Getting a Permit

[Kysis]

Alia allowed herself to walk closer, but took no seat, standing behind the chair with her hands on the back.  It was like a physical barrier between them, adding to the already present blockage caused by the desk.  Alia could not help but keep smiling, all the more since she was looking down at the Captain, who usually towered over her by a few heads.  Her small stature was a hinderance, but now it seemed just fine, especially with the view.  Oh yes, Alia would take a moment to soak this in.

"The weapons should be arriving here within two days, according to the runner.  Kysis sent me to talk to you about the transfer.  He wants to know who will be coming for the exchange and if he is a required presence."

Tact was a thing Alia toyed with now.  Indirectly speaking, it was as if she blurted out \'Kysis does not want to see you, at all\' without actually saying it.  Alia did not know for sure if that was true.  The guard had been a bit dodgy with the entire subject, as if he was trying to hide one specific detail of the affair while giving all the others away.  Alia just wanted to stir up some trouble, find it out, and get the Captain away from her brother.  She wanted Kysis to show interest in a respectable woman, not some... she was running out of grotesque things to call the Captain.  She\'d have to think up some more on the fly.

"Might you answer these... requests?"

[Existentially Odd]

Lam tried very hard not to sneer at Alia\'s stupid pressing for an answer - if she\'d shut up long enough, of course she\'d have the requests met - but knew that that wasn\'t what the blonde was saying.  She was insinuating that Kysis wasn\'t interested in coming near her, which hurt but was hardly surprising after their disagreement the day before.  Lam\'s heart sank with resignation and the hope she\'d been clinging to that it had all been a misunderstanding sank with it.  He really didn\'t care to step into the public eye with her.  His sister was no doubt very pleased with the notion.

"He\'s not required," she said through stiff lips.  "I assumed that the weapons would arrive here and Lieutenant Frederickson would take possession of them.  It doesn\'t matter who brings them.  I will hasten the funds from the treasury, if I can, and try to have them to you in the next day or so - though the palace coin counters have had plenty of time to work on it and they haven\'t yet sent word that the payment is ready for delivery yet.  Once it is, I\'ll have to escort the money; shall I bring it to the shop or the manor?" she demanded crisply, verily glaring into Alia\'s eyes.

So like Kysis\' eyes...

She shut the thought off before it could weaken her too much, the pangs surprisingly strong.  She\'d allowed herself too much rope with her feelings, it was no wonder she\'d hanged.  She was too much to bear, of course Kysis had balked with her pressuring him.  Was there any way she could make that clear to him, though?  Could she even allow him the space he seemed to want, without smothering, even if she promised it?  It felt like she was already in too deep and she knew herself; she\'d start out with the best of intentions and then slip when she was feeling lonely.  He was too tempting for her to stay strong, in that regard.

[Kysis]

"Good.  He will be glad to hear it."

Alia smiled, leaning forward on the chair a little.  Her comments had not gotten as much of a rise out of the Captain as she had hoped, which was frustrating, but Alia was willing to keep at it.  Seiges tended to work better than unplanned assaults, anyhow.  She kept that sweet smile on her, staring intently at the Captain.  If she had a tan and some more meat on her bones, she might actually bear a closer resymblance to Kysis, seem like she was really his sister.  As it stood though, she was too pale and gaunt.  Most assumed she was just some sickly cousin or something else, not a sibling.  That was also irritating, but so be it.  Alia had more important things to concentrate on.

"Are you still planning on going to that banquet.... thing?"

Prying was something Alia had learned well.  She knew fully that the two were supposed to go to the banquet, together (and though Kysis was thoroughly confused on how exactly the Captain wished their appearence to be interpreted, he would go along with it).  She also knew that Kysis would not cancel out of such things full well.  He never backed out of anything (minus marriages), so it would be greatly out of his character to do so.  Alia merely hoped the Captain did not know her brother too well, otherwise she would see through the meddling without an issue.

Alia could try, though.

[Existentially Odd]

Lam frowned, not liking the fact that Kysis had spoken of the judge\'s welcome dinner to his sister and confused because she didn\'t have any idea how to answer.  She supposed that, technically, Kysis hadn\'t told her he wouldn\'t go, but the way they\'d parted... implied as much.  She wanted nothing to do with being seen with him if he wasn\'t willing to understand how it would all work and... well, it was damn confusing, which agitated the captain no end.

"He told you about that?" she demanded irritably, putting down the quill she\'d been holding in order to sit up straighter in her chair and run a hand over her hair, smoothing it for something to do.  She wanted to get up and walk around, stand over Alia at the least, but the tactic would be obvious and she felt she was transparent enough with the way things between her and Kysis were.  Did her brother tell her everything?  Did she know they were lovers too?  That thought made the redhead even more angry.  Was nothing sacred?

"It\'s not meant for common knowledge," she added, enjoying the fact that she was implying Alia wasn\'t nearly as noble as she really was.  Lam was well aware she hadn\'t answered the question and she hoped that her sickly interrogator got the hint that she wasn\'t going to, either.

[Kysis]

"He didn\'t tell me, per say, but I overhead a few.... snippets from a loose tongued guard.  Alex loves to talk.  Pity Kysis hasn\'t realized that."

Alia shrugged, loving just what she had gotten on this one.  Baiting seemed best, drop a few lines and see which ones got bites.  This one most definitely did.  Kysis had not told Alex much, but Alia could fill in blanks.  Something about a special dinner here, something about some conflict there, misunderstandings, frustrations.  That was all Alex would say though.  Alia knew it must have ran deeper, but how she was unsure.  Perhaps Kysis was just practicing the theory of \'keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer\'?  Alia could see quite clearly how the head of a guard group would be against a weapons merchant.  There would be a higher availability of weapons, possibility for more violence, things would become harder to regulate.  No matter where they escaped too, a little part of Kreos would always follow.

"Alex said something about a special dinner.  He could tell Kysis was very mad about something, and he rarely ever shows a temper..."

Well, that was a partial truth.  Kysis had been flummoxed, not angry.  He just wanted everything to be clear instead of so prone to interpretation.  Alia could exaggerate, right?  It wasn\'t a bad thing, right?  She was only looking out for the Lord Liari, right?  Well, she was looking out for her close friend Helen too, crying back in Kreos.  Poor dear she was.  A propper woman, too, not the ox of an imitation the Captain was.  Alia had here own motives.  Kept them to herself, but they were there, always working, gears never stilling.  Alia was used to getting what she wanted to.  There was always a chance that she would be disappointed.... but she wouldn\'t count on it.

[Existentially Odd]

Kysis was telling guards about them and their relationship?  What?!  Lam could hardly believe what Alia was saying, her expression twisted in anger and disgust as she looked up at the blonde woman.  What the hell was she playing at?  The more she talked, the angrier Lam became - but she supposed that might be exactly what her game was.  It was very difficult to bite her tongue and not simply react in fury to what she was being told, but so far she was doing alright.

"Kysis was mad, was he?  Is he?" she corrected through gritted teeth, changing the past tense to present when she realised that her lover likely was still upset.  Especially if he was avoiding seeing her (as much as she knew Alia wanted to upset her, it didn\'t occur to her to question the facts and accuse the little bitch of lying).

"That\'s interesting, considering he\'s the one that didn\'t want-" she stopped mid-sentence, taking a breath as she realised she was talking too much in her anxiety.  Alia had only overheard guards speaking, that didn\'t mean that she knew anything of substance and was probably here fishing.  Lam needed to hold her tongue on details - as dearly as she would like to see the look on the blonde\'s face should she begin to describe in lurid detail just how good the sex between she and Kysis had been, how tasty his dick was, how he\'d felt inside her.  That would certainly shut her up, but Lam would save that line of attack for a last resort.  It wouldn\'t do to confirm any details, really.

Clearing her throat and looking down briefly, Lam shuffled some papers into a neater pile and then met the other woman\'s gaze with a cooler expression.  "It doesn\'t matter," she said dismissively.  "He has a right to his own feelings.  I\'ll discuss the dinner with him when I bring the money from the treasury.  Now, if that will be all... ?" she asked crisply, raising haughty eyebrows as she attempted to evict the little witch from her office.  She was very clearly being dismissed.

[pentacledreamer]

Amillia had long since decided that this conversation was none of her buisness and crept down the stair well, peering at the other guards as she headed towards the door, but a little thought crept into her mind as she passed the two officers by the door.

Turning around she decided she wasn\'t going to abandon Alia to what might happen if the Captian got specially mad at the frail girl. She owed her that much for escorting her to this accursed place anyway.

Darting back up the stairs she wondered what Alia was thinking, as she peered in and saw again that they were facing eachother. The tension she felt she could cut with her knife if she wanted to.

Curious, she didn\'t hide in the hallway like before, more stood in the doorway watching Alia intently.

[Kysis]

Alia clicked her nails on the back of the chair, fingers rising and falling in a rolling pattern.  This was harder than she had thought it would be.  He hadn\'t what?  Oh, that trailing off just wouldn\'t do.  Not at all.  Alia figured she would have to use a little more coin to loosen Alex\'s jaw a bit more.  He was the only person Kysis talked to about anything, anymore.  He had just closed off like a castle surrounded by a mote, drawbridge up and not coming back down.  It hurt to know that he used to confide in her, but no longer did.  Alia hated the whole shake-up which had taken place in the last two months.  From the whole failed betrothal to Rico to the move to now.

"I\'ll warn him."

That was the last dagger she could hurl for now.  Alia wished she was in full armor or some other protective measure, had a guard to use as a meat shield, anything would have been better than the chair.  Smile completely gone, Alia turned in a huff, spotting Amillia and cocking a slender eyebrow.  Had that door not been closed by Fredrickson upon Alia\'s entrance?  How odd....  Not that it mattered.  Alia assumed Amillia would not even remember her brother\'s name, nor understand exactly what was going on.  Alia herself was unsure.  Just what had happened between the Captain and Kysis?  Hmmm, she would puzzle over that one for a while, and that coin should do the trick.  A few gold would get anyone to talk.

"Aww, you waited for me?  How sweet of you.  Perhaps we should spirit away from this cesspit?"

Maybe she did have a few more attacks up her sleeve.

[Existentially Odd]

"Cesspit?" Lam demanded, offended.  She found seeing Alia out was as good a reason as any to get to her feet and she did it hastily, striding around the desk as well, once the insult reached her.  It didn\'t matter that the blonde was goading her with such comments, they were entirely effective because Lam wasn\'t one to be able to take the higher (moral) road.  If she was offended, she let people know.

The captain spared a cold glance for the woman hanging about her doorway, briefly wondering why in Talon\'s name the guards had left her there unsupervised (though Lam would find Freddy lurking in the anteroom once she looked out, since he\'d followed the strange woman in her ridiculous visits up and down the stairs and through the main thoroughfare of the guard\'s business downstairs, bold as she pleased.  She had been shown leniency but she was by no means a trusted visitor).  She then looked down at Alia as she reached the girl\'s side in a few long strides.

"Oberon Castle\'s Guardhouse is hardly a cesspit, Miss Dinaris and I\'ll thank you to realise that such opinions are neither based in fact nor at all helpful in serving our community.  Quite frankly, it\'s a false representation and you should retract the statement," she said haughtily, lifting her chin defiantly.

[pentacledreamer]

Startled out of her wits Amillia stood there like a mute child, clutching her treasured box. Her eyes only on Alia as she bit out harsh tones at Lam.

Her brown eyes centered on Alia\'s cold expression and wondered if she was in the right state of mind to have stayed for the girl. Turning a quick glance at the riled up Captian she took the few steps back that would take her out of eye shot of the woman.

Looking down the hallway she contimplated why she\'d stayed, she didn\'t rely on the company of others normally and didn\'t need the escort home. She had her dagger and would of been quite capable of returning to her father safely.

Averting her eyes she awaited Alia\'s exit before moving, not mentioning that the door hadn\'t been shut properly and she\'d not been in full veiw the whole time.

[Kysis]

"Based on fact?  Why else would a busy woman like yourself go out of your way to be around a weapons merchant?  I wouldn\'t put it beneath you to sleep with someone for a discount.  Luckily such tactics will not work with my brother, as you might have found out."

There was no smile, no false charm to smooth over the biting works, a chill glare of her blue eyes locking on the Captain, before she turned again and headed out the door.  Alia was raised in a proper family, with morals and rules, honor and dignity.  From what she had seen of this woman, or at least heard in little chatterings here and there, she was no better than a brash and uncouth man.  Alia was absolutely revolted by the idea.  The Captain might have been fitting for her job, but definitely not for spending idle time with a person like her brother.  Despite his past mistakes, he at least had some honor.

Of course, she did not know the whole story.  Alex had not told her much, and she suspected that Alex had not been told much himself.  Kysis had gotten frightfully quiet, even for his normal self.  Alia was worried.  She had every right to be.  Marcos had told her to keep an eye on Kysis, and by Talon she would.

"Good day to you, Captain."

Alia swiveled, head held high as she walked right past Amillia.  The young woman did not take lightly to being ignored, whether or not the shoemaker was frightened.  A simple response might have been better that her cowardly truth.  Not even looking at her, Alia started down the hall, hoping that by some miracle the Captain did not find some ridiculous (and completely untrue) reason to get her arrested.  Yes, that would definitely get Kysis against the Captain, but Alia hardly wanted her means that badly.

[pentacledreamer]

Amillia quite put off now by both woman turned and followed a good pace behind Alia, having only given the Captian a quick glance as she did not want to see what the woman possibly thought of Alia\'s out burst.

Taking careful steps she eyed the guards as she came down the steps, thank goodness she could go home now.

But she was a curious creature and brought her steps beside Alia\'s, daring to look directally at the Lady. "May I ask.. what that was.. Why are you so mad?" She said slowly, careful to put no emotion but slight concern into her words.

[Existentially Odd]

The Captain wanted to argue Alia down right then and there, but catching sight of Freddy loitering at the desks just beyond her doorway and watching a complete stranger trot after the blonde wench held her tongue.  Now was not the time to declare loudly that she had had Alia\'s moralistic brother in her bed and it had nothing to do with discounts - as much as she desperately wished to see the look of horror cross the sickly face.  That would have to come another time.

Lam merely snorted her response instead, meeting her Lieutenant\'s gaze as he got to his feet to trail after the two women, then spinning restlessly on her heel and striding back into her office.  It took every ounce of willpower she owned not to slam the door.

[Kysis]

Alia sighed, casting a tired look back towards the Captain\'s office as she walked.  It took a lot of energy to keep that up.  She was feeling quite exhausted, wanting to just curl up in front of a fire with a book and be away from the harsh reality of everything.  Yes, that sounded just magnificent...  Attacking the Captain was not the answer her frustrations begged.  Alia had no confirmation for everything.  She had planned on grilling Kysis on the subjects when coming in to the shop, but Amillia had been in there, and in need, and Alia just couldn\'t help herself and...  It just all blew up from there.

"I\'m sorry you had to hear all that...  I just...  It\'s complicated.  Very."

Though Alia just wanted to spill all the details, about Helen and what happened and the duty Kysis had to face up with and currently wasn\'t, but she kept it in.  Amillia had no role in this whole feud, should not have been used as an instrument for it to play out.  Alia felt horrible for it, too.  It was terribly wrong of her, and she felt the urge to apologize again.

"I\'m so sorry.  Really.  I should not have used this as an excuse to.... further complicate matters."

[pentacledreamer]

Amillia stayed by the girl\'s side, walking intently, "It is no problem.." She looked ahead of them, her eyes inquizative, "I walk back wit ya to your shop.. alright?"

Though curiousity pulled at her gut, she wanted to know why this small Lady was so hell bent on putting their Captian in some sort of place, whether this was deserved or not and she was sure there were more than just two sides to this story so either of them could of been wrong. As she looked back at Alia she let out soft sigh, but than it wasn\'t her place at all to be part of this little circle as she only wanted to buy a dagger.

What a day this had been for her though, first she just wanted food, and damn that man for trying himself on her but she had her weapon and no worries, even if she felt that once she walked away she\'d be loosing a possible friend. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.