She puts her hand in his and her head on his shoulder. "You know, my family is quite wealthy."

"You mentioned the investments."

"I'm sure they'd be very pleased with me were I to marry."

"I may or may not have sent a letter back home mentioning our courtship."

"Awwwwwww."

"In hindsight it was maybe more effusive than it needed to be."

"When I write to my parents about you it is just effusive enough."

Reciprocal awwwwwww. "You are far too sweet."

"So, if you wanted to become a gentleman of leisure, or a kept man..."

 "I wouldn't want to impose." He kisses her knuckles. "But I wouldn't say no either."

"I always liked the idea of being a patron of the arts."

"You are already an artist though."

"No one says you can't be an artist and a patron."

"If anyone could pull it off, it's you."

As she moves closer to kiss him Jing Yi happens to look down her dress. Look. She is very nearly his fianceé and also he has already seen her naked. He is Allowed.

He sees a black whistle tucked into her bra. The shape is different-- more abstract-- but it is recognizably made of the same material as Roby's whistle. 

...what.

He smiles, trying not to look like he is freaking out by being followed by winged whistles, and how did it end up in his dreams before he saw one. "Where did you get the necklace? I've never seen one like that before."

"A friend gave it to me," she says lightly. "I don't think it's interesting to talk about."

Jing Yi feels a sense that the whistle is very boring. He definitely doesn't care about this whistle. Evie's breasts are right there and they're so much more interesting.

--Evie might think the whistle is boring. But this is the same sort of whistle that Roby had. It's the same winged thing that he dreamed of. Why would he find it boring? Evie's breasts are very nice, of course, but-- finding the whistle boring isn't something that he would think.

It's interesting. It's important, even if Evie doesn't know it. He knows this.

"I don't mean to pry. It's just-- not a material I've seen before. And the design is pretty."

"The friend who gave it to me is quite an artist." She starts to kiss his neck.

"They would have to be-- sorry, I'll stop." Evie should be hugged, and facilitated in kissing his neck.

Right, see, this is much more interesting than whistles, according to Evie.

And there are these lovely private bushes over here in which she can thoroughly distract him from any thought of mysterious winged whistles.

That is Evie's suggestion for a course of action.

It's a very good suggested course of action, is the thing. Much nicer than trying to pry information out of her while trying not to think too hard about winged things with a penchant for disassembling people in dreams.

Right. Evie agrees entirely.

Sadly, after that, she has to return to work, before he can return to asking about whistles.

Alas, they both have to be productive members of society.

Meanwhile--

Oscar Latz doesn't technically sell pornography. This is a distinction that is entirely lost on useless failson of the gentry Nigel Smith.

And Oscar has seen him and Way come into the shop together looking for the pornography he does not, in fact, sell.

Then let's pay him a visit. Oscar can throw in a free technically-it's-art-not-porn book or something too.

>:I