12.22.2132 - A Saturday Night Interlude

[Dray]

OOC: Not only are you using sense motive and epending your focus, but Renee is someone who's body language is very familiar to you, as you have known her for some years. So in affect, I would think a +4 modifier would be in order, giving you a 16.

That being said, you surmise that she is hesitating in telling you some secret information NOT because she doesn't trust you (the last 24-hours is prrof positive she trusts you more than anyone), but because she may not trust something or someone else. Perhaps, you may surmise, that she isn't telling you because she may get YOU into some trouble.

All that being said, she is being
* Cautious,
* Apprehensive,
* Protective.

[Johan]

Temmit glanced side-long at Renee as they walked. At length, he said, "I didn't know that so much fear welled inside of you. So much conflict."

He let that sink into her for a few steps. "Tell me, before we get into earshot of anyone. What's on your mind?"

[Dray]

Renee stopped walking and leaned on a tree. Turning to him she said, "you are very correct my friend, and I shouldn't be in conflict. Any knowledge I impart to you I know would be held in the strictest confidence. I also know you are by no means foolish and would be respectful of the trust imparted to you with the sharing."

Although she spoke a bit cryptically, Temmit understood the sentiment (OOC: I hope) and nodded.

She continued. "But let's get back into the city first? I would like to be behind the stone walls of my secret bedroom with my toes warming under a few blankets."

[Johan]

"Fair enough." Temmit conceded. He put out his hand then. "Let me take your pack though. For all your bravado, that needle did a bit more to you than you'd like to admit."

[Dray]

Renee, with an appreciative but weary smile, acquiesced to his kindness.

After they walked a bit further and went up and over the hill. Renee stopped yet again and turned to talk to him. Temmit, a bit tired himself, almost sighed audibly, but instead he lifted her pack over his shoulder to better carry it.

"On second thought wait," she said and she paused to think. Temmit looked around to be sure there wasn't some danger nearby that she sensed and he didn't. Verifying that wasn't the case, he looked past her and down at the city lights which shined like stars in the darkness, and his mind wandered. He almost jumped when she spoke again.

"If we merely walk up and enter the gate at such a late hour the guards in all likelihood will get suspicious and at least order us to lower our hoods. Just giving them fake names in their records may not do," she said. He noted that she still was a little out of breath even though they had been standing there for about a turn while she had been thinking.

"And although they may have no suspicions in relation to what occurred this evening in Lakeshore, they could still give us trouble due to our apparent age and obvious disrespect of curfew," she said. She then wiped her brow and let out a bit of a sigh.

"And I really don't want them knowing your identity if I can help it," she said with concern. "Captain Athol knows of my black market activity, and I don't want him able to add your name to the list under Kristen's."

Temmit made to speak but she put a finger to his lips and politely interrupted him.

His mind wandered at the touch, it tended to do that when deprived of coffee.

He commented to Smokey, 'Amazing how soft her fingertip is considering her legendary status with the sword. You would think her hands would be rather callous from all the training and hard work she puts in the Protectors House.'

'You need to stop fantasizing about what else she could touch and pay attention here I think', Smokey retorted.

"... and this is where Captain Athol's influence comes in handy, and where my sacrifices are at least somewhat rewarded," he heard the last half of her sentence and noted a bit of sadness in her eyes.

"I know who is on shift at the East gate this evening and they in turn know me." Temmit could hear the regret in her voice at the mention of the gate they had just passed not more than a half-hand ago, it was about 2 miles back in the northeast direction.

She must have seen his sympathy for her lack of strength, because she shrugged and replied, "Had to release the horses near the South Road so they would trot back to their livery at the South Gate, and to be honest I didn't think it was as late as it was," she offered by way of explanation.

"Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to get past these soldiers, but I will need to walk in, let them recognize me and be a little...flirtatious." Despite the darkness, Temmit knew she would be blushing in embarrassment. "These specific guards know of the Captain's relationship with me, it is both my shield and my disguise against them, for they think I am a loose-legged tramp with no brains."


(OOC: FYI NOTE so I don't have to spend two pages explaining it in dialogue. These soldiers don't even know of Renee's real name and therefore her reputation as the toughest kid in the Protectors. The Captain gives out an alias and only when it is absolutely necessary. So these soldiers are unaware of Renee's fantastic and commanding reputation that she has at the Protectorate.)


Temmit immediately understood and agreed with her assertion, for the men would indeed not perceive her as a threat in that case.

"But here is the important part, when they ask you to identify yourself you will not speak, just keep your hood on and your face lowered," she ordered and then stepped so close to him that their chests almost touched. It became obvious to Temmit that as she spoke further, she wanted to watch his eyes as she spoke. She wanted to know she could trust him not to interfere with her plans at the gate.

"I will tell them that you and I were out...playing and lost track of time, and that it is none of their business[/i] who you are. I will then hand them a couple of gold coins to further shut them up," she held out her hand for her purse under his chin. Temmit summarily fished out of his pack and handed to her. She continued, "and other than the report of my disloyalty back to Captain Athol, the guards should smirk their stupid heads off but not trouble us any further."

She paused a moment to see if he took it all in and accepted it, her eyes locked on his for recognition of compliance.

"Listen..." she paused and Temmit sensed a softness to her voice. He was starting to recognize when she switched from his commander, to his friend. "...my flirtation and my demeanor is an act and a disguise I have spent almost two years building."

Temmit nodded, knowing she wasn't finished.

"It gives them certain allowances, certain privileges to act like pigs since this part that I play, this girl is barely any better than a ShantyTown tramp," she said and swallowed what appeared to be a pound of regret while lowering her head in shame.

"You cannot interfere even if their behavior gets lewd, it's all part of the role I usually play to get the guild what it needs, and now I must play it to keep you safe," she said with a compassion that he felt as much as the heat emanating off of her incredibly close body.

She seemed to catch herself a little, she took a half step back and reclaimed her commander tone, "You need to stay safe and unknown. Emma is going to need you over the next three years and I will be damned if we make a mistake here tonight that doesn't allow that."

[Johan]

Temmit forced himself to attend Renee's instructions closely. It was a clear and understandable plan. When she was done, he said, "I will do exactly as you tell me, if there's no other way."

He wished that there were houses and barns outside the walls that would provide shelter on a cold and snowy night.

[Dray]

(OOC: Deleted an earlier post this morning full of stupidity, I was meta-gaming as the DM).

Renee looked at him and seemed a bit defeated.

"The couple of safe-houses we have for guild members are in the city, so if we are to sleep tonight it will have to be in a nearby barn. Problem is, if we don't venture through the gates now, we have to venture through them tomorrow anyway, and by then they may be looking for two students who rented horses at the South Gate," she said with a raised eyebrow.

"And since I know these guards, we can pass with fake identities in the log. If we try the gate in the day, one of the guards may recognize me and Renee Olsteel will be entered in the log."

[Johan]

Temmit noded, ceding the point. "Let it be so." He said simply.

[Dray]

After wanting to reach the gates of the city for what felt like all night, the final walk up to the East Gate came all too quickly for Temmit.

Renee was slow on her feet though, and it was easy to keep up with her. He was glad he carried her pack, as the girl didn't appear to have much strength left.

As Renee and Temmit got close to the gate, three of the huge beacon lanterns on the Outer Wall, each operated by two men, swiveled and rotated to not only illuminate the path before them, but warn the four soldiers meandering under the open portcullis of their approach. As these men at the gate became alerted to their presence, the obviously bored group lit some torches of their own to better identify the two strangers who approached at such a late hour.

"Miss Prynne," one of them exclaimed as they came within earshot. Temmit winced, not sure if he was ready for this.

"Well I'll be damned," the brute finished as they made it to almost underneath the archway containing the gate. Temmit reluctantly withdrew into the folds of his hood and now only could only see everyone's feet. He realized quite suddenly his disadvantage. He wouldn't be able to watch for hints of danger from the betrayal of the soldier's body language, for to look at them was to also give them a look at his own face. He cursed himself for the short-sightedness.

Renee's voice, although still strained from the events of the night, suddenly was about a half-octave higher and a tad softer.

"Evening Durgin," she heard the feigned smile in her voice.

"Morning Hester, what puts you outside the gates so late on a cold night," the man said, the same man who had first addressed her during their approach. His voice was oily, as if he cared not that he didn't disguise the hunger that Temmit imagined was in the gaze upon his commander.

It was suddenly a bit amazing to Temmit that his ears could pick up the situational queue's while his eyes were blinded to them, and he was comforted by the thought...at least a little.

"Well, my friend and I here were out....um, playing[/b] and lost track of the time," Renee answered in a bit of a dim-witted fashion. He noted that her alternate personality[/b] wasn't smart enough to realize that it was getting itself into trouble, considering these soldiers now knew she was 'cheating on' their Captain.

"Well, well, well...who do we have here that would dare mate the Captain's woman while he was away fighting the enemy eh?!" the man said with a bit more anger than Temmit was expecting. Before he could even take a back step, Renee was on top of the situation.

"He doesn't matter, listen Durgin...wait!" she pleaded with him, and judging by the feet that came to a halt two steps ahead of Temmit he guessed that she succeeded.

"The Captain can't know about him, he has his friends[/i] and I have mine," she said in a bit of a lower voice. And very clearly in Temmit's mind's eye he understood why she changed the octave, it was to get him to look at her as she said it.

'Even in this situation she is trying to get more information,'[/color] he said to Smokey.

'Why do you say that?'[/color] Smokey asked.

'Did you hear what she did with her voice? It was to get him to look at her, so she could see in Durgin's eyes if their is truth in her words, truth in the Captain's disloyalty to her. By bluffing that she knows of The Captain's infidelity in front of a friend who may unknowingly betray him.'[/color] Temmit said to Smokey.

'You got all that from her voice? Not bad work my friend, very observant of you and genius might I add....'[/color]

'Thanks,'[/color] Temmit replied.

'If you're right.'[/color]

While this conversation took place, Temmit managed to multi-task and pay attention to Renee's conversation with the guard, he was proud of his non-coffee-mind in its success.

Renee was speaking, and he could tell she was up against the guard and most likely had her arms around his much higher neck in a reaching embrace, as it appeared she was standing on her toes right in front of him.

"So if you will just enter the name Nathaniel Hawthorne for my friend here and Scarlet Johansson for me, I will make it worth your while and we can be on our way," she said in a sensual voice.

"Oh really, sure you aren't all worn out from being with shorty here? You look a bit peaked Hester," the oily voice said.

Temmit chanced a slight upward shift in his gaze and saw that the man's large hands were all over Renee's ass as he hugged her, he clenched his fists and thought he was ready to end the whole charade when Renee stopped the man instead.

"Actually, that is indeed the case Durgin, perhaps just a few coin will do this evening?" she said, sounding as weary as Temmit knew her to be. She stepped out of the man's grasp and from his prying hands.

'...this evening? Has she slept with this...this....this "Ath-hole" too?'[/i] Smokey asked in alarm.

But Durgin's retort quelled that fear. "Come on Hester! When am I going to get a piece of that fine young pie of yours?" he said, but Temmit could hear the friendliness in his voice, the glee over the spoken word of coin. Meanwhile, the other soldiers, who must have been Durgin's subordinates, jeered and one even clapped as they laughed over the evening's unexpected entertainment.

Renee was a good ten paces away and had one hand on a barrel of torches, leaning on it for support.

"I think two men in my life are more than enough Durgin, when I make to replace them, one large one should be able to handle the work of two eh?" Renee answered, her ankle swaying behind another in what could only be the sensual play of a tramp in Shantytown Theater.

"You bet your sweet ass my pet, I will do things to you that this shor...." but he stopped talking. Temmit hoped for a blink of a tick that she had changed her mind and had thrown her sword through the man's throat, assassinating him where he stood.

But Temmit quickly realized that Renee's movement of her hand was to hold up two coins.

"Two platinum?" the man asked, obviously shocked. 'And unfortunately still alive.'[/color] Temmit said to Smokey.

'What?'[/color] asked Smokey.

'Nevermind.'[/color]

"One platinum coin for each of us, and since I know that your friends will require some compensation to also enjoy the secret, I thought I would be generous," she said. Her voice was straining to maintain the girly high-octave, and Temmit feared she didn't have much left for this game.

"Heh, and what's to say that I go ahead and share, and they only end up ratting you out anyway?" Durgin said, in what had to be a scowl at his fellows.

"Because those men are as smart you...my future pet. They know that a bribe out of jail tends to return again and again," he heard the soldiers agree in low tones.

"And everyone stays happy...you, me, shorty, the boys, and especially the Captain. Everyone wins. Now what do you say?" she asked, her voice actually cracking twice during the sentence.

There was a pause that was one tick too long for Temmit's liking.

"What do I say?!" exclaimed Durgin and Temmit flinched, and made ready to execute his already formulated fight plan.

"I say that you are too wrecked for me this evening anyway Miss Pryn....Miss Johansson. Take this lucky bastard Nathaniel with you and be on your way." Durgin replied with a chuckled response from the soldiers.

Renee took Temmit's arm, and without rushing lead him past the soldiers, handing Durgin the two coins on the way. She then lead him through the East Gate and away from the scene.

[Dray]

The pair traversed the snow-covered streets quietly, staying clear of the glow from street lanterns. In order to avoid the guards at the various check points, they had to cris-cross the entire city, lest they be questioned about their purpose of such a late-night journey. When they finally reached the stair to Lowtown in the Theater District another hand had almost gone bye.

Each of them took a 'Sneaky Draught' in a nearby alley and the two slipped bye the unknowing guards and managed the portcullis beyond without much difficulty. Each of them simply lifted and held the metal gate while the other quietly passed underneath.

(OOC: When its simply two members passing through the stairwell checkpoint it isn't such a difficult task to get through unnoticed. When the entire guild had to pass this way for the meeting (two days ago), it's too chancy leaving it up to each child to lift the gate on their own.)

Temmit and Renee were both quiet as they passed through the underground corridors of Lowtown until finally making it to Renee's hidden chamber in the secret corridor beyond the Quiet Room.

Without ceremony Renee opened the door and passed through. The door closed with an audible click behind Temmit just as Renee cast a light spell on the table-top lantern, she did so without hesitating on the way to her bed.

She was quiet as she took off the outer layers of clothing, which were still cold from the overnight journey. As she slipped on a night shirt over her silk undergarments she finally broke the silence they had shared since the East Gate.

She smirked as she asked, "what time did Emma need us at the Church? 9 dawn hand?" She then let out a sigh but had a slight smile on her face as she wrapped herself up in a blanket and laid down on the cot.

[Johan]

Temmit searched his memory of that slight conversation that happened so long ago, amidst so many interesting conversations that he had participated in that day.

That day?!?! Was this very day! He reminded himself. Smokey laughed mirthfully.

"15 turns before 10-hand." He said at last. "That'll give you a bit more sleep."

"She owes you a quick conversation." Smokey reminded him.

Temmit considered letting her slide on that conversation, but only for a moment. "Did you want to have that quick conversation now?" He solicited. "Or are you too far gone for it?"

He hoped that she would not put him off. She started to squirm a bit as she lay on her bed.

[Dray]

"Tell you what," she started to propose as she propped her head on the flats of her hands while lying on the cot, "you lay that extra blanket on me and I will tell you anything you want to hear."

She smiled at him, the look on her face was an obvious attempt at appearing helpless, which she knew he would quickly see-through.

She giggled as she watched him look with meaning at the folded blanket on the knapsack, a blanket that was within her reach and across the room for him. Temmit raised an eyebrow at her.

In challenge, she raised an eyebrow back and asked, "what do you want to learn about first? The adult version of the Whisper guild? Or the exponentially increased attacks by the Karh'Thul these past nine months?"

She then purposely eyed the blanket again.

[Johan]

With a wry grin Temmit acquiesced to Renee's foolish request. "I think the adult version of Whisper." He answered her as he spread the blanket over her. "Although increased attacks is certainly an interesting subject too."

[Dray]

As Temmit sat back down on the small chair at the table, Renee flipped over and lay on her back. She pulled the blankets up to her chin and smiled in contentment.

"mmmmm, cozy warm," she purred.

Temmit smiled, then drummed his fingers patiently while wishing he had a cup of hot coffee.

"Alright, alright," Renee acquiesced. "You would think you would have had enough for the past two days. You sure your brain isn't going to explode from the overload of information?" she teased.

He merely raised an eyebrow at her.

'She does have a point.' Smokey said.

'Shush you', he said back.

"Okay my friend," she said with a drawn breath, indicating to him that it was a long story. As she closed her eyes he kept his own fixated on her gentle face, wanting to see every inflection of emotion and nuance come from it as she spoke every word. He didn't expect her to tell him everything she knew, but he could deduce a lot from her body language that had become so familiar to him over the past year.

"We don't tell the children of Whisper that there is an adult version of our guild because of security reasons. Each person in our guild goes to the military at age 18, just like all children of Safe-Haven, and spends the next 6 years there."

"This is a long time."

"A time in which a member of our little guild can forget why they became a friend of Whisper in the first place. Not everyone in the military is a government-loving Kainite, and when the lines between a member's responsibility to friends in the military and their responsibility to their friends in the resistance become blurred, trouble can occur."

"So it was decided decades ago that Whisper leadership would be the only member of Whisper to know about  The Warden Council of the Old Order (OOC: follow the link to the bottom of the thread for more info)," she stopped her story meaningfully, waiting for him to process the importance.

[Johan]

Rene's words jumbled in Temmit's mind quickly, he assembled random pieces of information and threw away unlikely thoughts only to reassemble those pieces again.

"Are you saying that the Old Order is comprised of Whisper members?" He asked. "Gifts of our kind only manifested over the last couple of centuries, or so we are told. The Old Order is ancient...much older than that; does that mean that before the gifted becam Order members, they were simply skilled warriors? Or are our gifts older than I had thought? Older than just a couple of centuries?"

"And, by the way, are you transgressing a trust in telling me this?"