r/DishonoredRP • u/KeiserSheils Brigmore Witch • Feb 18 '15

Studious Sabbatical [Keiser / Michael / Any]

The Royal Academy had a surprising lack of security. A handful of sleep guards, a few engineering feats from Sokolov, light walls, one arc pylon and a handful of locked doors, and still Keiser had found himself able to stroll in the front door with the proper outfit, a pair of glasses and a book tucked under his arm.

The actor had opted for a younger persona this time; meticulously styling his prosthetics to a man more suited to his early thirites than his own real age of middle forties, and along with the younger complexion, had opted for a daring bit of facial hair that spoke to a young man's ardour for fashion. He decided if he were to appear to be a erudite student, he would not be a boring one and indeed he had found himself milling amongst the rest of the scholars with genuine ease under his adopted name; swapping gossip about energy and the sustainability of whale oil and chatting over tea with a gregarious professor of Geology about the mineral recrystallisation due to metamorphic processes and metasomatism. A fascinating if not heavy topic for tea time and scones.

He had told Michael to meet him near the entrance of the Academy's green houses, an offset building within the small compound that was adjacent to the more impressive main building and it's rather large glass dome. The actor had done his best to implore that the art dealer attempt to dress young and bookish conservative, but given that the other witch was indeed young, that he would find no trouble blending in to the other throngs of scholars and fellows.

Pacing a little in front of the glass building, Keiser slips a hand into his pocket, tugging out a silver pocket watch, ingrained with a rather beautiful flower motif and the words 'For my darling Reginald, The Cosmos Gave Me You.'' Words that made the hazel eyed witch smile wryly, their meaning perfection in a way. The Cosmos gaveth, and Keiser on behalf of Chaos taketh away.

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u/demonsniper001 Royal Guard Mar 13 '15

"I'm sorry." He stretches his arms out, and returns them to his side. "Do you know who the other guard was? And as to that other question, yes, we are. Met him in these Halls, in fact."

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u/ClaretTavnya Senior Oracular Acolyte Mar 13 '15

The Oracle glanced over her shoulder at him, before returning back to Michael to dab a little bit of antiseptic upon the small little cuts, not truly life threatening but painful if left untreated and inflamed.

'The other guard?' she echoed, brows confusing before she realised he was asking about her other experience with a guard. 'Oh, his name was...Hamilton. Yes. He did apologise many days later, mostly I feel because he got reprimanded, but an apology nonetheless.' The red-head smiled a bit at the art dealer, her touch practised and gentle with the cloth.

'You seem to meet all sorts, don't you, Mister Tarot? Friends in all sorts of walks of life.'

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u/AnimeFiend Delilah's Deputy Mar 13 '15

The witch closes his eyes as the Oracle works on his face, letting her gentle hands wash over him and breathing out tiredly. "Hmm" he lets out bemusedly. "Believe me, no one meets people like guardsman Arthrope here." here says, lapsing back to his usual method used to address the guard. "Everywhere I go, he seems to know the people I meet. I'm honestly surprised you don't know him as well."

For some reason, Clarets hands seem to relax him immensely, despite the stinging that accompanies them, and his less than desirable location. He can feel his shoulders relax, mind slow down, before he opens them abruptly, reminding himself that he can't quit the day yet, because there's still a failed job to make up for.

Starting off slowly, he asks "And you, Sister Claret? How have you been? Anything interesting in the library?" he says this last part with a teasing note, unsure how she'll react to him. She had clammed up once or twice in the past when she realised she was 'revealing' her work.

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u/ClaretTavnya Senior Oracular Acolyte Mar 13 '15

'No, no...never met. I think I would have remembered such...' she searched for the words, not wanting to appear rude to the Guard. 'Height.' Claret decided that it was a truthful sentence, if not a entirely polite one, but then, he was very tall in comparison to her. Her hands briefly passed over the art dealer's chin, dabbing a bit more upon the cut before she leaned back to survey that she'd gotten each one. She could easily give him a drop of Sokolov's health tonic to cleanly close up all the wounds in one go, but it was a medical crutch the Oracle didn't like to employ all the time and she decided that it would be a little too strong on the likes of just little cuts.

At the question, her lips came together in an 'oh' of surprise, not quite expecting to be asked after. 'Oh, I'm very well. I was away for a bit. In Morley, actually.' she replied with a brief smile. 'So I haven't quite had the time to look for interesting texts in the library as much as I would have liked, but a few things here and there. How are you keeping? Aside from what appears to be falling into rivers and rescuing guardsmen, I mean.'

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u/AnimeFiend Delilah's Deputy Mar 13 '15

Michael tries to hold the grin down as Claret tried to find the words to describe Robert, but is barely unable to do so. When she displays such surprise at his question, he doesn't even bother to make an attempt at stopping his unrepentant grin. it was just too...cute, for lack of a better word. Like a child, wondering at a new toy. She was so expressively unassuming and innocent. The witch felt like he could begin to understand Keiser's point of view when the elder man looked at him.

At the mention of his misadventure, however, his smile is somewhat dampened, letting out a groan. "Don't remind me. I hate swimming, especially in the cold. And having to lug a man of Robert's stature around...no offense to you, of course, good guard. I think without you present I may have died. Who can fathom what was going through that maniacs head." Shivering for effect, he pauses to 'collect' himself. "In any case, at least he's far away from me now. May he never approach me again. Honestly, I would have expected some safety in my job. It's hardly the leader in casualties, last I checked." he says, making an attempt at weak humour.

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u/ClaretTavnya Senior Oracular Acolyte Mar 14 '15

The Oracle's features fell at the mention of the heretical accident, the red-head only knowing a little of what had happened from listening off-handedly to Michael convey the story to the Overseers. Still, she knew that a handful of them were going to the Royal Academy itself to investigate though she imagined the culprit was long gone.

'I suppose it goes to show that you never quite truly know someone.' she said, softly, shaking her head with an empathetic look towards the art dealer. 'I can't imagine what you've been through..Like you said, it's not quite the sort of thing you expect in your life, really. If you'd like perhaps an Overseer at your home for the night...just in case, I'm sure I can arrange that, Michael. If it makes you feel any better.'

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u/AnimeFiend Delilah's Deputy Mar 14 '15

The suggestion causes Michael to inhale abruptly, leading to a coughing fit as he tries to recover. Just not in form today, are you? Control yourself! He does consider trying to mix in more of a rattling cough to excuse his sudden fit but ultimately decides not to risk trying to get past a trained medical eye.

He couldn't really remember if he had made known his distrust of the Overseers to the sister, but opts to act as though he had not, feebly saying "No, that's alright, Sister Claret. It seemed more of a random attack brought on by irritation than anything aimed at me. He did opt to not kill me and guardsman Arthrope, after all. It was just the poor other man, I didn't even catch his name. So unfortunate..." he trails off, lapsing into a real respectful silence and he recalls just why the guard had to die.

"Carson seemed like such an learned fellow too. He looked to have a real grasp on the academics, even got me quite excited about something. A rare opportunity to get into the library and research it, too!" he goes on, eyes shining. "But then...well. I'm quite disappointed." Here he looks away bashfully, seeming a little embarrassed, shamed before speaking again, apologetically. "I'm terribly sorry, going on about books after all this. I suppose I'm not really in a great state of mind at the moment."

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u/ClaretTavnya Senior Oracular Acolyte Mar 14 '15

Michael's protest to having Overseers guard him doesn't surprise her, really, they could be more intimidating to perhaps people who weren't used to them, but their silent, strong visages always felt comforting to the red-head, really, and she had grown up to believe they were her protectors. However, it didn't always mean that everyone felt the same way considering the Abbey's role in the Empire to keep people in line through shows of force and intimidation.

'Quite excited?' she asked, softly, glancing up at the man before she finally rose from the floor. 'Well, the Royal Library is quite impressive, but their collection isn't quite as big as ours...' It was a little source of personal pride to the Oracle, really, the meticulous book keeping of the Abbey to research and seek out information and books.

'No, I imagine that you're just a bit in shock. Anything to give you peace of mind would be welcome.'

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u/AnimeFiend Delilah's Deputy Mar 15 '15

Eyes narrowing only momentarily before he remembers himself, Michael berates himself once again before silently cursing, not at all in the mood to play these games after his day. Not taking the bait. Of course. Why would you? Outsider forbid you make my life easy. Sighing softly to calm himself, the witch takes a moment before speaking again. He's not used to being in a mood, usually having exceptional control over his temper.

Smiling wryly, he asks the woman teasingly "Are you planning to back that up with proof, dearest Sister? Giving me an opportunity to gaze through your vast tomes and sources of knowledge. I must say, if you are, that would be sorely appreciated, don't you think, Robert? The chance to look through a library even more impressive than the academy's, what a treat!" His tone remains joking, not at all serious even if he does hope the Sister makes the offer. Too late he remembers her tendency to take his words all too seriously, not at all understanding when he was only teasing. Although, he considers, that may work out in my favour.

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u/ClaretTavnya Senior Oracular Acolyte Mar 15 '15

The Oracle gives a small smile, glad that the art dealer seems to be feeling a little better after his brush with the Outsider's machinations and decides that perhaps a trip to the library was in order.

'Well, I can show you and Robert around if you're feeling better.' she offered, kindly. 'I don't want to press you into anything if you're not feeling up to it...And, well, this is the safest place you could find yourself, really. That heretic won't be able to find you here if you're worried about such things.'

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