Gervasiel

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin winked as magic wove around them. Light glimmered. Where the two Tsuirakuans had stood, there were abruptly a pair of long-legged blondes in short black dresses with v-necks that went clear down to the bellybuttons of their taut abdomens, the black fabric tight on their generously-sized bosoms. From their long blonde hair to their deep green eyes they were absolutely identical.

"Double the pleasure," the girl who had been Maduin said in a high, breathy soprano. "Double your fun. And it's easier to cast the spell and hold it if we're both exactly alike." She batted long eyelashes and let out a feminine giggle. "I think Drusia would probably be having a nosebleed right about now. Shall we go?"

[Drannin]

Argus just stared down at a pair of assets he did not have ten seconds previously. He stared at the other two in mute horror, Maduin's spell translating it in such a way that he (she) looked innocent and charming. The other two just grinned at his plight, and each seized one of his arms.

"What..." he mumbled weakly, just glad that Harker wasn't there to see this.

[Graybeard]

The belly laugh that Sister Rose (or, if you prefer, "Mabel") was trying to hold in at the appearance of the Tsuirakuans leaked out just very slightly, in the form of a smirk that had more of a sense of wantonness to it than the come-hither look that might have been more to the point. Well, wantonness would play, too. However, there was one thing to do first.

"Before we go in there, let me put the Empathy on," she told her two co-conspirators. "That'll be the last magic I can use for a while, because I want to make sure I can still change back out of this getup. Luminosita knows I don't want to be stuck in this shape ... no matter how much fun it might be."

Rose muttered something, and her eyes glowed again for a moment. Then she opened the door to the inn, to confront a very surprised looking receptionist...

[Drannin]

Arty the receptionist didn't have an exciting job. It was mainly bored people coming and going, and handing out keys. SO when the door opened, and three people came in, he didn't really trouble himself to look up. At least until a rather deep, seductive voice said "Excuse me?" In a tone that made all of the hair on his neck stand up. He glanced up and...

OH DEAR LUMINOSITA!

Two gorgeous blondes, in tight dresses, one looking both sultry and interested (Yay!). Another looking pouty, currently studying the floor (Cute...). A small, well-endowed, cheerful redhead (Wow...). Mentally he dubbed them Sultry, Pouty, and Cheery. He sort of liked Pouty. Something cute about that shyness...

After a minute, Arty found his voice. "Um... may I help you... lovely ladies?" He didn't notice Pouty wince as though in pain or horror.

Actually, it was a bit of both. Argus was currently VERY glad that Harker was nowhere to be seen.

[Graybeard]

This, Sister Rose reflected, might be the time to pile it on particularly thick.

Her control over her body as she took it into an unfamiliar configuration wasn't perfect, and her voice didn't always come out with exactly the right timbre for the form she adopted. However, she'd tried it on her ... companions ... before coming inside, and the results seemed adequate for the job. She remembered a public-speaking class from her distant past -- one of those things that any priest or nun was supposed to learn -- and went for it. Yes, the voice had "brazen strumpet" all over it, or maybe "saucy tart," she wasn't quite sure, but either would do.

"M'lord, we be hearin' that thet Tsuraky magic-man who be stayin' with yez be lookin' for a good time, and we be in the bizzy-ness o' helping them that be wantin' a good time to be findin' what they be lookin' for. Might ye be kind enough to be tellin' us where to be findin' the fella?" She batted her eyes for good measure, thinking, I'm enjoying this way too much...

[Drannin]

Arty blinked, a cold chill running down his spine. "Tsuraky...? You mean Professor Kurou?" He shuddered. "Missy, you don't want any part of him. Oh, he's friendly enough in person, but you always get the impression that he's taking you apart as he looks at you, and tossing you aside in the same thought." Arty shook his head, remembering how the foreigner had apparently considered him part of the furniture. Frankly, Arty had preferred it that way. "Surely there's a more...likely individual that would approve of your... ah... company?"

[Graybeard]

Well, that was genuine enough, Sister Rose/Mabel reflected. It was also mildly puzzling. If Kurou wanted to be inconspicuous, he really didn't want to cause cold chills in the innkeeper at the place where he was staying. Of course, he might be so sure of himself, and so contemptuous of the natives and their abilities, that he didn't feel the need to cover his tracks. That was useful knowledge.

Back to the act. "I be disappointed, I be," she declared. "I ain't never been sleepin' with a Tsuraky-an, and it be soundin' interestin' till you be sayin' all that. Can ye be tellin' us where his room be, so's we kin at least be leavin' him a callin' card, so ta speak?"

She concentrated on the answer, which had the same element of distaste in it ... but a tiny tendril of her Empathy focused instead on Argus (at least she hoped she had the right "twin") and his reaction to the "sleeping with a Tsuirakuan" declaration. Things aren't anywhere near that stage yet, but one never knows...

[Drannin]

Arty started to protest, then relented. "Room 206," he said wearily. "Luminosita help you if you actually meet the man, though." He turned back to his work, a little embarrassed. Where did one put one's eyes when three such women were around...?

Argus just blinked at the 'sleeping with a Tsuirakuan' comment. Rose really could have a mouth on her when she was undercover, couldn't she...

[Porcelain Fish]

" You're a peach," Maduin added in his borrowed breathy soprano, tossing in a flirtatious wink for good measure. "Mebbe if this tsuiraky-an doesn't have the fire in his belly to handle a little excitement, we might be lookin' for something with a little more . . . local flavor." The giggle that followed as he stepped off after Argus and Rose was high and bubbly.

[Caoimhe Faelan]

"Safe..." Suriah rolled the idea around in her mind. Not just safe, but no longer prosecuted by those who had raised her. No longer seeing regret and fear in the eyes of everyone around her.

((Sorry for being gone, guys. Once again, lots of family stuff.))