You Know What I Know

bite my tongue, bide my time, wait 'til the world is mine

It is amazing the kinds of places you could get into with enough confidence. As long as she keeps her nose high, her expression and her tentacles arranged just so, no one spared her a second glance. Which was good, because she had a meeting to get to, whether or not the other member knew it, and there was little that was going to get in the way of business.

Any more than it was going to get in the way of itself. Fucking mouthbreathers.

If this was her first venture into the palace, she might be more unsure, more uncomfortable finding a place to settle in, but this is merely a deal being refreshed, not made anew. Their illustrious leader should not be surprised when he happens upon her, her position chosen specifically so he will come across her.

And when he does? Well she is the picture of innocence, staring out over the city, a faraway look in her eyes, a small box being turned over and over in her hands.

Nerissa

as I watch the foaming breakers
when the tide comes rushing in

No, he is certainly not surprised. Nerissa has a habit of insinuating herself wherever she desires, and this is not the first time he has seen her slinking gracefully throughout the kingdom and its outskirts. She would be welcome on a more permanent basis, but he has a feeling she would decline anything that would tie her to the kingdom itself. With her job - what he knows of it, on the fringes as it operates - Maru can't fault her for that.

A few graceful pulses of his tentacles brings him to her side, far enough to the side for her to catch his approach in her peripheral. Posture relaxed and habitually regal, the rings on his tentacles vague and pale, expressing his calm demeanor. A hand comes to skim the banister, turning to gaze out over the city at her side. Automatically reaching out through the bond to try and connect with her mind, as he does with all his citizens. Nerissa. Does something specific bring you to the kingdom today, or are you just here to gaze upon my handsome self? His amusement is clear across the bond, clearly teasing. Maru is not nearly so self-absorbed as that, but it's a language they can both share.

I will contemplate my lifetime
with its virtues and its sins

bite my tongue, bide my time, wait 'til the world is mine

The fact that he moves within her peripherals is appreciated, but not necessary. No one else would approach her but their dear monarch, no one else would  Must it be one or the other Maru? A hand lifts to cover her mouth, hiding the curve of her lips but no the quiet laughter that leaves her. Though there are always far more pleasurable places I could find to gaze upon you. And I'm certain Olavi would have fun with someone else in our bed. It's an offer that falls rather easily from her, a longstanding joke, up to and until the point he decides to take her up on it.

That's not why she's here though, not this time.

"The seasons are changing. Currents are moving again, along with other things." Her head tilts as she turns to look at him more fully, pale eyes searching his face for a moment before Nerissa continues silently again, the box in her hand held out towards Maru. A gift, in the spirit of our continued understanding. And within the little box, if he chose to accept it, if they didn't have any issues to discuss, there was an elaborately decorated hair comb; gold, pearls, and skilful carving creating a delicate, whorling fan, motifs of waves flowing through it.

Nerissa

as I watch the foaming breakers
when the tide comes rushing in

Her laughter vibrates in the waters around them, and though he does not bother to conceal his own amusement at the delightful noise, it's clear he's charmed as ever by her feigned demure nature. After meeting the fellow, I don't think he'd be inclined to another eight pairs of legs in that particular bed my dear. A prickly man, that one. Though Maru is always inclined to joke and tease and play, unashamed to find Nerissa beautiful for all that she remains off limits for any variety of reasons. Though her bed may be open, he's quite sure her guard-shark would not be inclined to allowing interlopers.

Her news is equally, if not more so, intriguing than the act she puts on. For all that others may shy away from gifts and concealed boxes that come from her hand, Maru has no such reservations. They both know what game it is they play between them. His hand comes smoothly to meet her own, fingertips brushing smoothly against the backs of her knuckles as he receives it. When the box is in his palm, he lifts her hand to kiss the back of it, dark eyes intent upon her even as he bends to do so. They change indeed, in more ways than the seasons we have weathered. Smoothly straightening and releasing her hand, he instead glances down at the box for a moment, dark eyes slanting upward when he feels she has waited enough. The canals the Governor helped us create should be open for us soon. We've agreed that our people shall be folktales no longer. Perhaps this will be a turn in the tide for your...business? Information shared is a bartering system of their own, a language they both speak. Once upon a time Maru had to have that language drilled into him by his mother, disappointed as she already was in her singular progeny being male. It does not come as naturally to him as it does to her, but he plays her game all the same. Hopefully without being too disappointing a partner.

I will contemplate my lifetime
with its virtues and its sins