The Sin and the Sinner [private, Sondra please]

[Leo Varniak]

Leo Zaital thought the Konti girl was an exercise in contradictions. Her dancing around the truth whenever her past was concerned… yet at the same time doing so in such a way that almost begged the other person to ask about it… was almost disconcerting. It was as if she wanted him to keep prying until she finally gave in and spilled the beans in her own time.

Fine. Leo could wait. He could only assume their long lives gave the Konti slow-moving personalities that were not quickly or easily moved. She could be his grandmother for all he knew. He ignored that part. He'd never even known a single one of his four grandparents, come to think of it.

"Well," he said after a while, with the industrious workshop quarter back within sight, "we could have a second outing one day. Perhaps I will treat you to a meal and you will gift me with the truth." It sounded like a fair deal. Too bad Leo had no idea at the time that fate would lead him on a very different, and very dangerous tangent, within a few seasons.

"It was a nice outing for what's worth," he added, "but we should've bought the cat some booze." The latter part was idle reflection about the Naryn and its strange tendencies as the Zaital Consulting building came into view, slightly foreboding in the fading light. Leo loved that about the Triad's headquarters. Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive. Solid structure, got its job done, like him.

[Sondra]

When Leo mentioned the possibility of another outing, Sondra almost lost her footing in the snow. She recovered, pulling herself tall. Her eyes looked past the headquarters, as if reading the dove colored sky. For a soft moment, the mysticism and wonder of her race crowned her features.

She spoke with a rare clarity.
"My mother once taught me a dear truth that have held onto despite my changes in station..."

Eyes the color and depth of winter seas shifted to his face.

"...Never turn down a free meal."

A quick smile and the seer was gone in posture and expression.
"And you're right about the cat. I think he'll be a bit cross over it."

Sondra kicked the snow off her boots on the door frame before slipping inside. Blissfully ignorant of the tumultuous waves of change approaching their doorstep.

~Finis~