sylvarvenren‌:
He couldn’t help it, the smile that spread across his face, both pleased and amused. He had been worried for a long moment that his spell-work might have been a little heavy handed. Dragging a half-lifeless person around town would have been sure to raise suspicions.Â
No, this was much better.Â
   “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’ve heard that its a natural reaction to my presence.” He says, voice still wry with the amusement and endearment that shows on his face. “But one can never be too careful, can they? I believe it must be my duty as a concerned citizen to see you recover fully.”Â
He bites, for a moment, at the inside of his cheek. Thoughtful. It would be best to get them as far out of the way as possible, so that even if they snapped out of it, it would be hard for them to raise an alarm.Â
    “Tell me, is there somewhere nice around here to get a drink? It might do you some good to sit down and gather your strength again in friendly company.”Â
They couldn’t possibly explain why they do it, why they step away from their paid post to move towards the smiling man, knowing how the Shimmer feels about deserters and failures, how they take to hired hands who step out of line, knowing that it means not only they won’t be paid for the job, but that they may not even make it out of Dalgren without some serious evasionary tactics. But they could think of several excuses off the top of their head, if asked: the Shimmer are barbaric, and the pay is dirt, not nearly enough for their significant talents; they’re bored and he’s handsome and it’s been too long since they let themself have fun; they really were feeling a bit woozy, and there’s nothing for the constitution like a strong drink.
These are not excuses Zan Myrdo would have made ordinarily. But they come easily to them, now, iin the movement of stepping away, of offering their arm to the man and beginning to lead him away.
   “There’s a quiet tavern not too far,” they say, gesturing down the road with their free hand. “Just at the edge of where the shops begin again from here.” It doesn’t occur to them to ask what this man was doing in the abandoned areas of the city, lurking near well-guarded warehouses. It doesn’t occur to them to be suspicious, as if there were some block in place preventing it.
   “But please-- forgive my rudeness. I haven’t yet asked your name.”
















