Crrrrrrrriik.
He frowned, reached for the key on his office desk, and undid the clasp once more. He spun it once, twice, three times around the first two fingers of his other hand, then took hold and snapped the cuff closed again.
Crrrrrrrriik.
The key again, the one in his right hand; the keyholes, the ones on the handcuffs; a simple twist of his wrist and a turn of tumblers: freedom took due process, whereas imprisonment was a simple matter of a moment's pressure. He snorted. How completely opposite from the city to which he'd sworn service. In Ul'dah, an arrest required strenuous effort and undue cost, whereas freedom for the unjust was a simple matter of a moment's pressure - be that gil, connections, influence....
Never expected symbolism out o' the likes of you, Nat, 'specially not t'this extent. The chains that bind us... they go both ways, don't they? And there are so many kinds... loyalty, duty, obligation, employment, grievance, grudge....
He pocketed the key, then threw the manacles onto his desk, stared at them over his steepled hands.Â
Your choices, your actions, your resultin' history, your growing reputation... these things bound you, the cuffs you made yourself, the ones you entrusted to....
The midlander buried his face in his hands and broke into laughter.Â
Gods, you were never that complicated, troublemaker. You probably just meant t'tell us somethin' along the lines of, "just fucking do your jobs already, morons". Suppose you never did learn....
He shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet, pulled his coat off the back of his chair and drew it on over his shoulders with a shrug and a quick tug of the lapels. He walked around his desk, boots echoing on the wooden floorboards.Â
I'm a soldier. I'm not law enforcement either...
A moment's pause. He sighed, then smirked as he turned back, plucked the handcuffs from where they sat, and stuffed them inside his coat.Â
...but mayhap I'll make an exception. Just this once.
Sergeant Melkire closed the door behind him as he left.
He frowned, reached for the key on his office desk, and undid the clasp once more. He spun it once, twice, three times around the first two fingers of his other hand, then took hold and snapped the cuff closed again.
Crrrrrrrriik.
The key again, the one in his right hand; the keyholes, the ones on the handcuffs; a simple twist of his wrist and a turn of tumblers: freedom took due process, whereas imprisonment was a simple matter of a moment's pressure. He snorted. How completely opposite from the city to which he'd sworn service. In Ul'dah, an arrest required strenuous effort and undue cost, whereas freedom for the unjust was a simple matter of a moment's pressure - be that gil, connections, influence....
Never expected symbolism out o' the likes of you, Nat, 'specially not t'this extent. The chains that bind us... they go both ways, don't they? And there are so many kinds... loyalty, duty, obligation, employment, grievance, grudge....
He pocketed the key, then threw the manacles onto his desk, stared at them over his steepled hands.Â
Your choices, your actions, your resultin' history, your growing reputation... these things bound you, the cuffs you made yourself, the ones you entrusted to....
The midlander buried his face in his hands and broke into laughter.Â
Gods, you were never that complicated, troublemaker. You probably just meant t'tell us somethin' along the lines of, "just fucking do your jobs already, morons". Suppose you never did learn....
He shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet, pulled his coat off the back of his chair and drew it on over his shoulders with a shrug and a quick tug of the lapels. He walked around his desk, boots echoing on the wooden floorboards.Â
I'm a soldier. I'm not law enforcement either...
A moment's pause. He sighed, then smirked as he turned back, plucked the handcuffs from where they sat, and stuffed them inside his coat.Â
...but mayhap I'll make an exception. Just this once.
Sergeant Melkire closed the door behind him as he left.
![[Image: 1qVSsTp.png]](http://i.imgur.com/1qVSsTp.png)
