A New Start

[Kysis]

It was more than a little reassuring to hear the Captain speak of peaceful times.  In fact, it put him greatly at ease.  Here he, and what little of his family was left, could be safe.  Pandora would never grow up to know the kingdom Kysis had loved, but it was better than having lost her in the battles.  It was good to know that she had a high probability of never seeing war again in her lifetime.

War was a terrible thing.

The comment about advice, which Kysis\' keen ears picked up on, had him glancing up, searching the Captain\'s face to see if she really said that.  She had.  Kysis hoped it never came to that.  Seeing another place decimated was not on his list of to-dos.  In fact, Kysis did not even want to think of it.  He had too recently settled in Oberon to.

"Kreos was by the sea." Kysis answered back sharply, though he had not meant to.  She was just trying to be funny, by her tone and all.  She could not have known.  Kysis looked down at the table again, taking a sip of his own beverage, a mellow wine which would not taint his mind in the least.  There was work to be had after the meeting, after all.

"Also, there is already a well established weapon\'s merchant in Ravenshom, whom Tiberius knows.  I could not invade upon that territory."  That was more friendly a reason, Kysis hoping the Captain excused his snappiness.  He was on edge.  That should be understandable, right?

[Existentially Odd]

Wilson paled visibly when he remarked coldly that his home had been by the sea.  She was mortified to have made such an off-the-cuff remark that resulted in offense and reached forward once he\'d put his drink down, to cover his hand with her own.  "I\'m sorry," she told him adamantly, giving his hand a squeeze.  "I had no idea, I didn\'t mean it."

The rest of his comment, about a weapons merchant already being established in Ravenshom, made perfect sense and was not really worth commenting on.  That was a logical choice and not her focus; most important was establishing her regret over what she\'d said and him believing her.

[Kysis]

Kysis took a deep and shaky breath, concentrating on how his lungs quivered.  Apparently he had still offended her, despite the attempt to rectify that after the fact with a few more friendly pieces of information.  For a moment he closed his eyes, thinking of how this was not going good at all.  Well, everything business-wise was already arranged, it was just....

"That was uncalled of, from me." Kysis spoke quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.  He did not realize he was using the figure of speech wrong, as English was not his first language and despite and good he had become with it, he was still learning.  It was a hard language, and he felt like he would always be learning.  Oberon would help like that.

[Existentially Odd]

She frowned at him.  "No, no it wasn\'t," she insisted strongly, finding it was now her turn to bark words at him.  "You had every right to respond as you did, you\'ve obviously been through a lot - I mean, a war, for Talon\'s sake!" she exclaimed, giving his hand one more squeeze and then letting go.  She sat back, looking him dead in the eye.  "I don\'t blame you in the slightest," she finished sternly, giving a perfunctory nod to signify that the conversation was finished with, from her side.

[Kysis]

At one time Kysis would have recoiled from any touch.  Though he had been in the mood to, to just crawl into a cave and never be seen by humanity again, he had remained still even as she touched his hand at first.  His hand was a scarred thing, only had half its feeling left in it.  She was right, a war.  Talon?  He was guessing it was one of the local deities.  Kysis did not know these things yet.  He did not recoil from her touch now, though he had to concentrate on not doing it this time.

"How does one go about getting a weapon\'s permit here?"

It was something Rico had brought up as important, so Kysis used it to change the subject.  He wanted to talk more.  The only people he had to talk to around his own household were the soldiers he had once served with before he got his title, and the soldiers he had fought alongside in their escape from Kreos, the last people to leave.  They were still all as jilted as him.

[Existentially Odd]

"One goes to the guardhouse and applies," she smiled slightly, hoping he didn\'t mind being teased.  She took the final mouthful of her meal just after she said this, laid her utensils on the late and pushed it slightly to the side so that she could fold her arms before her and rest her elbows on the table.

"All it takes is your name and weapon type being registered on a list that my first lieutenant keeps, and a sum of gold paid to the city for our trouble.  I\'m finished work for the day so we can walk over there on the way home if you like, and I can do it for you?" she offered helpfully.

[Kysis]

"That would be nice."

And now he felt like an idiot, which he was blaming on Rico, because the way he had put it earlier made it seem complicated.  He had described it as being like giving an arm and a leg.  That was just Rico, though.  At least he was starting to turn back to normal.  It meant there was hope for the rest of them.

Kysis had not been eating very much this whole time, his appetite still not where it used to be.  He tried though, taking another bite when he realized the Captain was already done.  He felt a twinge of guilt for not finishing his food, but he did not think he would be able to.  The foreign food was another thing he would have to get used to.  Despite the thick gravy doused over the vegetables and the seasoning on the lamb, it seemed dull and lifeless compared to Greek food.

"My Retainer made it seem more difficult than that."  It was something to say.  The silence was making him uncomfortable.

[Existentially Odd]

"It can be, if you have an exotic weapon and not a lot of gold behind you," she said as mildly as she could, not wanting to accuse a man who\'d just fled his home city with barely anything but his daughter of having no funds to pay for a permit... but she did wonder.

A lot of things about him made her wonder, actually.  How he\'d got that fantastic scar over his eye, how he was coping with only partial sight, where he planned to get the steel from, to make his weapons and if he was going to build a forge here.

Of course, part of the inspiration for her wondering such things was her fascination for his thick accent and the way he spoke; she could have listened to him talk at length.  If only he wasn\'t the heavily scarred, emotionally wounded type who wasn\'t up for conversation.

[Kysis]

Kysis breathed a sigh of relief. "Good.  Neither are a problem then." He did not bear exotic weapons on his person.  The only true oddity they had was the arc-bladed flail which Kysis planned on using for the exhibition... as soon as he relearned how to use it with only half his sight.  It was going to make it hard, but he had been practicing the whole way up to Oberon, and now that they were settled, Kysis planned on cracking down to get everything perfect before the event.  It would be terrible if the only one to mess up was the Lord Liari himself.

It felt odd, not having a sword at his side, not having his patch-work of armor strapped on.  Kysis did not know if he would be able to get used to it.

"Tiberius says it is safe enough to wander about without one, but...." Kysis forced himself to take another bite.  It was flavorless at this point. "maybe someday."

[Existentially Odd]

She grinned, watching him attempt to stomach his food, only then realise she\'d made her usual pig of herself and wolfed down anything edible placed in front of her.  It was obvious he didn\'t like what he was eating, but he was persevering anyway.

"Don\'t eat it if you don\'t like it," she advised offhandedly, then looked up from his lips to his eye.  "Oberon\'s perfectly safe as long as you avoid the shadowy alleyways where our less-than noble inhabitants like to loitre.  I don;t blame you for wanting a weapon though; habits are difficult things to break.  Have you had a chance to look around the city much?" she enquired politely, doubting he had and again pondering taking another step away from professional, considering offering him a tour personally.

That would be a bit silly, though, and she had no earthly idea why she was putting herself out so much for him.  Likely because he was a good distraction from worrying about Dagger and because he\'d aroused her sympathy but still... she was going to make a nuisance of herself if she wasn\'t careful.

[Kysis]

Kysis put down his eating utensil the moment the Captain said he didn\'t have to eat it.  The Lord Liari could almost hear his parents harping over him in exactly the opposite direction, but they were far away now, concentrating on more important things than how Kysis presented himself.  Luckily they had given up on that one right after he had gotten married.  From then on it had been Helen\'s job....

Not a subject he wanted to be thinking about right now.

"I haven\'t." Kysis was referring to the city. "I\'ve practically only seen the route between my house, the Guardhouse and the shop."  That was the truth, too.  He had yet to see anything else, or go anywhere else, "And the stables." but he wanted to get to know the city.  He had known Kreos like the back of his hand, the Keep the same way.  It made him want to know this city that well, though Kysis knew it would take time.  A lot of time.  Right now he had some time, though.  Not enough to memorize everything, but enough to learn a little.

[Existentially Odd]

"I could show you around, if you\'d like," she offered as casually as she was able, not realising her mouth would take the initiative when her brain was still weighing up the alternatives.  She shrugged coyly and sat up off her crossed arms, lifting an irreverant hand into the air in an almost apologetic manouevre as she leaned back in her chair.  "Not that I mean to force you into such things, of course," she added hastily, a little colour rising in her pale cheeks, "but if you want... I\'m available."

Good grief, what am I doing?  I\'m practically dogging the man\'s every footstep.  He\'ll start thinking I\'m suspicious of him and need to follow him around or something, if I\'m not careful.  Or that I\'m enamoured with more than just his speech!  Nice going, Lam.

[Kysis]

It was funny how she was going about it.  The slightest upturn of his lips happened at that, not enough to be considered a smile but still enough to break that grim line.  It would be nice to get a tour of the city from her.  She was the Captain of the Guard and thus knew the city probably as well as he had known Kreos.  In fact, if there was anyone in the city whom he should ever want as a guide, it was her.

He found himself nodding at first, though he did not say anything quiet yet.  He had a few questions that showed he was not as sure as his head seemed to think he was by bobbing already in approval.

"Would you have time for that?  I mean, I would really like a tour, but if you\'re too busy..." Kysis wanted to kick himself.  Would she had offered it if she was too busy? "Yes, that would be nice."

He really had to stop saying that and find another way to put it.

[Existentially Odd]

"I have time," she confirmed, smiling at him.  She didn\'t necessarily have the smarts to keep herself out of his face, but she certainly had the time to be near it more.  "I\'m off work until tomorrow if you wanted to make it as early as this after noon - though I\'d like to go get changed out of my uniform, if possible - or there\'ll be time next week, after you\'ve settled in a bit more," she said with another shrug, not minding either way.

[Kysis]

Today or next week?  Today or next week?  Today or

Today.

If Kysis waited, that would mean he would be completely clueless until after the exhibition, and that was just not copasetic with him.  Of course, he felt like he was intruding, but from a business standpoint, he could completely justify it.

"I can meet up with you later today?  I don\'t think I can bear feeling like a blithering idiot every time I step out of my house for the next week."

Hopefully he was not intruding?  Again, his logical side told him that if she was busy, or had other plans, she would not have offered.  Kysis had to keep reminding himself of that.  For the rest of the day, the staff at the store would just be putting together the stands and staining them, anyway, something Kysis found he could not be around for because the smell gave him a massive headache.  It would work out great on his end.

Perhaps he could even get a weapons permit and feel more comfortable by the time they met up again.