We're Back! A Gallows Tale

[sulahnan]

WHO: Athessa and YOU!
WHAT: Oh, you know. Getting back from the jungle and getting way too into her work.
WHEN: Now, Post-Jungle
WHERE: The Gallows & Kirkwall in general
NOTES: shrug.

I. Back on her Bullshit...or...not.

Athessa is quite possibly the best rested of the whole group that returns from the jungle, having found sleeping rough a lot easier than sleeping in a bed here. Weird. But in the few days that follow, she once again gets back to her habit of not sleeping well and prowling around in a cloud of root-smoke. She also has a small dagger strapped to her hip instead of going unarmed or strapping on her dual-wield blades, and an unusually heightened work ethic during daylight hours. Minimal antics, maximum...something else. Something like responsibility? Weird.

II. Can I Raas you a Question? (Closed to Raas, if that wasn't clear)

They don't know each other. They've never even interacted, at least as far as Athessa can recall. But where else is Athessa supposed to turn, when she doesn't know anyone else who speaks qunlat and doesn't want to snoop around unnecessarily before handing over what she found to the boss?

"'Scuse me..." She isn't timid, just a little awkward. It's not typical for her to introduce herself to someone just to ask a favor. "Do you have a minute?"

III. A New Kind of Office Visit (closed to Yseult)

Athessa knocks before entering, same as usual. But this isn't one of their scheduled check-ins or typical scout work that either of them expect from one another. They're barely settled after getting back from the jungle when Athessa is reporting to Yseult with a missive in one hand, and a qunari dagger in the other. Both are set on Yseult's desk.

"I...figured I should report this to you. I dunno if it even really matters, but I found these in De--in Sten's room."

IV. Wildcard

[ you know the drill ]

Comments

[sulahnan]

"His agenda should have the names of anyone he works with," she says. Focus on how to fix the mess that Yseult is being... strangely chill about. "And the bawd at the Crimson Cat, she's... was... in his pocket or something. For a long while."

That's when what Yseult said fully sinks in. He would've ended up dead even if the plan went perfectly? Well. Fuck. Athessa's pretty much speechless after that realization.

[hassaran]

Yseult doesn't miss it, of course. And certainly should could make a guess at the cause. But instead she tilts her ehad a shade further and asks, "What?"

[sulahnan]

"I guess I just wasn't expecting--I figured this wouldn't be a priority. It's not part of the war effort."

It sounds lame and pessimistic out loud, and just as she felt shame for doubting Riftwatch when Colin was agonizing over Benedict's prolonged imprisonment, she feels shame for doubting that something so cruel would be allowed to continue simply because it's technically not their jurisdiction.

[hassaran]

"That's why you took this to Byerly?" A brow lifted, eyes faintly narrowed, "You thought he would care and I wouldn't?"

[sulahnan]

"No! No," Athessa shakes her head and exhales. "The only reason we took it to Byerly is 'cos he already knew about Devigny, and because Colin said he could help. If Colin hadn't said anything, I would've tried to deal with Devigny myself."

It's all true, but to pretend that Yseult and how she might respond never crossed Athessa's mind would be close enough to lying to make it unwise.

"And until we saw that someone else was gonna get hurt, I didn't think it was worth bothering you about."

[hassaran]

Yseult considers this for a moment, the faint angle of her head indicative of thought, if one's spent enough time observing her. Then she nods.

"I see." After a moment, realizing how that may sound, she adds, "That's understandable. But in the future, if you have evidence of serious misconduct of this variety, you should feel free to inform me. I may not always be able to act, and it may never take precedence over our larger goals, but I'll do what I can."

[sulahnan]

Athessa hasn't spent enough time observing Yseult to be able to decipher the intricacies of a head tilt, so she focuses more on the words spoken than taking a crash-course in yet another secret language.

"You got it, boss," she says with a nod and not quite a smile. Eventually it'll be clear what is and isn't considered too informal around the Scoutmaster. Until then: err on the side of caution. "What um. What are our next steps?"

[hassaran]

Fair. Yseult's observation is a shade more obvious this time, the way her gaze fixes on Athessa for a long moment. It could of course be taken for her deciding if 'you got it, boss' is itself too informal, but she doesn't look annoyed, just considering. Maybe even sympathetic. But it's gone in a moment.

"Next steps," she says with an air of changing the subject, the scratch of a thumbnail along the underside of her jaw. "You mentioned his agenda, do we have that? I don't recall it being among the effects I reviewed but perhaps it was mislaid. We should review the names of his associates and see if any are of interest. And this bawd. What do you know of her involvement?"

*can't remember if this is right i'll check later

[sulahnan]

"If it's not with the rest it might still be back at the estate," she ventures. She'd been more occupied with securing the girl than collecting evidence, since Colin and Bastien were far better at reading and thus better suited to knowing what was useful to take.

But Madame Lette*...her modus operandi seems to have changed in the past thirteen years.

"I can only guess that the bawd supplied Devigny with girls for his...entertainment. Him footing the bills at the Crimson Cat, maybe using his influence to keep the guild from finding out, I dunno," She chews on her lip, then sighs. There's no hiding it, not now. "Thirteen years ago it seemed the opposite. He'd have his footman pick someone up off the street, dope 'em up, and when he was done he'd drop them off at the cathouse. That was...my experience, anyway."

[hassaran]

Again, Yseult studies her for a moment longer than can pass unnoticed, with that same consideration.

"I'm sorry," she says when it's through, and she sounds genuine, even warm--if still only just when judged against normal standards. "That you were kept there against your will if that's what happened, and that I've led you to expect I might think worse of you for it either way. I don't."

[sulahnan]

"I didn't think you'd think worse of me for that," the protest isn't insistent, just a flat statement. If anything, Athessa didn't want Yseult to think she couldn't handle dealing with the situation because of her history with it. But even that was a thought that only occurred when the prospect of bringing it to the Division Heads was on the table.

There's more she could say, more still that she'd rather not recount if she can avoid it, but a question elbows its way to the front and demands to be asked.

"What do you see, when you look at people--at me--like that?"

[hassaran]

"Just now?" A tilt of her head, a beat, then rocked upright again.

"You're--" she seems to exchange one word for another at the last second, "Uncertain. Of me, of what I want from you. Of yourself: where you've been, where you might go. Of confronting your past and also of not. Of what you want to happen next. Whether you want me to tell you to go kill this bawd or tell you not to."

[sulahnan]

"And how much of that is you guessing?" Her tone is curious, rather than accusatory. An attempt to understand, perhaps with intention to emulate. She can assume, or at least guess, that a lot of it is shaped by Athessa's body language, coupled with the context of the conversation. She isn't making any attempt to hide how she feels, simply because she has learned well enough by now that there's no point in lying to Yseult.

But Yseult bridged the gap between Athessa's desire to kill Devigny herself, and killing Madame Lette; something Athessa hadn't yet considered.

[hassaran]

Yseult shrugs crookedly, one shoulder shifting visibly while the other stays more or less put. "I can't read your mind." So ultimately, all of it. "But from what I know and what I see, it's the best fit. Am I wrong?"

[sulahnan]

"I hadn't thought to kill the bawd," she says simply. "The rest is pretty accurate."

[hassaran]

A similar shrug in its energy, though this time made up mostly of a tip of her head. Can't win 'em all.

"Do you know who would take over the house if she died?"

[sulahnan]

Athessa shakes her head. "No. I guess it depends on who owns the place; if she's just being paid to run it and Devigny owned it, I reckon someone else would inherit the deed, right? But if she owns it and is just like, his partner..."

It's a bit of a diversion from the actual question. Who takes over if the bawd dies? She probably has some people she trusts, some girls she's groomed to take her place. But the gears are already turning on that other path.

"If she owns the place, she'll be looking for a new partner."