Chapter 4 - Childhood Sweethearts

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Gerald
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I don't nap very well. Now, sleeping in, that's another story. But naps just aren't my thing.

Waking up is kind of a blurry experience. The first thing I do is draw my guns, because I don't recognize this room. Then I realize that my hat's over my face and I don't recognize this room because it's the inside of my hat. Wagner and Bruce laugh at me, which is really my usual way of waking up anyway. I reholster my guns and slide my hat off of my head.

Ah. My room in the Armed Hall, as it were. We sort of have dormitories here, or little studies, I guess you could call them. People with families are different of course. And there's room at Father's place if I ever wanted it. But I prefer this room. I missed it, too. Crowded, kind of like a small closet, but with all my old trophies, notes, drawings from Poet friends...just all the souvenirs of my life, I suppose. Alphabetically arranged by the adjective Edward would describe the mess with.

Yeah, I remember now. Dad was bringing the two of us home, and I actually fell over as we got to my dorm room. He dragged me into bed and told me to keep my scrawny trailbitten ass in it until I got some real sleep.

I just can't do that, though. It's not night yet, and...well, things are too crazy right now. If I'm not going to be in the thick of things anymore then I at least want to catch up with anyone I know who's actually here.

Hey, Katherine. Since the Judge is here, and she's his assistant, she'll definitely be here in the Hall. Probably right in her office, doing paperwork. Heh, I probably managed to generate most of that paperwork, what with how my mission went.

Big success! Who else could have taken down the Peacock King? Well, Father did it, but if it weren't for me...Lyric helped too. And I guess Camden was there for something, and Jenny, and Rachella...

But Katherine doesn't need to know that!

I stretch, stand, and put my hat back on. Oof. I really am pretty tired. It's been a busy day. But I can't just prop my boots up now! I have a girl to impress, after all. I leave my quarters and trot off towards Kathe's office. It's a bit of a walk since the Armed Hall's living quarters are placed as far away from the Judge's office as possible, for some strange inexplicable reason. Well, to be fair, it's mostly trainees in three quarters of that area, and the rest is singles housing. Maybe some people don't want to be right next to all of that, for whatever reason.

Anyway, back to Kathe. She and I have a long history, you see. We grew up with each other, and were like childhood sweethearts. We had a couple flings, too. I guess she got over me, eventually. We did our own thing. Still, I like to think she remembers me fondly. And who's to say what the future holds?

I grin as I open the door, leaning my head in. She's nose-deep in paperwork, as usual. She doesn't even bother to look up at me.

"Just stick it in the inbox and I'll queue it behind the rest of the stack," she sighs, then keeps reading over whatever missive is on her desk while she nibbles on the end of her quill. She's a petite little girl, all told, curvy in all the right places. Hunched over like this, she's even teenier. The pinned loop of her mahogany hair peeks over her head like a little crown. I enter, grinning, and stand in front of her desk, hands on my hips.

She skirts a quick glance at me with forest-green eyes, then peers back down at her paperwork through her rectangular reading glasses. I don't think she even saw me. "Eh, Gerude," she says, "aren't you on assignment right now? Better get your ass back in the field."

I scowl. "Kathe, I'm not--"

"Oh, sorry Gerald." She grins up at me. Damnit, that wasn't a flub at all. She was getting a rise out of me! ...Successfully, too, I might add. "Oh hey, you're back! I guess Gerude's mission was a success, huh?" She stands up, coming around the desk to slap me on the shoulder companionably. "Here, it's time for my tea break." She sees me perk at the mention of tea. "Been awhile, huh? Come on, you can have a cup too. We should catch up! How'd your first assignment as a Poet go?" Her eyes are twinkling. I wonder if she's already heard. Oh well, I'll tell it better than anyone else does.

"It was a complete success!" I follow her into the break room, waiting for her to prep the tea. Oh, how nice, the water's already kept hot on a stove. It looks like a kind soul already had the part that takes the longest wait all set to go. Probably Kathe's cute little assistant, Bronwyn. She's the same person that decorated the tea room with the dainty wallpaper and lilac curtains that, while adorable, make for an abrupt departure from the rest of the Armed Hall.

"Oh? Really." She uses that eyebrow raise she learned off of Dad with the rest of us, then turns to pick through for a teacup for each of us. She has her own, of course, but plucks mine from a tea set that's been charmingly painted with tiny daisies and poppies. "That much of a success from jail? Your Poet career sounds like it might end up with the same track record as your Armed one."

I snort. "Yeah, well, sometimes you have to get creative to get the job done. If I hadn't been put in jail, then I wouldn't have been in a position to put the Peacock King in jail!"

She freezes, that eyebrow remaining raised up on her forehead, teacup clenched in her hand. "You...what?"

I give her my all-star grin. "Because of what I did, the Judge had no choice but to haul him to Radia for a Trial! He couldn't have done it if it weren't for me! What do you think of THAT?"

I don't expect her fist to come slamming into my jaw, teacup still lodged in her hand. It makes a very interesting double-impact of porcelain and knuckles. I hear shards tinkle against the floor before I realize that hey, my jaw really hurts!

Then she dives on top of me like a wildcat, teeth and claws tearing at me like I'm a rat that's pinned down for the kill. I really don't know what to do with her. I try to fend her off but this is different than our childhood scuffles, or our more grown-up fights, or even those couple other times that she tried to kill me. (Like I said, we had a few flings, it happens.)

"YOU BASTARD! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" At least that's what she probably says. I don't even remember what language it was in. "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING, THROWING DADDY IN JAIL?!?"

I really can't answer her from this position, so I'm sort of just left to blink as it dawns over me in a sort of slow horror. The Peacock King has two daughters in the royal bloodline. I'd only found one of them while I was in the Palace. And I had never really given that much thought since then.

Guess the joke's on me, huh? Funny. Everything's kind of fading into red and black, and I can't hear Katherine's screaming very much over the rushing in my ears.

* * *
'Sy
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I'm...not crying.

Put that fucking quill down right now. I am not. Crying. Do we have that understood?

I leave my brother's suite and walk through the Palace, taking careful note as I do of the energy currents running through the complex. The Palace is one of the buildings whose wards currently play host to the confinement of the Peacock King, and so those energies are playing a very important role right now. Just as important are the background energies of the Palace - the gossip and rumor, the shifting moods. We are in almost the most politically delicate situation I could imagine at this moment - I want to feel the tide right now, and know when it might shift.

Yes, plenty of my mind is occupied by my job right now. A great deal of it is doting on Lyric, though, and it's starting to distract me. Right now is the last time I should be thinking about him. His Uncle is taking care of him right now, and I don't want my mind to wander that way. I might try to intrude and listen in on just what my son is telling him. The desire to hear it is extremely compelling.

I have something to distract myself with, though. Camden will have sent in a preliminary report by now, detailing what's transpired thus far on his side of Audiva Rocale. It'll be awaiting me on my desk, I am sure.

I could take the walk across the complex grounds and into the Armed Hall, but inside the Palace there are a few places I can take a shortcut to get there. Warping space can prove very convenient for those such as myself with access to the privilege. This means I can take a shortcut inside the Hall, reducing the amount of people who might run across me on the way.

I don't want to talk to anyone just yet. I don't want this news spreading too quickly. It might reach...sensitive ears.

Oh, who am I kidding. I'm trying to reach Katherine before anyone who knows a fraction of what's really going on with her father does. I have a fair chance of it, though - it hasn't seemed to have leaked, yet, and right now Katherine should be fairly sequestered in her office, with the...less sensitive paperwork. I saw fit to route the more auspicious missives to my own desk, away from her eyes for now.

Right now with Katherine I've actually got things pretty well handled. For once.

I open the door to her office, bracing myself for a long explanation and some very serious discussion. The scene I come in on is that of Katherine straddling Gerald's chest while gripping his head by a fistful of red hair and slamming his skull back against the floor. It's not something I am unaccustomed to walking in on, to be fair, but I didn't expect it this one time.

My poor son. He's had it worse before, but Katherine's a special sort of pain on so many levels. I haul her off, fending off a fierce blow aimed at my liver, then protecting my crotch from the obvious potshots. She's very quick and efficient at taking down opponents, especially ones that attack from behind. She even tries to get her teeth on my neck. Once she realizes who's lifting her up, though, she...well, keeps hitting me, but in a way that betrays she's pretty sure it won't make contact before I fend it off.

"Let me go! I need to kill him!"

Words I've heard enough times before, to be sure. I sigh. This time is different, though. Gerald may have gotten into a beatdown because of his fool mouth yet again, but what happened to cause this wasn't really his fault. Of course, that doesn't make dealing with Katherine while she's having a fit any easier.

"I am NOT having a fit! I just need to kill a man!" I sigh. Words I've heard often enough. I spare a glance over at Gerald. Boy's not getting up? Ah, unable to? Good. Then I don't have to worry about him being stupid enough to come up to me while I'm dealing with this infernal girl.

I slip Katherine around in my arms while walking towards the wall. This maneuver, by the way, is not something I ever suggest you attempt yourself, unless you want to get mangled by her or me. I manage to catch her gaze with mine before I grab her wrists and hold her up by them. She's dangling about a foot off of the floor, back to the wall. She's also partially entranced by my gaze, or should I say, she's being ordered to Stand Down. That's why I haven't taken both knees to the crotch just yet.

She pouts. "Jhe h'Akribastes, he was lying to me, except that he wasn't." I hear a groan as Gerald attempts to roll over, and then a retch as he discovers yet again how stupid his ideas are at times. I sigh again, and keep eye contact.

"Yes, honey. I've got some things to tell you in my office, if you would be so kind as to help peel your comrade off of the floor." I see that frown line develop between her eyebrows. The pout is my brother's. But that little frown line is all Ebrelle.

"Are you going to tell me that I can't kill him?" It's cute, the way she's somehow convinced that I would let her. ...Well, to be fair, I am his Father and with that does come certain responsibilities and traditions.

"Not for this." I almost want to avert my eyes. "Katherine, what he did, he did within the Law, and he had help." I brace her as the reality hits her. I also hold her back in that last urge to attack Gerald. It's a lurch made from anger and pain, and it's not even something all her heart's behind. She doesn't want her Father to be a villain. I understand that. I give her an arm to lean on after she stops fighting it, and when I get her word that she's not going to kill Gerald today (any longer a duration than that she wouldn't agree to, something I completely understand), she kneels with me beside my son.

"Oh my stars and buttons, what happened to Jhe Gerald?!" I hear a high-pitched voice exclaim as somebody walks in to view the carnage. If I didn't recognize the voice (which is unmistakable), I would have known the entrant just by that nonsensical curse.

Katherine sighs, looking up from Gerald's bleeding, beaten body. "Benny? Maybe you should go and get some bandages and something to clean up Gerald with. He pissed me off." She rolls her eyes, as if that explains everything.

"Oh!" Jhe Averseen claps a hand over her mouth, lips shaped just like the exclamation. "Oh dear, the poor boo! I'll be right there!" She dashes off, a honey-brown blur of long hair and layered skirts. Apparently it was enough of an explanation. Then again, Jhe Averseen spends quite a bit of time with my Katherine. She's probably used to this kind of scene in the office, especially when someone just out of training starts making reports on every little goddamn thing.

(...Not that I had anything to do with making a rule that they had to do exactly that. What, do you think I enjoy frustrating her? How dare you imply any such thing!)

I look up at Katherine. She looks away from me as I catch her staring at me. "In the office. We'll talk there." I give a heaving sigh. "Really, did you have to make so much of a mess while you were busy killing him? It's going to take Hell to get the stains out of the carpet again."

Gerald replies with some odd sort of mumble. As he opens a puffy eyelid, his gaze manages to catch Katherine. My son goes sheet-white. Then he looks up at me with entreaty.

"You've got her 24 hour promise of no killings. Just don't ruin it like last time." I snort in exasperation. "We should be patching you together soon." And to prove my point, the sound of running footsteps rushes up behind me and comes to a halt, along with heavy breathing and the general feeling of...overwhelming exuberance.

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Bronwyn
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Oh my goodness Jhe Gerald looks even worse now that I have a chance to stare! Staring is rude, though. I feel kind of awkward, too. Is something going on between these three? I just sort of stand there with the first aid kit and the cleanup supplies I could find and what...what happened to the rest of Jhe Gerald's shoe?!

"Accidentally cut half of it off instead of his foot." Jhe Katherine sighs, and then she and Jhe Gerald share a look.

...Wait, was I narrating myself out loud again?

"Yes," say all three, and then the Jhe h'Akribastes holds out his hand.

"Something to mop up all the blood, if you please, Jhe Averseen." I nod a little numbly and pass on the towels. Jhe Katherine collects the medical supplies from me. I...edge back a little.

"Sorry, Benny. Just keep in mind that it looks worse than it really is. Most of this is superficial." Katherine starts unlooping a coil of bandage material.

Gerald snorts. "Bullshit it is, Kathe." She just rolls her eyes at his disgruntled tone.

I'd say they seemed tense, but they just get like this sometimes. And then on other days they're totally sweet with each other. I'd say it was a sibling thing but I haven't really ever seen siblings act like those two, and plus they're not even brother and sister. In fact, trying to chart out Gerald and Katherine's relation to each other gives me sort of a headache, and I don't want to think about the two going out with each other...

...Oh, except I suppose I just did.

The two of them get Jhe Gerald inside the office after cleaning him up and making sure he doesn't...bleed any more all over the carpet. Ew. Before the doors close, the Jhe h'Akribastes looks back at me. I make a nervous little bow. He does kind of set me on edge a little. Not that he's a bad person! Just a little scary but I'm sure he doesn't mean that. Some people just have things about themselves they can't really help, and--he holds a hand up. Oh. I was talking out loud again.

"Jhe Averseen, I think it would be best if you were in here for this as well." I blink in confusion. Jhe Katherine's face is...almost confused, but more like...angry?

"Y...Yes sir."

"I'll send someone to take care of the carpet, so don't fret about that. But could you bring in some tea, please? Don't bother knocking." With that, he withdraws into his office, the door left open.

I turn on my heel to go make the tea. Of course, that just makes me wonder more. The area's an utter mess, with broken porcelain on the floor and...more blood in here!

...Weren't there some shards embedded in Jhe Gerald's cheek? Oh thank goodness those weren't teeth! Come to think of it, I was starting to wonder whose teeth would have daisies painted on them.