[b]Mirror (and Solarel)[/b]

Crescent gives you a relieved nod. Yes, she’ll do exactly as she was asked. She’s quite the obedient pirate, really. She must care a great deal about the offer she wanted to make Solarel, but the what and the why of it aren’t there with the information you have. 

She’s a different sort of mystery for another time though, no time for it now, not when you’ve got to make your way across the room again, right? Though Valentina does indeed stumble. The shiver as you touch her arm runs through her whole body and she moans. Oh yes, she bites her lip, and with all the ambient noise and music it’s doubtful that anybody else can hear it, but you can feel the moan run through her, that beautiful “mmmm” and of course you hold her tight so that nobody sees her stumble as it takes her. 

It’s a busy night for you though, there’s just so much happening. The Zaldarian show is starting, and that means Mayze is up next. And the way Solarel is looking at you, she dressed that way for you, didn’t she? It’s just a lot to take in, so much history and so much happening all at once. How are you handling it? 

[b]Solarel[/b]

That look you gave Mirror, she saw it. Crescent has already agreed with her instructions, and she’ll position you for the big show, and for the Zaldarien show that’s starting now. But, something is about to happen, you know Mirror well enough to tell. Just watch for another moment. 

***

[b]Dolly[/b]

Jade seems a little distracted. A question for you. How well does your neural mesh go the other way normally? Do you get any of what Jade is dealing with, or are you in the dark?

Of course, now that Angela is comfortable, she has started to chat with you again between shows. “...loved the strength there. You seem like you’d love those boots hm, do you think your goddess could jump further if you wore them piloting her? It would be a sight, even I admit that, maybe you can buy them if you advance far enough in the match for a proper reward. Or offer to model them, hm? That seems more your style. Maybe I get you in just the boots and nothing else sometime.” She’s grinning and enjoying teasing you, she even gives your bundled up body a little jostle. 

[b]Jade[/b]

The Zaldarian, whatever else they may be doing, does appear to take a hint. You see a rapid exchange of information with Nine Forests, both spoken and hand gestures simultaneously. Given your displeasure, they are doing it intentionally quietly so that you won’t be bothered until there is a presentation ready for you. 

Presently, Nine Forests steps forward with a deep bow. “The Zaldarian says that his name is Marik Ka’Stockar and pays his obeisance to the goddess Smokeless Jade Fires. He wishes to make an offering...” Nine Forests gestures to the Zaldarian, who holds up a small data stick. This sort of data stick can hold a variety of data, up to a simple AI system. It could be dangerous, you’d want it scanned carefully first or read out to you via an external system. Nine Forests continues, “Marik claims that it contains information on your…um [fellow gods] whom you do not yet know. He asks only for your promise that we do not destroy it and then he will offer it to you freely and take his leave.”

The term “fellow gods” is a Hybrasilian term relating to spirits of a certain overall rank and power. Nine Forests is using it with some uncertainty. In the mythological sense, she seems to be interpreting the Zaldarian’s offer as something like a meeting of equals, spirits somewhere lower on the metaphorical pecking order than great creator deities, but higher than small or minor spirits. These would be spirits somewhat like Jade herself, or similarly spirits of very old trees, large rivers, or lakes, hence the choice of term. 

How could he have known all this? Did he hear about you? Extrapolate from what you said in your match earlier? What do you do with this offer, Jade?

***

[b]Isabelle[/b]

For sure you’ve unsettled her, she’s flustered. She wanted you to lead so she could follow, and instead she’s fidgeting, can’t sit still with your attention on her like this. She shakes one of her legs rapidly up and down in excitement and doesn’t even seem to realize she’s doing it. She’s blushing, you can see it even in the dim light. Her eyes are on you, but they’re on you, she can’t keep them to your face, she’s thinking about all of you, your breasts, your body, your butt. She’s not very good at hiding it, way too flustered, but way too deep to be self-aware, at least so far. 

See, you gotta be careful of the nerdy ones, you never know what they’ve got going on. Because of course she wants your money and your patronage, she wants you to springboard her to power and glory, and of course she’s turned on by you. But look at the hunger in those eyes, the way her whole body is agitated. This one, Asil Marina, she wants to own you! She’s imagining what it would feel like if she had you tied down, helpless, the ropes pushing out your breasts, your belly. She’s imagining running a finger along your side, pressing in with the nail, drawing a thin line of red upon the skin until you can’t help but let out a yelp and then teasing you for it until you blush crimson. 

[Take a string on her for your entice, you’ve got her dead to rights if you feel like it, even if you may not have expected what that was.]

If you think about it, specifics aside, this shouldn’t be that much of a surprise though. Asil isn’t just a random nerd. She’s the nerd that put her stuff on display for one of the top crowds in the known galaxy. The nerd who wanted it badly enough to push through layers of applications and contests, to sell herself, and to put herself out there even knowing that the most likely reception is a footnote mentioning that she did something similar to Linterna Brilliante with less polish (and gosh, weren’t they jerks for not coordinating better with the amateurs? They had all the time and money, and they just ignored the first part of the show and didn’t care). 

Now, here’s the thing in all this. You’re setting the pace, absolutely. Asil is flustered and you’re holding the cards. But that intensity she’s got, it’s making you let something slip. So tell us, if not her in so many words. How could Asil Marina get you willingly alone and tied up for her to play with as she pleases?

***

[b]The Fourth Fashion Line by Guildmaster Marinius Trilaka[/b]

We won’t bore you with the extended history lesson, but it is a big coup for a Zaldarien to be participating in this show. They don’t have fashion houses in the same way as TC does, but they do have crafting guilds and Marinius Trilaka is renowned as a master craftswoman among the Zaldariens. Her hold (Trilaka, the fact she shares the name is an honorific) is not far from TC space and they’ve been relatively friendly to trade since the Arena games started and the active conflict broke off, though most people are still hesitant.

All that is to say, Marinius brought several of her artisans with her to the show, and they appear to be working furiously to the last second to ensure everything works properly with the models. They fuss a bit with each one even as they walk out onto the stage. 

This Zaldarian line is showing off a more modern look. Traditional Zaldarian formal clothing is made up of long, flowing robes, and more casual clothing tends to loose shirts, tunics, blouses, and tailored pants. Marinius has gone for tighter clothing designed to move with the model’s bodies. Most of the models are TC (as that’s what was provided with the show) but two of the artisan attendants are, somewhat awkwardly in their movement, also participating in the show, showing off the cut of the clothes that reveal copper and bronze midriffs and long loose arms. 

As the models make their way out onto the carpet, though, the true effect of these clothes is shown off. The clothing that Marinius has worked is infused with nanobots to an extent normally only seen on core Zaldarian planets, and each piece of clothing is granted its own small spirit in tune with the model showing it off. As they walk the nanobots reshape the clothes themselves. This isn’t like the holograms or the neural mesh from earlier. This is real-time materials refabrication (with a bonus for modesty that the nanobots can create an opaque fabric cloud as they work to hide the body while the garment is being reshaped). The first model goes from a tight curve-showing short shirt to a one-shoulder longer blouse that grows loose at the waist and flutters, and then as she reaches the end and turns, the garment reworks into a backless shirt combined with a trailing scarf that flutters up behind her with the motion of her twirl. 

The others are doing similar things. You see garments switch from short skirts to long dresses and back, legs revealing and then hidden and then revealed again. The fabric can change texture, rough and textured into smooth and silken for different stylings. 

The two artisans, though they move awkwardly, show off the look on a Zaldarian body. One is avian, the other somewhat canine, and they go through a series of different changes to show off their features. Their garments almost seem to flow along their bodies, perhaps due to their greater comfort interacting with Zaldarian spirits than the normal models, so that the canine one can leap to all fours as she reaches the end of the runway and the dress she was wearing moves fluidly to a collar and a cape that runs down the shoulders while leaving her elbows and knees free to pivot as she turns and races back. Those who recognize Zaldariens will see that she had an intense blush, but carried it off with aplomb despite her embarrassment. 

Marinius herself stands at the head of the stage and gives her each model and her students a hug at the end. This is a big deal for her and the way everyone is appreciating her work seems to have moved her deeply.