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I need your help.
[--Quiet and tight and clipped and to the point (just like this tag is to the point I told you I could do it). Even to Caspar, these words are not words Nikos likes to say. The message is via sending crystal, which Nikos has bitched about behind closed doors. A waste of time, rife with idiocy, hand them out like candies, hand them out to anyone with an arsehole, any old arsehole, and so on. The fact that he's chosen sending crystal means this is, probably, dire, something that needs quick communication.]
[--Quiet and tight and clipped and to the point (just like this tag is to the point I told you I could do it). Even to Caspar, these words are not words Nikos likes to say. The message is via sending crystal, which Nikos has bitched about behind closed doors. A waste of time, rife with idiocy, hand them out like candies, hand them out to anyone with an arsehole, any old arsehole, and so on. The fact that he's chosen sending crystal means this is, probably, dire, something that needs quick communication.]
[Not that Caspar was going to refuse him or anything but still: Nikos exhales, quick, before he starts his request.]
North end of the city, there's three streets that come together. Butcher shop on the left side, small fountain in front. A brass ring has been dropped into it, with a seal on it, three crossed hammers.
I need it out of there within the hour or I'm fucked.
North end of the city, there's three streets that come together. Butcher shop on the left side, small fountain in front. A brass ring has been dropped into it, with a seal on it, three crossed hammers.
I need it out of there within the hour or I'm fucked.
I'll do it myself.
[ He could scramble someone else to do it, sure, but they're already eating into that hour. He could also not pry — it isn't as though melodramatic interceptions are unusual, in this line of work — only it's a clean intersect of professional and personal interest, so of course he's going to. ]
What's happened?
[ He could scramble someone else to do it, sure, but they're already eating into that hour. He could also not pry — it isn't as though melodramatic interceptions are unusual, in this line of work — only it's a clean intersect of professional and personal interest, so of course he's going to. ]
What's happened?
[Gratefulness is nothing he expresses, short-lived but genuine. Easier to pick up on complaining, in that same low tone--]
This city, is what's happened. A nest. Bullshit. And Inquisition work by way of one Antoninus Forlan. Destabilization of his faction. [By way of assassination, natch, but that's not the sort of thing you go talking about.] And his hand needs that ring, to make him identifiable, when he is, eventually, discovered.
And it fell off his hand. Into a fountain.
This city, is what's happened. A nest. Bullshit. And Inquisition work by way of one Antoninus Forlan. Destabilization of his faction. [By way of assassination, natch, but that's not the sort of thing you go talking about.] And his hand needs that ring, to make him identifiable, when he is, eventually, discovered.
And it fell off his hand. Into a fountain.
[ That's unlucky enough to be slightly funny, actually. Funnier after the ring's restored to the body and Nikos' head is off the chopping block. ]
Are you always this messy when I'm not here to assist?
[ Nikos is absolutely capable. Caspar knows this and trusts him completely, which is why this should 1000% read as a joke. But also: nothing makes Nikos happier than bitching, so hey, why not assist with that while he's at it. ]
Are you always this messy when I'm not here to assist?
[ Nikos is absolutely capable. Caspar knows this and trusts him completely, which is why this should 1000% read as a joke. But also: nothing makes Nikos happier than bitching, so hey, why not assist with that while he's at it. ]
[ha]
Yes. [ d e a d p a n ] I'm a complete wreck. Ask anyone. Forced to contact my cousin in times of need. Hardly an equitable solution as she only ever does what I ask and never gives me shit for it.
[It's fine to lie outright when his sarcasm is all a lie, too. If Nikos did ever call on Marisol for a bail-out, she would one hundred percent give him shit. Which is why she is tied for favorite with Caspar because he actually does like this.]
How lucky I am that you are here instead. Are you on your way now, or do you want to keep talking.
Yes. [ d e a d p a n ] I'm a complete wreck. Ask anyone. Forced to contact my cousin in times of need. Hardly an equitable solution as she only ever does what I ask and never gives me shit for it.
[It's fine to lie outright when his sarcasm is all a lie, too. If Nikos did ever call on Marisol for a bail-out, she would one hundred percent give him shit. Which is why she is tied for favorite with Caspar because he actually does like this.]
How lucky I am that you are here instead. Are you on your way now, or do you want to keep talking.
When did you talk to my fucking brother.
[If he sounds throwing-stuff-at-the-walls mad, it's because he is. Also interrupting anything Caspar is doing to have a crystal fight is important ok, it cannot wait until they're together again. Answer now.]
[If he sounds throwing-stuff-at-the-walls mad, it's because he is. Also interrupting anything Caspar is doing to have a crystal fight is important ok, it cannot wait until they're together again. Answer now.]
Hilarious.
[Not.]
Amazingly less helpful than him. He told me, without telling me, more than "early evening". Because he's a-- [No words will describe; Nikos scowls deeply at nothing, at the image he has of Kostos in his mind's eye. Like his own face, haloed with slightly more distaste.]
[Not.]
Amazingly less helpful than him. He told me, without telling me, more than "early evening". Because he's a-- [No words will describe; Nikos scowls deeply at nothing, at the image he has of Kostos in his mind's eye. Like his own face, haloed with slightly more distaste.]
Caspar, this is Marisol.
( So cheery, so friendly. So casual. )
It has come to my attention that a mutual favourite of ours is especially fond of you, and that you are with the Inquisition. I gave him some time to allow for introductions, but I think if we leave Nikos to his own inclinations we'll both be dust before we ever speak.
So: wine and cards?
( So cheery, so friendly. So casual. )
It has come to my attention that a mutual favourite of ours is especially fond of you, and that you are with the Inquisition. I gave him some time to allow for introductions, but I think if we leave Nikos to his own inclinations we'll both be dust before we ever speak.
So: wine and cards?
[Well, it WILL get him a lot of things. And Nikos is a little taller, and he appreciates that it has been observed, but still--]
Well-observed. [But still.] I know what you're doing. Stop trying to diffuse this. I didn't want you to have to meet him, is my point.
Well-observed. [But still.] I know what you're doing. Stop trying to diffuse this. I didn't want you to have to meet him, is my point.
Then you should have had the tower outfitted with more secret tunnels.
[ Is it bad that the idea of being Nikos' secret is a little charming? It is, somehow, even as it's becoming increasingly annoying. ]
You knew we'd meet eventually. You should have just done it properly — a nice, awkward dinner. Then you could've at least dominated the conversation.
[ Is it bad that the idea of being Nikos' secret is a little charming? It is, somehow, even as it's becoming increasingly annoying. ]
You knew we'd meet eventually. You should have just done it properly — a nice, awkward dinner. Then you could've at least dominated the conversation.
[ Especially fond. That's promising. ]
An accurate assessment, I think. Wine and cards would be lovely — perhaps an extra bottle of wine, then, for when Nikos discovers we've spoken.
[ For them to drown their sorrows? To bribe him into tolerance? Hard to say. ]
An accurate assessment, I think. Wine and cards would be lovely — perhaps an extra bottle of wine, then, for when Nikos discovers we've spoken.
[ For them to drown their sorrows? To bribe him into tolerance? Hard to say. ]
[Secret tunnels, kind of hot. No wait not now--]
You met him. [Unfortunately.] Do you think he'd let me dominate the conversation? No. He'd say some stupid bullshit. He'd try anything to shut me up. He's always been this-- frustrating fucking-- And I don't even want to have dinner with my brother. I wouldn't subject you to it.
And he doesn't deserve it.
You met him. [Unfortunately.] Do you think he'd let me dominate the conversation? No. He'd say some stupid bullshit. He'd try anything to shut me up. He's always been this-- frustrating fucking-- And I don't even want to have dinner with my brother. I wouldn't subject you to it.
And he doesn't deserve it.
[Yes that's what he's worried about. Caspar and Marisol. What a terrible awful force. Which is why he chooses, first, to ignore it, to instead be relieved after the tense pause.]
Did something happen?
[Almost like a good job. It would be plainer if they were face to face. Caspar could see, then, the way that Nikos' mouth untightens, just slightly.]
Did something happen?
[Almost like a good job. It would be plainer if they were face to face. Caspar could see, then, the way that Nikos' mouth untightens, just slightly.]
Thank you.
[ He might actually mean that. As futile and partly selfish as Nikos' motivations are, it's a little touching, that insanely bitter protective streak. ]
You're not responsible for him, you know. But don't worry. We won't invite him to dinner in the foreseeable future.
[ ooc wink here ]
[ He might actually mean that. As futile and partly selfish as Nikos' motivations are, it's a little touching, that insanely bitter protective streak. ]
You're not responsible for him, you know. But don't worry. We won't invite him to dinner in the foreseeable future.
[ ooc wink here ]
I thought I might invite him to join us— either he can arrive first, so he does not attempt to avoid the gathering entirely when he hears both our voices, or he can arrive later, as his outrage may mean he cannot avoid the party. He can be so sensitive.
[ooc 😑 ]
I know I'm not responsible. And he isn't responsible for me, and yet he still--
[Caspar is undoubtably familiar with Nikos' habit of cutting short his own sentences, with the way that his words crowd too close and choke him. He burns from the inside with words, without being able to expel them. Caspar, hopefully, still finds it kind of charming instead of as fully irritating as it actually is.]
He told me he wouldn't lie for me. For you. As if I asked him for that. He told me not to do anything stupid. "When the North is collapsing," [his best unflattering Kostos, sounding barely different than his angry Nikos,] as if he gives an actual shit about the North, truly--as if it meant anything to him the way it should.
I know I'm not responsible. And he isn't responsible for me, and yet he still--
[Caspar is undoubtably familiar with Nikos' habit of cutting short his own sentences, with the way that his words crowd too close and choke him. He burns from the inside with words, without being able to expel them. Caspar, hopefully, still finds it kind of charming instead of as fully irritating as it actually is.]
He told me he wouldn't lie for me. For you. As if I asked him for that. He told me not to do anything stupid. "When the North is collapsing," [his best unflattering Kostos, sounding barely different than his angry Nikos,] as if he gives an actual shit about the North, truly--as if it meant anything to him the way it should.
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