Closed Sharp Pittances of Years

[Philomena]

Spring 3, 513 AV
Loveless, Zeltiva
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As with all slums, there is a particular way of walking down East Street. First, of course, one does not draw attention to one's self. Minnie wears only a grey scarf on her neck instead of her normal red or blue, and keeps her mackintosh tightly buttoned. She carries her bag inside the coat. She makes herself smaller even than she already is, huddled protectively over her walking stick. But there is more than this, a particular walk, one that says 'I'm not worth it, I know how things work. Wait for a rich student."

Minnie creaks down East Street, then, looking, except for the prohibitively expensive (and increasingly worthless - the returning fever was eating at her eyesight again) spectacles, like an old goodwife, on her way home after trying to shim a few extra pennies together selling stitchery.

Only, such ladies turn into side streets, and seek out their homes, or turn into alleys and seek warm corners, or turn into taverns and seek kelp beer and company. Minnie Lefting did not - instead she turned toward's one of East's most infamous dens: Loveless.

Minnie walked the stoop of Loveless not with the irregular halting step of a nervous uptown boy, nor with the hungry bravado of the truly needy. Rather, she took the steps quite matter-of-factly. More like a calm regular. Or, like an inhabitant. She opened the door with a low jangle, and stepped in.

Truth be told, not for any moral compunctions but simply on the principles of her nose and eyes, Minnie truly disliked the front room of Loveless, with its mixture sweaty, hungry clients, and well scented young bits of flesh, with the jangle of a lute or the hoarse chorus of a few men singing a bawdy. The Lady of the house herself was easier, with her professional pleasantness, and shrewd eyes, a eyes that, as she'd heard a man say in the orphanage once, "Maybe didn't know their way across the Library, but knew the right price to pay for onions."

"Dr. Lefting, you have not been here in sometime. You seem unwell?"

To suggest that this comment was either perceptive or gentle would be to misread it. The question was not so much whether Minnie was dying - with the plague, half of Loving's employees had been in dire straits, and more than one had nipped off to the Cemetery Hill, over the winter. It was a question of whether Minnie was going to infect any more of her girls. And as far as perceptive... close up and in the light of room, Minnie Lefting looked a terrible wreck. Her eyes were rimmed round with red, and her lips were almost grey. Her entire face was skeletal and drawn, and her cheeks carried the high flush of a firmly seated fever.

None of this made Minnie feel agreeable, "I hanny been, mussy, that's true. But business comes when it comes. I am come to speak to one of your new girls, a ginger lass. Hannah. You dunny think I'd do naught to sick o'er 'er, mussy. I 'magine ye've hard rumors 'nuff from the girls o'er all I 'ave 'em do. Just talking quietlike. But I'll pay."

The madame frowned a bit, and sucked her teeth, "Talking, right. Well, don't you sit on my bedsheets, only a wood-chair I can have washed. And you'll pay double, and slip out the back when you're done, eh? It's nothing personal, Dr. Lefting. These girls are my girls."

Minnie nodded, irritably. She just wanted to sit down somewhere. The can helped, but walking and stnading still ground painfully at her plague-swollen joints. She reached into her satchel, and drew out the coins, with knuckles swollen into painful knots, "Sorry, Mussy, you've... I should nae be short wtih you. I understand protecting your own. I promise I'll be careful."

The madame nodded, "Right, I've had no reason to complain of you in the past, doctor. Room 231."

"Nara Poultin's?"

"Was. Nara was taken by the damned plague. Like so many of them."

Minnie nodded, dropping her eyes, "Qalaya bless their memories, and Dira bless their souls."

And she passed up the stairwell, very, very slowly. Her heavy clunking on her black walking stick echoed down the hallways, piercing even the rumpusing sounds that leaked around some of the doors, like the passing of a reaper through the wheat. Seh reached 231, and knocked, quietly. Knocking wasn't strictly necessary in Lovings. But Minnie saw in the girls something she could have ended up as - something some of the Kennel girls HAD ended up as (or worse, as street lays). She liked to grant them at least that much dignity.

[Ricky Maze]

Ah Loveless. The stench of depravity that hung about the place while the staff plied their trade to the customers that came. For Hannah this was as safe and secluded as she could get, and the atmosphere of the place just felt so...invigorating to her.

It was silent in her room though. Hannah really hadn't the pleasure of company lately as she had her target fresh in her mind. Her game she had going on had only started and she had not even been arrived in Zeltiva that long. 'I swear this is just too easy for me, I hardly had to put any effort into making him croak.' She brushed through her hair as she sat at the edge of the bed, the madame that ran this place had a big heart for her girls. She had allowed Hannah to stay her at a fair bargain, and all Hannah had to do was smile and look pretty while playing card games. Since her sstay would be temporary why not make the best of her charm.

Indeed her deal with the hypnotist held her here in the city, bound to it until she would follow through with the bargain. Commitment wasn't an idea she was particularly fond of, but as soon as she finds a way for her to get out of this mess then she would waste no time. She would put this place behind her for good, and never think upon looking back.

A knock was heard at the door, strange enough that someone actually decided to pay her a visit. Even though she tried to remain secluded from the city she still didn't mind a bit of company to pass the time; if they were appealing enough of course. She smiled wryly and leaned back on her bed. "The door's open." She announced so that whoever waited behind would enter.

[Philomena]

Minnie crooked the stick in her bad arm, and reached and turned the doorknob. It was an awkward maneuver, for the bad arm could do nothing, and she could hardly stand without an external support. So she learned hard on the doorframe, and pushed the door open, then took the stick, pulled herself with a painful, jointed slowness to fully standing again, on the stick, and stumped slowly forward, the bulging joints of her fingers pulsing with strain against the stick's head.

"Ms Hannah?"

The sound and smell of Minnie matched each other - both pitiable and thick and heavy with decay. She kept her voice very soft, and the rumble of phlegm clogged throat made it difficult to understand her at times.

"Dr. Philomena Lefting. I would shake hands, but you had best not touch me. I'm only here for polite conversation. But I've paid, you needn't worry, I don't wish to waste your professional time."

Her face was... difficult to read. Its haggard exhaustion masked its emotions effectively if accidentally.

"Do you have... a stool, or a rush chair? Something unupholstered, please. I'm not well, it is... very tiring to stand."

[Ricky Maze]

Hannah's smile vanished instantly when she saw it was a frail woman that had hobbled in, she hadn't expected her company to be so... old. Yet when Hannah heard that Philomena paid to have a talk with her, the casual smirk that had left moments ago quickly came back. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you." She gave Philomena a wink as she slid out a chair near the woman for her to sit in, then returned to the edge of the bed.

Hannah sat with her legs crossed and looked to Philomena with curious eyes, her mind was full of questions about this "doctor" Philomena was. Hannah couldn't really read into her emotions any, by the looks of it the woman was sick of course, yet something else seemed hidden away that Hannah couldn't place her mind on. She would have to play her cards carefully it seemed, as Dr. Lefting no doubt was likely to be a crafty one.

Hannah waited until Philomena was in her seat before she spoke, and when she did her tone was the same as her smile; calm and casual. "Now, what is it you would like to discuss Dr. Lefting?"

[Philomena]

Minnie took the chair, slowly. The joints in her fingers were swollen painfully, and by the groaning pops of her knees and back, her other joints were much the same. When she reached sitting, she simply sat a moment, took deep breaths, closing her eyes. She was silent then for several beats, catching her breath, resting her satchel on her lap, leaning her stick against the back of her chair.

When she finally opened her eyes and stared at the woman, she still did not speak a moment. She met the girl's eyes, and simply stared, soundlessly for a moment. She had thought some time about this - in some sense, she held some power in the exchange, and not knowing how friendly her conversational partner woudl be, this was important to her: she, after all, had nothing to lose. The worst this girl could do would be to hasten Dira's already advanced approach. So, she simply stared, a moment, trying to convey confidence in her face.

When she finally spoke, she kept the eye contact. The confidence wasn't a total loss, but it was so interblended with exhaustion, hopelessness, and something... more like loneliness? Something that DID gleam toward the girl, specifically, but only faintly. Subconscious in the way she forgot to close her parted lips, in the way her eyes wandered through the girls red hair occaisionally. She finally spoke, and her voice was soft, exceptionally soft, soft enough to make the other woman have to lean in. There was no reason to appear strong. She was asking nothing untoward. Perhaps this girl would tell her simply because she was old, and frightened, what she wished to know.

"I am... a researcher at the University. I talk t' the lassies here, sometimes, about things, about old memories or about their clients. I'm nae a policeman, or anything else, just recording stories. The stories in Loveless..."

Her voice, rough and phleghmy cuaght on the long sentnece, and she hit a fit of coughing, that wracked her almost double. It last about fifteen seconds ebfore she recovered herself, eyes watery, and spoke even quieter.

"...sorry. The stories in Loveless, they are not always well recorded by my kind, methinks. And you have a story you are bunnied up to, it seems, in which I chance to 'ave an interest. That is, Mr. Everto."

The name was spoken with an attempt at placidity, but a quaver of interest, of mixed emotion, came through her voice, regardless.

[Ricky Maze]

Hannah waited patiently for Philomena to speak, her finger nails provided a good excuse to advert her eyes as she did so. The good doctor was terribly ill after all and she had to have paid good coin just to have a talk, it was only fair that Hannah gave the courtesy of being patient for the woman. When Philo did speak though it was low, low enough to bring Hannah's full attention back into play; so she could hear everything Philo said.

'A researcher? She must be a professor then.' Hannah kept the thought to herself as Philomena struggled to control the cough that threw its fit, her mind wondered why such a woman like her sought stories from such a place like this. Usually scholar's and researches don't dig this far to find dirt on something they're looking into, so whatever it was that Philomena wanted to know had to be about something a bit more under the table.

Finally the name that was no doubt the subject had came around, yet Hannah's involvement with Ignotus wasn't really under the sheets. What Philomena wanted was information about him, and this had caught Hannah's great interest. Her eyes flared with curiousity as she leaned in, her mind wandered just who exactly this Philomena was.

"My my. Dr. Lefting, I believe you've brought up a very interesting subject. I have to ask you before I go on, what's the... relationship between you and Mr. Everto?" She had to know for sure, she was already locked in a tight spot because of her debt. Yet if Philomena proved to be a rather skilled and resourceful woman like Hannah felt, then things could take a different turn in the long run. The idea fascinated her even more, and urged for her to find out more about Philomena; and possibly learn more about the man she owed her life.

[Philomena]

Minnie snorted faintly, "Any rumors you may have heard about a romantic interest in Mr. Everto are quite overblown, I assure you. We have... a mutual past acquaintance. My greater concern is..."

She paused, a moment.

//What does it matter? If she is on his side, what will she do? Turn you in? Have you killed?//

"My concern is for his machinations toward the city of Zeltiva."

Her face pulled into a painful grimace that was not at first reocgnizable as the precursor to a soft laugh. Even the laugh itself came out more as a hiss than anything else.

"You'll roll your eyes a' me, p'haps, Mussy Hannah. Its not a practical reason t'go gallivanting 'roun' and risking conversations that may get back t'Mr. Everto. If you are hoping to gain favor with the man, I would 'magine you could jus' tell him I asked you these questions, I 'magine. I'm dying Mussy Hannah, I dunny have time to slip about quietly an' ask things nae more. I'm dying, and my city is being drawn in tae this man's hands."

[Ricky Maze]

Hannah slightly giggled as she heard the woman carry on, the likelihood of her eyes being rolled was in fact possible, had Philomena not proved to have a valid interest in this man. 'Ignotus Everto is a man who craves power it seems, and this woman wants to see how deep his influence with the city goes.' Hannah could help the smirk that came upon her face, oh how such things were so obscure even when a history was present. Hannah hoped to be long gone when all of this came down around Ignotus, should the good doctor actually manage to make him sqeal before her passing of course.

Either way the odds weren't against either of them, Hannah had a debt she was close to paying off somehow, and Philomena had nothing to lose. What harm was there in indulging the woman's curiosity with answers.

"I can agree Dr. Lefting," Her expression remained casual to hide her smirk, "Mr. Everto has got quite the handful of cookies, yet wants everything in the jar it seems. I however act of my own accord, rest assured your words here will remain between us." She gave the woman a wink and leaned back to relax, her eyes never left the spot Philomena sat. "What say we make a trade, that way we can both benefit from this. I'll share you everything I know about Mr. Everto, or as I defer to; Ignoramus," she teased the name to hopefully lighten the mood, "if you would do me the pleasure of the same courtesy." Her smile was calm and collected, the negotiable offer certainly piqued her interest more. Hannah always loved to have intel on those she worked for, and Ignotus was a hard man to find information on. This opportunity was indeed something she could benefit from, so why squander it while the bait remained fresh?

[Philomena]

Minnie closes, and opens her gummy eyes to look hard at the girl. Her lips open, and a tongue, too dry looking comes out to lick them, running the cracks of dried, shrivelling flesh. She speaks, softly.

"Indeed. I dunny know how valuable your knowledge is. But then... then m'haps I dunny care. I will nae be alive so long. That is half of why I came. A girl kept thus, she knows certain things, and bears no loyalty to her employer that goes beyond a coin I think."

Her unbound hand, shaking still with the palsied movements fo exhausted age, reaches into her satchel, and draws forth a small roll of papers, bound in rough twine.

"I have made copies. I have given you the originals, for I dunny know how well my hand can be read, these days when it shakes so. His name is nae Ignotus a 'tall. It's Igon. Igon Everto. He's a fisherman's boy, still is, I think."

A certain strangeness enters her face, something between undirected need and a hollow loneliness.

"Dunny hold that against him. The fisherman's boy was a clod, but that is a noble sort of failure, anyway. Its only the great man that should be sneered at. He were made a Nuit. I 'ave the story in there, I... my... my love and I were there when it happened."

Her voice shakes, tremendously at this, and her eyes burn a deep red. There is so little water left in her, she cannot find a tear let to weep, but her voice is weak and endlessly, endlessly tired.

"A woman made 'im thus. She... I have not given 'er name. She is... I will not give her name, that is all. You must let me keep some things to myself."

[Ricky Maze]

'Oh now this is just too good to be true!' She found irony in Ignotus being raised the son of a fisherman, it was just the same story it was with Ricky in a sense; only different times and different men.'Has to be a Zeltivan thing.' Hannah couldn't hide the wry smirk that beamed with interest, her curiosity about her employer ever more expanded as the horizons. She giggled a little after Philomena mentioned keeping the rest to herself.

Since she had the original of the notes Philomena had given, Hannah could likely learn more about Ignotus this way. Whatever the professor decided to keep to herself was fine, as she kept her end of the bargain. "Sounds like you two have a history," she stated as she leaned forward once more, "I can garentee you I only know so little about our 'friend'. He definitely has a influence developing here that's for sure."

The smile on her face washed away as she remembered the details of her story. Though she had much rather let it remain buried she had to keep her end of the bargain, it just wasn't fair to another lady to dishonor an accord after its made. Thus she wwould tell Philomena what she wanted to hear, Hannah would tell her how she met Iggy.

"I was a... 'sea merchant' for a while, and happen to lose precious cargo. Thus when the contact put a price on my head, Ignotus decided to help. Didn't know why he did at first, but I was glad to have it removed nonetheless. Now I owe him a debt... of a sort."

She hardly knew Iggy at all, their history didn't stretch as far but there may have been something interesting for Philomena to learn.