the gem of the sea

[Isa and Iann get roped into an old school 90s dance off during Winter Fest but use it to try and work through their conflicts.]

@isadelavega​, mentions of @bumblingbrujo​ towards the last part

—

Joey simply shrugged. “It’s not fair, honestly. But every species is made different for different things, you know? Both in the supernatural and the animal kingdom. And if I was unhappy with my body, there’s little I could do to change it. That’s very unfair for some,” he mused with another shrug. It was things like that he thought about far too much. 

“The first thing I learned in basic training, past the obstacle courses and such, was hand to hand combat. Wrestling, actually. But that doesn’t really help us,” Joey said, scratching his chin. He’d thought on this ever since she’d asked him for lessons, but hadn’t really pinpointed exactly what was relevant to what she needed to learn. “I guess we can start with the absolute basics, yeah? Salt will protect against ghost. Iron too. And iron works on fae, like me. Burns like the dickens.” 

He walked out onto the mat in the middle of the room, gesturing for Isa to join him. “Things in this town have lots of different rules, all constantly changing. But one thing is almost always certain, it’s gonna be bigger than you.” He planted his feet flat on the ground, hands out to his sides in a threatening way, almost looking like a shaved bear on its hind legs. “Try to knock me down.”

For a moment Isa worried that this might have been a terrible idea. If Joey started teaching her how to wrestle… well, just looking at his size she felt like it might not be the best idea. But then he started listing all kinds of smart tricks that she didn’t know about and she started taking mental notes. “Salt and iron for ghosts, just iron for fae,” she repeated out loud with a nod. “Got it. Anything else for other species? Is the garlic for the vampire an actual thing that works or did some vampires really hated garlic and started a rumor?”

Her eyes grew wider when he stood in a pose that suggested any moment he could start charging at her and Isa was suddenly told to try knocking him down and she didn’t even know how that was… was that even an option? “Me? Knocking you down?” she echoed his words in disbelief as if what he said sounded ridiculous. “Have you seen me? I’m like—half the size of yours. How am I supposed to—oh!” And finally, the lights switched up. “Okay, I’m coming. Though I should probably not announce it first, that is not good when somebody is trying to threaten me, right? Just ignore I did that.”

Rein waited all calmly for Isa to be ready give the bicycle a second chance. Rein was in no rush to go anywhere so he had time to help her out as long as she felt like she needed it. He just held his hand on the backrack, waiting for her to get on the bike again. “I won’t let you fall, don’t worry.” Rein wasn’t one who bothered to lie, so whenever he said something you could pretty surely take it as the truth. Besides, Rein wouldn’t require a thing for making Isabel fall, so why would he even bother doing that.

Once she collected her courage – or at least that was what Rein assumed she was doing right now – and got on the bike Rein gave her a smile. “It’d be weird if it wouldn’t make it easier”, he commented and took a step to the side, still holding on the bike. “Okay, put your feet on the pedals and start pedalling. I’ll walk here next to you while holding you up. And once you are starting to feel comfortable with that I’ll let go and you’ll continue the way on your own. But if it starts to look like you’re going to fall I’ll just snatch the bike again so you won’t fall.”  Before Isa could ask questions about Rein letting go of the bike the nymph continued. “I’ll let you know before I let go so you can get ready to it. And don’t think about the whole biking thing too much. Just keep moving your legs and keep your hands on the handles to control where the bike is going, and don’t think too much what you are doing, just keep going and enjoy it.”

Rein’s reassurance that he wouldn’t let her fall was nice even though technically speaking they didn’t know each other that well. But Rein didn’t think he was the type of person to lie so she took it for granted. And when she sat on the bike, he actually held it and didn’t just let the thing go to watch her fall and laugh, which was definitely a positive.

She listened to what he was telling her to do and part of her wanted to insist that that was exactly what she was trying to do too excluding the part where Rein would help to guide her and not let her fall, so there had to be some secret step in between pedaling and riding the bike, but she decided to not saying anything for once and try it Rein’s way. If it didn’t work, she could still grill him for some secret way to get this done.

“Ah, Doña.” Ephram reached out to her with a smile, one gloved hand curving around Isa’s bare arm, fingertips brushing against the side of her breast as he drew her in close and touched his nose against her cheek, following it with a light kiss as he took his drink from her. “I was wondering where you’d gotten off to.”

“Not surprising you’d wonder, with a woman who looks like this!” Piotr Popovich slid closer with an ingratiating smile, letting his gaze drink Isa in like she was lemonade on a hot day. He took her free hand and kissed it, lips puckered and moist against her skin as he gave her a meaningful look – even with Ephram standing right there, Isa pulled tight against him. Ephram was tense, breathing a little fast, his own pleasant expression strained at the edges, and as Piotr brazenly looked at Isa he said, “…Isabella has been staying with me during her trip to Soapham. She’s very taken with the city, aren’t you, Isa? You’ve been having a good time?”

A faint note of hopeful desperation coloured Ephram’s question as he looked at her, blue eyes remote and hooded, and Piotr watched while still holding on to Isa’s hand.

“It must be difficult to really get the full range of what fun can be had,” Piotr said smoothly, moving to tuck his own arm around Isa in such a way that Ephram had to let go or look as though he was restricting her ability to move freely. He rocked back on his heels with an awkward look of consternation flickering across his face, and Piotr tucked his nose intimately against Isa’s ear, making her his confidante as he said, “…especially when Mr. Kingfisher’s busy with his fingers in so many pies, right?”

Ephram blanched, curling his left hand with its missing finger away against his side, seemingly struck speechless by the audacity of the brother of the woman who’d cut off that finger. Piotr chuckled viciously, loud enough just for Isa, before saying in an innocent voice, “Let’s walk down to the swan pond! You can come too, Ephram, just waddle on behind us, there’s a good boy.”

“I brought some refreshments, my apologies if I made you wait too long,” she said, her smile contained, the smile of somebody who only puts up with something because she was getting something out of it. Because she had to, because being polite and agreeable was expected of her. “Oh yes, I’ve been having the best time, I’m really lucky I have the pleasure of your company while I’m here,” she added when Ephram asked if she was having a good time, her voice polite while she sent a short glance at Popovich that said it all – no, she was not happy, how could anyone be happy having to spend her time with somebody like Ephram. But him, Piotr Popovich, oh his company she would have loved and cherished.

Men loved feeling inferior to others, feeling like they could be the savior of women. And this time Isa was clearly in desperate need of saving from Ephram. And just like she thought he would, Popovich picked up on it and stepped in with brazen openness about his intentions.

The thing is, Ephram was good at playing his part. He acted like the generous host to a young and beautiful woman whom he wanted to keep all to himself while he also brought her out to society for the first time. He looked tense when Popovich came closer, he pretended to try desperately keep her attention while the young man brazenly and openly slid closer and Isa barely had to do anything and it was already Popovich’s arms that were around her instead of Ephrams.

(The only time that Ephram probably had a genuine reaction was when his fingers were brought up, and Isa assumed the only reason Ephram didn’t do more was because they were in a public place. Then again, he said he wouldn’t be killing this man, so who knows what he would really want to do with him in his head.)

If she was being honest, from what Ephram told her, she thought it would be harder to catch the man’s attention, not that it really mattered or that she minded having to boost the man’s ego enough for him to notice her. She couldn’t tell if the fact that she was in Ephram’s company had any additional appeal to the guy or if it was her charms and look and cleavage alone (and let’s face it, even if Ephram had anything to do with it, at least 90% of it was her and her alone, how could this man resist her?), but it didn’t matter. She had a clear path to making sure Popovich would be wanting to get with her in no time.

Isa giggled, looking like she was trying to contain herself but as if she couldn’t at the whisper of Popovich, looking down as if he said something that made her shy and conscious for a second. “You can’t expect me to say bad things about my host, good lord,” she whispered back, her voice silky and when he asked her to for a walk, she beamed up at him as if he was the sun and the moon at the same time. “There’s a swan pond?” she asked, small gasp in her voice. “I didn’t realize there was a swan pond. I’d love to see it. You don’t mind, right?” she haphazardly turning back to Ephram as if he was a last thought. “The path looks too narrow for three people. You can follow behind us like this nice gentleman suggested.”

And off they went. She pretended to not know who the guy was and asked for an introduction, and after having to listen to him talk about himself for what felt like forever even though it was only a few minutes (while she nodded along and pretended to be listening to the most interesting explanation she has ever heard), she leaned a bit closer, a quick glance behind herself from the corner of her eyes as if she was trying to check that Ephram couldn’t hold back. “I have to be honest with you, your company is the first time since I’ve arrived to Soaphram that I get to enjoy myself. This is the first ball that I’ve gotten to attend to and I’ve been in town for weeks!”

“That is just outrageous. Keeping a beautiful lady such as yourself away from society, away from making connections and having a good time. We are all lucky that you finally could join us. And how very lucky I am that I get to be the one to entertain you.” His hands got bolder and bolder as they talked and Isa didn’t stop him, she just sent looks towards his way that suggested that she was more than enjoying everything he was doing.

They reached the swan pond and it must have been a pretty sight, but it was dark and even though the moon was bright, not a lot of things could be seen. “There’s a bench a little up ahead, would you like to take a seat there? Maybe we get lucky… and the swans come out,” Popovich suggested, his voice full of intent and Isa faked another giggle.

Rein chuckled at Isa’s reasoning over the bicycle. He had strong doubts that’d be the case – he was still rather sure the bike was just a normal bike and that’s all. This merm just wasn’t used to using it. As she kept rambling about the bike being the bad guy here Rein just looked even more amused. He scratched his bearded jawline, trying not to look that amused by this. “Walk is fine for sure, that’s why I always walk everywhere. But you’re here trying to learn how to drive a bike, so walking isn’t an option then.”

He knew he wasn’t going to leave until he’d be 150% sure Isabel didn’t need help with the bicycle and just like he had assumed – she did agree she needed a bit help with this situation. “Alright, just a teeny tiny bit of help”, Rein repeated and put his hand on the backrack. “First off we have to deal with the balance. I’ll keep a hold from here so you won’t fall and you’ll try to stay on the bike, ok?” Rein was going to use his powers a bit here as well because why the heck not. The bicycle was made of different metals and it was easy to control it the way he wanted. But still, right now he needed to get some confidence in Isa so she would know she would be able to stay on the bike and nothing bad would happen. Especially with Rein making sure the bike would stay up.

Technically walking was an option. Technically she could just take back the bike and continue to do her days as if she didn’t buy anything and she could even pretend this episode with the bike was just that, an episode. But she also felt like this was a pride thing at this point, and Rein already saw her and damn it, she wanted to figure it out. It looked so cool when other people did it and it would make her days easier. And faster. More time for herself, which was always nice.

So instead of arguing further about the bike being evil and possessed (she could have, even if it was pointless and stupid and wouldn’t have made sense, she was in the kind of mindset that she could have easily just kept going), she finally pushed herself up onto her feet, dusted her backside and clothes in general and then watched as Rein steadied the bike and held it tight.

Joey smiled brightly as Isa walked in, setting the ball he’d been bouncing into a bucket with the others. “Hey!” He greeted. He already knew her well enough to forgo a handshake, but not well enough to go for a hug or anything like that, so he simply nodded at her with a sense of mild awkwardness 

“Oh, yeah,” he chuckled, “I wasn’t waiting too long, don’t worry.” Not that she seemed particularly worried about that. He shook his head at her question. “No, once or twice maybe? My muscle is sort of part of my physical make up as an atronach. I can’t gain or lose it. So there’s no real need to work out, though sometimes I do just for the routine of it.”

He looked her up and down for a split second, noticing her clothes looked new. She probably didn’t work out much either. “Swimming is excellent exercise. I’m not surprised you’re so fit.” And after he said that, all he could do was sincerely hope she didn’t think he’d been checking her out in any lewd sort of way. 

“Okay!” Joey said, clapping his hands together and swinging his arms to get pumped up. “Where do you want to start? There’s plenty of ways to use self defense against humans, and some of those things can work against the supernatural, but depending on what you’re dealing with the rules change, you know?”

“Wait, you just… get the muscles? Are you serious?” Isa asked back, surprised. “How is that fair?” she couldn’t help the added words slipping out. Sure, she didn’t need the muscles, she had a toned and amazing body because of the swimming, but damn it, that sounded really unfair. “I mean, good for you, but wow, others must feel really envious of you.” She figured this was for people who struggled to work out like how she was envious of those creatures who lived for longer than the human lifespan.

At his question where to start, she pondered for a second, rolling forwards and backward on her heels in the process a bit. “Well, what is the most effective thing you could suggest? I mean, you know a bunch of self-defense and you know what’s best to learn first, right? I am not planning on getting mugged or anything, not even sure if that’s a thing here when there are so many people who can just magic things for themselves and everything.”

Rein couldn’t help but chuckle at Isa’s complaint over the bike. “I’m rather sure it’s just a normal bike. If it’d be haunted or something it would’ve rolled away from you forever ago”, he continued in Spanish. He eyed at the bicycle for a moment, just making sure there definitely wasn’t any spirit snickering in it, but as far as Rein could tell it was just a normal bicycle. He could sense the different metals in it and he couldn’t tell anything was wonky, so he was quite sure it was just a bike.

“I’m doing fine. Just having a walk.” He looked at Isa but then nodded towards the bicycle. “You need a hand with that?”

“O tal vez ha sido maldecido para perseguir a la persona que trata de montarlo,” she pitched her own idea. She knew she was being dramatic, the bike was probably fine, but she was annoyed and being dramatic about it was the easiest and best way to release some of that tension out of her body in that moment. Also it was a lot easier to blame the bike than her inability to balance and ride it.

“Walk, walk’s fine, walk’s nice and slow, you get to take everything in and enjoy the scenery, not have to worry about falling onto your face. Walk is so amazing, right?” She was rambling, but at least she had a big smile on her face as if she actually knew what she was talking about.

“Hrrmph.” Ephram leaned back slightly, regarding Isa from below half-lowered eyelashes, considering. “I don’t reckon you get all that much opportunity to go to the cinema, at that. It’s not your ability to seduce people that I’m missing a step on, Doña, it’s your not knowing just how famous a film star Greta is.” But perhaps that was for the best. Without any real concept of Hollywood stardom, Isa was free to ply her trade however she felt would work, and who knew? Maybe that would appeal to Greta more than fawning starfuckers anyhow.

His jaw tightened just a bit, almost imperceptably, when Isa went on to ask about the possible efficacy of just killing Captain Baldwin and drew eyes from passers-by; Ephram guided her (well, manhandled her, but genteely enough to avoid concerned looks) over between a couple of tall topiaries. “We’re not in the fucking whorehouse right now, Isa,” he hissed, using her name instead of her purchased title. “Keep a lid on the business. Or at least that side of it.” His height granted him the advantage of easily making sure there were no eavesdroppers, and Ephram continued, “–I don’t want Baldwin dead. I want his opposition to my business changed into support. A government man in my pocket is more valuable than one in the ground. And that’s the last I’m going to explain myself to you.” He straightened his suit jacket, flicking a tiny myrtle leaf from one shirt cuff. “You’re not here to offer an opinion on my plans. You’re here to look expensive and available and to spread your legs when it’s needed.” He looked back at her, his eyes cold, shrewd. “Got it?”

The little interplay with Greta, Ephram noted, but didn’t remark upon. Let Isa lay her crumb trail how she wanted. When she took her hand from his grip and complained of the possibility of getting blood on her gown, he shook his head slightly. “There’s to be no killing here,” Ephram said, “not if it can be helped. So you go on, then – let Baldwin know that I’ve got his number. And don’t leave him until he agrees to back Kingfisher interests in Newfoundland. Then–” Ephram took out his silver-and-mahogany case, putting two cigarettes between his lips to light before handing one to Isa, “–come find me. I’ll be talking to Popovitch right there, beneath the lemon tree. Don’t take too long.”

A film star. The woman was a film star. Well, it wasn’t a surprise that Isa hasn’t known who she was, she’s only been to the cinema once in her life and even that was at least over a decade ago. She didn’t have too much time to think about the changes she might need to make in her plan with the woman, however, because Ephram pulled her aside and oh boy was he pissed. And okay, maybe she could have been a tiny bit quieter, but it’s not like it wasn’t a fair question. His words gave her a reality check, however. The new title and the pretty gown and the crowd made her forget for a moment that this wasn’t just a business arrangement and she stepped out of line. Her job is to make sure Ephram was happy and content with what she was doing just as much as the people he wanted her to talk to and seduce, and she couldn’t forget that again. “Sí, yes, I got it,” she said with a remorseful look on her face. She didn’t like his tone at all, but nobody cared about what she did or did not like.

She only nodded to his instructions, took the cigarette that was offered and after a long drag, she headed off to find and talk to Captain Baldwin, who was still off to the side all on his own. It went... effectively. She started off with small talk, smiling brightly and she was fairly certain the guy thought she wanted to seduce him, which he looked annoyed about, until she brought up Ephram and then what she knew. She kept her bright smile, so if anyone from further away would look at them, it would seem like they were having a pleasant conversation, but she could see the man tensing up and fear in his eyes. If they weren’t in a crowded space, he might have done more, but now he just gritted his teeth as he acknowledged everything she told him and accepted it all. Isa’s smile was genuine when she could finally get away from him to find Ephram.

[ TEXT ]: OBVIOUSLY 

[ TEXT ]: YOU’RE RIGHT I AM WRONG OF COURSE

[ TEXT ]: lol okay, so i’ll just bolster my coffee table so you have a stage the ;P

[ TEXT ]: i’ll see it in practice, it’ll be fine

[text]: OBVIOUSLY

[text]: i’m glad you’ve come to see the error of your ways :D

[text]: now THAT’S an idea :DDD and i can just use something as a microphone like... what do people use for microphones in movies, hairbrushes? you have one, right?

[text]: you’ll get your own private show, not a lot of people can say that they get that, you know  

[text]: yeah, sure, and if you ever change your mind, you know i’m always here to teach ;)

[text]: OBVIOUSLY

[text]: lol it’s not a bad thing i love how enthused you are that means it’s goiing to be good!

[text]: practice in my apartment I’ll move some couches!

[text]: I’m just not such a fan of  the idea

[text]: OBVIOUSLY

[text]: it’s not going to be good, essie, it’s going to be AMAZING :D

[text]: YES i am definitely taking you up on that offer, though the couch moving isn’t necessary i didn’t plan on doing backflips and such on the stage

[text]: and even if i did, backflips would work a lot differently in the water, lot less impressive and everything 

“We’ll save that as a last resort,” he said, grinning at Isa. “Though if it doesn’t start behaving,” he added, pitching his voice loud enough to be sure the cat would hear, “maybe I’ll have to throw it in the ocean myself. Don’t claw at people,” he scolded the cat. His chiding fell on deaf feline ears, however, as the cat merely pranced ahead, tail swishing haughtily. He hadn’t actually thought it would work, but the cat did seem to understand them when they spoke. Maybe it was smarter than he had given it credit for.

“Yeah? Gotta confess, I’m not usual a theater kind of guy. I haven’t been to too many plays.” He didn’t add that the few plays he’d been to had been somewhat less than stellar performances, or that he’d fallen asleep halfway through. “But I’m sure it’ll be amazing,” he added, since she sounded so enthusiastic about it. “Where’s it being shown?”

“People bring their familiars on hikes, sometimes. Or send them out to the woods to fetch mushrooms and such. Maybe it got lost, or decided not to go home?” Will shrugged. “All I know is that we gotta find whoever’s responsible for this thing. If it’s a familiar, there’s gotta be a witch who owns it. Fairy familiars don’t get lost like this.”

“Spending a lot of time in the forest is the best part. Dealing with people, on the other hand … ” Will grimaced. “But on the whole, yeah, it’s great. I love it, honestly. Don’t know what else I’d be good for.” He was half-joking but half-serious. He’d never known anything else, other than working in and around the forest. Picturing himself in some other kind of human job was strange to even consider.

Isa let out a small laugh. “Maybe that way you could get rid of it, too, if you really intend to,” she suggested. “Make sure it knows you want it to take a bath in the ocean and it will run away from you on its own.”

“You know, I never understand when people say they are not theater people. Why? Did you have a bad experience or do you just not like stories or what’s holding you back?” she asked, both curious and a bit confused, too. “But yeah, it really will be great, so even if you’re not a theater person, you should come and see it. It’s going to be on in the Pondicherry in the beginning of December.”

The thought of the cat being a witch familiar didn’t really cross her mind or make Isa feel too good about finding the owners if she was being honest, but it was already decided and she was leading the way, so she couldn’t exactly just turn around and change her mind. “It could be just a smart cat, too. A really smart cat,” she added when it seemed like the cat could actually understand what they were saying as it turned around as if to just sign that it knew they were talking about it.

[text]: OBVIOUSLY

[text]: I can tell lol

[text]: I’m really really excited for you, you have to have to give me a sneak peak of practices on land before you dive for it

[text]: It’s not a phobia per say

[text]: OBVIOUSLY

[text]: am i that obvious? i mean yeah okay i probably amxD

[text]: ooooh, that’s a good idea, yes, we can definitely do that!