friendly fire

\\ Get my pretty name out of your mouth \\

She hadn't been that mean to Danta, but it feels like there's some unspoken tension after their last interaction at the Masquerade. Thal was under the impression they got along fairly well. He never seems too bothered by her prickliness, and he has a level of teasing friendliness that doesn't grate her nerves. Add in the fact that he makes Asta so happy and Thal might say she likes the man. 

But his reaction at the party had thrown her off. She wasn't sure whether it had been her tone or that she'd interjected a moment between him and Asta, but something had been off, and freed of her Void burden, Thal has every intention of making sure they're set straight. 

So, when she arrives with all the righteous and good intentions that she rarely bothers with, Thal is pissed to find that he appears to have the audacity to be missing. 

Stalking through the hallway, she recognizes a name on the door and halts her furious mission to consider it. Kiada Sinclair. She remembers the woman - remembers getting along and enjoying her company enough that she'd attended her wedding. They'd laughed about cold weather and hunted together. She remembers wanting to see more of her, but things had never quite panned out. She also distinctly remembers her mentioning that she's Danta's Registrar, which means she should know where he is. 

Deciding that a knock would only waste time - and not wanting to lose what limited time she has on her 'good person' clock - Thal throws open the door. There's an annoyed scowl on her face and a demanding tone on her lips, "Where's your idiot boss?"

Thalassa

black hearts, the wicked never rest. i curse the day i let you in

so tell me dear,

She’s been busy ever since it seemed like if Danta were to spend a few minutes away from the butcher that the spooky security guard would self combust. Which has left her dealing with a lot of letters and paperwork, and leaving notes under their door for things that needed immediate attention. She knows better than to try and get in the middle of it, having seen the murderous look more than once in Astaroth’s face. So she doesn’t test it, doesn’t tempt it. Just gets her work done without a problem, going home to her husband, and thriving in a way that she never thought she’d ever get.

She’s in that routine right now when she’s just finished writing a letter back to the dockworkers of Jack Tar about the influx of echo sharks they’ve been experiencing lately when the door is shoved open - surprised enough by the sudden change that the pen streaks off the side of the letter, effectively ruining the correspondence she’d so carefully worded.

Hissing out a breath, Kia looks up with a touch of annoyance in her own face, mirroring Thalassa’s energy without realizing it. “First of all, if you wanna meet with the Theocrat, I’d suggest you knock first.” She says snappily, sitting up from Danta’s desk to look over at Thal and actually take her in. “Do you want to try again?”

can your heart still break?

if it's already stopped beating?

KIADA

\\ Get my pretty name out of your mouth \\

The snappy response shouldn't surprise her, even if they'd been friendly last time, however, Thal still doesn't appreciate it. As much as she likes Kia, she has more important things on her mind than 'protocol' and 'titles.'

"No. I'm in a rush, and the Theocrat will want to hear this." As with most people, she assumes he'll get a major high out of seeing her apologize in one of her few moments of polite consideration. After all, the number of people who have heard the words can be counted on one hand. 

Propping her hip against the doorway like she has no plan on leaving, Thal tilts her head, dark hair framing the snarky grin. "Just tell me where he is and I'll let you get back to all your..." she gestures to the table, fangs peeking out as she takes it all in, "paperwork." There aren't enough coins or sunken chests in the world to trap her behind a desk like this. It might as well be a cage.

Thalassa

black hearts, the wicked never rest. i curse the day i let you in

so tell me dear,

“Lots of people are in a rush. Doesn’t mean it’s as important as it seems.” The harpy says, her annoyance peeking through as she regards the letter she’d been responding to and how ruined it is with the streak of ink that she has to wait to dry before she sets it aside. It leaves her to prop her elbows up on the desk, her iceberg gaze landing on the other Ancient - someone she didn’t mind to hunt with, or in general really, somewhat taking her back by the insistence.

As for where he is, she flashes her own fanged grin back at Thalassa, humorless but itching for a fight if that’s what Thalassa’s going to continue to do. “Don’t know where he is. Though I’m pretty sure that’s on purpose.” Given the season and the immediate face to face reaction Asta had with the thought of her coming near Danta whenever he was around.

Which means she’s sequestered here, leaving letters and notes under their door for whenever they just so happened to see them. “So like I said, do you want to try again? Maybe I’ll know more on the second try.” Her tail flits back and forth like an annoyed feline’s as she stares at her.

can your heart still break?

if it's already stopped beating?

KIADA

\\ Get my pretty name out of your mouth \\

She shouldn't be picking a fight. She's on a mission to make amends. Yet with the familiar flare of her emotions back on full blast, it's a little hard to keep them in check, and Kia isn't really helping with her lack of information (intentional or not). 

Thal returns the humorless smile with one of her own, relishing in the sensation that she's missed so much. Her tail flicks behind her, casual in the frustration that slowly grows. Maybe she should pick a fight just to see how good it feels without the Void sucking the joy out of everything. A glint forms in the storm of her eyes, coiling and ready. "Perhaps you need to be better at your job."

But, as much as she'd like to release some energy with a spar, Thal surprisingly has other priorities at the moment, and she gets the feeling that starting a physical altercation with his registrar isn't going to be a good start to her conversation with Danta. So, she pushes off from the doorframe, raising her shoulder in a dismissive half-shrug. "No. It sounds to me like you don't know anything, and I have more important things to do than play polite."

Thalassa

I am not a creature that was born

Whether Thalassa is intending on starting this fight or not is irrelevant for Kiada, whom is already annoyed and pissed off given everything that’s already been interrupted. Such that when when she flashes that storm in her eyes, Kiada meets it with the ice cold of her own. Because while she doesn’t need the validation from someone like Thalassa, she also knows that she’s damn good at her job.

And if she wasn’t, well, she wouldn’t be there anymore.

So the laugh escapes her - a bright chime of a thing as Thalassa pushes off the doorframe and Kiada scoots the chair back. “You’d get a lot further if you tried, just saying.” She snaps, and with the frustration of everything culminating (and the chaos of her ancient side coming out), Kiada shifts from woman to cinderscourge, diving toward Thalassa with her claws outstretched as if to say put your money where your mouth is.

Kiada

I am a fire that was set

\\ Get my pretty name out of your mouth \\

She can see the moment her barb hits, the laughter feeling too bright for their conversation. There's a moment of satisfaction that she'll regret later, but she answers the snap with a drawl of lazy disinterest, "Maybe next time." Although they both know she won't even try. 

The shift catches her off guard, a single eyebrow raising over the glinting blue. There's genuine amusement in her smile, mixed in with the mockingly sweet tone as she backs up. "Careful. You might burn your precious paperwork." Then, with a cocky wink, Thal clicks the door closed between her and the flaming bird, casually turning on her heels to leave. She'd deal with those consequences after she smoothed things out with Danta.

Thalassa

I am not a creature that was born

Her wings flare, fire sparking at the tips of her wings that thankfully don’t cast embers down onto the paper in the tinderbox that is the Theocrat’s office as she surges toward the door and to Thalassa that has just slunk off of it. It’s with plenty of familiarity with the shift (her reminiscence of being Attuned once upon a time helping in the flurry of movement) such that when Thal closes the door, the harpy doesn’t just fly right into the door.

There’s the sound of a whoosh and a cry that’s akin to a falcon’s behind the closed door, the sensation that she’s swooped away from it in order to return to her human body with a quiet and dull thud. But by that time the captain is gone and Kiada’s pulling open the door with a snarl on her lips to an otherwise empty hallway.

- FIN

Kiada

I am a fire that was set