Peony Min (blackmagicks) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-03-14 16:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, peony min, pyr min |
Who: Pyr & Peony
What: Worlds collide (aka a meeting at the EKP office)
Where: Jareth’s desk
When: This morning
Rating: Tame
Status: Complete
The first few days of his tenure as Jareth's assistant, Pyr had looked up from his paperwork every time he heard a door swing open, hoping to see a group of officers running out on some kind of epic urgent assignment. Little in the way of such excitement had happened. Possibly because he only worked there in the mornings, he reasoned; after all, in memstones, didn't that stuff happen in the middle of the night, when the sleep-deprived hero finally made a connection that would lead to the culprit's capture? Whatever the case, Pyr's expectations had plummeted, and so he thought nothing of the squeak of a door's hinges and new set of footsteps crossing the room until a shadow fell over his desk. It was then he looked up at the person who'd stopped in front of him. "Peony!" He gaped at his sister, too surprised to remember to be awkward. "What are you doing here?" She had wondered if she might find him here, in truth. After her conversation with Jareth several weeks ago, she did not doubt she would run into Pyr at the peacekeeper’s desk sooner rather than later. The files spread out in front of him, she was glad to note, seemed largely harmless. It seemed that she and the berserker had understood each other. “Hello, Pyr,” she said. “I apologize for the interruption. Is your mentor here?” It was not the same as it had been with Siana -- the level of trust was certainly far lower, for one thing -- but her work continued as usual. There was little that she could offer today, but she had not been far from the guildhall this afternoon, and she had had few updates on Siana’s mysterious disappearance recently -- in fact, she had had very few updates on anything at all. She had hoped to stop by for a discussion, but aside from the squire and Lilith, who was scribbling furiously away at her desk, it seemed very few people were here this time of day. “No, he’s out.” Pyr looked around the office, as if to confirm his own statement. Seeing nobody but Lilith at her desk, he gave Peony a shrug. “He should be back in a while. Did you have something for him? If you want, I can give it to him when he gets back.” He made the offer partly out of curiosity. Peony had mentioned before that she collaborated with the EKP on occasion, but she had never given any particulars. Pyr couldn’t imagine she was doing paperwork like he was (she probably did that in her actual job as Councilor) so perhaps she was something like a sleuth who had to keep the extent of her assistance secret because it annoyed officers that she was smarter than many of them. Or something. “No,” she said, “nothing to give him today. But I was hoping to speak with him.” And face to face tended to be a much better approach with Jareth Monaco, who was so taciturn that half of his communication relied on nonverbal cues. She chose a chair -- not at the recently cleared desk that had been Siana’s -- and sat. “I’ll wait,” she told him. “Please, don’t let me distract you from your work.” "Okay." He gave her an uncertain nod and turned his attention back to the papers in front of him. There were descriptions of suspects, lists of items stolen from some noble manor or another, no pictures or descriptions of any crime graver than vandalism. Every few seconds, Pyr glanced at Peony out of the corner of his eye. As always she seemed perfectly composed, apparently content to wait for Jareth in silence. After two full minutes spent trying to concentrate on the papers in front of him, Pyr had to concede defeat. Falling a step short of unaffected and casual, Pyr asked, "So, uh, how are you?" Perhaps it had been too much to hope that he could continue with his filing unaffected by her presence. It was unfortunate that she was disrupting him, but at the same time, selfishly, she preferred not to go and wait in the kitchen. It was good to be around her brothers when she could; it did not happen as often as she might have liked even now that they were in the same city. “I am well,” she assured. Fortunately, she was recovered now from her battle injuries and the bronchitis she had caught sometime after her recovery. Fatigue still lingered, but otherwise, she could find little reason for complaint. “My work has been keeping me occupied. Are you settling into your new mentorship well?” So many people in her life seemed to be disappearing lately; at least Felicity had written to make note of her prolonged absence. Siana was unlikely ever to write. A dark thought. “What do you think of the Knights of the Peace, now that you have spent some time here?” After all, it was one of the major career paths open to young people of his guild. Pyr pulled a face. "It's not all that exciting so far," he said. "I mean I guess it's cool that they fight the bad guys and stuff. But I mean, even fighting mandragoras is more fun than this." He mimicked reading the papers in front of him and then falling asleep on top. (And Peacekeepers worked a lot of theft cases. If he became a Peacekeeper, one day he may have to arrest Ari. Or--much, much worse--Sky. No; fighting monsters like the ones that attacked the city on a regular basis was a better career path. That way he'd never end up with divided loyalties.) "Anyway, I don't really want to think about that stuff yet," he said. "Picking a class is already hard enough." “So many things are less exciting in execution than in theory.” She couldn’t help smiling a little as she said this; she could only imagine that Pyr had viewed the EKP as always doing the sort of work that involved a great deal of adrenaline and bloodshed. So much of the business of keeping the peace was tedious -- and in fact it was tedium that indicated things were going well. Although, seeing as Jareth was out in the field, perhaps not quite as well as could be wished. “You have plenty of time,” she assured. “I have known many people -- in my guild as well as yours -- who have settled on a class that suited them only in their twenties. I still think this is a good opportunity to see the inner workings of one of the most intrinsic parts of the Fighters’ Guild, however -- would you not agree? Still,” she added, the small smile lingering, “I do hope you do not find all aspects of your training quite so stimulating.” It was her choice of words―little by little, he was starting to get a measure of her sense of humor. He was already grinning when he realised talking to Peony was supposed to be awkward. That it wasn’t, even for one instant, filled him with warmth. “Well, sparring is a lot more fun than this. And the running isn’t so bad, I guess, once you get used to it.” He shrugged. “But don’t tell Jareth that, or he’ll add a few extra miles to my run.” “Ah,” she said. “I believe this is not a matter of city security and thus can remain between us.” She was glad to make the promise -- and it did seem to her that he would not have taken her into his confidence in this way just a few months ago. They were both smiling when a commotion has her raising her head and glancing towards the door. The man she had come to see had made an appearance at last, and her small smile widened infinitesimally to see the orange and white tabby draped over his shoulders like a living fur stole. “It seems that the cat has not yet grown weary of expressing its thanks to its rescuer,” she commented as she watched someone stop him to scratch the obliging animal under the chin (he looked just as he always did -- mostly stoic with a side of impatient -- but he did not seem in a rush to deprive the cat of the additional attention, either). “I think he likes it,” Pyr whispered (the last thing he needed was for Jareth to overhear―he seemed set on making everyone around him believe the cat was a nuisance). “He sometimes lets it have some of his lunch and pets it when he thinks no one’s looking.” As Jareth got within earshot, the time for secrets was over; Pyr straightened in his chair and arranged the documents in front of him in a neat little pile to the side of the desk, and took another folder from the rubbish bin. Soon it would be time to break for lunch―but he could endure a few minutes longer, if that would allow him to impress both his mentor and his sister with his newfound diligence. |