[ There's more wispering in the hallway before he appears in the door and crosses without comment to the nearest window, for additional wispering, leaving an adorable little ball of light hovering on the sill. ]
It could. [ Nell is perched on the edge of a desk, arms crossed tightly against her chest, one hand raised to press knuckles against her mouth. She doesn't pay the wisps any mind. ] I don't remember the precise timing, and I don't know when this illness started exactly. It could be. What else? Who would bother to hex me from the other tower?
[ The qualification makes Kostos close his mouth before he can start listing people—though it would have been a short and high-level list, as he doesn't know many of their names, given the circumstances—so he's silent while he leans against the edge of the desk next to her, shoulder to shoulder. ]
We'll find out.
[ He manages to make it sound fairly ominous and threatening, for a man who would in that case most likely just be holding Nell's earrings. ]
You should keep talking, or working. If you stop moving again I can try to dispell it.
[ Holding her earrings and watching her back when she neglects a barrier to better tear whoever did this apart. That shouldn't be discounted.
She intentionally bumps his shoulder with hers before she pushes off the desk, stepping around to retake her seat behind it. She pushes paper and the inkwell toward him. ] Alright. But while I do paperwork and wait to be paralyzed, you can help me come up with a team for Tantervale.
[ He's not far behind her in moving away from the desk, turning so he can stand and watch her. His line between I'm staring at you because I'd like you to die and I'm staring at you because I'd like you to live could probably stand to be less thin. ]
[ Even Nell can't really tell the difference, but thankfully there are context clues. Like that he's looking at her. ]
Well, since we didn't find anything to bring her down with we have to make something. So we're going to ambush the shipment of tithes and donations making their way to her and then plant them in her residence. We'll make sure either that they're seen or that word of it gets to her rivals, and they'll do the rest.
Isn't he the Man? And your parents? [ Nell's eyebrows grow only more skeptical. ]
If there's some reason you think he might actually be useful, say so, because all I have seen from him thus far is wining and whinging. But of course I didn't know he even existed, so I defer to you on his abilities.
And the Rifters... I suppose, perhaps. Have you met any that can fight? And blend in?
[ Kostos makes a supplicating gesture, palms up and hands spread near his sides. His family is his family. ]
He is an assassin. That's why they left Nevarra. [ And Kostos, though left is too active a verb for being pulled out of bed in the early morning and transported in cuffs with no explanation. ] As I understand it—and given that he has survived Antiva all this time—he is much better at it now than when he was nineteen. We do not need to kill the Revered Mother, of course, but the planning, the ambush, the planting. If he agrees with the cause, he will not be useless.
[ As for rifters who can blend in and not be useless... ] Prompto, from Northern Powers. He's done reconnaissance work. Perhaps the one who works for Madame de Cedoux. Or—no. That's it.
He's an assassin? [ Sorry, Kostos. At least she doesn't quite laugh. He seems serious about it, and after a moment, she spreads a hand, a shrug contained in the flip of her wrist. ] Very well, if you think he will be useful.
[ As for Rifters, and in general: ]
Someone who can swing a sword wouldn't go amiss. I think for the ambush we pretend to be mercenaries and a company of just mages and assassins will look strange.
[ She’s actually a Vashoth and he should know the difference, whoops—but anyway.
He thinks if you tell the chevalier the money is for peasants she should have no issue with taking it, in a mental voice that sounds a bit like Nikos’, but doesn’t say it. ]
[ She's about to say something else, almost certain to be a joke at his expense judging by her expression, when suddenly a cluster of stones the size of her head appear from thin air, form the rough shape of a fist, and slam directly into Nell, knocking her over the corner of the desk she was leaned against as papers and chunks of rock scatter about the office. ]
[ If the stones had originated further from her, or if Kostos hadn't been primed and waiting to dispel something more harmless, or if he'd followed through on the dispel instead of changing his mind out of reflex and casting a barrier, he might have been fast enough. But he isn't. The barrier springs into place as she's already falling, absorbing some of that impact perhaps but none of the stone's.
His move to get around the desk to her verges on scrambling, but once he's there he gets on one knee with some semblance of dignity, and his voice is quiet as ever. ]
[ Nell says nothing, though her mouth is open and her eyes follow him as he kneels. For a moment that's all she can do--look and try without success to gasp at breath, the wind thoroughly knocked out of her. It passes after a count of fifteen or so, finally able to inhale again, and she lifts a hand to cover her face and groan, her other arm curling protectively around her ribs. ]
Now we can be sure I wasn't hallucinating, [ she says, after she's gotten a couple breaths, ] that's something. Ow.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[ There's more wispering in the hallway before he appears in the door and crosses without comment to the nearest window, for additional wispering, leaving an adorable little ball of light hovering on the sill. ]
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[ A pause. ]
Who here?
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We'll find out.
[ He manages to make it sound fairly ominous and threatening, for a man who would in that case most likely just be holding Nell's earrings. ]
You should keep talking, or working. If you stop moving again I can try to dispell it.
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She intentionally bumps his shoulder with hers before she pushes off the desk, stepping around to retake her seat behind it. She pushes paper and the inkwell toward him. ] Alright. But while I do paperwork and wait to be paralyzed, you can help me come up with a team for Tantervale.
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What exactly are you planning to do?
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Well, since we didn't find anything to bring her down with we have to make something. So we're going to ambush the shipment of tithes and donations making their way to her and then plant them in her residence. We'll make sure either that they're seen or that word of it gets to her rivals, and they'll do the rest.
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Would you laugh if I recommended my brother?
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Why? Drinking wine and glowering won't be of much use and if they were, I have you.
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[ rip all his shirts. ]
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I'm not sure that Melys likes us much. But she also doesn't seem like she'd be precious about the Chantry. Maybe.
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[ He glances toward his window wisp to make sure it hasn't wandered off. ]
The rifters, if they survive—on the whole they do not seem to have any love for the Chantry.
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If there's some reason you think he might actually be useful, say so, because all I have seen from him thus far is wining and whinging. But of course I didn't know he even existed, so I defer to you on his abilities.
And the Rifters... I suppose, perhaps. Have you met any that can fight? And blend in?
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He is an assassin. That's why they left Nevarra. [ And Kostos, though left is too active a verb for being pulled out of bed in the early morning and transported in cuffs with no explanation. ] As I understand it—and given that he has survived Antiva all this time—he is much better at it now than when he was nineteen. We do not need to kill the Revered Mother, of course, but the planning, the ambush, the planting. If he agrees with the cause, he will not be useless.
[ As for rifters who can blend in and not be useless... ] Prompto, from Northern Powers. He's done reconnaissance work. Perhaps the one who works for Madame de Cedoux. Or—no. That's it.
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[ As for Rifters, and in general: ]
Someone who can swing a sword wouldn't go amiss. I think for the ambush we pretend to be mercenaries and a company of just mages and assassins will look strange.
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[ muscles. ]
I think most of the very large humans are Templars, but we do have a Tal-Vashoth.
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He thinks if you tell the chevalier the money is for peasants she should have no issue with taking it, in a mental voice that sounds a bit like Nikos’, but doesn’t say it. ]
Not personally.
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At least that means you haven't slept with the chevalier, I might be forced to be jealous.
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[ Theoretically. Knowing her neither personally nor carnally, he couldn’t say whether that would be her style. ]
But I haven’t, [ he concedes. ] If the opportunity arises I will try to get you an invitation.
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[ a heavy sigh, entirely affected ]
Does that mean you have slept with the Vashoth? [ does that mean something different with the prefix? she does not actually know or care ]
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[ Or in sappy ridiculous love. Whatever you want to call it. Anyway, women who could hold him down with one finger aren’t his usual type. ]
Would you like a list?
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Could you make one if I did?
[ She's about to say something else, almost certain to be a joke at his expense judging by her expression, when suddenly a cluster of stones the size of her head appear from thin air, form the rough shape of a fist, and slam directly into Nell, knocking her over the corner of the desk she was leaned against as papers and chunks of rock scatter about the office. ]
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His move to get around the desk to her verges on scrambling, but once he's there he gets on one knee with some semblance of dignity, and his voice is quiet as ever. ]
Nell.
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Now we can be sure I wasn't hallucinating, [ she says, after she's gotten a couple breaths, ] that's something. Ow.
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[ Maybe. If it caught her in the head. If she'd been at just the right angle. He lowers onto both knees. ]
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