Vitruvion raised his brows but said nothing for awhile. Still, he had not made full eye contact with Nevin, something he was resisting, for now. He sipped his wine, looked briefly at his hair, which was definitely white, not blonde as it had been not that long ago. Another aspect of him changing since meeting Stare, but the only physical sign so far. He hoped.
“They sound quite unsavoury,” he commented. “Do you know if they have a residence or influence near Bottleberry Avenue?”
He spoke of a long street of ornate townhouses, terraced together but as fine as you were going to get. He glanced to Mer who was still grumpy. When he forged eye contact with her though she perked up, straightening her back and showing all the signs of a lady suddenly. He grunted and continued to eat, knowing just what a shallow person he had hired.
“Bottleberry…. Yes. Sorry, the guild I referred to is the Alchemist’s guild, my apologies. They have their hand in just about every alchemist in Radasanth apparently. It’s far harder to find an independent operator in the city than one who is a member. They don’t outright target you, but they do make it far easier for guilded members to stay afloat. If you weren’t sure of your skills, well, signing on with them would clearly be a wise decision.” Nevin didn’t bother to say that he was quite sure of his skills.
“However. Recently a vampire came in to my store, desperate for help. She was trying to avoid - Is something the matter?” Mer had frozen and was staring at him with wide eyes. She slowly shook her head, trembling a bit, and Nevin shrugged before returning his attention to Vitruvion. “As I was saying. She apparently seeks to avoid having to feed off of living individuals, and prefers prepared blood tonics. Radasanth was where she unfortunately began to run out. Multiple guilded alchemists threw her from their stores simply for being a vampire, despite the fact that she was actively seeking alternatives. Distasteful.” He shook his head - and heard a soft clacking outside of the doors. He watched, intrigued, and sure enough, as the person on the other side approached the doors a massive network of chains sprung up from Vitruvion and shot towards the door.
Hidden in the mass was a thin cable, a paltry thing, almost anemic, that was tinged with an ugly, dark color - envy. Mer was hopefully not going to be a problem.
Stare pushed open the door and looked briefly around the room. Pausing at the sight of Nevin she stared at him briefly before moving on hurriedly as if something had spooked her - and it had, she saw the red in his eyes and she still couldn't quite get used to it. As she passed behind Vitruvion's chair she peeked over as if by habit and grabbed the goblet as she went. He gave her an amused look, an arched eyebrow but said nothing. She sank into an empty chair and filled the goblet as she nodded.
“Evening,” she said quietly.
