"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He helped him sit up and started the same process. He paused as he saw Tadaaki's scar and stared at it for a long moment before turning to look toward Sera.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Gods. This was humiliating. That must have been what Ky was apologizing for a minute ago — he hadn’t been following the conversation. But. Well. Even he felt the urge to justify himself, and he hadn’t had an addition in months now. He resisted the urge to, though. Barely. Instead following the assistant’s gaze towards the woman.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Sera?" "Coming." Sera left Ky for the moment and came over. She grimaced as she saw the scar and took the young man aside. "The girl has one like it too," she whispered. "Leave it be for now." The young man dipped his head, and they both turned back. "How are you feeling, sir?" Sera asked Tadaaki, taking the cloth from the young man and resuming the work.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Tadaaki saw it coming and braced himself in time so he was just tense, not flinched against it, even though it felt like it was melting his skin off. “Fine. Ma’am.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Yes’m.” He nodded stiffly, determined to make her believe him. She needed to be spending her time tending to Ky. He was fine. Aleth could go fuck himself. Ky deserved the undivided attention of the apothecary and all of her assistants.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
She dipped her head. "Right, if you say so." She rose. "I'm going to let you three relax for a few minutes now while we wait for you to warm up, then we've got to move on to the difficult stuff, alright?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Yes’m.” Tadaaki dipped his head and settled more firmly against his headboard to let it take the majority of his weight.
What was ‘the difficult stuff’ supposed to mean? She thought this was easy? Ky looked at her uneasily, feeling sick to her stomach. Though they may have just been the tea. It didn’t mix well with dread.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Sera set up boiling equipment for sterilization and preparing gauze and poultices. "Lord Ash will be in to see you tonight or tomorrow," she informed them. "He'll be asking lots of questions, though I'll tell him not to be too aggressive."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky felt her heart drop into the very bottom of her stomach and start racing wildly. Right. That. Yes. He was — gods. Gods she was dead. At least she legitimately didn’t remember most of the past several weeks. That would help her… right? She could plead ignorance because she would be telling the truth that she didn’t remember… most things, anyhow.
Aleth had his eyes closed and didn’t open them, but squirreled the knowledge away. He’d been slowly coming around as he painfully worked through his tea. Bay was a fairly high military official, he remembered it now. The apothecary was in Ash’s confidence… Sara? No… that was his wife. But… it was something like that. Selena? Sheila?
Whatever. She was just someone he needed to be careful around. He’d need to make sure the two idiots off to his right were careful, too. Remind Ky that her life was going to get a whole hell of a lot worse if she didn’t shut the fuck up.
(I think I’m going to make her a solid 16 in this one. I still want her young enough to trigger the maternal response from Sara and Sera lol but her poker face gets better the longer she’s with Aleth which I feel like is necessary so that she doesn’t just spill her guts and end everything haha)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Al, Ky, and Tadaaki, right?" she asked as she worked. "And you came over from which part of the mountains?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Tadaaki and Ky both dipped their heads as she spoke their names, but knew better than to answer any questions not explicitly directed at them.
“We’re not quite… sure,” Aleth said, actively refusing to let his voice waver even though he felt shaky all over. “It all looks the same from the cage.”
(Honestly I still only have a shaky sense of your geography so… kinda making things up)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(No worries! The mountains separate the South from the North entirely but there's a pass between the North and East. I may or may not have that on the map?)
"So you did cross over in a slave caravan, then escaped? How long were you walking?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Ahh okay cool — and that’s where we were talking about, right? It’s been so long ago now I don’t remember haha I feel like it took two weeks between the horses and walking the last few days but can’t figure out a timeline that would make it work if they were claiming to have walked the whole time)
“Yes, ma’am,” Aleth confirmed, inclining his head. “We… I’m not quite sure. Maybe… two? Weeks? It’s so easy to lose count of the days…”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
