"I'm glad one of us is having fun," he pouts, rolling his eyes, too, when she mentions rumors.
But, at last, he sits. "It was an accident and I wasn't grievously hurt. I didn't think it merited bothering anyone about it. Ultimately, no harm was done."
"I..." He lets out a sound like a deflating balloon. As if the hole Artemy put in him has popped back open.
Incredible. He really had forgotten what that might mean for his day-to-day behavior here in town. Has he gotten so comfortable? Something dreadful gnaws at the back of his mind but he ignores the thread of that thought and refuses to tug on it.
"I was acting rashly to save a friend. I'm sorry."
She can't really call this a victory, even when he so completely deflates and her words sink in. It seems he had forgotten that his rank means he shouldn't do certain things. But there's a little thing there that he feels and then tries to push away.
"Yes, well, your rashness has caused a lot of paperwork for me, and your friend Pyotr wasn't exactly forthcoming with information, which also caused me a headache, and now I get to hunt down and arrest some guy named Artemy for stabbing a councilor. You do realize my time is better spent figuring out the demons, don't you?"
Surely it would be easier to just say she was upset he got stabbed, but that would mean admitting she doesn't hate him anymore.
The thing Erik won't look at tastes a lot like fear. He is afraid he has undone the unshackling he thought he achieved in this place, free of the complex vampire social contracts. He's stepped into this town's ones instead. For the first time, he almost considers resigning on the spot.
"Do you really have to arrest him if I don't want to press charges?" There's a desperate edge to that question. "You could stop all this right now and save all that time."
"If you absolutely must drag him in for questioning, then you should at least know that it was Pyotr that provoked this. In fact, the entire scene provoked what I believe was a PTSD episode in Artemy. It was the sort of painful insult that could only be said by someone who knows you intimately enough. The man is not a danger to the larger community." He has a feeling Artemy isn't going to stand up for himself so it falls to him to at least lay down the context.
"That's why I stepped in. I didn't think he deserved to be punished for such a moment. Next time--I was going to be upset with you for assuming there would be a next time but now here I am saying it myself--next time I won't let it get that far. I promise."
"Ok, so you want me to arrest Pyotr too? I could charge him with disturbing the peace, throw them both in a cell for the night to work it out where meddling councilmen can't get stabbed."
Valdis' jaw tightens, and she forces herself to take a breath and relax, closing her eyes for a moment as she gathers herself.
"You say he's not a danger to the community at large, but someone with a temper like that, who would stab someone not involved in a personal affair is potentially a danger to others."
"No, of course not. I've already instructed him that he must apologize for what he said. Locking them together in a cell will likely undo what good I've managed to salvage from this." Erik is used to dealing with things himself. He's loath to ever call in enforcement for just this reason. It complicated things.
"Artemy was aiming for Pyotr, and his aim would have been true had I not deliberately stepped into his attack. I can move faster than a human eye can track, after all."
"I'll do what I can to make this go away, but you'll owe me again."
She sounds unhappy about this, making a deal with him, but if she's going to compromise her position to help him, then he'd better make it right somehow.
"Owing you favors has been so very much fun for me," he says, chagrined. "But, fine. I accept that."
Now, there's just one other issue he probably needs to come clean about. Her eyes are going to be on him, so he'd rather not have any misunderstandings.
"There's just one other thing you should know. Pyotr and I now have a standing business agreement. How should I put this...?" He pauses to choose his words.
"It may at times look ...as if I am falling back into old ways, having a man take my orders like an eager puppy. You can ask him for yourself, too, but this was very much by his desire and not mine. Frankly, it's the best way to keep him out of more trouble."
Valdis goes silent, unsure how to feel. Part of her jumps instantly to rage, anger that Erik would do such a thing, potentially even in front of Max. He could be saying this just to try to soothe her and get away with the same things he had done before. It's not a game for him as it is for her and Max. Yet she doesn't sense a lie in him, if anything she senses a burst of shame edged with worry and fear, though she's not sure if the fear is of her or something else.
It would not be unnatural for him to have a healthy respect for her, however, she suspects the fear has more to do with his concern about falling back into old habits.
"I'm not sure how to respond to that, or how to handle the pain it may cause to Max if he misunderstands what is happening between you and Pyotr."
"If I can be candid with you, I am not sure how happy I am with this, either." The fear in him grows a little more prominent as he says it. He doesn't want his progress here to be derailed and more than that, he doesn't want Max to get hurt. The possibility of that brings a new rush of anxiety.
"It isn't what it sounds like. The man is, from what I can tell, masochistic and he is likely to harm himself without intervention. He begged me to drink from him, and I did. And he asked me to do so again, so I told him yes, on one condition: he would have to take better care of himself. That is the arrangement, Valdis. And the timing of it could not have been poorer for me."
Valdis knows he isn't lying, or trying to manipulate her in any way, in fact she can feel his anxiety spike again as he speaks. She still doesn't like it though.
"And what such timing would make it upsetting to one who must live off of blood and now has a donor in a spoken contract?"
He sighs performatively. "I suppose I am confessing everything today." He'd have to sooner or later, anyway.
"I must live off of blood still but, thanks to a gift I recently received from Aster, the taste of blood, of everything, has changed for me. He gave me back my human tongue. I can taste things now as they should be and... I am still getting used to the taste of blood. I had been cutting back to taking only what is necessary, but this contract demands more of me."
Valdis finds she dislikes the fact that he didn't snap back, or come up with some witty comeback or insult.
"Please do. I promise I will make this report go away, I just need time to figure out how without compromising the law."
There had always been some leeway where Mortanne's people were involved, so she could use that. Plus, no one had died and Erik wasn't even injured as far as anyone really knew.
"Surely you can downplay the incident. A bar fight that stopped at fists and words. It was dim and it all happened quite fast. Who can say if there was a knife in use at all?" If she catches his meaning.
"Warnings were dispersed and I was, rather publicly, led here by two officers. That should seem like retribution enough for a first offense. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I think you'll find him the easiest to speak to. He is a good man, not without sin, of course, but he is a man of medicine and lives by that creed." And Erik may soon have a very different kind of contract set up with him but he reserves speaking about that until after they've had time to settle the terms.
"I did what I did because I like him and I wished to spare him from a tarnished reputation so soon after arriving. I appreciate anything you can do to preserve that intention, Valdis. Thank you."
"If you tell Artemy that I trust you, then the talk should go better, I think. He feels horribly guilty for harming me already. As for Pyotr, well, here's hoping I can keep him out of mischief so there won't need to be a next time."
It still feels weird for Erik to say he trusts her.
"If you think he'll believe me, then I'll put forth the effort, and please do keep Pyotr out of trouble. I'm due for a promotion and others might not be so lenient."
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lordoftheozarks) wrote2023-06-13 08:20 pm
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But, at last, he sits. "It was an accident and I wasn't grievously hurt. I didn't think it merited bothering anyone about it. Ultimately, no harm was done."
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"You are not just a town entertainer, Erik. You are also a Councilman, or did you forget that?"
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Incredible. He really had forgotten what that might mean for his day-to-day behavior here in town. Has he gotten so comfortable? Something dreadful gnaws at the back of his mind but he ignores the thread of that thought and refuses to tug on it.
"I was acting rashly to save a friend. I'm sorry."
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"Yes, well, your rashness has caused a lot of paperwork for me, and your friend Pyotr wasn't exactly forthcoming with information, which also caused me a headache, and now I get to hunt down and arrest some guy named Artemy for stabbing a councilor. You do realize my time is better spent figuring out the demons, don't you?"
Surely it would be easier to just say she was upset he got stabbed, but that would mean admitting she doesn't hate him anymore.
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"Do you really have to arrest him if I don't want to press charges?" There's a desperate edge to that question. "You could stop all this right now and save all that time."
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She's well aware of the mechanics of death here, and dying in the middle of the Oak and Iron with all those people there makes the body stay longer.
"Word of advice, next time you get stabbed, do it where there aren't dozens of witnesses dragging the enforcers into this."
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"That's why I stepped in. I didn't think he deserved to be punished for such a moment. Next time--I was going to be upset with you for assuming there would be a next time but now here I am saying it myself--next time I won't let it get that far. I promise."
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Valdis' jaw tightens, and she forces herself to take a breath and relax, closing her eyes for a moment as she gathers herself.
"You say he's not a danger to the community at large, but someone with a temper like that, who would stab someone not involved in a personal affair is potentially a danger to others."
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"Artemy was aiming for Pyotr, and his aim would have been true had I not deliberately stepped into his attack. I can move faster than a human eye can track, after all."
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She sounds unhappy about this, making a deal with him, but if she's going to compromise her position to help him, then he'd better make it right somehow.
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Now, there's just one other issue he probably needs to come clean about. Her eyes are going to be on him, so he'd rather not have any misunderstandings.
"There's just one other thing you should know. Pyotr and I now have a standing business agreement. How should I put this...?" He pauses to choose his words.
"It may at times look ...as if I am falling back into old ways, having a man take my orders like an eager puppy. You can ask him for yourself, too, but this was very much by his desire and not mine. Frankly, it's the best way to keep him out of more trouble."
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It would not be unnatural for him to have a healthy respect for her, however, she suspects the fear has more to do with his concern about falling back into old habits.
"I'm not sure how to respond to that, or how to handle the pain it may cause to Max if he misunderstands what is happening between you and Pyotr."
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"It isn't what it sounds like. The man is, from what I can tell, masochistic and he is likely to harm himself without intervention. He begged me to drink from him, and I did. And he asked me to do so again, so I told him yes, on one condition: he would have to take better care of himself. That is the arrangement, Valdis. And the timing of it could not have been poorer for me."
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"And what such timing would make it upsetting to one who must live off of blood and now has a donor in a spoken contract?"
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"I must live off of blood still but, thanks to a gift I recently received from Aster, the taste of blood, of everything, has changed for me. He gave me back my human tongue. I can taste things now as they should be and... I am still getting used to the taste of blood. I had been cutting back to taking only what is necessary, but this contract demands more of me."
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She realizes a moment too late that that was rather harsh, but it's already been said.
"You should explain the deal to Max, he shouldn't be caught by surprise."
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"Yes. I should, and I will. I have an appointment with him already planned for tomorrow. I will tell him everything then."
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"Please do. I promise I will make this report go away, I just need time to figure out how without compromising the law."
There had always been some leeway where Mortanne's people were involved, so she could use that. Plus, no one had died and Erik wasn't even injured as far as anyone really knew.
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"Warnings were dispersed and I was, rather publicly, led here by two officers. That should seem like retribution enough for a first offense. Wouldn't you agree?"
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She could try, but she doesn't even know what he looks like and a mistake could be caught.
"But I will twist the story as best I can."
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"I did what I did because I like him and I wished to spare him from a tarnished reputation so soon after arriving. I appreciate anything you can do to preserve that intention, Valdis. Thank you."
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"I hope it's as easy as you say, Pyotr only responded to threats and you know how much I loathe making idle ones."
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"If you think he'll believe me, then I'll put forth the effort, and please do keep Pyotr out of trouble. I'm due for a promotion and others might not be so lenient."
With any of them.
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One thin brow lifts at that announcement. "Should I congratulate you? Or is that counting chickens before they hatch?"
Damn, he really is going to have to be more careful from now on. He should put all the lights out first, next time.
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