• Mature • Mending

[Zana]

31st Ymiden, 717

following this

As she sat on the bed, knees pulled in front of her, and listened to the chorus of birds which greeted the dawn, she realized that it had been four dawns and she hadn't gone out of her room yet.

Zana made a good showing of being fine. She didn't seem to be bothered but she didn't let any of them see her. If she could, when they knocked the door to talk to her, she'd pretend to be asleep but if she couldn't, she answered through the door, not opening it. Pretending to sleep was relatively easy. There were those herbs that she was supposed to be drinking in tea. Except Zana told the prostitute who came to give her them that she'd already taken them and she secreted them away. It meant that they expected her to sleep and she didn't have to.

When Theo came to the door, as he did a few times each trial, she took the time to call out to him. He was the only one she did speak to, really. Peter had come by and she had pretended to be asleep. She couldn't do that with the girls ~ they reported back to Theo as well as told her how Billie was doing, so she kept up a facade with them but it was entirely fake and she told them what they wanted to hear. With Theo she spoke, admitted she was tired, having trouble sleeping but would be fine. More than once, she asked him not to worry. There was no need for worry.

She saw none of them. Theo was the only one she genuinely spoke to. Because he was the only one she didn't blame. He was the one who had come to find her, who had fought for her and then, as soon as it was all safe, he had turned to her to tend to her wounds.

There were no words for how grateful she was.

What she found hardest was that she was afraid and Zana was very clear. She was Delroth's daughter and she would not fear the hands of a mortal man. But she was also Sara's daughter, and Sara was a kind and gentle human woman, but she was a mortal. In her dreams, so often, Zana met with her father. It was why she couldn't take the herbs they'd prescribed her. They'd make her sleep.

She couldn't sleep because when she slept the dreams were far too vivid; far too real.

Having lain in her bed for as long as she could, read as much as she was physically able, this trial Zana got up and decided that it was time to just see what had happened. It was good to remind herself that she was flesh and she was bone and for all that her blood pulsed in the beat of the Immortal who had sired her, it flowed in human veins. For the first time in four trials, she looked at herself in the mirror.

The mess she saw in front of her horrified her. One eye was completely closed over, the other more or less the same with a small amount of ice-blue evident. Her face was purple for the vast majority of it and her lips swollen. The bruises extended to her neck and, she knew, all over her. She needed to make herself alright, but she wasn't alright and she knew that. She needed to be able to go out of the room, but she couldn't and she didn't know how to. All of her life, Zana had known the superiority of her father but in that moment she yearned for her mother. It was a basic need far beyond wanting, she needed her mother like flowers need rain. Because her mother would look upon her face and see how much better she looked. To her mother, how she looked, what the bruises did would make no difference.

But her mother was long since dead

Zana didn't know how long she'd sat there, looking at herself in the mirror. It might have been trials, breaks, bits or trills. All she knew was that she did not recognize the face which looked back at her.Then, as it had so many times before over the last few trials, came a rapping on the door and a familiar voice just called in.

"You alright in there?"

Zana opened her mouth to tell him yes, she was fine. Yes, she felt a little better and then she stood and moved. She did so quickly, before she changed her mind. Every bit of her ached as she opened the door, very aware that he hadn't seen her like this. The last time he'd seen her, the bruising hadn't come out yet. She had to be quick, or she would not move at all.

"No," she said, unaware that her voice was stronger than it had been before, more honest than it had been for trials. "No, Theo. I'm not alright. I need to talk about it. I need help" He'd been her handler for trials. Not seasons or arcs and the Immortals knew, she couldn't trust the ones who had been with her for all that time. But equally, he was her handler and he was the only one she had.

"Will you help me?"

Some of them want to use you, Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you, Some of them want to be abused.

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

It had been three trials since he'd seen Zana. Unlike Billie, she'd insisted on solitude and speaking only through closed doors. The other girls with the exception of Robyn, took her words of reassurance at face value. But Theo was more inclined to listen to the rises and falls of her voice, and to hear what wasn't said, as much as what was. He hadn't been convinced, but as long as she answered him he'd chosen to let her believe he'd been satisfied with her answer.

Billie on the other hand had kept him busy. Where Zana wanted to be alone, Billie wanted company and reassurance. If not one of the other girls, then him. So between working in the office and avoiding Peter in order to avoid yet another confrontation like the one they'd had the morning after things had come undone upstairs, he'd made countless trips to each girl's room, inevitably receiving an answer from Billie and not quite as frequently, from Zana.

An uneasy truce, if you could call it that, had settled in between him and Peter. When he'd confronted his employer about the mistakes that had led to that evening's events, the man was contrite but then went on to demand that Theo learn how to control Zana better. The young man had pointed out, his voice dripping with tension, that none of it would have happened had Peter taken more care and had he listened when Zana voiced her concerns. Theo had been emboldened however by the fact that Peter realized Zana's potential value, coupled with the belief that somehow, Theo might be the only one who could manage her.

Theo capitalized on that belief whether it was true or not. Perception, after all, was reality. His demands were simple ones, and he was fairly confident that his job was secure. If not one of their usual customers, then neither Zana or Billie would entertain any man who entered the premises without his approval. And their nights off would be his as well, to make sure that he was there to make the call when they were working.

This time when he came to her door, he expected again that he'd be turned away. She took him by surprise when she opened the door, and Faint flecks of white flashed in his eyes at the sight of her. It was a wonder that she'd survived the attack. Whether she'd recover however remained to be seen. The scars were bound to be more than physical ones. But you didn't grow up in and survive the Dust Quarter without learning something about human, or otherwise, nature. That she admitted she wasn't alright, and more that she needed help, was progress.

Would he help her? It ought to be self evident in the expression on his face and the way he moved past her into the room in the wake of an unspoken invitation. His breath smelled of sweet tobacco and good bourbon. "Of course I will. You should know that already," he said, in case she needed to hear him say it. He sat in a stuffed, upholstered chair in the corner, let his eyes wander over the room and he caught sight of a small packet that looked very much like the parcels of herbs that had been brought up a couple trials ago. He frowned, though didn't seem very surprised. "I take it you haven't been sleeping much," Theo guessed.

[Zana]

"Your eyes went white when I first made you cold, too." Zana hadn't mentioned that she understood anything about his eyes before. It seemed like a safe topic as she watched him come in. "I figure it's surprise, shock. Orange when you're interested or intrigued, I think. Black, though, for anger." She sounded almost like herself when she added, dryly, "I'm guessing there'll be limited to no purple or shiny metallic copper during your visit." Once he'd gotten comfortable she added, "have a seat." There was no sting to her words, they sounded like what they were; a poor imitation of her norm.

She sat on the bed, perching on the edge so that she was close to him. Picking up the soft panda that he'd seen previously, she hugged it to her a little, then rested her hands on her lap. When he asked about her sleeping, Zana shrugged, but didn't answer. "I remember it all." Did she wish she didn't? Maybe, but what was the point in wishing? "Thank you. I think you saved my life." There was no exaggeration or dramatic wording there, it was exactly what she thought. "You were sat there afterwards, too?"

She looked at him, as well as she could and considered that at least there was only one of him. "I'm afraid. Afraid that if I sleep, someone will come and hurt me. I don't feel safe and I know that there is never a guarantee, but I took this job because it was a place where I could feel safe." If she'd been willing to accept this kind of treatment, after all, Zana would have been working in a very different place, maybe and even probably on her own.

"I'll work with you." Zana regarded him as she spoke. "But I don't want to work with anyone but you and if you're not here, I'm not taking anyone new. Regulars, that's different. But no new clients unless you're here and you've given the ok." She had no idea that she was demanding what was already agreed. Had she known, she'd have been relieved in truth. "If, after what you saw me do, you've decided that you don't want to handle me, that's perfectly understandable. If that's the case, I'm gone because I don't feel safe with anyone but you as my handler." Frankly, at this point if she could demand that he took rooms here instead of wherever it was he lived, then she'd be more than fine with that, too. She thought, though, it might be going a step too far. Maybe two.

"I don't think I need to say it, I saw his face on the stairs, but Peter stays the hell away from me. He can't handle me, he's admitted it himself. If he needs me to persuade him, I will." She was angry, there was no doubting it and it was probably not a bad thing. "I'll bring in money for him and I'll work hard, but he can pop his jolly with someone who didn't end up looking like this because he's greedy and short sighted." It wasn't that he'd misread the men's intentions, Zana explained although she suspected she didn't have to do so. It was that she'd warned him. "Stop being a silly girl and go be a good whore. That's what he said to me and this is where it led. So he can keep his 'we're all one family and it keeps everyone happy' in his pants. He stays away from me or I walk." After she'd done Peter a more than serious mischief, she thought but did not say.

"There's two more things I need to ask you then I'll talk about me." She smiled, although it was a small movement but it was a smile most certainly. "Typical whore. Self, self, self." With a slow and careful movement, she threw the stuffed panda over to him. "His name is Mister Tricks. He's sixty arcs old, a gift for my fifth birthtrial" The stuffed toy had been repaired and patched so many times that it was unlikely there was any of the original left. He'd been named by a child who lived in a brothel, an innocent name for a well-loved toy. "If you lie to me, Mister Tricks will know. He always knows. So my mother used to tell me. So, don't lie to me please and don't fob me off."

"The first question is what conversations have happened between you and Peter about this and me? And the second is how are you?" Zana suspected it had been a busy and emotional few trials for him. She'd heard that Billie wasn't doing so well and needed him and now, she was being demanding too. But he'd killed a man and that was not something that you did and then ignored. Not even her. So she asked and waited for the answer.

Baby if you want to be my lover, you'd better take me home,
Cos it's a long, long way to paradise, and I'm here on my own.

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

Theo didn't comment on whether or not she'd guessed correctly, but he'd smiled dryly, almost regretfully as he sat down in the most comfortable chair in the room. What he did say however might tell the tale and there was no point or reason to try and mislead her. "My traitorous eyes." Their unique brand of attachment demanded a particular sort of honesty. "No matter how artfully a lie may be told, nothing can stop them betraying me." At least to those who'd developed a knack for deciphering the shifting colors and what they might mean. Unless, he'd wondered more than once now, a more practiced, enhanced control over his gut reactions and emotions might lessen the effect or even render it nearly moot.

But no, no flashes of purple or copper that trial. While he'd enjoyed his time with both women by now, since the attack he hadn't laid hands on either of them. Of course Zana had kept her door shut but it was more than that. As their handler, Theo believed that it wasn't just their physical state that he was responsible for. But their emotional states as well. The physical scars, he suspected, would heal faster than their minds would. He wouldn't complicate that recovery by seeking contact that could end up doing far more harm than good. When the time came again, if it did, then it would need to be them that let him know, and not the reverse.

"I did," he admitted. Off and on through the night, in each of the girl's rooms, he'd remained close by. Zana had been quiet and still, in part due to her injuries but also because of the herbs she'd been given, Theo suspected. Billie on the other hand had whimpered, cried out softly now and then. Otherwise Theo let Zana talk without interrupting. She needed to, he thought, and she said many of the things he'd have expected her to. She didn't know of the conversation he'd had with Peter already.

She might assume that they had spoken, if not the specifics. The other girls probably knew much of what had been said. The conversation hadn't exactly occurred in hushed tones. Of course when she told him exactly what she'd said to Peter and what his response had been, Theo's eyes darkened all over again and he frowned, taking a deep, slow breath to stop him storming downstairs again.

Before he could tell her what he'd already done, she pushed the bear into his hands. He smiled a little in spite of himself. "Mister Tricks. Appropriate." The smile was gone again as quickly as it had appeared. "First, I don't think Peter will be trying to visit your room, or asking for what you're not willing to give." Theo saw no reason to pour honey over it, so he said it bluntly. "He witnessed what happened on the landing. To say he's unnerved would be putting it mildly. However the same hesitance doesn't seem to apply to Billie," he added with a deep and angry frown.

"I told him that as long as I am your handler, yours and Billie's, then my policy is hands off unless one or the other of you invite the attention and I approve it. That applies to everyone, be they clients, employees or otherwise. And it includes me as well," he added, in case she was wondering. Further, he told her, he'd stated that neither girl would work again until they felt they were ready, and he in turn believed it to be the case. Their trials off would also be his so that they'd never work without him there. And all prospective new clients should meet with his approval, not Peter's, and they, Zana and Billie, would have final say if a prospect made them uncomfortable in any way.

And his job, his first job, was handling Zana and Billie. Not running errands outside the Lap of Luxury when Peter couldn't be bothered. And not closed off behind doors while they worked, toiling over ledgers and the like. "He didn't like it," Theo told her then. But he managed a humorless smile nonetheless. "But like I said, he's rattled and I believe I've got the leverage to use without compromising my position here." He'd been thinking about that more and more just lately. Though in truth he'd been thinking it for some time before coming to work at the Lap of Luxury.

He sensed that he might be able to speak to her about that, and it might remain between them, just him and her. But first? "If I was going to walk away, I would have done it already," Theo assured her. He'd seen the same thing Peter had after all. But they were not the same men. Her next question though he wasn't expecting. "I'm fine." Theo could only guess why she was asking. But if it had anything to do with what he'd done that night, he'd tell her he had no regrets at all.

[Zana]

"That's not true," Zana said, when Theo spoke of his eyes betraying him no matter what. "My first ever handler, Jaq, he was biqaj. Extremes, real extremes, they still pushed him. But for most of the trial, he had green eyes." With a slight smile, she briefly considered that it was probably a good thing that her face was so swollen; her expression was undoubtedly a mystery. "I considered it a personal victory if I managed to turn his eyes pink any time before the last few trill." Gesturing to her face, Zana shrugged and winced slightly. "Hard to imagine right now, I'm sure."

What Theo said about Peter, though, gave her pause and Zana sat, plucking at the blanket on her bed. "Every time I've spoken to someone I've asked how Billie is." She felt a strong sense of responsibility for the young woman, one which she couldn't entirely explain. Or maybe she could and, with him, should "I should have insisted, Theo. With Peter, I knew something was off and I should have insisted." That didn't change that Peter should have listened and she wasn't taking Peter's share of the blame but she had thought about it, considering her actions.

"He's going to take her off you." Zana said, without preamble. "He'll give you someone else to handle and he'll break her. So tell him what you need to, tell him I blame myself and it won't be a lie. But tell him that the only way you are going to be able to control me is if I'm helping Billie, if she and I are your girls. Just yours." If Peter being afraid of her and what she could do was the leverage Theo needed, then let him use it. "If he touches her, I'll make it so he envies the man on the landing because it was over so quickly." When she said it, she meant it completely, but she breathed in and sagged slightly. "Don't let him take her off you, Theo."

He'd given Peter some pretty serious demands. When he spoke of the policy being hands off, and who that applied to, Zana looked up in some surprise. She said nothing for a moment, just listened to the rest of it and when Theo said that Peter didn't like it, surprise was the last thing she felt. She bet he didn't. However, what Theo said also caused her to feel a release of tension which she hadn't really known was there until she felt it go. He was giving her, both of them, the time they needed. Which meant that she felt safe to do what she wanted and needed; to seek physical contact of a non-sexual kind.

Breathing in, Zana moved over to sit with him, perching on a stool that was next to his chair and she leaned against him. As she had many times before, she put her hand in his. Only her right hand, though. Her left, the one she wrote with, she held up in front of them. "Look," two of her fingernails had more or less ripped off when she had dug them into her attacker's hand. Each finger, the nail was half gone, the exposed skin covered in dried blood and the remaining stumps of nails were turning black. "Those two fingernails, or lack of them, are what hurts the most, right now. Stings like you wouldn't believe. But that's because the nail is ripped so far down. It exposes sensitive skin, makes it painful. It's just surface, though. Nothing broken inside." Carefully, she lowered her hand and put it in his. "That's me. It hurts, there are things that need to grow back. But nothing broken inside."

She sat for a moment, quietly considering what she wanted to say. "I'm less afraid when you're here. Much less. Must be due to the charging in and saving my life." Zana was doing her best to be flippant, to tease, but she sounded tired and emotional and nothing else. "I want to use my abilities on someone. So that I stop feeling for a while, maybe then I could sleep," she wouldn't do that, but tiredness and emotions threatened to overwhelm her. "I don't trust Peter, Theo. Not with me, not with you and very much not with Billie. When you're not here, even on our nights off, we live here." She rested her head against his, thinking things through as she did. "I might try and get a place to live, take her with me." Sighing, her thoughts moved and Zana knew that there was a question she needed to ask.

"I don't want to deal with it. I want to ignore it, but that won't make it go away." Zana knew the truth of that. "You know how unnerved he is. How quickly is it going to become untenable that I keep working here?" It was fine, she was quick to add. Given the situation all over again, she'd do nothing differently so she just had to accept the consequences, whatever they were.

You've got the brains, I've got the looks.
Lets make lots of money.

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

When Zana told him about one of her former handlers, a biqaj, Theo wondered if he genuinely could, in time, lessen the extent to which his eyes might give him away. He began ahead of the game in some ways, he thought. "I never knew my father," he'd told her. "He married my mother but then left her before I was born, and her parents had no use for her then." His grandparent, Theo knew. But though they'd lived nearby in the Earth Quarter, he'd never met either one of them. "He was biqaj, and she believed that his blood was pure. But she told me that his eyes didn't shift in a startling way like others did. It maybe that his blood was no purer than mine is."

His tone didn't imply that there was any sentimentality contained in the story. He could hardly be blamed when he had no use for a stranger who'd abandoned his mother, and him before he was born. But there was a more practical point to be made. His eyes shifted more subtly than others he'd known with mixed blood. It might be that his father's wasn't as pure as his mother had assumed.

"And I should have been here," Theo pointed out when Zana described how Peter had ignored her concerns about the men. "I should have insisted on remaining here while you and Billie were working." As for Billie? "He won't take her off me and he won't let her go. She's broken and I have no idea if she'll ever recover. But so long as I'm here, and you're here, she's safe in that regard," he told her. He'd made it clear, his girls were his girls and if Peter meddled with them, he'd walk. And it wasn't because Peter continued to place much value on Billie. A working girl that didn't work was useless to him and cost money rather than making it.

"Billie's place here relies on both of us, and ours relies on each other. He believes that I can control you, and that as long as I can, then you make money for him. If he thinks I can't, he won't take the risk." The bottom line, Theo believed, was that if Zana was gone, then Theo would be quick to follow after the confrontation they'd had downstairs. But if Theo chose to leave, Peter would no longer take the risk of keeping Zana nearby. And in some part due to selfishness, it was in Theo's best interest, and maybe Zana's too, to maintain the status quo. For now.

When she sat next to him and took his hand, explained what was broken and what would heal, he nodded. Theo understood, and also knew that it wasn't the same with Billie. He thought about what she said, about being afraid for herself, for Billie, even for him. It had occurred to him already. He often left at the end of the night and returned home. On his trial's off, up to now he'd rarely come in. Something had to change. First though, "I have something for you," he said and reached into the large inside pocket of his coat.

Leaning forward, he handed her a narrow wooden box and a smaller, cloth wrapped parcel. "You need to develop your abilities, but even then, you need other ways to defend yourself. You need to have more than one line of defense, and you need to learn to fight. Even if I was here trial and night, right outside your door, you need it." Inside the box was a pistol crossbow very much like his own. The sort of thing that could be easily concealed in the folds of her skirt or even strapped to her thigh. The cloth parcel contained twenty small bolts.

Zana could call it a gift, or she could call it an investment. So long as she accepted it and learned how to use it. He'd give Billie one later. But in her current state, she was jumpy and he didn't want her spooking at shows and driving a bolt through the unlucky sod who brought her her tea. "It's plenty powerful. No use to a hunter against big game. The bolts are too small anyway. But it's deadly enough if used the way it's intended." She'd seen that already after all.

Sitting back after showing her how to load the bolts and how to fire the bow, Theo sat back and frowned, quiet for a few trills until he seemed to come to some decision. "It's going to become untenable quickly," he said. "But you and Billie don't need to find a place of your own. I may have an idea. Something I've been thinking about for a long time. Before coming here in fact," he said and as his voice grew much quieter at the last, he glanced at the door, at the space beneath it to look for any broken light from the hallway that would indicate that someone was standing outside.

Getting up, he walked over to the door and listened, and then cracked it open in order to look both ways, out into the hall. When he returned and sat down again, he spoke even more quietly. "Firstly, I rent a bungalow in the Glass Quarter, just a short walk from here. You and Billie are welcome to move there. You can have the bedroom, the two of you, and I'll quarter off a section of the main room for myself." Before she could answer, he raised a hand to bid her wait till he'd had a chance to explain why he was offering.

"When I first came here," he told her, referring to the Lap of Luxury, "I didn't intend to stay long. An arc, maybe two. My plan was to get a foot into the business, and to use Peter and my place her in much the same way that he's now using me," Theo admitted. "It would also give me time and the opportunity to save the nels I needed, and to learn from him while I did it." In large part however, lately what he'd learned was how not to run a business. But he understood that that knowledge was just as valuable as knowing how.

Why was he telling her this? He hadn't intended to, not anyone. At least not so soon. But circumstances had changed and he believed that given what had happened and how she was feeling, perhaps it was time. It was a risk, but one he believed was worth taking. "My plan was to open a house of my own. Here in the Glass Quarter. I thought I'd have more time, be able to save enough nels to do it comfortably. Now?" Theo added. "I think that maybe the time is coming sooner than expected, and a visit to the loan office at the bank is in order."

But nothing happened overnight, and starting a house of his own would be expensive and require a very large loan. "I'm asking you not to let on for now," he said, having no choice now but to trust her. "But I'm telling you this because it's not my intention to leave you or Billie behind. At first?" Well at first, things were different. But even before they'd been hurt, he'd hoped that when he left and started a place of his own, he might be able to entice them to go with him. To work for him instead of Peter. Now though there was all the more reason.

Neither would be able to work comfortably at the Lap of Luxury if he left. And Billie least of all if Zana did, and Theo felt responsible for what had happened to her. "Things are different. Were different before. "What I'd prefer, is that when I go, we go. The three of us," he said, watching her then in hopes of gauging her response before she'd even said a word.

[Zana]

When Theo explained that Peter wasn't going to let Billie go, and why, she listened and nodded. Billie's place here, her safety here relied on the two of them, working together and making sure that Peter was happy with how she performed. Had Zana's face not been as bruised as it was, her thought process would have been obvious, but that was fine because she spoke what she was thinking anyhow. It was clear to her that she was going to have to be completely honest with Theo if they were going to do this. "So I'd best get myself back to work as soon as I can, then."

Peter recognised her potential meant, simply put, that Peter recognised her potential worth. That would be negated if she spent too long in here, too long healing. It also meant that her insistence that Peter stay away from her would just add fuel to a fire. Immortals, but she was tired and the thought of having to go back to work, to accept Peter's advances or even to look at him without punching his face was too much right now.

Still, Theo was happy, insistent even, that she should have the time she needed. That wouldn't and couldn't last, Zana recognised. Yet, for a little while she could and his assurance that there was no pressure from him allowed her to sit close to him, hold his hand and rest against him. When he pulled out a box, though, Zana looked at him in surprise. When she opened it and revealed the crossbow she reached out and gently touched it. "Always have a weapon on your person and one hidden in the room."

Zana's voice was a whisper and she looked at the weapon then turned to look at him. "That's what my mother taught me. I've become sloppy. Thank you, Theo." She'd learn to use it, she promised him. "I have two daggers, I've had some basic training in those. I'll learn this, too." It would be useful and, more than that, she'd seen how deadly it could be. Her hand in his tightened briefly as she considered something and then Zana watched him as he got up and checked the door.

When he came back and sat down, Zana moved and sat with her head resting against his, more or less in his lap. She moved her head so that her ear was next to his mouth and he could speak as quietly as he wanted to or needed to. His first words, offering her and Billie somewhere to live prompted her to lift her head and start to take a breath in, to answer. However, he raised a hand and Zana kept silent, listening to him talk. Listening to him explain what he was thinking.

He had plans, she had to give him that. And he was trusting her, or he was setting her up. Zana prided herself on having a good instinct about people, and she had to trust someone.

It was a risk.

If Peter got wind of this, then all sorts of things could go very wrong, very quickly. However. "I appreciate you telling me," she shifted slightly so that she would seem, should anyone be looking through the window or such, like she was sitting and resting against him. Her propensity for seeking out physical contact would make it seem entirely normal. "I'm in," her voice whispered against him. "Thank you." He didn't need to trust her, after all and he was taking a risk in doing so.

"There are things I can do to help," Zana said, her hand seeking his and her voice betraying more of her emotions than she would want. "I'll get better, go back to work. That's vital. I can help out with money, a little. Not a lot, but a little." There were things she could do to make that a larger amount, but she wasn't going to say that yet. "Peter will need to see me making progress. So, in a few trials when the bruising has gone down to the point that I resemble a person again, you and I reconvene, publicly, all aspects of our relationship." Realising what she'd said, Zana couldn't quite help but chuckle.

"I mean obviously, rather than publicly. Though that too, if you like. Then," her voice was more serious again, "I go back to work and I rejoin the family friendly ethos. If Peter gets a taste for danger, let him have it, I'll make him glad he decided to keep me. And I'll bring in as much as I can from the paying clients." She turned, then, twisting slightly to look at him. "All of that is fine. Genuinely. Some bits better than others, but all of it fine." That would mean that Peter and Theo had an easier relationship and also bought Theo a little time to get his business up and running.

As for the first thing that he'd said? Zana nodded her head, "I'd feel a lot safer if Billie and I were staying with you. Thank you" Attempting to put some humour into an entirely unamusing topic, she pointed out. "Though, I have to bring Mister Tricks." Lowering her head, Zana rested against him and felt just overwhelmingly tired. "Thank you, Theo. Really. When do we do all this?"

Don't you wish you had it all? Don't you deserve to have it all?
Kneel down, tell me what you need. I can make your every dream come true.

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

"You have time," Theo insisted quietly when Zana resolved that she'd need to be back to work, and quickly. "I'll make sure of that." It was more than a promise made for her sake. It was one based on his determination that having pushed back against Peter's authority already, and having come through it with his position intact, he wouldn't yield any ground in the aftermath. At least not that which didn't need to be yielded for appearance' sake.

It was good advice her mother had given her, he agreed, and smiled a little in response. "A man back in the dust quarter who taught me just a little about swordplay, told me that it's the blade you never see coming. That's the one you need to beware of." It was a bow he'd given her, but he'd remembered that warning and considered it to be very good advice. He'd used it to his advantage just a few trials ago. And now that he thought on it, the blade was as much as an analogy as anything. It needn't be a sword, or a dagger or a bow at all. "You're welcome," he said.

As for his plans? He was trusting her to the same extent that she would need to trust him. And if either of them was wrong about the other, or if either of them faltered...Suffice to say it was a dangerous game they were engaging in. So she was in. And when she told him what she might do, Theo couldn't agree with all. But he waited until she'd had her say. They should renew all outward appearances of their relationship, in all aspects? He couldn't help but grin a little. He'd missed some of those aspects, there was no denying that. But all in time. She needed to heal inside and out and until then? Well a good soak in a very cold bath never hurt anyone for long.

As for Peter, he frowned and shook his head. She might be willing to suffer the man's touch for appearance' sake, but Theo had already made himself clear to the man and there'd be no give there. None at all. "He won't. Not you, and not Billie," was all Theo said about that. "You'll move in then. You, Billie and Mister Tricks." They'd feel safer, and he'd feel better himself for being able to keep a closer eye on them both. "and as soon as possible," he added when she asked how long.

"It will take time and will require careful handling," he went on as she went still, her head rested upon his chest. "I've saved some, but it's not nearly enough." Not even close, and it was the funding that was the larger obstacle to moving as quickly as he'd like. He'd thought that he'd take the time to work and save more while putting his plans together on paper. But now? The events of a few trials ago had prodded him into considering other avenues. "I don't want to take your money," Theo maintained. "I'll go to the bank and take out a loan. Not long then," he told her.

But had Zana heard any of it? If she had, then how much? The way she'd gone still, the way her head had grown just a little more heavy upon his chest, the tension had gone from her body and the way her breathing had slowed to a easy rhythm, Theo realized she'd drifted off. Maybe for the first time in trials. She needed it more than anything else, he thought, and because she did, rather than disturb her by untangling himself from her and the chair, Theo relaxed, dropped his head against the back of the chair and resolved himself to staying right were he was until she awoke.

[Alistair]

Theo

Knowledge
Business Management: Look after your girls
Business Management: Managing an argument with the boss
Business Management: Capitalize on your strengths
Business Management: Long term planning is vital
Deception: More difficult with Biqaj eyes
Detection: Listening to the tone of voice
Logistics: Working out clients for girls you handle
Logistics: How to maximise security for your girls
Psychology: Admitting vulnerability can be a sign of strength

Zana: Will work for you when you leave the Lap
Zana: Doesn't want Peter to touch her
Zana: Wants to help in the new business

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Fame: +1 Good deed (staying with Zana after the attack), +1 (checking on Zana), +1 (checking on Billie), +2 (gift of bow + bolts), +2 (offering both girls a place to live) = +7
Devotion: N/A

Points: 15

Zana

Knowledge
Deception: Telling lies is easier through closed doors
Endurance: Aches and pains following a beating
Endurance: Tension, fear and insomnia
Endurance: Exhaustion eventually will catch up
Persuasion: Stating your wishes clearly
Persuasion: Stating what you will not do
Persuasion: Explaining why you will not do something

Theo: Has told Peter he's not to come near you
Theo: No one puts their hands on you without him saying its ok
Theo: Offered you somewhere to live
Theo: Will look after you and Billie

Loot: +1 packet of sedative herbs
Injuries: N/A
Fame: N/A
Devotion: N/A

Points: 15

Comments: If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let me know.