xvii. dictated, action

[heloise]

Paradisa
For my Giovanni. If you would be so kind.


[ Lucrezia can be found at highest roof with a wooden box inlaid with pearls at her feet. It is small and finely made, but the real (belated) gift is within: a white silk shirt fit for a little prince with golden narcissus embroidered on its sleeves. She turns away after enough time, retracing her steps back to her room. ]

Ovid once wrote, est etiam placuisse sibi quaecumque voluptas: virginibus cordi grataque forma suast.

But mirrors never turned out for good.

[ Translation goes: Besides, all women take a secret pride in being fine or else they are belied; for when the conscious maid explores her mirror and finds she's handsome, she herself adores. ]

Comments

[heloise]

[ Lucrezia steps around to see her face, placing her fingers lightly against South's cheek if she lets her. She smiles, approving. ]

Any style would fit your face.

this is the best converstaion XD

[i_got_this]

[South freezes. If she didn't know any better, she would have called this flirting.]

So, you and this face-buddy of mine, were you really close?

she flirts with everything

[heloise]

[ Lucrezia giggles, letting her hand slides down to her chin and her eyes too, as if to memorize its shape. ]

She was my only companion for a few dark months, though they ended most happily. She was also my brother's lover.

South's pretty shameless too >.>

[i_got_this]

[South warms a little, leaning into the touch and chuckling also, somewhat curious what happened in those 'few dark months'.]

So she's like your sister-in-law? But without the actual law if -in-law?

then this will work out juuuuuuuust fine

[heloise]

[ Lucrezia lowers her eyes as if to hide a secret. She was hiding in a nunnery to give birth to a bastard, but nobody need know. ]

She is a dear friend, like you will be.

B)

[i_got_this]

[South's used to being called many things, but 'friend' wasn't really one of them. She snakes her head back slightly in response, before reaching out and giving Lucrezia a light punch on the shoulder.]

Good. I haven't really had a female friend in like ... well, ever.

[heloise]

[ The punch takes her by surprise and she gapes at South for a few moments before letting it slide. It seems like something nice than otherwise.

Lucrezia steps back to fetch her the skirt first, moving to help her with it. ]

Am I to be your first?

[i_got_this]

[Unfortunately, that's just South's idea of being affectionate.]

Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I was a soldier, there wasn't much time for friends in general.

[heloise]

A soldier? [ Lucrezia fastens the skirt around South's waist, taking time to tie it up. ]

Like Jeanne, la pucelle d'Orléans.

[i_got_this]

[South's wavering between holding still and trying to turn and watch Lucrezia work.]

Yeah, like ... Jeanne. Except in the future, so we've got armor and guns and spaceships and all that fun stuff. What does Jeanne fight with?

[heloise]

Swords, I believe. I wonder if they are as deadly in the hands of a woman.

[ Lucrezia fusses with the skirt, making sure it falls perfectly. ]

[i_got_this]

[Oh, that ... trips one of South's hotbuttons. She answers passionately, perhaps fidgeting too much to let Lucrezia get the skirt just right.]

Oh, are you fucking kidding me? Women are just as capable of taking shit down as guys are. I mean look at me, yeah? All woman, all badass. Sword, rifle, fucking Gravity Hammer, we can be fucking warriors if we want to. Nobody has a right to say otherwise.

[heloise]

[ Good thing she's almost done with it, pulling her hands away when South begins her tirade. Lucrezia is impassive, battles of steel and fire were never her interest. She decides to appease her instead, moving away to fetch the bodice. ]

They say Caterina Sforza is a fearsome warrior with her sword, though I wonder if her strength is in strategy instead. [ Isn't that a woman's part after all, tugging on invisible strings? ]

[i_got_this]

Whatever. We're just as good soldiers as anyone else.

[South continues to stew for a moment, seeing Lucrezia come back with the bodice but not quite register what's in store for her.]

[heloise]

There are other battles we may have more penchant for.

[ She holds it up, like a vest, for South to put her hand through. ]

[i_got_this]

If you're going to say 'wit' I'll leave that to you. I'm fine with shooting people's faces.

[She puts her hand through the bodice as suggested.]

[heloise]

[ And Lucrezia starts putting the lace through it, taking her sweet time. ]

Can all disagreements be solved by "shooting people's faces"?

[i_got_this]

Pretty much. Okay, so it's not the best way to argue with someone, but hey -- if they're bringing a pistol to the table so am I.

[heloise]

Fighting fire with fire, now?

[i_got_this]

Yup, because sometime that's the best way to go. [And sometimes stealth if South ever took it seriously]

[Also wow is she sill lacing? South's not used to clothes takig so long.]This is so time consuming -- how long is this going to take altogether?

[heloise]

[ She's almost done, tugging hard at the threads before trying it up in a neat ribbon. ]

That is like asking how long it would take to finish a good meal!

[i_got_this]

One hour. Two if he's cute. [South has no shame or hesitance. She staggers a little breath as the lacing finishes.] Does it have to be so tight?

[heloise]

It would be better so. [ She runs her hand over the lacing. Not tighter than the French, she was told. ]

How cute must he be for three hours?

[i_got_this]

It's kind of hard to breathe. [Oh god France, really?!]

He's gotta be a freaking movie star to keep my attention for that long.

[heloise]

[ Lucrezia steps aside to fetch the sleeves now, almost there... ]

What is a movie star? Someone exceedingly handsome?