Aya Brea

She'd probably never moved so fast in her life, and she'd had some pretty good reasons to move before. This was different though, it wasn't a fire fight, it wasn't one of her partners in trouble, no, the school had called her about Ben. They couldn't reach Lorraine. Of course they couldn't reach his witch of a mother, but she was the very first speed dial number in the boy's cell phone, and she had records on file at the school as named guardian per the boy's father.

Sure, having a living relative superseded such in most cases, but it meant they could come to her for billing issues and discipline problems when Lorraine couldn't be bothered.

Not that there were discipline problems where Ben was concerned.

No, but the boy could try to stand up for others when bullying was involved, and he could take a tumble off the school steps and not make the roll properly. And she was going to strangle some school children. Later.

Now she wasn't quite sure when she'd gotten to the hospital, but she had Ben's insurance cards in her wallet and they better get out of her way because they had a boy that the school said had a broken arm and collarbone and he was in pain because his mother couldn't be assed to answer a phone and give the greenlight for treatment.

"Hey, kiddo, I'm here..." He was out, that was for the best really, but damn it was scarier that he didn't look at her. She needed to let the boys know she wasn't tonight and...

..."Bates....I dropped my cell phone." Somewhere in the mad dash she'd managed to miss her pocket after hanging up. So much for apologizing for hanging up on Braig.

Awesome day.

She tapped her fingers on the cool sheet, watching the liquid shimmer of reflected light outside the window weave and sway across her wall as she slowly counted. Fourteen thousand and eighty nine. Fourteen thousand and ninety...

...one particular ripple caught her eye, a swim of silver through the dancing blues. Tide was coming in. That was one thing she loved about living underground; the sea was nearby and she left her curtains open at night to catch reflected light. Fourteen thousand one hundred and six...

She'd meant to wait the full fifteen thousand count, she really had, but the tide was coming in. It was time to move now. She'd already waited a year longer than she'd intended for her hunt, but she'd felt it a week ago. Her target. Hers. It had washed in on an early morning tide and there'd been a small seismic event that closed a few tunnels. Something from the deep was trapped now in their relatively shallower sea. Trapped and hungry, it's usual prey being much larger.

It was going mad.

Animals were far harder to read than higher sentients but she could feel it out there in the water, frustrated and weakening. Before long it wouldn't be much of a challenge. It could do a lot of damage to the ecosystem in their bay, though, before it was starved out. And besides, she was pretty sure not many people had ever hunted this thing!

Granted, she wasn't dumb enough to go out unarmed like katzu were meant to. She wasn't equipped to tear through a monster with her teeth and hands. Plus she was just a hell of a lot smaller than most katzu in existence. She had a long blade strapped to her leg and several smaller ones in her belt.

And she was going to cheat like no one's business.

She didn't have the genetic thrill of hunting that Dilan did, or the sheer bloody minded machismo that Braig held close. No, she had the need to earn her standing though, and the need to be considered an adult, and she had psionic abilities that were a natural weapon in the right circumstances. The telepathy was stiiiiiill probably cheating though.

The boys were due in with the rest of the clan in the morning, she was hoping to meet them with her kill, and that meant slipping out her window and padding down to the water now when it was rising with the tide. Oh...and not getting caught. The adults would kill her. Granted, you had to tell SOMEONE when you went out on your hunt, it was a safety thing, so she'd pulled Kiziah aside after supper and told her she'd sensed something for her own hunt.

Still, she was pretty sure everyone else would try to stop her. Sometimes she got a little tired of the obvious fact of being fragile. Still, that wasn't something to think about now.

Now she had to clamp her teeth down on the rebreather stick and dive. There was enough reflected light just from the natural city ambiance that swimming at first was easy, besides, she had a mental feeler out to her prey. But then, oh it got deeper and it got darker. She hadn't counted on that, not really, and that was the first mark up to enthusiasm over planning. Most hunts were about enthusiasm though. It was okay.

Besides, it glowed.

That was nice.

In a terrifying, stripes of glowing flesh in darkened deep sea creature kind of way.

She'd known, when she first felt it, that was it was alien; something from so far outside the normal range of her waters that it might as well have come from another planet. She hadn't know quite how alien though, she hadn't seen it. She was seeing it now. It's head had heavy, powerful jaws meant for snapping into prey and latching on; it wasn't quite as wide as her chest but the difference could be measured in centimeters. Just under the jaw the segments began, soft and pulpy like a worm but in rings, and each ring had either a set of point edged legs or a set of undulating fins and the whole stretched longer than she was tall by...a great deal, deeper into the darkness.

She could feel where it's mobile, nightmare of eel and millipede body connected to the bulk of itself though, the churning stomach and heart that anchored to the stones set deeper than she'd ever swam before.

That was...going to be fun.

Yeah.

Best to think of it that way instead of taking in just how much bigger it was was in reality. Right. Stabby legs, swimmy legs, and a hell of a jaw. She could work with this. Seriously, she could. And to think she'd almost not taken the bigger knife in case it was cheating. She couldn't laugh, hysterically or no, she'd lose the rebreather. Chalk one up to forethought?

Sure.

She was an idiot.

And she was out of time because it had given up on waiting for her to be lured in by the pretty lights and was arrowing that wedge of a head in her direction!

Okay, so she didn't have katzu battle instinct, but adrenaline was almost as good because when it shot through her system she was grinning around the chunk of plastic in her teeth and she had knives in hand before her heel even connected with the underside of the striking beak. It was anchored, she could get away if she had to. With that knowledge and the tingle of excitement in her system?

Suddenly she was starting to see the appeal.

Granted, underwater battles were nothing to write home about, they were inelegant and lacked the grace of other coming of age battles, but the more she scored fins and fended off stabbing legs? The more it felt like coming in to her own.

And the more she could focus. It wasn't mind reading, not as she knew it, the plucking of thoughts fully formed, it was more like learning to interpret the impulses from the brain as the monster wove and grasped at her. It was...sub-telepathy? Maybe? She'd talk it over with everyone later, For now it meant she was doing alright, because she could tell when it was trying to dodge left, or to strike low. When it wanted to wrap around her and writhe to stuff her full of holes. She could follow it's instinct and that? That was helping.

It wasn't enough for a win but she was annoying the hell out of it! Go her?

Annoying didn't kill any dinners though, not by a long shot, and she'd tire long before the starving, half made critter would. She'd have to do something more useful sooner or later, so with a firm nod to herself she pushed off from the rock wall she been nearly tossed into and headed straight for it, a lovely, tempting target with a handful of steel leading. More importantly she started pushing, or at least that was the only way she knew to describe it. Actively trying interfere with those impulses she was sensing, just a stutter or two.

She didn't know if it worked, but the monster snapped it's maw open in front of her and she lobbed a blade into it's throat. The dumb thing swallowed instinctively and that was most definitely more effective if the sudden, whipping motion was anything to judge by. Distantly she noted that it obviously had no regurgitation action because that knife was NOT coming back up...

...annnnnd then she was back at the wall with a stinging chest and aching back, though she'd managed to keep her head from hitting too hard. Whipping eel millipede nightmare things hit like a train it seemed. Ouch. And she was damn sure it hadn't meant to hit her, it wasn't even trying to hit her now, which made the tag all the more insulting.

Wait. Wait wait wait. There was something important in this scenario and...HER REBREATHER! Hitting the wall had snapped her mouth open and her lovely oxygen source was now floating ahead of her in the waters. She was so very screwed if the monster ate that too. She eyed it a moment then sprang again, her aim was a little off, but with a whipping monster churning the water no one could blame her right? It just meant she had to jackknife her body to catch it when she passed over it. And it meant she took a sliding graze of one of the stabby legs high on the shoulder instead of the chest. It stung, but she could live with that, especially since she had the ability to breathe again.

Adulthood right scars were a normal factor anyway!

Orrrrr that was still the adrenaline talking. Yeah, probably adrenaline. It took three more knives lobbed before another made it into the snapping mouth to further upset her prey, and by that point thick, oily blood was starting to slither from it's mouth. At least it didn't dim the glowing any? That was probably chemicals in the skin, uncontrollable and unnoticed when dealing with swallowed cutlery. Lucky her!

This was getting to be too long away though, she knew that Kiziah would be assembling a rescue mission sooner rather than later, so she drew the longer blade from it's strap against her leg and braced herself, darting forward and taking several more shallow slices from the crabbing legs to ram the longer blade up under the thing's chin. She didn't have much strength in the injured shoulder, but both hands managed to make the tip slid along the hard beak to lodge in the softer skin right behind it. A jerk on it's part and desperation on hers saw the blade up and through the mouth then higher into the brain.

About damn time.

The best option was to hug herself close to the body as it gave over from directed thrashing to helpless twitching; death throes could take her out. She knew that, honest. When the legs around her finally stilled in a final flutter she felt it. Signals were still coming, they just weren't being acted upon. Maybe the reason she'd felt things so clearly was that there was a secondary brain down below with the heart. She hadn't figured it out before because the upper brain was the control brain.

Of course it had two brains. The adrenaline had bled out somewhere during the dying spasms, so it was more grumbling and duty that got her moving again, pulling herself down the grisly, monstrous ladder to the hunched lower body. At least this was easier. Safe in it's rock cave, the main body was more leathery skin than anything else, sealed to the wall like a shellfish clung to stones. It wasn't even that big honestly, only a little bigger around than she was when spread eagle, and she was really hoping this end was buoyant. A few knife blows to areas where she felt nerves or sensed a heartbeat and all was stillness.

About damn time.

It took longer yet to pry the softer body away from the rock walls, but then she was back at the no-longer-snapping head, hilt of her long blade set against her good shoulder as she started the slow, arduous swim back upward. She got it to the surface, barely, and got the blade, still in it's victory position, wedged into a buoy so her prize was pinned like a bug sample and wouldn't slip back into the depths.

And then? Then she was exhausted and it seemed the smartest thing in the world to climb up onto the buoy, lean against one of the cool metal struts, and close her eyes a moment. The katzu always seemed to have more energy after a hunt. Oh well, she was only human, right?

An adult human though!

No doubt many in her social set would have found a trip such as this one a great jaunt. A vacation, a pleasure cruise full of silliness and romance. Granted, most of her peers were rather silly in and of themselves and she did try to avoid them for that reason. Her guardian being a known recluse was quite handy in that regard, and her uncle and she often had a great many nights entertainment out of reading invitations aloud and concocting excuses for them.

Over training, usually. A woman who could not practice her skills while talking simply hadn't built up her stamina enough in Nevada's regard.

Still, this was a busy and bustling ship, not a pleasure liner, and she had her own work to do. The moment they had lifted off she activated the small box their majesties had entrusted to her. It was indication of a senior agent on a case, and it meant that information would find it's way to her in the form of small, mechanical birds.

The latest missive was in her hands, and it wasn't one to inspire hope 'Failed to intercept in Istanbul, targets shows knowledge of agents; suspect mole.' That was...never good news. She'd had her suspicions when their target slipped out of England, but to have a gentleman she knew confirm it? Yes. Bad news.

Their advantage now lay in the fact that the man they were tailing had never actually left their homeland before and that he would have to physically connect with resources he had. And yes, while she herself had never left the country as well, she was traveling in the company of many who had, and Nevada had made it a point to introduce her to all manner of people who came to visit them from elsewhere.

Hopefully it would be enough of an edge.

With a sigh she slipped the small knife from her sleeve so she could reset the switch in the bird, sending it winging back toward the other beacon. Her compatriot in Instanbul need not be down a bird after all. "That looks like bad news," Nevada noted easily from the doorway to her cabin. He'd been cleaning and oiling her weapons while she worked, his own sense of danger to come driving the actions no doubt.

"Failed to intercept," Aya admitted a touch grimly, tapping her pen against her lips. "Your friend Evral in Istanbul suspects a mole."

Ah, yes, it was bad news. Worse than he'd expected in fact. "Better we're here then." No one on Braig's ship would be reporting elsewhere. No one. "Come on, I'm going to throw you to the wolves. Or cats as it were."

"They said yes?" Aya laughed, dropping her pen and checking her clothing automatically. No full corset today, which was good, she'd need to move better than that now!

"They agreed to toss you around like a shuttlecock if that's what it takes," Nevada agreed easily. "And you'll stop being cocky about being able to dodge an old man.

"You're hardly old, Uncle, and I know they'll wipe the deck with me." How not? Katzu were incredibly skilled in most physical areas, and Nevada had been disinclined to throw punches at her proper since she grew up as it were. She hoping to be able to simply brush up her ability to roll without hurting herself at this early date.

"Yes yes, so you always say. Regardless you'll find me in the galley after your workout session with the ladies." He knew himself well enough to know that watching his niece being bounced around would not be good for his health. It was rather part of his job to ensure she wasn't after all. "Or someone better able to walk will."

"Now that seems a challenge, Uncle," Aya chuckled. "I shall endeavor to walk away from any such punishments I bring on myself."

He touched the top of her head gently and chuckled, "yes, you're a stubborn child, but you've never wrestled katzu before. Regardless, I'll see you afterward. And please do not inform your father, he already despairs for your future," Nevada sighed tiredly.

"Of course not." She probably sounded far too cheerful about the prospect of self defense lessons with the ladies on board; she could tell by the way he arched an eyebrow at that comment. Oh well, the quality of her social peers wasn't the only reason she didn't spend much time in their company.

She peered into the room, nose at the edge of the door as she looked the bed over. Dilan had been sick all week and now, now he wasn't moving. Everyone had told her he'd do this, that he got really sick in the winter and that meant he went into a coma for a few days.

Like it was normal somehow, comas.

She knew what a coma was. It was that time when the people you loved fell asleep, and while they were asleep the machines stopped beeping and the doctor came to touch her gently and tell her that the rest of her family didn't make it. To tell her she was lucky because that meant that she could have a transplant from her sister and her eye socket would be okay. She wouldn't be blind in one eye.

Comas meant that doctors could cut you up and you never left the hospital.

But Dilan wasn't in the hospital and she wasn't exactly sure how to take that. He had an IV hooked up, but no beepy machines and he was still breathing. She could see that from here. He was breathing and that was a good thing. It meant he wasn't dead.

She didn't want Dilan to die.

Weirdly enough that made the boys room a very scary place and that was why she was standing at the threshold, watching. When her sister had slipped into a coma they'd put up a curtain between their beds; at least she could see him. She had no idea how long she stood there just waiting for each breath before Yinsi touched her shoulder. He probably expected her to jump, and she did, but the scream? Yeah, she hadn't expected that at all.

It didn't wake Dilan up. It did wake up Braig though, making the boy sit up from his slump beside the bed and peer balefully toward the door. Not that she saw it, she was too busy running, the surge of adrenaline pushing her in a screaming dash down the hall to her own room.

It was Yinsi that pulled her out from under the bed and held her as she babbled something, she couldn't remember, later, what she said but he listened and that was a good thing because it let her wear herself out and he was probably the one who tucked her in. and she knew he was the one who sat by her bed when she managed to wiggle herself off the edge, because when she woke up he'd caught her and was trying to get the blanket untangled.

She'd been too weak, in the hospital, to roll out of bed. That was different at least. And when he set her down she was peeling off down the hall to peer through the boys door again. Dilan was still breathing.

Good.

It was weird. She could see Braig sitting the chair by the bed, reading a book, but she couldn't really look at him, her eyes stayed on Dilan. And this time, this time she managed to step into the room. A few steps before her feet froze to the floor. What if going all the way in meant something went wrong?

And...yeah, she was running again. Stupid feet.

She didn't have a good answer, and she was afraid and it was stupid.

Elcy fed her a sandwich this time around, and made her go out into the garden to weed a bit.

And then she had to stop weeding when Elcy noticed she pulled up everything under the windows.

She didn't like being afraid.

It made her angry, because Dilan was in a coma and she couldn't fix it. So what was she suppose to do?!

Braig had a good idea, he was in there, reading, and keeping watch. She could do something like that, right? Maybe.

If her feet let her.

Stupid feet.

How, exactly, did someone fix their feet?

Yinsi found her again, standing in the hall and staring at her toes. She...didn't really have any ideas. Screwdrivers weren't for feet after all, and she didn't think tape would help at all. This time when Yinsi touched her shoulder she didn't jump, she just blinked. "My feet are broken."

"They look like feet to me dear," Yinsi pointed out, kneeling down so he could poke one of her bare, grubby little toes.

"Hey!" she twitched her foot away from the poking, then dug her big toe into the carpet behind her. "They won't listen to me. I need something to fix that."

"Like what?"

Yeah, that was the problem wasn't it? "I don't know. Something...maybe glitter? Would that help?" Sparkles were distracting right? Maybe they wouldn't notice she was walking into the boys room if they were sparkly?

"And glue?" Yinsi chuckled softly. "I think we have that. Anything else you'll need?"

"My Moogle. And some books. A lot of books."

"Alright, stay right here," Yinsi ruffled her hair gently and headed down the hall.

And...she could do staying. She started leaning at some point, trying to peer through the doorway again even though it was waaaaaay down the hall, but her feet didn't budge an inch. Not until Yinsi got back with a bowl and glitter.

Glue felt really weird on her feet but not in a bad way, but in a cold muddy kind of way! "Am I gonna get stuck to the bowl?" she asked, peering down at her toes as she wiggled them in the Elmer's puddle she was now standing in.

"Now, I'll hold you until your feet dry and then you'll be fine!"

Glitter, unlike glue, didn't feel like mud at all. It felt kind of like snow, and sounded a bit like emptying the pencil sharpeners at school. And then her feet were covered in sparkly rainbows part way up her shins. Apparently Yinsi had found ALL the glitter in the house. That was kind of awesome. "Think this will work?"

In answer Yinsi scooped her up and dangled her upside down, letting glitter rain over the hall as she kicked her feet to air them. "Do you?"

"My feet feel weird!" she laughed. Hopefully weird enough right? Maybe. She could feel her head turning red from dangling upside down!

"Should I dip your hair in the bowl too?" Yinsi laughed, poking her nose. "You'll match then, top and bottom!"

She honestly thought about it for a minute but, well, "No! That's silly! I only need to fix my feet!"

"You sure?"

"I'm sure! I'm sure! Put me dowwwwwwwwn!"

Yinsi poked her foot, checking to see if it was dry, then draped her over his shoulder instead, "Nope, not yet. Let's go get your moogle and stick some books in a bag okay? Then your feet should be dry alright?"

"Okay!"

The next time she stood in the boys doorway she was prepared. She had a backpack on and her moogle in her arms, and her feet were all kinds of distracted!

And Dilan wasn't dead.

Glitter got her to the edge of the bed, but then she froze again, shivering as Yinsi followed behind her quietly. She had to touch Dilan just...to make sure. Once she poked his hand Braig gave up and reached out to grab her arm. "C'mon, monkey, sit here."

Hopefully neither of the boys minded that she was going to end up reading half her books out loud...and her feet were all used up for now. Yeah, they were done. She wasn't leaving the room again for nothing. Not for a while.

That was alright though. She was in, that was what mattered!

Aya sighed and moved her lips along her husband's shoulder, resolutely ignoring the stain of dawn along the horizon. This was...the day he left. Four cycles of her father's lands and Irkun's and now..."He will think you mad with longer," she admitted while shadows still traced the sands." The summons had come from Braig's father, but all who mattered knew they came from the Vizier.

The Vizier who thought Braig still safely snared by his daughter.

His arms slid around her waist, stronger, now, with the hours of lessons and horse training that these past moons had brought. Strong and intent to reassure, she could read that in the line of his body against hers in their blankets. "I'll be taking no roses, Dessert Blossom," he assured softly. "They'll not snare me twice. Irkun and I will ride together."

Her lips stilled at his neck, fear and honest regret flowing through her. This was, on it's surface, a mere summons. A whimsy of the king's to see his son and check on the growth that tradition demanded. Ah, but what if he left and he tempted once more? What if he left and saw for more gracious creatures at court?

What if he regretted his marriage?

It was odd for her to think such; her father raised her stronger. able to stand alone. But the longer she was wed, the longer she took lessons on Irkun's lands...the more she felt she needed her husband. He treated her...as no other had. An equal, but a treasure at the same time. Was it selfish to wish to keep that?

His fingers traced over her face, playing much as the seeking rays of light did, tracing here and there in a teasing wash. "I will play besotted," he admitted. "We will coat my hands with wax and gloves so I may not touch any magics and I bear protections; my heart is yours. Keep it safe my flower?"

She turned his face toward hers, ignoring the sting of tears as she kissed him soundly; "Watch for me at three days my love? I will find your rooms as I did once before. And a week of court wins your freedom..." But that was a long time to hold a ruse under exacting eyes. She worried for him.

"I know," he agreed softly, leaning away so he could set teeth to her shoulder harshly. "That will not fade before I am home." Home meant with his wife, wherever they needs must be. "You remember the entrance?"

"Three stones at sun points my heart," she agreed softly. "And I shall flee at dawn." But she could not bear to be parted from him. And two were ever stronger than one alone in dangerous circumstance. She would trust Irkun to his daylight hours...but she would stand in his nights.

"As a dream?" he teased, drawing fingers through her unbound hair as the day grew brighter. "It will be as when we met..."

She flushed under his fingers, bemused that he still found such circumstance to be charming. Curse the blood that made her flush so much more than he! "Never a dream!" she laughed, softly. "Never more. Flesh and steel at your side when you are in danger. And Irkun will bring you fully back to me after a week." She spoke the words more as a reassurance to herself than anything else. Irkun wielded 'custom' as others did weapons, and it worked just as well in his hands.

Custom said a prince of the blood must be trained by the chiefs, and that he could spend a week in comfort for every three moons. They'd had four, no doubt because the Vizier wished Braig to be at his sanity's edge when returned to the deceiving daughter. "I shall never leave," Braig admitted. "It is not a spell that hold me to you, but far, far stronger." Enough so that it frightened him at times. Was this, then, what the stories decried as 'Fate'?

"And you thought to steer me from visiting you," she chuckled softly, pinching his chin gently before finally lifting their blankets. The sun was risen, they had preparations to make. "You speak to my heart so and expect distance?" it was her turn to tease as she flicked the lengths of her hair over his chest and settled in to comb her tresses before dressing.

Braig trailed his fingers through her hair and lifted a handful of the strands to his lips, bemused as she sat above him. "No. I would lament were you to stay away," he admitted. "Risk or no I prefer you at my side." And he had a desire to see her drowning in the silk of his bed, properly adorned in what she had lost. "A strand of hair to hold close to my heart?" he begged, lifting a hand to her comb.

She laughed and bent to kiss his fingers before tugging a strand from her head for him. "What would you my prince?"

"Bind it about my finger," he admitted, holding up his hand to show just that.

She watched as he wrapped the long strand; a tease of thin gold that grew wider with each motion. "It will be noticed," she noted, dropping the comb in favor of clasping his hand her chest. "Allow us to hide it?"

"Certainly," he laughed, taking the opportunity presented to pinch her bosom before she turned to dig in her bags.

She squeaked and jumped just to make him laugh before presenting him with a handful of solid silver rings. "Here. One for horse taming, close as you are I doubt Irkun would call the lie. One for wisdom, one for age...three rings my love, all to be worn on one hand. Will they fit over your own?" The ring he had made for them?

He smiled and slid them, cool and weighty, along his fingers. "Yes. Irkun's badge and your hair my flower, they fit well together. None shall take the ring from my hand." Either ring.

She laughed and poked his hip, reminding him to seek his own clothes as the day grew brighter. "Nor shall your silk leave my waist," she admitted. His golden silk, regifted to her, rode at her waist each day. Gold for gold, a matched set. It seemed fitting.

"It's time," Irkun spoke from the ridge above them.

Nevarra watched as his daughter attached her veil after a long kiss to her husband, then passed her the reins to the mount he held. "You will ride north Aya, your patrol will take you close..."

...enough to slip within the palace walls while having a force to retrieve her if necessary. "Thank you father. We ride in two hours."

"And we in one," Irkun noted, holding the reins of a second horse as Braig slid into his clothing. "Forgive me, prince, this week will be harsh."

"I know," Braig agreed wryly. "But the reward well worth it. Watch well old horse, watch well as I make myself the fool once more."

"As ever my prince," Irkun agreed. As ever. He'd earned that.

She sighed softly and reached up to absently massage a temple; no matter how she pieced the facts together one of them remained triumphant above the others. They should not be going to India. No, rather, the man they were carefully hunting should have been caught on Bournes in London. He should never have made it across the Thames and certainly no further than Paris!

No matter the reach and influence that the East India Trading Company still held none of the agents she knew of had even whispered about the mole from parliament. And yet the quarry had eluded them; twice was stretching coincidence, three times and it spelled a grim future for this hunt. There was another hand at work here, there had to be, it was the only factor that would make sense of what she'd observed and encountered in this chase!

But who?

Certainly there were no shortage of enemies to contemplate. She worked for the crown, and the crown was quite the enchanting target, ergo most names of power and discontent had crossed her desk, and her uncle's before her, at one point or another. But who would stoop to spiriting away a functionary?

Who indeed.

That question had spun her mind in ceaseless circles for well over an hour now. It was a sign that she was tired, certainly, that she couldn't pull the details she intended from the papers but instead was mired in these useless chains. Some days she felt as if she hadn't slept well since she was a child and far before she began taking on some of her uncle's work. Information seemed to linger in her head long beyond the point when her body gave in.

She'd get nothing more from the pages before her eyes so with an act of will she dropped her hands from her temples and closed the notebook in disgust. It would be some time yet before she could sleep no matter what biology demanded so she checked her hair and stood from the small desk, swaying slightly as her body registered the movement of flight beneath her.

Ah yes, the air ship.

It was interesting to meet friends that figured so prominently in her Uncle's stories. She knew better, of course she knew better, but she'd expected men of his generation. These friends were still in their prime and she was rather certain that her uncle was quite happy to be back amidst them with the prospect of raising bedlam again.

She'd worry if the idea didn't intrigue her.

And the company, so far, was pleasant. Her uncle would laugh if she admitted such to him!

Speaking of, she cracked her cabin door open to meet her uncle's amused gaze. He knew her well, and damn the man for having more stamina than her even at his age! Biology or no she should have been able to catch him napping at least once! Alas, it was an old, old game with them. "Restless?" he asked, not unkindly.

"A touch," she admitted. "I thought to walk the deck, clear my head before sleeping."

"By all means," he gestured her grandly to the door and...pulled a stool out to set on the deck for himself. He wouldn't pace her, not here where he was convinced it was safe, but they both felt better when she was in eyesight.

She brushed a cheerful kiss against his cheek as she passed him then braced herself for the far cooler air at this altitude. It was bracing, and quite what she needed to clear her mind...or she hoped it would be after a bit of time. She didn't pace; that wouldn't be lady like and it would most certainly be rude to pound out her frustrations on a hapless deck before the night crew. No, rather she drifted in a slow circle. There were plenty of things on this ship, after all, to catch her attention and to study briefly.

Walking the deck in leisure for the first time was quite like walking in a garden; it would be an unkindness to rush the viewing. The entire ship spoke of care and maintenance; it was not overly gilded nor built for show. She rather approved, and the quiet hum of function beneath her boot heels was soothing. By her second circuit she was fiddling quietly with her pocket watch. Taking it apart and reassembling it was another of her soothing habits, the familiar motions helping to lull her further toward sleep.

Yes, this had been the correct decision, the right path, even if the early misses had frustrated her.

"Hello?" The rough voice sighed tiredly into the phone. "This number is listed as the emergency contact number for an Aya Brea. If you are her closest relatives she is in need of a pick up at the state police building in Keys." The man on the phone seemed really, really tired.

Granted, a bunch of police cadets had been graduated this week so that was probably part of the problem.

"If you are not her nearest contacts please relay the message to someone able to pick her and her friend up." And get them out of his building, please?

Pretty please?

The girls hadn't stopped giggling since they'd been picked up.

The moogle cuddled in the human's lap was trilling kupos in between poking at the tape on her bandage. The bandage on her bald spot. Over her tattoo. There was a tattooed moogle in the precinct.

Giggling.

The girls weren't drunk or high but they were blowing off stress in a very...teenaged sleep over kind of way and they were making the cops tired just by looking at them really, hence the phonecall out.

Aya's one phonecall had apparently gone...somewhere else.

Who: Everyone at some point or another.
When: Toward the end of the two year stakeout.
What: Sometimes even the great players will tip their hand.

( And dems de breaks )

Who: Sheriff Aya Brea, Independants Braig and Dilan
When: 3:36 pm Sunday August 5th.
What: Just another beautiful day in Eureka

( Why am I the only sane person I know? )

Who:Aya and Braig
When: Just before Dilan returns from his first vacation away from the assignment.
What: They are really, really glad he's coming home and want to show it!

( But the care is in the cookies )