"Eccentric, shall we say."

"Like mother, like daughter?"

"Oh, she's much worse than I am. And I still have some soft, happy edges. Hers have all been scoured away."

"Try to hold onto those soft edges, then."

"You like a girl with a bit of padding to her?"

"I'm sometimes a silk and goose down kind of girl."

"Ooh, decadent."

"Except on special occasions."

"What do you prefer for those? Leather straps and metal chains?"

"With the right company."

"How interesting," she purrs. "You have hidden depths, princess."

"Surprised?"

"Pleasantly so."

She laughs. (It's the first time Blossom has gotten more than a reluctant smile out of her.)

It's a nice laugh. Blossom will definitely have to try for more.

Have they gotten close to anything like a base yet for the goons they were tailing?

Seems so! There's a big official building overlooking much of the city, and they go into a squat well defended building nearby it. This involves doors that open themselves. 

Fancy. Very fancy. This place... seems to have more technical know-how than most others she's been to.

"Looks like a barracks and town hall."

"...More complicated than that, I think..." she says, squinting at them. 

"What do your discerning bureaucratic eyes tell you?"

Squint... "This is a democracy, though perhaps in name only," she says, watching the people who ebb in and out. "That isn't a town hall - they might not have a physical version of that - nor a place of legislation. It's a bureaucratic center, perhaps a courthouse? And that's not a barracks - I'd guess a guardhouse for law enforcement, probably including a small jail for those waiting trial. But I don't think anyone is habitually sleeping there, and I don't think they consider it militarized nor exceptionally well defended, and it's a place normal civilians can enter..."

"You really know your stuff, princess."

"Surprised?"

"More wondering what someone of your obvious talent was doing out at the ass-end of nowhere to get snatched up by those fae."

She tries not to preen too visibly. She's really bad at hiding her reactions, though. "I've been told I'm indiscreet and need more experience."

"Their loss is my gain."