021214 KikateSotsias

[07:27] -- graciousTerminator [GT] began trolling silencedSiren [SS] at 19:27 --

[07:31] GT: { Kikate backtracks to Leon's place, looking around for any sign of Sotsias. He scrutinizes the surroundings carefully, as he's unsure if shouting would be appropriate. }

[07:55] SS: Sotsias is sparring with another guard in a large antechamber.

[07:55] SS: Kikate can find her easily.

[07:57] GT: { Kikate swims up, keeping a bit of distance. He folds his arms and finds himself smiling appreciatively at the mermaid's skills. A fine warrior indeed. After a bit he clears his throat. {Sotsias.} he says at a volume that he hopes will be loud enough to attract her attention. }

[08:02] SS: She finishes the spar without comment, easily overpowering her opponent, before turning to face Kikate. "Aah. Yes. Hello." She rubs at her cheek a little bit, attempting to hide a blush.

[08:04] GT: { "You fight quite well. Heh..." he says while swimming up to a normal conversation distance. }

[08:06] SS: "I have to." Sotsias scratches her arm nervously, letting her hair obscure her features.

[08:07] GT: { "I see. Perhaps we could take this conversation elsewhere?..." he says while casually glancing down at the defeated guard. }

[08:09] SS: She nods. "Meet me in the sunroom in twenty minutes?" She asks, twisting her fingers together nervously.

[08:10] GT: { "Sure. I'll be there." }

[08:12] SS: ((--- 20 minutes later. ))

[08:14] SS: The Sunroom is in the tallest tower of the castle. Very near to the surface, the water here is much warmer, and sunlight filters in through the water, giving this room an almost dusky glow. Sotsias is here, one arm wrapped around herself nervously, the other twisting with a string of black pearls she has draped around her neck.

[08:15] GT: { "Hello." says Kikate, swimming up to meet her. "Quite a nice location you've picked out here..." }

[08:17] SS: Sotsias smiles nervously. "It's usually quiet this time of day, and you seemed to want privacy."

[08:20] GT: { "Yeah... I didn't want to risk blurting out anything that might compromise my true identity." He pauses. "Why do you have to know how to fight, here? Forgive me for such obvious questions but I am, of course, a stranger to these lands." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:21] SS: "There are bad people in the world," She sighs wearily. "Thieves, murderers... not everyone is good hearted."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:23] GT: { "Of course." says Kikate, mentally cursing himself for asking such a simple question. "I began to train myself on my planet for similar reasons." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:25] SS: Sotsias nods, chewing her lower lip in silence.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:27] GT: { "...I'll be frank with you. I came here to inform you of two things, though I am curious regarding some others, assuming you'd be willing to answer." He takes a breath, struggling a bit to get the words out. "First, I apologize for my behavior earlier. Rather uncouth of me, to put it mildly. Second... I already have a significant other. She's far away now, but... I can't betray her by being with

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:27] GT: you." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:28] GT: { "Romantically, of course. I still appreciate you as a person, and admire your prowess in battle. Not to mention you were the one who kept us out of trouble." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:29] GT: { "This is obviously an awful way of thanking you, but..." Kikate gives a bow, lowering his head in respect. "Thank you so much. My team and I are indebted to you." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:31] SS: Sotsias nods, "Very well then." She runs her fingers through her hair, and swims for the door.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:32] GT: { "WAIT!" }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:32] GT: { "You're... Are you being forced into a marriage with Itaa?" }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:32] SS: She stops but doesn't turn around. "What?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:33] SS: "Yes, not that you care." She reaches for the door.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:33] GT: { "NO!" }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:33] GT: { Kikate swims up and tries to block her way to the door. "I do care... And I also know how it feels..." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:35] SS: She rests her hand on the stone. "Is yelling all you do? Giving orders, screaming, etcetera? You ask a girl to speak with you privately, to simultaneously tell her you're not interested and to pump her for information? You players are as bad as Leon warned."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:37] GT: { Kikate cringes as if he's been cut. "I didn't want to blow my cover... And I'm not pumping you for information!... Sotsias, if I didn't care I could just leave here and let you marry Itaa. But if that's not what you want, then please, *please*, let me try to help you. I know I'm a stranger and I'm not a great person but..." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:37] GT: { "Please. I just want to help... " }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:40] SS: "And how do you intend to help me? Are you going to go on some grand and noble quest to help me fall in love with someone else? Are you going to pretend to be in love with me in front of Ltaa so that he'll petition the White Queen to end our engagement? THEN WHAT?" She yells, her voice escalating in pitch. "Then you and the others finish what you came here to do, you breed your Skaia-forsaken frog

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:40] SS:, and leave us here, abandoned, to die when you beat this STUPID GAME!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:47] GT: { Kikate stares Sotsias straight in the eyes, as his own begin to get a bit watery. "I don't know what, you're right. I'm supposed to be a Mind player, but I never really know what I'm doing. It's so easy to pull up this facade of assuredness, but I always battle the insecurity inside. You don't care about any of this, so I'll stop there. But let me tell you this, and listen well. I don't know the

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:47] GT: eXtent of your situation or if I'm even of any worth to you. But mark my words. Should you need my assistance on anything whatsoever, my aid for any situation... You shall have it. As long as I remain on this land, I am indebted to you and will thus be yours while I remain here." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:50] SS: She scowls angrily. "Get out of my way. Go toy with your computers, pester your beloved. Tell her all about the pathetic consort you had to turn down. I really don't care what you do, just get out of my way."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:58] GT: { "As if I would ever call you pathetic... And if you're asking me, then I will do as you say, but I have one last question." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:58] GT: { "Why were you attracted to me?" }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[08:59] SS: She scowls sourly. "It's irrelevant."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[09:02] GT: { "Perhaps... It would just give me some closure, that's all. " Kikate steps away from the door, turning his back. "Regardless, I do vow to help you. Good-bye, Sotsias." }

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[09:06] SS: Sotsias places her hand on his back, and he can feel her hands are shaking. "I thought you would be different. I used to dream about people like you. people who walked on land, with dark skin and eyes like the dark blue depths of the trench where I was born. I never thought you would be real. I had hoped..." She pulls her hand away. "It's irrelevant. I am just a pawn in this game. Just a foil upon

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;-qt-block-indent:0;text-indent:0px;">[09:06] SS: which the Mighty Players achieve some sort of personal growth, to be remembered fondly after my death. We are all of us, irrelevant, in the end." She opens the door and swims away. [10:24] <span style="color:rgb(100,100,100);">-- graciousTerminator <span style="color:rgb(0,58,110);">[GT] <span style="color:rgb(100,100,100);"> gave up trolling silencedSiren <span style="color:rgb(0,42,33);">[SS] <span style="color:rgb(100,100,100);"> at 22:24 --