Lights, Camera, Orc-tion!

7: Successful Lying

It took Avicia a breath to realize what Kahdreg had said. Once it registered, her attention snapped to him, her eyes wide and confused. Heat flared across her cheeks, scandalized. Part of her wondered if he was mercilessly teasing her, after their vague flirtations ealrier. But, he seemed prepared for such a reaction. Raising his hands in a placating manner, he winced, "I know, we were planning to keep it on the down low for now, but Kalli is a good friend."

Avicia thought he had crossed some wires, somewhere in his brain. Perhaps he had read too much into something she said or did. Once she caught sight of his eyes, however, she knew otherwise. In that yellow gaze, there was a silent plea. It reminded her of the look she'd seen in many a person's face, while they were harassed by some interested party. Avicia had pretended to be an old school chum on too many occasions to count.

"Kahd, I didn't realize your tastes leaned toward humans." The siren's voice came out too sweet and too high-pitched. There was some prodding undertone, as if she were poking at a dead body. "They're sooo delicate, aren't they?"

The longer Kallinaera drew out the word 'so,' the more Avicia could feel a bristle of annoyance creep over her shoulders. Kahdreg's hand, gently squeezing her shoulder in warning, kept her customer service smile perfectly in place. Miss Virlee was an investor, after all.

"You'd be surprised how much I can handle," laughed Avicia, raising a hand to her lips, as if to shyly hide her smile. She couldn't mask the challenging glint in her eye. If she mentioned exactly how much she could handle, it would fringe into sexual harassment territory.

That reply drew Kallinaera's attention. The siren's head turn was sharp enough to snap vertebrae and the steely look in her eyes reminded Avicia of daggers. Regardless of all the innate body language, she still smiled easily, if coldly. "So, how'd you two meet?"

"Through work," answered Avicia immediately, tone casual and returning Kallinaera's smile. It wasn't a lie, at least. Though, she could feel Kahdreg watching her with a combination of relief and surprise.

"They allow that?" The siren's eyebrows raised, glancing toward Kahdreg as if Avicia wasn't trusted to confirm such a matter.

"I was just as surprised as you are!" Her words, speckled with giggles, came out a little too loud, as if to make it harder for Kallinaera to ignore her. A couple passing even glanced over, wondering why such a loud tone was necessary. The ploy worked, as the siren turned her eyes back to Avicia, though the look had hues of irritation. "I checked the handbook, trying to convince myself to shelf this crush. But the studio really doesn't mind workplace relationships."

Dark blue eyebrows jumped up in genuine surprise. "You pursued them?"

"It wasn't easy," sighed Avicia, scrunching her nose. She could feel Kahdreg's gaze burning down her back. As if absently, she raised a hand to her shoulder, overlaying her palm atop his. If you wanted to lie successfully, you stayed as close to the truth as possible. "I don't know if you've seen him work, but he's so focused. It's kind of scary."

Something seemed to briefly soften in the siren. She gave a nod, with a slight roll of her eyes. Apparently, she had been privy to seeing the orc work and knew just how intense he became. A curious part of Avicia's mind noted that, filing the inference away for later.

"So, how did you two get to here?" Kallinaera made a motion with her hand, silently indicating the two of them. There was a strained look on her face, as if she was fighting off a cringe.

"After work one day, the crew all went out for drinks." Now, Avicia was bridging into outright lies. The crew did go out to bars after a workday, on occasion. She never went with. Between her cam career, after-hour PA assignments for Mr. Vidaroc, and her father, getting a drink just seemed too frivolous. She didn't even know if Kahdreg ever went out with the crew, either. But, she wasn't deterred and the lie came out smoothly, as if it were truth. "I got a bit too tipsy and blabbed to one of the gaffers about my crush, not realizing Mr. Director was right next to them. Obviously, he heard."