Private Tales Well Done

[Elias]

Vel Castere
Dragonsbane Squad Training Grounds

When Eli's eyes flutter open, he immediately sees some of his squad mates circled around him. They are looking down, some with expressions of mild entertainment, others of mild concern. Mess has a particularly shitty, smug look on her face. When they see that he's fine, they begin to disperse.

"Should've tapped, bato," Route says in parting and returns to his own training.

Eli sits up and posts up on his palms. He grinds his teeth for a moment and an open hand jabs out in front of him.

"Finally got your ass," Mess says. Normally stoic, a triumphant air surrounded her.

Eli hesitates for a moment, looks up at the lean woman with a sour expression, and just laughs it off. He claps her hand and she assists him up.

"That was a slick move with my collar," Eli brushes the dirt and dust off of his clothes. He recalls their spar, that he mostly controlled the pace and even managed to deftly sweep Mess off of her feet. A well-timed trap earned Mess a good position off of her back, and though Elias securing a top mount normally was a death sentence, she managed to wrestle into a strong position, take his side, and use his collar to choke him out.

He stubbornly refused to yield and was put to sleep after just a few seconds.

"You did something similar once. It gave me some ideas to practice," There's a look in Mess' eyes that unnerves Eli. She was a scary lady, which could truthfully be said about every woman in the squad.

"Right," He chuckles, "I'm taking a minute breather."

Eli gathers his waterskin and makes his way across the grounds after spotting Sam who also seemed to take a moment of rest.

"Hey, partner," he greets her. Eli points a thumb towards Mess. "Did you see that?"

 

[Samantha Black]

Recruit lists.
Sable's training.
Alistair's projects.
Finish the tattoo.
Route's wedding.
A return letter to Elspeth.
Reports to the Captain.
Resupply for the Squadron.
Mission shift scheduling.
Don't forget to pick up spices and sweet peppers.

"Did you see that?"

Sam sat on a bench along the training yard perimeter unwinding linen strips from her hands and forearms. She'd been staring at the ground, going through the never-ending list of things needing done when Eli approached. Barely heard his steps or registered his presence. The words bobbled in between mental bullet points.

Did you see that - what?

She blinked and slowly looked up, brow knitting as her mind attempted to catch up. See that? See... what?

"Sorry," she frowned slightly, "I didn't. Got a bit on my mind - what did I miss?"

 

[Elias]

Eli gives her a look. One brow up, a slight pull down on the corner of his mouth, his head canted to one side.

"Mess got me good there."

He pops the waterskin open. Takes a greedy drink.

"What's the matter?" He wipes his mouth with the heel of his palm.

 

[Samantha Black]

"Ha," a short grin as her gaze skated over to the figure of Mess across the yard, "bout time."

The squadron was full of good, solid warriors. Every single one of them had some claim to fame, and Mess had more than a few skeletons under her heel. Still, for as slight as the woman was, she faired better when kept at arm's length. There wasn't a lot of brute force to her, though she was quick and squirrely and that sometimes worked in her favor. This must have been one of those times.

"Nothing... nothing's wrong. Just need more hours in the day, you know?" She didn't like to complain and rarely ever did. The Captain was expecting a great deal from her and she'd not let him down, but it was slowly becoming more and more difficult to keep up with all the various directions that she needed to go.

Sam wiped a hand over her face and looked up at the sky to seek out the sun on an overcast day. Just past midday - still had time to run some of those errands.

"How'd she get ya?"

Buuuut she still had time to listen and a few more loops of linen to take off.

 

[Elias]

"Collar choke. Off of her back, too," Eli sucks his teeth. He reflects a moment and runs the spar in his mind again. The squad, formidable as it already was, had been improving leaps and bounds in open-handed fighting since Eli's arrival. The same move that put him to sleep had done Big Man in and earned Eli some respect with the others. They ask him things from time to time.

"I thought I could throw her off by taking it to the ground. She's almost as good a striker as the two of us, but, heh, that bit me in my ass."

Eli and Sam are fast, strong, and had longer limbs. Striking suits them well, especially for the larger Eli, who fights with his wits over his brawn. For all his excellence in fighting on his feet, his greatest strengths is in chokes, holds, and joint locks.

"Anyways, is there anything I can help with? You won't ever get more time, but an extra set of hands you could."

Time, huh? Eli looks across the grounds to hide a frown from Sam. He guesses today wouldn't be a good day, even though he'd made some preparations. Maybe a better chance would pop up in the future.

 

[Samantha Black]

"Huh," she could see it fairly clearly in her mind even with so few words to describe it. Having spent several of her last years at the Academy practicing and working with Eli in his art of melee, she'd learned almost all the same moves.

Almost. Eli, of course, kept a few of his secrets.

"Well done Mess," she grinned across the yard, though Mess wasn't paying them any attention as Miser had come in to taunt her in his way.

"Mm - I have to go to the market to pick up some things and drop off a resupply order. Could use some extra hands to pick up the order for Route's wedding - that'll save me a trip."

 

[Elias]

"I'm right here," Eli complains, "Shouldn't you be rooting for me instead?"

Aside from the skills taught by the Academy, Elias knew all there was about the traditional techniques passed down by the trainers in his family. He spared just about everything he knew to Sam.

"Alright," he says and when he looks at Sam again, the frown is long gone, "Easy enough. Now?"

 

[Samantha Black]

That earned him an elbow to the ribs and a sideways sneer. She was always rooting for him. Every single day.

The last of the linen bindings were off and stowed away in her pack, "Yeah. Then I'll have time to finish up my reports for Holstag and next month's mission schedule."

If Eli knew one thing, it was that she liked to keep busy. Since arriving at Vel Castere, there had been no lack of work to be done and precious little time spent doing nothing. At least for her. Their life at the academy had instilled an almost unyielding discipline into her work ethic: being idle was often detrimental to one's life before the revolution.

"Davi's on meal duty tonight. I promised I'd pick up some ingredients for him, too."

 

[Elias]

Eli rubs his side with a pained smile. Couldn't she at least go easy on him once?

A year ago he couldn't have imagined Sam sitting down to do reports and scheduling. Leadership suited her.

"Oh. Is he?" Eli wrings his hands at his front, "That sounds good."

Yeah. Some other time, then.

"We should get going then."

 

[Samantha Black]

Uneventful errands were her preferred mode as they made for more efficient to-do lists. With the extra set of hands, the trip into the market was made all the faster.

"Route," Sam said as he answered the door, "what the fuck is in this crate?"
His eyes wide at the sight of the Lieutenant with a giant crate in her arms, Route lifted a hand to itch idly at the stubble on his face, "It's a surprise for the wedding."
"I swear there's nothing in here," Sam replied as she handed it off to him, "it's empty, it weighs nothing."
"Nah, you're just really strong," he smirked, eyes shifting to Elias at the bottom of the steps to his flat, "you two uh... wanna stay for dinner? Got some extra here."
"Thanks, but I can't. I have reports and schedules to finish."
"Or you could just do them tomorrow. Cap doesn't need those till the weekend, right?"
"Tomorrow's full, too. I'm trying to work ahead."
"Ahead ..." Route raised a brow, "ahead of what?"
"Myself."
"Suite yourself then. Sol? Doubt you got reports and schedules to do."

 

[Elias]

Elias is shocked when he looks past Route into the flat. It was furnished, decorated. Homely. There is a night and day difference compared to the short time Eli stayed there.

He rubs the black stone in his earlobe, "How about next time? I've got my own arrangements for the evening."

"See if I invite you again," Route says bitterly, but he hardly looks offended. He looks between the two of them. The man's dour expression shifts ever so slightly. Was that supposed to be some attempt at a smile? "Well, thanks a million for bringing these over. Be seeing you."

Eli waves goodnight. He and Sam turn away and begin walking.

"When's the last time you weren't thinking about a hundred different things?" He asks after a moment.

 

[Samantha Black]

"Hm," she smirks, glancing aside at him, "you might as well ask me when's the last time I wasn't thinking at all."

She looked pensive for a moment as she actually gave that some thought, "I was three sheets to the wind in an Allirian flophouse called the Tenpenny Hen. Only had two things on my mind then: a woman and a komodi." Juuuuust before everything went to shit. Briefly, Sam wondered what Marta Martigan was up to with her own Knights.

"Why do you ask?"

 

[Elias]

Eli breathes a chuckle.

What went down in Alliria? Eli feels a little left out every time he hears tiny bits of her time there.

He goes quiet. In the silence, he rubs his earlobe.

He speaks.

"If you're willing to spare a couple hours, I wanted to show you something."

 

[Samantha Black]

Unusual for Eli to ask after anything. In fact, Sam couldn't really recall the last time he'd put in a request to her except perhaps to not ever have to deal with an Initiate again. That had been entirely fair, given the circumstances.

"For you, I can spare just about anything." She'd shift around an entire mission assignment for his asking, but he never did.

"When were you thinking?"

 

[Elias]

A comforting warmth courses through Eli's veins. Not only the heat, but his expression brightens up.

"We can drop off what Davi needs and go right away."

His eyebrows raise, wordlessly asking does that work?

 

[Samantha Black]

Well, she hadn't expected it to be so immediate but maybe Route was right and the reports and scheduling could wait.

"Alright," it just meant Davi would perhaps be cooking for two less mouths and that wasn't something he'd complain about, "does this something require me to clean up?" In Castere it was completely normal for a Knight to go about their daily lives directly after training or returning from drill, scouting, or missions. Even still, if they were expecting to see polite society she'd rather not stink of the training yard quite so pungently.

 

[Elias]

He shakes his head, "Is there any doing in Vel Castere that requires cleaning up? No, no need to wash up. It'll be a bit of a walk."

Eli could shudder at the thought. Cleaning up. Dressing up. The upcoming wedding. He'll have to go, huh? He frowns.

"Initiate Caddel and I were scheduled all those patrols - thanks for that - and we came across this place. Just wanted to show you is all."

 

[Samantha Black]

"I thought you deserved to work with someone willing and disciplined for a change," she replied over a smirk. Caddel had proven herself quite competent and eager to learn, which was just the way Sam liked her pupils. Too bad she couldn't have stayed to finish out her training, but the Academy wasn't nearly as liberal and open-minded as General Blackforge.

But now he had her curiosity. A place interesting enough to show her? Seemed a bit odd, but she couldn't bring herself to question him about it.

Once back to the flat she dropped the ingredients for Davi in the kitchen, took a moment to catch up with Fern who was tending to the garden in the back, swapped to a different pair of boots, and then caught up with Elias where he stood waiting for her outside.

"So where is this place we're going?" Sam asked as they headed out.

 

[Elias]

"Just a little place I found while patrolling. It's quiet." He shifts a leather pack slung over his shoulder. "I'll treat you to a meal."

While running errands in the market, Elias slipped away to pick up a few things for the occasion. He was no chef, but Cookie had excitedly shown him a few things at his request. Perhaps he was just happy that Eli had finally asked for help with something. Maybe he just liked to share his passion for cooking.

"All set?"

 

[Samantha Black]

Quiet. Secluded from the sounds of it. A bit of a hike to get to. But there would be food and, obviously, good company, two things that Sam was hard pressed to turn down.

"As ever," she replied with wane and amused curiosity as she followed Elias back out onto the walkway, "I received a letter from your sister..."

It wasn't something she usually talked to him about, being in correspondence with the young Lady Sirl. Sam couldn't gauge his stance on the subject of his family, but she'd spent plenty of time with Elspeth to know she was a young woman with a good heart and strong convictions. Especially those for her kin.

"She'll be coming up for Route's wedding as one of Vivien's bridesmaids."

 

[Elias]

Elias walks for a few more steps in silence before he decides on a suitable response to the sudden mentioning of his sister.

"Is she? I didn't realize they were so close."

He lets out an amused snort, "I think you write to her more than I do."

And it wasn't a hard thing to do, considering he hadn't wrote a single letter to his sister since he said he would. It didn't feel great to be so unfaithful to his word, but what was there to say? Sitting down and staring at empty parchment, he could never find the words.

"So what kind of things do you two have to share in writing? I can't imagine there's much... I don't know. Much to relate to?"

 

[Samantha Black]

She was about to say that he would know that and more if he only wrote to her at all. That she wrote to his sister more than he did was a fact she was already aware of. Elspeth had initially reached out to confirm that he was in Vel Castere and part of the Knights to begin with, and from there they had simply continued to exchange both business and pleasantries.

Sam decided not to wedge herself between them. Given her decision to cut herself off from her own family, she had no right to tell him how he should or should not interact with his.

"She asks me about you," was a simple way to put it, "and she asks me about life as a Dreadlord. What it was like at the Academy. What my goals and plans are. She-" she stopped herself, wondering if it was right of her to tell Elias about the contents of their letters to one another.

Not as if there was anything secretive, but if he'd actually wanted to know wouldn't he have written to her himself?

"I'm thinking about investing in her current projects."

 

[Elias]

Was Elspeth curious of Samantha Black the person, or are her questions just a roundabout way to understand Eli? As he walks, he figures it's a combination of both. And there are probably other reasons why he just doesn't consider.

"You have the money to make investments now? Being a Lieutenant has its perks, I suppose."

When the old ways and traditions of Vel Anir were still in practice, Elias enjoyed and took advantage of the influence and wealth his family possessed. He did so almost freely, as he was treated as a treasured prospect for the future. Now, as the unregulated power of the greater Houses were checked, and considering his decision to take on Knighthood, he was essentially cut off by his father.

He's happy enough with his modest stipend.

It's safe to assume Sam wasn't investing as a business venture to multiply her wealth. Rather...

"She must have plans to do good, huh?"

 

[Samantha Black]

"The pay isn't bad..." Sam wasn't one to live above her means. Knights made more money than the typical Guard Soldier did, and as a Lieutenant with more than enough duties and responsibilities on her plate she made a fair amount more than those of her Squadron. She wasn't spending much of it either given most of her needs were covered: housing, basic equipment, necessities for missions. That she wasn't visiting brothels on the regular anymore was saving her a considerable amount.

A small fortune had begun to accrue in her savings on top of the small fortune she'd received from Walter while she was an Initiate within the Academy. The latter of which she hadn't touched while she'd been there and needed something to do with it. A few sound investments into families the Banicks likely wouldn't have supported felt right.

"Aye, plans I can get behind," she nodded, "but if you want to know more... you should just write to her. Not my place to tell her story."

 

[Elias]

"Fair enough." Though Eli tells himself often that he'll reach out to his sister, he never makes the time. Oh, I've got this to do. That needs to be done. If anyone asked him why, he wouldn't be able so say what reason he had to put it off for so long.

"I'll be seeing her soon anyway, I suppose."

Elias guides them out of the city and for a while enjoy the quiet of the country with the setting sun to their backs. They veer off of the main road towards untamed, unsettled wilderness and come across an old, nearly grown-over footpath. A wispy flame conjured from the palm of his hand lights their way.

"I found this place by chance. Sometimes I come here if I have the time."

The path opens into a grove. Stone idols stand guard over the grove, their features long faded away. There are signs of the grove being used for rest and scorch marks from training.