07.11b: Morning on a Fae Hill

[NPC]

Celeste follows everyone else inside, neatly switching from outdoor shoes to indoor slippers.

"Would you like some tea?" she asks - and starts preparing it, clearly expecting the answer to be 'yes'.

Those with amber rank psyche (that means everyone present) can by this point figure out that Celeste simply is not going to bring up matters of business, or questions of why you are here; apparently the culture she comes from would consider it rude for the social inferior to broach such topics.
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Celeste Ammarith Victoria

[Rasanam]

Rasanam nods again. "Yes, please. While I designed this form to be able to endure extreme temperatures without undue discomfort, that does not mean I would not appreciate a hot drink about now..."

He pauses for several moments, trying to pick best way to approach his reasons for being here today. (While he may frequently bull ahead into social mishap, that happens mostly when he's distracted by other, more important, things. And at the moment - since nobody has yet brought up any interesting technical issues - the most important thing is making a reasonably good impression with someone who is likely to be his neighbor for some time.)

After due consideration, Rasanam starts up again with inconsequential small talk - waiting until at least tea has been served before deliberately steering the conversation to anything more important.

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Lyra sips her tea, looking pleased. "Than you for your hospitality Celeste. The flight out here this morning has been a welcome respite after the busy day we both had yesterday. It's wonderful to just sit and drink tea and have time to relax and enjoy the moment. It's just one of the reasons it'd be wonderful to have a place of our own here in the city that can be a sanctuary away from the Courts." She learns into Rasanam with a smile before taking another sip.

[NPC]

"Oh!" Celeste exclaims, and sets her tea down. "But," she looks puzzled, "why, then, did you send Fjolnir to 'negotiate'? If this location is to your liking, I can move out within the day; it would be no trouble at all."*
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Celeste Ammarith Victoria
* Anyone with amber+ psyche - still everyone in the room - can correctly interpret this as meaning it would be a great deal of trouble, but that Celeste would never, ever, admit that to anyone.

[Rasanam]

Rasanam sighs and puts a hand to his forehead. "And that is exactly why I sent Fjolnir - we don't want to simply displace someone; if I had gone myself, there is no way that we would have been asked a fair price for what we wanted. And for that matter, that's one of the reasons I like this location: because you have so much extra space taken up in fire breaks, we won't have to displace anyone; I just need to make sure at least your place gets fireproofed before I build anything."

[NPC]

Celeste seems genuinely puzzled. "But, you are royalty. This is your city; why would you wish to pay for something you already own?"
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Celeste Ammarith Victoria

[Rasanam]

"I already...? No; if I simply took something of yours, that would be theft. Royalty or not does not factor in to it!"

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"At least that's how things work where we're from. And regardless of how real estate works here, we feel obligated to properly compensate you a fair market value for any space we may come to an agreement on. Rasanam is quite good with magic and we can easily re-purpose your extra space into something suiting our purposes while still properly fireproofing the entire dwelling."

[NPC]

Celeste sits back and sips her tea with a "hmm".

"Fair market," she finally ventures, "is an interesting question. The fireproofing I asked Fjolnir for would drive up local prices some; if the two of you are making a..." she pauses, searching for the right term, "vacation house of sorts out here... there are some who will be displaced, by increased title fees if nothing else."
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Celeste Ammarith Victoria

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Looking frustrated, Lyra remarks, "that would be unacceptable. We'd need to speak with whomever is in charge of said fees and negotiate a negligible increase and/or personally subsidize whatever rate adjustment he or she insists upon."