Fixation (Cardia vs. Lukretia aftermath)

Cardia winced, grabbing for Hilde's hand under the table to comfort her. "I... I..." She stammered, unwilling to really say anything in front of Lukretia.

"You vat?" Lukretia said cocking an eyebrow.

Underneath the table, Hilde rubbed her thumb over Cardia's hand and glanced at her.

Lukretia watched Hilde glance at Cardia and looked down at Hilde. As sneaky as Cardia and Hilde may or may not have thought they were, Lukretia was no fool. She waited for the server to come and ordered for the three of them. A little bit of a few kinds of fish, squid and eel and A little beef dish for herself. Lukretia had never been a fan of fish and tried to enjoy as much meat as she could when she was away from her dear Germany. When the server left, Lukretia eyed the two again.

She smiled. "After zis, how vould you like to return to ze AFW compound und have a soak in ze hot tub." She looked at Hilde and then at Cardia. "I'll make sure it's just ze three of us..." He smile sharpened as she waited for the responses from the two. Hilde nervously waited for Cardia to respond first.

Cardia lowered her head, "Uh... nothing," offering a brief reassuring glance at Hilde.

"I... I suppose some time in the hot tub wouldn't be so bad," she stammered weakly. Cardia was dreading the prospect, but couldn't bring herself to say no.

Lukretia smirked. She knew that the scene would b at least a little awkward for everyone but her. Hilde nervously looked at Cardia before turning back to Lukretia. "I ... I have a lot of work to do, Mistress. Would it be alright if I just went home for the evening?" She squeezed Cardia's hand underneath the table. Hopefully she would know that she was trying to do what Cardia could not.

Lukretia smiled and waved her hand. "Now, now." She said. "You vork hard, even you must need some time to relax." She turned her head for a second.

"Y-yes mistress. Danke mistress." She whispered.

Cardia rubbed Hilde's hand reassuringly. She knew they weren't getting out of whatever Lukretia had in store for them, and she was fairly sure Lukretia was catching every nonverbal cue the two of them were sending. She only hoped the comforting look she was shooting Hilde would keep her from taking what she was about to say the wrong way.

"So... uh... Lukretia, you said when you were... er... alone, that you were able to amass yourself quite a bit of money with your wits and nothing else. I bet you've got some stories there." The awkward silences weren't going to help Hilde and Cardia get through the evening with their sanity intact. She needed to turn the conversation in another direction and this was the only way she could think of. She hoped Hilde understood what Cardia meant to do when Lukretia would probably take another shot at Hilde in the process.

Lukretia brought her finger to her lips suddenly. She then smiled. "Amassing ze fortune..." She began. "Came naturally out of ze hard work und tough times." She looked down. Even though I vas mostly kept away from ze life of luxury by my father und sister." She did not even glance at Hilde when she said te words. She spoke both names like they were former members of her life. "I vas still able to figure out who vould be ze best to target ven I staged my comeback."

"I had to leave our home und from zere I started in Berlin..." Se turned her head. "If you can make it there zen you can make it anywhere." She smirked slightly. "Though Zese times vere tough, I vas able to get to see most of our most beautiful Fatherland." She took a small sip of her beer and had a distant, but thoughtful look in her eye.

Cardia continued to grasp Hilde's hand under the table as she took a sip of her water, "I can't even imagine." She commented at the end of the story, more interested in comforting Hilde than Lukretia's story.

Cardia took another thoughtful gulp of water before trying a different approach, "So... any big plans for taking the AFW by storm?" She asked.

Lukretia was growing weary of talking to someone who wasn't listening. "Ja." She said simply as Cardia first spoke. When she asked if she had any big plans she simply laughed. "Meine frau, if only you knew." She said rather ambiguously.

The food came before anything else could be said. Hilde and Lukretia began to eat quietly. Hilde could barely spare a glance at Lukretia and was nervous to try and look over at Cardia too much. Lukretia was relishing the atmosphere as much as she was the food, probably more so.

Cardia had to pull her hands back from Hilde's to eat the food. "O-of course. It probably isn't good to talk shop with one of your potential competitors in the league," she smiled, rubbing Lukretia's shoulder gently to convince the German she was joking.

She also tried to defuse some of Hilde's tension by getting cute. Beneath the table, she worked one of her shoes off, caressing Hilde's legs with her stocking covered toes.

Lukretia almost spit out her drink as Cardia spoke. She couldn't help but contain her laughter. She put her hand to her lips and forced a serious look. Of cours meine frau, zat is exactly zze reason. Her eyes lightened and she ran her finger up and down Cardia's leg gently as if to thank her for the bit of amusement she provided.

Hilde too smiled. She was thankful for the slight opening of the atmosphere so she could smile at Cardia's touching. She too touched Cardia's leg and enjoyed the simple touch.

The rest of the meal was enjpoyed in a casual manner by Lukretia and when she finished she stood up. "Come now, meine frau." She said, ignoring Hilde. "Let us return to ze arena and have a soak. A relaxing dip in ze hot tub followed by a match or two should finish off zis evening pretty vell."