Rendezvous

[Anja]

Thad had pulled out the official seal that he had nicked from the living room desk, and was inspecting it when Morry turned the corner and ran into the secluded courtyard. He quickly pocketed it and enjoyed his cigarette, not bothering to look at the man.

"Would... would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Thad waved a hand at the space of bench to his left. It was a wide bench, so he didn't much mind. "Well, I just pulled off a successful grab, is what's going on. As for where you fit in, I honestly can't be arsed to think about it too much."

_____________________________________

Below the city, Anja tried to track the movements of Thad and Morry, but they were too quick, and she was thrown off focus by the arrival of the city guard at the manor. By the time she managed to refocus her legs on the right strands of webbing, she had lost their signals. One small reassurance was that Thad definitely weren't to be found amidst the thunder of guards that had overtaken the mansion. She couldn't be bothered to consider the unknown, Morry. Too few known variables to reach a conclusion more useful than pointless worry.

She was mildly surprised to find Dianelopa's biorhythms there, though. And even more surprised when the girl seemed to simply walk through their midst and out into the open freedom of the greater downtown district. She might prove to be a more valuable asset than first anticipated.

Regardless, she sincerely hoped that they were all smart enough to stay away from the sewers until things had cooled off a bit.

_______________________________________

Paul was having a bit of trouble with the law. Again. "Sir, where did the creature go?"

"Erh, ah, through the kitchen, I believe. It's not my house, I couldn't tell you."

The words clung in his throat, sounding unnatural to him. He coughed up a gob of shortening cake, and barely managed to keep it in his mouth. The guard pushed past him and surveyed the rooms that were visible from the entrance hall. He noted the holes in the living room wall, the sagging and broken ceiling, and the smashed furniture. He looked in the direction of the kitchen, and it seemed pristine.

"Hm. Looks more like he went through the living room, sir."

Paul looked to the living room, and put on a disoriented face. It was pulled off easily, as he wasn't exactly sure on his feet. "Yes, you must be right. But really, I must be on my way. I have a sick aunt, and all of this is terribly upsetting."

He made for the door, but his chest met with the flat of a longsword. "Not just yet, ye don't. I think we ought to bring you in for questioning, sir."

Yes, Paul Gromleslie, despite his effeminate virtues, was proving himself to be the lesser lady when it came to handling the law. He sighed as he espied DIanelopa pass through the gate after only a brief exchange with the horsed guardsman there. What a hussy...

[Morry]

The cold, moist earth was not as comfortable in this instance as a bench, Morry soon realized as he planted his butt on it and leaned forward. He put a hand on his forehead as he sat there, his chest still heaving to recover from all that moving and running. His body reeked of dirt, grime, and death from too many things to list, though most of it was from wallowing in rotten corpses and toad slime. He was not all that pleased about running his ass off in there. And in fact he could've just left to begin with.

Instead he had acted almost like a model citizen and saved their asses. "Right.." he murmured, picking at his clothing with a dirty fingernail. "So what's in it for me, eh? W'thout me ya migh' be dead," he grumbled, offering a weird, pouty expression as he stared expectantly at Thad. He didn't know any names and he didn't know about that Lopa chick, but he knew that he should be getting something since he had totally helped them. He had definitely picked the wrong damn place to sleep that night.

"An' so would that Lopa chick. Though she migh' be dead anyway," he rolled his eyes. The girl had stayed behind and either run another direction or had been eaten by the ogre. He didn't know and he honestly didn't really care.

A bit of treasure could get him some food and stuff for a while, which he desperately was in need of.

[Dianelopa]

Dianelopa kept walking no longer paying attention to where she was going. It wasn't until she found herself in front of the bar where she had once worked that she looked up and groaned. She didn't really want to be there. But someone had already seen her.

"Whoa, Lopa," said a male voice. "Whatever happened to you? The end of the world maybe? Your last legs? Down and out? Needing a job?"

She didn't know who it was. But his face was familiar. One of the customers that had come in the bar where she'd once worked. One of the ones, she did remember that, who'd always drank too much, always pinched her and had been generally annoying. She began to walk faster to get away from him.

"Hey," he shouted, "don't run away. I'll get a drink for you." He was coming after her.

Dianelopa stopped and turned to face him. "No," she said. "I don't want a drink. Please leave me alone."

The man laughed and plastered a leering grin on his face. "How about a nice bed then," he said.

"I said leave me alone," said Dianelopa firmly. "I meant leave me alone." She turned around resolutely and began walking away.

But the man lunged toward her, grabbed her arm and said, "You're a sassy one aren't you. Well, you ain't goin nowhere."

"Yes, I am," said Dianelopa. "And I'm not going with you. Now let go of my arm or I will bite you."

The man tightened his grip and burst into laughter.

"I'm warning you," said Dianelopa.

"So you are," he said and began dragging her toward an alley.

There were people on the street, but they were ignoring this scene. Dianelopa knew she didn't look respectable with her dirty and torn clothes and she knew no one would care what happened to her. She was on her own. It was early in the day, so the man was not drunk. But he was big and strong and it was clear that he intended to get what he wanted from Dianelopa. She wasn't sure whether biting him would make him release her. She also knew that during the day her bite was never as strong as at night. So she tried first to wriggle herself out of his grip. But this turned out to be impossible.

They were now in a narrow alleyway where there were no people walking by. There were no other options that she could think of. She bent her head toward his arm and bit.

"Ow," he howled. "What do you think you are doing?" He didn't let go. Instead he seemed to be even more frenzied. He flung his other arm around her waist and began to drag her into a doorway.

Dianelopa hadn't given the cat pendant that hung on her neck a single thought for a long time. Now she felt it getting hot. With the hand that the man had not pinned down, she grabbed it. It felt as if the heat emanating from the charm was flowing through her body and she was burning up. What the man experienced is unknown, but he loosened his grip. "Eeesh," he muttered.

Dianelopa immediately slipped out of his grip and ran down the alley.

"You'll be sorry," the man yelled after her. But he didn't follow her.

Dianelopa didn't know her way through these alleys. It seemed like a maze, she turned to the right and then the left. The alley turned, so she turned the other way at the next alley. After a night with no sleep and constant struggles, and now this, Dianelopa was exhausted and discombobulated. She had no idea how to get out of the alley maze and felt too tired to try. When she finally saw a stall with no horse or any other animal in it, she went in, walked to the back and made herself a nest of straw, covering herself completely, she lay down and fell into an uneasy but badly needed sleep.

[Anja]

"So what's in it for me, eh? W'thout me ya migh' be dead.

..."An' so would that Lopa chick. Though she migh' be dead anyway."

The casual delivery of Morry's last line pissed Thad right off, and he didn't mind making it known. He flicked his half-finished smoke at Morry from where he sat on the bench. His face was stony. "Arrogant runt. Yer sense of justice is stinkin' up the thieves' den. If ye want a fair share, get a wet nurse."

But behind the granite, there was a turmoil that was visible by the frenetic slapping of his soft leather shoe on the cobblestone as he tapped his foot and looked side to side. Where the hell is she?

To calm himself, he turned his thoughts to the business at hand. He knew he couldn't go back to the sewers until the heat had died down. And he certainly couldn't drag this Morry character in with him. It simply wasn't done. Whatever operation these people had running in the sewers of Marn was the real deal. Outsiders were used or eliminated. For unexpected outsiders, he would expect both, and he wouldn't want that kind of juju extending to him.

There was another worrying thought. What would this gang of elves do with him upon delivery? What'll they end up doing with Dianelopa, should she commit an indelicacy?

He pushed the useless paranoia aside. He wanted to get paid, after all. And after having gone to all this trouble, it would be silly not to cash in on it. His eyes roamed to the street beyond the shadowed archway. The memory of Paul Gromleslie made him shudder. I hope she's made it out of there...

[Morry]

Morry frowned, flinching backward as a lit smoke flew at him out of reflex. He was used to more life-endangering threats, and had had too many punches thrown at him to relax. Still, he looked stupid. The gesture was followed by an insult and a trail of words that made him click his teeth in annoyance. He had done half of the damn work. It was because of him (in his head, entirely because of him) that they were able to escape with goods, and he wanted a piece of the pie.

He put his hands in his pockets and stood, fingering the small knife in his pocket but not bothering to pull it out. That was something he used for defense, not offense, mostly because he couldn't stand up in a fight when he was human. He pulled his tongue across his teeth for a moment, noting the buildup that had gathered there and swearing to himself that he would brush his teeth with whatever he could find until he could get to his bag. His 'perfect' smile was in a bad state.

"Fine then," he murmured, defeated for now because honestly, there was nothing he could do to force Thad to give him anything. "Jus' remember tha' you're only alive because of me, ya twit." He wrinkled his nose and spit on the ground before the mad, curling a lip and moving away.

But... then again, he knew that there must've been a hide out this man went to. Morry was stupid, but he was knowledgeable at least to know that all he had to do was follow Thad, wait for him to drop the goods, and then just take them. Simple as that! Right? Hm...

With that little string of thought, Morry moved away, hopping very ungracefully (he tripped while doing so) over a short fence and disappearing around the corner. It was time to locate that toothbrush.

[Dianelopa]

The sound of a horse neighing woke Dianelopa. Where am I? she thought. The barn smell was invading her nostrils and it reminded her of the early days after her arrival in Marn when she'd lived in a stall. She pushed the hay that was covering her away and found herself peering more or less straight into the face of the horse. It neighed again and stepped back as if it were slightly afraid of her. "Don't worry," she said to the horse. "Whoever you are, I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not sure why I'm here."

The events of the past day began flooding back. "OK, horse," she said. "I remember. I guess I better leave you then." She stood up and gave the horse a pat on the face.

Outside it was starting to get dark and people on the street were hurrying home. That's good she thought. They probably won't notice me. Her head was clear now and she realized where she was. It wasn't that difficult to get back to the sewers after all.

But when she reached the iron gate she stopped. I can't go in, she thought. I haven't done what I was supposed to do. She felt tears welling up again. She didn't want to fail. Maybe Thad will come. I'll wait. She walked over to the log where she'd sat in the past a bit away from the entrance to the sewers, but close enough that she could hear if anyone approached. And there she waited watching the shadows get longer and then disappearing as twilight settled over the town.

[Anja]

All the way back to the only large sewer entrance of which he was aware, Thad had the uneasy sensation of being followed. But this mild persistence of his sixth sense was lost in a hazy din of worry that was only banished when he rounded the grassy corner and saw Dianelopa, perched on a log, and looking ever so charming, in her naive and unassuming way. His face split into a lopsided grin as he approached. No funny tricks this time, no dropping out of the eaves with a rose between his teeth, or delivering a smooth pickup line from the shadows so that it bounced from a rock and seemed to be coming from somewhere else. He was too relieved for any of that.

"Bloody hell, Lopa, you scared me!"

A sudden shame arose in him, something that he didn't know he was there, until he tried to read her face, and didn't like the judging indignation he imagined he saw there. He had left her to die. "I... I'm sorry I ditched. Old habits, I guess. Never gone on a snatch with anyone I gave a damn about. Well, 'til now, I mean."

[Dianelopa]

Dianelopa stared at Thad without knowing what to think. He had deserted her in a time of need, hadn't he? But of course, they were all in danger. Saving your own skin was normal. Dianelopa wasn't even sure if she'd have done otherwise under the circumstances. And now he was apologizing. She eyed him closely, trying to discern whether he meant it. She wanted him to be meaning it. And she wanted to accept his apology. But she wasn't sure. During her whole upbringing she'd dealt only with animals and animals always cared only for their own survival and those of their babies. Were humans different? Supposing they weren't. Then did her survival depend on Thad?

This kind of reasoning, weighing her own interests before acting in an emotional situation, was something new for Dianelopa. And thinking about it, she realized that her survival might indeed depend on him. He'd gotten the seal and if he still had it, they could go through that gate and deliver it and she was saved and everything would be as before, wouldn't it?

"Do you have the seal?" she asked.

[Anja]

A simple enough question, to be sure. But for some reason, Thad felt as if Dianelopa's impression of his character, in its entirety, bared to the heavens, rested on his reply. Luckily, he had the right one ready. Or, something resembling the right one. "Sure do, toots. Shall we?"

As they made towards the sluice gate, it opened before them. This, in itself, was a show of power on Anja's part: She knew exactly where their footsteps were falling, and couldn't be bothered to open it until it had been fully approached. It was the little touches that made an empire so powerful; the insignificant signs that said "we are calm, self assured, we are in control".

Thad stepped back, surprised. From what he had recalled, the keyhole had been embedded in a rock under the dirt, right... there. He chuckled at Dianelopa, an uneasy chuckle. "Guess they've done some renovations."

Within, bathed in orange glow and incense, Puck was waiting. "Good evening, friends. A little bird told me you handled the guards rather well at the manor, Dianelopa. I commend you."

Thad, not wanting to be outdone, stepped forward and tossed the seal onto the low coffee table, followed by a little stopper of ink. "I assumed you guys are doing some kinda sham job with this stuff, I figured the ink might be unique too."

Puck was silent, but his nod seemed to grant approval, in a subdued sort of way.

[Dianelopa]

"There was danger from all sides," said Dianelopa. "There was really nothing else I could do." She was frowning as she spoke. The whole episode was puzzling her; Thad who obviously seemed to want to make up to her, Puck who seemed unusually subdued and even the purpose of the seal that now lay there on the table.

"What happened to Morry?" she asked. Not that that was the most important thing for her. She just didn't quite know how else to start comprehending what was going on. She'd trusted Puck, but there was this blank spot that was making her feel a little uneasy. The same with Thad. She glanced at him, "can I trust you?" she whispered.

Then she stared at the seal again. It was just a seal, no different than other seals she'd seen, or so she thought. She didn't have any personal connections to seals, had only seen others using them once or twice. "What is it really for?" she said. "Why did we risk our lives for that thing?"

[Anja]

She glanced at him, "can I trust you?" she whispered.

Thad twisted his lips and shrugged, before turning his attention back to Puck. He didn't know if she could really trust him, and he wasn't in the mood for false promises. Nor did he have the foggiest clue where Morry might have run to. He waited eagerly to hear what the old elf had to say when Dianelopa asked about the seal.

"Now, there's an interesting question. Of course, I cannot answer it. However, I have something here that I think you both, (at least you, Thad,) will find much more satisfying than straight answers."

He drew two little satchels out from under the little table and threw them to the pair. "I think you'll find there's enough there for you both to successfully ignore your troubles for a time. Tax-free, of course," he added, tapping his nose.