Put on Your Fancy Clothes ((16))

[victoriousscarf]

Sonya had gotten into the office that morning just a little later than usual. He had walked in to find an envelope in heavy cream paper with golden gilt embossed into it waiting for him.

He sensed an invitation to a fancy gala he did not want to go to. Sighed, he kicked the door to his office shut, tearing it open and reading the contents. Hollister...? That was the tom who had bailed out Tugger. He never had figured that cat out, the one who had appeared so quickly and put down so much money with no questions asked.

But it was still a ball, and he did not want to go. He had had his fill of such events long ago. As commissioner though, it was assumed he would attend, and he had enough enemies already. There was another long sigh as he noticed the carefully filled in, "Plus a guest," section. He glanced out the window to the rows of desks, mentally tallying his officers. His eyes finally settled on, what was her name, Vala? The new transfer. It had been about a week since she arrived, and he wondered how she was settling in. On the other hand, a pretty enough queen might give him an extra air of respectability and she seemed to have a sharp enough head on her shoulders. Shrugging to himself, he stepped out of the office to go talk to her.

[qualapec]

Vala looked up from her paperwork to see her superior approaching. In a brief spat of mental paranoia, she was concerned he'd heard about her excursion down on the docks and had come to put her in her place. He hadn't struck her like that...but she'd been lured into security before.

Right. It had to be bad, because she wasn't the kind of queen that toms wanted to go stepping with.

[victoriousscarf]

He paused in front of her desk, having stolen a cup of coffee from a briefly abandoned desk on the way. If they were up, they could just get a new cup. "Mrs. Tortioseshell?" he asked softly. "And how have you been settling in?"

[qualapec]

Vala decided to keep her cards close to her chest. At least he didn't start yelling right off the bat. "Yes sir, I've been getting to know the town." She pursed her lips and thought about saying it was nice, but then remembered that he knew the town in question, and that that would be too much.

[victoriousscarf]

Sonya nodded, taking a sip of the coffee. "Good, good." He glanced down at the cream paper in his paw. "You do have a nice dress, do you not?" Clearly, he had not gotten enough sleep the night before since that sounded like the worst non sequencer. "That is," he paused again, trying to think of a way to salvage that sentence.

[qualapec]

Vala raised an eyebrow.

"You look like you want to give that one another shot."

Biting her lip, Vala hated that she was feeling a blush coming on. Because he simply could not have meant what she thought he did.

[victoriousscarf]

Was it just impossible for him to talk around queens anymore, was that it? "I would like to, yes," he said, flashing the creme paper at her. "I was just invited to Macavity Hollister's fancy dress ball on New Years. In case you do not know of him yet, he owns perhaps the fanciest hotel in town, the Demoniaque and is one of society's top players in town. I thought perhaps you would like to come with me as my guest. It would give you a chance to get to know the city a bit better, and mingle with its elite. You seem like you have sharp eyes, which would be useful." And would perhaps make him look just that little bit more respectable.

[qualapec]

Vala was stunned for a moment. Closely followed by panic and claustrophobia.

She opened and closed her mouth, ran a hand over the back of her neck.

Her first instinct was to insist he was using his authority to call her to bed with him...but she'd seen Sonya in action for a while, he'd never struck her as the type. And he'd said he wanted her because she had sharp eyes. She didn't think she'd ever been given a compliment like that by a male officer before...

It was all great except. "Yes, I'd...um, like to accompany you...sir. Very much. There's just one problem." Her dress. The one dress she had.

[victoriousscarf]

He paused, considering how this entire conversation had been going so far and blushed himself. "This is not a date," he said. "Just so we are upfront about that. But as a woman you are more likely to put people at ease and perhaps would be able to hear things I would not." No one was going to say anything in front of him after all. He swallowed, considering. "What would that problem be?" Another pause. "You do not have a nice dress do you?" What had he been thinking? On a police queen's salary?

[qualapec]

Vala was relieved. She always got tongue tied around interested toms. And...it was nice that she was being treated like a cop for once.

"I had this friend, this queen in Chicago..." Vala felt the blush returning. "She liked to party. Quite a bit. And before I left she gave me a dress."

Vala felt like she was blowing an opportunity. "Yes. Sir. I have a dress. It's just not a dress I would choose for myself. It's very...low-cut. And it flips when you move." She ran a paw over her forehead. "So yes, I do have one nice dress. I just don't know how respectable it is." Vala felt a headache coming on.

[victoriousscarf]

Sonya considered that for a moment. "Perhaps that would get you even more information," he said, musingly, offering her a slight smile. "However, perhaps also not appropriate to this situation. It will after be the cream of society there, decked out in their best." How was he going to be able to say this next sentence without it coming out wrong too? "My mother was quite the socialite, so I grew up surrounded by these type of events. If you like, I could help find you a fitting dress."

He paused again. "And..." There was no good way for this one to come out, was there? "Pay for it, of course, since the point is to make the department look as respectable as possible, and getting as much information as possible. Something is up in this city, and I would like to know as much as I can about it. This might be a good opportunity."

[qualapec]

Vala smiled. "Thank you. I was about to suggest that a faery godmother might be a good alternative."

[victoriousscarf]

Sonya snorted and finally gave her a real smile of his own. "Well, I am sorry to say that I fall a bit short of a fairy godmother, but I can probably find you a dress."

[qualapec]

Vala nodded, "Thank you...say, is there anything you want me to keep an eye out for? Who's the host?" In a town like Felidae, she highly doubted the fattest cat was legit- they never were.

[victoriousscarf]

"Said Macavity Hollister. Do keep an eye on him. He has not done anything so far as we know, but... he has acted a bit suspciously the other night. He arrived far too quickly to bail out his brother. But that could easily be explained away, I never did have a chance to confront him on it." He paused, looking the invitation over again. "He showed up as a big player only several years ago, when he built his hotel. It's probably the fanciest in town too. He's not old money, and no one seems entirely sure where he came from. Also, Bustopher Jones is sure to be there, as he never misses a party. I know he is dirty, so keep an eye out on him as well." Thinking for a second, he wondered who else might show up. "Just watch the guests, see who talks to whom and who is there. I am not entirely sure anything will happen, but I would like to have a better handle on how things are going. After all, hardly all criminals are found done by the docks, and some of the most dangerous ones move in society's upper reaches."