Part 2! A bit late, due to Thanksgiving traveling, but here it is.
THE THEATRE
where it's another world
by Kay Willow
Seventeen, at half past ten
All the crowds are surging past
An electric display
The room was very nice. Lotte's would not gain any true critic's highest praise, but Erts did not aspire to be a critic of residential domiciles. He complimented the hearty fare and ignored the lack of variety; the furnishings received the same cozy warmth that they emanated, and if the paint was wearing a bit thin and the draperies were somewhat threadbare, then so much the better. It suited Erts well enough to be perceived as shallow and stupid. Besides, being picky about his accommodations felt like the ultimate treachery of his roots.
The reason he'd chosen this hostel in the first place was because, once upon a time, Shelton Lotte had been one of them.
Azuma had hung back and rather neutrally volunteered to set up the young master's belongings, while the young master and the Lotte children went exploring. Rome Lotte and her twin brother Reme were very similar: gentle and sympathetic and reserved. This, too, suited Erts perfectly. Overly presumptuous or inquisitive peers would be only a trouble.
By the time he had finished exploring the marketplace, Erts had acquired six acquaintances, twelve friends, and three "bosom companions". It seemed like half of the Theatre was present to at least gawk at the boy from the Free Cities, and the boldest of them approached him. Each time, Reme and Rome would draw respectfully aside and wait patiently, discreetly. Erts took great care to assure all of those who approached him that he was very new to the Theatre and very anxious to meet friends and very, very rich.
Generous, too. He bought little trinkets for all of his new friends. They cooed and made much of his kindness, and he demurred politely as he watched their eyes glitter and their faces grow cold and hard with greed. He had them hooked, and he knew it. When a fisherman engaged in his trade, he dealt with a standard degree of uncertainty -- Were the fishing biting today? Was this a good spot? Was he using the correct bait? -- but Erts' kind of fishing was far more efficient.
Throw money into the air. Erts knew, perhaps better than anyone, that the beast called human was always hungry for that bait.
And to think,> Erts thought to himself as he paused by a jewelry stand to give the three debutantes who were watching him from a nearby pastry shop a chance to make their move. Some would call me jaded.>
As it turned out, the fluttering ladies were only there to observe and speculate, but not to approach. Making the most of his position, he turned instead to the Lotte children. "Would you like something?"
Although it took quite a bit of convincing on his part, he was eventually able to buy them gifts. Rome studied her new bracelet with an almost childish delight, and Reme clutched at the locket he had selected with a nearly feverish look of intensity in his eyes. Doubtless he had a girlfriend he would be visiting later on.
Erts found their innocence refreshing, and appreciated their honest reactions. Perhaps he would have been so, if there had ever been any such generous person in his own life.
I "bwahaha" some more.
--Kay