The Coalwater Mercenaries' headquarters were just as well-proclaimed as those of the Sunfire Mercenaries- the building was visible above ground, sported a welcoming front room and comfortable accommodations for their members, and had an open log book right at the front door where one was to sign in upon entry.
But Mi'ishaen knew she had met accomplices of Dark, however, when she was instructed to use an outside name the moment she stepped across the threshold. When she hinted at already having one, she was asked if she were still in Urmlaspyr or not.
And thus, the Tiefling became, according to the Coalwater Mercs, Fireblade Mishka Azarovna Luzkaya, while Silveredge became Rasha bat-Ceubel.
"We're registered openly, so the trick here is to get close enough to a real name that your outside companions will recognize it and cleave to it," a slender-built Dragonborn called Greyscale counseled. "It's useful of this Aleksei fellow to have given you those nicknames."
"Seems like the Dragonborn where he's from put a lot of stock in them," Mi'ishaen replied, looking over the flamboyant seal that was proudly displayed upon the charter that she could not read. "He calls them 'little pet names,' or whatever- I guess it's his way of displaying affection. He has his own, but- it seems to be a family thing. It's awkward for me to say it, I think."
The Dragonborn nodded, thinking back to his own past. "I wouldn't worry about it; he's styling himself as the leader of your 'clan,' which isn't as prideful as it sounds. He's likely worried about you."
"We can take care of ourselves- he's said we can take care of ourselves," Mi'ishaen noted quietly.
"Uh huh," Greyscale nodded, opting to leave that conversation alone as he looked over the notes that had come down from the second floor earlier that day. "Nice touch by your Shadar-kai, double checking the 'false' books. Also, she's the only person to get away with telling Cypher that she's wrong for a long, long time."
"It's a talent of hers," Mi'ishaen agreed. "She would make any pauper feel like a king, even if he'd just spit in her face."
"So you must be an empress," the Dragonborn smirked. Noting the unamused look on the Tiefling's face, however, he deftly returned to the more pressing subject. "According to this, the Sunfire Mercs are in trouble, but neither the real journals nor the 'false' ones make sense about it. It should take better than one turned hound to put the whole operation under closing notice."
"Depends on who it turned on," Mi'ishaen snorted, turning her attention from the seal to Greyscale, who was leaning on the base of the stairs that led to the second floor. "Any cross thing done to a nobleman goes straight to the ears of every judge and priest."
"Hard to believe you're less than a week over here," came the weary reply. "Doesn't say who the dog took or why; just says he turned and got exterminated for his pains. But the severity of this description doesn't make sense even if the hound turned on Foril himself- the Sunfire's breeding business is so well-confirmed that they have no competition in all of Suzail."
"That's because the closure threat has nothing to do with the dog, or with their kidnapping rescues, or even with their work with alchemic users," came a rich alto voice from the second floor. A honey-brown haired Human popped out from one of the four rooms upstairs, accompanied by Silveredge, whose Raven Queen coven robes now sported a few more pockets. "Read this; you won't believe what they're up to."
"Cypher, you can-"
Before the Dragonborn could finish the sentence, the lithe female had hopped sideways onto the smooth banister and slid her way down to him, hopping off just before she would have fallen off the end of it. Handing over the small scrap of paper with a peck on the scaly cheek, the Human crossed her arms and waited for the reaction she knew would come. Silveredge, meanwhile, noted that she had caught Mi'ishaen's attention immediately, and smiled shyly as she slowly descended.
Greyscale read down the brief note once, tilted his head slightly, then read it again more slowly.
"They want in on our racket," he marveled, almost to himself.
"Not just that; they want us, lock, stock, and every last bloody barrel," the female nodded approvingly. "And maybe not everybody's happy with that idea."
"Or maybe another organization has caught on to their game. You know what the merc business has been like these past few years," Greyscale murmured, still going over the paper. "You two have any idea who this 'R' might be?"
"That's what makes me feel like someone's gumming the pipes from the inside," Greyscale's counterpart offered. "Dark's got her fingers on Sembia's wrist, and she knows some coteries over there are finding Cormite allies. Noble ones, at that. So now you have a whole new Semmite invasion- quiet, weaponless, with their path paved in coin."
"It's about the Suzail Writ, I bet," the Dragonborn huffed. "Oh, sorry- signed by the late king, gave commoners rights."
"And not a single noble family likes it, not even the Emmarask," the Human added. "I wouldn't be surprised if some one of them tried to hire the Sunfire to work with the Semmites, and the true-blooded Cormyrians among them wouldn't stoop so low."
"Are Semmites so hated here?" Silveredge asked as she finally reached the floor level. Once there, she moved to Mi'ishaen's side, so that the four of them fell into oddly natural pairs.
"Kidding me? As I hear it, Spectre split in half over it, and they're little more than a cadre of thieves, swindlers and con-people," Greyscale spat. "There are deep feelings here, deep feelings. If it were that a noble were trying to turn the Sunfire Mercs into a Semmite tunnel- or worse, a front- we'd be doing them a favor by burning the place down around them."
"Would we not do them a greater favor by offering them the chance to overthrow those who are trying to put a bit into their mouths and turn them in a direction that they do not wish to go?" Silveredge suggested. "Surely the utter destruction of the place and everyone in it is not entirely necessary."
"Girl after Dark's own heart," Greyscale chuckled, looking up from the scrap of paper at last. "I'm sure that's what old firehair'll say, when she gets Shiv's message. How do you feel about going back in there to see if they'll still recruit you?"
"How?" Mi'ishaen interjected. "You're connected to me, and I'm connected to the Coalwater Merc that those idiots have got to still be looking for- you think they're going to just forget that?"
"They may forgive it if the handmaiden returns what they believe that you and Coalwater Merc stole," Silveredge replied. "This mistress has taken such faithful notes that her handmaiden cannot imagine that the original documents should any longer be necessary to her."
"I'll take a look at them one more time, just to make sure we're not giving away something we're going to have to send manpower back in there to get," Cypher mused, reaching out her hand tentatively.
"Should the mistress require it, the handmaiden would return them, of course," Silveredge assured. "They, and any thing in the Sunfire's possession, can be called her own."
"They're going to want the dog back, too," Mi'ishaen reminded. "You think he's going to be okay in there?"
"Do you think that I will be okay in there?" Silveredge asked quietly, looking directly into Mi'ishaen's eyes.
Mi'ishaen thought back to other times, and Silveredge, seeing this deep contemplation, reached out and gently took hold of the Tiefling's tense upper arms. In response, the arms uncrossed, and Mi'ishaen mirrored the Shadar-kai's touch. For a few fleeting moments, the two seemed unsure of what to do with each other, but the Human female broke the near-sacred silence between them.
"Gods, just kiss her and be done with it!" she exclaimed impatiently.
Greyscale glared at Cypher in an incredulous silence for a few moments. Then, taking her firmly by the arm, he turned and marched her upstairs- although she wasn't thrilled about being taken away from the situation, her dexterity couldn't quite match his simple, brute strength.
"Well, of course- you'll be fine," Mi'ishaen replied guiltily, a few moments after the quarreling pair disappeared behind an upstairs door. "You're more than capable of making everybody in there think that you're their docile servant-"
"And do you think that I am doing the same to you?"
The question wasn't totally unexpected, but the Tiefling was winded by it all the same. While she hadn't spent sleepless nights over the situation, she had begun to admit that they had been moving past simple friendship for some time. For a creature so used to controlling what she would and wouldn't get herself into- or out of- the helplessness of her waltz into this situation had been jarring.
"It's... strange," Mi'ishaen finally managed. "And, sometimes... I do wonder..."
"There are some things about which we can only know that we do not know," Silveredge soothed. "You can look and look and look forever, or you can trust that it is because it is- rather, that I like you because I do, and I have done from the very day we first fought. All I have done, in the time that I've known you, is find more reasons to go on liking you, but I cannot answer why I first began to do so."
"But I... don't really know... how to like you back, I guess?" Mi'ishaen continued with even more difficulty. "How to really... do... whatever that is."
"I don't know that anything has to change," Silveredge explained, dropping her voice to a tone so soft that Mi'ishaen had to come closer to hear her. "We talk. We share our thoughts."
"You kissed me," Mi'ishaen pointed out.
"And you might do that back," Silveredge smiled shyly.
Mi'ishaen's face lost all pretense at coolness at that point. "Is that... do you... want that?"
And from upstairs, both women heard-
"Oh, dear gods- FUCKING KISS HER!"
-followed by multiple shushes.
"Sheesh, that tells you the level of confidentiality anybody can expect around here." The moment worked to clear some of Mi'ishaen's nervous energy, and Silveredge smiled. "But I guess she's got it right, huh?"
"I guess I might also work on telling you precisely what it is I want at any given time, instead of having others do it for me- others have requested me to do as much."
"Well, yeah, that's a start," Mi'ishaen admitted, nearly laughing the response out. "Please do that, or I'll never know what to do with you at all, ever."
"Perhaps... if I showed you?"
Both went quiet suddenly, again knowing what wanted to happen in the next moment. They neared each other's faces gradually- and with some remnants of awkwardness- and Silveredge eased the tension by smoothing her cheek against Mi'ishaen's first. When she drew back into a nuzzling distance, Mi'ishaen squeezed her eyes shut and planted her lips firmly on Silveredge's, rather like a small child would push a kiss onto a mother's cheek. The Shadar-kai allowed one hand to leave the Tiefling's upper arm and brush the cheek instead, wordlessly encouraging the contact to last longer than its initiator had planned- and as the moment stretched on into a minute, Mi'ishaen allowed Silveredge to gain control over it, allowed her head to be guided to one side as the light blue fingers slipped into her loose, dark hair. When they finally separated and rested, Silveredge found Mi'ishaen's cheeks much redder than they had been just a few moments before.
"I liked that," she whispered encouragingly, pulling her fingers all the way through Mi'ishaen's hair. "And I like you. Truly. No spells or tricks."
Mi'ishaen found herself smiling giddily, until something else unexpected happened- and shockingly enough, she didn't even have to find some kind of strange excuse for wanting to break away from the close contact.
"No, you haven't," Silveredge stated simply as she allowed Mi'ishaen to step back from her. "And I can explain why that happened, but- shall we see what plans Cypher's got?"
"Yeah, let's not have her holler down again," Mi'ishaen agreed, grateful for the skipped explanation. Taking hold of Silveredge's hand, she moved upstairs with a new energy, and breathed a sigh of slightly-ruffled satisfaction.
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