07.07d: Working Shark

[Joshua]

"I've seen that before. If your shapeshifting is anything like mine, and it's more likely to be so now that you've tangled with a True Power, you will not like what happens if you actually manage to push too far. Shapeshifting cancer is nothing to sneer at." He growls back. "If that ever starts to happen, there is hope. It's rarely fatal, but most wish it was."

With a smooth motion, he will take one of the hot pokers from the fire and plunge it into his mead to heat it. Then toss the poker back in the fire.

"And what you just described is an order of magnitude less than what you went through yesterday. More-so because you carried someone." Odin smiles, shifting briefly into your form, before frowning and shifting back. "Yes, definitely a True Power. The pain in your bones will fade. It will fade faster if you conserve your energy. Rest while it doesn't threaten your life, so you have more when it is needed. Just good strategy."

"I won't ask about your momentary lapse of morality. You don't want to talk about it with me; you have good reason for that. However, I would postulate that my safety depends on what Dworkin's plans for you are. At least, my survival is strongly affected by it." He shrugs. "What do you want to do about that?"

[Krajk]

"Lapse of..." Krajk stares blankly at Odin for several seconds before bursting into laughter that just barely stays this side of hysterical. After several moments he finally regains control of himself, wiping a few tears away from his eyes. "Oh gods, I needed that." A lingering chortle slips free as he takes a drink of water, nearly causing him to spit the swallow back out. "As for plans, I find myself remarkably indifferent to the whims of a madman. If it was indeed he that was behind tricking that fool of a siren into his botched assassination plot then he is deserving of no-one's loyalty, and I have less use for such conceits than most." He gives an indifferent shrug. "I've no desire to die but I've no desire to live a slave either. Absolute worst case, one solves the other while giving you the distraction you would need to flee. On the marginally less morbid side, we force a situation that allows me to trigger the suicide clause in my contract and bolt in two separate directions. Fifty-fifty odds of not being the one chased and I have a sneaking suspicion you'd be more likely to escape than I. All that said, with any luck it won't come to that. Triggering the suicide clause when my client is right there is just sloppy business." It's hard to tell, but that last bit almost has the feel of very dry humor.

[Joshua]

Odin raises an eyebrow. "What? The contract specifically says you are allowed to defend yourself and does not require that you keep those who attack you alive. Most who ask for such a clause would have left them to die rather than endanger their own life attempting to save the assassin." He blinks and guesses: "You believe him a hired gun perhaps? That's an old mercenary code. The belief that one should spare other mercenaries because it's just a job for you both and in other situations you'd be on the same side." He shrugs.

"I'm concerned for another reason. True Powers have an agenda and it's best not to get caught up in them. If this Pattern wanted the siren alive, and saving his life was truly unusual for you to do, perhaps that is what happened. The greater power where I am from drives its users mad. Perhaps there is something similar with this power?"

Assuming you don't speak to that one way or the other.

"Very well then. Kokytos was clearly manipulated into making you walk the pattern. We have little time to verify a specific smoking gun. Are there chambers prepared for you in Rebma and are there chambers prepared for him? That will give us an idea of how long this plan has been in the works." he ponders. "There was a shapeshifter impersonating the Reba guard, Corystes. I don't think that's a common power here. I know Dworkin could have done it and I know I could, but we were with each other at the time." He pauses. "It wasn't me."

"Was the goal simply to get you to walk the pattern or is there something you are supposed to do now?" He asks. "I do find it interesting that the one who was intended to survive was the one who would not attempt to unseat Ashara."

[Krajk]

((Blarg. Not a good past few days for me for brain-ish sorts of things and now I am grumpy but determined to post. I take refuge in irritated terseness, or something.))

Krajk's voice is as flat as his gaze and the two combine into a dangerous crouching tension. "I defended my prey from another predator." To the rest of Odin's speculations there is no immediate response, as Krajk resumes eating.

[Joshua]

Odin nods at the explanation. "Okay, good to know it wasn't the pattern."

He will look at the other lack of reply as he drinks his mead. "Okay, not into politics. So, what I need: Ask someone if there are quarters for you in Rebma. Then ask about Kokytos. I'll deal with the rest of the politics. Although, I do find that places for recreation reflect on the nature of a culture. Might look into those today*."

He will pause slightly and tentatively ask, "This whole situation seems a little beyond our original contract**. I'll figure out some kind of bonus, unless you want to suggest something."
____________
*: As an NPC, Odin exits to give Krajk an excuse to show up in scenes. So... potential plot-ninja.
**: As a professional politician / warrior, Odin has a better phrasing for this that I'm not thinking of. Although, the contract likely has a clause that you have to give Odin a chance to renegotiate.

[Krajk]

((The shark is pondering, please wait... <loading, loading, loading> ))

Krajk will purse his lips for a moment before responding. "With any luck, your notion will be sufficient. Should we end up stranded on plan B, however, I believe I have a notion that won't cost you anything more than you're already effectively on tap for one way or another. I'll disturb that school of fish if it comes to that though; it'll be less trouble for me than I'd be in already in that event, but more than I care to deal with right this moment if not." Unless Odin has anything further to say Krajk will finish the last few swallows of his drink and make his way out of the room, heading towards the nearest exit to the city proper*.

(*Initial destination - the inn/hostel/whatever that he and Odin had rented quarters at for the tournament, in order to change back into "normal" clothing and ditch these distinctive fripperies.)

[Joshua]

The inn is a very short trip. Odin does allow the castle to arrange a carriage into the city. The festival is largely unchanged from the day before, and Odin somehow manages to acquire a bag of pop-corn for the ride. (Seriously, this guy moves through crowds like a shark through water.) The inn itself is fairly quick, a change of clothes being prepared.

"Do you wish company on your trip to Rebma? I suspect I'm not in imminent danger this morning."

[Krajk]

((I only have an excuse for not existing yesterday. My brain just does not seem to be operating on any useful frequencies at the present moment.))

Krajk relaxes somewhat once he's in more comfortable (and far less ostentatious) gear but it's clear* he's still somewhat on edge, even speaking relatively. In response to Odin's question, he will give an almost diffident shrug. "Given yesterday's incident at the castle it might be easier to nose about without you accompanying me, but it's largely your call. If you want me to be an actively visible bodyguard, I'll make time later; if you want to nose around Rebma as well then we can head that way; or if you want to head to the festival and rely on the local guards to keep trouble from engulfing you on the theory that you might return the favor and upgrade the danger from trouble to Trouble then we can arrange a meeting time for later on in the day."

(*He hasn't got the psyche to pull off covering up how antsy he is, but he's got a respectable warfare score and at this point he's treating *existing* as something of a tactical situation. Just because he isn't quite sure yet what he's been pulled into a fight with doesn't mean he's not certain he's *in* a fight and thus he has no interest in showing weakness**.)
(**Unless it's a feint, of course.)

[Joshua]

"Unless you'd be willing to trust me with your trump*," Odin will think. "Let's meet in six hours. There's a few aspects of the tournament that I want to see. If you get there early, I'll use the fifth set of codewords." he hesitates. "Crud. We can mimic that if they're good enough." He will ponder, then cut his hand, putting a few drops onto a cloth and offering it. "Still, making the blood identical enough to fool this sense, might not be possible."
_____________
*: He's expecting somewhere between 'no' and 'hell no!'.

[Krajk]

Krajk's only response to Odin's initial statement is nothing more than an unreadable raised eyebrow* but he makes no motions to provide a trump so it stands to reason the answer is no, as Odin had imagined. He then takes the proffered blood-stained cloth, tucking it into a protected pocket beneath his stiffened leather jerkin**. "Between the two at least we should be acceptably well off, though in this madhouse I'm beginning to wonder if any off is well enough indeed..." On that rather sour note Krajk will bob his employer a curt farewell and depart, taking a brisk (if meandering) walk towards the entrance to Rebma.

(*I don't know if Krajk actually *knows* what trump is, but that doesn't changes his answer. Snarky!Krajk would have said something like "Just on the principle of things I'm going to say no" but unfortunately for the humor content of this post we seem to have gotten Taciturn!Krajk.)
(**Krajk is being subtle. He's not wearing jingling chain mail! Precisely why is a matter for wereshark psychologists to figure out, if you happen to know any.)