[FIN] Information in Spades [Vyn]

[Lucca]

((ooh, sorry for the lame title...I swear I tried all day to think of something better! >_>))



The cardinal glanced up at the residential building, and then back down at the piece of paper held in his claw, an address scrawled hastily on it. His beak was clenched in a frown, but his eyes flashed with determination. Sticking the paper back inside the messanger bag he almost always carried with him on any excursion from home, Colin let out a breath.

In his search for information about the Court of Spades and its past Queen, Lysarus, one name had been coming up again and again: Parvana. But, apparently, she had been the late Queen's lover and...well, there were some things even Colin thought should be left alone. The grief he was sure the woman must be feeling being one of those.

However, he really did want to get more personal information about Lysarus...and it wasn't just about Haret's dillemna, anymore, though he still thought about the Torque from time to time. No, now simple curiosity and...deep desire drew him. Court politics were something he'd always made a note to never get directly involved in, but now he was wondering if in his ignorance he had spoken too soon. There was something...fascinating about it all, now that he was learning more. He had always loved playing the social politics game, and Court Politics were much the same, but with higher stakes.

All that brought him here, to the home he was told Parvana had taken up in after her lover's demise. He took another steadying breath, and then hopped up and knocked on the door solidly with a clenched foot.

"Well, here goes nothing," he muttered to himself, half hoping she wasn't home.

[Vyn]

The knock at the door was answered by a soft, excited yip as Eddy's lop ears perked and he hop-dragged himself toward the front door. A little window gave him a brief peek outside to see who was there but tiny paws couldn't quite reach the door to let their visitor inside.

The five year old could do little more than yip until his mother scrambled into the room. "Hush, hush dear!" The light voice wouldn't be heard clearly on the other end of the door, just a brief moment of voices muttering before Vana raised her voice. "One moment!" The butterfly lifted the youth up with her upper pair of arms and used one of the lower ones to ease the weight of his binding. Having a second set of arms really did making a child so much easier.

Judging by Eddy's excitement, Uncle Toli was probably at the door but Vana was surprised when the peep hole revealed a stranger in the form of a Villa Cardinal, and a Spade too. Briefly her mind fluttered to Lleur. With her free lower hands, she pulled the door open so that she could speak to the avian properly.

"Hello... May I help you?" What could he be here for?

Eddy looked down from his vantage point in his mother's arms -- a spitting image of the late Queen aside from his odd butterfly paws -- and wagged his tail at the stranger.

(Sorry for the wait!)

[Lucca]

Colin was very surprised to hear a yip from within the house. Now he'd never met an Insect Card but...he was fairly sure they didn't make any such noise, and what he was hearing sounded like nothing so much as an excited puppy. Had he...been given the wrong address, then? He couldn't think that was possible...surely someone like Parvana must be enough of a celebrity for someone to have the right address!

Just as he was considering leaving and double checking his sources (or perhaps forgetting about the idea entirely) he heard a woman's voice calling from inside the residence. Relief mixed with nerves as the door opened, and as soon as he saw the woman, no doubt was left in his mind that he had the right address.

Only years of training in the strictest of social graces prevented Colin from staring openly. A high ranking Indect biped Spade...it was almost too much to take in. But he gave her a polite smile and a small bow. "Miss Parvana, I assume?" His tone was carefully controlled, showing none of his nervousness. "Sorry to bother you, but, as a Spade, I am very interested in learning about our Court, which I understand you held a titled position at." He cleared his throat, eyes respectfully lowered as he stated the next part as delicately as he could. "One of my great regrets was that I never got a chance to meet our late Queen, who I understand you were...close...with..."

Despite all his composure, the cardinal found himself trailing off as he took a good look at the child in the butterfly's arms. In his search, he had happened upon a portrait of Lysarus, and this boy...looked so much alike to her that there was no doubt he was her child. Presumably, Parvana was then the mother of said child. Well. That made this a bit more...interesting.

He gave an apologetic smile. "I am sorry for intruding...if this is a bad time, I can come back later," he hedged, feeling like social control of the situation was slipping through his claws like so much sand. In a last ditch attempt to find favor, he smiled at the child as well. After all, the boy had actually seemed excited to see him here...

[Vyn]

The butterfly's wings fluttered absently, just a hint of nerves flickering in her eyes as she listened to the Cardinal speaking. Ohh... Her deep blue eyes flickered to her little boy, and Eddy glanced up at his Mother in confusion at her concern.

Why did she look so sad again?

Parvana forced a smile back onto his muzzle and gently stroked the boy's mane. "Oh no, it's alright... Please come inside. I'm actually just waiting for his Uncle to come and take him for the afternoon," getting to play with other kids would be good for him, and Toli simply adored getting to take the cheerful little Torque out into the world. "but after that we can talk."

It made her heart ache, yes, but what could she do? There were so many awful things said about Lysaras, she could resist a chance to spread a kind word about her lost lover.

Once the cardinal had stepped inside, Vana pressed the door shut and put Eddy back down. Immediately the boy was in action, hopping forward to ask questions. "Hi! I'm Eddy! Who're you?" Vana smiled and let the boy go on, it saved her having to ask.

[Lucca]

Colin felt himself relax slightly as Parvana invited him in, the horrible weight of fist impressions finally off his chest. He smiled graciously at her and bowed slightly. "Thank you very much, I promise I won't be a bother or take too much of your time." That was something he definitely was resolute to: he wouldn't force the butterfly to talk, he would allow her to talk about her late lover as long as she felt comfortable with, and then he would make his exit, richer for the knowledge. And perhaps with something GOOD to tell Haret. He had indeed heard almost nothing but bad stuff about Lysarus, and while he knew there was likely some truth in it, it couldn't possibly be the full story. And he wanted the full story.

He walked inside the house, taking casual note of the decor of the place. But barely did he have time to form any ideas before he was accosted by the young one again. He couldn't help but smile, craning his neck down slightly to be more on level with the child. He had always found children a bit endearing...as long as they were well behaved and he wasn't primarily responsible for them.

"My name is Colin. It's nice to meet you, Eddy."

[Vyn]

Parvana kept her quiet little smile firmly in place, wings fluttering from time to time in a sign of nervousness that only her close friends would be able to recognize. As much as she wanted to do this, it was still hard... but at least Eddy was enjoying the 'new person' factor. When Colin had introduced himself to Eddy, Parvana spoke up again.

"Is there anything you'd like me to get you while we wait?" The butterfly leaned down, stroking the child's mane again and gently untangling the mess of black curls despite the boy's attempt to escape and continue drilling the cardinal for attention. "Would you like juice, Eddy?"

The canine's resistance instantly came to a halt and he hopped up onto his hindlegs to paw at his mother with purple chitinous paws. "Only if its apple!" Instantly his attention was back onto Colin, torn between making sure he had apple juice and talking to the new person. "Do you like apple juice too?"

Vana could sense a long-winded story about the greatness of apples and juice and juiced apples coming on, she'd heard it before, and gently interjected. "We also have tea, and water of course, if you'd prefer something other than juice."

[Lucca]

Colin looked up as Vana addressed him again, caught a bit off guard by the question, which he berated himself for privately, as he SHOULD have expected it. "Oh, uh..." But he was saved from coughing up an answer just yet when the child again spoke to him.

Huh, for some reason, he hadn't noticed before how...peculiar Eddy's forepaws looked. A small sign of his insect heritage, then. "Actually...I've never had it," Colin admitted, with a slight chuckle. It seemed like a silly thing but...he really hadn't ever had apple juice. His parents weren't big on juice, prefering tea or water, though orange juice was a common breakfast accompaniment growing up. "I know that's a bit silly." He hoped Eddy wouldn't be too dissapointed at this...though more likely, from what he'd seen of the child so far, he was likely to find himself with a cup of the stuff. Since he liked apples, he couldn't imagine juice from said apples tasting much different.

He smiled at Vana. "Water would be great, though, thank you."

[Vyn]

Eddy had to conceal a sigh of concerned pity. To think he'd never had apple juice! The puppy shook his head and looked up at his mother, about to express how deeply troublesome this was and that Colin really needed apple juice and not water but Vana was skilled at derailing her eager little boy.

"I think," she mentioned in an almost off-handed way, "that you should keep a look out for your fashionably late uncle."

Apples were far less important than Uncles and were quickly forgotten. "Where is heee?" The child lamented as he hurried to the window. His binding made a bit of ruckus when he tried to move quickly, too big for the little boy to handle with ease yet, but he got to the window and stared desperately outside in search of that brilliantly red coat.

Vana smiled again and waved Colin after her. "Come on, I'll get you some water."

In the kitchen, Vana busied herself preparing drinks -- getting out a drink for Colin before putting tea on for herself -- until she heard Eddy's excited yip from the front. That could only mean one thing... The butterfly's wings fluttered a bit and she paused to listen as the door creaked open and there was a moment of excited voices and footsteps before a handsome Morganberry canine came bounding in with little Eddy squished against him.

"Sorry, Vana! I was running an errand for Ader and it took a bit longer than I expected!" He laughed, the sound loud and cheerful, before peering over at the cardinal. Oh? A guest? ...That was unusual, but good! Very good! Vana needed more company like that! "O! Hello there! Sorry for being so rude, I'm Anatolius, I'll be heading out in a moment~ but I think Eddy said something about needing Juice."

Eddy yipped again, wagging his tails excitedly. "Apple, apple, apple!"

[Lucca]

Colin couldn't help but smile warmly at the boy, able to tell what he had been about to ask before his mother skillfully distracted him. This was what he loved about children...they were so sincere and enthusiastic about everything. As long as they were taught proper manners, Colin never minded their presence.

"Thank you, Miss Parvana," he said as he followed her into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table and accepting the water. Rather glad she had offered that and not just tea, like he had known many to do. He wasn't very fond of tea, but he drank it because it seemed to be society's drink of choice. A former member of the Court who didn't look down on those who prefered other drinks was a welcome respite.

He was just taking the first sip of his water when he heard the noise from the other room, and he turned to see this uncle that Eddy was so excited about. His eyes widened at the bright red, winged Canine that walked through the door. Needless to say, he had not been expecting any relations of the Torque and Corvistownian to look like THAT. Perhaps it was just a close friend of the family who was called 'Uncle'? Either way, Colin covered up his momentary shock with a bright smile towards the newcomer.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Colin," he said, with a deep incline of his head to the other. He DID outrank him by quite a bit, after all, despite being a Club. He didn't mention why he was here, not sure how Anatolius would take that admission.

[Vyn]

Despite not looking the part of 'family', that was still what they were. Vana had merely lost out on the brilliant Morganberry hues of her father, Toli's uncle, and had instead taken on all the colors of her lovely mother. What she had gotten from her father was her species, a little known genetic fact that had been passing down through Toli's family for years in a display as painfully simple as little Eddy's paws.

Decorative and nothing more, they'd all assumed.

Parvana had been proof otherwise.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Colin! Sorry again for barging in!" In the background of his greeting, Eddy was still chanting for apples up until Vana gathered his cup out of the ice box and placed the chilled juice in his chitinous paws in which the chant ended in a delighted cheer of 'Yay juice!' before Toli returned his attention to the cheerfully giggling pup. "And that'd be my cue to head out! Take care you two! Again, Colin, 'twas a pleasure!" He poked Eddy lightly in the side, reminding him to acknowledge the cardinal despite his glee over juice.

"Bye Mr. Colin! Nice ta meet you!" And then he yipped happily and went back to slurping his drink.

Vana laughed softly. "It's always a pleasure to have you by, Toli, don't apologize." With a brief hug offered to her Cousin and her son, the two departed and Vana was alone with Colin. She smiled weakly upon returning to the kitchen, beginning to pour herself a cup of tea. "There we go... That should give us plenty of time to talk without interruption." No one else visited her after all. "What was it you wanted to ask about?"