Lore of Leyuna RPG (FRPG)

[The Kingpin]

Andruil's eyes darted to Vix for a moment, thinly veiled alarm crossing his features for a second before he snuffed it out. If this had anything to do with the present company, involving her was not very high on the list of things he approved of. He had seen enough dangerous organisations in his time to know that anyone brought into this would be a potential victim to their wrath. Perhaps more so than anyone else in the city. The thought of Vix becoming a target for the Stalkers was another reason for him to worry, in a city that already suffered from an unspoken hatred for elves. Still, he couldn't exactly stop her. At least, not when he wasn't even sure if his assumption was correct.

"Hm," he mused, his tone evening out sufficiently that his reaction did not show. "So when would you like to discuss it? We could talk about it inside...Or perhaps at the school?" he suggested, his head tilting.

[C S]

Johnathon raised his other brow. He'd made his inference as to what Viho was getting at as well, and his gaze drifted along to Dahnae's exit. She was already out of sight, true to the tales that circulated about of the fastest, most reckless, courier in Brodudika. "That must have been some talk," the detective thought.

His musings went back to Natalie. He looked over his shoulder to see her slowly inching away from everyone. It took a moment for him to make a guess as to why. She knew there were a couple of other people who met Snicker. One was Kenneth, who was off busting key figures in the plot against the city. The other one was right in front of her, and the fact that he knew her and she did not know him was another layer of shame.

Rough.

But also, perhaps something he could use. Johnathon reached out and took her hand in his, which gave Natalie a start. "Relax," he told her, "this might just be part of putting this all behind you."

[Hopeflower]

Viho inclined his head to Johnathon and said, "My classroom will do. No one will be there today." And, crucially, he could lock the door. He glanced from Vix to Andruil and added, "Perhaps you should meet us there."

The innkeeper gave that some consideration, then nodded. That was fine with her. Better than standing out in the cold and growing chillier by the moment.

[The Kingpin]

"Right. Then we will meet you there shortly," concluded the Knight with a nod, looking to Vix as he added, "Shall we depart?" It seemed it would be a long day indeed. He may as well accept that now. And he definitely needed that tea. Perhaps something stronger in the evening, he thought. Something to decide on later.

[C S]

"Uh," Natalie protested weakly. Johnathon was quick to interject.

"I know this is all confusing, and you're out of your element. Understatement, I know, but trust me. If this goes as I think it will, you'll be clean in the eyes of the law, and you can walk away from this and never think about it again."

"Um," Natalie replied. Her better judgement wanted nothing to do with it. She tried not to listen to it. Her better judgement wasn't there to keep her out of this mess, so in order to make things right again she had to step back into that boat. Hopefully for the last time in her life. "I'll hear it out, at least."

Not that she had a choice either way, she knew, but pretending that she did made it easier to bear her indignity.

"Glad to hear it," said the Green-Coat. He looked back into the cluster of city buildings behind them all. "Best to not waste any time, unless you two are as fast as Viho's other friends. In that case, we'll have to play catch-up."

[Hopeflower]

"We'll be quick," Vix promised. But she paused just before she'd passed Viho, and she reached out. Her fingers hovered just over the adjustments made to his shoulder brace as though asking permission. He held himself very still, wary, but lifted his arm slightly. She touched it so lightly, he didn't even register the pressure. Something sad and almost understanding crossed her expression. Her only remark was a quiet, "Use it well."

And then she was past him, something Viho wasn't sure he understood fully having passed between them. It left him feeling a bit unbalanced. He shook it off quickly, setting off in the opposite direction.

[The Kingpin]

The Knight noted the interaction, but said nothing. It was past before he could so much as comment, though no comment was necessary. To the end of the road they went, and from there, to the school.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked the Innkeeper shortly after they were out of earshot, being intentionally vague about just what this was.

[Hopeflower]

"I haven't agreed to anything yet," Vix pointed out with a sigh that leaned toward tired. She drew her coat a little tighter around herself. "But I don't have to be spiteful for the sake of it, either. If he's asking for help, then he needs help."

[The Kingpin]

"That's not what I mean," responded Andruil as he intertwined his arm with hers. "I mean that it could be dangerous. In the sense that the danger could come when you're not expecting it," he explained, keeping his voice to a low murmur so that only she could hear.

[Hopeflower]

Vix couldn't restrain a laugh. She nudged him gently with her shoulder, and her reply was laced with affectionate teasing. "I spent half of my childhood being raised by assassins and earn my living as an innkeeper. I think I know a thing or two about how to take care of myself."

[The Kingpin]

"I know," he responded simply. "But assassin training doesn't really prepare you for dealing with the insane and depraved," he explained. But then, other experiences she had under her figurative belt did. That did not change the fact he wanted desperately to keep any such experience far away from her. "As long as you're sure," he finally settled on, understanding that she wouldn't be put shaken by a handful of lunatics with knives. He would simply have to be more careful, more vigilant, from now on. And woe be they who dared bring their wicked whims anywhere near her.

[Hopeflower]

Vix gave Andruil's arm a gentle squeeze. "I appreciate the concern," she said quietly, "but I'm no delicate flower." As much as Andruil might have wanted to, he couldn't shelter her from the worst the world had to offer. And if he tried, he risked rousing Vix's temper instead of her interest. She would not be coddled.

[The Kingpin]

"You don't need to tell me, dear. After all, we stared death in the face on the worst battlefield Aster's ever seen, together, and lived to tell the tale," he said, returning the squeeze. "It doesn't mean I will just leave you to walk into danger without fair warning. Or that I'll stand by and let that danger find you alone. Together, remember?"

[Hopeflower]

Vix laughed again, more weakly. "You can't always be my shadow, you know." Of that, she was more certain than almost anything else.

[The Kingpin]

He shrugged, conceding to her point. "Maybe not," he said as his thumb and index finger looped around one of her own fingers while their hands were clasped. "But I can try and be some of the time, can I not? Enough to make your life easier, if nothing else."

[Hopeflower]

Vix studied their hands for a distracted moment, only just managing to reign in her thoughts before she read too much into the small motion. "You could," she replied. "But I'd never ask you to solve my problems for me." She offered a smile that was a shadow of her usual playful grin. "That's just not fair."

[The Kingpin]

"And what if I wanted to anyway?" he asked, his head tilting slightly as a smirk tugged at one of the corners of his mouth. "You wouldn't deny me the opportunity to help now, would you?"

[Hopeflower]

"I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have without help." Another affectionate squeeze. "And neither would I be who I am today if I hadn't had to work through a few things on my own." Luctor et emergo. She struggled. She learned. She emerged a little stronger for it. That was who Vix was, who her mother would have expected her to be.

[The Kingpin]

"You are all the stronger for it," agreed Andruil, his smile broadening. "But it doesn't hurt to have someone watching your back," he added a moment later as they reached the stand, the smell of teas of many kinds wafting on the chilly late winter breeze.

[Hopeflower]

"And I'm grateful to have as many people looking out for me as I do." Vix turned her smile on the vendor manning the stand and released Andruil's arm to reach for her money.

Fortunately for those who weren't fans of the cold, the walk from the park to the school was a relatively short one. Viho breathed a sigh of relief to have a set of doors between him and the cold breeze. With a brief friendly nod to the receptionist, he led Johnathon and Natalie up to his classroom.

"Much better," he said half to himself. Some of the tension in his shoulders eased with the elimination of the risk of being overheard.