Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 6)

(Git down to the library tonight then and do some secret late night reading :eyes:)

Gaius eyed her. Was she baiting him, hoping he'd bring it up? He had a feeling she knew his feelings on the subject of the journals, so he'd sit back and let her fuck up or prove herself mature enough not to go poking around in that business.
"There are some swordsmanship books on the first level toward the middle," he said simply. "You may find them interesting."

(Aye aye lol)
(Gaius: she’s either very dumb or smart and I have my predictions)

“I’ll take a look, then,” Ky said, hoping she didn’t look as guilty as she felt. She offered a little smile. “Thank you.”

Gaius dipped his head. "My pleasure." He gave her a long look, then turned to the second course of the meal and cut himself a sliver of meat.

Zander gave her a sideward glance. What was she hiding? Had she already found a secret? Well, now, that was interesting. He’d have to encourage her to go poke at it, since she had freedom and he did not. But how, without Emery hearing? He’d have to be vague. Which would be harder, seeing as he didn’t even know what it was he needed to be vague about. But he’d try. And hopefully she would, too.

Sera watched all this silently; she glanced at Gaius. He seemed on edge about something; maybe he was nervous that Ky would go looking for Michael's or Septimus's diary. That wasn't something she ought to ever read, in Sera's opinion. They had things written in them that dealt with Tomhas and Gaius, and Sera too. Michael's diary, especially, would be worse than anything Ky might have thought she could handle. Her fingers clenched around her fork and she looked down at her plate.
Rickard noticed her discomfort, and his brow furrowed. A chain reaction seemed to have rippled down the table, and he didn't know why. He was upset that Sera was upset; he'd have to ask her about it later if he could work up the courage.

(How many options would you like for Ky's sword trainer?)

(Honestly, however many you want. She’s not going to want to choose haha so however mean you want to be)
(Also we’re gonna have to see how this goes. I doubt Ky is gonna go for it tonight tbh… maybe… but anxiety lol dunno if she’d push it the first day she was here)

It was just as bad as the meeting had been. Could she knock her wine over for a diversion? Or was that a one-time solution?

She needed to run.

She needed to.

She couldn’t breathe for the tension in the room. This was exactly why she didn’t want to come here. She knew it was going to be this awful.

(Okie dokie! I have three prepared, plus Ivar if she wants to train with Tadaaki)

(Maybe I can invent some reason why the books can't be moved or something, or maybe Gaius gets very distracted. I do wanna get to her reading them at some point though)

Matttathias looked between his father and his mother, who was busying herself with Regulus and trying not to look worried. Then he stuck two boiled carrots into his mouth and roared. "Lookit me Marcella, I'm the Marrow Man! I'm gonna eat you up!" Marcella gasped and stuck out her tongue at him.
"The Marrow Man doesn't have big teeth," she scoffed. "He's got horns on his head, silly."

(Yeah! I also definitely want her to read them. I just don’t think she’ll have the balls for rebellion within like 8 hours of arrival lol)

Ky looked over at them. Not quite successfully distracted, but it was a welcomed distraction. “Yeah, he’s a goat man, remember? Square goat teeth and goat eyes. And horns.”

(Makes perfect sense, honestly)

Mattathias grinned sheepishly and held the carrots up like horns instead. "I'm a goat, I'm gonna eat you up!" He lunged at his sister and she squealed, pushing him away.
"Stop that!" she scolded. "You're so dumb!"

(Yii… I’m now imagining Ivar teaching Ky swordsmanship. She’d be terrified xD will prolly choose a different one, but he’d be an adequate threat to force her to make a decision “pick one or I’m picking Ivar for you” hahah)

Ky laughed at that and took a bite, looking around so that it wasn’t obvious that she wasn’t making eye contact. But definitely not making eye contact. She was the one who had made the situation tense in the first place, and she didn’t intend to do it again.

(Also I love how we just throw a child in as a diversion when things get tense hahah)

(Ivar can come in when she's a more confident fighter and just demolish her with his Viking skills)

(The twins are a recipe for humor and I love them; we needed some distraction.)

"Stop playing with your food," Sara chided gently, and Mattathias obeyed immediately, grinning in a very Tomhas-y way. Gaius had a very small smile on his face; he had a feeling Mattathias and Marcella would like the actual Marrow Man quite a lot.

(Haha omg I love that idea. “You fight as bad as you talk” “IM TRYING MY BEST”)

“A fearsome Marrow Man indeed,” Pratik said with a smirk, looking at the little boy. He kept his demeanor casual and nonchalant, but his mind was trying to figure out what Ky had done wrong. Had she stuck her nose straight into the hornet’s nest? It seemed so. She clearly still had Aleth wrapped around her brain, urging her to find and memorize everyone’s secrets. To get leverage.

He could respect the hustle.

But her poker face was non-existent, so she probably shouldn’t be prodding Gaius’s hornets nest until she was better at it. Maybe not even then. But it wasn’t like Gaius could execute his niece, so, well, more power to her. Sweet summer child. RIP.

"Papa says he's not as mean as all the stories say he is," Marcella piped up, turning her eyes to Pratik. "He's just really sad and lonely. So me and Mattathias are gonna go be his friends when we're grown-ups."

Pratik raised his eyebrows, smirking at her slightly. “You think it’s possible to make friends with a 600-year-old cryptid?” He took a drink of wine. “That is a sight I’d like to see.”

Ky glanced at Gaius, deciding her curiosity at what he’d told his kids drowning out her guilt. It felt like they were sharing a massive secret no one else could ever know.

(Haha he told them his interpretation of the Marrow Man a long time ago as a bedtime story)

"Anyone can be friends with anyone," Marcella insisted. "If Papa can be friends with scary people, so can we."