display, a show of force or influence perhaps? I wouldn't call it a cynical mind that doubts a ball in our honour in the nation's capital."
Maeven nods, quickly placing an request with one of the workers making there way through the crowds. "True... I just can't help but think it must be a little... embarassing. I've heard some were already lost. Then there were groups like mine who simply lucked out to be facing a child... We can't be too impressive a unit, not when the Queens themselves are legends themselves.. and much of their entourage is with them, as well." She shakes her head, "It makes no sense to me. But here I am, getting carried away."
Aslo passes at the offer of mead, and leans back in his chair resting one arm across the back of it, and the other upon the table. Raising it with a confused look on his face "Then perhaps it's a desperate plea to make use of us!" He laughed "Perhaps you are being carried away... you will have to try and just enjoy the night for whatever it is?"
"As long as we are not paraded out as the new playthings of some nobles, then perhaps," she thanks the maid who brings her a glass of coffee and a bit of creme. "But the games of nobles and royalty just aren't for me. That, I decided some time ago."
"A wise decision for anyone to live by for sure." Kira proceeded to leap from her place on his shoulder to poke around the table. Specifically interested in the creme that had been brought over. Aslo simply sat content and watched. "Since you saw to ask me why I was here, I feel I should do the same. So? Fame? Riches?"
She tips the thing of creme into her coffee before setting it back for Kira. "A change of scenery, for the most part. To see the world and what it has to offer for the rest." She picks up a spoon, stirring carefully as she muses over it, "After all, this entire kingdom is steeped in living legends and tied to many more. Things some would have dismissed as house wives' tales in some parts of the world. Something interesting... Is always welcome into my life." She smiles, giving a faint shrug, "After all, what else would interest a woman who sees fit to keep company with dragons, hmm?"
Aslo nodded his head slowly as she spoke "I suppose I should have expected nothing less." He puts on a pout and taps his knuckles off the table "I am disappointed to report that I am entirely convinced however. It should seem I'll gather no ripe information from your motivation of being here."
She offers a faint smile, "Perhaps not. It's a shame, but not all of us can be so complex." She drinks deeply from her glass with a delighted noise before murmuring over the rim, "But keep looking, I hope you'll find something about myself that intrigues you." She offers a wink.
He looked at Maeven full on, his lips coming to form a toothless smile, and his hands both coming to clasp on the table "With enough digging, I'm sure even this table has an interesting history to hear. I have no doubt that you are far more intriguing than you let on, and I fully intend to unearth that story." He returns to his relaxed posture once more as Maeven continues to sip her beverage, Perhaps he thought Working as a blade will be better than I had hoped.