You're going to fall... @ifyougochasingrabbits - Tumblr Blog

Patience And Prying.

Vex snaps her hand shut as sounds emit from above, the flame that had danced around her fingers being choked and ears lifting up. A brief glance is sent Q'kura's way before the Seeker shifts, beginning to shove herself up to her feet.

"W-what's happening? Vex?" The Seeker in the basement flinches, a twinge of pain seething up his wounded leg. The sudden darkness had sent the panic in his chest rising, ears lifted to better listen. There were footsteps, now… And Q'kura could only make his assumptions to what, exactly that might mean for him.

Bexy, again, doesn't make her preferences known to White; though chances are the Raen knew them already. As they slip through into the house, Bexy allows White to enter before promptly locking the door and stowing the key. Now inside… It was understandable why the house was so easy to miss. Little light poured in through the windows, blocked by the canopy in the thickest part of the Shroud, where even the trees had begun to take root in her home; leaves clung to repurposed bough and branch, the very walls and foundations a part of the Twelveswood itself. A small kitchen, a simple table, and a sofa adorned the front room. And, as though valuing quiet over her lauded rolanberries, Bexy moves to an icebox to pluck up a punnet of them, and wordlessly hands them to White. Despite the cobbled-together appearance of the house, it was clean… And perhaps, a little too tidy. Many personal effects had been removed, or… Hidden; even going so far as to turn all the bottles so they faced their labels away from prying eyes.

I couldn't allow her to see anything i didn't want her to. Even the smallest aspects of me would be buried from her view.

White's gaze danced around, following a few steps behind Bexy's walk. It took in several sights here and a few there with notes made for each one. Unless she didn't think one was needed. That wasn't the case for the bottles. She lifted a brow at them, turning to Bexy, and gasped!

"Do you grow them here?" she took them as she asked. Plucking one up between her finger and thumb she turned it over. "Or do you buy them? From somewhere else." The end went right into her mouth, biting down, through the tasty treat.

Vex opts to not offer Q'kura a response to his question, crimson gaze merely resting upon him as she lingers in a brief moment of thought that she doesn't voice, her feet soon enough shifting into motion as she steps out of the cell area to get out of view from the captive Seeker, settling herself half leaned in the doorway leading into the room as she oh-so patiently waits.

"I'd eat them faster than i grew them. I have precious little talent in bringing life to anything." Bexy casts a glance over her shoulder to White as she made way through her front room, turning a corner to descend an equally gloomy staircase. Down here, there's much more to take in. A well stocked bookshelf, and somehow even more vegetation seemed to line the walls, the shelves; having poured in from every crevice it can manage. In fact, her very home seemed held together, bound together by vines and roots, which would seem a threat of falling to pieces if everything didn't seem so… Sturdy. On a table that was once a sizable treestump, lay a small array of things; roses, shiny gil coins, blood covered cloth, and much more should anyone have bothered to look.

As Vex pulls into view, Bexy curls her lips into a smile; A warmer, more welcoming thing that she'd ever reserve for White. "I'm back, and i brought company. You're feeling better after some rest, i hope?" A small pause, as she trails a watchful gaze over the younger Seeker; clearly bearing signs of battle. "And how is our…" Bexy trails, painted lips curling into a smirk. "…Unwilling guest?"

She was wounded during the altercation, but seems to shrug it off well enough. Suppose that's part of the parcel of growing up... Where she did. I'll keep an eye on her regardless.

Q'kura had maintained uneasy breaths throughout the conversation, opting not to speak up, to steady himself and listen. The voice of the woman who had slaughtered so many of their people. She hadn't sounded the way he'd expected her to, but something about that made him all the more unsettled, fighting the rising panic in his throat.

Each berry she did the same to— bit off the end, ate it, then bit off the rest as close to the leave as she could, dropping them in with the other berries to grab another as trailed behind Bexy.

She leaned to one side, putting most of her weight into a single leg. Peeking out from behind Bexy she loudly greeted, "Little carrot!" What a name. "Have you tried burnin' any more? Since the last time. Did it work?" Another berry met the fate of her greedy teeth.

"Welcome back." Vex stands up straight, ears twitching faintly as she peers down at herself, squinting almost accusingly at her own body for the mostly healed wounds that hide beneath a layer of cloth. "Oh, I'm fine." Her gaze lifts to Bexy anew, a hand raising to offer a thumbs-up the icy Seeker's way. "Wide awake and about as whiny at the capture." She snorts with some considerable amusement. "Oh, and he wants something for his leg, figured I'd leave it up to you. Don't really wanna take from your shit without your say-so, y'know?" Her eyes then fall upon White, lips curling into a grin. "Hey! No more carrot burning, yet."

"He's awake? Good." Bexy considers Vex's words, pulling her lips into a line for a moment. Stepping out from in front of White, Bexy crosses the room towards a partition, where the sound of bottles, various other assorted items all shuffled against the wooden box they were kept in. "…What's that about a carrot…?" She asks, curiosity getting the better of her.

'Good.' What was that supposed to mean? Good? Q'kura curls in on himself, a natural reaction, before a yelp leaps out of his mouth, hands flying up to cover it. Breath held, he doesn't make another sound.

White was quick to answer that. "We tried to set a carrot on fire!" she sounded proud about it too. "It didn't work. Not really." Less so when it came to the failure.

Following the icy woman she— what was that? Her head turned in the direction of the yelp and stared. Her gaze curiously narrowed, a smirk pulling at the corner of her lips. "We should try again. Burning one. If we let it dry out first. Then it has to work. Wouldn't it?"

Vex pauses, peering over her shoulder and towards the cell at the yelp, lips thinning into a line before she looks back to Bexy and White. "That." She confirms, before grinning - her inner pyromaniac showing just a touch. "It's worth trying!"

"…Why?" She asks, returning to the main room before White can follow her proper, gone for just a few moments at most. A few bottles are gathered in her gloved hands, and a roll of gauze bandage. The quizzical look between them upturns into an amused smile. "Well, at the very least i need not introduce either of you, since you already seem acquainted. And speaking of…" Bexy slips into the room beyond Vex; a bedroom, most certainly. A painting of the Burning Wall hung above a bed, and a small desk which remained unusually free of clutter. Between wardrobes and walls yet another bookcase sat. Unexpectedly, however, a hidden door already hangs open, revealing a hidden room. Reaching for a book a little ways to the side of the newfound entryway, the tome is opened to reveal a number of candles, to which Bexy mounts on a candlestick, before she tips it in Vex's direction. "Would you be so kind?"

...I can't say i'd expected White and Vex to know eachother, but... Hm. Suppose White might have looked for me at the company house. I know she sometimes does. ...I dread to think who else she's met during her time there, and what she might have learned...

The footsteps drew closer now, and he had to take a breath sometime; a long, slow exhale followed a sharp, sudden inhale. He couldn't yet see anyone, and he didn't dare look in the direction of the dim light for long, opting to remain as still as possible.

"Why not?" she asked back like it was obvious. To her it was— curiosity being the main reason for a lot of her choices. And fun. Mostly for fun.

Following her again she first poked her head into the room, then a foot, followed by the other. "Well! Wellwellwellwell~ You're like one of those fancy ladies in those funny mystery books. Havin' a hidden room. Where is your flowin' robe, Icepick? I think you'd look good in one." A laugh fell out between her grin parted to eat another berry, muffling the sound when she took a bite.

Vex shifted herself out of the way, following into the room. A new grin flashes across her face as the candle is tipped in her direction, her hand reaching for the wick. A flame is sparked between her fingers with an unnecessary snap, settling it atop the wick before pulling her hand back.

"I suppose." Bexy remarks, a small roll of her shoulders. Curiosity was as good a reason as any. Still, White's quip brings a small tug of a smirk to her lips. "It's in my wardrobe with the rest of my things. Didn't want the place to look untidy. I have guests." The pluralization is emphasized, offering a thankful smile to Vex as she lit the candle, just enough to illuminate the small space around it.

Q'kura sucks in a breath. Why did she have to speak like that? And surely, the other woman's voice seemed familiar somehow, but he couldn't place how, or where he had known it from; unless of course he was mistaken. Gods knew he'd made many mistakes, made all the more evident by his current situation. The light draws his eyes, and the silhouette of a woman he'd never seen save for a flicker of ice and darkness through the bushes looms just outside the door.

At least until she enters only a moment later. Icy eyes lay on him, tracing over the shapes of what she could see in the dark. His eyes don't move from hers until she meets them; then they flee, away into the dark where he couldn't see all that well. Then, it clicks. His glasses. Where are his glasses? The thought seems to dance around in his mind for a moment until Bexy breaks the silence between them.

"Greetings, Q'kura."

Finally, we get to talk. This bastard is the one responsible for... Well, perhaps not everything, but he's certainly the one who set everything in motion. I wonder how difficult he will be to make talk? ...Not too easy, i hope. I won't kill him, but he doesn't need to know that. I still have my own brand of vengeance i'd like to enact.

"You have to show me sometime. You need to! You really should." She wondered what color it was, if it even existed. Maybe blue. Or black. Did it have a fluffy trim? It always looked so soft. A few other thoughts of whats and dids popped up in her head. She kept them to herself as she followed behind, giving Vex a cheek-rounding smile. She pushed the even further, monching on half another berry.

The trapped man was going to find out what other mistakes he made pretty soon if he was as smart as he was mentioned to be. Not just yet. But soon. She stayed mainly out of sight, behind Bexy the shield, catching glances of him when she had walked to where she stood. She didn't say anything. For now. And waited to hear what he'd say. They'd all say. What they'd do. She ate the rest of the berry.

Vex slipped around the corner to once again enter the area she had previously left, her crimson eyes almost eerily piercing the darkness to look Q'kura's way. "Look who's come to visit you!" Vex uttered the words in a sing-songy tone, with way too much enthusiasm and joy clinging to it.

The three faces loom in the candlelight, barely visible thanks to the gloom, how they were standing, and his general lack of glasses. The look he throws to Vex is almost one of hurt, of betrayal; they wore the same mark, after all. The lesser known face slips into the dark, behind the illuminated features and icy eyes of the Seeker before him. For a change, he doesn't say anything; simply keeping his anxious quiet in a hope that he might be left alone.

Would that he should be so lucky. His lack of response sees Bexy's eyes faintly narrow, stepping right up to the bars before she leans down, candle in hand. "I knew you were stupid. I didn't know you were rude. Answer me when i address you." Her tone is threaded with impending hostility, not even a cadence White would have been familiar with, considering all she had been the target of.

"Y-yes, i---!" Q'kura stammers in an effort not to upset her further, by holding his silence. "I'm not stupid…" He quietly protests, though quickly regrets those words as his ears visibly pin back.

White waited while ate. Ate while she waited. She was good at waiting. And listen which is what she did with the waiting and ateing.

She still didn't say anything— wanting to see how the next couple exchanges of chatter would play out, how hard Bexy might spike her's back. If it'd hit the man. Maybe he'd be able to dodge it. Knock it back to the woman. Her time to speak would be soon, she knew. For now she bit another berry, watching through Bexy's back.

Vex lofts a brow at Q'kura's look of betrayal - she's not your friend, buddy. She peers over at Bexy, quietly observing her interaction with the captive Seeker before a barely contained snort of both amusement and mockery escapes her. "No? How did your last smart idea work out for you?" She half-cackles at Q'kura, grinning widely. "You sure as fuck touched the wrong bunny."

"I--- I didn't know!" He begins to stammer, as Vex chimes in to condemn him. Moving to shift his back against the stone wall, he gives a small wince of pain. Even in the dim light, his leg was spattered with blood, and he seemed fearful of moving it under the threat of more pain. He couldn't run even if he'd have been able to somehow escape, and both he and Bexy knew it.

"Liar!" The word is chewed and spat out with a snarl, the room dropping a few degrees in the process. Bexy's gloved hands take a hold of the metal bars, frost beginning to line them. "You knew exactly what you were doing! You didn't know… What? That everything would backfire so spectacularly? You certainly knew what taking Eir would do. You planned it, and quite well. What you failed to account for was the aftermath, and now, here you are." Her painted lips quirk into a small, if not vicious little smile. "Right where i want you. You must have thought the same thing, when you took him, no?"

White smirked behind everyone, the kind of smirk when someone saw something amusing. And didn't want to laugh to bring all the eyes on them. They could stay on him a little longer. She'd take a few notes in the meantime.

"Oh, so you didn't lead a group - your group - to snag him after he was seen with the one woman Grym has a weird fucking obsession with?" Vex once again snorted with amusement, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Weren't oh-so proud of your involvement until it bit you in the ass?"

"I-i was part of it!" He doesn't deny that in the face of the evidence, but shakes his head. "---It was Hichort! He's the one that heard about the performance! He's the one that told us! Vex, you heard it yourself!"

Vex told me he was like this. Coward. What kind of person so readily throws their allies to the wolves?

Slowly, one of Bexy's hands moves towards the lock, key in hand, keeping an eerie quiet. Malice simmers into a quiet note of irritation and disgust.

Unmoving she watched, except for her eyes. They darted from Bexy, over to Q'kura when he started word vomiting his explanation. Back to Bexy they went, her movement's weren't lost to her.

"I did!" Vex confirms, very cheerily. "Hichort did find out, but -y-o-u- lead it." She paused, tilting her head. "Out of you, Hichort and Keely, who were all involved.. How does it feel to be the only one still alive?" Her question sounded off with genuine curiosity.

Q'kura's breathing had devolved into a whine, shrinking back against the wall. "I---- I don't---" He swallows, looking between Vex and Bexy, trying to throw a glance to the third in the room in that she might somehow help him. "A-are you going to kill me?" The fear in his voice is palpable.

"Mm. That depends on what you tell me." With a flick of her wrist, Bexy turns the key, steps inside the cell, and locks it behind her in one swift motion, turning again to face him. A small, slender dagger forms in her hand - One White would be intimately familiar with. "Start talking."

Finally— "You're not goin' to tell him what? He should start talkin' about. Tsktsk." She shook her head, strolling on over to the bars. Taking a bite from another berry shew chewed, staring between the bars at the cowering man, resting the side of her against one.

"Don't worry. He knows what this is about. He's -smart-. Right, Q'kura?" An emphasis was used on the word, and it was quite clearly meant in mockery judging by Vex's shit-eating grin.

Q'kura yelps as the door closes, staring up at the woman in fear. "I--- I don't know what to tell you! You know i was there, wh-what is it that you want?" A glance to White then. It lingers a little too long, as though he's distractedly trying to place her, some unfamiliarity still lingering in the dark. "What is it she wants, i--- I know things about the compound, if--- If you let me go, i'll tell you! I'll tell you everything i can!"

"That so?" Bexy takes a few steps closer, moving to kneel at his side furthest from the door, as not to obscure the others. Her breath was cold against his cheek, eyes ilms from his own. She settles the candlestick down. "What do you think you could tell me that Vex already hasn't?"

White's smile pulled wider whether or not he could see it or not. Then she bit off the rest of the berry, giving it a chew.

Upon being mentioned, Vex pulls her hands from her pockets and raises them to her own head, halfly intertwining her fingertips with her palms facing downwards underneath her chin and pushing her fingers very slightly downwards. Her head tilts, lips curling into a new grin - batting her eyelashes thrice.

Q'kura gazes on in horror to the grinning duo. Vex had leveraged the only advantage he could think of - Of course she had, why wouldn't she? As for the other woman, Q'kura could have sworn she was familiar, but no way to place her had settled in his harried mind.

All the silence does nothing to placate Bexy, however. One arm is grabbed by the wrist and wrenched high above his head, slammed into the wall as the knife is held ilms from his face.

Q'kura shrieks in terror at the suddenness of it all, before blurting, "---I know things! I know things she doesn't! I--- I'm one of the healers, i-- I'm important!"

His very words tug that smallest of smiles from Bexy's lips, and she remains right where she is, then. "Maybe you are smart." Some consideration, then. "Or at least, not completely stupid."

He catches on quickly, i'll give him that much. Sure. Tell me everything you want. If i can't make use of the information, White will.

White rolled her own eyes as she spoke about the man's, stating, "You're goin' to poke an eye out. If you're not careful. You don't need to do that. He already can't see."

"Hah! Important.." Vex cackles, hands dropping down from their previous location. "High ranked healer, sure. Important? You wish." Her gaze passes to White. "If he can't see, there's no problem with losing an eye, right? Pointless to have it." She reasons with herself, despite being fully aware that Q'kura is not completely blind without the glasses she absolutely didn't steal from his head while he was unconscious.

"No, i wouldn't do that. We only have two of them. If we're lucky." Despite the calm way she spoke, the way she plunged the dagger into the wall could have been unexpected enough for any that didn't know her. Unexpected enough to make Q'kura scream, at least. Pinning his sleeve against the wall, Bexy freezes the raised hand at the wrist alongside it for good measure. "Keep talking. You're on the right track."

Even with the cold, beads of sweat had begun to lace Q'kura's brow, silently thankful for White's dissuasion, but less thrilled for Vex's mockery and the resulting dagger a little too close for comfort. He wriggles his fingers with a panic, whimpering, though it soon settles, and begins to talk. "I-- I helped fix him, when Vairg broke his legs! They--- They wouldn't let me near X'llaya, they---!"

At the name, another icy dagger is immediately formed and brought up against his throat. A panicked scream is stifled out, and his words only come out louder.

"---Sayuri! SAYURI! Please, don't hurt me! I swear, i'll tell you everything i can!" Q'kura stammers, continuing. "I… I was in charge of him, not her!"

Keeping her eyes on him, she turned her head slightly towards Vex. Just a little bit. "Where's his glasses?" she asked between another berry. Glancing down her brows lowered a little. They were almost gone.

The tip of Vex's tongue pokes out through her teeth, ears flickering ever so faintly as Q'kura utters the long since abandoned name. "-Smart-." She utters, leaving it at one word - dripping with continued mockery. She looks to White, pausing before offering a wide smile. "I took 'em." She happily explains. "Keep 'em where I sleep."

Now wasn't the place nor time to beg for his beloved spectacles, but even despite his… Precarious position, Q'kura's eyes flick over to Vex, almost pleading. He takes great care now when swallowing of speaking, fearful of the icy blade against his skin. "I… W-wasn't allowed… To tend her. Eanwin--- Sh-she…"

As reward, the icy dagger is pulled a little further away from his neck, settling him a little. Bexy offers a small encouragement with her gloved hand, a beckoning motion as to allow him to speak more.

"Sh-she doesn't go out of th-the compound. None of the higher ups do, o-only rarely. Except Vairg." The Viera's name is almost spat, spoken with as much fear as disdain.

White didn't care if now wasn't the time. The grumpy woman should know that by this point. She wasn't shy about it, smirking as she kept on chatting with Vex, asking, "Where. Do you sleep? Is it close? Can you get them?"

Initially, Q'kura's words fly over Vex's head, as the Seeker instead keeps her gaze on White. She gestures upwards, pointing to the ceiling. "I sleep in the room above, so yeah." A brief pause, then.. as it clicks. Her head turns to stare in Q'kura's direction, brows furrowing. "..Vairg aint a higher up. He might try to bloody act like one, but he's -your- rank."

"F-for once Vex, i wish you were right." Q'kura's voice quivers as he swallows, and it's hard to tell if it's for the situation at hand, or for the one he might return to. "L-less than a sun after you killed Ariq. H-he marched right into Grym's office, and w-walked out as the new Left Hand."

Bexy doesn't move an ilm, allowing Vex to respond. Painted lips pulled into a line, she stays her blade to allow him to better talk.

Between the chatter she did some of her own. "You should get them." It was less of a question. "You will. Won't you? For me."

But wait— what was that? She looked to Q'kura. That pretty pain the their arse climbed up the rungs. A short chuckle came out at that, muffled by the closed lip smirk.

Vex's ears shift backwards sharply, eyes narrowing as she takes in the information. ".. Z'quohn was back." She states. "I doubt he would've approved, and he's one of the few fuckers Grym deigns to listen to. Surely he spoke against it?" Her brows furrow, tail beginning a slow sweep from side to side.

"W-we would have laughed at his intention, if we'd have dared to…" Q'kura eyes the blade, but his attention drifts to Vex. It's clear from the look in his face, the tilted ears and the wide, pleading eyes that he must be telling the truth. "We all thought it would be Sukh, or one o-of the other Inner Circle. But he went in, a-and…" Shaking his head, the Seeker takes an uneasy breath. "W-we thought he was lying. W-wanted him to be lying. Z'quohn either didn't protest, or wasn't acknowledged… B-but it's true, Vex…"

Bexy remains in her quiet, taking of measure of White and Vex's reactions, both. The information was important… But not what she was seeking. She'd be patient… For now.

...Concerning information. I've met the bastard just once, and he doesn't seem as stupid as the rest of them. Strong, too. I wager he's going to be a problem. I'll take care of him when i can.

"Lit-tle. Car-rot." Side to side, right on over she swung the nickname at Vex's ears to catch. "I want his glasses." She smiled.

She was listening. Even if it didn't seem like it at first glance. She was also planning something. Bexy would know she was.

Vex peers over to White, lips shifting into the smallest of pouts despite the information given. "They're mine now." She huffs, gaze slowly creeping over to Q'kura and the pout fading into a thin line. ".. Hells, I'd even assume Ket above Vairg.." She mutters, flattening her ears. ".. 'Course you want it to be a lie, Vairg fucking -sucks-. Eight-fingered asshat." Vex's arms fold before her chest, fingers lightly tapping against her own bicep. "..Z'quohn haven't ever been afraid of voicing his opinion to Grym, so I'll assume he just.. ignored him. Or had some -supposed- valid reason for promoting the fucker. Eitherway.." She looks to Bexy, offering a small frown. ".. Ain't great news."

"I've heard enough of him to know he's dangerous. It's seems he's ambitious, too." Regardless, Bexy doesn't seem all too worried for the news, continuing. "But he's just a person. Just a man. Flesh and bone like the rest of us. What's one more of you?" A glance drifting in White's direction, Bexy slowly arches a brow.

"Y-you would do us all a favor…" Q'kura sighs, trying - and failing - to pull his arm free from the wall, to little avail. "I s-swear, i am telling the truth…"

Balancing a berry upon her thumb that leaned resting against a finger she gave it a flick! Right at Vex. Sticking her tongue's tip at her. "You're no fun."

Vex offers a slow blink as the berry thumps against her and then onto the floor. ".. I am -plenty- fun!" She protests to White, pouting childishly. Flipflopping between being childish and serious, she turns to Bexy and Q'kura anew, canting her head. "Just some fuck who sadly has the skill to back up his arrogant ass." She pauses. "Granted, Sayuri was real fucking weakened when they fought.. still took two fingers off. And I haven't fought him personally." Her head tilts back, gaze locking dead ahead. "… I wanna fight him."

"Perhaps one sun we'll be blessed with the chance." Her lips curl again, a pang of annoyance, of something more malicious beneath her features. Dropping down a little further, she huffs a quiet sigh from her nose. "But, we're getting off topic. Keep talking."

Almost lulled into a false sense of security by the back and forth, a gasp is pulled into his throat as Bexy nears him again. "Wh-what do you mean? I-I already told you everything i know!"

"Nuh-uh." Wow, childish much? It matched the Vex well. "If you were. You'd get the glasses."

Blinking her gaze over to the jailed duo she lazily returned her head against a bar. She spoke up, "Icepiiick." Her nickname came out on a small whine, but it soon faded. "You've been busy all sun. A break would be good. Just a little one." Then came the, "I want to have a chat. With him. Let me do. Won't you? You and carrot can sit together. Have a seat. Rest your legs~"

"I did get them. For myself." Vex huffs at White. She peers at Q'kura, squinting her eyes. "Nope." The word leaves her with a popping sound, emphasising the P.

White speaks, and Bexy's gaze darts behind her, over her shoulder; enough for the unnatural hues of her eyes to be piercing in the light. A moment of hesitation, but only a moment. "I can rest when i'm done. But you will get your chance…" The blade in her hand is sharpened, having dulled through lack of focus. "…But not yet." The movement is so quick one might not catch it, splitting the fabric of Q'kura's sleeve right at the elbow, it's removed from his forearm with a resounding tear of cloth.

"W-what are you doing?! Stop! S-stop!" Q'kura stammers, squirming on the floor. A panicked whimper as he turns his leg to get purchase on the floor rewards him with a bolt of pain. "I already told you everything! Please, l-listen to your friend!"

He's lying. Withholding information, i'm certain of it. He's telling me just enough that he thinks i've learned everything, but i'm not stupid. And he's hardly the first person i've had in such an... Unfortunate position.

White stared back at Bexy, locking her there. In here gaze. Unmoving except a brow above that lifted up. The other followed close behind, then the corner of her lip curling her smile back into that smirk of hers. "We're not friends." A soft chuckle fell out after her word. She didn't look at him, she didn't even flinch, there was enough to see out of the corner of her eyes.

Vex kept her quiet for the time being, merely observing the ongoing situation with quite the neutral expression.

"No. We're not." Bexy's gaze lingers on White's a little longer, the knife briefly rocking back in her hand, and vaguely in White's direction. Intentional or not, it's brought back to task, as the point slips into Q'kura's forearm. "I thought you were supposed to be smart. You're of no use to me stupid. Start. Talking."

Q'kura shrieks as the blade pierces him, writhing; he's stilled by a firm boot of Bexy's to keep his leg from thrashing. "I-- I already t-told you!" He panics, even if the point has barely sank in half an ilm. "W-what is i-it you want to know? I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything i can!"

White stole a quick glance at the knife. She had a few questions of her own floating about in her head. About what that was. The rest were for the noisy man. She kept them to herself, it wasn't her turn. Yet.

She ran her fingers around for the last berry, plucking it, and bringing it in front of her face before— monch! It was bit in half. "Do you have anymore?" Oh look! A question. Then another as she looked at Vex. "They're really good. Have you had any?"

Vex's attention settles upon White and the half-eaten berry, lips curling into a wide grin. "I have!" She exclaims, almost proudly and way too excitedly about a piece of fruit. "They're fucking -great-."

"So you lied. You didn't tell us everything." A sigh, though it's clearly for dramatic effect; she somehow expected this, the faint curl of her lips as she dismissed the knife with a small wave of her hand, sending it into a frigid mist. One hand to the other, she slowly pulls her gloves away, revealing the discoloured flesh and painted nails beneath. The icy skin, barely visible in the light extends almost to her elbows, soon repeating the action to free both her hands from the accessories.

Q'kura's gaze settles on them. Somewhere, through the uncomfortable hitches of his breath, his mind begins to work, threading little pieces together. "Y-your aether. Th-that is not n-normal…" He begins, babbling.

A more wicked expression from Bexy then. A smirk tinged with genuine hostility, eyes narrowed yet teeth bared in a unnerving clash between emotions and expressions. "No. It isn't." Bexy replies, another sharp, razor-like knife springing from her fingers in a moment. The blade is pushed hard, sidelong against the wounded flesh. "Keep! Talking! You're on the right track~" The lilt in her tone more vicious; a small flick of her tail. She was enjoying this.

Well, i wouldn't want to get my gloves dirty. Good... Resist a little longer... It makes it all the more satisfying when you do finally tell me. ...And you will tell me, Q'kura.

White let out a laugh, the joyful kind where someone heard something amusing. "They are! They are~ So very delicious." Her agreement was emphasized by the final bite, into a chew of the remaining berry. "I wonder, I do. If she has more."

She threw a questioning look over at— that sure was a tone. Wide-eyed but not without a smile, still smirky, she watched.

"Don't be so surprised, Q'kura. This is -at least- the fourth person you have met who has fucky aether." Vex hums almost cheerily. "Her, me, D'khoreh… Sayuri." Her gaze returns to White, flashing a wide, fanged grin. "Probably!"

A scream drags itself out of Q'kura's throat, thrashing limbs held in place by impairment or ice. "STOP! STOP!"

But she didn't stop. Bexy continues the whole sordid motion, slicing skin from muscle, where it curled and fell like a grotesque ribbon, rivulets of blood snaking down his pale skin to drip in little patters from his elbow.

"H-her aether! I-i know about her aether, please, please, i'll tell you, i'lltellyoujustp-please, STOP!" Q'kura's plea was so loud the Karahli would surely have heard it.

…And she does. A wider, warmer smile on her lips. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

...I won't admit to them i enjoyed it a little more than i'd like to. But this is enough. He's talking now. ...I don't need to do more than needed.

A sigh slipped past her lips, half lidded eyes rolled from the gursome show not that far away over to Bexy. A brief stop at her hand she made another note, looking at her face like there wasn't the pause.

"Look at you! Using the supposed smarts you have!" Vex jeered, flashing a mocking, shit-eating grin Q'kura's way.

Q'kura's face is one etched in horror, wide, spectacle-less eyes welled with tears. He stares at the bloody length of missing flesh on his forearm, suppressing the need to sob, or vomit; it was hard for him to decide which. "C-corrupted aether. Eanwin… E-eanwin, s-she…" He swallows, and for a moment looks like he might pass out, but steadies. "P-put sh-shards of corrupted aether in her. To… I-inhibit her. It w-works like a f-feedback loop. Painful, but…" Q'kura sucks up a breath, exhaling. "S-she surpassed it. I-idiots… S-should have known. S-should have s-seen it coming, w-when they are th-the reason she is so tolerant to i-it…"

Bexy backs off a little, seemingly content, at least in this very moment, for the information. She allows him to keep talking, not willing to interrupt.

"O-one, first. Th-then two. S-she… She can s-still use it, b-but… So painful. One… B-back of neck. Other… I-in her sternum. H-hard to e-extract. E-especially now."

A pause of consideration, then. Malice simmered for the moment, Bexy swallows it to ask a genuine question in a gentler tone that frayed at the edges. "…Is it reversible?"

Another note was made, then more followed. The topic was interesting. Corrupted shards put in a body— she never heard anything like it. Too bad the prince wasn't around, he'd have something to say. A few things, she'd bet. Then win.

Vex considers Q'kura's words, lofting a brow and tilting her head to the side. ".. Grym ain't exactly using his brain much when it comes to Sayuri, other than 'I want'." She half snorted, not overly amused by her own words, but they certainly weren't false either. "Not to mention the one out of his highest fuckwits that actually has the ability to use his brain was away for the majority of her and Eir's captivity.."

"H-he came back too late. T-too late to do anything. A-and now Vairg…" Q'kura's nose wrinkles, a half sigh, half sob shaking his restrained form. "R-reversed? N-no. Th-they would have started to… Assimilate. R-removal is o-out of th-the question. B-but it can be… A-amended. Fixed, in a- a way." He lines his lips, swallowing the bile that bittered his tongue. "I-in theory."

"In theory?" Bexy pressed. Her expression looked unamused, to say the least.

"W-well, i-i've never tried!" Squirming, Q'kura leans as far away from the frosty Seeker as possible. "B-but i-it should w-work!"

White kept on making her notes, not saying anything as she listened. And watched. Watched and listened— he sure was stuttering. It wasn't yelling. That was much better. She didn't have a way to cover her horns.

"For your own sake, you better hope it does." Vex piped in, lofting a brow at Q'kura.

"Wh---Wh---" He could barely formulate the question he wanted to ask Vex, before Bexy interjected.

"You're going to fix her. You're going to tell us how. If you're successful, i won't kill you." Rising up abruptly, she dissipates the weapon in hand, stepping back through the cell door. "Your turn." Remarking to White, Bexy pulls a roll of bandages from a pocket, along with a vial of some amber coloured liquid. "If you felt like being nice to him."

I won't kill him, no. That isn't my life to claim. Sayuri, however...

White's gaze followed Bexy around, at her approach. Down to the items it dropped, taking the vial in one hand, asking, "What's this? What does it do?" then handing off the empty punnet to take the bandages. Whether said basket was taken or not she didn't care. She'd let it go either way.

Vex merely met Q'kura's stammering with a smile, offering no further words as Bexy chimes in. Her gaze shifts between those present, head tilting ever so slightly.

Taking the punnet of now-empty rolanberries Bexy offers the smallest tug of a frown, then offering her explanation. "For the wounds. To disinfect them." Moving to the wall, Bexy settles her back to it beside Vex, looking to watch.

Q'kura's arm was still pinned above his head, ears low and flat. He was a good bit paler than when he arrived, but Bexy's words seem to instil some kind of hope in him. "I--- I'll do it! I s-swear, i---" As White moves however, his words trail, settling uneasily on the somewhat familiar Raen…

White held the woman in her gaze a little longer. Just a bit it lingered. Her lips that had softened into an almost line curled slightly as she pulled away, step, step, strolling stepped her way over into the jail. In front of Q'kura. She came to a stop.

"Hello! Hello~ I told you I'd see you again." Smiling at him she let him think about her words a moment. Then another clue. "Errand boy."

White could do what she wanted. I wager if she's going to lull him into a false sense of security, she may as well do something productive with it and see to his wounds. I'll simply watch and listen.

Vex peered at Bexy as she drew closer, offering a somewhat proud smile - probably of herself for having been right about Q'kura's possible knowledge of Sayuri's condition. The pride in the curl of her lips fades as White speaks, immediately shifting into amusement as Vex emits what can vaguely be described as a hyena-cackle at the Raen's nickname for him.

Bexy simply opts to watch, having played her part. She'd pry him for information, of course; though later. He'd already agreed to the terms, at least. A small quirk of of lips is given to Vex; shared amusement, if nothing else.

Q'kura stares up at the woman. Confusion, first. Did he know her? Why did she seem so familiar? The squint he gave her, attempting to peer through the darkness widens as she speaks. I'll see you. Errand boy. Widened eyes narrow into a scowl, the same pang of betrayal in his tone that he'd reserved for Vex not all too long ago. "--Y-you! The girl from the market! How… How did you…?" His sentence trails, bewildered and accusatory.

Holding the vile between a couple fingers she unwrapped the bandages, kneeling next to the inside of his broken leg while she watched his expression evolve. "How. Did I…?" she asked back, her own face had softened along with her voice.

Vex locks her hand against her own mouth, choking back her laughter to let White do her thing, that one is going to stick with her.

"Y-you--- You said you'd see me. How… How did you know…?" Q'kura asks, brow knit as he watches her descend towards the wounded limb. Difficult to see in the dark, the way he moves it indicates it's clearly broken, though blood, sticky and half wet soaks his slacks. An arrow-sized hole sticks out of one side, but it seems to be healed recently, though with great haste. "H-how long has… Has this been planned…?" He asks the room, not just White.

Bexy seems disinclined to answer him, then. A brighter smirk at Vex, as she fights her laughter, tail dancing at her heels. She allows White to take the lead.

Looking over the bit of bandage she unwrapped, she could see there was enough for both his unlucky limbs. Good.

"Icepick~" came out the nickname, it's end lifting into the air. "I need scissors. Or a knife. Not your ice knife. Or scissors made of ice. Normal ones." She didn't look at Bexy or Vex. They'd get their attention later. For now it was on the supplies she was given and the man her gaze flicked up to. "I heard. That you're smart. They said it. Remember?" Trailing off she gave him a moment to gather his thought because she was so kind. She then asked, "How do you think I know? Knew. That I would see you."

With the laughter finally beginning to calm, Vex pulls back her hand from her mouth and instead wipes away an imaginary tear, as if that's how badly she was laughing. "Did you think we'd just leave Sayuri in the state Eanwin put her?" She chuckled quietly, folding her arms before her chest and keeping a wide, amused grin on her lips. "..Errand boy."

Bexy would have rolled her eyes if White was looking. Still, it would get her out of the room for a moment. Bexy leaves the little hideaway without so much of a word, slipping through the bookcase and out into the house proper.

"---S-shut up!" Q'kura barks at Vex, finding some confidence now Bexy had left the immediate area. "And i don't know! Perhaps you were following me, perhaps you had someone else, i -do not- know." Still, he eyes the bandage, ears tilting as he awkwardly remains still.

If she wanted to she could have stopped herself from smirking at Q'kura's change of tone. She didn't. "I could have." Her meaning behind her words were a bit different than his. "It wouldn't have been hard to. Follow you. Even with all those eyes. And ears."

While she waited on Bexy to return she shuffled herself closer to him, swinging a leg over his not-broken one. "I wonder— I do…" If it was up then it was a free seat. "just how many eyes he has in the desert jewel." She handed him the bandages, telling him to "Hold this." freeing up her hands to open up the vial. "Do you know? I bet he doesn't tell you. How many there truly are. Why would he? Unless." A small chuckle shook her shoulders. "He likes shootin' himself in the foot. Gim? That's his name. Isn't it?" She wondered if he'd correct her.

"Does telling me to shut up usually work, Errand boy?" Vex quipped, flashing Q'kura a grin. She refrains from giving White an answer to the question posed to the man, seeing if he will respond or not.

Q'kura gives a short huff through his nose at Vex, though his attention is stolen as White perches on his raised knee. "I know how many there are. We have medical files. Besides." A glare in Vex's direction. "She knows, and she's a distrusted. But you're right. He does like shooting himself in the foot. I don't want X'l---Sayuri anywhere near us. Even if i had the choice to recapture her, i wouldn't." Another sigh, seemingly bothered. Though with bandages in hand, and bottle in hers, he doesn't exactly push her away in hopes he might be receiving medical attention. "…And it's Grym. Grymahtyn, not that anyone calls him that."

Bexy is still absent. Her footfalls have taken her upstairs, by what sounds the others can hear.

Uncorking the vial she raised up on her knees. "Are you sure?" she asked, placing a hand against the wall to steady her. "Don't move. Or you're goin' to waste this. You don't want that~ Do you?"

Before he could reply she moved onto the next question, sounding surprised, "Then. The folks Gim— Grym bribes. They have files too?" Did she know if he did bribing? She didn't think back on her notes, not the ones on him and his doings. No, this first hand knowledge on how many could be bribed in the city. Like the blades.

"I take pride in being distrusted. I never asked to be a part of you fuckers." Vex returns a fiery glare of her own, pinning her ears back. "You wouldn't, because your throat would be torn before you could."

Q'kura doesn't respond to her first question with words, but he doesn't move. Much the opposite, he stays stone still. "Not medical ones. I don't know how many eyes and ears he has in the city. I'm a healer. Not a scout or anything of the sort. I heal." He makes a face at the bottle. "When i have my grimoire and other means."

Bexy swiftly returns. Scissors in one hand, and a small punnet of rolanberries in the other, the former is offered through the bars towards White. Reclining once again to the wall, Bexy reaches to take a single rolanberry, sinking her teeth into it; offering the punnet to Vex should she wish for one.

"Then. You don't. Know." Back into his ears she repeated his words, pouring part of the vial onto his exposed muscle. "I thought you did. Know." Satisfied with how it was covered she pulled her gaze away, sitting back on his leg.

She had just put the cork back in the vial when Bexy handed her the scissors. Taking them and having half a mind to try a snatch a berry for a treat, she set the vial down. "I'll take that back." She held her hand out, palm up for the bandages.

"Healers can hurt too."

Vex's gaze shifts to the extended punnet, arms unfolding and her arm reaching out to close the distance. A claw is pierced into a rolanberry to let her pick it up before stuffing it into her mouth, ears offering a small wiggle as she quietly monches the berry.

"I just told you that. Inside our people? Yes. Outside? No. I have enough people to keep track of." He took another breath, intending to use the air to speak, instead opting to hold it and suppress a sound of agony as the liquid sloshed over the exposed muscle. Painful, yes. But he knew better than to pull away, not that he could from the ice that still pinned him. It was melting, however.

"Healers can be just as dangerous if not moreso." Bexy elaborates on White's words. "If they know what they're doing."

White considered correcting him. She cut the bandage in half instead in silence, listening to Bexy talk. She could pick her brain about that comment later.

Handing him the extra bandage she lifted onto her knees again, slipping what she had along the other flip of his wound where the wrapping would start. It was going to hurt regardless, but she was a kind woman. She was going to be gentle. He'd see that.

As she went to work she stole a quick glance of the wet ice. She made a note too. And she also adjusted how she held the scissors, keeping her fingers curled through the loops. Out of the way against her palm and wrist so she wouldn't stab him. It seemed he had his fair share of sharp things for the sun. She assumed it most likely wasn't the last.

"That many? How does Grym sleep?" She laughed! "Havin' all those folks around. I think I'd go mad. Never havin' any privacy."

"Without a care in the world." Vex pipes in, huffing. "People tend to not disturb him unless they have to, you learn his shitty temper real damn quick the moment you arrive."

"I don't know. I don't much care, either." Q'kura gives a small nod to Vex, hissing a note of pain as the bandage was wrapped but kept it firm. Brown eyes look for White's own, brow knit a little softer. She was helping him, but why? Part of him thought it better not to ask. A deep breath. He almost looks like he's about to cry all over again, but he sucks it up, shutting his eyes and settling his head against the wall.

"…It sounds like carnage in the ranks." Bexy murmurs between bites of rolanberry. One settles between her teeth as she briefly lofts her brows. "Interesting."

It didn't take long for her to wrap him up, making sure not to leave any part exposed. It wasn't anything fancy. It was simple and got the job done. "Does he like knickknack? He collects folks. What about things?" There was a point to her questions. She knew it.

Vex offered a small shrug. "Grym -has- killed folks in his own ranks before, so." She mumbles. ".. 'Least one pretty recently. Had to do with Sayuri." She then pauses, lofting a brow. "I don't think anyone knows what Grym likes, if he likes anything. Guy that has known him the longest might know something, but I sure as fuck ain't gonna go find him and ask."

"I stay out of his way and in the infirmary." Q'kura remarks. The pressure of the bandage gave him some sort of comfort, looking over her work. Reaching to touch it, he runs a fingertip over the wrapping, seeming satisfied. "And report to Eanwin, not that she's all too much better. Worse now. If you thought she gave D'khoreh a hard time before…" A cutting gaze is briefly cast in Vex's direction. "Worse, now i'm gone. There's a handful of healers left but most of them don't know what they're doing."

"With any luck they'll be in turmoil for a bit. People might challenge Vairg, hm? He'll either kill them or kill him, or both. In any case, they'll be busy." Another rolanberry is thoughtfully considered.

They'll thin the numbers enough, for certain. There's a period of... Unease when there's any kind of succession, and i intend to take full advantage of it, be that fighting back or using the intervening time to fix Sayuri's aether.

With his arm done she dropped her attention onto his other leg, looking at it from upon the one she sat on. "Lets play pretend—" Unstraddling her no longer a seat, she knelt beside the next wound. It'd be easier to look him over without his pants in the way. "If you were let go. Freed. Allowed to leave." She figured he wouldn't want her stripping him, even if other would, so she took the scissors to the one pant leg above the hole to start snipping it off! "Would you go back?"

Thinking a moment she added, "The place doesn't sound cluttered." She wasn't talking about people.

Vex merely lofted a brow at Q'kura's comment of D'khoreh, the rather neutral expression holding a certain lack of care to it. She peers to Bexy, tilting her head. "People have probably challenged him at this point, if him thrashing 'em last time wasn't enough to make 'em avoid it." White's question gives her pause, her gaze slowly settling atop of Q'kura, awaiting his response.

A rolanberry rises to Bexy's lips… And halts. Her attention settles on Q'kura, then. Curious.

"I---" Q'kura's features knit into something incredulous. "I…" Steeling, he swallows. "I have to. Or what? Be hunted down for the rest of my cycles?" He looks to Vex then, knowing her fate. "Should i be so lucky. Hah…" Whatever strength he'd found wanes, as his expression softens, sadder. "No. They'd kill me, i think. I…" Voice quieting, he looks to White, ears lowered. It's audible by the others, but whispered. "…I… I'm not that important…"

So that was the reality for him. Some of it. There were still more questions to ask. To be answered. "They'll hunt you down if you don't. She'll—" being Bexy, "hunt you down if you do." Looking up from his leg her eyes met his. "What if. They were dead? All of them." Moving her face close to his she whispered back. "The dead can't hunt you. If they're six fulms under."

Vex lingered in a brief silence, yet when she broke it.. her tone was neither mocking nor snarky. ".. Grym probably already thinks you ran for it, Q'kura. Chances are, you are already hunted." She stated, lofting a brow. ".. Aint many who are to 'em, don't be too beat about it."

Q'kura shakes his head quickly. "Y-you can't. There's so many of them. Th-there…" His attention drifts slowly to Bexy with a waver. He knew how many had fallen at her hand and those affiliated with her; she knew it too, in the small, wordless incline of her head she offered to him. His gaze looks mournfully to Vex, then. "Th-then i'm doomed either way." Half a sob, then. "Y-you should have just killed me with the rest…"

Down the middle of the pant leg she slid the scissors, slicing it so it flipped open instead of having to pull it off his limb. Ouh— that didn't look good. And now he's crying.

"You know. They wouldn't do that. Couldn't. Do that." she explained a she placed the scissors just outside the bars. "Maybe you're not to grimy Grym, but you're too important to ill-tempered icepick." Studying him out from the corner of her gaze she returned to the topic of his leg. "I can't set bone. I'm pretty skilled. But I'm not that good. Can either of you? Do."

Staring a little longer a hand slowly reached out lazily-like. Her finger tips slipped under the mess of a man's jaw. As she turned to face him again her free hand found the other side and she tilted his head up! Making his face level with her's. "Shhh— shhh." she softly hushed him. "Are you goin' to give up that easily? Come on, errand boy~ What if we made a deal?" She knew the moment those two little words left her mouth Bexy would have an opinion. Loud or not, she'd wait to find out.

".. Don't have to be all, just enough of the higher ups before shite crumbles and they have a power struggle to focus on rather than chasing runaways." Vex mused, offering a small shrug after her own words to indicate that she's not overly sure about her own words, but that it is certainly a possibility. Her gaze settles on Q'kura, one brow raising. "Not if you fix your shitty attitude and personality and make friends worth keeping that would happily help protect you." Ouch. She then peers to White, shaking her head. "Only medical shite I know is how to burn wounds shut, hurts like a bitch."

"A---A deal…?" Q'kura asked. There's hesitance in his words, uncertainty. He clearly wants more information, but almost worried to ask for what it might entail. White's words soothe him, and Vex's seem to cause him a wholly different pain, drawing him into the quiet.

Bexy's gaze shifts like a dagger to White. Relinquishing her punnet of rolanberries to Vex, she slips back into the cell, hands moving over to Q'kura's leg. "Remember he's my captive before all else, White." Came her warning words. "Don't make promises you can't keep." In a single, sharp motion, Q'kura's leg is pulled straight and tight, twisted back into alignment as a scream tears through his lips. Ice snakes over the ankle to keep it level; though a little ways off the floor to allow White to work. She was doing them a favor, even if she might not have been too gentle about it.

It's for his own good, but that doesn't mean i have to be kind about it. Bastard. No, i want him well enough to think and focus. No use leaving him for Sayuri to kill if he's half dead already, besides. He can babble his false promises and words all he wants, i'll be watching.

Slowly she nodded. Softly she did, letting him know her words rang true as she kept her bright eyes on his. All the way up until she heard Bexy's warning. Her gaze lingered a moment more before it slid over to the woman, listening to the next on— oh. Her face twitched— the corner of her mouth as her hands fell onto Q'kura's shoulders. Her brows furrowed slightly. Just a little. The man did scream, filling her horns. She couldn't cover them, they're horns. Her hands wouldn't work. They were already busy keeping him stiller, more still than without them. It wasn't because of that. His screams. She stared at Bexy. Locked their gazes together. "I. Always. Keep my promises." she said with a smile. She did. She did. She did. She always kept them. "Do you?"

Were Vex's words too harsh? Possibly. Her ears pin back and eyes narrow into a squint at the scream, one hand lifting to rub at one of her ears. Noisy. White's question to Bexy prompts Vex to raise a brow. "In my experience she does." She is quick to answer. "Nothing bound her to get me out after she had Eir and Sayuri safe, but she did so anyway. As she promised."

"As Vex says." Bexy remarks, leaving to join back at the wall alongside her. Q'kura's leg was still bound by ice at the ankle; more in an effort to keep it straight and allow it to heal properly. It was a kindness, albeit a little more a backhanded one. "I don't make them often. But i do keep my promises. Know that any offer you make him will not guarantee his protection." Q'kura whimpers, sucking sharp, pained gasps through his throat. "I-it... It is straight..." He manages. Speaking of medical things seemed to divert his mind to something useful now. Sweat laced his brow with pain and panic, but he stays still for his own good.

White's gaze stole a glace out of it's corner at Vex, pulling her into the entirety of her sight as it followed Bexy. "You're forgettin' somethin', icepick. Think back. It's not that hard to. Did you hear me offerin' him a promise?" She spoke up answering her own question. "No! Because I didn't. Deals don't always have promises." Her head whirled back around to Q'kura. "It's better than a guarantee death. Isn't it?" A thumb ran across his brow, wiping away some sweat she shook off to the side. "Unless. You'd rather die." She then gasped. "Silly me! I haven't even told you what the deal is." Lowering her voice she leaned in, whispering for the theatrics. "Miss ice queen doesn't even know. Or the princess. Not even the carrot."

Vex spends a moment in silence, seemingly contemplating something. Whatever it is, it is not voiced - not even as Vex's lips part to speak, and immediately close again. The faintest red shimmer took to her already crimson eyes as her mouth shut, and was gone just as quick - leaving Vex pouting at nothing instead.

The room drops in temperature, and wordlessly for a moment, Bexy slips from the wall. "I'm not forgetting anything, White. But you might be." Gloved hands resettled back on the bars; she must have replaced them when she'd ventured upstairs for rolanberries and scissors. Ice licks the metal, coating it in a frosty sheen. If she'd have closed the cell door, it would have stayed there. Bexy hoped White was smart enough to know. Her patience was thinning. "Wh-what deal...?" Q'kura asks, brows furrowed and eyes settled with White's. The cold made him uncomfortable, but he didn't show it. The mournful expression on his face an indicator that death wasn't an appealing prospect.

White knew. Even if her head had been filled with bubbly, the threat wouldn't go unnoticed. Didn't mean she was going to acknowledge it. Not out loud. "You want to live. She— they want to know things. Maybe even. Get others out?" Her voice lifted in question. She was trying to find out a few more things herself before she spilled the little plan she'd been making in her head. Tapping Q'kura's she asked, "That little group you're apart of. Do they think. You could free yourself? If you got caught? Do they think you'd keep your tongue from flappin?"

The increase in cold makes Vex shudder, nose scrunching up as her own aether stirs, bringing up the heat in her immediate surrounding, quietly happy about her spicy condition. She remains quiet, an unheard voice having scolded her that the things about to escape her mouth would only be counterproductive.

"I..." Q'kura hesitates. Weighs up the options. There's a long pause where he's actually thinking, eyes closed as an exhale sighs from his nose. "...It's unlikely but not... Impossible." The shudder in his words lessens, trying to think of anything but his current predicament. "They know i'm not stupid. How... How else would i have survived so long?" A glance to Vex; a small plea that she'd hopefully back him up on. But he says nothing more on the matter, seemingly... Agreeable.

"I don't trust him." Bexy's words follow after his almost immediately. "How quickly you try to pin blame on others and absolve yourself. How fast you'd made some attempt to switch sides, hm? No. If he returns, it will be to their side, armed with information about me, about you. What reason have i to trust you, hm?" The word, directed at Q'kura... ...And he can't seem to think of a response. Desperation in his features, his only seeming way out of this is already appearing to crumble before his eyes.

Getting up from his leg she countered, "What reason does he have to trust you? Or her?" Her hand swung over to Vex, then to the flat of her chest, its fingers splayed over it. "Or me? We could make a reason. Here's one! The same one I've said." Spinning around on her foot she started to step around the cell. "Oh— I don't know." She paused, tapping a finger to her chin. "Three times? Or has it been five. I'll say it nine time if the icepick wants me to." She smiled back at Bexy.

Unfortunately for everyone, she opened her mouth again, "What if. You let him go?" Because that was exactly what the ladies wanted to hear. "Have him return to grimy Grym and tell them. Let them know. He was let go. To get all those nuggets of know you want so badly." She paused like she had a handful of times before, letting everyone chew on that a moment. "What if. Grimy Grym uses that to his ad-van-tage. If he's smart enough to. He could have him—" She gestured at Q'kura. "tell you all the wrong things. But if they're wrong. Then you're closer to what's right."

A chuckle fell out of her mouth. "But wait! What if the errand boy tells them your plans. And you let them see he's right. Correct. Tellin' the truth. You'd know they know. Isn't that good to know? And what if you offer him that you'd get him out of there. When you can. He owes the newly weds a whole lot. Doesn't he?" Strolling on over to the bars she wrapped her hands around them, below Bexy's, resting a cheek against the one hand. "He can't do that if he's dead. Let him make it up to them. For the rest of his life." Looking down at the man in question she asked, "Is that better? Than death. Or would you rather get friendly with some worms? Six fulms under. If you're lucky enough. Maybe it'd only be two. Or in a ditch."

"Sheer dumb fucking luck." Vex pipes in after Q'kura's glance, a small grin settling on her lips. ".. But, no. You.. do have a way to bullshit your way in and out of crap." She hums, gaze then creeping over to White. ".. I'll have you know I pride myself in being a distrusted. And they can -always- trust that I will be as much of a pain in their asses as I possibly can." Just a touch off topic, but she tried.

"He doesn't." Bexy quips. "And nor do i expect him to. The only thing he can trust is that i'll kill him, slowly and painfully, should he so much as dip a toe out of line." As her icy gaze shifts between White and Q'kura, she slowly inclines her head. "But i won't deny he's useful. That's why we took him in the first place. Perhaps, he'll be even more useful than intended." A small pull of her painted lips, then. She had been listening, after all. "Important to us, even."

Q'kura's ears lift. The faintest glimmer of hope in his eyes, but he doesn't allow it to mar his tone as he eventually speaks. "…So." He considers, quietly. "…You'll keep me here and alive so long as i provide a cure for Sayuri. When that is concluded, you'll… Let me go? And you expect me to go to back to the compound, free people, garner you information, whatever you need me to do." He shifts to sit a little further upright, then. A hand reaches to shift glasses up his nose, only they are still, frustratingly, absent. He sighs, looking to Vex. "Vex knows plenty, but understandably, she can't get back in without repercussion. I… Could. If i played my cards right." Another moment, as he takes a breath. "I can always lie to them. If they… If they do decide to…" A gaze to his forearm, then. Would they? To one of their own? He knew the answer, but a small knit of his brow manages what little strength he can muster. "…If they find out i'm lying, i can tell them the truth then, and they're even more likely to believe me. And if i decide to cross you… You'll both have more information anyway, and you'll kill me regardless." A pause then, as he gazed over the others in the dim light of the room. "…Yes?"

A small chuckle let Vex know she was funny. She thought so at least. Sadly for the gremlin who would have loved to hear more about how she'd be a pain in exactly who's asses, the more important chat was still going on.

Pushing off the bars she spun around and stomped! Her foot against the floor, stopping her when she faced Q'kura. "How good are you. At playin' cards?" she as she stood a leg on either side of his newly set, looming down at him. Circling back around to the rest of his words she replied, "Information? Yes. Freein' folks? That'd be nice. It would. For them. But how easily can you do that? More than once. Twice. Three or four times?" Her gaze narrowed slightly, but did her smile stayed. I always did. "How many are there? Each attempt. Every single one could put them in danger. It would." Standing up she thought to herself a moment, a dangerous thing to let her do. "Tell them the truth. Prove it. If they see that. Why. Would they think the rest of the shite you say is a lie?"

Vex squints, raising her hands up to stare at her fingers before balling her hand into fists. One by one, a finger flips up and remains upright, signalling her finger counting. Illiterate she may be, but at least she can count. "… Fourteen." She states, after a short while. ".. Two of 'em won't leave without the other one, though. No fucking way."

"…Good enough that plenty still gamble with me. Even someone who knows how to count cards still knows when to lose." Ah yes, there he was. The more smug aspect of Q'kura seemed to come crawling back, having been frightened away in the moment. Still, he listens to the others talk. Narrows his eyes at Vex, more out of curiosity than malice. "…I don't know how easily. I don't even know if half of them would believe me. Unlikely… Though… Hrm." He seems to be considering something, looking up to White. "I could think of something, perhaps. I… I've gotten myself out of worse situations…" Casting a glance to Bexy, he swallows. "…Marginally."

"Mm." Bexy considers. A long, slow sigh is heaved out of her nose. "I won't deny there's some merit in it all. Saving others. Information. That's if you make it. If you don't decide to turn your back on us. But all this is contingent on one thing out of my control. Out of anyone's control, really."

Q'kura's head tilts, brow lofted.

"Sayuri will be home soon. Even should you heal her, there's no guarantee she'll let you leave. It's not me you need to convince. It's her."

...Soon enough. It's wrong to make any kind of decision without her.

Mouthing the number she then spoke it out loud, "Fourteen." Given the extra bit of information she made a note. "Then they both get out together." How? They'd figure it out. Or not.

Now those smug set of words made her grin. And laugh. "Errand boy! Look at you." More laughter followed, the amused kind that jingled. "We could play cards sometime!" She stated as if they weren't already. "You really must. You should." Right, serious talk. Bexy was, it was time to listen. And she did, looking right at her.

Back around! She turned her head, giving Q'kura a pat on the shoulder. "You better make a good case! Better make it count. Besides. They're not the only ones. Who want to know things. People. Places. Please in places."

Vex ponders for a moment, keeping her gaze upon Q'kura while she does. "Most of 'em will probably trust you about as far as they can throw you." She states, pausing. "…Matoyan not included." A huff, then. "… Or D'khoreh. He couldn't throw you even if he wanted to. And he's too soft to even want that." Her hands drop down from their previous held up position, lips thinning just a touch. She opts to not speak of the possibility of Sayuri indulging on mercy - quite frankly, not believing the decision would favour Q'kura.

In light of Sayuri's mention, Q'kura seems to wilt. And then again, his expression changes, nose wrinkled at Vex's spoken thoughts. Nothing comes to mind, or at least nothing he speaks out loud. For a change, he seems to sit in the quiet, thinking to himself.

"…I can't stay her hand. I'm her sister. Not her parent, nor handler, not that either of them would have any luck either. Nor would i choose to hold her back, even if i could. Regardless… I'm sure she can be… Appeased with the promise of her aether. As for what she'll do when she gets it back? I don't know. But whatever you think of, Q'kura, it better be good." Inclining her head, Bexy peers to the now bandaged man in the cell. "You did take that which was most precious to her. It had better be really good."

A step over Q'kura's leg brought her to his side where she sat down. Smiling at him. "Tsktsk. Maybe you'll get a second chance! Ah– what is that call? A re-demp-tion."

".. Well. If you ask Grym, he's Sayuri's handler.. And he sure as fuck can't control her either, and not for the lack of trying." Vex muses. "Hopefully, she's in a good mood when she gets back."

"I'd love to ask him face to face. But, that will have to wait for the proper sun, if i'm ever afforded the chance. She's returning from her honeymoon. She will be in about the best mood she could possibly be in, so…" Trailing, Bexy stretches, weariness beginning to finally take it's toll. "…It's something. I'd spend the time given to you thinking, if i were you."

Q'kura gives a quiet little nod. Glancing from Bexy to Vex, to White, he gives a slow, uneasy sigh. "…I don't suppose the right words are… Thank you, exactly. B-but i appreciate you not murdering me." His lips pull into a line, thoughtful. "I… I think. I---" Hesitance then, as he half doubles to clutch his stomach, the audible sound of hunger made apparent. "--Please. C-can i have something to eat?"

White sat there doing a good job of listening. She looked to each person as they spoke which returned it to Q'kura. She swung it up to Bexy after hearing his question. "He's not goin' to do anyone any good. If you starve him. He won't be able to think right."

"Please bring me with you so I can watch him get pissed." Vex half-pleaded to Bexy. Q'kura's question does make her turn her attention to him, and then to White. ".. This ain't the compound." It's the only thing that leaves her, the words rather quiet in comparison to how the others had been.

Bexy's lips curl in amusement at Vex, before they thin once more at Q'kura's request. Brow knit, there's a small shake of her head that Q'kura gives an audible gasp to, as though he was going to cry again, or perhaps scream.

"I'm not a monster." Bexy replies, calmly. "You'll eat thrice a sun. My cooking isn't… The best. But it's edible. You'll eat no differently to the rest of us."

Q'kura blinks. Now he really does look as though he's about to cry. "-Really-?"

A snirk escaped her at Bexy's comment. Which one? Who knew. She knew! It was cut off by the question of, "What do you cook— can. You cook?" Looking over to Q'kura she watched his face, still talking to Bexy. "You use spices." She hoped. And swung her gaze back up to her. "You do know. You use them. Don't you?"

".. Better that the bowl of garbage some of us got in the compound." Vex comments.

Bexy gives White a flat look. "It's edible." She remarks, refusing to elaborate.

Q'kura nods gratefully. "---I don't care what it is, i just…" Stilling himself, he takes a breath. "…Thank you."

Staring back, she replied sounding a bit disappointed, "You don't." She picked herself up from the floor, sweep-patting the dust off her. "When's the princess get back?"

Vex simply observes, having nothing to add to the ongoing conversation. She sways back and forth on her own feet, trying to entertain herself somehow.

"Soon enough." Bexy was either being intentionally vague, or she herself wasn't so sure. Regardless, she didn't give it away. She waits for White to depart the cell, pulling the key from her pocket. "It's far past time we rested. It has been… A long sun." Bexy cants her head, then. "…Shall i call for Zhav?"

All i wanted to do was get White out of my house and sleep. I'm exhausted and my head... Ugh.

Q'kura doesn't even make an attempt to move. Partially because his leg is still frozen, but at least the ice at his wrist has melted enough that he's managed to pull himself free. Head rested on the cell wall, his nose wrinkles; suppressing some of the misery.

Up into the air she streeeetched her arms, walking knee-locked through the cell door. "Do you know how to rest?" She asked passing Bexy. "I don't think you do." At the question she nodded. "Unless. That is. Errand boy wants my company." she teased. "Or a little help. Talkin' to the princess."

Giving him another look she tilted her head one way then the other. "A pillow would help. Him." A pause. "I'll see you. Errand boy." She trailed off, over to where she had followed Bexy before, lagging so the woman could go ahead of her if she didn't want the gremlin in front.

A faint snort left Vex, who ceased her swaying and instead leaned against the wall. "She doesn't strike me as a person who'd enjoy being called princess." Vex mused, mostly to herself. Thinking out loud is definitely her strong suit.

"I'm getting better at it." Came Bexy's only remark as she departed the room. Waiting until White was clear of the cell, she turns to lock it, to which Q'kura gives no protest. She doesn't remark about the pillow, either. "Vex, keep an eye on him. I'll bring something to eat, soon."

White chuckled at Vex's comment. "She looks like she could be. A princess!" she called back, half-bouncing into each step. Pausing at the door she half-twisted, leaning a look over her shoulder at Vex. "I'll see you, carrot. Soon. I'm sure I will." With wiggly wave of her fingers off she went again, all the way to the bedroom and to it's door that lead out.

Vex raised a hand, offering a two-finger salute Bexy's way in response to her request. Or order. Who knows, she's going to follow it either way. She flashes a grin at White's words as the Raen skips out of the room.

As White departs the room, Bexy follows along. Only when she's out of Q'kura's view does she seem to let down her guard a little, the fatigue she'd clearly been feeling weighing more heavily on her shoulders. "I'll call for Zhav, and she'll take you back to somewhere a little more familiar. I'll be in touch if there are any… Developments." Despite her exhaustion, those painted lips curl into a thin smile.

Q'kura however didn't utter a word. His face is the picture of misery and… Thought. Or conflict. Regardless he doesn't open his eyes, seeming to try and find some moment in the chaos to think.

White glances back at Bexy once, twice, a third time was added as she stated about the scarred woman, "She's pretty!" before whirling around, not missing a step as she continued to the front door. Or she assumed it was.

She suddenly stopped, her smile pulling a little wider. "I want names, Bexy. Faces. Dis-crip-ions will do. Of the eyes they have. The ears around the city. You can get them Can't you?"

Vex wandered over to the other side of the room, slumping against the wall to sit somewhat next to Q'kura, still outside of the cell. She says nothing more, seemingly content to remain where she is, and in silence.

"I can try." Is the only thing Bexy promises, but it's at least sincere. Moving to what was indeed the front - and only - door, Bexy opens it to the darkness of the Shroud. The night had rolled in quietly during the questioning, but it was no matter in the dark of the basement. It would only be a few moments more, Before Bexy would give the call.

Try wasn't the word White wanted to hear, but it was much better than a no. She accepted it with a small nod and a smirk as she stepped outside. Looking up at whatever patches of sky the branches didn't over she waited, opening her mouth to random about something random— a new cafe in the city. What chatting she heard around the Court. She had some listening to do when she got back. And some chatting of her own too.

I'm not promising her anything. She's useful of course, but i don't trust her. Not completely, anyway. ...My head hurts. I have too much to think on, much to plan, but before any of that i... Desperately need some rest.

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