The Other One (Jilitse, Stitch)

[Jilitse]

"I rely solely on the fact that Priskil is the Goddess of Last Resort," Jil said, "As Stitch here mentioned," She continued, blissfully ignorant of the man's attempts at - whatever he is attempting, "I am seeking for her, and her so-called Order of Radiance. I am seeking their aid, but I cannot and will not divulge the details further. Safe to say however that this particular search is but a part of a much bigger picture, meaning there's just more work beyond that." She said, denoting once more that 'work' was not Malia or Stitch's business. "Whoever your Gods are, Malia." She liked saying both names, as if one betrayed the other, "Azola. They do not seem to be involved with Priskil. Unless you are, in fact, a member of the Order, and only then will I accept an alliance." It was definitely a rhetorical statement, no need to be reacted upon. "But forgive me if I do sound rather arrogant and selfish, I am just uninterested with other people's tribulations at the moment. I already have enough of those." She laughed, truthfully, thinking how it was rather ridiculous to declare war against one god, a supervisor golem, and bank on the help of a goddess for success. And still find the time to pick up friends along the way.

She denied the help offered by Malia, even after Stitch had recommended it. "You both misunderstand, but I do not blame you. It is entirely my fault for not having said enough for you to understand the circumstances that lie underneath this little," she searched for the correct word, "research of mine." To Malia, "It does not have anything to do with being clever, or devout. Not that I belittle your experience," back to Stitch, "Or your judgment," and then back to Malia, "for it is most notable that you have drastically changed since we last met. Your attitude has a certain boldness and tang to it." Quickly, before anybody could make any further comment, "I will settle my own duties in my own time, I cannot bear to think of pulling other people into it. At the same time, I simply could not see how we could work together, even Stitch would agree that our list of things to do does not have anything in common except that we want to accomplish them."

Stitch's efforts were not wasted, at least until the time when Malia declared that she would not force Jil to cooperate. The Sahovan Nuit's aura, if he was still looking, appeared relaxed, and he could pick up hints that Jil was quite pleased with herself. Only then did Jil appear to be welcoming. Finally. "Now that that's settled, how long are you planning to stay? I suppose you will be staying with us?" There was a buried cautiousness in that last question, though it was wiped away instantly. "I guess I owe you the favor of meeting Stitch beforehand. They accepted me well, despite being undead, especially the kids. I trust you have met all four of them?" Jil was wiped off her earlier thorns, and was now, for the lack of a better term, seemingly friendly towards the other visitor.

[Malia]

OOCI feel like ending it here since the main conversation is over. If you'd like to continue, tell me and I'll edit.

Malia had to admit that there was a certain determination to Jilitse’s words when she spoke of Priskil and her mission. As far as she understood, Priskil was the Goddess of Hope and probably Light as well. If that was true, the other Nuit already had a pretty good grasp on what She represented. However, the rest of her long monotone answer sounded like utter rubbish in Malia’s ears.

Obviously Jilitse was trying to defend herself and her cause, coming up with excuses why she couldn’t form an alliance. The discussion had ended in a big misunderstanding. Who was misunderstanding whom? Now, that was a question of little significance, and Malia didn’t concern herself with it. Instead, she merely nodded and took a step back as if offering her defeat to the Sahovan. There was nothing else she could do, except hope that they both matured – what a strange image for a Nuit – and met again by change when they were ready. In Malia’s book, of course, that meant when Jilitse grew up and saw that she needed companions.

“Ah, you have made yourself clear”, she said, and no more. Since she had already made her opinion clear, and Jilitse hadn’t understood it, she wouldn’t make any further attempts. Nuits were different than pulsers, not as easy to convince. Malia would make a mental note of that, in case she came across any other undead.

For the time being, she would retreat and not bring the topic up again. Sensing the change in the other Nuit’s attitude, she lingered a little longer. Politeness was the foundation of living together, after all, and even if they didn’t live under the same roof, Malia would still make sure that she stood on the right side. Additionally, the prospect of being targeted by golems in the future wasn’t a very enjoyable one. “I haven’t planned ahead a lot. My goal for the time being is to earn some money to fund my training in various skills. And no, I have an apartment for the night.”

Then Jilitse talked about the kids, and Malia hesitated for a moment. Four of them? “Oh, I have only met three so far. I feel you’re better with kids than me, but they were quite nice to me, especially Fentya.” Not that she felt drawn towards the oldest kid, not in the least, her voice was unfeeling as ever. She was merely stating a fact.

They were walking towards the house while the children were slowly getting louder inside. Apparently the Nuits had work to do now. At least Malia would do so as she had always done: with diligence and efficiency. And she’d respect Jilitse for the duration of her stay...

- THE END -

[Archon]

Illumination of Development Malia +5 Persuasion +4 Interrogation +3 Negotiation +2 Subterfuge +1 Storytelling Lores: Testing a pulser's memory, Many sided people, History of Sahova (Basic) Care to see more? : Persuasion experience for the attempts to persuade the others to see things your way, Interrogation experience for the work at ferreting out stories and secrets, Negotiation experience for the back and forth with Jilitse, Subterfuge experience for the little lies, and Storytelling experience for sharing your story. Stitch +5 Rhetoric +4 Observation +3 Acting +2 Persuasion +1 Storytelling +1 Babysitting Lores: Dealing with the mystery headaches, History of Sahova (Basic), Even Nuits can be childish Care to see more? : Rhetoric experience for the general conversation, Observation experience for paying attention to the small details, Acting experience for hiding the pains, Persuasion experience for trying to get the Nuits to play nice, Storytelling experience for sharing your story, and Babysitting experience for handling them like children. Jilitse +5 Observation +3 Rhetoric +3 Storytelling +3 Persuasion +2 Babysitting Lores: Interesting things from the mouth of a child, Serendipity at work, Declining an Alliance, History of Sahova (Basic) Care to see more? : Observation experience for paying attention to various details, Rhetoric experience for the conversation throughout, Storytelling experience for the history lesson, Persuasion experience for dealing with the children and the others, and Babysitting experience for helping to take care of the two girls in the beginning. Notes: A delightful thread to read! I really enjoyed the battle of words that went back and forth between Jilitse and Malia, and Stitch joining in at the end.