A Note of Responsibility
Log Info
- Title: A Note of Responsibility
- Emitter: Ashes
- Characters: Sabina, Jinks
- Place: A03: The TarRaCe
- Time: Tuesday, September 21, 2021, 7:38 PM
- Summary: Sabina and Rupi are sharing a bottle of wine and discussing recent events when Jinks joins them. He seems sombre and down, so the women ask him what's wrong. The gnome eventually confesses that he was the one who gave Lily up to Eclavdran, in exchange for his skin, and is indirectly responsible for her death and what happened after. Sabina and Rupi are unpleasant, digging to see if he is truly contrite and remorseful, taking separate approaches. Rupi leans a little too far into evil suggestions, and strongly supports or appears to support, all of Jinks friends telling him he bears no responsibility. Enough that Sabina tells her to leave and not speak to her until tomorrow. Jinks departs at the same time.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-<* The TarRaCe *>--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
Inside, this two-story structure has been almost completely opened up. Generous windows on both stories allow daytime sunlight and cooling night breezes to flow in as needed, while the brick walls have been whitewashed - contrasting with the dark-stained beams and supports, and the rich polish on the wooden floor. A broad strip of stone runs from the entrance to a framed doorway set into the opposite wall, with a sign above the lintel declaring that the baths are to be found that way.
The ground floor is sprinkled with tables and chairs of assorted sizes, offering welcome to guests both large and small. One whole corner of the building - into which guests are not permitted entry - has been given over to the kitchen, which serves as the domain of the famed monster chef Ligum Serforus. Mundane meals are available, but the chef delights in offering up obscure dishes made from the freshest of monster ingredients.
Opposite the kitchen a small bar runs in front of an array of shelves, displaying a broad selection of beverages (most of them alcoholic). The bar-top has been fashioned from what looks to have been old pieces of armor, fused and welded together before being polished to provide a near-smooth finish. Set above it, three human-sized statues have been built into an alcove in the wall: Tarien, Rada and Ceinara jointly keep benevolent watch over the room and its occupants.
To the right of the entrance, a small stage offers a platform for a handful of performers at a time. To the left of the door, a spiral staircase of wrought iron winds its way up to a balcony dining area, that is chiefly reserved for special events and parties.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in Order -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Sabina 5'4" 130 Lb Human Female Tsuran woman of dark hair and green eyes. Jinks 3'4" 39 Lb Gnome Male A gnomish fellow in fancy garb and jewelry. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= NPCs of Note =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Rupi Human Female Dark hair, sultry expression, full lips, athletic. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Far, far away -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ashes 5'11" 177 Lb Hobgoblin Female A somber arvec in grey clothes with a skull face -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
"It's going to be end of month soon. Do you think your white friend will be recovered enough to do the books?" Rupi asks, circling in to sit at a table beside Sabina where they can both watch the TarRaCe.
Dinner is winding down.
The woman slides a wine glass in front of her partner, looking over at her. She doesn't have to ask, she knows, she would be able to tell without using her powers, "You're upset."
Bina is aggravated, yes. Yet not about the books. "I've not heard anything about Cryosanthia yet. And I've had little chance to see her. Poked my head in during a late evening or two while she and Zeke were asleep. But Of course I couldn't ask questions then. If she's well enough to do the books I'd rejoice and throw a party. But I know she wouldn't want one." She reaches out and takes hold of Rupi's hip in a side-hug. "Thank you for the wine."
The other woman, warm, soft and strong, returns the hug. Her dapper staff uniform has a nice texture. She slides into a seat, crossing her ankles benath it. "There was a note in her room."
"Someone was very desperate to get it to her, before you found her. It didn't arrive in time after you did."
She clasps her hands, "I don't think she would. Not for recovering. Getting her Kobold back safely, she might for that." She takes a sip of wine.
Bina blinks, "Note? There was a note in her room? Do you still have it, I'd like a look at it. And do you happen to know who left it?" The wine is picked up and sipped, then set back down.
"Yes, I'll get it." Rupi says, and with that she vanishes into the back. It's an efficient walk, not a sexy one. She returns a minute later with a note, folded and sealed, "She said she was a friend of Cryo's. I haven't seen her around much. A jade islander."
Bina pats the seat that Rupi vacated, invitation for the other to sit back down as she takes the note and looks it over. "A jade islander?" She goes through her memory of friends of Cryo that the description could fit. "She didn't say anything to anyone? Just left this note in the room?" She asks Rupi.
Sabina checks it for magic.. because it's been a paranoid type of month.
"She said it was very urgent, but she would only deliver it to her, she would not give it to me." Rupi responds. A wise choice, given her nature. "She talked to us a little bit, said the white one should know her."
The note is not magic.
Jinks is a little black spot stepping in from the cold, his crimson circlet and a raisin-colored jabot two accents on an uncharacteristically dark ensemble. A teardrop-shaped onyx set into gold pins the tie in place, the formal suit is cut to fit, and not a hair of his shock white hair is out of place. He's clearly come from (or is headed to) some variety of mourning function.
The gnome pauses just inside the door, rethinking something, but smooths the front of his double breasted coat and forges ahead. He slowly waltzes his way through the patrons, sliding between the larger bodies as he cranes his head for a look about.
"You saw her, the one that arrived when you left, a few days ago?"
Bina closes her eyes in thought, trying to remember who might have left the message for Cryo. "Ahh.. I can see her face. I was leaving for the night. Yes.. Met her once or twice I think. Hal..Halani." She nods. "I'll have to get this too her soon then. Though I dread the thought that this may be more bad news." She spots the small form in the crowd and offers Jinks a wave.
Rupi nods, taking her seat again and picking up her glass of wine, "that sounds like a good idea."
She glances at Jinks, then back at Sabina, her attention focused on the other woman. She seems very devoted, wanting to gaze upon her at all times.
"There's a seat, join 'Bina-beans." She turns a chair out for Jinks without looking at him.
"The sith. Seyardu?" The gnome asks after taking one last look around and offering a shallow nod in greeting. He wears a more traditionally masculine fragrance today, notes of leather, tobacco, basil, and others. Coupled with his general mien of trepidation it all seems like a costume.
Bina nods to Jinks as he joins them. "If you're looking for Seyardu then you'll likely find her tending Cryosanthia along with Zeke in the temple of Deus. And if you are going that way then I'd like you to take a letter to Zeke and Cryosanthia for me, if you would?"
Rupi nods, sliding the letter towards Jinks. It's familiar. It's unopened.
"She's... messed up. She'll enjoy visitors though."
Jinks' eyebrow ticks up subtly. He opens his mouth to say something but turns instead to dust the chair Rupi offered with a pocket square the same purple as his dangling tie. He sits only after a thorough once-and-again over, neatly folding and tucking away the square as he does. "Probably not the best idea. I just need to talk business with the silver one." He joins his hands to spin a ring in thought but finds the bare skin of his naked fingers instead, nostrils flaring in mild frustration. When the note comes across the table he just blinks at it.
"And why would it not be the best of ideas? Is there some issue between you and Deus or you and Zeke? Cryosanthia is ill and from what I can tell has been sleeping much of the time. So there most likely won't be a confrontation between you and she." Bina leans forward with chin on palm, elbow upon the table. "Or is there?"
The other woman, Rupi, folds one hand over the other and rests her chin on them to stare at Jinks. Her eyes are large, her lashes lush, she has very attractive hair and the simple server's uniform fits her well.
All she adds to the questioning is a "mmmm?"
"If Daeus has any sense." Jinks responds reflexively, the old joke a rote utterance uncoupled from its partnered smirk today. He takes up the note and opens the folded paper, narrowing his eyes and grinding his teeth. His fingers curl and lace, his palms join together. The whole thing is a tiny, crumpled ball in a heartbeat. "It was mine. And it's worthless now. Utterly worthless." He drops the little ball to the ground and shakes his head, muttering something under his breath about Mulria's nethers.
Bina startles as he crumples the note. "Yours? It was delivered here by Halani! How is it then yours?!" She casts a quick cantrip and brings the note to her hand and opens it back up. "And why is it now worthless?" She sighs and starts to read the note. "I guess I can read it now that it means nothing."
Rupi looks over at the note, sees a scribbling of a shadowy figure with red eyes crushing a pink flower.
"Well. That sums it up."
The woman faces Jinks, "how did you know?"
Jinks watches the note float back up, glancing at the door and issuing a long sigh. "I asked Halani to bring it to the white li-- to Cryosanthia." He folds his arms and looks from Rupi to Sabina. "After I told the infernal duke about Lily."
Sabina looks at the note, or rather, the picture and then listens to Jinks. She slowly looks up at him across the table and stares at the small man as if she'd missheard him. "I.. Did you say you told 'E' about Lily? You who were playing with Lily? Who knew Cryosanthia and Lily both?" Her smile, which started off small, begins to widen farther and farther as she speaks. "And why would you do such a thing? If I may ask."
Rupi rests her hand lightly on Sabina's arm, not holding her back, more a comfort that allows her to interrupt with a question, "Should I go? Get some drinks?"
She stares at Jinks, disapproval written large on her features. An expression that may not be the honest emotion; she might be impressed at his vileness.
"I thought I escaped the Hells to come back to Alexandria." Jinks says, his voice just loud enough to carry to the table's edge as he inspects the surface's grain intently. "I didn't; I was sent. He wanted a weakness or he was going to drag me back. Cryosanitha or Zeke. Mikilos of Serene. Cryosanthia's was the easiest."
Bina's smile grows wider still, looking far from natural or happy now. "Ahhh. I see. You gave up a child of someone you knew rather then go back to hell. I understand now. How very fortunate for you you had the luxury of a choice in the matter, hmm? And so rather then tell her this in person you drew a picture and handed it off to another person to deliver for you? How brave of you to tell the truth...after a fashion."
Rupi glances at Sabina, at her smile and eagerness. She tilts her head, smiles coquettishly, "Are you testing me 'Bina-Beans?"
The look she turns on Jinks is viscious, hungry, "Very few get such an opportunity. The voluntary corruption of your soul is exquisite. Were you hoping to earn an elevated place with your actions? A promise of prestige?"
"Why reveal this now, when you got away with it?"
"I didn't. The mul knows. Aya. She was there. I'm sure she heard me." Jinks looks up, his expression passive until he meets Rupi's gaze and frowns at the hunger he finds there. The gnome settles on Sabina's manic look instead. "I had reasons but not excuses. Just like the note; they don't matter now. My actions led to the kobold's death."
Bina's hand twitches and then curls into a fist briefly before smoothing back to flat against the table-top. "I see. And what do you wish to happen now, Jinks?" Her smile dims in it's manic nature a few degrees while the other hand finds the whine glass and brings it to her lips. "Stay still, please, Rupi. Watch his face and mannerisms. I believe we will both learn a thing."
Rupi remains still, watching with unbroken attention. She's a beautiful woman with a frightening countenance, one that suggests cruelty, the ability to see through lives. Her focus is unpleasant, and she nods, listening as instructed.
Waiting to learn something.
Jinks shrugs with his hands, a resigned gesture. "I'll find the silver sith and get the information I need. Work on the task at hand. When Cryosanthia is well enough I imagine she'll find me and kill me. Then I'll be back in the Duke's court, regardless." He tilts his head, considering. "If the sith doesn't I imagine the mul 'aunt' will. If you meant more immediately," he glances from Sabina to the bar, then around the tavern as a whole, "it's your place. You tell me."
Bina's smile shrinks yet again and becomes something more normal. "Ahh.. I understand now. That's good to know." She lifts her glass again. "Would you care for something to drink, Jinks? A good wine? Whiskey?" She raises her hand and flags down another server rather then ask Rupi to do it. "And what are you up to that Seyardu is needed? Perhaps I can assist." As if the previous conversation had never happened, Sabina is as she always is.
Rupi flags the server, ordering extra drinks for herself and Sabina with some quick gestures. She watches her partner carefully, then smiles at Jinks once more. Her hungry, predatory expression has vanished. There's a pleasant curl at the edges of her full lips. She has a strong perfume, heavy and feminine, which wafts more apparent now.
Still, there's a question that occurs to her which seemed unanswered, or in need of clarification. "So, after all you have set in motion, he still owns you? No release, still in debt?"
"He said the task was complete." Jinks concedes with a single, shallow nod. "He said I was 'free.'" The gnome sits forward, folded arms low until he raises one hand to idly rub his chest. His left breast, specifically. "Consider the balance of a life. If the mistakes of my first run damned me I've certainly done nothing to earn redemption in this one." He falls back into the chair, retreading the thoughts that have filled his idle hours for the hundredth time and staring into space. "What if I had given nothing and died? Is that a sacrifice worthy of Heroes' Welcome?" He presses his lips together and tilts his head. "It was a good trick."
Bina listens and then gives a slow shrug. "I can not speak to what a sacrifice on your part might have been worth. If it had ever been known then I'm sure that Cryosanthia would have tried to bring you back herself, most likely. If it hadn't ever been learned then I think ...or would like to think that you would have found joy in knowing that another had been saved, at least." She looks at him squarely. "What was a good trick?"
"Should I say things to make him feel better?" Rupi looks at Sabina for permission to be evil, then at Jinks. "How much do you hate yourself right now?"
A bottle of Whiskey arrives. A large one. Not large enough for a gnome to crawl into, but he would pass out before he finished it. Rupi nudges it towards him, like she did the letter.
The woman makes an odd observation, "You're very vulnerable and alone, this invites accidents, further compromise. Bad deals." "Not so alone. Old friends are lining up to say this isn't my fault." Jinks tells Rupi, lifting a hand to wave off the drink. He slides off the stool, uncrossing his arms entirely and fixing his jabot tie. "Even if it is."
The gnome rebuttons his coat, stepping back from the table for a clear view of Sabina. "I know Lily was important to you. I'm sorry."
Sabina nods to him. "Thank you for that. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that an evil bastard made you choose. And I'm sorry that things are not better already for all involved. There are rumblings of a plan being put together in hopes of bringing her back, if you're interested. I do not know if I'll be able to help like I wish. Or if anyone but a select few will. Still, I thought I'd offer a place."
Rupi seems off on a different track, "Well, you aren't responsible, of course. You didn't intend that to happen, didn't think it would be that bad, or a big deal. Even if it was your fault, you didn't mean it and even if it was a little bit intentional, she deserved it. Like what's uproar about? It's just a Kobold, who cares what they do in their cannibalistic little caves or when they get out of them. Probably doing the world a favour. You're certainly much more important than she is, either of them. Just don't think about it."
She nudges the bottle again, "have a drink."
"Y'know, the white lizard tried to kill her best friend." Rupi smiles, "I'm sure she'll be completely rational and forgiving of you, line right up with all those old friends of yours. Tell you exactly what you want to hear to feel better."
Bina's mouth presses into a line. "Rupi.. Leave. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Subtle." Jinks offers Rupi, considering her more closely for a moment but deciding, ultimately, that he has enough plates spinning for the moment. He presses his lips together and gives Sabina another apologetic look. "If I can help I will. I," he pauses, clearing his throat and glancing at the waiting bottle. The muscles of his jaw flex and what might've been a tremor is smoothed out of his voice when he speaks again. "I'm around." And then hell make for the door, movements rigid as he forces a steady, casual gait.
Bina watches Jinks go in silence. No more words can be said that can make things better or easier. Only choices and actions yet remain. She slowly drains her glass and sets it down with a soft click on the tabletop. "What shall be..shall be."
"It was a test, 'Bina, to see if he'd accept responsibility or choose an easy out. Again." Rupi says, standing slowly and watching Jinks carefully make for the door. "I pushed too hard. Wasn't subtle."
"He made the right choice." She pauses, slowly moving away herself. "I'll see you tomorrow. Sorry I said things. I know she matters, they both do."
"They just don't, to some." A fact the woman is well positioned to know.
