Wine and Dine [Finished]

[Shinigami]

The room was perfect: elegant, rich furnishings; a beautiful table for two set off to one side, with menus provided; a long, low couch on the other side of the room, covered in rich velvet, framed by dark drapes. Music drifted in from the main area of the restaurant, but this was one of the private rooms that only the wealthy could really afford. Of course, it probably helped that the otter who was paying for the room and meal was a bit of a private adventurer, not to mention had marked herself as a King of Hearts for the evening. She'd been tempted to make herself a Queen, but that would have been just a little bit too conspicuous, especially considering that the Card she was meeting was a Ten of Spades. So a King it was - high enough to have real power, but not so high as to make herself horribly obvious. As to why she'd never been seen in the Capital before, she simply said that she was visiting from her home town in Torquehelm. And to emphasise that fact, she'd changed her coloring entirely to that of Torquehelm, her black markings becoming purple, while her white turned black. As soon as she'd been left alone in the room she'd resumed her normal form though, so that her lovely one would be more comfortable in her presence - Vessatha always seemed horribly uncomfortable whenever she was in a different form.

Harlequinn had spent hours getting ready, making sure that her appearance was impeccable, each strand of fur perfectly in place and shining brightly, each bell polished until they practically glowed. Not only that, but she made sure that Vessatha would feel equally as beautiful; when she'd sent the ferret the invitation, she'd also sent her a gift certificate to the finest quality bathouse in the city, where she'd be pampered and groomed to perfection. The Forester would be absolutely stunning by the time they were done, and Quinn imagined with pleasure all of the jaws that would be dropping at her lovely one's appearance. Not that they would be allowed to do more than look and marvel, though; Vessatha was hers.

Dexterous paws poured wine into the crystal goblets that were provided, the fragrant fumes wafting out to add to the ambiance of the environment. Yes, everything was ready, everything was in its place. Perfect.

[Greenie]

"A spa? What the bloody hell is a spa?" Vessatha accidentally spoke louder than she meant to, but thankfully she was nice and alone in her brand-spanking-new apartment. (She'd finally figured out that it was -ment not -mint, and it seemed to make more sense to everyone else that way too..) The place didn't have any furniture, but that would come later. A blanket and the floor worked for her!

Anyways, apparently she was leaving, to go to a.. spa. The ferret had been tempted to just say 'Uh, no, Quinn. Nuhuh.' to the otter.. but the invitation said dinner, and dinner meant food. Glorious, glorious food.

It wasn't that she was gluttonous, but she was paying for her own meals now, and groceries were expensive! They didn't just grow on trees like they used to! She had a little leftover from paying rent, but it wasn't enough to get her more than a few day's worth, at least not until her next payday. So the idea of someone else feeding her once more was just too tempting to pass up. Plus, Harlequinn had a bad habit of feeding her too much, which was never a bad thing. Usually she could sneak some leftovers home.. which she fully intended to do today.

Clearly, though, if she wanted to get fed, she had to go to this spa thing. Quinn seemed very adamant about it in the note. The ferret doubted it was something painful, but the invitation was quite vague. So she shrugged, and headed out to the address listed.

An hour later, she walked out, quite pleased with what a spa was. It apparently was a bathhouse (why couldn't they just call it that?) and they had treated her like royalty, which she almost was, at a ten, but it didn't quite cut it normally. They had seemed to think that Harlequinn was of some importance, which was kind of funny to think about, because Quinn was just Quinn, and not really important at all, but if it meant she got to smell like roses and had actually clean fur for once in several weeks, she wasn't arguing.

Oh no, not at all.

Humming under her breath, Vessatha trotted to the restaurant Quinn had labeled in a daze, not really paying attention. Once she was inside, though, she paid quite a bit of attention. This place was worse than the bathhouse in terms of how expensive it was (which she just hadn't asked), and there were high-ranking cards everywhere. Vessa nearly backed out and fled, but a host approached her before she had the chance to do more than look like the chickenshit she was.

"Who is your party, ma'am?"

Vessatha blinked at him for a moment, then started and answered. "Harlequinn..?"

"Oh! King Harlequinn, yes, right this way." The host started off, and Vessatha followed, bemused. King Harlequinn? Quinn wasn't a King. She wasn't even a Jack. Okay, so Vessa didn't know what she was, because the otter always insisted on using her silly parlor tricks to disguise her rank, but she doubted that Quinn was something that high. She never acted like it, anyways.

The host led her straight through the dining area and up some stairs. He opened the door but didn't go in, merely motioning for her to go on her own. Confused, she did.. and stopped in the door way, her jaw open.

"Quinn? What the hell?" She'd been planning on being polite, seeing as Quinn had bathed and fed her and so on, but really! This was far too over the top!

[Shinigami]

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Quinn's fur shifted in an instant from her Tulgey/Torquehelm coloring to the pure Torquehelm it had been before, the red K marking her breast again. She nodded elegantly toward the host, and then turned her attention fully to Vessatha, a warm smile spreading across her muzzle.

"Vessatha love, come in!" she said brightly, ignoring her protests for the time being. There would be time to squeak at her later, when they didn't have the attentive eyes of another on them, ready to gather up the gossip and spread it far and wide throughout the city. Or rather, gather up even more gossip than they already had. How shocking it was, a King of Hearts apparently seducing a Ten of Spades! Then again, the rank disparities weren't quite that bad, because the Ten might only be a step away from becoming a Jack, and then there was only the single rank seperating them. On the other hand, if Vessa had been any lower rank, that would be when the shock and drama really set in. But she wasn't, and so the scandal was kept to a minimum. The host bowed to the two of them and left with a murmured, "Your highness," though she knew that he, or another server, would be on call at any moment if she needed them, such as when they were ready to order their meal.

Ushering Vessatha in to the room, Quinn dropped the alternate form as soon as the door was closed, black turning back to white, and purple darkening to black, red mark vanishing entirely, until she was as she had been before. Happily she took a little sniff of Vessa's scent - far enough away to make it so that the gesture was merely polite, rather than intrusive - and knew that she'd made the right decision of where to send the Kahmdener. Or at least, she hoped she had. Vessatha looked absolutely lovely, and smelled wonderful too.

"You look amazing, dearheart," she praised, actually standing back a little ways for once and giving Vessa some personal space. She had decided that she would be almost Court-formal for this part of the evening, and allow her obsession to relax for the time being. She would treat her as if Vessa was a Queen, and Quinn was the King she had pretended to be, petitioning to gain her Queen's favor. Yes, she thought that Vessatha would like that sort of treatment...

[Greenie]

Vessatha eyed her companion suspiciously. There she went again, randomly changing colors and appearing with a rank. The ferret was too accustomed to Harlequinn doing weird things like that to actually mention it aloud once more--that avenue had proven to be fruitless many times--but she made her disapproval known through her glance.

She walked in slowly, still taking in the obsurdly plush room as she entered. Why had Quinn made her come here, and why on earth was the room dec'd out? Were they having a party and she missed the memo? Clearly it was a party for two, however, as Quinn quickly shooed the host away before he could think about the curiosity he would mask immediately.

Of course, as soon as she was fully in and he was fully out, Quinn returned to being 'normal' Quinn.. though Vessa wasn't entirely sure what that was. (How did she know the whole thing wasn't some crazy act?) Regardless, she shrugged, and tried not to think about it. Food! She was getting food, and it would be damned good food, if her surroundings were anything to judge by. The ferret padded over to vast selection of pillows on the floor--why were there so many pillows for two people?--and randomly selected one nearby to the otter to sit down on.

Did she look amazing? Vessa had quite forgotten she'd been to the fancy-pants bathhouse, in her aweslashdisgust with the restaurant thing they were in. She glanced down and was reminded of it, as her fur was nice and groomed, and hadn't been in.. weeks.. or so..

"Oh. Thanks. It's your fault I am, sending me to that spa-thing, but whatever." She commented, only slightly sarcastic for once. Harlequinn seemed a little off from normal, as if she was being more polite and giving her space.. but that was nonsense, because everyone knew Quinn had no sense of a personal bubble whatsoever.

"So what's to eat, huh?" She asked suddenly. Vessatha was always to the point.

[Shinigami]

"Oh, I don't think that's a fault, not at all," Quinn purred sweetly, watching Vessatha with a rather predatory glint to her eye, though she once again restrained herself from doing anything more than approaching to a polite distance and then stopping there. Must be polite, must not scare off her lovely one, not now, when they had such a long night ahead of them and there really was no need to have a chase here and now. "I'd say it was a virtue, rather than a fault, don't you think?"

Then the topic of food was brought up, and Quinn couldn't help the smile. Of course that was what Vessatha would focus on - it certainly seemed to be rather important to the ferret, and Harlequinn made note of it. It seemed that, in the instance of her obsession, food really was the way to one's heart. Or at least it might open up some of the navigable paths that eventually lead in the general direction of the heart.

"Well, I have a plate of raclette coming as an appetizer; that's basically small finger potatoes, onions, and a few other vegetables covered in melted cheese. It's really rather good. After that, we can order our entrees, though you can take a look at the menu and figure out what it is that you would like at any time, and then once we're done with that we'll enjoy dessert," she said smoothly, gesturing toward the table with the menus when she mentioned them. "While we're waiting for the appetizer, would you care for some wine? I've selected several very fine vintages."

[Greenie]

The ferret continued eyeing her companion more than a little suspiciously. This whole set-up looked.. well, like a set-up, but what she was being set up for, she had absolutely no idea. Quinn had never asked anything of her, other than her company, sometimes at extremely odd times.

Ah, well. Food! Food would drive her weird fears away! Quinn wouldn't do anything to her, anyways. Vessatha had at least a partial trust of the otter, but it tended to be flighty based on how creepy she was being.

"Sure. Virtue. Whatever." She replied, more mumbling than actually speaking aloud, because her nose had scented something that smelled really good. Sadly it passed right by their room and continued down the hall.

It wasn't too much of a loss, because Quinn began rambling about what they could get, which immediately captured her complete and total attention. "Yes. That. All of that." The ferret replied with a completely blank look on her face--she was daydreaming about food, what else? After a moment she remembered where she was, and added, ".. Please?" nicely, just to prove she had manners somewhere down in her.

Wine? Vessatha usually didn't drink, and if she did, it wasn't heavily. She'd seen too many people at bars lose themselves and do things they didn't mean to do to ever want to get drunk. The ferret knew how to control herself though, so one glass couldn't hurt, right? "Sure. You pick."

[Shinigami]

[ooc: And now that we've seen the results of the breeding...on with the seduction! *does a Casey-worthy pose*]

Quinn's suspicions were confirmed as the ferret's eyes slowly glazed over as she spoke about all the sorts of food that they were going to be provided with, and some part of the Joker thoughtfully contemplated just what she could do to bring that look into her obsession's eyes in a context other than when talking about various foods and the like. That part took the "please?" and added as many dirty connotations to the question as it could get away with while allowing Quinn's expression to stay as serene and cordial as it was. No need to scare the lovely Forester away for no real reason, after all. Alright, so it was a pretty real reason, it just wouldn't be coming into play any time soon, right? Well, not until after dinner, really.

"Of course! And if there's anything that really strikes your fancy, please tell me. I'll make sure that you get some to take home with you," she added, sure that the little bribe would help her argument. Then she turned to the various wines she'd had stored in the back of the room, selecting a cool, dry white wine to start things off. It was nicely chilled, and she poured it into a pair of wine glasses appropriate for those with only their Animal form, filling it only part-way up. There was no need to have a full glass just yet, after all. There would be several more courses to go, and it was best to have a wine appropriate to each of them as you went. The fact that, by not allowing Vessatha to drink an entire glass, she would think she was drinking less certainly factored into things. Especially considering just how potent the wine itself was.

"So, what sorts of things were you thinking about for dinner? This restaurant can provide you with almost anything."

[Greenie]

[*snickers at pose*]

Vessatha nearly burst out laughing when Harlequinn spent at least a minute seemingly contimplating what she'd said. It was hilarious in it's own because the ferret had said next to nothing in terms of meaningful things, but also because the idea of Quinn really thinking about something just seemed.. odd.

"Ooh." You got to take things home? What was this, a vacation? Vessie wanted to come here every day! Of course, she couldn't pay for it, but maybe she could wiggle Quinn into taking her here more often, since it seemed to be making the otter happy for some odd reason. "I like food, and I like taking food home."

As her wine glass was filled, the ferret absently took a few sips, paying absolutely no attention to the level that was in it. Considering she had no intention of getting drunk the thought didn't cross her head, but was diverted to more likely things, like the prospect of eating. "Really? I don't care, as long as it's good, so go ahead and pick for me. You probably know what all of these things are, anyways.." Why did chefs insist on calling their creations by odd names, anyways?

[Shinigami]

Quinn laughed cheerfully at Vessatha's enthusiasm for the food that was on offer, the black marks beneath her eyes crinkling in her good humor. It wasn't a mocking sound, but more as if she was laughing along with the Forester, instead of at her; she never wanted to laugh at her - it would be so rude! Instead she took a few sips of her own wine, savoring the flavor as it rolled across her tongue, pleased with her choice.

"Well, let's see what they have," she said as she took up one of the menus, flipping through it and looking for what she was fairly sure Vessa would enjoy food-wise; vegetables, she thought, and maybe some grains as well. The otter was going for fish caught fresh and magically transported from the Lakes, famous for their taste and texture, as she adored them whenever she could get them. Reading off a few of the options and then describing them to the ferret, she watched her obsession to see what it was that she responded to most strongly in terms of "like," before nodding and setting the menu aside. Luckily, the appetizer arrived just then, and the waiter brought it in to place it on the table for their consumption, taking her order as he left.

The meal was, as Harlequinn had rightfully expected, fantastic. She'd chosen this place for a reason, after all, and the chefs had easily lived up to their reputation for excellence. With each course came a new wine to complement it, and though Quinn's glass never emptied very far, she always made sure that Vessa was getting enough wine to keep her at a pleasant buzz the entire evening.

And then it was time for dessert.

"What do you want? They've got everything you can think of," she said sweetly, having edged her way closer and closer as Vessie got drunker and drunker, always prepared to step back if the Forester showed any signs of discomfort.

[ooc: Vague timeskip-thing, so we don't have to muddle through the meal?]

[Greenie]

[Indeed. On to the fun part!]

Vessatha was drunk. She realised this very, very belatedly, and there was absolutely nothing she could do at this point except giggle and grin stupidly.

She hated giggling, and rarely grinned (it was an expression of happiness, which she hadn't had too much of lately) and couldn't stop either; it scared her.

Why she was drunk, now, she had no idea, because she hadn't drunk that much wine, yet clearly had, because if she hadn't she wouldn't be drunk. And Vessatha was very drunk. Needless to say her thoughts were running either in fragments or run-ons, neither of which explained the situation or how to get out of it, if needbe.

The dinner had been nice.. she really couldn't remember what she'd had anymore, but remembered it tasted good and there had been a lot of it. Also, Quinn had seemed quite amused at some point but Vessatha couldn't really remember that either, so simply stopped thinking about it.

When the otter inquired about dessert, Vessatha stared at her for a minute and then looked confused. "Bwuh?" Managed to escape out of her mouth before she blinked and tried for something more coherent. "Uhhhh.. ye'sh. Yeh. .. Yes." Eventually the ferret managed the word 'yes', but only after a few tries.

Had Harlequinn purposefully gotten her drunk? Vessatha had not intended to so it couldn't be her fault.. what was her fault again? The ferret was quickly losing track of her thoughts to the point where she almost noticed Quinn getting closer but promptly forgot about it.

Repeatedly.

Quinn was now right next to her and would be on her within a few more inches, but Vessatha was still trying to remember what Quinn asked her and really hadn't noticed.

[[Poor otter, getting my pretty ferret drunk. It came out more incoherent than I was expecting from Vessa.. XD]]