Conscientia

[gamemakers]

WHO| Open
WHAT| Night life at the Speakeasy
WHEN| Evenings this week
WHERE| The Speakeasy
WARNINGS/NOTES| Feel free to use this party post style, or however you like if you would like to set any threads here.

The speakeasy was a classy joint. Wood panels, and soft velvet, and usually some kinda of live music, something mellow and easy to relax to. It was big, with low ceilings and with many back rooms, some easy to access, others less so. Easy to get lost in. And it gave off an air of class, of comfort, and being a part of something a little different from the rest. The kinda place where everybody knew your name, and everybody knew to be discreet about it.

It was the perfect place to grab a drink, sit, talk, and relax. No one over heard you, no one got in your business, but everyone was glad to talk if you wanted to find a friendly face. The owner, Conscientia, made her round every now and then, saying hello to her regulars, welcoming those who were new.

Comments

[makeflowersgrow]

"The government? And what would they do?"

She takes another sip and laughs. "Put me in prison? Well, I have been there; it is not nice, but I survived all right. Or perhaps they will kill me? Or have someone else kill me?"

She laughs at her own wit. "I am not scared of your government. I am not scared of anything. It is not a 'noble sentiment'. I just do not want to be a killer. I am a bad girl - but I am not SO bad!"

[setfires]

"No. They wouldn't kill you or put you in prison. They're so much more creative than that," Cinna said simply.

"Look, I'm not telling you to participate. If you want to refuse, refuse. But you should be aware of what that means."

[makeflowersgrow]

[She downs the rest of the tumbler and signals for another. She's getting steadily more and more drunk; she was such a skinny slip of a thing, still in her mid teen years; it wasn't physically possible to handle her drink well, though she'd been drinking it for years. Still, she signalled for another.]

"I don't know what to do. I don't want to go home. I can't go home if I kill. I don't want to be killed again.

What am I supposed to do?"

All alone in a strange land where people want to kill her and kiss her and buy her drinks. She's so, so wary of them - most of them, and defiant to a fault to hide her fear.

"I'm not going to fight."

[setfires]

Cinna considered her carefully for a moment. "Then don't, but be prepared for all the things they'll do and say to make you fight. Even if you don't fight in the arena, you'll have to become strong and fight them another way."

[makeflowersgrow]

She nods. "The lady - well, she did not say as much as you have, M'sieur... But it was enough. I am already in trouble now, no? Howard thinks I will be. I'm not scared. I have nothing they can take but my life, and they can have it. I'd die at home within the year anyway. It doesn't matter to me."

She speaks without self pity, and with self-loathing. How she had talked her way into trouble was unbelievable, but she couldn't back down now.

"I will be okay, M'sieur. As Howard says, I am a rat. I will be okay."

She downs the rest of the drink, and pushes the glass away, running her fingers through the tangled mop of hair.

"Don't tell Valeria you caught me, will you? She'd have a fit if she knew what I looked like now."

[setfires]

"I promise that I won't breathe a single word of anything we've talked about today," he said with all sincerity. "Good luck."