Burning Down The House, or: How To Avoid That

[channe]

Agnieszka Kaczmarek doesn't have an office. Instead, when Renea told Drache to meet her downtown the next day to talk about the... incident in the tavern, she must have mentioned one of the smaller rooms in the rebuilt Meetinghouse, where she's going over what looks like defense plans for the Ringwall and drinking a nice-looking frothy ale.

[Drache]

True to her word, the dragoness did show for her meeting, soaring in over the town with the sun on her back. After lumbering through the skies in a much larger form for almost the entire previous day, she felt as agile as a sparrow. It was too bad she had little chance to enjoy it with the vestiges of her anger still boiling in her gut.

Cleaned up and dressed in her usual resplendent manner, the fact that she hadn't slept at all was easy to conceal from those unused to looking at scaled faces and wings that drooped, tails that brushed the ground instead of being held proudly up. The process of working out just how Catch had managed to sneak into her Lair would take time and much energy, and she wouldn't feel quite safe until it was done.

She dropped out of the sky mere feet from the Constable guarding the door. After last night's shenanigans it hardly seemed she could make more of a stir. Her wings settled along her spine atop the black suede and red silk corset she was wearing and she scowled smokily at the man. One claw tapped impatiently on the curve of her hip. "I believe Agnieszka is expecting me."

[channe]

Agnie herself is quite used to talking with women with scaled faces; after all, isn't her best friend Rhaena Olwak? Or perhaps -- once had been? It's hard to tell with them -- at any rate, the constable recovers a little from the scare (is that a darkening stain on his pants? You'll be able to tell, Drache, by if he's actually there when you come back out, or out at the constables' station for a change) and shows her in.

Two years ago, Agnieszka would have probably been eating a huge leg of lamb with her feet up on the small table in the little conference room off the main hallway. But she actually looks quite put-together, in new clothes and well-kept hair, and once Drache enters she rolls up what looks to be a tactical map and stands.

"Thanks for coming in," she says, cheerily, like this is a meeting of two friends for tea.

[Drache]

Her vertical pupils widened as she headed into the darker interior of the building, and she glanced around curiously with brief tilts of her horns to observe the place. She was familiar with many of the shops on the town's main drag, especially Treadwell's, but there'd never been an occasion for her to be inside any others.

When showed into the room Agnie currently occupied her interest drifted to the map on the table even before she gave the woman a good look-over. The crimson reptile didn't move to sit and stood with arms loosely crossed and tail swishing moodily.

The false pleasantries did nothing more than aggravate, and a jewel-studded ear-frill twitched as she bit back a fiery retort. She released a puff of smoke before beginning in a civilized tone. "I am here againssst my better judgement. I am not cccertain exactly what position you hold in thisss town but there was a time not ssso long ago I too held a cccivic officcce of sssortsss. It'sss only out of remembranccce that I am here, ssso I'll thank you for getting on with it and dropping the pretenssses."

[channe]

"Chairwoman of the Defense Committee. So. You don't have to like me, but if y'choose to live in this province you do gotta to listen to me. And I just have a couple things to say," she says, simply, leaning back in her chair. She taps beringed fingers on the table and regards the dragoness with a critical gaze. Drache wants the pleasantries dropped? So does Agnie. The two probably have more in common than you'd think.

A pause, and then she begins.

"Here's the thing, Drache. That's your name, right? You were well within your rights to absolutely fucking blow your top last night. But if we had every Tom, Dick and Lucy taking the law into their own hands, what we'd have is the world I grew up in. I know you don't respect me, and whatever, that's your own opinion and I don't really care, but -- lady, we had dragons eating people straight out of the fields. Drow burning farms for fun. Corrupt governors taxing people up their asses and back down their throats and using the money to eat five shit tons of caviar every night. Some girls I knew -- back before the indenturin' laws were fixed up -- had to regularly give their 'services' to the landlord if they wanted to eat, if'n you know what I mean. An' do you see what I mean when I say I just can't have you burnin' people alive an' bringin' down tavern walls? We can help, you know."

And she pauses again, here, and leans into the table a little, looking into Drache's eyes. "But the problem was the powerful were never on the side o' the people, see. They were on their own side. So here's my offer. I'll overlook your little fire-breathin' stint last night if you agree to participate in the defense of your brandy-new, civilized homeland."

She waits for Drache's response.

[Drache]

The dragoness only seemed to grow more comfortable as Agnie continued. Not because she delighted in the picture the Chairwoman painted, but because by doing so she was showing the fire-drake at least a modicum of respect, which was far more than others had done. There was a glimmer of sympathy in her eyes. But when the Chairwoman got to the end of her spiel an amused sneer coiled across her face. She had listened unblinkingly, but now she reached for a chair with her tail and tugged it so that she could sit, arranging her wings precisely.

"Basssed on what I have ssseen ssso far of the 'help' you can provide," and she was using that as a plural, "I hope you can underssstand why I wouldn't be in any hurry to ssseek it in a persssonal crisssisss. Catch is more than you know, and you are a fool if you think there is enough power in thisss provinccce to contain him if he ever overcomes the prison of his own mind. I will not apologize for going to -any- lengths to protect me and mine from him, even if it means working outssside your sssyssstem. In future I will attempt sssome ressstraint."

Her claws dug into the arm of the chair and there was a tang like hot metal in the room as Drache fought to suppress the memory of her rage.

"But I am not ssso arrogant to think I can live and work here in peaccce without a genuine attempt at getting along with the people here. You may be hard presssed to drag me from my mountain in a fight, but the effort would be...inconvenient for me."

She turned the palm of one hand over and something red and fiery appeared in it. The nature of her magic was such that anything she summoned arrived wreathed in flames, but the object resolved into nothing more threatening than a black square liquor bottle, which she uncorked and drank from.

"The hissstory of thisss placcce is not unlike what I have known before, and the arrangement you propose is one I have enjoyed in the passst. I could regale you with sssome of the finer pointsss of my passt over drinksss sssometime. Would it have been that Glenn Burnie made me thisss offer when I firssst arrived"

Her tail thumped a little, the spade flip-flopping thoughtfully. "I would be happy to contribute, even beyond atoning for a little matter of draconic rampage. Whether or not you believe it of a creature sssuch as myssself, I -am- capable of a senssse of duty. But I would requessst three things."

[channe]

Agnieszka shrugs, leaning back in her chair as Drache arranges herself in hers. She's doing her best to look neutral.

"... All these people, yammering on about how 'Catch is more than you know,' she says, 'Catch is this, Catch is that,' and frankly, I'm sick of how this whole town seems to revolve around one stupid-ass madman. So if you want to tell me more, I'm listening."

But there's more, here, and Agnieszka listens, a small smile growing across her face as Drache volunteers her help. "You can't blame Glenn. He's a busy guy, and he ain't got a good hold on shit like defense or on folk like you who have your... special talents." She tries to keep her head straight at the appearance of the liquor bottle, but fails. Collecting herself, she continues -- ".. anyway, That's why we're here. Can't blame him too much -- the province was in quite a pickle a while ago. ... and three things. Okay. I'll see what I can do. What are they?"

[Drache]

"I've sssaid all I care to on the matter of Catch already," she said with a dismissive shake of her head, her jewelry glinting in whatever light there was to be had.

"Hopefully thisss means that you're more prepared to take my abilities into account rather than villifying them." Not that she was even close to forgiving the new Governor. Her claws clicked on the hot black glass. "Before I name my requesssts I would like to know more out of what you expect from me. Am I to be asssigned ssspecccific tasssks as needed or do you have sssomething elssse in mind?"

[channe]

"Drache, like I told you, I'm really prepared to take your abilities into account, but if you don't wanna be vilified you can't just break windows with your, er, your face, and put people in danger." She sighs; apparently, something about the conversation is bothering her. She straightens, pushing it aside. She pauses.

"Well, obviously, I'm not going to ask you to do anything you don't wanna do," she says. "and, also obviously, I'm going to ask you to keep our arrangement... well, completely secret. Just between you, me, the lamppost and the defense committee." Not the Governor? "I was thinking... to start. I need someone found. He lives in the forest. In your draconic form, you can totally cover tons more ground than the constables."

[Drache]

The sigh sharpened Drache's attention and she fixed Agnie with a primal sort of look. She was sorely tempted to argue, the bitter fact that threats towards her own person were always to be overlooked. But this wasn't likely to change and she was experienced enough to pick her battles.

"A sssecret concord ssstripsss me of my bessst chanccce to earn ressspect and garner a reputation with the people my work will benefit most; the people. But I can live with it for now under the hope that eventually my effortsss will pay off. That leaves me with one thing. Payment."

And she held up a claw to waylay and protests Agnie might have. "Myrken town can keep the money in her coffers. I am more than happy to build a ressspectable businesss around my new shop like any other resident. But bringing criminals and other threats to heel often includes uncovering a variety of...goods. I would expect to be consssidered when dissstributing sssuch. If you find that agreeable then we have a deal."

Her wings rustled a little. "The dragonshape you sssaw lassst night is not sssomething I can assume often, and never without consssequences. I asssure you that I can ssscour for this perssson effectively as you sssee me now without drawing sssuch sssuper-sssized attention. Who will I be looking for, and do you want them brought back alive or in recognizable pieccces?"

[channe]

"It don't need to be secret, later on," she says, stopping to pick at the table with her index finger. A pause -- and then she looks up at Drache, her eyes bright. "But you're now known for being... oh, let's say, uh, kind of fuckin' crazy when it's your child that's in danger. So pretend."

Another pause, and the defense chairwoman becomes very serious. "We're searchin' for a suspect in certain -- murders. Aeryn Karolinger. He looks like this." Across the table, she slides a passable drawing of the man. He's smiling in it, and wearing clean Thessil army garb. "He's dangerous. and hiding in the forest. And when I say dangerous, I *mean* dangerous. We don't intend to go after him with less'n a small platoon, Drache. We need him alive. And we do need to know where he is -- as soon as possible. You will draw little suspicion if you're lookin' for the asshole who helped Catch take your child, I think. Even if that person don't exist, if you catch my drift."

She taps the table with one beringed index finger. "... for this, I'm sure we can... arrange for you to be at a few of the raids before the Constables."

[Drache]

"Pretend? I think I can do that." Her visage twisted into a fierce snarl and she gave a throaty growl, complete with a breath of smoke that curled through the gaps in her many pointed teeth.

The fire-drake stood in a fluid motion, like a snake surging from a hiding place, and loomed over th desk with her eyes on the picture. She plucked it with her clawed fingertips and studied it while taking another sip from her bottle. Whatever was in it smelled like barbecue, warm blood, and very strong spirits. Her pupils did strange things while she peered at the drawing and committed the face to memory and guessed what it looked like now that the man was a fugitive and hiding in the forest. Without asking for permission, she rolled it up and tucked it into one of the tiny pouches on the belt looped casually around her hips. It fit easily, even though it shouldn't have.

The cover story was something she might have expected from a human, but it would be unnecessary. She scoured the woodland often enough just to score a meal. No one had to know what she was hunting -for-. But she didn't argue. Let the Chairwoman enjoy her cleverness. Drache was starting to like her anyways.

"What is he wanted for?" She needed to know what she was up against. At the mention of the raids she merely nodded her horns, somewhat satisfied.

[channe]

As Drache takes the drawing and files it away, Agnieszka presses her lips together, almost as if she disapproves; one hand tightens, her knuckles going white. There is a pause, and after she lets a pent-up breath out --

"Suspect in some murders." A pause, and she meets Drache's eyes. "A baby. A whole fuckin' family. Listen, eyewitnesses say that he's got some kind of power, so don't get close. He used to be fantastic with the saber, but now he's got this axe, an' maybe even some sort of demonic power. That's why it's important for you not to engage at all. Just tell us where he's camping for now."

[Drache]

Agnie's reaction earned a lift of Drache's scaly brow, but the conversation continued and she let it pass without comment. She drained the last of the bottle and set it on the desk.

"I'll sssee what I can find. Now if that'sss all, I have other things to attend to before I get ssstarted. We have an agreement?"

She stretched her hot-scaled hand foreward as if to shake, her tail undulating behind her with anticipation. She remembered what had happened the last time she had touched Agnie's bare flesh but for some reason was willing to risk it again.

[channe]

Agnie watches Drache's proffered hand for a moment. She bites her bottom lip -- and then reaches down to a pocket, drags out a thin black glove, and puts it on. Then she shakes, acting like all of this is the most normal thing in the world.

"Yep, an agreement." She smiles slightly.