Hotaru
Somewhere my lifeline still hums and sings
In the mess of all I have thrown away
Relief is hard to find in Torchline, even when the options are twice as plentiful as any other region. Hotaru has long wrinkled her nose at alcohol - unable to fully move past dark memories and the scent on someone else's breath. It isn't her preferred vice. But sex feels pretty ruined for her right now, Frey demigod status be damned, so that leaves violence and manipulation as her other preferred coping mechanisms. Violence isn't as easy when you're a half-god who can kill someone if you punch them wrong, so cards it is. In the mess of all I have thrown away
It would be as easy as twitching a finger to appear as someone else tonight, but she had realized - what would be the benefit? She is a nameless ghost to most people in Caido these days, domesticated as she'd been in the meadows of King's End. So she lets herself appear as she is, magical glow and spun sunlight hair and all. It ensures people flock to her - usually men, unsurprisingly - and equally blinds them to any mischief she causes at the table.
A woman's voice hollering from nearby turns her head a fraction of an inch. At her ankle, Andraste's neck winds around her calf to investigate on her behalf. Hotaru sits back in her chair as the round ends, smiling beatifically while she gathers her winnings and soothes any disgruntled feelings with a soft coo that rolls through her glossed lips, "I'm sorry boys, I guess it's my lucky night. Care for refills? You'll still benefit from your own coin a bit longer." If she cares to actually pay for the round; she doesn't need the money, but half the fun is getting away with blatant use of her magic.
Begging off another game, she leaves the table in a graceful departure that she doesn't waste - disappearing into the surrounding bodies before disgruntled competitors can let the emotion stew long enough to consider acting on it. Many people stand around watching various games, and she slides through them easily with her petite stature. At least until the voice from before tickles at her ear again, making Ru's lips twitch in a brief betrayal of her confusion that leads her to Colt's table.
And it is Colt, out of place as she seems in Torchline. Though, Hotaru had heard about the ranch burning down. Is she indulging in vices too? But why here, and not in King's End? Curiosity mingles with the inherent hurt that stings through her chest at the mere thought of King's End, Sunjata directly on the heels of it. She'd hardly gotten to know Colt beyond pleasantries, but seeing the fellow blonde here, just as alone as the Valkyrie, sparks some sort of manic response in Ru that has her sidling up behind the man at the other side of the table from Colt. Heterochromatic eyes flick briefly toward the other woman - catching meaningfully, but as quickly as she can manage - before sliding her arm across the back of the man's shoulders, leaning in with a perfectly crafted expression of flirtatious intrigue.
"Mind if I watch from here? Maybe I can learn a few tricks," she titters a laugh, glad when he takes the bait with a leering smile and wraps an arm around her waist to pull her closer. So long as she doesn't move around the table she can't be accused of aiding any particular player - but Hotaru can do that without moving an inch. She just needs to time it right and Colt will walk away with at least one winning hand. From beneath, Andraste moves to Colt's side and curls around one of the legs of her chair, pale eyes nearly luminescent from the shadows under the table as they watch her.
Hungry now,
I am gathering new seeds to throw wide
I am gathering new seeds to throw wide
