#zayis marden | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tripleyeeet · 4 months ago

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FUTILE DEVICES. (1)

SUMMARY: Zayis, now recently bound to aid the council of Emon, finds herself (unwillingly) in the company of Vox Machina. PAIRING: Percival de Rolo/Original Female Character (Zayis Marden)

WARNINGS: Mentions of tiefling racism, multi POV. That's about it. A/N: Here we go, folks! WC: 5,869

CHAPTER LIST / MASTERLIST / AO3

The moment Zayis sees the knives come out inside the dimly lit tavern, she’s out. With a heavy sigh and a wave of her hand, her body instantly materializes from the far counter of the bar to outside the entrance; her tankard of ale still in hand as she curses under her breath.

All day she’d been running errands for Allura and the council, sifting through the city streets for possible mercenary groups to aid the sovereign, and now she was tirelessly trying to unwind. Her body feeling a bit achy from collecting a rather lengthy list of ingredients for Uriel’s personal healer on top of all the information collecting and a little bit of selfish pickpocketing as a treat.

Taking a sip of her drink, she releases a sigh and sits on the steps. A heavy feeling pooling within her gut as she closes her eyes, trying to relax. Such a feat unfortunately proving quite difficult with all the fighting going on back inside. The various sounds of grunting and yelling alongside a myriad of smashing causing her to pinch the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

Nowadays, no matter where she goes, it feels like all of Emon is at war with one another. Regardless of petty things like social standing, there always seems to be trouble among groups. Whether it's related to politics or nothing more than a mindless spat like the one occurring inside, it feels like the general peace has passed its point —the empty sounds of a wind gust or the flow of rain lost behind the constant bickering.

It makes her sink further into the stone steps as she leans back, resting her elbow against the hard edge. Allowing herself to mentally exist elsewhere for a moment while her body remains stuck in the present.

Almost immediately, her thoughts wander to the deal she and Allura had made nearly a week ago: “If you swear your allegiance to the sovereign, he will pardon your transgressions, Zayis.”

Even now, after nearly a week of such allegiance having been made, she still isn’t sure whether she made the right decision or not. Favouring a bit more freedom in her day, truthfully, the exhaustion she currently feels makes it a bit harder to be optimistic about the whole thing. The usual silver lining she tends to imagine even on her darkest of days falling short when she finds herself gazing into a future of endless commands from a rather demanding group of individuals. The grating sound of Fince’s voice specifically now echoing in her ears well after she’s had a few hours of reprieve from it.

“Fucking Allura,” she grumbles to herself as she sips her ale. Her frustrations quickly becoming interrupted when she hears the crashing of a door behind her, followed by the sight of bodies being thrown overhead, causing her to duck. The panic of nearly being caught in the mess of the tavern keep and the supposed troublemakers that started it all, making her immediately adjust her cloak to hide her stolen tankard.

“Does this mean we’re banned from every tavern in Emon?” she hears one of them say once they’ve settled. Followed by a short burst of responses she doesn’t quite catch since she’s still too busy processing her lack of solitude at the end of the staircase —watching as they slowly begin to stand and dust themselves off. Their unfamiliar faces thankfully paying her no mind as they proceed to groan and shift; a newfound tension brewing between them as they begin to argue back and forth.

Swallowing hard, she’s reminded then that she’s not supposed to be involved in any trouble. So, instead of sticking around, she begins to quietly stand and descend the steps, hoping the group before her might remain lost in their own little world and fail to realize how long she’s been sitting there, mindlessly staring at them.

Unfortunately though, not even a second after she moves, a pair of eyes belonging to a lithe, white-haired man turn to catch her own. Their pale green hue sizing her up between his glasses as she calmly walks, staring back with equal judgement until she’s forced to turn her focus to the road ahead, wondering what the hell they could’ve done to get banned from every tavern.

As her knuckles rap against the oak door of Allura’s office the following morning, she finds her mind drifting back to that same moment just hours before. The scene of bodies thrown alongside the mention of tavern banning —the image of the white-haired man’s gaze boring into her skin with gross judgement.

Releasing a huff, she narrows her eyes at the thought just as Allura opens the door, watching as the wizard gives her a once-over followed by an immediate frown. “Gods, you look like shit.”

Of course I do. I barely slept, she thinks. Though, she doesn’t say that out loud. Instead, she just brushes past her friend and flops onto the lounger located in the corner of the room. Her mind still foolishly focused on the group at the tavern as lets out a sigh.

“You wanted to see me?”

In response, Allura chuckles and closes the door before turning to face her. “I did, yes. Uriel wanted to ask a favour of you.”

A favor?

Zayis closes her eyes and hums, settling further amongst the velvet beneath her aching bones. “And what kind of favour did old Uriel ask for, then?”

“He’s asked that you join me for a little field trip.”

At the mention of a trip, one of Zayis’s eyes immediately opens to glance at her friend, noticing the faint presence of a smirk on Allura’s lips. The sight clearly hinting at something she knows the tiefling will enjoy, prompting her attention to shift.

“What kind?” Zayis asks, sitting back up.

Allura sighs and drops down next to her, adjusting her skirts. “We’ve found a band willing to aid in the extinction of that beast outside of Emon. They’re… a bit rougher around the edges than some of the other groups, but they’re willing and able, so—”

“So, you have no trouble leading them to death,” Zayis shoots back, cutting her off.

“They agreed to the terms.”

“Terms I’m sure the council didn’t even bother to explain,” she replies, scoffing out a laugh. The kind that sounds almost bitter as it slips between her lips —the kind that usually she hides whenever the other members of the council tend to talk around her.

Knowing this, the wizard sighs again, her tone of voice immediately becoming laced with exhaustion. “We’re running out of options, Zay. You know that.”

Unfortunately, she does. With how things have been going with his supposed beast, she’s well aware that the impression it’s making isn’t in favour of the council’s efforts to keep Emon strong.

On the other hand, though, she’s aware that the same council resorting to poorly vetted recruitment to exterminate the damn thing isn’t much better. Especially after having lost a fair amount of her previous clientele to the cause.

In fact, just the though of how many she knows that’ve been lost makes her swallow. The urge to argue and point out the flaws in the sovereign’s plan heavy on her mind as she opts for silence, knowing deep down there’s no point, considering her word is far from law.

“Uriel wants you to keep an eye on them,” Allura eventually says, partially changing the subject with a more huffy tone than previous. “Follow them around and report back. Just like old times, yeah?”

Raising her brow, Zayis moves her arms across her chest and leans back, offering her friend nothing but pure skepticism. “Let me get this straight. You want me to go off with a bunch of strangers into the mountains and watch over them until we all inevitably die like everyone else?”

“Not die. Survey. Watch and make sure they behave.”

“Oh, okay so, babysit?” she deadpans.

Allura lets out a heavy breath. A plume of frustrated air pushing through her nose as she reaches up to pinch the bridge, unable to deny the truth. That’s exactly what they want more or less.

“Yes. Fine. Babysit. Whatever. Now, are you willing to do that or should I inform Uriel that you’d rather run errands for Fince and Krieg instead?”

Almost immediately, Zayis cringes at the thought; her lips forming a scowl as she shakes her head. “You know I’d rather die than spend a day with either of those idiots.”

“Perfect. We’ll head to the ship then.”

After that, Zayis feels a gentle pat on her knee. The soft, pale hand of her friend giving her a quick squeeze before she stands up to grab her things, motioning for Zayis to follow.

“I promise it won’t be that bad,” she assures, stepping aside to close and lock the door behind the tiefling once she walks through. “Honestly, you might find good company in some of them. They seem like your type.”

What the hell does that mean?

“Mm, somehow that feels like an insult.”

“It’s not,” Allura chuckles, prompting Zayis to rolls her eyes and shove her palms into the pockets of her trousers. “It’s just an assumption.”

“An assumption based on…?”

The wizard opens her mouth only to quickly close it and bite back a smirk instead. “Oh, I don’t know. Aren’t you typically a fan of those less proper?”

It’s true she’s not exactly a fan of the company Allura tends to keep. Having grown tired of it over the years, she much prefers to keep herself hidden away from all the noble bullshit that surrounds her. Especially when she’s not required to engage.

“Lura, I’m not a fan of anyone and you know that.”

Somehow, that gets a laugh, causing Zayis to let out a deep breath and shake her head, wondering why her friend always has to insist on her meeting other people. She already has enough friends right now. She’s got Allura and Kima and her brother, Dharmir, and—

“Well, regardless, maybe you should open up more. Give people a chance.”

Zayis looks at her incredulously, stumbling a bit as she debates whether to stop walking or continue; quickly opting for the latter. “And you want me to extend the branch to these rough around the edge mercenaries, was it?”

Allura, forever known to push, merely shrugs her shoulders as they move. Her expression hopeful, yet stern. Her eyes clearly conveying the sense that yes, she does want Zayis to do that. “Aren’t you a little rough?”

“No, I’m not rough. I’m just… not soft like the rest of you.”

Allura offers a smirk. “You’re quick to forget you were the same at one point.”

For a moment, she falters; her expression shifting from annoyance to something else neither of them can really place. Something strange and distant that promptly has her blinking and clearing her throat to reset.

“Yes, well, isn’t that the point of running away? To forget the past and all that,” she says back, her tone suddenly dramatic as she wisps her hand around, earning herself an eye roll that makes her laugh, causing Allura to drop the facade of professionalism for a moment to shove the tiefling’s arm —an act of violence that has Zayis feigning a gasp in response.

“You dare shove your loyal servant? How rude!”

“Oh hush, you’re not a servant. If anything, you’re more of an errand boy.”

“Mm, cause that’s so much better…”

This time, it’s Allura’s turn to laugh as they weave through the halls; their conversation becoming more playful as the wizard continues to tease the tiefling about her lack of social skills until they find themselves at the back end of the castle. A ship resembling that of a pirate’s, sitting in the grass a few yards away, waiting to be boarded.

As soon as Zayis sees it, she raises a brow at her friend who merely smiles and motions her to keep moving. The two of them swiftly arriving near the entrance of it so that Allura can speak with some of the workers while she turns to survey the area.

Despite how often she’s at the castle nowadays, she’s never been here before. Since she’s pretty much restricted to the various Master’s offices or the main hall, even the winding path of hallways they took to get here is lost on her thanks to the distracting conversation. The area she now finds herself in making her eyes narrow as she scans the line of trees behind them before doubling back to view the castle’s stone walls coated in vines.

“Everything’s clear. They’ll be arriving shortly,” Allura then says, pulling her attention back.

“Who?”

“Your new friends, obviously,” she teases, giving her arm a light pinch.

In response, Zayis swats her hand away with the end of her tail and scowls, deciding to remain silent as she takes another look around, suddenly remembering that she’s about to wander into the war zone of a creature who has a rather stellar winning streak at the moment. A fact that truthfully makes her skin genuinely crawl.

“So, I’m assuming you have some sort of plan for if things go south, then?”

Allura blinks at her for a moment, clearly gathering her thoughts before she hums and looks towards the castle. “I won’t be joining, unfortunately. I have business to attend to, but don’t worry, if things don’t go according to plan just…”

Just…?

Zayis can’t help but question the way her sentence suddenly trails off. Allura’s shift in tone forcing her to assume the worst as she raises a brow. “Just… what? Leave them behind?”

“I didn’t say—“

“No, I feel like that’s what you’re insinuating,” she immediately argues, causing her friend’s jaw to shift while her eyes roll. An obvious sign of having just been proven wrong, which immediately creates a rift between them. The familiar kind where they tend to stew in silence, avoiding each other’s gaze in favour of brainstorming their act of retaliation —to take a beat and prove the other wrong in order to claim victory in another one of their petty little spats.

Thankfully though, the exchange is short-lived. Interrupted by a small sea of bodies being led by a group of guards, prompting Zayis to assume Allura’s mention of their supposed roughness goes far deeper than she’s willing to let on.

“Ah, right on time. Hello, Vox Machina!”

Zayis scowls at her friend’s sudden change in demeanour, watching as she politely lights up like a fireplace; the apples of her cheeks rising up alongside the edges of her lips.

Truthfully, it makes her a bit sick how she can seamlessly switch sides like that, slipping between her old, much more rational-sounding friend to the Arcane Master who now stands beside her, showing little signs of anything but a calculated wizard who merely lives to serve Emon and it’s gracious sovereign.

“Gods, it’s scary when you do that,” Zayis can’t help but comment quietly.

“What?”

Instead of responding, she just turns to face her, mocking her lifeless smile as she holds her hands in front of her lap and bats her lashes, causing her friend to roll her eyes and scoff.

“I don’t look like that.”

“You do, actually.”

This time, Allura huffs, holding back the urge to tease her in return as the guards part ways to reveal the group, the image of their faces immediately making Zayis cock her head and narrow her eyes, quickly realizing who they are.

“I’m assuming you’re all ready to go?”

The group responds accordingly, their voices creating a chorus of positive responses that seem to muffle as Zayis looks them over, eventually landing on the white-haired man who’s already back to passing ocular judgement as he’d done the night prior.

“Great. Come along, then. We’ll do introductions on the boat.”

There are too many names to remember. So, after the introductions are over Zayis just focuses on roles. Rogue, ranger, bard, gunslinger, etc.

It’s easier that way, she tells herself. Less of a hassle to remember on top of avoiding any sort of personal connection —exactly how she likes it, despite Allura’s obvious displeasure for the concept when she later motions to the white-haired man standing across the boat.

“That gunslinger’s got a staring problem,” she huffs, instantly matching the man’s gaze as he looks back to see what they’re doing. His curious eyes moving between the two of them before they inevitably turn back to the ranger beside him who gives him a rather smug smile.

“You’re not much better, dear.”

All she does is huff and lean against the railing, turning her attention to the vast land beneath them. The forest appearing small and almost winding now that they’re coasting through the air, riding the breeze with the sails dropped.

“I bet he’s racist,” Allura suddenly says, her tone full of sarcasm, causing Zayis to snort.

“I mean, there’s always someone who’s got it out for the Hells.”

“Perhaps he’s preparing to slaughter you when no one’s looking.”

Glancing back with a smirk, Zayis shakes her head playfully, watching her friend move to stand at her side and smirk back. Their previous moments of tension before boarding slipping away like the current of a whitewater river.

“So, you’re suggesting I be vigilant, then?”

Allura nods promptly, her expression attempting to feign a sense of seriousness while holding back a laugh. “Yes, wouldn’t want you to die by the hands of some inferior human.”

“Says the human.”

Both of them chuckle. The sound carrying over to the other group who glance over, watching as they continue to idly bounce this ridiculous narrative off of each other until Zayis is practically leaning over the railing in stitches while Allura tries her best to remain more composed.

“Hush, you’re going to get me in trouble,” the wizard eventually says, still partially laughing as she wipes her eyes and attempts to clear the humour from her throat, causing Zayis to scoff.

“Me? You’re the one who came over here spewing rumours about the supposed racist,” she says, subtly motioning to the gunslinger with her chin before she stupidly gives in and looks over to see him staring once again.

This time though, he’s got a bit of a scowl going on; his lips twisting with discomfort alongside pinched brows. An obvious air of annoyance flickering through his features as she narrows her eyes in return, wondering if perhaps he managed to hear their little exchange.

If he had, he’s certainly being pretty civil about it, Zayis thinks. So, instead of dwelling on it, she shifts her gaze back to see Allura adjusting her skirts and smoothing her hair —obviously working to reset before she mutters a simple, “Yes, well, no more jokes. Back to business,” before wandering off to join the rest of the group.

Once gone, Zayis releases a deep breath and straightens her back as she debates whether or not she should follow, already knowing the answer. She should go over. Well aware that it’d be the smarter decision, considering they’re about to step into the heart of something more dangerous than she’s used it, she knows it’s what’s required of her. Though, she still can’t deny that the thought of having to play nice and do the noble thing by casting aside her usual reservations is already giving her a headache as she wanders over; hands shoved deep into her pockets to stand next to their rogue with a huff.

“As you can see the creature has already razed three villages and miles of farmland,” she hears her friend say.

In response, the group stares at her with curious glances. Ones that mirror her own as she tries her best to absorb the information through the heavy gusts of wind that rush right through them. The sound slightly muffling her voice enough to cause the tiefling’s commonly distracted mind to wander —a myriad of questions and answers as to what might happen once they land appearing all at once, forcing a frown upon across her face. The edges of her lips turning down as she then hears Allura mention the possible outcome of a kingdom wide starvation.

At which point, Zayis fully stares at her; brows pushed together in annoyance, realizing that her friend forgot to relay that part of the mission of prior. Along with a few other things she assumes she’s bound to discover as the ship begins to descend, prompting her to stumble slightly and bump into the rogue beside her.

Thankfully though, he doesn’t regard her when it happens. Instead, he just shifts away after she’s gained her footing and keeps his gaze forward, causing Zayis to release a breath of relief before she decides to wander off and grab her things so that she may take a moment to think about weight of the job she’s agreed to.

Because truthfully, when she’d said yes, she assumed it was going to be some sort of body guard situation. Something dangerous obviously, but overall more simple —not some sort of hunt alongside a handful of strangers who clearly aren’t very trustworthy of her. (Or, so she assumes, based on the way their gunslinger always seems to be keeping a watchful eye whenever she moves the slightest bit.)

Which makes her wonder what exactly his deal is. Considering the rest of the group has pretty much ignored her presence entirely other than the odd glance, she can’t help but wonder if his gaze is actually predatory or merely just a lack of social awareness.

Either way, she makes a note to be a little more cautious around him as she kneels down to sift through her bag, fingers slipping into pockets to grab a few things that might come in handy. Her attention now focused on the task at hand again as she deposits everything into her coat until she hears the sound of footsteps. Then, she’s back to anxiously wandering through the depths of her mind as she turns around to see the group’s cleric awkwardly offering a wave, a small smile plastered across her face as she wanders over.

“Uh, hello!” she says.

Raising a brow, Zayis doesn’t respond at first. Instead, she just looks the cleric over, eyes flicking between her stark white hair and pale eyes —focusing for a moment on the scar that lines the left before she releases a heavy breath.

“Hi.”

She clears her throat as Zayis moves to stand and look down curiously, watching the woman’s eyes shift towards her group before returning. “Sorry uh, what was your name again? I’m Pike.”

Pike. Hm.

“Zayis.”

Despite the obvious discomfort that shifts between them, Pike smiles and holds out her hand; the gauntlet she wears flickering in the sunlight enough to cause Zayis to look down and tentatively grab it, producing a single shake.

“Nice to meet you. We’re uh, happy to have you!”

“Are you?”

The words slip out before she can stop them, prompting Pike to falter for a moment as their hands move apart, causing the space between to become open once again as the cleric uncomfortably laughs.

“Well, I’m not opposed to it,” she comments quietly.

At that, Zayis narrows her eyes, trying to figure out how to respond. Mostly because she’s used to people being wary of her. Being a tiefling and all, it’s fairly common for people to react in uncomfortable ways when meeting her, especially if her presence is forced upon them like it’s being now. So, she doesn’t blame Pike for acting nervous if that’s the case. Nor the others, despite her own discomfort growing at their presence as time goes on.

“Well, that’s uh, kind,” Zayis eventually responds before she clears her throat and looks away.

As she does, she catches the gaze of the others. All of them now staring as Pike chuckles to herself before looking too, motioning towards them. “They’re harmless, I promise. They just hate strangers.”

Zayis hums, causing Pike’s laughter to slowly die off. The silence between them growing as she watches the rest of the group talk amongst themselves before a pair of them begin to wander over. Both obviously reluctant as their cleric moves to give them some space.

“I know Allura already introduced us, but this is Keyleth and Vax,” she says, somehow still smiling through the tension, watching as Zayis remains silent for a while, obviously feeling a bit too overwhelmed by the sudden rise in bodies as she nods and swallows the urge to Misty Step away from it all.

“Hey! Allura mentioned you were coming with, right?” Keyleth says while Vax just looks between the small group with a raised brow, obviously keeping his thoughts to himself.

“Yeah,” she admits, glancing towards the rogue who merely hums and looks back —his dark eyes aggressively sizing her up for a moment before the oddly begin to soften. “Though, I’m not entirely sure why, since you’ve already got a rogue.” The three of them share a look she’s clearly not meant to see. All of their eyes darting around to seek some sort of connection that’s obviously lost on her as she tries her best not to think about the fact that her chest feels like it’s on the verge of exploding out of her.

“Well, what’s your speciality?”

The sound of Vax’s voice throws her off a bit. The tone of it surprisingly calm —almost gentle— as she regards him slowly. “Illusions mostly. Though, I’ll admit my fingers are known to get a bit sticky on occasion.”

Somehow that earns a snort from him. Along with a nod that seems almost approving. “Well, as long as your fingers keep to themselves we’ll have no issues.”

She isn’t entirely sure what to say to that, so she just settles on a nod that quickly signals the end of their conversation alongside the ship beneath their feet beginning to descend, causing everyone to curiously look towards the bow.

As they do, Zayis lets out a sigh of relief, happy to have enough of an interruption to get them to stop talking so that she can think as they walk over to survey the ground beneath them. The scenery appearing rather dead and lifeless compared to the bustling energy of the city she’s used to.

“Where are we?” she hears Keyleth ask then, prompting Allura to appear seemingly out of nowhere to usher them down the steps —failing to answer the druid’s question until everyone’s off the boat except for her.

“You’ll find The Shalesteps just beyond that hill. Good luck,” she tells them, her tone bordering on snobbish as she goes to turn away but pauses, offering Zayis specifically a mischievous smirk. “Oh, and please don’t uh—what is it you often say Zay?— Fuck it up?”

In response, Zayis offers a frown as she crosses her arms over her chest, refusing to entertain her friend’s stupid antics as she turns to walk away, accidentally bumping into the gunslinger in the process.

Percy had recognized her almost immediately. The moment they’d met prior to boarding the ship, he knew that the tiefling awkwardly standing alongside Allura was indeed the same one he’d seen outside the tavern last night. The one who stopped and stared —a look of pure caution gracing her features as she simply strolled away.

Back then, he assumed she was just being wary of them. Well aware of how most feel about tieflings as a species, he knew it was common for them to have a certain air of vigilance in response to strangers, especially at night in more rowdy areas. So, after the ocular exchange had occurred he hadn’t really thought much of it. Instead, he just assumed it was nothing more than a look of warning to keep his distance —a look he graciously heeded until her face had all but disappeared from his thoughts after Scanlan started talking about some flyer.

Now though, as they walk the path towards The Shalesteps in search of information, Percy can't help but feel the need to conduct his own investigation. One that calls for a bit more prying.

“You’re going to burn a hole into that poor girl’s face if you keep staring.”

Blinking, Percy glances to his left to look at Vex who already looks like she’s about to call him out on doing something foolish. Based on the way her lips quirk into a bit of a smirk alongside her raised brow, Percy finds himself sighing.

“I don’t trust her,” he says simply.

Before he can stop himself his eyes move to look at her again with narrowed eyes; the constant pull of curiosity he’s held most of the way here flickering to ignite into a full-blown flame of skepticism.

“To be fair, you don’t trust anyone. None of us do. It’s part of the job.”

“She was at the tavern last night.”

He hears Vex loudly sigh at that, causing his nose to scrunch as he looks back in annoyance.

“What? You don’t think that’s a cause for concern?”

In response, Vex opens her mouth to speak but is quickly interrupted by Vax calling for her, instantly leaving Percy to his thoughts again as she wanders off. His mind suddenly running rampant with more and more questions when he inevitably looks back at the tiefling, hardly caring about the apparent hole he’s burning or whether or not she finds his presence unnerving.

Because, unlike the rest of them, she appears rather cold. Almost like she doesn’t even want to be there, causing Percy’s curiosity to rise as he slows down his pace a bit to saddle up to the woman now fully gracing his sightline. His body practically moving on its own accord as it shifts to cock his head and look down at her.

“You’re the tiefling from the tavern,” he states.

Almost immediately her eyes shoot upwards to match his gaze; her mismatched irises staring back at him almost painfully as the hands in her pockets rise to cross over her chest.

“I am.”

“Hm.”

He doesn’t need to hear her confirm it. From the moment he saw her stormy blue skin stained in white across her left eye, he knew that it was her. No other tiefling could match such a peculiar description.

Still, though, he can’t help but release a small huff as she says it. Almost like he’s proud to have recognized the connection.

“And now you’re here. Aiding us in our pesky pest control quest.”

At that, she snorts, and truthfully the sound throws him off a bit. After only ever seeing her act like a stone wall amongst his friends, he can’t help but find it odd to see her show an emotion that isn’t just clear indifference. The sudden presence of it making his eyes narrow as he sees her upper lip quirk up.

“Pesky feels like a bit of an understatement, don’t you think?”

Releasing a deep breath, Percy nods. “Fair point. We’re not exactly dealing with your average opponent.”

“Yeah, not really.”

There’s a long pause after that. The only noise between them being the scuff of their boots and the cacophony of his friend's voices idly chatting away about whatever it is that’s on their minds. The tension that’s already been established between them rising a degree or two when she inevitably looks at him, appearing almost angry.

“How come you keep staring at me?” she then asks.

At first, Percy just keeps his gaze firm. As he works to gather his own thoughts, he lets his eyes roam from place to place, absorbing the sight of her tall, charcoal horns and thick, dark brows —the way her eyes never seem to widen enough to look full as they share yet another gaze of agitation.

After a few moments though, he relents with a sigh and turns his attention to the crowd ahead, watching as Scanlan yells at Grog about something inaudible before the Goliath picks him up and throws him over his shoulder.

“Is it purely coincidence that we’ve run into you twice in the span of fifteen hours or are you perchance following us?”

For some reason that gets a laugh out of her. A single ha that has him looking back over in annoyance to see her expression soften.

“Unfortunately, it’s just a coincidence,” she tells him. Then, her hands uncross and return to her pockets as if she’s preparing to open up some more. “Last night I was thirsty and today I’m mostly hear running errands for the council.”

“Yes, I gathered that.”

She raises a brow —almost as if she’s surprised, causing him to shrug.

“You don’t look all that keen to be here. Not that any of us should be given the track record of our peers.”

All she does is hum then, prompting him to hum back as he begins to brainstorm what this errand of her’s that needs fulfilling might be. A couple of thoughts passing through until he gives her a quick once over, realizing what it is with a sigh.

“So, you’re babysitting us then, I presume? Keeping an eye out for trouble.”

“Pretty much.”

Percy doesn’t know whether or not he should feel insulted by that. Regardless though, he keeps whatever it is he feels in check as he mirrors her stance; pocketing his hands with a heavy sigh as they continue to walk.

“Well, apologies for staring then —and bumping into you,” he says, swallowing hard. “I’ll be honest, it's not that often we acquire allies in such civil circumstances.”

After that, instead of building the conversation, another hum pushes through her lips, causing him to wonder if perhaps her overall coldness is merely her just being awkward. She is a rogue after all and based on his and Vax’s first meeting he can say the man was equally as aloof to speak to in the beginning. Maybe even more so.

“Not very talkative, are you?” he can’t help but muse humorously.

“Not much to talk about, really.”

“Another fair point. Though, we could properly introduce ourselves —seeing as we’ll be working together.”

After he says that, she gives him a long, hard stare; her gaze darting around his face just as he had done to her a few moments prior. The sight of it —as much as he hates to admit it— definitely makes him feel a bit uneasy. And although he appears to look unaffected on the inside he still feels a bit… messy. With his chest pounding a little harder at the sight of her scrutiny while his thoughts run rampant trying to gauge this woman’s intentions, truthfully he finds himself a bit lost until she speaks again.

“Zayis Marden.”

When he remembers to breathe again he nods his head, secretly wondering why that name rings a bell. “Percival de Rolo III.”

“Charmed I’m sure,” she says, her voice suddenly teasing as she gives him a little bow that has him chuckling in confusion before they find themselves in view of their destination.

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