Mercenary Eye for the Straight Girl

From FiranMUX

<<Following up on Ladonna's posting on the 13 board for fashion advice, Vinetti(with fashion-1) meets with the woman about creating a new look. Of course in the mercenary's eyes it's brilliant, but in reality... well... you be the judge.>>

Ladonna stands just near the shady arbour, concealed in dark shadows. Neither time of night nor the cold seem very much to affect the young woman and while she waits, she studies her fingernails. They are, as is she, perfectly manicured to present a very specific visage. After finding this dull, Ladonna turns briefly to inspect the moonlit flowers behind her, hand still extended. Her two bodyguards stand nearby.

"Hey, ya with the goons." Vinetti says as he walks into the garden, those heavy black boots of his loud on the stone path. "Are ya the actress, Mes Ladonna?" The tall mercenary asks, that single eye of his looking over the girl's bodyguards for a moment before focusing once more on the woman. "I'm Vinetti, the feckin' fashion guy." He says with an amused expression on his rugged features, while a demented looking ferret on his left shoulder chitters like a crazy thing.

Ladonna turns around quickly at the sound of a voice, flowers wholly forgotten. She arches a brow at Vinetti and says, "Mes Harror," quietly. Her torso twists around and her gaze settles on the seats under the shaded arbor; she gestures to them, evidently an invitation to sit down. "Mer Vinetti," she says quite politely, a chilly undertone in her voice. She glances at the ferret briefly and then looks back at the 'feckin fashion guy' in question.*Firan*

"Mes Harror huh? Ya Head of yer Family? Well how about that." Vinetti comments as he takes the offered place to seat, and stretches out those long legs of his. "Ya a religious woman?" The soldier asks, explaining, "It'll help ta feel me a feel fer ya and shite, before partin' my advice on dressin'."

Ladonna perches primly next to Vinetti and shakes her head, "No. Mer Harror is," she explains gently. "I am his w..wife." The girl looks over Vinetti, eying his long legs, his torso, and eventually his face. She pauses at sight of the eye, stares at it a second too long, and /quickly/ redirects her gaze. "Um. Religious? I suppose so, I do believe in the gods; I--" she cuts herself off, looking up at the sky for a moment. Ladonna looks back at Vinetti, issues a thin smile, and shrugs one shoulder. "Yes, I suppose I am," she concludes. Gently, Ladonna smoothes her woolen stola over her legs and crosses her ankles. She sits up very, very straight and pulls her palla a little tighter around her shoulders. *Firan*

"These guards from yer husband then?" Vinetti questions, motioning their way. "Looks like ya scored yerself a rich fella. I seen noble with less protection." Flashing a crooked grin at that as that single eye of his narrows into a more direct gaze. "Ok... so you've found religion. Does your family have like a crest or anythin', like family colors?" He goes on with the questions, observing how the actress handles herself. You hear that IC Messengers are trying to reach you.

Ladonna glances at the guards briefly and then looks at Vinetti with much the same expression: blank, impassive nothingness. She neither confirms nor denies the "scoring" of a rich man; she just stares at him. The single eye, however, manages to make Ladonna uncomfortable and she shifts in her seat, averting her gaze from both Vinetti and eye. "I... don't know," she says about the family, wrinkling her nose. "I married into it." *Firan*

"Right right, mysteries of family life..." Vinetti says quickly, discounting the crest and going with, "Do ya have any favorite colors, Mes?" That single eye of his glancing down towards the woman's legs, when she looks away from him. "See what we're goin' for here is mystery, but in a way that yer comfortable. Not ta mention showin' off some." Messenger for Vinetti approaches Vinetti and makes a delivery.

"There is," Ladonna replies quite confidently, "nothing at all to show off, I'm sure. As for colors, I admit I've found it hard to break away from the so-fashionable white that the unwed wear, though I suppose I'm permitted to wear whatever color I desire. Perhaps. Except for red." Lightly flushing at the very /thought/, Ladonna tries to sit up even straighter. This is proving difficult at best, given that she's already quite straight-backed. A soft breeze passes through the gardens, disrupting the plants and Ladonna's hair. She quickly sets to making sure that no hairpins have fallen out, no improprieties occurred, and in doing so she quite forgets to keep the palla tugged so tightly across her chest.

"Eesha's thighs, now we're gettin' somewhere." Vinetti comments at the sight of Ladonna's scooping neckline, thanks to the Palla malfunction. "Ok, ok, now clearly ya are a fine proper Mes." The mercenary says, motioning with one of his large hands towards the girl's posture and hairpins. "But ya need ta let the hair down some..." Pausing while his ferret's eyes seem to bug out and the little roddent shows his teeth in a menacing way. "...but not like ya were some whore. There are degrees. Some folks fer instance find me ta be real menacin', but I don't knock folks over the head with it by wearing like skulls and violent-lookin' belongings."

Ladonna has not noticed Vinetti's oggling of her low neckline since she is, after all, not looking in his direction. A few more moments are spent fussing with her hairpins and her hair but, eventually, Ladonna decrees herself satisfied with whatever was previously unsatisfactory, and lets her hands fall back to her lap. She turns to issue Vinetti an exceedingly rare smile, "Probably wise," she says of his quip about skulls and other paraphernalia that merely serves to startle. Then she begins to chew over Vinetti's advice, mulling and contemplating the task at hand for quite a long time; at length, Ladonna replies in an amicable sort of way, "Mer Vinetti. If you care to look at me, you will quite see that my hair /is/ down -- of sorts." Indeed, it is in the half-up-half-down style that manages to walk the line of pretty and tight propriety. But that's likely not what Vinetti meant at all.

"Alright, there are two important things I need ya ta do fer me, if I'm gonna do my job right." Vinetti explains, as his amusement grows. "Tell me which diety ya feel the most affection fer, and..." Nodding his head at this. "Show me yer legs." Holding up a hand before the denials start he goes on to say, "Seein' yer legs is as important as a wheels on a chariot. Ya can't properly design it all until ya see how good them wheels look." Grinning like some escaped devil the mercenary gives a thumbs up and says, "Now lets see yer wheels, eh? And that God stuff is important too."

Ladonna's expression is nothing short of what Vinetti likely expected. Her eyes go a little wide, her jaw drops, and she inhales very sharply. "/Mer/ Vinetti!" she begins to exclaim right over his explanation of wheels and chariots and legs being wheels and all sorts of stuff that really just befuddles Ladonna a little bit. "I'm sorry, but /wheels/ are not /legs/ and I don't know who you have been speaking to or what you have neglected to see in your life, but a wheel," she demonstrates by drawing a big circle in the air, "is round. LEGS," she stands up and pulls her skirts just to the knee, "are /straight/." So, technically, Vinetti gets what he wants -- but not by any sort of willingness on part of Ladonna. She sits back down, flounces her skirts, and clucks her tongue, "Someone clearly owes you several lessons in... well, I don't know /what/ that would be, but really!" *Firan*

"Ya forgot ta talk about the God stuff." Vinetti says once things quiet down, though checks out Ladonna's legs in the mean time. "Now ya get yerself some fine... straight... legs. I bet ya dance. Am I right? We're gonna have ta show that shite off more." The mercenary explains with a seemingly thoughtful nod of his head. "See folks get ta talkin' with ya and they see a proper Mes. Goin' back ta my philosophy of not hittin' folks over the head with clothin', we're gonna steer away from bein' perfectly proper so ya have yerself more mystery." Clearly thinkin' he's onto something here. "Now what do ya think about leather? And do ya like weapons?"

Ladonna replies regarding the "god stuff" rather quickly, "I follow Lady Eesha." And then she lets it drop, eying Vinetti a little warily now. Under the woolen confines of her stola, Ladonna's legs, which are very clearly dancer's legs and she needn't even bother confirming his assumption, shift; she moves one over the other and then undoes the movement and recrosses them. This movement serves to give Ladonna time to think, as well as mark her discomfort. "I... leather? I wear it sometimes when I ride." Her eyes fly open quite wide and she looks at Vinetti, "MY HORSE," she says sharply for whatever reason. "My horse. I ride /my horse/." That clarified, she inclines her head, "I am skilled with several. Mostly daggers." To demonstrate, she picks up the hilt of the dagger at her side, tilts it so the metal glitters, and then releases it.

• Firan*

"Ok ok... I'm gettin' a vision in my head..." Vinetti says, looking over towards the flowers. "Eesha's dancer! Yeah, that's it. Classy yet sexy, religious yet with hints of naughty. But ya aint just eye candy and fantasys fer snot nosed kids, so there's still the hairpins, and still the stola." Thinking about it more he says, "Keep with the dagger, maybe get a second one. And a big fur cloak. Black, ta match yer hair. Fancy and shite."

The horror that seems to be steadily increasing upon the Harror's face is more than evident. "S.. pardon, I think I misheard," she begins sound more like she /hopes/ she misheard than she actually did. Ladonna stares at Vinetti, the eye no longer an issue (or perhaps overlooked in the face of more important happenings), and shakes her head slowly. "W... wouldn't-- I don't ... think. Did you say /naughty/?" The actress turns a very white shade of 'pale'.

"Just a hint of naughty." Vinetti explains, and going on says, "Now the hem of yer stola will be higher ta show off yer legs." The mercenary decides, rolling now with the vision in his head of Ladonna's new look. "Showin' yer knees, or better yet, just a bit of thigh. Yer rack I reckon ought ta be covered completly in fabric ta balance things out. Not that there is anything wrong with yer breasts, they are just fine." He quickly adds, so as not to seem insulting. "I'm thinkin' maybe a purple stola, or a blue, a dark color ta make the fairness of yer legs really stand out. And uh... ta show off yer eyes." Adding the eyes part in an off-handed manner, not a top priority.

And the horror just /grows/! With every word Vinetti says, Ladonna is rendered nearly speechless; her eyes look like they are about to leap from her head, her jaw could not /possibly/ fall any lower, and her cheeks have turned a delightful shade of pink. "Sh-- showing my /what/!" she gasps finally, unable to maintain silence as Vinetti goes on and on about knees, thighs... her rack?! Ladonna quickly covers her breasts with both hands (forget the palla!) and continues to stare at him. He couldn't possibly have more! Could he!?

"Ya gotta show off them legs." Vinetti says, working to clarify his fashionable vision. "See guys will be impressed, and girls will be impressed, cuz you ain't just showin' skin ya see... yer showin' skill. Dancin' skill." Wondering for a moment why Ladonna is grabbing her chest, but assuming it's a girl thing, moves on. "We throw in the black fur cloak, or matchin' palla fer when it's warm, plus yer hairpins and assorted jewelry, and ya won't come off as a naughty girl." Flashing a crooked smile at that. "Yer still proper in the way ya act, but yer look has been shined up ta create a feelin' of mystery about ya. Ladonna the actress. Not, Laddonna, the girl that looks like everyone else. Ya'll be puttin' yerself in a whole different catagory."

"I," Ladonna begins, stumbling over the words, "do you really think so?" So flustered, so wildly out of her league, Ladonna leans forward to eat up every word that Vinetti says, eyes widening at every turn. "But. Who would I get to make all of this? And you're /sure/-- this is a very good idea, isn't it?"

"Remember the Eesha's Dancer theme. It's all about layerin' in different things ta keep folks wonderin', which keeps ya on their minds." Vinetti says to the leaning Ladonna. "The stola shows off her legs, but doesn't need the freedom ta do her dancing, and she does seem ta like Eesha... The dagger(s) suggest she's got some bite ta her, despite seemin' ta be a very proper girl... That black fur cloak seems a bit haughty, but it does go with her hair, and she is an actress so likes ta be dramatic... The hairpins go a long way ta showin' her good and proper personality." Layers. The mercenary hopes this is comming thru. "As fer who will make it, have a right respectable person do it. Don't like go ask some whore who makes her trashy clothin'. Ya follow? Cuz ya ain't gettin' trashy, yer getting mysterious."

"I... see," she begins slowly, nodding a little. She understands. She seems to have no argument! She is, for the now, putty in Vinetti's evidently fashionable hands! "Yes, I follow, I believe. I wouldn't want to be.. um, what you said. Mysterious. Sounds right, for what I do, I suppose. Though," everything comes to a screeching halt, "I don't really do very much acting at all lately. Does that matter?"