Palas meets with Lydins that night

As night fell, Palas prepared to go and meet the vampire count by dressing up a bit more; along with her mini-dress, she wrapped strings of pearls, alternating with black onyx to compliment her alabaster skin. Around her waist, a semi-transparent violet pareo skirt was wrapped, with a matching turban added upon her hair, giving her a bit of the gypsy look she normally favored, but with added color and flash. Looking in the mirror, she lowered her eye-brows pensively and frowned. She felt a bit like she was dressing up for a date...

... And depending on how the night went, this could be either the beginning of a new relationship with her friend, or the end of that same friend's long, hitherto undying days...

It was odd to think that if Lydins looked into the mirror herself, she would probably see nothing at all staring back at her. Thus was the strange nature of the vampire... oddly enough, most of the folklore that the townspeople had rumored about them was totally true. They just often failed to mention the various magics and inhuman strength native to those same creatures, possibly for fear of pissing themselves in terror.

As she stepped out into the night, throwing the trailing tail of her turban around her neck like a scarf, she spotted Dyna approaching as well. The woman hadn't even bothered to disguise herself... at the very least, she hadn't worn her armor. A small blessing... Palas had been worried that the captain, clopping around in knight's armor, would be loud enough to wake the dead. "I'd suggesting sneaking through a first floor window. Get too bold and try for the second or third floor and you're likely to find an incantation has sealed or cursed the entrance," she advised. "That's what I would do if I was De Geomorte's summoner, anyway."

"Ha! If I can't find an entrance, I'll just break a wall down!" Dyna proposed unhelpfully, crossing her hands behind her head as the odd couple strolled towards the vampire's mansion. Before they reached there, the two would part ways and approach down separate sides of the street... It was important that Palas encountered the vampire first. Her earlier preparations to set the date ought to insure Count(ess) De Geomorte was waiting for her...

"As ever, you are like the moonlight, illuminating the darkness of both the night and my brooding temperament, Palas. Seeing you always improves my mood."

The charming lady vampire greeted Palas with a disarmingly handsome smile, half-cocked with a suaveness that would set any young lady's heart aflutter. Even now, the former spy wondered if a glamour was being cast... something about her friend's appearance was just too seductively, poetically beautiful. The countess who'd answered the door was tan, perhaps defying traditional expectations for an undead, and tall, with a lithe figure matching Palas' own, if a bit thinner. Her womanly curves were discrete enough to allow her to pose as a man socially, whilst she dressed in a billowing black blouse and red, pin-striped pantaloons. The sleeves seemed to catch the wind each time, billowing about her wrists as she gestured theatrically and ushered Palas inside her abode. Her black hair was as curling as Palas' was straight, about equal in length, though tied at the end with a dandy's red bow. Her gleaming yellow eyes shined like two torches in the entrance chamber of her home, which, it may be said, was nearly as dark as the outside, lit sparsely by candle-holders on alternating columns.

"And you're as over-eager to introduce yourself with poetry as ever, Lydins" Palas rolled her eyes. She'd never been one for romance, which had made her friendship with this dramatic, fancy-pants vampire strange to begin with.

"Have you taken supper already? I do not mind at all, if you'd like me to have one of the servants fetch you something," the vampire suggested, showing her fangs in a toothy white grin. Many demons with public presence used amulets or enchantments to hide their true appearances... she, on the other hand, relished in presenting herself undisguised. It was a testament to her charisma (or perhaps to her skills at utilizing her glamour) that she managed to remain a presence in town without the average Joe catching on. When Palas refused her offer, she laughed, cupping one hand to her chin. "Well... I don't think I have anything in the pantry you'd care to eat, regardless. Our divergent diets, you know?"

Palas caught the joke, then rolled her one visible eye. "Yes, I suppose you wouldn't." Part of her hoped that she could go all night without hearing a peep from Dyna... there was a part of her that hoped the knight would simply go home and she'd enjoy an uninterrupted painting session with her friend. Another part of her was begging Dyna to make some kind of noise, anything to reveal that she was here and carrying on her part of the mission. The deception would feel all the more ridiculous if the captain of the knights failed to play her part...

"If no dinner, straight to painting, then?" the vampire offered, crossing both hands behind her narrow waist as she led the way into her studio. "You've never seen my studio, have you? My, how you love to reject my invitations. Ah, but the wounded heart is the mother of art and poetry... by spurning this artist not once, but twice, you sewed the seeds of desperation in my soul. Now that I have my hands upon you, dear Palas, I will produce nothing less than a masterpiece..."

Palas marveled at the many portraits lining the walls of the studio... all sorts of girls, both common and noble, from all around town, in... various states of dress, but all so beautifully depicted on canvas, hung around the otherwise plain white walls of the art studio. It surprised her to see that Lydins really was a master painter; it wasn't just a cover for her blood-sucking. "Please see that you do. And please... don't sign my name to the portrait, alright?"

"Ha ha ha... Ever clandestine," the countess De Geomorte chuckled, then raised one finger, opening her mouth in a smile as though she'd surprised herself. "Where are my manners? If you will not accept dinner, at least accept my wine. It is a fine vintage, yes, and very, very red... just red wine, milady, I assure you." She punctuated her sentence by turning and grabbing up a long-necked bottle, already uncorked, then pouring two it easily into a pair of thin, crystalline glasses. "You do still drink, don't you, Palas?"

Palas wondered if taking that drink was wise... If she still believed her own head-canon on Lydins' secret painting sessions, the wine she offered to her girls was likely spiked with something that enhanced the effects of the vampire's glamour. On the other hand... if Lydins' was really just offering the wine to be friendly, she'd be quite rude to refuse.