Completed "Unexpected", as Expected

[Kuvarakh]

OOC - continues from here.

38th Day of Summer, 514

Wanda didn't often get on Kuvarakh's nerves. It was no secret between them that he believed her to be his long lost wife, dead an hundred years or more. Her mannerisms were so identical, her tastes so completely in line, her sense of humor so exact a match, that he'd been sure of it for a couple of years now.

He felt it likely that she'd been reborn once or twice by now. And he felt it entirely possible that the gods had guided him here for the strict purpose of finding her. He'd been hesitant to mention it at first, but her own odd looks and behavior several seasons ago had prompted him take the plunge, as it were. She had surprised him by voicing her own tentative willingness to consider it a possibility.

Since then, they'd gotten along incredibly well, as long as the subject of what they were to do when she got older didn't come up. She was repulsed at the thought of becoming a Nuit. And he could not throw away the contact he'd made with the Towers Mansion; a sentient building, alive through the lost discipline of Architectrix. As a being now capable of an immortal lifetime, he felt this connection was as vital an obligation as the one he had with her. As far as he knew, there was no one else in town so uniquely suited to embark on the historical and intellectually based relationship that this partnership promised. It left him very torn on what to do about Wanda, but there was time yet to find a resolution there. Even Wanda herself had stated her understanding of this development...Just like his wife, Raellen, would have.

But for now, his hands were freakishly solidified to near immobility, due to a recent alchemical mishap that had steadily worsened. Wanda had kept telling him to take time off, as if rest would help. She thought that his continued contact with the residual djed of the alchemical processes they activated daily was what was making his condition worse. He knew it was just the one particular mishap that was causing it. And even if the additional activations were what were increasing the hardening effect, there was no indication of any way to reverse it.

The fact was he needed a new body, unless he wanted to clench his fists permanently and become the most frail boxer of all time, with or without rock-hard fists. He smirked at the thought, but dismissed it as quickly. No, it was a new body or nothing. And Wanda's well-intended suggestions to "go home and rest" were not helping. The fact was they were getting on his nerves. There was only one thing that was going to help, and three days ago he'd taken the only step he could to obtain it for himself.

And, just then, as he looked out the window while Wanda was just getting another activation under way, he saw that very thing being brought back to him. A body, lying in the cart he'd loaned to his hired hands, Mr. Ekans and Phobius. He did not see Rana, but it was possible she would come around later for her pay. That suited him fine. She was the least of his priorities right then.

[Yisanareysin]

Well, that hadn't been nearly as bad as it could have been. And he even managed not to get the man in the face! That was something, right? Their guide had left earlier, citing some reason or the other. Personally, Rey thought she was just trying to recover from seeing Kirby die the way he did. His venom was rather potent, especially since he used a full dosage. He understood that non-Dhani found it rather disgusting. Resisting the urge to spit had been hard, but given the purpose of this body, he had reigned in his instincts. He doubted Kuvarakh wanted to trade a body with useless hands for one with useless eyes. He and the emergency snack were pulling the body in a cart, covered, of course. As they turned the corner, he spotted the entrance to the Alchemical shop, and breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been jumpy the whole time they'd been carting the body, sure that someone would see or smell it and stop them. He hated having to transport a body in the open. All of his previous kills had been either in the nest, where they were easily taken care of, or had been in the wilderness, and quickly butchered and devoured. "Phobius, help me with thiss." Looking around to be sure no one was nearby, he picked up the body by the shoulders, and nodded at his legs. The sheet hid the corpse from a casual look, but it wasn't hard to tell what it was. Together, they brought the body inside. "We may have encountered a little problem." He announced to the nuit. "And a knife."

[Phobius]

Phobius was shaking like a leaf.

The walk back to the Alchae had been a slow and quiet one, but the boy went through most of it as if he were in a daze, trotting alongside the cart without saying a single word, his amber eyes wide and his skin as pale as a ghoul's, as Mister Ekans pulled it and their quarry along. All in all, the serpentine man seemed pretty pleased with how their excursion into the Underground had went. The Inartan boy, on the other hand, had plenty of time to think during that walk. Mostly about how he'd just been witness to an actual murder.

The boy hadn't been invited to the trip. If anything, Phobius felt as though all of the secrecy had been to keep him from sticking his nose into things, now, as no one really wanted him knowing more than he needed to. But curiosity was an incredibly powerful thing, and the restless thoughts just wouldn't leave Phobius alone. And so, he'd found himself sneaking after Mister Ekans and Miss Rana late in the afternoon, one day, after overhearing them discuss their intentions and go over the things they needed to go over. He knew that he wasn't supposed to go, and he knew that the two, plus Kuvarakh, would probably get mad at him for doing so, but the boy simply couldn't help himself. He distinctly remember how unhappy they'd been to see him—particularly Mister Ekans, with his scary-looking eyes and unnerving, hiss-filled voice.

The whole venom thing was terrifying, too, but it wasn't until later that Phobius discovered that horror.

What was even more terrifying was how unconcerned Mister Ekans had seemed afterward, as if he didn't even care that he'd killed a man. Phobius had cared quite a bit. He'd cried out and retched a few times, then had promptly hidden himself away and had refused to go anywhere with the serpentine man. But then Rey had brought up how he was obligated to help him out, as Kuvarakh had sent him on a mission and his presence required that he be a part of it. He also added in that, had the boy decided to stay in the Underground, he'd probably be killed and eaten by cannibals within chimes once he was left alone. The boy's eyes had gone as wide as moons at this, and he was quick to get back onto his feet and follow Mister Ekans out, though the trauma of the entire event stuck with him, like a tumor.

"Phobius, help me with thiss."

The man's voice barely succeeded in bringing the boy out of his stupor. Phobius merely turned to look at him, a little, visibly horrified by the request. After a few ticks, though, he relented and silently helped to bring the corpse into the alchemist's shop.

As soon as it was inside, however, Phobius yanked his hands away from it, as if it was scalding hot, and found the nearest wall he could press himself up against. Then he slid down onto the floor and curled in on himself, a little, hiding his face in his knees and covering his head with his arms, his katinu pooling over his still-trembling body.

"Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh suddenly found himself in a condition he experienced very rarely - being at a loss for words. He was unsure what type of behavior would be the best face to put on the scene.

On the one hand, if he'd known nothing about the impending arrival of a body, he should be shocked and dismayed, demanding the removal of the thing. On the other hand, he needed it badly, and making a scene would only attract unwanted attention. Then again, everyone knew he was a Nuit, so the occasional sight of a corpse should not be TOO unexpected a thing to occur. But he didn't dare show anything resembling relief. And it was best to get it inside before any MORE people saw it.

It was one thing for a citizen to enter Alchemmia Alchae and see it's lead man, a well known Nuit, wearing a new body. It was quite another to see one "delivered" to the door like this. 'And what is Phobius doing here with it? Is THAT where he disappeared to for the last couple days?' This could be a serious complication. The boy was nothing if not an open book. And everyone knew he was connected in some way to Kuvarakh now. Seeing HIM escorting the body would be like putting a sign up, saying "This is either coming or going to Kuvarakh!"

Well, it was too late now. He did not doubt his own ability to assuage any suspicions of foul play. But Phobius was another matter. If he believed, as it appeared, that he'd gotten mixed up in some prearranged plan to kill someone, as a service to his employer, he might just be traumatized to the point of needing to "confess" or something. Kuvarakh couldn't allow that to happen.

Several thoughts struck him at once. One, of course, was the fact that this HAD been a planned killing, and no amount of rationalizing was going to change that. Second, was the fact that he felt no guilt whatsoever for planning to do away with this sadistic murderer, rapist and slaver. Hiding behind some judicial technicality to allow him a feeling of righteousness, just for doing nothing to stop a killer from continuing to kill, felt no better than having planned to kill him. In fact, this man could be killed an hundred times over and still call it a bargain.

The third was just the repetition of the knowledge that he needed to address the potential "loose end" embodied by Phobius. But the fourth...Stemming partially from the third, was the realization that Mr. Ekans appeared to be equally aware of the "problem" presented by the young Inartan.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but there was something threatening about the way the Dhani's eyes flashed back and forth from Kuvarakh to the youngster, his eyebrows cocking with the unspoken question, and the smirk of knowing he'd correctly gauged the Nuit's own worried looks at the boy.

It was a small favor of fate that the young man was curled up, not looking up. It allowed Kuvarakh to give the Dhani a firm scowl and a quick shake of the head. His scowl was only deepened by the Dhani's innocent shrug, as if he had no idea what Kuvarakh was trying to suggest. It was time to take matters into his own hands, such as they were.

He crouched beside the trembling young man and exerted some inner pressure, which always generated a "balloon" of djed, which he then directed to engulf Phobius' head. Now he began to speak, not to Phobius, but to Rey. He knew, however, that the thoughts he generated in his mind, as he manipulated the subject matter, would overlay the young Inartan's mind as well, "adjusting" them to be less sinister.

"So, Mr. Ekans, I'd like to thank you for protecting my young assistant, from the dangers of the Underground. Clearly the rescue mission I thought this would be, became something more vicious. I have no doubt you were forced to take this action to guard Miss Rana and our young friend here, from harm. I'm sure that, once the shock wears off, he'll realize that this was a regrettable incident, no one could have foreseen, and that your skills were the only things that could ensure that this villain's unprovoked attack did not succeed."

Rey's smile spoke volumes about how easily he saw through what Kuvarakh was doing. But he was not the issue, Phobius was. And Kuvarakh was definitely getting a feeling that Rey would have no qualms about dealing with Phobius his own way. His head was starting to hurt from maintaining the hypnotic djed bubble, but he went on, "As well, I compliment you on your spontaneous foresight in recalling my need for a new body. I can only assume such an unexpected benefit, resulting from such a dire circumstance, must be the will of the gods."

Phobius seemed to breathing a little steadier now, and Kuvarakh had to let the bubble slip away, before he bent his own mind from the effort. Wanda would be back soon, but as long as she hadn't seen the "delivery", she would probably not make too much of an issue. After all, he'd already gone through two bodies in his time with her.

[Yisanareysin]

The boy really wasn't dealing with this well. The little human sat huddled against a wall, still visibly shaking. Now that was going to be an issue. He could easily get it into his head that it was his "moral duty" to report them, and Rey rather liked this town. So, damage control. The easiest way was obvious. He glanced at Kuvarakh questioningly, unable to hide a brief grin as he saw the Nuit come to the same conclusion. Alas, it was not to be, it seemed. So, the hard way then. Coercion would shut his mouth for a time, but that would paint Reysin as the villain in his mind. Persuading the boy would be difficult, and somehow he doubted bribery would work. Then, how to keep him quiet? With obviously biased statements, apparently. As Kuvarakh spoke, Rey frowned in confusion. His speech was stilted, unnatural, and he wondered briefly if Kuvarakh had been rehearsing the whole time they'd been gone. No, if he had he wouldn't be so obvious in his attempts to manipulate Phobius. The boy wasn't very clever, sure, but even he would see right through that. There was something else. Something... There. The nuit and the boy were humming. Or rather, there was a humming noise coming from their general direction. Magic. He grinned widely, before quickly settling his face back into a neutral mask. He'd have to ask Kuvarakh about that later. "We were just lucky I was already shifted. We probably should have realized how dangerouss a place like the Underground would be." He forced his face into the most innocent look he could muster. "Full of dangerous monsters, with plans to murder." He nudged the body with his toe. "Even if it is the will of the gods, wearing the body of a slaver seems a little.. eugh."

[Phobius]

What am I gonna do...?

Huddled against the wall, Phobius' mind started to spiral as he thought more and more about the present situation. His hands gripped at fistfuls of his unkempt, deep-red hair as the distress within him grew. Then he remembered that he'd just used those hands a few ticks ago to help haul the corpse into the alchemy shop. The cold, clammy, venom-filled corpse...

With a muffled gasp, the boy tore his hands from his head and bunched them underneath his legs, instead, content to hug his knees with his arms. He'd have to wash his hands three...four...a hundred times, as soon as he got the chance. The body had been covered in a sheet, so there was no actual way for Phobius to know how the man's skin now felt, let alone how clammy it was, but the concept of "death" brought such thoughts, and he suddenly felt sickened, his stomach lurching and causing him to let out a low groan.

No, not again...he'd already been sick once, today. And it'd been horrible. Phobius didn't want to go through another retching fit, no matter how morbid his mind became. He didn't think that he'd be able to handle it. Was it at all possible to vomit one's insides out...? The boy thought that he'd heard someone talk about that, once. That they'd gotten so sick that their entire stomach had come up and out of their mouth. How the person had recovered from such an event he wasn't sure, but the sheer horror of such a thing actually happening gave Phobius' own stomach another threatening jolt. Stoppit, stoppit, stoppit! Stop thinking these bad things...it'll only get worse if you think bad things...!!

For a moment, Phobius wished that he could talk with his brain, if only to be able to beg it not to make such disgusting, horrible thoughts. And then came the realization that he alone was responsible, and that the only reason he was feeling so bad was because he was making himself feel bad.

But...really, how else was he supposed to feel? He'd just seen someone get killed. And then he'd helped to bring the body back into the city.

Was that somehow worse than the actual killing, itself? Was he involved in it, now, because he'd helped to...to...get rid of the evidence...?

As his ailing mind progressed down its new-found path of thoughts, yet another terrifying realization came to the Inartan boy:

Would he get in trouble?

Mr. Ekans had been the one to do the deed. But he'd been there and had seen it happen, and hadn't done a thing to stop it. Did that make him responsible, too?

And if he was, what in the world was going to happen to him, now? He couldn't hide, at least not for long, because they'd probably send soldiers after him and Mr. Ekans, and the serpentine man could probably fight them off because he was strong like that, but Phobius couldn't, because he was weak and afraid and hated fighting so he'd get taken away and they'd ask him all sorts of questions that he couldn't answer and then maybe they'd hurt him a little and—

The boy's trembling grew worse, and as he curled in more on himself, his eyes already brimming with hot, panicked tears, Kuvarakh began to speak. The alchemist's voice was a bit muffled, and sounded further away then it actually was, but Phobius could hear him clearly enough. It didn't sound like he was speaking to him, though. Nevertheless, the boy found himself listening.

The man sounded funny. Not funny-"ha-ha", either; funny-weird. Still, Phobius chose not to focus on it, instead setting what attention he could spare on the man's words. It seemed as though Kuvarakh hadn't know about what would happen, after all...which the boy supposed meant that the killing wasn't set-up, after all, like he thought it'd been. It was just an accident.

But had the man really attacked them first? That was what "unprovoked" meant, right...? That they'd been attacked first and for no reason? Phobius tried to think back to then, but found that he couldn't, a mental barricade already keeping him from delving any further into the earlier events of the day.

So Mr. Ekans had been protecting him and Miss Rana...that made sense. It was a bit odd, though, considering that Phobius was certain that the man didn't like him, much. Maybe he needed to thank him, later. And apologize for complicating things.

Kuvarakh deserved an apology, too. He couldn't hear it in his voice, but the boy was sure that the man was angry with him. He'd gone and done something he wasn't supposed to do.

At that moment, a sliver of shame wormed its way into the boy's head. He's probably disappointed in me...and Mr. Ekans won't ever like me, again, if he ever did in the first place...

Phobius' trembling had died down, for the most part, but the boy was still curled up against the wall, working on calming his breathing and willing away the tears that were still in his eyes.

It was all just an accident...that man had tried to hurt us, and...and Mr. Ekans was only doing what he had to to keep us safe...

"Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh knew there were some "support" notions he needed to use to enhance Phobius' perspective with. It occurred to him that where having Phobius be seen with the body would definitely connect himself to the deed, it carried the advantage of being able to USE the youngster to modify any public skepticism that might be created. After all, people WERE going to see him in a new body in another day or two, depending on how soon he could get hold of Maya. So it was best to give the appearance of having never even considered hiding any aspect of the change.

Phobius was so clean and honest, if he could really secure his impression that this Kirby fellow had brought this end upon himself, through his own malice, and through no fault or design of Kuvarakh or his party, the young man's own innocence would be the best testimony Kuvarakh could ever arrange to avert suspicion. But his head was starting to ache from the hypnosis he'd already applied. It was time to use plain, unembellished words to smooth this emotional road.

"I'm so sorry you had to see such a terrible thing. This was one of the reasons I tried to keep you away from this task, Phobius. The Underground is well known for cut-throats and thieves. I had a hunch Mr. Ekans would be able to handle himself, but I think now that it was a good thing you were there..." Kuvarakh flashed a quick wink to Rey.

"This Kirby is an accomplished man with a knife. I heard this from the friend of the woman you went in search of; the woman who'd been held as a slave and repeatedly raped. She described him to me. In some considerable detail. He clearly traumatized her to the point of never forgetting this man. A real monster, this one. And he would have continued to prey on innocent young girls if the gods had not chosen to place the two of you in his path."

Kuvarakh patted the young man on the back, with his hard, pink hands. "And while I will admit being angry with you at first, I now realize you have helped me as well, as the impact of stone hands has surely emphasized. Without you to form a second threat to him, whether you consider yourself one or not, he'd have probably gotten the jump on Mr. Ekans, and who knows then where you'd be...or me."

The Nuit was well aware that he'd probably need to strengthen the young man's self-esteem and perspective, where this incident was concerned, from time to time. But that was accomplished easily enough. "So, my boy, I just want to say that I'm proud of you. You have not only saved Mr. Ekans, and myself, from disaster, you have avenged hundreds of poor woman and children, sold into slavery and death by this criminal. Why, you're a hero! I just hope that you can get over this whole incident, since I am going to be wearing this body for some time."

He stopped, as if considering something for the first time, the turned back with a look of a sudden inspired idea, "Why, in fact, if you find yourself having troublesome dreams or anything. I might be able to use hypnosis to help reduce the emotional impact. I hadn't even considered that. It's certainly the least I can do. Let me know if you feel like something you'd be interested in."

He made as if suddenly spent from some effort, knowing it would be good to establish the notion that had couldn't have just used hypnosis already. "I'd try it right now if you wanted, but I can't do it safely after performing alchemy. I am concerned that the residual free djed in the air could affect the outcome, so I avoid doing hypnosis here in the shop."

[Yisanareysin]

The boy had stopped trembling, but Kuvarakh was still talking. The hum of magic seemed to have ceased though, so it looked like the nuit was relying on his own powers of persuasion. In truth, he was doing pretty well, persuading the boy that he was a hero, and that his violent reaction to Kirby's death was just shock. It wasn't, of course. The boy had run and hid from him after the deed, and Rey was fairly certain he had been as scared of Rey himself as he was by the dead body. It was his fault, really. It had been so long since he'd had the opportunity to kill, to send a sacrifice to Siku. He only regretted that it had been over so quickly. Unfortunately, while he had done his best to avoid displaying any pleasure at the act, he had forgotten to show disgust. That had probably unnerved the boy. Well, the whole "justifications and excuses" thing seemed to be working out for Kuvarakh. Perhaps it would work for him as well. "Don't cry for this, Phobius." He said, lightly kicking the body. "Believe me, it'ss the worst thing in the world, to be collared and caged." This was true. He remembered his own brief imprisonment, the fear of being sold, the horror of being nothing more than an object to be sold. Never again. "A man like this deserves none of your sympathy." Also true, though completely unrelated to the first truth. Sympathy for prey was as useless as scales on a horse. Kuvarakh continued, and it was all Rey could do to keep from smiling. Now that was a misstep. Perhaps not a deadly one, but a misstep nontheless. He was trying too hard to stop Phobius from thinking that he had used Hypnosis just now. If he had just not mentioned hypnosis, or not tried to preemptively explain why he couldn't possibly use it right now, Rey doubted the boy would have thought of it at all. Still, he had a name for whatever it was Kuvarakh had been doing just now. He was most certainly going to have to ask about that. He bit back a yawn. Eventually, he decided. Right now, all he wanted to do was sleep for a season. "If you have no more need of me, Kuvarakh, I'd like to get back to the Cave. This hass been, well, exhausting, and I'd like to sleep it off." He turned to the boy. "I ssuggest you do the same, Phobius."

[Phobius]

Phobius kept himself furled up as Kuvarakh continued to speak, the muffled words just able to reach the boy's ears through all of the cloth he'd encased himself in. He kept his face hidden, refusing to suffer the onslaught of embarrassment that was sure to come once he'd realized that he couldn't stop himself from crying, but the alchemist's comment about his presence in the Underground being a good thing was just enough to bring his head up. "G-good...?" Phobius echoed, sniffling a little as he looked up at the man. The boy's skin was still a sickly pale tint, and his eyes were a bit red and puffy from tears, the amber irises dull, but he was paying attention, now. For the moment, the panicking and distress had come to a halt.

Kuvarakh went on to describe the man who Mr. Ekans had quickly dispatched, calling him a monster. Phobius couldn't help but wrinkle his nose a bit at the word; it was a really strong one to use, like hate, and he could only take the alchemist's words as the truth if he was choosing to put it that way. People could be terrible. The boy hadn't had the misfortune—or so he thought—of ever meeting someone as horrifyingly cruel as that Kirby was being made out to be. Frankly, he'd never wish such a meeting on anyone. The man had done bad things to little girls, and the boy found some comfort in the fact that other little girls were safe, now, with him gone. Whether or not that made killing him right, however...well, he wasn't sure about that. Phobius was tempted for a brief moment to bring that up, just to see if Kuvarakh could give an answer, but something told him that he'd be getting himself into something complicated.

Then Mr. Ekans chimed in about Kirby needing none of his "sympathy." The boy could only turn his head and look over at the serpentine-man for a few ticks, a lost expression on his face.

The pat on the back jolted him a little, but Phobius returned his gaze to the alchemist.

"So, my boy, I just want to say that I'm proud of you."

Those few words perked Phobius right up, as if he were a wilting plant that'd finally been exposed to the sun. Proud...? Kuvarakh was proud of him...? Honestly and truly? But...but he wasn't even supposed to have been with Mr. Ekans and Miss Rana. As far as the boy was concerned, he'd been nothing but a nuisance to the two for the entire trip, and had barely even seen Kirby before the man was killed. And yet, here the alchemist was, calling him a "hero" for "saving" hundreds of innocent people.

I don't...feel like a hero, Phobius mused, all the while trying his best to smile at Kuvarakh's praise. He couldn't. I don't feel proud of myself, either...I feel icky and dizzy and my tummy sorta hurts. Is that what being a hero is supposed to feel like?

Something else to ask Kuvarakh. And again, Phobius decided against speaking. Being a hero was probably supposed to feel better than how he felt, right now. At the very least, it was supposed to feel good.

"That's okay, Kuvarakh," Phobius said after the man had finished speaking. "I won't have any bad dreams. A-and even if I do, i-it's okay. I just...I just really wanna go back to my room at the inn. Can I do that?"

The boy's expression suddenly turned fearful, as if he thought that he'd be asked to help with anymore tasks related to the handling of the corpse.

"Can I, please?"

"Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh winced at Phobius' pleading request. He had, of course, known that Rey would be bringing back the body, unless it had just been impossible to accomplish. But he could hardly act as though he had anticipated it. It needed to be something that was as unexpected to him as anyone else. The point was that he needed to make the jump into this body right away, but couldn't have Maya standing by, prepared to help with it. That would have been far too suspiciously convenient.

So he'd informed neither she nor Phobius of the need for "someone" to go and get her, as soon as possible. He gave the young Inartan a sympathetic grimace, "Uhh...well..." he began, looking pointedly at his hands, now even more petrified than when they'd left for The Underground. "I'm afraid I need you to do one more thing for me today, my boy. I need to you to run and get Maya again. But first I want you to look at the body...go ahead, don't be afraid."

He felt bad for doing this, but what was the kid going to do the next time he showed up for same paid errands and had to talk to the dead body he was now in such fear of? He needed to get this out of his system right now. "Phobius, look at me...You need to consider, that the next time you see me...I will be IN that body. Do you understand what I'm saying? You and Rey may well have saved my Nuit life, such as it is."

He held his hands out again, rapping them a couple times on the wooden counter. It sounded like he was hitting the wood with rocks. In a sense, he was. "These hands are not killing me or anything, not directly anyway. But I find myself unsure that I can scribe the glyphs to transfer to a new body. And if I can not transfer, well...this body will continue to...degrade. I need to jump as soon as possible, and I let Maya see these glyphs before. I'd like to play it safe and have her here to touch up any mistakes I make for lack of hand coordination."

The young man had swallowed hard several times already in the face of the corpse they'd brought back. It clearly was not something he was eager to dwell on right then. Kuvarakh smiled sympathetically. "Well, it may take some getting used to, but I have confidence in you. I'll tell you what, let me give you something to take your mind off of dead bodies. It's only fair to reward you two for the effort. And even though I had not intended you to accompany Rey on THIS job, you have done several others for me, and I believe we had an arrangement."

Kuvarakh went to a large lock box in the back, and spent a couple chimes counting mizas into two bags. He returned holding them against his chest, indicating for his two associates to each take one. "For the danger I inadvertently put you in, Rey, and as a bonus for such spontaneously helpful thinking, I hope three hundred mizas will suffice."

He turned to Phobius after the Dhani had taken his bag with a nod. "I owe you one eighty two already for a season of courier service. It's only the thirty-eighth day, but I want to show some trust and appreciation. And for helping Rey with this business, I'll give you a bonus. Now I expect that Rey still did most of the tough work, so I'm not giving you three hundred on TOP of your courier pay. But I'll compliment it to that same point, making it a bonus of one hundred eighteen, for a TOTAL of three hundred."

Kuvarakh had two reasons for paying the young man in advance. First was the simple fact that having the cash in hand would probably be pretty effective in reducing the impact of carrying a dead body back from The Underground. But more important was the fact that, by paying him early, Phobius would be obliged to continue as his courier, forcing him to get used to seeing Kuvarakh in Kirby's body day after day.

It was not until the youngster left to retrieve Maya that another advantage to paying Phobius early struck Kuvarakh. It struck like a bludgeon of shame. The moment the Inartan spent any of that money, he would become an accessory to the crime. And though this would compel the young man to say nothing of any suspicions he may come to harbor, it took all of Kuvarakh's rationalizing to suppress the guilt that surged with that realization.

OOC - continues here.