IC inbox; TS

[simulsimul]

... Hm.

Comments

video;

[ironcircle]

Good afternoon, Mr. Aurion. Or do you prefer Kratos? My name is Cheym. I work in the fields with other kedan outside the city most of the time. Your name has been making quite the rounds, what with that bit of coin you left with one of the families here.

video;

[simulsimul]

[Kratos is emphatically blank-faced at this unsolicited call.]

Have you a point?

video;

[ironcircle]

[Dry chuckle.]

Very direct; I like that. Not many Foreigners pay us much attention unless something goes wrong, and even something as small as your way of saying thank you is unusual, and very appreciated. Thank you, I suppose, is largely my point.

video;

[simulsimul]

They already offered their gratitude. Why follow this up now?

video;

[ironcircle]

Consider it an official duty. I'm speaking with a number of Foreigners and it seemed prudent to start a conversation with something a little less random than 'hello, my name is Cheym and I like long walks through the fields and the smell of spring rains on warm soil'.

[He doesn't do beaches or pina coladas.]

I believe in building bridges, first and foremost. Apologies if I started out on the wrong foundation.

video;

[simulsimul]

Official, hm. Speak plainly, then. What do you want?

[Since 'direct' is apparently appreciated, and that apology sounds awfully insincere.]

video;

[ironcircle]

[The level of suspicion in some of the Foreigners is fascinating.]

Little more than to keep us in mind. Should you find yourself needing something we might be able to provide, let me know.

video;

[simulsimul]

And if I already know to whom I should be going for help, should I still let you know?

[Faint emphasis on the 'you'. Kratos is still trying to figure out whether this man is trying to create a monopoly through his own hands, or is some sort of elected representative.]

video;

[ironcircle]

[Kratos may have seen this woman at the Healers' Guild. She's smiling pleasantly.]

You're the one Professor Sage browbeat into helping out regularly, aren't you?

Is it something you're inclined to do even without her authority?

[Genuine curiosity, not making a point.]

video;

[simulsimul]

[This is the second unsolicited call he's had from a kedan on an apparently random topic. Hmh.]

Perhaps. Why?

[His expression, in contrast, is impassively flat.]

video;

[ironcircle]

[Suhiet tilts her head a little; the iridescent scales along her jaw, nearly flesh-tone, shimmer in the light.]

Even the Foreigners with the longest sojourns here eventually return to their homes. It would be a shame to lose your talents only because Professor Sage was taken back.

Would you be amenable to formalizing something more long-term?

video;

[simulsimul]

You want me to enter into a contract?

[This isn't something he expected.]

video;

[ironcircle]

Something like that.

[It isn't necessarily what she would have called it, but the term more or less works.]

Essentially, your help is too valuable to risk losing for anything but your own departure.

video;

[simulsimul]

I don't intend to enter into anything binding.

[Nothing that's held by someone else, at any rate. He's had a few too many experiences with pacts and promises.]

Professor Sage's presence doesn't determine whether I help those in need.

video;

[ironcircle]

[...that's a little strange, but hardly the oddest foible she's seen a Foreigner have.]

That's all I wanted to be sure of. Thank you.

[A brief pause.]

Are you... content?

video;

[simulsimul]

[He pauses. Narrows his eyes.]

Why are you asking me this?

Text: May 14th

[redlightgreenlight]

Meet me in the Palace Gardens, near the tall tree with the twisted branches. Bring your magic sword.

[simulsimul]

[He goes.]

audio; mid-May

[choiced]

[After personally witnessing this, and during a day where Zelos doesn't have much else to do and is very, very bored.]

Hey, where do you live?

[Because it's just occurred to him he has no idea.]

[simulsimul]

What?

[This is not a call he expected, nor a person from whom he expected one, let alone a question he expected this person to ask.]

[choiced]

[Zelos lives to defy expectations.]

Come on, it's not like it's a hard question. Where do you live?

[simulsimul]

I don't live anywhere.

[He says it like he's not trying to hide it, but he's not sure why Zelos is asking.]

[choiced]

[What in the name of Martel is the point of obfuscating now?]

Look, I'm not planning on burning it down. I just want to know, in case I ever need -- [Help? No.] In case you do something stupid again and someone needs to burn your house down to teach you a lesson. I can promise it won't be me.

[simulsimul]

... I don't have a house.

[There's not much that's obfuscating about 'I don't live anywhere', Zelos.]

[choiced]

Then whatever it is. Apartment, shack, mansion.

[Brief pause.]

Don't tell me you live in a shack.