Cat and Mouse (Marcus Ahysen)

by **Inoadar** on February 19th, 2013, 3:27 am

"Yeah, that's it." Inoadar took the book from Marcus and examined the cover. It was clean, though there was still a light coating of dust on the desk. You could barely see the outline of where the book had been sitting. There were no telltale clean spots where thumbs had held it while someone went through it, but there was no reason for it to be cleaner than the desktop. But it was hardly conclusive.

He fanned through the book slowly, seeing no new smudges from dirty fingertips... But it was clean... and the desk was still dusty. His eyes narrowed. He opened the book to the current page and entered the debit from shop funds for the new gear.

He got up and walked to the back closet, opening and reaching in to get a sponge and a rag. He took a bottle off a shelf, uncapped it, held the sponge to its top and quickly turned the bottle over and back to make a small wet spot. Replacing the bottle, he came back out and set the sponge, wet spot up, on a nearby table.

He took the rag and wiped off the desktop. "Odd that the book is cleaner than the desk, since it's been sitting here getting dusty along with everything else." he remarked nonchalantly. He cleared his throat as he walked to the sponge to attract Marcus' attention. He began to talk calmly as he wiped his thumbs on the wet spot, depending, once again, on bluff and nerve to gain information. He doubted Marcus would know if he was lying.

"You know, I have a slow-acting toxin on the edges of those pages, so unauthorized people will regret looking through my private books. Nothing lethal, of course, in case I need to...ask them...what they were looking for. Perhaps, as an employee, you thought that made you authorized to look. You would be wrong to think so." He stopped wiping and hooked his hands in his pockets, giving Marcus a penetrating look. "If you need to wipe your thumbs in this alcohol, you'd best be about it. I'll know soon enough, anyway"

by **Marcus Ahysen** on February 19th, 2013, 8:45 pm

Marcus was a bit caught of guard when Inoadar mentioned the poison. That was something he had not expected at all. Of course, the fact that Inoadar would go to such lengths to poison his ledger only confirmed in Marcus mind that there was indeed something worth hiding in there. That did not help him with his current situation, but it was something worth noting for the future. Inoadar clearly did not want him looking through the books. Luckily, Marcus was able to come up with an excuse quickly enough.

"Odd thing to notice, I might say," Marcus said in response to the comment about the dust. "Maybe the desk just attracts it more, like my desk at home gets dustier than the wardrobe. My wife says it's cause the color."

Marcus did walk over to the sponge and wiped his thumbs, but he had an excuse for that as well. As he cleaned off his fingers he gave his excuse.

"I promise I didn't go rifling through your books, though. Don wanna get fired on the first day. Better wipe these thumbs though just in case. I touched the pages when I picked it up. Thanks for warning me though, I'll make sure to keep my fingers off the paper. ..might not be my place to say it, but something like that you might not want to be leaving around. What if I had looked through it and gotten sick?"

by **Inoadar** on February 20th, 2013, 5:32 am

Inoadar's look remained fixed on his face, though inwardly, he cursed himself. He hadn't played this right. Or Marcus was better than he gave him credit for. Or both. The man's excuse was viable. And reversing the subtle reprimand for his own apparent carelessness was infuriatingly effective. Here, he thought he was about to watch the man sweat arrows and break down to confess his spying, and instead, HE was being put in a position to...what...apologize?

'Petch that' he growled under his breath. Maybe he would poison the pages from now on...

"Like I said," he tested, "It's slow acting. And non lethal. I guess it didn't occur to me that you might...bumble your hold on it...while you...picked it up." He wondered now if Marcus had even realized that his spiel about 'unauthorized people regretting to look' and 'asking them what they'd been looking for' had been intended to intimidate him with suggestions of an interrogation. If the man was a Black Sun plant, he couldn't just up and torture him. For his own defense, he'd need to have a legitimate business-related cause to subject him to any kind of serious questioning.

He'd hoped to be able to apply the tag of spying for a business rival of some sort. Some filterer or chemist if not another poison crafter. Then he could question him properly. And if he coughed up the Black Sun or Ebonstryfe, Inoadar could feign shock. Then, of course, he'd arrange for the industrial accident...'the poor slob'.

But now it was back to square one. He had an assistant he suspected as a Black Sun spy and his efforts to cash in on his connections were greatly hindered. It was not as though he himself was an actual traitor, though he'd take such a job for the right pay. But he didn't want his contacts compromised or his future was bleak. He'd be shut out...or worse. The situation was sucking away his prospects like...that sponge on the desk.

'That sponge...on the desk...' Maybe he hadn't screwed this up as bad as he'd thought. The gears began to turn in his mind. 'Marcus HAS been convinced there is poison on the pages. It probably makes him all the more determined to check it more thoroughly...Yes...He'll check it again.' Inoadar felt a smile start on his face and quickly stifled it.

He turned his back to Marcus as he followed his train of thought. 'So...when he looks again, he'll wipe his thumb on the sponge...I just need to put something on the sponge that will ultimately expose him. I'll have to think about this for a while...'

He turned back, all apologetic, all feigned sincerity. "You're right Marcus. I apologize. I guess I just have a little trouble dealing with the embarrassment of having my assistant show more common sense than me." He chuckled, Marcus seemed to be buying it. "Well, anyway, now you're warned. I'd really like it if you'd not go snooping through it though. You might get some phrase caught in your head that you saw in there...purely by accident, of course!...and then inadvertently repeat it where some business competitor of mine might hear. Secrets are valuable after all."

He headed back to the front room as he spoke, taking the ledger book with him. "I'm going to take this home and reapply the coating. It may not actually have even been effective right now. It's been a while since I last applied it." He gathered up the package with the disguise kit and slipped the ledger book inside. He pulled the nettle cloak off the tree and folded it over his arm. 'Nice touch, that last bit.' he grinned to himself.

He stood at the door and called back, "Well, you can lock up, Marcus. I'll see you in the morning." He stepped out into the late afternoon, knowing it would be getting dark by the time he got home. He needed to check up on some reactive chemistry.

OOCMaybe Marcus would like to follow Ino. If you do, and want to propose a place or two Ino stops at for plot purposes, I am good with it.

by **Marcus Ahysen** on February 28th, 2013, 6:09 pm

"I promise I won't touch it unless you ask me to," Marcus responded.

It was true, he had no intention of going anywhere near that book now that he knew it was poisoned. That did not mean someone else might. Marcus had to report in, eventually, and a poisoned ledger was more than a little suspicious. Selling poisons.. even to people who used them to kill others, was not really illegal in Ravok. Usually the only time the Ebonstryfe cared about such things was if it aided in the poisoning of one of their own, Ebonstryfe or Black Sun. If that happened, an investigation would almost certainly occur. But in truth, more often than not, the crafter of the poison itself would not get into much trouble as long as they were willing to cooperate. It was only if they were suspected in the actual killing itself that it really mattered.

Perhaps Inoadar had more to hide than Marcus thought. What if the Rising Dawn was purchasing poisons from him? What if it turned out he really was a traitor? In truth, Marcus was just there to discover who his contact in the Dawn was, but if it turned out Inoadar was doing more than just speaking, he might find himself in a bit of a situation. For the time being, however, there wasn't anything Marcus could do without blowing his cover. He needed to play the part of an innocent employee, and that meant doing exactly what he was told.

"Not a problem, boss. I'll make sure we're locked up tight. Can't wait to get home, the wife said she was gonna make a special dinner in celebration of my first day on the job. You have a nice night, Mr. Parnell."

After Inoadar left Marcus took a moment to consider things. He had found nothing lying around the shop itself that was incriminating, but if Inoadar was any good, Marcus wouldn't have expected to. He needed to befriend the man.. or at least get into his good graces enough. Perhaps he could invite Inoadar over for dinner one night? Although, with the way his "wife" had been acting out lately, that might be a bit of a problem. Perhaps it was time to sell her and find a more behaved woman to take over. Inoadar hadn't met her yet, so there was still time to make the switch. What he really needed, though was to get into the man's home. Then he would really be able to look around.. but that would take time. Marcus didn't want to move too fast and risk blowing his cover. In the end, he simply locked up the shop, and made his way home. Unfortunately, there was not any dinner waiting for him, but that had been a lie anyway. Still, it was nice to hope. There was much for him to think about, but Marcus went straight to bed. Working a normal job was exhuasting.

by **Inoadar** on March 1st, 2013, 3:11 am

Inoadar was lost in thought as he made his way through the night. 'Some sort of two stage glue? One part on the pages of the ledger, another on...what? the side of the bottle of cleaning liquid? Neither will act alone, the adherence triggers only after touching both substances. Or maybe there's an ink that works the same way...No, he might be caught, but he might panic and get ink smudges all over important entries.

'Something not exactly ink, but stain, like they use for wood furnishings...No, damn it...smells too strongly. Maybe some diluted 'False Fire', broken down to two components, so it doesn't trigger until combined...Yes, that would work. It doesn't burn in any capacity to actually ignite, but it would also glow on his skin.'

He didn't know offhand where to find such a thing, but he supposed Black Tar might have it, or know where to get it. But he had been there today already. Legitimate purposes or not, the owner would probably 'frown' on a guy like him frequenting his shop excessively.

Inoadar resigned himself to catching up on this project at some future date. he decided to simply do as he had said and go home. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't been watching for any sort of tail. He had been too focused on how to catch Marcus.

The irony of his own caution causing him to be careless hit him humorously and he started to snicker. Shyke, he didn't really have any reason to believe Marcus to be a plant anyway. But...it paid to be cautious. He took a roundabout route to Tarsin's and walked past the desk. The desk clerk cleared his throat and Inoadar made his way over to get his mail.

There was a note for a "Torval". He knew this was one of his cover names, but he had to think a moment to recall who it indicated. It hit him with something less than enthusiasm. Ordinarily, he'd be glad of a contact, but he remembered this was the name he gave to that lone Rising Dawn agent he'd come to terms with.

He opened the letter with some apprehension. The Rising Dawn had been driven out, for the most part, as far as he knew. Naturally, there was the chance they were more extensive than he, or other citizens, believed, but they'd been quiet since the Temple attack. 'And now, I'm getting a contact from a low-level thug like that guy? Probably wasn't able to get out of town and wants my help. Just what I need if my new assistant is a Black Sun plant. It's bad enough I've got no control over when, or if, that wizard pops up. It's bound to be at the worst time.'

He took a deep breath and shrugged. He really had no one to blame but himself. He could have stayed away from the CEB building. He could have just cut that other guy's throat. Then neither of them would be a problem. But having contacts always involved some risk. 'May as well see what junior has to say.' he thought as he read the note.

'Sorry I missed you. Will try again at a later date. Best for me to avoid your workplace.'

Inoadar wondered if there was some hidden information there. He folded the message and slipped it in his pocket. He had no idea on what 'later date' he might run into this fellow. He'd worry about it then. Still, he felt he was missing something...

by **Cataclysm** on April 8th, 2013, 3:09 am

Inoadar :

Marcus :

Odd to see that the starting thread after reading what happened after. None the less it was great as the 1st (middle?) one I read if not better. Nice to see Marcus defending himself in the subtlest of ways. I really liked that bit.

Safety comes in the oddest forms

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