xp_logs | Doug and Amanda in Asgard

Doug, having gained fame as a bard, is invited to perform at a party hosted by the Enchantress. Amanda is bored and decides to play with him. Doug doesn't realize who it is until the very end, and begins to realize he's not the only one stuck in Asgard.

Amanda was... well, not bored exactly, but she was tired of being paraded around like some kind of prize farm animal by Amora. And she was getting a crick in her neck, since _everyone_ was taller than her by at least a foot. Sometimes two. Then she caught sight of the bard who had played earlier, the Vanir man, and she grinned, wickedly. Amora was busy doing her thing with several nobles, and barely noticed when her 'daughter' wandered over to the corner the bard was sitting in, obviously refreshing himself after his playing. He didn't see her approach, and jumped a little when she sat beside him on the bench. "You are very talented," she said, her Asgardian accent much improved from all the practice and Amora's training.

Doug looked up from where he sat, resting after the extended set he had done. Thankfully, he had learned quickly how to project his voice without any amplification for long periods of time, but afterwards, he usually tried to find some spot to relax and rest his voice. He took in the blonde that had sat down next to him. "You're very kind," he replied. "I'm glad you enjoyed the performance."

"Very much so. These gatherings can be a bit tedious, but my mother insists..." Amanda leaned closer and let her hand rest lightly on his forearm, of a mind to play with the bard a little. "Your singing did much to cheer my boredom, bard. What do they call you?"

Doug, for his part, ever since the morning Rannveig had come to his room, had gotten used to the meadhall wenches' blunt offers, and the flirting of various of the girls of marriagable age in Asgard City. The idea that he had the beginnings of a fanclub occasionally bemused him, but he had become skilled at flirting a bit without implying anything serious. "They call me Aron," he replied, smiling politely. "And you are...?"

"I'm the Enchantress's daughter." With a nod Amanda indicated the tall blonde woman in green. "And her apprentice. Tell me, Aron, I haven't seen you before. Where have you been hiding?"

Doug reassessed his initial analysis of this blonde girl. He had heard rumors about the Enchantress and the powers she wielded. For this girl to be her apprentice, she must be rather powerful in her own right. And Doug had learned a healthy respect for magic from the things he had seen Amanda do. "Asgard City, for the most part. I apprenticed with an older bard there. This is actually the first time I've performed outside the city. It was a great honor to be invited by your mother."

"Mother is... quite a woman. She has taught me a lot since she found me." Amanda ran her fingers up Doug's arm, leaning a little closer so her shoulder brushed his. "And the honour is ours, Aron. You sing remarkably well. And you are most pleasing to the eye as well." She smiled then, a wicked smile full of all sorts of promises.

Doug pondered. Play the fool, or tell the truth, such as it was? In this situation, probably better to tell the truth. He took the girl's hand in his and smiled at her. "Milady, I'm flattered by the attention, truly, but you should know that I'm...betrothed."

With a pout, Amanda drew back, but only a little. Perhaps it was time to put some of the Enchantress's arts to use...? "That is hard news indeed, Aron, that one so young and hadnsome should already be tied to another. Where is she, this betrothed of yours, so I might look upon the beauty of the one who has stolen your heart from me."

Doug decided to play up the drama just a little bit. Asgardians always seemed to be suckers for a good dramatic tale of any sort. "Alas, she is not here, and my heart cries at every day that she and I must be parted. She has hair that is red like flame, and eyes that are as soft and grey as a dove's feathers. Honesty compels me to admit that you are quite beautiful yourself, though, milady." Doug figured a little flattery might help things a bit, and the girl _was_ pretty.

"A sad tale, Aron. Perhaps one you should set to music," she said, running her hand down his arm in a consoling gesture, although her motives were much less pure than that. She was her mother's daughter, after all. "And you flatter me greatly."

Doug smiled. "I have given some thought to the idea, but I would prefer to gain more experience before I attempt to write my own material." He kept track of the hand on his arm, making sure it didn't stray anywhere inappropriate. "And I do not flatter you _that_ greatly, milady. It is clear you favor your mother greatly, and I doubt that you lack for the attentions of young handsome men."

"That is true, however, most of my mother's hangers-on are... not to my taste." She nodded at a couple of said young men passing my, easily twice her mass. "My father was from Midgard, and cursed me with his small stature."

Doug patted the hand on his arm soothingly. "Do not think of it as such a curse, milady. It takes nothing away from your beauty, and it is not as though _all_ Asgardians are large warriors with nothing between their ears. Not to mention the Vanir, the elves..." He shrugged.

Amanda took advantage of the pat to trap his fingers with her own. "Indeed, and there is great sport to be had with them. However, tonight, they are not here..."

Doug winced minutely. Normally, the tales of his separation from his betrothed were enough to make any would-be bedmate all gushy, and deflect their interest. But this girl's ardor didn't seem to have diminished in the slightest. Not to mention her being the Enchantress' daughter. ~Careful, Ramsey, careful.~ He nodded slowly. "This is true. And it is also true that my betrothed is not here. And it is also true that nobody need know of a dalliance. Except that I would know, and that is enough. As I said, I am flattered, milady, but I prefer to keep myself for her." He smiled gently and squeezed lightly at her hand, hoping she might get the clue and not be offended.

"It would seem I have found the one man in all of Asgard who remains faithful to his love," Amanda said with a wry twist of her lips. "Perhaps I could make you change your mind..." Her fingertips took on the faintest of glows, but before she could continue past the initial part of the spell, Amora was there, calling her name:

"Amanda! Come, daughter, leave the bard be. I have someone for you to meet."

With a sigh, Amanda pressed a kiss to Doug's lips, and then got up. "Another time, perhaps, sweet Aron?" she said, before turning to join the Enchantress. The dress she was wearing was cut low in the back, exposing lines of scarring.

Doug blinked. Then he rubbed his eyes. No, he'd heard the name correctly, and the scarring was still there as the girl...no, _Amanda_, sashayed away. ~Crap. CrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP. And GAH! Stop looking at her butt, Ramsey!~ Obviously, a lot of Doug's assumptions about being the only one from Xavier's that had had...whatever it was...happen were wrong. This bore thinking on, for certain.