((Follows immediately after On the Tenuous Nature of Friendship Bracelets))
Antimony remained by herself at the bar, occasionally sneaking weary glances across the open tavern towards where D'hein brooded at the table. The place gradually began to fill more as time dragged on, the pre-dinner crowd arriving. Right when she was beginning to wonder what was taking the food so long, a barmaid hustled through a swinging door that led to the kitchen, burdened by a large tray that held at least five times too much food for two people. At least the Quicksand's menu was not particularly broad, so there weren't /that/ many different dishes, but it still amounted to way too much food.
Her ears shifting back in embarrassment, she lifted a hand at the barmaid and accepted the tray from her. It was surprisingly heavy, and she nearly dropped it as soon as she had it in hand. The barmaid didn't look particularly sympathetic, so Antimony struggled to regain her balance and then began the journey back to D'hein.
She set the tray down on the table with a heavier thud than she'd intended, rattling the plates noisily. Then she took up a seat near the Tia (Nunh?), set her hands in her lap, and said firmly, "Eat now."
D'hein was not to proud to admit to himself that he'd been dozing, though he thought he was proud enough that he'd maintained his outward composure. Like a priest, D'hein had learned to sleep sitting up, with his eyes closed and his hands fixed coolly in his lap, and though it was not his intention to fall asleep, he at least had the good sense to do it properly. As a gentleman must. He dreamt that Antimony and D'ahl had met under different circumstances and not hated one another. He didn't dream about a single image or that other than that, just the one passing delusion.
And then the food slammed down, and D'hein snapped his head off the table and swung himself upright and back further than the chair wished to permit. The back of the chair intersected his shoulder blades unkindly before the chair leaned. In his attempt to stop himself from falling backward, D'hein fell to the side instead.
In the next moment, he was on his feet, having completely forgot whatever he had been dreaming about or however long he'd been dozing off. He straightened and dusted himself off and appeared composed within seconds. Yes, quite like a gentleman or a priest.
"Thank you, Antimony." He turned his eyes down at the massive amounts of food, and one of his ears stumbled about drunkenly atop his head. "Well, it's good to see that you intend to make sure we eat our fill. Have your visitors gone then?"
Antimony's tail fluffed in surprise as D'hein took a ungraceful tumble off the chair, followed by an admittedly swift recovery. Then she looked sharply away, grey ears shifting. "Yes. Well. I'd thought Ulanan and... I didn't realize they would be leaving so soon." Leaving and leaving them to chase after should they want to find D'aijeen; the thought was infuriatingly helpless.
"Those type always do. There's a reason that poor people are poor, you see." D'hein placed his chair back at the table and moved to sit in it, looking at the food with a fake smile. His appetite had not returned yet, though he was incredibly hungry. He felt like he deserved to continue experiencing pangs of hunger, one of the few kinds of pain he could still feel. He thought that was stupid, though, and forced himself to think of the nutritional value of what had been put before him.
"Wait, did you pay for this?" One of his ears popped up and he turned his exhausted eyes on the woman. "The working class can't afford to go purchasing the food of the upper class! Except through taxes."
"Ah..." The older woman hesitated, wincing, frowned and began, "I am not that p--" then cut herself off with a short huff and a flick of her tail, closed her eyes, and then managed a bit more evenly, "You did say you would pay for our food."
"I did, and I intended to. Which is why I'm concerned that you've paid for it." D'hein allowed this to distract him from the food, fully aware. "If you have, then it's an err of mine that needs to be corrected."
Setting D'ahl's journal down and wringing her hands together, Antimony hesitated a moment before shaking her head, "I haven't." A pause, then a gesture at the plates. "Now, eat."
"You eat as well." D'hein chose a plate at random to pull towards himself. They all seemed to be complete meals.
Antimony watched D'hein intently a moment longer, with an instinct that came as naturally as breathing, and then took a plate for herself. It looked to be some kind of root vegetable dish, and she made a face before pushing it back and taking something with more meat. Even after all these years, it was hard to shake a diet so long learned. Grabbing a fork, she snuck a quick glance towards the Tia, then looked down at her food. Silence.
D'hein watched Antimony. He watched her watching him, intrigued that she was doing so. Was she away that she was always instructing him to behave in certain ways? He wondered if she would change that behavior when he was Nunh. Was it based on the fact that he was a Tia? Did her tribe treat Tias as lesser? What, was she waiting for him to eat, as though that was prerequisite to her eating?
Experimentally, he took a bite of his food. He was shocked to find it was something squishy, wet, and hot, and looked down to discover that he was eating some kind of grease-boiled onion or something. What was it? Why would anyone cook this?
Satisfied when the Tia (Nunh... they would really have to settle this soon, as it was starting to confuse Antimony horribly) began to eat, Antimony gave a slow flick of her tail against her chair and jabbed her fork at the... pile of shredded meat?
Well, it was something, even if her nose couldn't quite pick out /what/ it was.
She took a slow bite, chewing carefully. The ruckus they'd caused back at the commune pestered her at the back of her mind, left an ill worry in her belly, but it was nothing compared to the worry she held for K'aijeen. And K'airos. What had befallen that dearest of her daughters to make her cry? What had Aijeen done? She thought about broaching these questions with D'hein again, pestering him about how he had raised D'aijeen, about how he may have treated K'airos, about how he couldn't be any more wrong about his assessment... and yet so frighteningly right.
But she didn't. Instead she just ate in silence. When she finished her first bite, she hesitated on seeing D'hein's hesitation, and muttered firmly, "Eat your food."
D'hein took several more bites very quickly. "I am eating." And so he did. He ate the onion thing. He would conquer it, as it had been placed before him, by himself. Then they would nap and then... He would see what he could do about D'aijeen.
----------
Escaping from Uldah had been pleasant, even though Illira knew thats what it was, an escape. Leaving the city behind without a word to the few people that she knew and the only one that she cared of was nothing to be proud of.
She'd left Amaury to rot in the city's jails once and left him again out on its streets. How she would look him in the eye this time, she didn't know, but it was time to come back. The business up in Coerthas that she'd taken upon herself to deal with, was done with. Uldah had been twisting her up in its sick game. It was run away or snap in two. But she couldn't run away for forever. At least needing to be sure that Amaury wasn't destitute as a result of her actions before she ran away.
The streets were just the same as she'd left them, unfortunately. Dust kicking up with the slight breeze. This was the last time, she told herself. Maybe if Uldah really did get eaten up by a sandworm would she tread its grounds again. Illira frowned as she knew that was probably only a lie that she told herself in order to soothe.
Turning off of hastings strip to the Quicksand to gather the gossip and get a room, she gave a sidelong glance to the bench outside where a pair of humans were busy gazing into each others eyes. Sickening, they were.
The wooden doors opened easily enough as the elezen pushed them open. Busy as ever, the tables were all full, with various adventurers checking in with Momoji.
----------
"Good," Antimony sighed then, returned to her own meal. The meat was tough and stringy, but she chewed through it thoughtlessly. Chewing made the livid bruising across her face ache, but that was easily ignored. She didn't look up from her meal, focusing on how the thick, brown gravy that filled in the spaces between the meat fibers pushed around on her plate. It sunk into a crack in the clay. The silence weighed on her ears too much, however, and sent her tail into uncomfortable contortions, so she searched for some harmless question to ask. Anything.
Her mind was stuck on her daughters, however, and she didn't know enough about D'hein on a personal level to ask of anything else. So after a lengthy silence she blurted out very suddenly, "Aijeen! When--ah, when was she... happiest under your care?" She cringed, ears laying back at her words, and she promptly sought to hide in her food.
Illira's hand was on the railing as she walked down the ramp. It stilled though as she stopped, stiffening, her ears having just picked up a familiar voice, shrill in its nervous intonation. Nails digging into the stone as her grip tightened, she looked out on the room proper, sure that there was a Miqote with greying hair and spectacles somewhere in its midst.
D'hein paused mid-bite, caught of guard by the question. He did not choke. He swallowed prematurely, wincing at the unpleasant sensations in his throat. But he didn't choke. After taking a deep breath to think, D'hein answered, "I think. Either when we got her new clothes, because she liked that. Or when I agreed to allow her to study in the Ossuary. Or when K'airos recovered from her wounds at Cartenau."
The last one made Antimony's tail still and then hang low towards the floor. "I am glad she... none of the wounds seem to haunt her." Then she went quiet, bowed her head. She wasn't certain why she'd thought to ask such a thing. It was a silly question, and it just made her chest ache to think of all the times Aijeen /hadn't/ been happy. With her.
Illira felt almost as if she'd been here before. This exact place, at the rail, Antimony falling under the alluring spell cast by D'hein. The rage collecting in her chest, knotting up inside. But no. She was better than this, could try to be. That didn't mean that she wouldn't go check up on the pair though. Make sure he hadn't fallen any deeper. So she made her way over to them, pulling an empty chair from a table as she did so.
D'hein, ever oblivious, thought neither that someone was about to interrupt them nor that what Antimony had asked might be a source of sadness. He caught the thread that Antimony had left him and pursued it, "Aijeen was always happiest with K'airos, even though she would come back to the commune for awhile every now and then. Her studies were important to her, so I think the Dodos and I were mostly just tools to pay for them. But I didn't mind. I just wanted to give her and K'airos everything they needed."
"Wh--" Antimony's word cut off short, and she jumped in her chair as the Wildwood joined them unannounced and unexpected. Her tail frizzed against one leg of her chair, and she sputtered for several seconds before managing a weak, "Miss--miss Carceri...!"
Planting her chair down by the table, Illira unceremoniously joined them, raising a brow at the sheer amount of food that was between them, "Still showing off D'hein?"
At first confused by Antimony's reaction, wondering what he'd said and what she was talking about, D'hein's ear twitched towards Illira and his face followed not long after. "What?" He looked back to Antimony, and then looked at Illira again. "What? What?" Then to Antimony again, one ear flopping down and the other bouncing up. "What?"
Antimony wasn't much help. She just kind of stammered silently at the elezen woman.
"Oh, so you'd forgotten me. So glad to hear that I leave faint impressions. I didn't mean to interrupt your little gathering, but I've just come back into town. And who are the first people that I find? You two. Just as I left you. ... practically." Her traditional braids had been taken out, her dark hair long and loose, giving her sharp features a slightly softer look as she reached for a small branch of grapes.
"Ah. I..." D'hein snapped his gaze back and forth a few times before shaking his head. "Forgive my rudeness. I am exhausted and easily confused. And you've changed your hair." He thought she had changed her mannerisms as well. If it was possible for a woman like Illira to be any more direct, she'd managed it. "I'm just very easily confused, you see. Simple to vex."
"Simple to... ah," Antimony almost squeaked, then cleared her throat forcefully. Her fork was still clutched in one hand as she cast an anxious, sideways glance at Illira. "Apologies. I was--we just...er, weren't expecting you. That is all."
"No. I suppose you weren't. My apologies. I am merely unhappy to find my way back to where I left things." Grey eyes cut sideways towards Antimony, "You didn't take my advice. Obviously."
The older woman flinched. "Your... advice? I've--well, I've--I have made all decisions to the best of my ability!" Antimony tried to sit straight at that, to give herself some semblance of authority.
Frowning, D'hein nudged a plate of food towards Illira. "She successfully closed the investigation with the Brass Blades and the Dodos, if that's what this is about. Ul'dah is cleaner now."
Illira was silent for a moment, digesting the overly broad information that he'd presented. Her head jerked up to his head of blonde fluff though, when she realized some of its implications, "Antimony had quit. You went against my direct advisement to not mix personal affairs and business didn't you?" She decided to take one piece at a time. Chronological order, of course.
"I had a job to get done and took the necessary steps to get it done, which included postponing my personal affairs so that I could employ Antimony in a strictly professional context." D'hein narrowed his tired eyes, confronting this challenge dead-on.
"I--ah, I volunteered for it, Miss Carceri," Antimony interjected suddenly, green eyes worried. "I was already familiar with all of the details and paperwork, and it... seemed... like a fine, productive idea."
"I'll let the matter sit then. For the sake of conversation. What was the fallout? I hope that Tyremandu got his due." A deep breath was taken to steady her anger at her associates cloak and dagger routine.
Antimony blinked and then seemed to shrink in her chair.
"I'm not yet privy as to the details. I know the Nunh responsible is in jail and all the documents have likely been seized by now." He leaned back in his chair again, poking at his food so as to avoid awkward gesturing. "I'm keeping a distance to avoid conflict of interest, so I don't know more than that."
"That was... not an answer, D'hein. Not even a weak one. You can do better than that. Plus, we have its executor right here." Illira's attention turned back to Antimony, "I would say that I'm sorry for not trusting a word of what D'hein is saying, but I'm not. What happened?"
The miqo'te swallowed, her tail curling up around one leg. "Ah. Well. It's... all extremely complicated, and... certain discussions were necessary once it was found that the, er, Dodo commune was so difficult to enter. He--ah, D'hein is correct in that D'themia Nunh has been arrested!"
D'hein Nunh-more-likely-than-not crossed his arms. "You're under no obligation to answer her. You're a contractor, not an employee, and she'll have access to a report on the situation once it's been processed."
Illira snorted at that, "Why not tell me now, unless you're hiding something? D'themia was -not- my concern. With his departure, another will just take his place as Nunh. What happened with the Blades? Do not tell me they escaped from your investigation intact."
"I--ah--that is, Captain Tyremandu helped--" Antimony's mouth shut with a click of teeth, and she swallowed her words for several seconds before choking, "You'll receive a report soon."
The elezen's thin lips purse together, "So they did. Charmed you, just as D'hein did, did he?" She seethed inside, what was accomplished then? Nothing. Tyremandu and his office still intact. D'themia knocked off the tower but soon to be replaced by another Tia. Perhaps even... "Wait. Who is replacing D'themia? You would know, wouldn't D'hein... Tia? Or is it Nunh now, by chance?"
"You're so disappointingly transparent, Illira." D'hein sighed, leaning forward in his chair to look sideways at the woman. "The man next in line to be Nunh is named D'edy. He is primarily interested in sex and alcohol, just as a Nunh should be."
"I also know you quite well. And you were the one to bring the to me to manage. It would fit your agenda quite well."
Cringing, Antimony just muttered a faint, "It's not as you think."
"You do not know me at all, Illira, or else you would not be surprised by my actions and make wrong assumptions concerning them." He'd forgotten his food now, just leaning forward to glare at Illira. "The fact is that you're a bureaucrat, well-adapted to seek the failings in your peers in hopes of furthering your agenda. Just like the rest of them."
"No. I am just tired of this sand-pit and its never ending web of lies. And more so each time I return. I see that I should have stayed away again. But I had to make sure that Amaury was not left to scavenge on the streets." Looking down at the pile of food that hadn't really depleted at all, she took a grape off of her little branch of them to eat.
"As if the lies stop here." D'hein watched the grape in Illira's fingers, eyed it all the way to her mouth.
"I'll admit, they don't. But this is by far, the cesspit." Delicately popping the grape into her mouth, Illira turned towards D'hein with narrowed eyes.
Antimony continued to look uncomfortable and utterly incapable of saying much aside from a sputtered, "I assure you, I did--ah, everything necessary to thoroughly complete the investigation."
D'hein's eyes snapped to Antimony long enough to say, "Your work was flawless, Antimony. Above the expected caliber." Before he returned his steady glare to Illira. "Maybe you just can't handle work on the front lines."
The knot in Illira's chest tightened as another insult to her person was added to the collection. She took in a deep breath, angry at herself that the relative calm she managed to achieve again had been shattered just as soon as she'd returned, "I just can't stand rats," she said, her voice calm, despite herself as she met his gaze.
"And in a war against rats, that's a terrible thing." He shrugged. "Especially when some of the best weapons we have to use and throw away are the rats themselves."
“I apologize, Miss Carceri," Antimony spoke, bowing her head forward.
"Its a pity that rats have learned to use fancy words and twist other around their little fingers. I should speak to Ildur about all this. I had been hoping that some time away in Coerthas would clear everything up, but its obvious to me that hasn't happened." Illira bowed her head, "But you didn't happen to hear of what Amaury is doing, did you D'hein? Since you were the one who'd let him out, after all."
"Your approval of my rat-handling skills is not one of my goals, Illira. You may waste your time speaking with Ildur if you wish. He's not so staunch as you are. As for Amaury, I made sure to find him gainful employment." D'hein said this proudly, casting Illira a weary smile. "After all, when the incarcerated are released, they tend to return to confinement if they do not find work quickly."
"I think that you misunderstand who I'm referring to, D'hein. I'm surprised that Amaury went back to you seeking employment. I'd advised against it, having revised my initial thoughts on such an idea." No smile found its way over her, the thin lips still pressed into a frown.
"Perhaps. You shouldn't be. Many who run afoul of the Syndicate do so because they're a bit /too/ good at taking care of themselves, remember." He looked at Antimony, checking to see if she was still eating. But then he noted her distress and when ear popped up. "Ah, Antimony. You don't need to be so formal. You're done with the job, so neither Illira nor I are your employer anymore. Relax."
Antimony jumped again in her seat, green eyes bouncing between D'hein and Illira before settling on some point in the middle of the table. She cleared her throat, swallowed, cleared her throat again, and her tail shivered. "Ah, well. That doesn't mean I shouldn't... I mean, I wouldn't just--that is--Miss Carceri deserves as much respect as any."
"That you have to say that means you only feel an obligation. Don't. You're little lalafell pet certainly doesn't," answered Illira, still recalling her last exchange with Ulanan.
At that, Antimony cringed and did a horrible job at hiding her mortification.
"It's good to know you have not lost your poignant absence of whit, Illira. As you are still as bitter as ever, I must conclude you are in good health. Therefore why do you not seek your brother and ask him how he is doing himself?" D'hein chuckled lowly. "He cannot be more difficult to find than we. Perhaps it is simply less fulfilling to talk down to someone who has more right to be bitter than you have, and yet is better composed."
Her head snapped around at that, her voice raising, "You have no right to speak about him. Or our relationship. Simply because you asserted your syndicate connections to arrange for his release, doesn't mean that you have earned anything."
Pursing her lips, grey ears setting back into her hair, Antimony managed to lift her head towards the elezen. A frown wrinkled her brow. "Very well then," she huffed, looking a little terrified of what she was about to say. "You are--are an incredibly rude woman, ungrateful to those who have tried to help you, and--and I am not sorry for completing the project originally assigned to me!" The last burst out of her rather forcefully, and then the miqo'te froze, eyes wide.
D'hein congratulated Antimony with a small clap.
Illira's jaw tightened as she swallowed down the feelings of humiliation that threatened to overwhelm her. A small part of her supposed that she deserved it for not being being a pleasant smiling individual. But wasn't it better to stick to your convictions and not abide by the liars, manipulators, and sycophants of the world?
Her pale cheeks flushed, as she practically shook in anger, unsure if she should speak in that moment, yet feeling the unquenchable desire to lash out at the pair. One of whom was a failure, the other a liar and traitor.
Humming as he leaned back, D'hein said, "Illira, have you ever asked permission to speak on a subject, or hesitated at any insult? No. You will call someone a pet to their back and pretend it is honesty. Do not torment if you are not prepared to be tormented."
Her voice was quiet, almost deceptively so, "I've called her that to her face. Because its the truth. I am rude." She stopped to eat a grape, chewing on it for longer than she should have, "But I'm not ungrateful to those who tried to help. Because it wasn't help," Her clear grey eyes snapped to D'hein, voice raising into a strained pitch, "It was undesired and unwanted interference in personal business. And one that bypassed the law."
"Bureaucratic technicalities. Shame on you for not desiring it. Shame on you for twisting the law until I've broken it in your view, just so you can continue looking down on me." He reached over and plucked a grape from Illira's bunch.
She watched as he took the grape, but didn't say anything about it, "There was no new evidence. And you don't know him. Know me. Know us. He could have done it. And do you know how I know that D'hein?"
Antimony had shrunk progressively as D'hein and Illira fired back and forth. When the Wildwood delivered her almost smug question, the older woman winced, pressed her lips together, and tried to straighten again. "You can never be certain about even family," she said quietly, and then bolder, brow furrowing, "But that does not change the fact that you do not condemn family in such a way! It's abominable that you would leave him as... as he was!"
The Nunh-though-maybe-Tia turned his gaze towards Antimony briefly, and then away. His tail shivered.
Illira sat back, seemingly a little calmer, "And that is my own shame to bear that I stopped visiting, and then sending letters. I can barely look him in the eye, Antimony. But that doesn't dismiss what he might have done, and what D'hein did."
Shrugging and grabbing another grape, D'hein said proudly, "I looked into the issue as best as I could and decided that for the crimes he was accused of he'd served enough time. I asked around with my connections and they agreed, and they in turn had a little talk with the parole committee, who also agreed. No crime was broken. Not even in spirit." He smirked, "Unless you think your interpretations of law are the standards to which all others must stand. To which I say, you have not been elected to such an office."
"I understand exactly what you did. You behaved as if you were the law's executor." Illira set the grapes down at that, so that she could turn her full attention to the shorter man. She could almost feel her fingers wanting to move of their own accord, to choke the self-absolving smug grin off of his face, "Which you are not. This is why I hate the syndicate. Its not up to us to take the law into our own hands. Or I would do so now. I'm all too aware of the temptation too. Amaury was the one who taught me that."
"The final word was the parole committee. They are the law. You're picking and choosing technicalities to fit your preconceptions." One of D'hein's ears twitched.
Antimony brought her hands together, wrung them anxiously. "Should you not value the time you have with him now?" Then she winced, her tail curling into her lap. "This entire conversation... I can't fathom--be happy for your brother and leave us be!"
"I came back to make sure that he wasn't simply roaming the streets because of my neglect and D'hein's actions. Apparently he is not. So I've done my part."
"Good! Then we're done with the subject and you can stop obsessing over it." D'hein leaned comfortably on the table, trying to return his attention to his food again. "Antimony and I have plenty of problems of our own to deal with today."
"I'm not done with subject, but for now I will not press it. Not without more evidence, unlike you. You're a happy couple now, I understand. I should leave you to this very... extravagant meal." Illira made to push her abducted chair away from the table.
"A... a what?!" Antimony sat up in her seat sharply, the fur on her ears fuzzing strangely. "Ah, Miss--Miss Carceri, that is... not... That is to say, don't make--well, it's not how it looks, entirely...!"
Entirely?" D'hein blinked at Antimony, suddenly confused. "What, is it what it looks like approximately?"
"And, that I think, is my cue to leave," said the Elezen, fully standing now.
Antimony coughed, shrunk back a bit, and muttered, "We are... eating."
D'hein laughed. "We are eating, that is true. Approximately." Then he turned his gaze to Illira's back. "Tell me, Illira, is believing that I have another woman the only way you can stomach the fact that I am not pursuing you? You do realize that were I to become Nunh, I would not be relegated to a single woman, correct?"
She stopped in her tracks, "What?" She sputtered, turning around, "And what has your mating habits to do with anything? The idea of touching you in that way is rather repulsive, D'hein Tia."
Kicking back in his chair slightly, D'hien put his hands up behind his head, smiling. "Then why are you so obsessed with your pet theory that I'm trying to bed everyone? I'm a family man!"
Antimony just shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
Illira let a short bitter laugh out at that, "A family man indeed. One who steals another's children and gives out jewelry to all the women he know at holiday."
His brow dropped. "Women like jewelry. Men do not. And I did not steal any children. What would your hollow Elezen womb know about the life of a Tia or the responsibilities of a Nunh? Your only family obligation was to wait until I saved your brother for you and then to hate me for it. You fled from him before you even knew if he had a livelihood."
"I did leave. Because of what I might have done if I had stayed. And what I still might do, now that I'm back faced with the same things that I left. I'm not much good for him anymore, I know that and don't need anyone else telling these things."
Antimony brought up both hands suddenly, gesturing in rapid, placating movements. "Now--ah, let's not--I don't think such words are--truly, there's no reason for any of us to be speaking to one another in such a.. manner...!"
For once, D'hein ignored Antimony, keeping his attention on Illira. "And what might you do, Illira? Hm?"
She let her eyes run over him, "Its nothing you should be worried about. Enjoy your meal," she said, spinning on her heel to go talk to the innkeep.
D'hein remained in his seat for a long moment, watching Illira go, and then groaned. "Seven Hells." He stood and looked at Antimony. "Finish eating and then take some time to rest. I'll go by your inn room very soon." He walked in the distant wake of the Elezen. "Illira!"
Antimony's hands hovered in the air for several seconds as D'hein walked off, eyes wide, mouth hanging open slightly. Then she just shrunk back down into her chair and looked confused.
Antimony remained by herself at the bar, occasionally sneaking weary glances across the open tavern towards where D'hein brooded at the table. The place gradually began to fill more as time dragged on, the pre-dinner crowd arriving. Right when she was beginning to wonder what was taking the food so long, a barmaid hustled through a swinging door that led to the kitchen, burdened by a large tray that held at least five times too much food for two people. At least the Quicksand's menu was not particularly broad, so there weren't /that/ many different dishes, but it still amounted to way too much food.
Her ears shifting back in embarrassment, she lifted a hand at the barmaid and accepted the tray from her. It was surprisingly heavy, and she nearly dropped it as soon as she had it in hand. The barmaid didn't look particularly sympathetic, so Antimony struggled to regain her balance and then began the journey back to D'hein.
She set the tray down on the table with a heavier thud than she'd intended, rattling the plates noisily. Then she took up a seat near the Tia (Nunh?), set her hands in her lap, and said firmly, "Eat now."
D'hein was not to proud to admit to himself that he'd been dozing, though he thought he was proud enough that he'd maintained his outward composure. Like a priest, D'hein had learned to sleep sitting up, with his eyes closed and his hands fixed coolly in his lap, and though it was not his intention to fall asleep, he at least had the good sense to do it properly. As a gentleman must. He dreamt that Antimony and D'ahl had met under different circumstances and not hated one another. He didn't dream about a single image or that other than that, just the one passing delusion.
And then the food slammed down, and D'hein snapped his head off the table and swung himself upright and back further than the chair wished to permit. The back of the chair intersected his shoulder blades unkindly before the chair leaned. In his attempt to stop himself from falling backward, D'hein fell to the side instead.
In the next moment, he was on his feet, having completely forgot whatever he had been dreaming about or however long he'd been dozing off. He straightened and dusted himself off and appeared composed within seconds. Yes, quite like a gentleman or a priest.
"Thank you, Antimony." He turned his eyes down at the massive amounts of food, and one of his ears stumbled about drunkenly atop his head. "Well, it's good to see that you intend to make sure we eat our fill. Have your visitors gone then?"
Antimony's tail fluffed in surprise as D'hein took a ungraceful tumble off the chair, followed by an admittedly swift recovery. Then she looked sharply away, grey ears shifting. "Yes. Well. I'd thought Ulanan and... I didn't realize they would be leaving so soon." Leaving and leaving them to chase after should they want to find D'aijeen; the thought was infuriatingly helpless.
"Those type always do. There's a reason that poor people are poor, you see." D'hein placed his chair back at the table and moved to sit in it, looking at the food with a fake smile. His appetite had not returned yet, though he was incredibly hungry. He felt like he deserved to continue experiencing pangs of hunger, one of the few kinds of pain he could still feel. He thought that was stupid, though, and forced himself to think of the nutritional value of what had been put before him.
"Wait, did you pay for this?" One of his ears popped up and he turned his exhausted eyes on the woman. "The working class can't afford to go purchasing the food of the upper class! Except through taxes."
"Ah..." The older woman hesitated, wincing, frowned and began, "I am not that p--" then cut herself off with a short huff and a flick of her tail, closed her eyes, and then managed a bit more evenly, "You did say you would pay for our food."
"I did, and I intended to. Which is why I'm concerned that you've paid for it." D'hein allowed this to distract him from the food, fully aware. "If you have, then it's an err of mine that needs to be corrected."
Setting D'ahl's journal down and wringing her hands together, Antimony hesitated a moment before shaking her head, "I haven't." A pause, then a gesture at the plates. "Now, eat."
"You eat as well." D'hein chose a plate at random to pull towards himself. They all seemed to be complete meals.
Antimony watched D'hein intently a moment longer, with an instinct that came as naturally as breathing, and then took a plate for herself. It looked to be some kind of root vegetable dish, and she made a face before pushing it back and taking something with more meat. Even after all these years, it was hard to shake a diet so long learned. Grabbing a fork, she snuck a quick glance towards the Tia, then looked down at her food. Silence.
D'hein watched Antimony. He watched her watching him, intrigued that she was doing so. Was she away that she was always instructing him to behave in certain ways? He wondered if she would change that behavior when he was Nunh. Was it based on the fact that he was a Tia? Did her tribe treat Tias as lesser? What, was she waiting for him to eat, as though that was prerequisite to her eating?
Experimentally, he took a bite of his food. He was shocked to find it was something squishy, wet, and hot, and looked down to discover that he was eating some kind of grease-boiled onion or something. What was it? Why would anyone cook this?
Satisfied when the Tia (Nunh... they would really have to settle this soon, as it was starting to confuse Antimony horribly) began to eat, Antimony gave a slow flick of her tail against her chair and jabbed her fork at the... pile of shredded meat?
Well, it was something, even if her nose couldn't quite pick out /what/ it was.
She took a slow bite, chewing carefully. The ruckus they'd caused back at the commune pestered her at the back of her mind, left an ill worry in her belly, but it was nothing compared to the worry she held for K'aijeen. And K'airos. What had befallen that dearest of her daughters to make her cry? What had Aijeen done? She thought about broaching these questions with D'hein again, pestering him about how he had raised D'aijeen, about how he may have treated K'airos, about how he couldn't be any more wrong about his assessment... and yet so frighteningly right.
But she didn't. Instead she just ate in silence. When she finished her first bite, she hesitated on seeing D'hein's hesitation, and muttered firmly, "Eat your food."
D'hein took several more bites very quickly. "I am eating." And so he did. He ate the onion thing. He would conquer it, as it had been placed before him, by himself. Then they would nap and then... He would see what he could do about D'aijeen.
----------
Escaping from Uldah had been pleasant, even though Illira knew thats what it was, an escape. Leaving the city behind without a word to the few people that she knew and the only one that she cared of was nothing to be proud of.
She'd left Amaury to rot in the city's jails once and left him again out on its streets. How she would look him in the eye this time, she didn't know, but it was time to come back. The business up in Coerthas that she'd taken upon herself to deal with, was done with. Uldah had been twisting her up in its sick game. It was run away or snap in two. But she couldn't run away for forever. At least needing to be sure that Amaury wasn't destitute as a result of her actions before she ran away.
The streets were just the same as she'd left them, unfortunately. Dust kicking up with the slight breeze. This was the last time, she told herself. Maybe if Uldah really did get eaten up by a sandworm would she tread its grounds again. Illira frowned as she knew that was probably only a lie that she told herself in order to soothe.
Turning off of hastings strip to the Quicksand to gather the gossip and get a room, she gave a sidelong glance to the bench outside where a pair of humans were busy gazing into each others eyes. Sickening, they were.
The wooden doors opened easily enough as the elezen pushed them open. Busy as ever, the tables were all full, with various adventurers checking in with Momoji.
----------
"Good," Antimony sighed then, returned to her own meal. The meat was tough and stringy, but she chewed through it thoughtlessly. Chewing made the livid bruising across her face ache, but that was easily ignored. She didn't look up from her meal, focusing on how the thick, brown gravy that filled in the spaces between the meat fibers pushed around on her plate. It sunk into a crack in the clay. The silence weighed on her ears too much, however, and sent her tail into uncomfortable contortions, so she searched for some harmless question to ask. Anything.
Her mind was stuck on her daughters, however, and she didn't know enough about D'hein on a personal level to ask of anything else. So after a lengthy silence she blurted out very suddenly, "Aijeen! When--ah, when was she... happiest under your care?" She cringed, ears laying back at her words, and she promptly sought to hide in her food.
Illira's hand was on the railing as she walked down the ramp. It stilled though as she stopped, stiffening, her ears having just picked up a familiar voice, shrill in its nervous intonation. Nails digging into the stone as her grip tightened, she looked out on the room proper, sure that there was a Miqote with greying hair and spectacles somewhere in its midst.
D'hein paused mid-bite, caught of guard by the question. He did not choke. He swallowed prematurely, wincing at the unpleasant sensations in his throat. But he didn't choke. After taking a deep breath to think, D'hein answered, "I think. Either when we got her new clothes, because she liked that. Or when I agreed to allow her to study in the Ossuary. Or when K'airos recovered from her wounds at Cartenau."
The last one made Antimony's tail still and then hang low towards the floor. "I am glad she... none of the wounds seem to haunt her." Then she went quiet, bowed her head. She wasn't certain why she'd thought to ask such a thing. It was a silly question, and it just made her chest ache to think of all the times Aijeen /hadn't/ been happy. With her.
Illira felt almost as if she'd been here before. This exact place, at the rail, Antimony falling under the alluring spell cast by D'hein. The rage collecting in her chest, knotting up inside. But no. She was better than this, could try to be. That didn't mean that she wouldn't go check up on the pair though. Make sure he hadn't fallen any deeper. So she made her way over to them, pulling an empty chair from a table as she did so.
D'hein, ever oblivious, thought neither that someone was about to interrupt them nor that what Antimony had asked might be a source of sadness. He caught the thread that Antimony had left him and pursued it, "Aijeen was always happiest with K'airos, even though she would come back to the commune for awhile every now and then. Her studies were important to her, so I think the Dodos and I were mostly just tools to pay for them. But I didn't mind. I just wanted to give her and K'airos everything they needed."
"Wh--" Antimony's word cut off short, and she jumped in her chair as the Wildwood joined them unannounced and unexpected. Her tail frizzed against one leg of her chair, and she sputtered for several seconds before managing a weak, "Miss--miss Carceri...!"
Planting her chair down by the table, Illira unceremoniously joined them, raising a brow at the sheer amount of food that was between them, "Still showing off D'hein?"
At first confused by Antimony's reaction, wondering what he'd said and what she was talking about, D'hein's ear twitched towards Illira and his face followed not long after. "What?" He looked back to Antimony, and then looked at Illira again. "What? What?" Then to Antimony again, one ear flopping down and the other bouncing up. "What?"
Antimony wasn't much help. She just kind of stammered silently at the elezen woman.
"Oh, so you'd forgotten me. So glad to hear that I leave faint impressions. I didn't mean to interrupt your little gathering, but I've just come back into town. And who are the first people that I find? You two. Just as I left you. ... practically." Her traditional braids had been taken out, her dark hair long and loose, giving her sharp features a slightly softer look as she reached for a small branch of grapes.
"Ah. I..." D'hein snapped his gaze back and forth a few times before shaking his head. "Forgive my rudeness. I am exhausted and easily confused. And you've changed your hair." He thought she had changed her mannerisms as well. If it was possible for a woman like Illira to be any more direct, she'd managed it. "I'm just very easily confused, you see. Simple to vex."
"Simple to... ah," Antimony almost squeaked, then cleared her throat forcefully. Her fork was still clutched in one hand as she cast an anxious, sideways glance at Illira. "Apologies. I was--we just...er, weren't expecting you. That is all."
"No. I suppose you weren't. My apologies. I am merely unhappy to find my way back to where I left things." Grey eyes cut sideways towards Antimony, "You didn't take my advice. Obviously."
The older woman flinched. "Your... advice? I've--well, I've--I have made all decisions to the best of my ability!" Antimony tried to sit straight at that, to give herself some semblance of authority.
Frowning, D'hein nudged a plate of food towards Illira. "She successfully closed the investigation with the Brass Blades and the Dodos, if that's what this is about. Ul'dah is cleaner now."
Illira was silent for a moment, digesting the overly broad information that he'd presented. Her head jerked up to his head of blonde fluff though, when she realized some of its implications, "Antimony had quit. You went against my direct advisement to not mix personal affairs and business didn't you?" She decided to take one piece at a time. Chronological order, of course.
"I had a job to get done and took the necessary steps to get it done, which included postponing my personal affairs so that I could employ Antimony in a strictly professional context." D'hein narrowed his tired eyes, confronting this challenge dead-on.
"I--ah, I volunteered for it, Miss Carceri," Antimony interjected suddenly, green eyes worried. "I was already familiar with all of the details and paperwork, and it... seemed... like a fine, productive idea."
"I'll let the matter sit then. For the sake of conversation. What was the fallout? I hope that Tyremandu got his due." A deep breath was taken to steady her anger at her associates cloak and dagger routine.
Antimony blinked and then seemed to shrink in her chair.
"I'm not yet privy as to the details. I know the Nunh responsible is in jail and all the documents have likely been seized by now." He leaned back in his chair again, poking at his food so as to avoid awkward gesturing. "I'm keeping a distance to avoid conflict of interest, so I don't know more than that."
"That was... not an answer, D'hein. Not even a weak one. You can do better than that. Plus, we have its executor right here." Illira's attention turned back to Antimony, "I would say that I'm sorry for not trusting a word of what D'hein is saying, but I'm not. What happened?"
The miqo'te swallowed, her tail curling up around one leg. "Ah. Well. It's... all extremely complicated, and... certain discussions were necessary once it was found that the, er, Dodo commune was so difficult to enter. He--ah, D'hein is correct in that D'themia Nunh has been arrested!"
D'hein Nunh-more-likely-than-not crossed his arms. "You're under no obligation to answer her. You're a contractor, not an employee, and she'll have access to a report on the situation once it's been processed."
Illira snorted at that, "Why not tell me now, unless you're hiding something? D'themia was -not- my concern. With his departure, another will just take his place as Nunh. What happened with the Blades? Do not tell me they escaped from your investigation intact."
"I--ah--that is, Captain Tyremandu helped--" Antimony's mouth shut with a click of teeth, and she swallowed her words for several seconds before choking, "You'll receive a report soon."
The elezen's thin lips purse together, "So they did. Charmed you, just as D'hein did, did he?" She seethed inside, what was accomplished then? Nothing. Tyremandu and his office still intact. D'themia knocked off the tower but soon to be replaced by another Tia. Perhaps even... "Wait. Who is replacing D'themia? You would know, wouldn't D'hein... Tia? Or is it Nunh now, by chance?"
"You're so disappointingly transparent, Illira." D'hein sighed, leaning forward in his chair to look sideways at the woman. "The man next in line to be Nunh is named D'edy. He is primarily interested in sex and alcohol, just as a Nunh should be."
"I also know you quite well. And you were the one to bring the to me to manage. It would fit your agenda quite well."
Cringing, Antimony just muttered a faint, "It's not as you think."
"You do not know me at all, Illira, or else you would not be surprised by my actions and make wrong assumptions concerning them." He'd forgotten his food now, just leaning forward to glare at Illira. "The fact is that you're a bureaucrat, well-adapted to seek the failings in your peers in hopes of furthering your agenda. Just like the rest of them."
"No. I am just tired of this sand-pit and its never ending web of lies. And more so each time I return. I see that I should have stayed away again. But I had to make sure that Amaury was not left to scavenge on the streets." Looking down at the pile of food that hadn't really depleted at all, she took a grape off of her little branch of them to eat.
"As if the lies stop here." D'hein watched the grape in Illira's fingers, eyed it all the way to her mouth.
"I'll admit, they don't. But this is by far, the cesspit." Delicately popping the grape into her mouth, Illira turned towards D'hein with narrowed eyes.
Antimony continued to look uncomfortable and utterly incapable of saying much aside from a sputtered, "I assure you, I did--ah, everything necessary to thoroughly complete the investigation."
D'hein's eyes snapped to Antimony long enough to say, "Your work was flawless, Antimony. Above the expected caliber." Before he returned his steady glare to Illira. "Maybe you just can't handle work on the front lines."
The knot in Illira's chest tightened as another insult to her person was added to the collection. She took in a deep breath, angry at herself that the relative calm she managed to achieve again had been shattered just as soon as she'd returned, "I just can't stand rats," she said, her voice calm, despite herself as she met his gaze.
"And in a war against rats, that's a terrible thing." He shrugged. "Especially when some of the best weapons we have to use and throw away are the rats themselves."
“I apologize, Miss Carceri," Antimony spoke, bowing her head forward.
"Its a pity that rats have learned to use fancy words and twist other around their little fingers. I should speak to Ildur about all this. I had been hoping that some time away in Coerthas would clear everything up, but its obvious to me that hasn't happened." Illira bowed her head, "But you didn't happen to hear of what Amaury is doing, did you D'hein? Since you were the one who'd let him out, after all."
"Your approval of my rat-handling skills is not one of my goals, Illira. You may waste your time speaking with Ildur if you wish. He's not so staunch as you are. As for Amaury, I made sure to find him gainful employment." D'hein said this proudly, casting Illira a weary smile. "After all, when the incarcerated are released, they tend to return to confinement if they do not find work quickly."
"I think that you misunderstand who I'm referring to, D'hein. I'm surprised that Amaury went back to you seeking employment. I'd advised against it, having revised my initial thoughts on such an idea." No smile found its way over her, the thin lips still pressed into a frown.
"Perhaps. You shouldn't be. Many who run afoul of the Syndicate do so because they're a bit /too/ good at taking care of themselves, remember." He looked at Antimony, checking to see if she was still eating. But then he noted her distress and when ear popped up. "Ah, Antimony. You don't need to be so formal. You're done with the job, so neither Illira nor I are your employer anymore. Relax."
Antimony jumped again in her seat, green eyes bouncing between D'hein and Illira before settling on some point in the middle of the table. She cleared her throat, swallowed, cleared her throat again, and her tail shivered. "Ah, well. That doesn't mean I shouldn't... I mean, I wouldn't just--that is--Miss Carceri deserves as much respect as any."
"That you have to say that means you only feel an obligation. Don't. You're little lalafell pet certainly doesn't," answered Illira, still recalling her last exchange with Ulanan.
At that, Antimony cringed and did a horrible job at hiding her mortification.
"It's good to know you have not lost your poignant absence of whit, Illira. As you are still as bitter as ever, I must conclude you are in good health. Therefore why do you not seek your brother and ask him how he is doing himself?" D'hein chuckled lowly. "He cannot be more difficult to find than we. Perhaps it is simply less fulfilling to talk down to someone who has more right to be bitter than you have, and yet is better composed."
Her head snapped around at that, her voice raising, "You have no right to speak about him. Or our relationship. Simply because you asserted your syndicate connections to arrange for his release, doesn't mean that you have earned anything."
Pursing her lips, grey ears setting back into her hair, Antimony managed to lift her head towards the elezen. A frown wrinkled her brow. "Very well then," she huffed, looking a little terrified of what she was about to say. "You are--are an incredibly rude woman, ungrateful to those who have tried to help you, and--and I am not sorry for completing the project originally assigned to me!" The last burst out of her rather forcefully, and then the miqo'te froze, eyes wide.
D'hein congratulated Antimony with a small clap.
Illira's jaw tightened as she swallowed down the feelings of humiliation that threatened to overwhelm her. A small part of her supposed that she deserved it for not being being a pleasant smiling individual. But wasn't it better to stick to your convictions and not abide by the liars, manipulators, and sycophants of the world?
Her pale cheeks flushed, as she practically shook in anger, unsure if she should speak in that moment, yet feeling the unquenchable desire to lash out at the pair. One of whom was a failure, the other a liar and traitor.
Humming as he leaned back, D'hein said, "Illira, have you ever asked permission to speak on a subject, or hesitated at any insult? No. You will call someone a pet to their back and pretend it is honesty. Do not torment if you are not prepared to be tormented."
Her voice was quiet, almost deceptively so, "I've called her that to her face. Because its the truth. I am rude." She stopped to eat a grape, chewing on it for longer than she should have, "But I'm not ungrateful to those who tried to help. Because it wasn't help," Her clear grey eyes snapped to D'hein, voice raising into a strained pitch, "It was undesired and unwanted interference in personal business. And one that bypassed the law."
"Bureaucratic technicalities. Shame on you for not desiring it. Shame on you for twisting the law until I've broken it in your view, just so you can continue looking down on me." He reached over and plucked a grape from Illira's bunch.
She watched as he took the grape, but didn't say anything about it, "There was no new evidence. And you don't know him. Know me. Know us. He could have done it. And do you know how I know that D'hein?"
Antimony had shrunk progressively as D'hein and Illira fired back and forth. When the Wildwood delivered her almost smug question, the older woman winced, pressed her lips together, and tried to straighten again. "You can never be certain about even family," she said quietly, and then bolder, brow furrowing, "But that does not change the fact that you do not condemn family in such a way! It's abominable that you would leave him as... as he was!"
The Nunh-though-maybe-Tia turned his gaze towards Antimony briefly, and then away. His tail shivered.
Illira sat back, seemingly a little calmer, "And that is my own shame to bear that I stopped visiting, and then sending letters. I can barely look him in the eye, Antimony. But that doesn't dismiss what he might have done, and what D'hein did."
Shrugging and grabbing another grape, D'hein said proudly, "I looked into the issue as best as I could and decided that for the crimes he was accused of he'd served enough time. I asked around with my connections and they agreed, and they in turn had a little talk with the parole committee, who also agreed. No crime was broken. Not even in spirit." He smirked, "Unless you think your interpretations of law are the standards to which all others must stand. To which I say, you have not been elected to such an office."
"I understand exactly what you did. You behaved as if you were the law's executor." Illira set the grapes down at that, so that she could turn her full attention to the shorter man. She could almost feel her fingers wanting to move of their own accord, to choke the self-absolving smug grin off of his face, "Which you are not. This is why I hate the syndicate. Its not up to us to take the law into our own hands. Or I would do so now. I'm all too aware of the temptation too. Amaury was the one who taught me that."
"The final word was the parole committee. They are the law. You're picking and choosing technicalities to fit your preconceptions." One of D'hein's ears twitched.
Antimony brought her hands together, wrung them anxiously. "Should you not value the time you have with him now?" Then she winced, her tail curling into her lap. "This entire conversation... I can't fathom--be happy for your brother and leave us be!"
"I came back to make sure that he wasn't simply roaming the streets because of my neglect and D'hein's actions. Apparently he is not. So I've done my part."
"Good! Then we're done with the subject and you can stop obsessing over it." D'hein leaned comfortably on the table, trying to return his attention to his food again. "Antimony and I have plenty of problems of our own to deal with today."
"I'm not done with subject, but for now I will not press it. Not without more evidence, unlike you. You're a happy couple now, I understand. I should leave you to this very... extravagant meal." Illira made to push her abducted chair away from the table.
"A... a what?!" Antimony sat up in her seat sharply, the fur on her ears fuzzing strangely. "Ah, Miss--Miss Carceri, that is... not... That is to say, don't make--well, it's not how it looks, entirely...!"
Entirely?" D'hein blinked at Antimony, suddenly confused. "What, is it what it looks like approximately?"
"And, that I think, is my cue to leave," said the Elezen, fully standing now.
Antimony coughed, shrunk back a bit, and muttered, "We are... eating."
D'hein laughed. "We are eating, that is true. Approximately." Then he turned his gaze to Illira's back. "Tell me, Illira, is believing that I have another woman the only way you can stomach the fact that I am not pursuing you? You do realize that were I to become Nunh, I would not be relegated to a single woman, correct?"
She stopped in her tracks, "What?" She sputtered, turning around, "And what has your mating habits to do with anything? The idea of touching you in that way is rather repulsive, D'hein Tia."
Kicking back in his chair slightly, D'hien put his hands up behind his head, smiling. "Then why are you so obsessed with your pet theory that I'm trying to bed everyone? I'm a family man!"
Antimony just shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
Illira let a short bitter laugh out at that, "A family man indeed. One who steals another's children and gives out jewelry to all the women he know at holiday."
His brow dropped. "Women like jewelry. Men do not. And I did not steal any children. What would your hollow Elezen womb know about the life of a Tia or the responsibilities of a Nunh? Your only family obligation was to wait until I saved your brother for you and then to hate me for it. You fled from him before you even knew if he had a livelihood."
"I did leave. Because of what I might have done if I had stayed. And what I still might do, now that I'm back faced with the same things that I left. I'm not much good for him anymore, I know that and don't need anyone else telling these things."
Antimony brought up both hands suddenly, gesturing in rapid, placating movements. "Now--ah, let's not--I don't think such words are--truly, there's no reason for any of us to be speaking to one another in such a.. manner...!"
For once, D'hein ignored Antimony, keeping his attention on Illira. "And what might you do, Illira? Hm?"
She let her eyes run over him, "Its nothing you should be worried about. Enjoy your meal," she said, spinning on her heel to go talk to the innkeep.
D'hein remained in his seat for a long moment, watching Illira go, and then groaned. "Seven Hells." He stood and looked at Antimony. "Finish eating and then take some time to rest. I'll go by your inn room very soon." He walked in the distant wake of the Elezen. "Illira!"
Antimony's hands hovered in the air for several seconds as D'hein walked off, eyes wide, mouth hanging open slightly. Then she just shrunk back down into her chair and looked confused.
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