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[rathercommon]

crystal | letter | cease and desist notices slipped under her door | action

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[saam]

"Huh," she says, and then, "well, I can work with that. Not every lead goes there."

A shrug, but she doesn't get up to leave, just sits, thinking something through.

"One thing, though. I talked to the kid, he mentioned... he got cagey where blood magic came up. Seemed odd to me, being a Vint and all. They doing anything weird with that shit that you saw?"

[rathercommon]

Kitty's lips thin. Her gaze - usually steady and unflinching - turns away. Her hands tighten around the mug.

"His mum's one," she responds shortly. "A blood mage. A nasty one."

[saam]

Eshal's voice lowers, sympathetic. "How bad was it?"

[rathercommon]

Kitty, though - unused to sympathy, and therefore suspicious of it - tenses in response to that low, soft tone. And she shrugs, shoulders tight.

"I'm alive, so obviously not that bad."

[saam]

Wrong move, but Eshal isn't sure the girl actually has the information she needs anyway. She slides the jug forward. "This is Maraas-lok," she says. "Strongest drink there is. Take it in sips. Or sell it; some folk will pay high for it."

And she stands, turning to go.

[rathercommon]

And to think the last one was a bad move; it has nothing on this. Kitty's head rears back, and her dark eyes flash with an unadulterated and dangerous rage.

"Sorry," she says, voice high and incredulous, "is it that I look like a drunkard, a beggar, or a drunken beggar, that you pay for my time with alcohol for me to peddle? Shall I perhaps find a few other poor folk to pass it to? Is that your intention?"

[saam]

You can't win them all. Two out of three isn't bad.

"It's a gift. It's rare and strong. If you don't like it, pour it in the sea." She shrugs. "I don't like to be forgot. Now you won't."

[rathercommon]

"Oh, so you meant to insult me?" She rises to her feet now, heavy brows so furrowed they practically look like a single line. "So I wouldn't forget you? What a brilliant bloody plan."

[saam]

Either this girl is the child she seems, or someone gave her alcohol once and it seriously fucked her over. Regardless, there's no point in pissing on the wound. Eshal keeps herself from rolling her eyes, shrugging-- who cares, really.

"I never meant it as an insult," she says. "Where I'm from, it's a great gift. But if you see it as an insult..." She leans down, takes the jug. "More for me."

[rathercommon]

"Yeah?" She crosses her arms, jaw jutting out stubbornly. "And what did I do to earn this great gift, then?"

[saam]

"You answered honestly," she says, now shrugging. This is eating up her patience. "Which is all I ever asked."

[rathercommon]

She didn't, though. Not really. Oh, sure, she answered the questions posed to her, but the answers weren't really in the spirit of it all. I've made contact with and have a network of Tevinter freedom fighters, that's probably relevant for this woman. And she's almost furious enough to snarl about it to her - But no. She's learned more caution than that.

So instead, she just tosses her head and spits, "Sure. Whatever." Then - "My time doesn't get bought. Least of all bought with your cast-off swill. So you can keep it."

[saam]

Alright, that's enough. There's a point where being nice is rolling over and taking it, and they're getting pretty fucking close to that.

"Let me make some shit clear," and there isn't anger in her voice, so much as tired disappointment.

"I don't fucking buy people. I don't buy their time. I ask, and if they don't play, it isn't worth it. So I don't know what bug crawled up your ass, and I don't give a shit.The only thing happened here today was you proving you're completely worthless as an asset or an ally. If that was your plan all along, you did perfect."

She gives the girl a little salute with the jug, and walks away.