Closed Think twice...

[Amelia Cross]

Small, almost an innocent smirk escaped her lips as she was confronted about not being in a rush. She had forgotten how carelessly she was doing things, answering him. Then again, she never rushed and it only helped her find customers if she appeared carefree. ”I was busy…looking for a customer” she simply stated, keeping her Language in check as much as she could, trying to prevent her voice from showing anything but the carefree seduction ”I thought you’d want another reading, you were easy to read to…” pulling the worlds from air, she just wanted to make up an excuse for her actions, but couldn’t manage to think of a valid reason for it. At the moment, all she wanted was to remember his name, it was a clear advantage even if she had no clear use of it now. ”more credit, eh? Don’t worry I’m not underestimating you” the fortune teller thought to herself as her smile grew and eyes were finally lifted to see into her opponent’s, yes, he was now an opponent in a game Amelia loved. Above all she was good in the game, or so she thought. None the less, even if she was experienced in it, she knew that it was quite often for the tables to turn quickly, so she was doing her best to not jump into conclusions and follow his movement. In a game like this, if he wanted to gain Amelia the passionless mind of his was clearly an advantage, cold and calculating. That was what she remembered from his reading, but the name was a mystery. A slight glimpse of the way they parted came to the mind. She could remember it, as much as she tried ”M…Marc…Was it Marc? Marcus? No it had a K….or was it the sound…Kamali? That’s common…” mind troubled with the question. If only she had known that she will come to a meeting like this, that she will have to seduce the man, she would have tried to remember it. Soon she was awakened from the thoughts, how he pulled up their hands was a surprise, one of the pleasant surprises of the day. He kissed the back of her pale palm and for a short instance a honest sign of awkwardness crossed her face, eyes complexly closed and smile wide. She shock it away before he even began speaking, but the memory will clearly linger in her mind as this was an action she didn’t expect from him. Perhaps Amelia really was underestimating him, if one is concerned by the Black Sun, he shouldn’t be as simple as appears. ”Oh Kelmar, who knew…! That’s it that was his name! Kelmar…” she almost cheered inside of her mind, as finally she had remember, not sure had he told his last name or not, but it didn’t matter as she wouldn’t have the need to use it ”Yes Kelmar, let us go” not sparing a second she used his name, praying to the gods she had remembered it correctly. If yes, she'd have earned a few points in her favor, if not...she'd have embarrassed herself quite bluntly. "let the games begin..."

[Kelmar Hedos]

"Yes, you were looking for a customer," Kelmar agreed, "and by the looks of things you haven't had much success in finding one. Your cards are away, you're lingering here, you're trying to seduce me once again. I think that you've found a new way to keep busy." He noticed that while her voice retained that slightly husky quality to it, she chose to keep her words non-committal and vague, signs that she was aware of her slip. Things were going his way, though he had no interest in proving anything. The longer he could keep her interested, the better. "Anyway, I doubt my reading will have changed, I spent a good deal making sure to not change my behaviour." Though he saw her reaction to his gesture, he was unsure of what it meant. It could have been another ruse, a slight ploy to be further seductive. Or it could have been a genuine smile, meaning that she... enjoyed it? Or was there another reason? Subtlety in emotive responses was certainly not Kelmar's strong suit. If she was enjoying it, then why? Why would she? People have told him on occasion that he was attractive in a sort of enigmatic almost regal sense, but this woman was a temptress who played with men, not falling for them. Alas, he could not come to a conclusion as to what her reaction implied or gave away, leaving him at a slight disadvantage. When she finally mentioned his name, the young agent couldn't help but grin. "Oh good," he commented, "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten who I was." He didn't mention that he still didn't know her name, but all in due time. Leading her by the hand, he walked the two of them over to the popular tavern, weaving through the crowd as they walked. At this time of day there weren't too many patrons at the bar, though of course there was always that man or two who seemed to be passed out on the countertop. A few of the tables were filled, but it had been a significant amount of time since the lunch bell and most of the customers were clearing out, meaning that there was more than a good selection of seats. Kelmar led the two of them to one of the tables overlooking the canal, where lots of people preferred to sit. He had no idea why, but he assumed that it must be popular for a reason and his companion would probably appreciate it more than he would. At this point, lessons in being proper and respectful were running through Kelmar's head instinctively, years of grooming as a child forcing their way through his emotionless exterior. He waited for the teller to rest herself into one of the chairs and took a seat opposite her as soon a she'd done so. "This is on me," he reminded her. "A treat, so to speak."

[Amelia Cross]

And so it was made clear that she didn’t manage to fool him. She wasn’t expecting anything else, but was still disappointed as it would have made her life easier to have him blindly believe she is squeezing him inside of her busy schedule. Maybe if she tried more, polished her story, she would have managed to convince him, maybe. However she didn’t even consider doing it, the story would dull the meeting and most likely bore the man. After all, Amelia wanted him to speak. Men have always had a passion for speaking about their plans, so if she could get him to speak long enough it would be only a matter of time before he would say what exactly he wanted from her. Finally at some ease that the name she remembered was correct, not some irrelevant man from around the docks she has met. The girl felt like she was gaining the upper hand on him, but what surprised Amelia was that he still didn’t question for her name. The first time they met, it made sense that she didn’t give it and that he didn’t ask…now when it was so clear that she knew his name but he was clueless, it was confusing. After all, if someone wished to gain something from a person, the first thing to form some bond and trust usually was sharing their names. Kelmar played games that confused her, even angered her as she found the similarities in it with the ones her father did. None the less she avoided showing the emotions on her face, as she followed the man in silence. One thing she had to hand to the man was his manners, for a simple man he had quite the pleasant manners that weren’t often to be found even when talking of the rich and powerful families of Ravok. The silent walk led the two to the Sliver tavern, Amelia enjoyed being in it even if her father would scold her whenever he had found out about her being in such a ’filthy’ place. She just couldn’t help it, she enjoyed the free atmosphere here, singing and dancing, even if visiting more than once every 10 days was a bit too much freedom for her liking, drunk men just wasn’t a sight she enjoyed. Amelia waited for Kelmar to lead her to a table, for someone as calculating as she had observed him to be, she considered they would go the back of the tavern where he would finally explain what he wants from her. Much to her surprise, they chose the table that was almost never free. There wasn’t anything particularly special about it on its own, it was the view. From that one place in the Tavern you could see an amazing view of the canals, the clear water of Lake Ravok would shimmer under the light of Syna and the occasionally passing by gondolas would just add into the beauty of the view, of the beautiful buildings that seemed to have their own magic locked inside. Before sitting down she ran her pale fingers over the chair, in order to make sure the seat is clean. One thing she didn’t enjoy was getting herself or her clothes dirty. She lightly placed her elbows on the table and rested her head on her palms she had crossed right under her chin. Letting her gaze wonder to the canal ”If you wanted to do something pleasant for me, could have just gotten me candy” she thought, being somewhat distant before she returned her attention to Kelmar ”Thank you Kelmar...but might I know how I earned this…?" Amelia asked, she didn’t speak much as she was intending to leave the talking to her friend.

[Kelmar Hedos]

For a while, Kelmar was lost. He could not read her reactions to the Sliver and in particular the spot he had chosen to seat them. Mixed facial reactions to the men at the bar and the view, how she ran her fingers over her chair to test whether it was dirty or not, her casual gaze at the canal. Was she losing interest? Was there something here that was bothering her? Was there something that this place reminded her of? Too many possibilities for too little information. His greatest asset was that she still considered this a game and still wanted to win him over somehow, though they were fighting a battle with two very different objectives. Both relied on the other, though he knew that the chime she thought he wasn't worth the trouble was the same instant that she would leave. That said, her question wasn't easy to answer. He assumed that she would take the lead, pushing her wiles and charms at every opportunity. At the moment, Kelmar had no answer, and began frantically thinking to find one while trying to engineer a way to place the topic of conversation back in her control. It was an uncontested fact that people liked to talk about themselves, and the sooner he could get her to do so the better - and the less he had to talk about himself. In the end, he decided to go for the right and easiest answer. "Earned this?" he asked in return. "I made a promise to you last time we met, and you agreed, the undertone being that we would get a chance to know each other better." Completely true, but for reasons other than were implied. "Already you seem to be quite familiar with using my name, was the joy or remembering it such that you decided to flaunt the ability at every turn? And for someone who does not share her own name, you seem quite happy to know mine."

[Amelia Cross]

For a moment she didn’t bother to follow the facial expression her new playmate had. She just let her eyes wonder while she waited for an answer that she expected to be false, but she wanted to hear wheat he had to say, besides, listening to someone’s lies can also give a good gasp of there nature. ”If you wish for me to be honest, I agreed back then because I was sure you wouldn’t be looking for me” she confessed, not interested in lies until she found a topic she could play on, for now she decided to stick to the safe grounds of honesty where she wouldn't get tangled in her story, for now ”and you know, I was quite surprised to see you appear, usually if my customer wants something from me they just don’t let me go, looking for me after nearly a whole season is something new” Amelia stated with a casual smile, enough to not appear grumpy or angry, yet not enough to be considered flirting or joy. A part of her was cursing inside of her, as her common sense was insisting on a battle. Her mind wanted to switch to war, and not let Kelmar go until she had him, but somehow she was having trouble with setting her own soul into it. She couldn’t tell was he playing with her mind or soul, she couldn’t tell if he wanted her skills or body and it was clearly forcing Amelia into a blind game. No commander could lead a battle into the shadows and that was what Amelia was being forced into. ”I never asked for your name, love, there for I don’t feel obligated to give you mine” she began speaking, ignoring his statement of Amelia just remembering it. Even if it was true, she wouldn’t actually agree. ”after all names are nothing but familiarities, familiarities that strangely hold power…if you know ones name, you pretty much own him…” she spoke with a bit of a dream like daze in her voice, as the girl was trying to readjust her manner of aggressive seduction to a lot more calm and approachable tone. ”but lets not get into such a discussion, I am more curios about what you wished to tell me, after all you said that you can tell me more than my cards” Amelia had done a bit too much talking and she wished to have Kelmar talk a lot more than she did, not only for the sake of finding out the truth about his actions so some light would shine on there battle field, she was also concerned about letting her tongue slip. To enhance her curiosity of his persona, what could or could not be fake, she let her upper body lean towards him. Her head now resting fully on her left palm, while her free hand had found its way across the middle of the table. Pale and fragile fingers resting there, most men see this as an invitation for a touch and she was quite curios, will he take that invitation?

[Kelmar Hedos]

"Well, as we have already established, I am not like your usual customers," Kelmar replied slyly, a false smirk tugging at his lips. "You're playing with something new here I'll bet, something you're not used to." Indeed, the agent knew that he was not at all normal, very unlike most other people he reckoned. People did not usually know how to react to him, which was a sure sign of oddity. Though now that he mentioned it, he began to wonder whether that was partly why she seemed to be going so much slower than she had been outside. He was good at concealing what he was after and good at knowing the layout of the field, yet she knew nothing. Well, he had to give her more credit than that. After all, she had called him out on his earlier ruse. Though she did not know what he was after nor who he really was - no one could possibly guess at a glance his convoluted history - and that probably dissuaded her gently. He might need to throw a lead, to make sure she didn't call it off altogether. He'd do the same thing. His companion tactfully diverted any attention from her lack of an answer to his accusation that she'd just remember his name, but Kelmar noticed. Ultimately though, it did not matter. "It is a shame that you wish to avoid such a discussion," he said, "for these interesting conflicts are by far the most interesting. For example, you know my name, but you don't know a thing about me. I don't know your name, but I already know that you travel on occasion to somewhere outside the city, probably far away from the size of your saddlebags last time we met." He recalled the horse which she had brought with them all the way to their little bench retreat beside a canal about a season ago, his memory having most of the details etched into it. She was obviously familiar with the city yet not a permanent resident, or maybe she was and just liked to travel out for long periods of time. Either way, she spent a while outside the city, for what reason Kelmar could only guess but it was more than she knew about him. "What I wished to do," the agent replied to her closing statement, "was to bring you out here to learn more about you. There is plenty I can tell you that your cards can't, for example my last name and my associates and my activities, truths that your cards can only hint at. We agreed last time that if fortune tellers saw details then they would rule the world, so there must be much you don't know about me that I can tell." He leaned forward as well, not resting his chin on his hands but unfolding his arms out onto his side of the table, ignoring the offered hand. "Though I am personally much more interested in you." He knew that this could go in circles. If they both just deflected questions back at each other then this would lead nowhere. One of them would have to offer an olive branch, and since right now he seemed to be in a favorable position he figured it would probably be himself.

[Amelia Cross]

This was clearly not getting Amelia anywhere. The two of them seemed to be highly distant with answers, she understood it perfectly as bout of them were seeking something, but clearly didn’t wish to put themselves on the line. However understanding didn’t mean she was pleased with it. One after the other ideas of bringing the man out of his façade were creeping through her mind, but he was being so reserved that she couldn’t really see herself succeeding. Therefor she was pushed back to the start position, where she was left with waiting. ”knowing that I travel doesn’t give you more than your name gives to me… “ the truth of this answer could be a topic of discussion worthwhile, but she assumed neither of them would be interested. If Kelmar had acted even a bit more interested in Amelia, she’d probably fall for it. However with every attempt she seemed to see those little clumsy lies and fake movements. She recognized them because she did the same thing; her skills of acting were little to none, so she always made the same mistakes. Then again she could be just paranoid, perhaps he was just awkward with women, but even the most timid man would have accepted her offered hand. Above all, he wasn’t exactly timid as far as she could tell. ’If only I knew….why can’t I just read your mind’ she whispered in her own mind, allowing her eyes to look for answers in his, failing. At this point Amelia was lost, he had made it so clear that he isn’t interested in her physically and even if he is, that is far from a priority, he clearly wanted something more or at least different. ’you’re not found of fortune telling, you didn’t seem to like Fauna…there is no way you could know of the possibilities a fortune teller holds…you don’t know about my father ’ it all was confusing, but she miscalculated, while Kelmar didn’t know about Amelia’s father being a part of the Black sun, she had often enough mentioned it. ”There is so much to me, that we would have to spend the whole winter sitting here and talking about it, while I aren’t found of bragging…but I am curious about you dear” Amelia said, keeping her voice smooth and confident, she wanted him to believe she was confident even if her inside was shaking with doubt ”since we are bout oh such curios little predators, how about we play a question game? It would be fair, no?” the game of questions, Amelia’s last resort if she wanted to find out what he wanted and to top it off she would get the chance to question him, now she just had to pray to Rhysol she wouldn’t tell him more than she’d like,if he agreed to play.

[Kelmar Hedos]

After all that, the bridge began with her? It seemed only fitting of course that she offer a fair trading of information, and right now that would work well in his favor too, but if he let this get carried too far and he would give away more of himself than he would like to. His name wasn't too big yet, mostly because he was good at his job, and he wanted to keep it that way. The less about his life that was known by other people the better. Not even Heldora knew what his past was like, though she knew how he thought and talked with him frequently. The Hedos family was buried beneath history, and Kelmar wanted to keep it that way until he didn't need to hide it anymore. In the meantime, he had to think of his own questions to ask. If he wanted to minimize the amount of information about himself that he gave away, then the most logical way would be to cut the game short when he got what he wanted, and the key to doing that would be to ask the right questions. Last time they talked, she mentioned - or at least implied - that she knew someone in the Black Sun, and that name and who they were was what he was after. So he wouldn't gain anything by asking about this teller's life, which was what she would expect. She brought up her father last time too, a slip of the tongue that seemed unconnected at the time but now he was able to follow up on that. Maybe Kelmar could make this quick. "It would be fair," he finally replied, keeping his back straight and leaning forward on his forearms. He could open right with the killer question, but chances are that would arise too much suspicion without any familiarity to calm her down. Better to let her find something out about himself as to a consolation before going in with heat. "I'll start simple for the sake of fairness, what's your name?"

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia was reviled when Kelmar agreed to play the game with her, she hopped he would slip enough with the questions, that Amelia would gain some information just from that, giving her a ground to set her own questions at. However he wasn’t being original, even if it made perfect sense for him to ask for the name, this question didn’t give Amelia anything, making her believe she really was giving him more credit than he deserved. ”fair enough, my name is Amelia” she could have lied, but she didn’t see him being worth it. Above all Amelia had trouble following her own lies now a days, so as much as she could, she stuck with the truth. As she answered, briefly without the mention of her last name she knew that from now on she’d have to make specific questions in order for Kelmar not to slip through like Amelia did. However she had trouble figuring out what to ask him, on a typical encounter she’d be asking a name for the first question, but she already knew his and held no interest in finding out his last name. A common man’s last name isn’t worth a question, she’d eventually find out, maybe, if they managed to stick together for long enough, what she doubted.”Let’s see….” she lifted her finger up in the air, lazily drawing shapes as if she was writing, maybe searching for a question in the sky, maybe distracting Kelmar from something? Actually, Amelia was just trying to gain a moment, thinking over a common question that could be of any use and wouldn't appear like she was overly curios in him, nothing but overly silly and simple questions came to mind. Everything would only matter if this quite interesting relationship of cat and mouse lasted, but it wouldn't, he'd be gone when he got what he wanted and Amelia would probably leave sooner - the moment she lost interest. Failing to think of a question interesting and unique enough, so she decided to slip through with a common question that usually occurred naturally in a meeting, above all, it would be just fair ”To be fair, what do you do for a living?” she asked. As Kelmar knew that she was a fortune teller, a traveling fortune teller to be precise, yet Amelia had no idea about his labor. However, he didn’t look like the man you would see performing a dirty job or even something remotely hard. Even if you think of it, a man who has worked countless hours in the docks wouldn’t exactly wish to spend miza’s on a stranger, so it would make sense he does an easy job, probably something that works his brain as he looked for knowledge. For a moment she assumed he was a merchant, or maybe someone with money studying in the institute? But it didn't make much sense...”oh stop guessing…he’ll answer”

[Kelmar Hedos]

Kelmar waited patiently for Amelia to think of a question. Her name was not really important, it was just a label to call her by, after all it did nothing other than give him something to call her. As she drew circles in the air, he was beginning to regret his decision to start small as it left him open to an extra inquiry that he did not really wish to answer. It seemed even grounds though, and an innate sense of fairness that was long forgotten by him seemed satisfied with his earlier decision. That did nothing to ease the slight tension in his shoulders though as she pondered over what to ask. One or two pieces of information about himself would not hurt him, but too many and he would be too public for his liking. Ah, it was inevitable that his profession would be asked sooner or later. Still, it was not exactly something that he liked to advertise, and coming out and more or less shouting that he was a criminal would undo all his work. Honestly though, chances were someone in the Black Sun already knew about him, he just wasn't imortant enough to warrant an effort, but still it never hurt to be safe. Amelia also didn't seem the type to simply give in easily and go running to the authorities, though what some people did in extreme situations was often surprising. Regardless, he decided to answer as honestly as he could to avoid the effort of maintaining a lie and also avoid risking her catching onto him. "I work for various merchants," Kelmar began, his eyes dead focused on Amelia's. "Stuff like finding information about rival businesses, figures and facts, shipments and statistics. Most of the time it's to keep merchants informed about their rivals, but every now and then a black deal is made that I need to help orchestrate. That satisfactory?" In truth, there was a good deal more black dealings and criminal work than he let on, but there was no way for her to know that and it was close enough to the truth that he could stick to it easily. His face was completely devoid of emotion, staring blankly into Amelia's eyes. "My turn," he announced. He could bundle up everything he knew into one question, in which case he had a higher chance of messing something up, or he could ask something more generic with the two pieces of information he had and risk another question. He decided to do the latter and methodically work with his facts. "What connection do you have to the Black Sun?" he asked without pause, gauging her reaction.