Tools of Conquest [Goblin]

[Juno]

"Of course. She's very...fiery, I suppose. Feisty and strong and prepared for a fight." Remina chuckled. "But passionate more than anything. She's sweet with tough skin, very much able to hold her own. She has a big heart, or at least I think so, and she's a cat lover like me," she explained, trying to recall as much as she could about her brother's partner.

His question about a draft, though, left her a bit puzzled. "A draft? I think it's quite warm with the fire... This house has stood for a very long time and many, many winters without any problem," she assured him. "Would you...like a blanket or coat or something?" she wondered, moving to stand as she wasn't aware that he was mistaking the tickling, prickling of cat fur for a chill.

[GoblinFae]

Benjamin was preparing to respond when Caydence decided to interrupted with a quick rat-a-tat bopping of his head that let out a decidedly hollow sound. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head in surprise moments before a ball of warm fur fell into his lap.

For a moment he simply stared down at the calico-colored feline before looking up at his hostess. "Does this happen belong to you, Madam?"

[Juno]

Remina winced at the light, muffled sounds of paws hitting his head. Drawn to the movement, she realized Caydence was the culprit and flushed slightly with embarrassment that the cat was toying with him in such a way. "Yes, that's Caydence," she sighed as she quickly rose from her chair and rounded the table to glare down at the cat.

"Bad kitty!" she scolded her gently as she reached out to remove her from his lap. "I'm sorry about her, I guess she wanted to play," she apologized.

[GoblinFae]

Caydence growled deep within her throat, puffing into a giant ball of fur and digging her claws into Benjamin's legs in order to prevent her owner from removing her from her current perch. The nobleman squeaked, his eyes as wide as an owl's as he threw up his hands.

"Don't!" Clearing his throat to regain his composure he continued, "really it's not necessary. She is find where she is as long as she does not do anymore damage to my person. Please do be seated!" He kept one hand raised for fear she would persist in her attempts to remove the feline, while the other moved to gently try and smooth down the ruffled fur.

[Juno]

Remina hesitated at his insistence coupled with the growling of the cat. Feeling a bit hurt for the rejection of her friend, she gave Caydence a pointed look before she nodded and went back to her chair to sit down again. "I'm so sorry about her," she told him sincerely.

"Did she hurt you?" she wondered as she watched the swishing tail beginning to deflate.

[GoblinFae]

"It's but a scratch. I just would hate for it to become more given the precarious position she has placed me in. Now about your friend, is she a um," he blushed and cleared his throat, "a lover perhaps? What is the particular nature of your relation with the recipient?"

[Juno]

Remina nodded, glaring at what fur she saw of the small cat in silent scolding before lifting her eyes to him again and the odd blush she noticed at his cheeks. "A...lover?" she repeated slowly, eyes widening at the mere thought of the trouble she'd be in for ever making a pass at her brother's match after all the trouble they'd gone through to get together in the first place.

"No, no... Nothing like that. Not at all, she's...my brother's. Lover, I mean. My brother's lover. Match. Mate. Girlfriend. Whatever you want to call it," she told him hurriedly, not wanting him to get the wrong impression. "I just thought it might be nice to give her something at some point because I never did before when I first met her. Sort of a...welcoming into the family and acceptance as a sister sort of thing," she insisted.

[GoblinFae]

He listened carefully, nodding his head in understanding all the while drawing his own conclusions. He did not doubt that the recipient of his peace was indeed the lover of his hostess' brother however he did believe the reason for the gift was a bit more important than was let on.

For one it was noted that the gift was intended to calm the user. This suggested one of two things, either the brother was abusive or the woman was. He believed it was the later as people tended to be more protective of their family than those that married in. This being said there had to be a reason why the woman was sticking around. If she was not tied to the brother by law then there was something else. He was still skeptical of the curse therefore that left only one other option in his mind.

"Is she pregnant then?"

[Juno]

"Pardon?" Remina blinked at him. "Is she pregnant?" she repeated, thinking for a moment and wondering if such a thing had ever been mentioned or hinted last she'd seen them. "No, I don't believe so. I actually haven't seen them in a long while so I thought it might be nice to bring a gift when I next visit," she explained.

"Why? Would it be bad to give her a charm if she were pregnant?" she wondered.

[GoblinFae]

"It is quite possible it could be detrimental to the child. I can't say I know much about these types of charms and their affects on the unborn. The main reason for asking though is the point of such a gift. If your brother's lover is so abusive why does he not end the relationship? And why for that matter do you continue it?" Benjamin asked, truly perplexed by the notion.

[Juno]

"Abusive?" she squeaked, startled by such an accusation of Tiraris. "She's not abusive at all. They're quite in love, at least as I saw them. In fact, I'm sure they will marry some day, too! She is human so I'm sure that's something she might want to have with him.

"If I find out she is pregnant," Remina insisted, "then I will postpone giving the gift to her until after the child is born. I wouldn't risk such a thing. I can assure you, though, they have an incredibly loving, close relationship. I believe they're traveling together right now."

[GoblinFae]

Benjamin furrowed his brows once more. "I don't understand then. If their relationship is so sweet and loving then why would you want me to make something that has the purpose of instilling calm? I would hate to spend so much time on something that would be inevitably useless, especially since the construction would be rather delicate and time-consuming."

[Juno]

Remina was a bit taken aback by his continued questioning on the matter. It bothered her that she might have to justify a gift for someone else for the creator to make it. "Because life isn't perfect," she began slowly. "Sometimes it's stressful, sometimes you need to focus. Haven't you ever had a bad day? Sometimes I wish I had such a source of calm and relaxation to lean upon and I suspect she might as well. That is why I wish to give her something like that.

"If you wish to not take on such a commission then I suppose I might be able to find someone else for it. I just thought it might be nice to ask you since I've thought on it for a while and someone with your skills happened to be right in front of me with an offer of work."

[GoblinFae]

"I can't say that I ever have, although today came relatively close," Benjamin admitted quite calmly. "I would have to think on this commission quite hard. My original idea I don't think will fit your intended purpose. Originally I was looking at something that was a magical gauge if you will of the wearer's temperament. You on the other hand are desiring something that invokes calm. This a two-fold issue as I stated before it depends on what calms the specific person. Also the problem lies in that if magic is used to directly influence a person's emotions then it breaks coven contracts that magic be used for good and not ill will. I simply cannot condone the second which brings us back to the first."

Holding his hands out to the side, he proclaimed. "And this is why we have a problem."

[Juno]

"I believe we have a greater misunderstanding, then," she sighed. "I do not want something to forcibly calm a person. I am asking for something to be made that contains a traditionally calming thing or scene or whatever. That is why I suggested a wave, or something like that in nature, perhaps. I want her to be able to find calm and peace within it not to be forced into it while wearing it," she sighed.

"If you think that break this contract you have," she waved her hand, honestly not even knowing what that was all about in the first place. "Then I would not want you to do something you think will cause something negative. I do not wish to have her bound to some emotion by magic, I just wanted something...cute," she gestured with her fingers for something small, "and inconsequential in size that she might find useful at times."

[GoblinFae]

Benjamin nodded his head. "You are right in the fact that we are having a misunderstanding. I don't think you're understanding me. The forceful use of magic is now obviously not what you're looking for so we can put that behind us. What I was trying to say though is that this a rather complicated procedure and I would hate to not make it match your specifications. I also wanted to make sure you understood what I am willing and unwilling to do."

Absentmindedly, the nobleman scratched behind the purring cat's ears. "Now you mentioned the possibility of creating a wave or something. Does your brother's um, what exactly is she?" he paused unsure of the correct term that would not insult his hostess and potential client.

[Juno]

"Alright," she conceded. "I did understand, though, that it would be complicated. But that's fair, and now everything's clear between us. At least I hope." She glanced down at what she could see of Caydence on his lap, her eyes narrowing slightly at the traitorous feline's purring. It wasn't fair that her own cat liked the company of the stranger who'd squashed her tail better than the one who housed and fed her!

"Oh, she's um," she startled, bringing her attention back to him. "She's...a partner, I suppose? Or mate," Remina shrugged. "They aren't married, though, so not his wife."

[GoblinFae]

"Very well then his, partner," the word came out slowly as if he was still getting used to it before continuing, "does she like the ocean? Have an infinity towards it? I could create a wave like sound or even the imagery but I wouldn't want to make her sick. You're sure you don't want something that gauges her temperament? That way your brother would just have to look at it to know how she was feeling. Would probably mean less conflict for them. Women are notoriously difficult to understand at times."

The nobleman sighed heavily, reflecting on all the instances when understanding women had failed him. He also made a mental note to look further into marketing such an item as he had a feeling it could be a big seller if he could get it to work right.

[Juno]

"To be honest, I'm not sure of anything she likes," she admitted, feeling a bit bad about that particular fact. His continued insistence upon something to "track" her emotions, though, bothered her. "I don't know if they have any conflicts in the first place, but it is certainly not my business to impose upon something so private in my own brother's relationship.

"Perhaps it might be easy enough to make something like that...a stone, perhaps, that changes color based upon emotions. The trouble with that, though, is that he would not know what was causing it, only how she might feel. It could be something entirely unrelated to him, even just something that's on her mind. I don't think that would be an accurate representation of what a woman feels regardless of how it worked. It...changes so often anyway," she sighed.

"And I think it's a bit lazy. If you personally have so much trouble understanding women then perhaps you should spend more time listening to them instead of trying to put their emotions on display like they were meant to be an open book in the first place," she told him bitterly, not being shy about listening in on his thoughts this time.

"What do you find calming?" she finally inquired, hoping to find some common thing she might be able to relate to others and make him understand her point.

[GoblinFae]

Benjamin sputtered in disbelief. "Lazy! It's not being lazy, it's self-preservation! Listening to a woman doesn't really get you anywhere except more confused than when you started. They never know what they want and the moment you give it to them they tell you how it's all wrong anyway. It's a nightmare," he groaned, slouching in his chair as he stared wide-eyed at the floor, recollecting his own mother's harping that he did not do as she had wanted.

Bringing himself back to the present though, he straightened some before continuing. "Forgive me but having it be an open display of her emotions was not quite what I had intended. It was more of something for them to share or even for herself privately if she so desired where she could look down it and realize things were getting to be a bit much for her and she might need to take her leave of her present company to re-compose herself.

"I mean everyone has need to do that at some time or another, self-included. To answer your question, I often retreat to my library because it is the place that I find to be the most calming when I don't know what to do about a present situation. I usually find my answer there anyway."