Orchid/Lion 1

[00:06] Ravenous Orchid: This evening's soiree was being hosted by Twice-Burnished Bridle, a shipping magnate of Marukani extract. His usually spartan estate, located a spear's throw from the walls of Nexus, was dressed up with all manner of gaudy Marukani decoration and lit by guttering braziers. Orchid was there of course, being an 'out' Solar Exalted meant she was always invited to parties by those interested in the social scene. She stands with two men, wearing a sleek, red evening dress with a flatteringly low cut, while discussing some trivial laws passed earlier in the day.
[00:17] Frostbite Lion glances about, his icy northern appearance only slightly disguised by the flickering light of the flames. He tugged at the rough collar of the dress uniform, the thing starched and clean having been purchased only the day before. He'd have to see about getting it let out - custom tailored work was too expensive for his budget, and he hardly required it. He had finagled an invitation by way of an extremely well written letter of introduction to the Magnate's cousin, who was attempting to give the pretense of a military man. Then, finally, he clapped eyes on her - the Solar witch who had been all but shouting her existence in the ears of the Empress herself. He dutifully excused himself and deftly slid through the crowd of party-goers. Gruff, but perhaps not without charm, he begins to speak. "I would presume you are Madame Orchid, as I cannot think of another woman who could lay claim to such a beautiful figure." His eyes, blue and ice-cold, reflect none of the good humor his voice seems to give. "The esteemed Sol Invictus has a good eye for women."
[00:26] Ravenous Orchid turns to face Lion with an amused smile. Her face is warm, and her chuckle genuine. She waves away the men she was making idle chit-chat with, and they slink away without protest so that there is room near the warm brazier for Lion. "Flattery will get you everywhere," she says, smile unfaltering.

"You have me at a disadvantage though... Constable?" Orchid puts a finger on her pouty lips. "No, too well-dressed to be a simple constable. Captain, perhaps? You have the bearing of soldier," she says, putting both hands on your square shoulders as if to check that is the case indeed. "Or am I undervaluing your rank? General? Admiral?" she teases.
[00:33] Frostbite Lion had thought he was well prepared for the charm and charisma the Sun's Chosen seemed to exude with little more than a breath, but the woman before him still managed to impress the frozen heart he had thought he had locked away. Still, he managed to stay on his feet at the broadside of social prowess. "I'm afraid I possess no such rank, nor would I boast of it if I had, Madame. I am but a simple mercenary, serving with the Bronze Pioneers at the moment." he smiles, his teeth as white as ice and his very slightly blue hair an attractive addition to his boyish good looks, adding a somewhat exotic touch. "I am known as Frostbite Lion, and I am honored to make your acquaintance." he once again glances about, trying to mark any suspicious individuals, before mouthing four words silently. <We need to talk.>
[00:41] Ravenous Orchid: "Are you trying to get me alone, Frostbite Lion?" Orchid asks wryly. She takes a nimble step to Lion's side, the cut of her dress revealing a tanned and toned thigh as she does. "Well, I've always had a weakness for military men," she professes honestly, giving you a perfect pretense to whisk her away someplace private and tell her what you so desperately need to say. She puts her arm around your waist so that you stand hip-to-hip. "Just promise me you'll be gentle, sir," she says, loud enough that party-goers standing close by have only one thing in mind.
[00:47] Frostbite Lion rolls his eyes, but walks briskly from the room while a few drunk party-goers wolf-whistle. "Try not to brake too many bones, soldier!" yells one wasted wag. "I doubt that this, of any place, is safe, but you should probably know that you're not alone in the city." he whispers, their little journey taking them into the mansion's lush garden. "And that you should be very, very careful." His eyes drift to her bust, her tanned skin and her almost generous curves. "Though, to be honest, you probably already knew that." Showing the first actual humor of the night, he smiles again, and this time it seems genuine.
[00:54] Ravenous Orchid: Orchid pats Lion on the shoulder and extricates herself from him. She kicks off her leather sandals so that she can walk barefoot on the well-trimmed grass of the lawn. "Yes. Even in Nexus there are those that sympathize with the Realm and the Immaculate Order," she says with a sigh. "Thankfully our position here has kept them from moving against me, and perhaps fear of the Council of Entities. It would be too generous to think that they fear me, yet."

"Do you think there is some conspiracy against my life, Frostbite Lion? Someone who seeks to send me back to Sol's embrace overquick?" she asks, turning to face him again. She puts her hands on her hips, less of an imposing figure in the moon's silver glow than when she's atop a soapbox in Nexus.
[01:03] Frostbite Lion lets go, though some deep part of him that he long ago attempted to silence wishes he could feel her warmth for just a little longer, a thought that makes the well-disciplined man shiver. Instead, he snorts at the answer she gives, seeing some black humor in the statement. His reply is measured, but he bears the straight face of a man telling a joke. "Oh, I am sure that many eyes are on you with ill intent. Perhaps a few of them might even be my own, though by the way you walk I doubt the intent that my eyes seem to give is one you would consider ill." He manages to restrain his lascivious gaze, though doing so almost hurt. Definitely dangerous. "No, my concern is that by proclaiming your true nature to all and sundry, you will draw the Realm, or even the forces of Heaven, to war or darker methods. I am sure you can dispatch more than your weight in outcastes and mortals, but the Dragons' Blood are dangerous, and they will come for you. That is, of course, if the Emissary does not decide that the publicity of having a temple to a deity the Realm does not enjoy is disrupting trade." he sighs, almost theatrically. "I'm afraid there are few eyes on you with intent that is not ill.
[01:03] Frostbite Lion: "
[01:12] Ravenous Orchid: "And what is your stake in this, Sir Bronze Pioneer?" Orchid asks as she paces toward you like a large cat hunting its prey. "I mean no insult, by what does a mercenary know of politics and the reach of the those who would silence the Sun?" Her smile is gone now, replaced with a flat mask of practiced indifference that seems odd on a face that ought to be gleeful and smiling.

"Are your goals that of Nexus's?" she asks, "Where do your loyalties fall, Frostbite Lion?"
[01:15] Frostbite Lion adopts his normal expression, all humor similarly gone from his slender face, his eyes frozen over and his lips a hard line. "My knowledge of politics is the same as my knowledge of anything else: superb. As for those who would silence Sol Invictus, I am not among them. I would, instead, propose that we muffle him while those who react violently to such things are in the majority." his voice manages to sound ice cold even though it is barely above a whisper. "My goals? What of yours? If you would wish to know my goals, madam, they are my own. Did I not say I was a mercenary?"
[01:19] Ravenous Orchid: Orchid continues walking forward until she is close enough to put her warm hands to your cold face, cupping your cheeks. She is close enough that you can feel the warmth of her body against yours, and see the slight golden sheen of her anima surrounding her as she makes her caste mark shine through the darkness.

She speaks at a low whisper, "He spoke to me."
[01:22] Frostbite Lion offers in response a grim smile. "He spoke to you, did he? What an honor, I am sure. I received no such pat on the back. But he did give me the strength I needed, when I needed it." Slowly, the soft golden glow ceases to be emanating JUST from the Zenith caste, and the radiating beams of a Dawn castemark appear underneath his icy-blue bangs. "So perhaps I can understand where you're coming from."
[01:31] Ravenous Orchid: Orchid closes her eyes for a moment of quiet joy, and reigns in her emotions before they overwhelm her. She rests her forehead against Lion's, castemark against castemark. "We did terrible things. You. Me. All 300 of our brothers and sisters. We grew powerful and wicked, and He turned his face away from us and we were cast down. But we have a chance now. A chance to set right what was wronged, to reforge what was broken. It falls to us to fix this broken Age of Sorrows, Frostbite Lion. So I cannot stop."
[01:32] Frostbite Lion offers a hand to Orchid. "Perhaps with two of us, such an attempt will be easier. It is unlikely, but what we are... What we have been made to be... Unlikelihood matters little."