Liliana Vess Defiant Necromancer

After a lovely forty-five minute massage, Liliana was feeling quite relaxed and comfortable. And was debating scrapping the rest of her class ideas for just more massages every week. In her happy, post-massage state, she was having serious trouble considering what any of the downsides of this could possibly be.

The fact that she was also considering a post-massage nap might be a good first clue why. Hmm. A nap-based class. Perhaps not the worst idea either...

[Open!]

There was a gremlin in Liliana's office today.

Liliana wasn't sure how the wretched little thing had gotten in and there was a very tense standoff for a few minutes while it hissed at her, baring dripping fangs, and she hissed back, holding up hands that were alight with power. "What," she asked, low and tight, "will it take for you to get out of my office peaceably? I like my rug and I don't want your rotting carcass to stain it."

The gremlin hissed again...but then pointed at her bag of leftovers from class.

"You...you want my food?" Liliana asked. The gremlin nodded. Liliana looked truculent for a moment before reluctantly setting it down on the ground in front of her and nudging it forward with her foot. "Fine," she said. "Take it. And if you even try a damn--" The rest of her threat when unfinished as it grabbed her food and skittered off.

Liliana slammed the door shut after it and then prowled around, making sure it hadn't licked anything or spat on something that could still give her hallucinations.

Mugged by a gremlin. She was almost offended.

Liliana's final over with, she headed to her office more than ready to begin their vacation. As soon as Ignis' final concluded, the two of them would be heading off to Ravnica for a long weekend so she could introduce him to her favorite city. And, since Ignis adored schedules and itineraries so much, she'd drawn one up to share with him: exploring Hightower, the neighborhood her townhouse was located in, packed with educational institutions of all sorts, along with cozy pubs, rowdy coffea shops, and small lecture halls open to the (paying) public, with subjects ranging from theoretical metaphysics to fine arts; a day of shopping visiting both the Tin Street Market and the Plaza South, before dinner on the famed Millennium Platform, followed by a concert by the famous Millennium Platform Philharmonic; a quiet day of relaxing and respite, followed by a raucous evening at Hellbender, a Rakdos nightclub and dinner in one of Plaza West's exclusive bistros...In all, a trip that showed off the best of the Tenth District, and therefore, the best of Ravnica.

( There came a knock )

Obviously she was still going to Ravnica. What? Was she supposed to let something like Ignis turning into a bat stop her from enjoying her weekend? Don't be absurd.

"You're making quite the merry hash of our vacation, you know," she chided her paramour, who was, it must be noted, making adorable little snoozling noises in her bosom. "You know, the one that hasn't even started yet? Don't blame me if I can't get Millennium Platform Philharmonic tickets again, getting them this time was quite the lucky break."

Men. Always turning into bats at the least opportune times, honestly.

Liliana had woken up this morning and said four lies before even getting out of bed, just to make sure the awful honesty of the day before was well and truly over with. Though, she had to admit that yesterday hadn't been completely terrible, she had learned pazaak from Atton and they'd had an enjoyable time playing the game and eventually trying to out-cheat one another in a lovely manner that didn't involve honesty - or really talking - at all.

...Granted, she had asked him once or twice what cards he had, just to see if the honesty day would make him slip up and tell her, but that fit nicely under the umbrella header of cheating. Besides, he'd seemed to respect the hustle, as she'd respected the slippery way he'd dodged away from answering.

She didn't have a pazaak deck - yet - but she did have several decks of her own to play with. Currently she was playing solitaire and wondering...had Ignis ever learned to play the game she'd learned as Castellan, but seemed to be called Durak here on Earth?

And, regardless of the answer, did she really think they'd get to playing a few hands in her office?

Even with only a fraction of the simulation she'd had planned, Liliana thought the class had gone well and was quite pleased with how everything had turned out. Perhaps she'd teach a class on the Ravnican Guilds and use that simulation again some day.

She'd brought the elven lyre to the school, figuring she could stop by the shop after classes to place it back in the window. Even though it wasn't a harp proper, it felt more like the ones she'd grown up with than the large standing harp she'd used in class yesterday. Perhaps the aesthetic, perhaps something as simple as the size. Her mother had used a standing harp when she played, but Liliana and Allegra had been taught on lap harps growing up.

Idly she began to play again, something easy and slow, looking over her notes for next week when they would - sadly - leave zombies behind and start discussing vampires. What should she do for a capstone on that section? Perhaps a real trip to Innistrad to talk to Olivia Voldaren or Runo Stromkirk? Hmm, probably not. She couldn't run the risk of an overzealous fledgling eating one of her students. Maybe she could invite Sorin Markov to give a lecture. That idea made her laugh out loud. Perhaps Eric?

...She was studiously ignoring the existence of the other vampire on the island. She would talk to Sorin Markov for a full day before she'd allow that one to come talk in her classroom.

While Liliana spent an hour lecturing her class about the undead, her steward had hauled furnishings and decor over to her office and found somewhere to stash the stuff that was already present but that she had no interest in keeping. So, if one of your offices ended up with double the number of desks, fellow teachers...well, actually, Liliana wasn't at all sorry about it. After class let out, Liliana headed to her office, looking forward to a delightful morning of decorating to bring her office up to her standards of aesthetics and comfort.

There was a chaise off to the side for naps, and an exquisite tea cart with a samovar and a coffee pot, as well as a plush rug and bright wall hangings, art, and bric-a-brac...as well as expensive, elegant furniture, much more fitting to her style than the standard stuff it had replaced.

In all, once she was done, her office was colorful and cozy, with even a bed for Josu tucked off to the side in case she should decide to bring him to school sometimes.

An excellent few hours of work, if she did say so herself.