D'hein tried to be punctual, neither too earlier nor at all late on his one-hour return to Antimony's room. He initially came back to the Quicksand after half an hour but decided that was too early. He placed the order for Antimony's food fifteen minutes before going to her room so that it would be fresh when he brought it to her. When, five minutes before the hour, the food was not ready, D'hein flew into an animated panic that frightened several patrons who assumed that someone had been poisoned.
Unable to find the servant D'hein had placed the order with, the Tia desperately placed the order with every server, insisting each be rushed. Five minutes after the hour, as D'hein sat at the bar in a nervous sweat and turned aside inquiries as to his well-being, D'hein found himself delivered seven orders of food.
Not being a fan of waste, D'hein chose to take all seven of them, plus the original which arrived just as he was about to head to Antimony's room. Burdened by enough food to feed all of Pearl Lane, D'hein dashed to the inn and careened down the hallways, colliding pathetically against the door to Antimony's room. If his hands weren't so full he might have opened the door and run in unannounced, but he couldn't work the doorknob in his condition.
"Half-starved!" He shouted, trying to get her attention. "I'm sure you are and it's my fault and I apolgize! I did my very best! I've the food! I do!"
With an extremely unlady-like grunt, Antimony shot up from where she'd slumped over her desk, her hands sending the pen that had still been loosely held in her grip skittering to the floor. A noise at her door...? Blinking away lingering sleep, Antimony looked down at the papers she had begun to work her way through before exhaustion had involuntarily claimed her. She hadn't gotten very far.
More noise at the door to her inn room dragged her attention away from the desk, and she spent several moments in confusion before remembering D'hein's earlier promise (threat? warning?). "Ah, yes, yes," she muttered to herself and stood. She could feel her hair brushing against the back of her neck as she walked, having taken it down to brush it out before diving into the work. A small gesture to the tia's concerns.
Seconds later, she opened the door with one hand, her other dropping immediately from where it had been combing through her hair. Warm, cooked smells assaulted her senses, and at the sight of the pile of food burdening his arms, Antimony's eyes widened. "You... ah, you're... what is this? I'm only one person!" A split second later she winced and added, "Nevermind. Er--come... in."
"I know, I'm late," said, D'hein, carrying the food in. "I've nothing but apologies to give! And the promised food. More than intended but we'll be well fed!" He laughed, sounding nervous, expecting to be the victim of some negative judgment. He shifted about in the room searched for some place he could put down such an incredible amount of food.
"Late?" Antimony stepped back, blinking, the shifting of her ears moving the fine, grey strands of her hair. "Of cour--ah, I mean, what? No, it's al...right?" She watched the tia for a moment, bewildered by the absolute mountain of food in his arms. "On the end table is fine," she murmured and shook her tail.
"Right," D'hein said, moving awkwardly over to the table and begin to pile up parcels of food. He noticed the paperwork sitting nearby and said, "How progresses your rest, Antimony?"
"How progresses... ah, it progresses fine! Just... fine." She furrowed her brow at the pile that seemed to only grow larger as he arranged it. This much food could have fed her family for... "I was certainly resting!"
"Are you sure you weren't working?" D'hein said, wondering if he wanted to leave a window open for her to lie. Perhaps he did want to leave it open, but he could also bait her towards the truth. "If you had been working I'm sure you would've led with some sort of gauge of the damages done to your investigation."
"Yes, luckily none of the lost papers contained the raw data, only post-analyses, some detailed summaries, and annotations of applicable laws. Reworking the math is going to take--" She paused suddenly, frowned at the food, then D'hein. "I was resting."
"Do I need to hide the files from you?" He smirked.
"No! You're not to touch them!" She hastened over to D'hein, as though prepared to swat him away from the desk. "In fact, do not even go near them. I am more fully aware than ever of the potential conflict of interest here."
"As am I," D'hein said, stepping away from the table. "And, no, I can't touch or look at them. But don't think that I am not above sending Amaury to do that which I cannot. You are not to work until you can be sure to do your best work."
Her tail slashed at the air behind her in annoyance, but she couldn't exactly fault his words. She had fallen asleep at her desk, after all - not that D'hein would ever hear of such a thing. "That won't be necessary," she muttered stiffly, eyes flicking to the desk and then back to the table laden with food. Very suddenly she became aware of an aching hollowness in her gut, and her expression softened. Slightly. "A meal would help. Though.. I'm not sure what you expect me to do with all of this."
"I... wanted to feed Ulanan as well, if she was about!" He laid a hand on the food and laughed, his tail whipping around. He lied through a small smile, "I'd hear Lalafel eat more than double as much as the largest of Roegadyn and didn't want the little saint to go hungry."
"More than... Ulanan's never seemed to eat unusual amounts..." She looked the spread over, sniffed at the air in an attempt to pick apart some of the smells. "Though if it doesn't have olives, I'm certain she won't approve."
"Thoughtless me!" D'hein smacked his forehead, a bit overly hard. He knocked himself a step backwards, one eye shivering, but proclaimed, "I hadn't even suspected! So without courtesy I can be. I'll correct the mistake immediately!" Truth be told he hadn't even thought of Ulanan, but as long as he was now, he was going to do his very best by her. "And while I'm at it I'll order some sweets in case K'airos comes by."
"That--" She winced as he thwacked his head, and nearly asked if he was alright, but then he just kept going. Letting out a faint, weary sigh, Antimony's ears shook. "I suppose, if you... want. It's not necessary..." A moment's hesitation and then, uncertainly, "Airos likes sweets?"
"Doesn't everyone?" D'hein said, spinning around and walking towards the door. "There's a great availability of sugar in Ul'dah, and she seems to enjoy it!"
She recalled the way her daughter had put sugar on fruit, during their brief, painfully joyous conversation in Camp Drybone. It was not a luxury she would have had access to if she had stayed with... Antimony sighed, her ears drooping, though she drew up her posture a bit to combat it. "I will get her a treat, then. It's my duty. Surely she'll... she said she would visit again soon. Ah, just--wait here!" And she made to turn towards the door.
"Ah. Alright..." D'hein shifted about, trying to decide if it was alright for him to be in the lady's room alone. Especially with the paperwork there, which he wasn't permitted to look at. "Are you getting olives as well?"
Antimony's, "Of course!" faded through the door as she hurried out, intent on doing right by her daughter in as many ways as she could possibly manage.
D'hein nodded, paced in a miniature circle for five seconds, and then decided that instead of looking at the paperwork he'd run a bath for Antimony so that she felt obligated to take care of herself upon her return. Probably.
***
Antimony's hurried steps carried her out into the Quicksand's tavern quickly, but her progress stalled not a minute later when she found herself facing a seemingly impossible decision: what sweets did K'airos like best?
Almost twenty agonizing minutes, several annoyed waitstaff, a few frustrated customers, and one confused guard who had bemusedly entertained Antimony's questions later, the harried woman made her way back to her inn room with a tray containing a wide variety of sweet treats. In the end, it had seemed best to go with them all, just in case. Surely K'airos would appreciate it!
She’d forgotten the olives, but there wasn’t much to be done about that.
She did not knock before entering - it was her room after all - and instead announced her entrance with a warning, "If I find you have been shuffling through my documents, I will be very cross."
He had been twenty minutes alone, and D'hein had gone mad after five, thinking that Antimony had found an excuse to flee from him and was now searching the streets in vain for her beloved K'airos, but in her condition she would collapse in a gutter and be kidnapped by desperate refugees! By the time anyone realized, she would have been exchanged for somnus! And from there!
Of course he was being ridiculous. He hadn't even finished running the bath yet, and because he knew he often overreacted to things he would force himself to finish the bath before panicking. He added soap to the water to create a good, bubbly froth, giving the room a clean and warm, humid air, then decided to continue working as long as possible to stave off any hasty action.
What could he do? He could put out candles! But there was only one candle in the entire suite and that took only a moment. He could lay out towels! Only two towels, thin. He folded them together to make one much better towel. That done, he could lay out... clothes? Of course! He found some ratty old coat and set it aside -- someone should probably throw it out -- and instead found the dress he'd placed in the box early and hung it near the tub.
Then he made the bed and dusted and unpacked one of the dinners and put the other dinners in an ordered pile and then -- no, he shouldn't do anything with the paperwork, so he left that alone -- he shifted uneasily in the middle of the room and was about to just take the bath himself out of confusion.
And then Antimony was back.
He spun to her in the middle of the room, hands popping out to either side, and bellowed, "You've returned! I was worried sick!" He moved forward as if to embrace her, but stopped when he just barely noticed the platter of sweets, not wanting to disturb them, and instead plucked it from Antimony's hands. "I'll just put these aside."
"Careful with those! They're for K'airos! I don't want them falling to the floor...!" She leaned after the platter anxiously. Then she saw the bath, and the candle, and the towels, and the dress, and just kind of froze while leaning onto the balls of her feet. Her ears swiveled.
"I'll be careful. I always am." he set them near the dinners, saying as he did so, "You were gone long enough I thought some refugee had kidnapped you and traded you for somnus! I set up a bath to keep myself busy, and because in your tired state you should simply relax."
Her tail twitched behind her and in an anxiously pitched voice she declared without thinking, "I'm not going to bathe in the same room as a ti--" She cut herself off quickly, one hand slapping over her mouth, and then the other was waving at D'hein in apology as she stammered, "I mean that--I appreciate the thought, just that--it's just.. it's not appropriate!"
D'hein tilted his head as he turned to Antimony, one ear twitching. He frowned, narrowed his eyes. "Why do you assume such is my attention? I came back to check on you, not to entrench myself, and I've already been here longer than intended. That I took the time to be considerate is not evidence of anything more."
Almost immediately, Antimony found herself overcome by a flush of embarrassment, her tail whirring madly behind her. "I didn't intend--I mean, that wasn't--aah, I--I am sorry! I shouldn't have assumed!" She brought her hands up to her reddened face as though she could hide behind them. "Apologies," she managed after a moment in a faint voice.
"That's fine. I understand," He put his hands behind him, smiling wide. "It's alright if you're shy. If you'd like you can undress and step into the bath before I enter, and then I won't necessarily see anything."
"Necessarily!" Antimony almost squeaked the word out, and her ears and tail shivered as one for several seconds before she jumped at some thought. "No! No, no, no. If there is to be a--a bath-- it will not be with you present!" One corner of her mouth twitched and then, suddenly, she let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm... it was a joke, Antimony." D'hein remained mostly unchanged, though his smile lessened into a smirk. "My respect for you makes such notions ridiculous to the point of laughability. Or so it is in my own head."
Silence greeted his words. Antimony blinked at D'hein. At the metal tub. At the table with food. "... Oh. I see." Her brow furrowed. "It was not a very... good joke."
"Apparently so! I'll get out of your way, though," D'hein paced around Antimony and as he did so, he said, "Also, I took your pen, so no working."
"... What? What if I want to write to Airos! Or... no, give that back!" She turned to follow him, reaching to snag his clothing before he could escape.
He let himself be stopped, smirking down at Antimony. "I'm not sure if I can trust you to wait until after you've rested to get to work."
Her own frown deepened with sudden offense. "This is absurd. I demand you cease treating me as a child and trust me to manage my own decisions properly."
"Fine, then do so," He pulled the pen from a pocket and offered it to Antimony. "Rest when you need rest, take care of your work, dress like you wish to be taken seriously and don't wander into the den of adversaries who obviously have no need for legal pretense."
Ears flinching back sharply, Antimony took the pen with an agitated, "I already manage most of those just fine, thank you."
"Just try not worry me," D'hein said, proceeding towards the door and opening. "I'm a worrier, after all."
She half turned back towards the table, glancing at the food before peering at D'hein's retreating back from the corner of her vision. Her annoyance swung back away with a sigh. "Thank you. I will be fine."
D'hein closed the door, back proud, one ear standing up. After the door was closed behind him, though, both ears fell and his shoulders slouched, drawing a sigh and a mutter from the frustrated Tia.
Unable to find the servant D'hein had placed the order with, the Tia desperately placed the order with every server, insisting each be rushed. Five minutes after the hour, as D'hein sat at the bar in a nervous sweat and turned aside inquiries as to his well-being, D'hein found himself delivered seven orders of food.
Not being a fan of waste, D'hein chose to take all seven of them, plus the original which arrived just as he was about to head to Antimony's room. Burdened by enough food to feed all of Pearl Lane, D'hein dashed to the inn and careened down the hallways, colliding pathetically against the door to Antimony's room. If his hands weren't so full he might have opened the door and run in unannounced, but he couldn't work the doorknob in his condition.
"Half-starved!" He shouted, trying to get her attention. "I'm sure you are and it's my fault and I apolgize! I did my very best! I've the food! I do!"
With an extremely unlady-like grunt, Antimony shot up from where she'd slumped over her desk, her hands sending the pen that had still been loosely held in her grip skittering to the floor. A noise at her door...? Blinking away lingering sleep, Antimony looked down at the papers she had begun to work her way through before exhaustion had involuntarily claimed her. She hadn't gotten very far.
More noise at the door to her inn room dragged her attention away from the desk, and she spent several moments in confusion before remembering D'hein's earlier promise (threat? warning?). "Ah, yes, yes," she muttered to herself and stood. She could feel her hair brushing against the back of her neck as she walked, having taken it down to brush it out before diving into the work. A small gesture to the tia's concerns.
Seconds later, she opened the door with one hand, her other dropping immediately from where it had been combing through her hair. Warm, cooked smells assaulted her senses, and at the sight of the pile of food burdening his arms, Antimony's eyes widened. "You... ah, you're... what is this? I'm only one person!" A split second later she winced and added, "Nevermind. Er--come... in."
"I know, I'm late," said, D'hein, carrying the food in. "I've nothing but apologies to give! And the promised food. More than intended but we'll be well fed!" He laughed, sounding nervous, expecting to be the victim of some negative judgment. He shifted about in the room searched for some place he could put down such an incredible amount of food.
"Late?" Antimony stepped back, blinking, the shifting of her ears moving the fine, grey strands of her hair. "Of cour--ah, I mean, what? No, it's al...right?" She watched the tia for a moment, bewildered by the absolute mountain of food in his arms. "On the end table is fine," she murmured and shook her tail.
"Right," D'hein said, moving awkwardly over to the table and begin to pile up parcels of food. He noticed the paperwork sitting nearby and said, "How progresses your rest, Antimony?"
"How progresses... ah, it progresses fine! Just... fine." She furrowed her brow at the pile that seemed to only grow larger as he arranged it. This much food could have fed her family for... "I was certainly resting!"
"Are you sure you weren't working?" D'hein said, wondering if he wanted to leave a window open for her to lie. Perhaps he did want to leave it open, but he could also bait her towards the truth. "If you had been working I'm sure you would've led with some sort of gauge of the damages done to your investigation."
"Yes, luckily none of the lost papers contained the raw data, only post-analyses, some detailed summaries, and annotations of applicable laws. Reworking the math is going to take--" She paused suddenly, frowned at the food, then D'hein. "I was resting."
"Do I need to hide the files from you?" He smirked.
"No! You're not to touch them!" She hastened over to D'hein, as though prepared to swat him away from the desk. "In fact, do not even go near them. I am more fully aware than ever of the potential conflict of interest here."
"As am I," D'hein said, stepping away from the table. "And, no, I can't touch or look at them. But don't think that I am not above sending Amaury to do that which I cannot. You are not to work until you can be sure to do your best work."
Her tail slashed at the air behind her in annoyance, but she couldn't exactly fault his words. She had fallen asleep at her desk, after all - not that D'hein would ever hear of such a thing. "That won't be necessary," she muttered stiffly, eyes flicking to the desk and then back to the table laden with food. Very suddenly she became aware of an aching hollowness in her gut, and her expression softened. Slightly. "A meal would help. Though.. I'm not sure what you expect me to do with all of this."
"I... wanted to feed Ulanan as well, if she was about!" He laid a hand on the food and laughed, his tail whipping around. He lied through a small smile, "I'd hear Lalafel eat more than double as much as the largest of Roegadyn and didn't want the little saint to go hungry."
"More than... Ulanan's never seemed to eat unusual amounts..." She looked the spread over, sniffed at the air in an attempt to pick apart some of the smells. "Though if it doesn't have olives, I'm certain she won't approve."
"Thoughtless me!" D'hein smacked his forehead, a bit overly hard. He knocked himself a step backwards, one eye shivering, but proclaimed, "I hadn't even suspected! So without courtesy I can be. I'll correct the mistake immediately!" Truth be told he hadn't even thought of Ulanan, but as long as he was now, he was going to do his very best by her. "And while I'm at it I'll order some sweets in case K'airos comes by."
"That--" She winced as he thwacked his head, and nearly asked if he was alright, but then he just kept going. Letting out a faint, weary sigh, Antimony's ears shook. "I suppose, if you... want. It's not necessary..." A moment's hesitation and then, uncertainly, "Airos likes sweets?"
"Doesn't everyone?" D'hein said, spinning around and walking towards the door. "There's a great availability of sugar in Ul'dah, and she seems to enjoy it!"
She recalled the way her daughter had put sugar on fruit, during their brief, painfully joyous conversation in Camp Drybone. It was not a luxury she would have had access to if she had stayed with... Antimony sighed, her ears drooping, though she drew up her posture a bit to combat it. "I will get her a treat, then. It's my duty. Surely she'll... she said she would visit again soon. Ah, just--wait here!" And she made to turn towards the door.
"Ah. Alright..." D'hein shifted about, trying to decide if it was alright for him to be in the lady's room alone. Especially with the paperwork there, which he wasn't permitted to look at. "Are you getting olives as well?"
Antimony's, "Of course!" faded through the door as she hurried out, intent on doing right by her daughter in as many ways as she could possibly manage.
D'hein nodded, paced in a miniature circle for five seconds, and then decided that instead of looking at the paperwork he'd run a bath for Antimony so that she felt obligated to take care of herself upon her return. Probably.
***
Antimony's hurried steps carried her out into the Quicksand's tavern quickly, but her progress stalled not a minute later when she found herself facing a seemingly impossible decision: what sweets did K'airos like best?
Almost twenty agonizing minutes, several annoyed waitstaff, a few frustrated customers, and one confused guard who had bemusedly entertained Antimony's questions later, the harried woman made her way back to her inn room with a tray containing a wide variety of sweet treats. In the end, it had seemed best to go with them all, just in case. Surely K'airos would appreciate it!
She’d forgotten the olives, but there wasn’t much to be done about that.
She did not knock before entering - it was her room after all - and instead announced her entrance with a warning, "If I find you have been shuffling through my documents, I will be very cross."
He had been twenty minutes alone, and D'hein had gone mad after five, thinking that Antimony had found an excuse to flee from him and was now searching the streets in vain for her beloved K'airos, but in her condition she would collapse in a gutter and be kidnapped by desperate refugees! By the time anyone realized, she would have been exchanged for somnus! And from there!
Of course he was being ridiculous. He hadn't even finished running the bath yet, and because he knew he often overreacted to things he would force himself to finish the bath before panicking. He added soap to the water to create a good, bubbly froth, giving the room a clean and warm, humid air, then decided to continue working as long as possible to stave off any hasty action.
What could he do? He could put out candles! But there was only one candle in the entire suite and that took only a moment. He could lay out towels! Only two towels, thin. He folded them together to make one much better towel. That done, he could lay out... clothes? Of course! He found some ratty old coat and set it aside -- someone should probably throw it out -- and instead found the dress he'd placed in the box early and hung it near the tub.
Then he made the bed and dusted and unpacked one of the dinners and put the other dinners in an ordered pile and then -- no, he shouldn't do anything with the paperwork, so he left that alone -- he shifted uneasily in the middle of the room and was about to just take the bath himself out of confusion.
And then Antimony was back.
He spun to her in the middle of the room, hands popping out to either side, and bellowed, "You've returned! I was worried sick!" He moved forward as if to embrace her, but stopped when he just barely noticed the platter of sweets, not wanting to disturb them, and instead plucked it from Antimony's hands. "I'll just put these aside."
"Careful with those! They're for K'airos! I don't want them falling to the floor...!" She leaned after the platter anxiously. Then she saw the bath, and the candle, and the towels, and the dress, and just kind of froze while leaning onto the balls of her feet. Her ears swiveled.
"I'll be careful. I always am." he set them near the dinners, saying as he did so, "You were gone long enough I thought some refugee had kidnapped you and traded you for somnus! I set up a bath to keep myself busy, and because in your tired state you should simply relax."
Her tail twitched behind her and in an anxiously pitched voice she declared without thinking, "I'm not going to bathe in the same room as a ti--" She cut herself off quickly, one hand slapping over her mouth, and then the other was waving at D'hein in apology as she stammered, "I mean that--I appreciate the thought, just that--it's just.. it's not appropriate!"
D'hein tilted his head as he turned to Antimony, one ear twitching. He frowned, narrowed his eyes. "Why do you assume such is my attention? I came back to check on you, not to entrench myself, and I've already been here longer than intended. That I took the time to be considerate is not evidence of anything more."
Almost immediately, Antimony found herself overcome by a flush of embarrassment, her tail whirring madly behind her. "I didn't intend--I mean, that wasn't--aah, I--I am sorry! I shouldn't have assumed!" She brought her hands up to her reddened face as though she could hide behind them. "Apologies," she managed after a moment in a faint voice.
"That's fine. I understand," He put his hands behind him, smiling wide. "It's alright if you're shy. If you'd like you can undress and step into the bath before I enter, and then I won't necessarily see anything."
"Necessarily!" Antimony almost squeaked the word out, and her ears and tail shivered as one for several seconds before she jumped at some thought. "No! No, no, no. If there is to be a--a bath-- it will not be with you present!" One corner of her mouth twitched and then, suddenly, she let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm... it was a joke, Antimony." D'hein remained mostly unchanged, though his smile lessened into a smirk. "My respect for you makes such notions ridiculous to the point of laughability. Or so it is in my own head."
Silence greeted his words. Antimony blinked at D'hein. At the metal tub. At the table with food. "... Oh. I see." Her brow furrowed. "It was not a very... good joke."
"Apparently so! I'll get out of your way, though," D'hein paced around Antimony and as he did so, he said, "Also, I took your pen, so no working."
"... What? What if I want to write to Airos! Or... no, give that back!" She turned to follow him, reaching to snag his clothing before he could escape.
He let himself be stopped, smirking down at Antimony. "I'm not sure if I can trust you to wait until after you've rested to get to work."
Her own frown deepened with sudden offense. "This is absurd. I demand you cease treating me as a child and trust me to manage my own decisions properly."
"Fine, then do so," He pulled the pen from a pocket and offered it to Antimony. "Rest when you need rest, take care of your work, dress like you wish to be taken seriously and don't wander into the den of adversaries who obviously have no need for legal pretense."
Ears flinching back sharply, Antimony took the pen with an agitated, "I already manage most of those just fine, thank you."
"Just try not worry me," D'hein said, proceeding towards the door and opening. "I'm a worrier, after all."
She half turned back towards the table, glancing at the food before peering at D'hein's retreating back from the corner of her vision. Her annoyance swung back away with a sigh. "Thank you. I will be fine."
D'hein closed the door, back proud, one ear standing up. After the door was closed behind him, though, both ears fell and his shoulders slouched, drawing a sigh and a mutter from the frustrated Tia.
![[Image: AntiThalSig.png]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/179079766/AntiThalSig.png)
"Song dogs barking at the break of dawn, lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm; and these streets, quiet as a sleeping army, send their battered dreams to heaven."
Hipparion Tribe (Sagolii)Â - Â Antimony Jhanhi's Wiki
