unknownseas | What I want to hear on nights I can't sleep is your voice

What I want to hear on nights I can't sleep is your voice

[ ... Well, that was an absolute shitshow, wasn't it? Instead of dwelling on how she feels about everything that just happened, Mira's channeling that energy into something else--and she has a little bit of help doing it. Zerinda and Ema are here in the bar to make drinks, and Mira's brought in a ton of food that's definitely not healthy for anyone, but screw it, who cares about health right now?

Della's here to pass out invitations, too--they let everyone know there's a gathering in the bar, if they'd rather not be alone.

If you choose not to come, well... Mira's got that taken care of, too. She'll place a little container of cookies and hot cocoa outside your door. Maybe it'll help someone feel a little less alone--at least, that's what she's hoping. ]

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Mm, that's true. And it wouldn't take long for you to give me the slip...sounds like a pretty fun game of "cops and robbers," if you ask me. It'd be fun, to see who can outwit who, right?

[ She laughs at the thought. He'd stick out like a sore thumb, at least. ]

[Would he, though?]

Might be fun for me, you mean. Don't know when kids start learning their trade in your Angel City, but I'll bet ten leaves I've made my living longer than you have yours.

You're probably right. I didn't start seriously studying forensics work until I was around sixteen or so. I went to another country in Europe, and mentored under a coroner over there. ...Ah, that's someone who specializes specifically in suspicious deaths.

[ So that's who you have to thank for the body-touching expertise. ]

I studied hard, went back to Los Angeles, took the test...and completely failed it, believe it or not.

You? Really? That is hard to believe. Did something happen?

This is just between you and me, but I actually failed it more than once. Remember when I told you, a while ago, that I wouldn't have made it through a hopeless situation if I didn't have faith in my own abilities as a scientist?

[ She fusses with one side of her hair, shaking it back and forth with her palm.... ]

The test was really no joke. And it isn't as though I didn't know the material, as I'm sure you can imagine. The practical part, I had plenty of experience, so that was no issue. But there's a written part, with a tight time constraint, and my nerves would get the better of me, and...

Well, it was pretty discouraging, to get the results back. Every time I failed it, I had to ask myself, like, "Am I really cut out for this? Am I just wasting my time, chasing this dream, if I'm going to keep failing here?" It...really wasn't a good couple of years for me.

...You made it, though. You're where you want to be. Not here, of course, but...

[He nods at her.]

You pushed through. Even if you failed, you still had faith in your talents. Well-deserved, too.

And thank goodness for that, too.

[ She flashes Therion a big grin, when he nods at her, glad that he understands. ]

I was working at a job I absolutely hated, before I passed that exam. Still with the police, but getting paid in peanuts to sign documents and lock down crime scenes that I barely even get to inspect. ...Of course, I did my own investigations on the side, with my own tools, but they didn't exactly know that...

I was a much, much grumpier person, back then. Maybe you would've liked me a little better.

Heh!

[Yeesh, Ema. Call him out harder, why don't you?]

Now, this is just between you and me, but... you're not too bad the way you are now. I like you well enough. As much as a "grumpy" person like me likes anyone, I guess.

Wow, I really will have to keep that our little secret. Rare praise, and high praise, at that! I'll have to make sure that doesn't get to my head, but you're gonna inflate my ego big-time, at this rate...

[ She's trying hard not to look too smug, but it's hard to keep the smile off her face. ]

Now, does that mean you like that Greengrass guy well enough, too, or would that be going a bit too far?

[Therion makes a sound like a groan that was ambushed at its front door by an unexpected ninja of a laugh. Sort of a loud cough, really.]

Hell, Alfyn. What can I even say about him.

[He really doesn't look like he dislikes Alfyn Greengrass. He turns the bottle idly beside him.]

You may not believe it, but you're less of a busybody than he is. And you haven't dragged me into any trouble. Not yet, anyway. So those are all points in your favor that he doesn't have.

On the other hand, Alfyn does pay for my drinks, on occasion. And he's good at keeping us alive. Let's call him tolerable.

[ Wow, she's pretty sure she's never heard a person make that noise before-- ]

A-ha, that's all I needed to hear. If he pays for your drinks and watches your back, surely he must be one of your favorites. At least in your top three. Now I'm a little less concerned about being compared to someone who might be lame.

[ But as for the trouble... ]

So you had a scholar, and a busybody, and a thief, counting you. Any other interesting characters tagging along I should know about? A girl or two, perhaps?

[Something in what she says--'and watches your back'--hits him oddly. For an instant, he looks uncertain. The moment passes, though, and he shoves whatever he was feeling deep, deep down the canyon where stupid things go to die.]

...There are eight of us, actually, all told. Four men and four women. [He swigs some cider.] Besides Alfyn, Cyrus, and I, there's a former knight, a hunter, a merchant, a sister of the church, and a dancer. ...And the pack horse and Linde the snow leopard.

Wow, that really is a bunch cut from all different cloth...

[ And a snow leopard. Huh. ]

Did you all just happen to stumble across each other in your travels? Or are you all looking at some kind of common goal? I mean, I'm sure you're all travelling together for a reason...

[ Sometimes the reason is as simple as "we're all friends," but that's so many different backgrounds..! ]

Road's dangerous, especially the further out you get from the sea. If it's not beasts, it's bandits. If neither of those, freezing weather or a landslide can do you in just as easily. Even I know great distances are better traveled in groups.

Each of us has their own goal to take care of. Don't think there's much overlap... Alfyn wants to help everyone he sees and Tressa's looking for grand tales and treasure, but the rest of us have specific ends in mind.

[ Tressa sounds like her kind of girl. Of course, Alfyn sounds like a good kid, too... ]

That does seem a little treacherous. And it sounds like you guys deal with quite the path, over quite a few climates...

[ But it also sounds like a place rife with adventure. The kind you'd read in an old story... ]

Certainly never boring, at the very least. Especially with companions like that. If I knew how to fight my way out of a paper bag, maybe I'd be a little jealous.

Heh. It's not all blood and fighting. I helped Cyrus look into those kidnappings in Quarrycrest, and when we first met Tressa, she was tricking pirates into drinking drugged wine...

[Though, ah, now that he thinks back on it--]

Both those adventures ended up in blood and fighting, though, so you're probably right not to want that kind of life.

[ Oh, Tressa really sounds like her kind of girl-- ]

Hey now, the blood isn't the part I can't handle. In my line of work, you see that pretty much every day. Of course, how much of it is a whole different kettle of fish, but...the fighting, maybe not so much. Not to say I never got, y'know, basic training...

[ But has she ever had to use it on anyone? No chance. ]

I'd be better off running the tavern and listening to the stories, I think.

You do have a gift for it.

[And not just because her cocktails would be centuries ahead of the times.]

I've visited taverns all over the world. Yours might end up a little loud for my tastes, but I'm sure it'd be full of good tales. And good ale.

I think a tavern is probably one of those things that's only as good as the people in it.

[ Not that the menu isn't important, but... ]

I don't think loud is all that bad, all things considered. Sometimes the quiet is nice, but generally, I think laughter is a little nicer. And you get a lot of that, with good company. Even if it's just two.

[Just two, huh? It's such a small thing, this offhand remark--nothing that ought to give him pause. And yet.]

...Well, oftentimes I'm at the alehouse for business more than pleasure. But...

[His expression settles on a slight, wistful smile.]

Guess I can see the appeal.

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What I want to hear on nights I can't sleep is your voice

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