Indiscretion

[Glenn]

Pleasant traditions were something of a rarity in Myrken Wood. Life changed so frequently and so dramatically that it was so often too difficult to find something worthwhile and routine to cling to for any length of time. Glenn Burnie and Rhaena Olwak have been able to manage just that, however. For years now, years, they have met almost every single day for lunch. Despite the ups and downs of their lives, it has been a true cornerstone of their relationship. Every fine restaurant in Myrkentown knew them and their palettes well.

Today, however, they would meet in the dining room of Burnie's relatively spacious (for a house within Myrkentown on a somewhat limited budget) home on Haberdasher's Row. Rhaena had been residing there for much of the last year and was generally in charge of the decor. She had indicated wanting to talk to him in private about something and certainly he was always willing to make time for her. His off-putting, ever-present smile was missing. It was usually missing with her, at least when they were together in private. There was at least the illusion that all was well between them, which meant that Burnie expected nothing but good news from her in the here and now.

[Jirai]

In the house on Haberdasher's Row, Rhaena did not bother with a veil. Her scaled face wore a smile for Glenn Burnie and their lunch would start off with the usual pleasantries. It was only after a rather comical story involving the cobbler's son and a rather large basket of eggs that the Trader would turn the conversation to the area of her concern.

"Kals arrived last night." She began. It was unfortunate that those words had become indicative of not-so-good news. "He... said some things."

[Glenn]

Glenn laughed when he was supposed to and even occasionally when he wasn't supposed to, the latter at all the times that her familiarity made her expect, even if it wasn't a part anyone else would find funny. He was attentive, even doting. The food was excellent and he let her speak while he ate.

"I know." That to the fact that Kals was back. The man was large. He wore veils. He brought trade. Burnie knew where he arrived from, generally. And he had people who WATCHED for his future brother-in-law (because some things WERE inevitable). "Do you know that he has this incredible knack to only show up when someone is angry at me. I think he skills outwards for negative feelings towards me and then rushes forth with all the speed his rather large-boned body can muster. I'm assuming he didn't consent to the two of us starting a life together.""

[Jirai]

"Well... no." She sighed, pushing a last bit of food around her plate with a fork. "He was... most emphatic in his disapproval, in fact. Said some things about you. He said you majicked his friend into doing things that would hurt her." She was clearly uncomfortable with even the memory of her brother's words.

[Glenn]

Kals has a friend? That was Glenn' first thought, so much as he had any at all, but he did not voice it. It did not come across his face. Instead, a steady smile was starting to form upon it. "I'm not sure who he means, Rhaena. I can promise you that I have not cast any magic spell or made any incantation, however. Nor have I been dabbling in it. Save for a few routine protection spells that I've never even had a chance to try out, thankfully, I don't know a single one. You know how magic made my life so terrible when I was younger." She did, and she knew how he had been affected, how it had shaped him. She had seen it from within his own mind. "Did he give any actual details?"

[Jirai]

She did know, and that alone had cast doubt on Kals' story (that, and the fact that she as well was surprised that her brother had a friend here). Glenn wouldn't be magicking people, much less to hurt them, she was sure of that. And if he did, there would be a good reason, right? Right.

"Something about jewelry. I'm not sure. I don't know who he was talking about either, I didn't know he talked to any women here." Which brought up other ideas, perhaps she should start needling Kals back.

[Glenn]

"Well that's a rather frightening image. Kals with fur and fangs." Burnie's tone sobered slightly, but the smile just became more static, more defined. His voice was now professional, serious. "To Kals' credit, there was someone. A dangerous, suspicious woman. A wild woman. I had some considerate suspicions and tricked her into wearing silver in order to prove them correct. Unfortunately, they WERE in fact proven. The woman was a werewolf. I didn't poison her with jewelry, I just exposed her, and after that, she's been better behaved, more civil, as you can well imagine. Still, she's a beast on the inside, and somewhat unrepentant about it. If Kals rubs her the wrong way," impossible because Kals had a gentle, friendly personality and would NEVER ever rub anyone the wrong way. "She might bite him, infect him. If you see him, please tell him to be careful." Nothing but caring to Rhaena's family. That was Glenn.

[Jirai]

The Trader nearly dropped her fork as Glenn's meaning became apparent. A werewolf. With a delicate shudder, she carefully set her fork down. Her brother, a werewolf? How horrid! "I shall certainly tell him." See, she knew Kals was just seeing things in the worst light possible. Still, how to get Kals to stop being so paranoid and pessimistic? Stubbornness ran in their family. "I wish he would stop being so paranoid. And Dulcie too... I don't know what's gotten into them."

[Glenn]

"I hope that Kals hasn't been somehow hurt by his skilling." It was an honest concern. The man was completely irrational and Glenn and Rhaena knew firsthand the dangers of it. "He seems very drawn into himself when I've seen him, prone to sulking. I know you've told me how addictive it can be and how it takes one away from the reality in front of him. It could explain a few things." Just a mild suggestion there, as full of care as before. Glenn's smile was still on his face, pleasant, reassuring. "Everything's probably alright, though. It's just a thought."

Oh, but she had brought up Dulcie too and that was an issue to be dealt with as well. "You know how Dulcie gets, Rhaena. Imagine her knowing I was bullying some poor werewolf, or dare I say, a dragon as well. After what happened last year with the fires, I had to take a firm hand with the new dragon. It's what the people expect me to do. I can't keep everyone safe and go about hugging every monster that walks up to Myrken like Dulcie would."

[Jirai]

"He's just sulking because he decided not to like you. He doesn't sulk when you aren't around." She dismissed Glenn's concerns about her brother's skilling easily. The other things though, about Dulcie and the werewolf and the like, those were quite logical. She knew Glenn would have the right explanations. Why couldn't Kals understand that? "You're right about Dulcie," she agreed. "I'll talk to Kals again... try to make him understand." She didn't seem very hopeful about her brother's ability to abruptly change his mind, but she could out-stubborn him. There were other tactics that could be used as well, though she was wary of those and not yet convinced that they were necessary.

[Glenn]

"I hope you are successful." That was Glenn Burnie, after all: always with an answer to everything, especially when Rhaena Olwak was involved. His smile would relax just a little and he would focus on his food once again, looking down to his plate and not at her. Still, when he spoke, it was the most matter-of-fact and casual in the world. "I would like to get married one of these days, after all. It's hardly fair to you that we carry on like this. According to Agony and her quaint Myrken ways, we've been engaged ever since I bought you the horse. We're enough of an institution around here and you're beloved enough that people don't whisper, but I'd never want to put you in a position that they did." Simple considerations. That they also lead towards him getting something he wants was completely beside the point, just like it always was.

[Jirai]

Despite the scaling on her face, Rhaena is able to blush quite prettily, as she demonstrated at Glenn's words. "To be honest, I was rather surprised that Kals didn't have more to say on that matter." Perhaps he hadn't noticed where she was staying? Unlikely. There was a pause of several moments, a few bites of her food taken. "He did say that we might do as we pleased, but without my family's acknowledgement."

[Glenn]

"Rhaena." Finally he would look back to her and that strange, pleasant smile would be back on his face. She saw it less than others, but then again, she saw him somewhat more than others, so it evened out in its own way. "We could always have done as we pleased. Truly, who could stop us here in Myrken Wood?" Years ago, a far younger Glenn Burnie had tied himself to the fledgling Calomel government. It had been one of the hardest decisions of his life, a sacrifice of freedom in the name of protecting a place he loved, in the name of having a say, in the name of having power to enact change. Now he realized that he could have one's cake and eat it too. If you were clever enough and willing to do anything that was necessary, you could have all of that and more and without any of the sacrifices which he had thought so necessary years before.

No, they had the luxury to be able to do whatever they so desired. His smile reached his eyes as he looked to her. "So he gave us leave to do nothing that we did not already have leave to do. Magnanimous of him, certainly. As we have the freedom to do whatever we so desire, Rhaena, I want us to do what I would always want us to do. What makes you happiest and most comfortable."