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Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:09 pm
by Eitan Angevin
10th of Frost, Year 121 Steel
Aboard the ZADC Ascendant Dawn
The investigation into the disappearance of Private Florian Albrecht took Eitan Angevin beyond the borders of Zaichaer and its proper domain. Today, he was headed to Haqs to confer with investigators in the local chapterhouse of the Order of Reconciliation. Information had already been sent, but if one wanted something done correctly, one had to do it oneself. If Albrecht had gone to ground in Zaichaer, eventually, he would slip up and they would find him. In the meantime, Eitan had to widen his net because Vigilant Richter wanted answers and she wanted results.
Normally, he spent more time aboard the Noble Gambit, his work for the Order dovetailed into his work for the Air Defense Corps, but with two Aspirants under his eye and investigations into Albrecht's disappearance as well as a certain witch from Tobias' past, he felt he was not pulling his weight aboard his ship. Of course, he always made sure the frigate left Zaichaer with its shields fully powered and patched, but sometimes it left without him. To mitigate things, he had decided to ride aboard ZADC airships when traveling so he could work on their shields in transit, doing work for the Corps if not upon his own ship. In trying to salvage his career as a Watcher, he was risking his career as a Commander, but he was answering the call of Necessity.
For this foray, he had taken Tobias with him. The man needed a breath of fresh air and a change of scenery, and Eitan could think of ways to hone his skills while they were at it.
"Toby," he said quietly. Nobody was near enough that he need call him Aspirant and play at formality. "I want you to follow me around while I work on these wards, and I want you to listen to the symphonies of whoever's nearest and tell me the mood of the ship as we go. Understood?"
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 8:10 pm
by Tobias
Toby had approached everything with a clear mind as he looked upon the airship; perhaps he had finally been able to live his dream for once. To roam the skies peacefully; it was a beautiful sight, watching from the air as he smiled in awe; he was clearly distracted for a moment as for once he had a glimmer of happiness rise within him; it was like he had been given a second chance in life, a second chance at hope and more importantly a second chance to prove his worth. He remained quiet in thought for a moment as he was approached by Eitan. He turned to Eitan as he appeared startled for a second from his daydream "Oh... Eitan, I mean Watcher..." He stuttered and stumbled over his words yet again, a sign of nerves that had already been prevalent when he was startled; he had not been prepared for his arrival ever since, even though he tried he remained professional at all times.
When he wanted him to listen to the symphonies of the others; he paused for a moment as he nodded "Yes" He said as he eventually did as he was told; a quick peak into one's symphony was something he could do as he channeled his Aether through him and listened to the emotional chords of those passing by. One that was most prominent was Eitan's, but as he made his way through the passing, he began shifting his analysis onto the crew members; at the moment they all seemed to be full of joy, except for one which he had just passed. A sense of suspicion and anger rose. He winced as the emotions were too strong for him to deal with and stopped for a moment "Watcher... " He pointed at one of the crew members that he had just passed; the one with suspicion and anger running from him. Perhaps he was disgruntled or there was something more.
After a moments rest, he'd continue to channel his aether as he took a moment to walk around each crew member to analyse them thoroughly. It was as if Tobias became a human metal detector for the Reconciliation, only it was detecting an abstract concept. Suspicion, fear, anger; all of these emotions can lead to violent acts. Perhaps that was the reason why Eitan had asked him for this task to be done. To declare if anyone was suspicious.
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 4:53 pm
by Eitan Angevin
"Interesting," he said after a surreptitious glance at the airman Tobias had pointed out. "In future, though, don't point. It's rude and it's obvious. Just describe the person in question and I'll find them." He winked. And then Tobias was off walking the length of the ship to take more readings of the crew. Eitan made a mental note to keep an eye on the one airman, though. Nothing might come of it, but if there was enough evidence, he might mention something to the captain or at least add an addendum to his report.
He walked much slower along the taffrail, gauging the wards. The fixes could be made once he had an idea of how much work he had before him, and the last thing he would do would be to pour pure aether into the wards to augment them back to their full potential. If they weren't pitted and powered down from use, he might have added a new layer of his own, but the Ascendant Dawn's shields were proving in grave need of his help. There just weren't enough warders to keep the fleet shielded. He supposed it was a bit of job security, though he wasn't sure what would happen if he wasn't able to find Florian Albrecht. There were secrets within secrets and plots within plots when it came to the Order of Reconciliation, and he didn't have enough information to know where he stood.
All he could do was attempt to make himself indispensable and not come up short whenever his works were critiqued.
Helping Tobias might help him, though he was invested personally in Tobias' rehabilitation as well. He glanced up from his work to see if Tobias was headed back yet. He figured casual scanning wouldn't be too taxing on him, but would allow him to build his mental muscles so he could be effective at his job.
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2022 6:30 pm
by Tobias
Tobias looked at Eitan and winced slightly as if he was scolded for making such a mistake. Indeed, it was rude to point, perhaps something he should've been told as a child. However, there was gaps in his childhood; some orphan boy to being a reconciliator's son, there came alot of pressure to live up to the expectations and standards within their society. Pressures that Tobias was dealing with, but there was some other things niggling at him. The need for recovery, for rehabilitation.
The moment he had scanned a bunch of symphonies; everyone seemed to be content, except the man he had walked past before. He walked past him again and could feel a sensation niggling at him. He stopped channeling his magic as it was too intense to follow. He made his way back to Eitan and nodded "No sign of any discrepancies on the front. Everyone seemed to be joyous, happy even. Surprisingly..." He said with a frown. Was Tobias happy? No, he wasn't; he was faced with the grim realisation that everything wasn't as it seemed. He chose to keep it quiet in the professional circle as he fakely smiled "Anything else, Watcher?" He asked as he kept to formalities whilst he was working.
His gaze turned to Eitan and then back to the skies as he took in the views for a moment. He appeared to be somewhat distracted by them again; he couldn't help it, they was so picturesque. The way the green hues and the mountains in the distance complimented each other was like a painting. Perhaps staring into the serene skies for a moment calmed him down as he didn't think about his purpose. He just thought about what it would be like exploring those mountains.
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 2:45 pm
by Eitan Angevin
This time when Tobias returned to him, Eitan was kneeling beside the taffrail, unraveling and reweaving a bit of inexpertly made shielding. He realized that he was getting stronger and more skilled; that had come from training with Florian Albrecht as much as from maintaining the shields of the ships upon which he had served. He was of mixed feelings about this: on the one hand, he was proud to excel; on the other, he was excelling at a skill that was anathema. If he became some master warder, his work could benefit the High City, but his soul might be corrupted beyond repair, beyond redemption. It was a conundrum.
He held up a finger, begging a moment of patience. The unraveling was the delicate bit, holding the tension in the weave so the whole thing didn't come undone. But once he was fully reweaving the shield, it was something he could do while also speaking.
"Excellent work, Aspirant," he said, somehow managing to make the formality sound friendly rather than needlessly hierarchical, though their relationship did require him to lead and Tobias to follow. "Best rest your mind. I know 'tis taxing. Perhaps now you can follow up on your lead. Investigate things. Ask casual questions. Try to get to the bottom of the man's discontent. It might be nothing worse than indigestion, but it might be much worse, and that could prove a problem for the entire ship."
"See what you can dig up. The best investigators often don't let on that they are investigating." Of course, Eitan's style of investigation was more heavily rooted in spycraft, and he didn't know if Tobias would trend the same. It wouldn't be terrible if they had different styles, especially if they could complement each other, covering more bases, being prepared for a wider variety of situations.
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:10 pm
by Tobias
Excelling at Mesmer proved to be slightly difficult on Tobias' mind; he began to feel the mind fog set in. It was hazy, cloudy. He shook off his thoughts and returned to normal. As he approached Eitan he was given the waiting as he appeared to be concentrating on something. He watched for a moment as he was building the wards around the ship. Perhaps Eitan and Tobias could work perfectly together as he had magic that was associated in the arts of finding information and subterfuge.
The protector and the spymaster they would call them. One day.
Tobias listened for a moment at Eitan as he was given his first task, to talk to the disgruntled sailor that he had picked up. Perhaps it was something that he could look into as it would be detrimental to the ship if something was wrong "Alright, Watcher." He said, already looking around. He narrowed his eyes at the two other men who looked suspicious before using his mesmeric magic to detect their symphonies. One again, it was intense, filled with anger, suspicion. Tobias eventually walks up to the men as he stared at the other two men beside him. Suddenly, an arguement spouted over the two followed by a reasoning of suspicion. Tobias would eavesdrop over the conversation by pretending that he was looking out in the distance.
Scouting.
He wasn't noticible since he looked like everyone else on the crew; although something did make him suspicious about them "I'm not sure if our boss would be happy about this, the heist failed. What if we gonna do if they find our, we'd lose our jobs..." One snapped at the other "Keep quiet, they maybe listening to us, you never know... Reconciliator's aboard... Pox ridden corruption, y'know... And those elves that think they are special..." He said. Tobias felt angry about listening to the whole conversation. The racism of elves was something he didn't tolerate very well. It was upsetting.
What upset him more was that he was the one in mind for the subject. Siltori were known for being magically capable, for their abilities to channel Aether. This was somewhat true, but it didn't feel right. He sighed as he clenched his fist, masking his anger as he needed to report back to Eitan; however he needed to do it somewhat discretely.
He walked behind Eitan, until a rash moment of clumsyness from the other crew members; Tobias gasped as a cargo of heavy barrels came loose by accident. He realised they were heading towards Eitan "Fuck... Eitan!" He shouted, before grabbing him and pulling him away from the face of danger. His eyes widened at that moment of sudden fear and adrenaline; yet a blush appeared upon his face. He suddenly moved away in embarrassment as he realised the awkward position he was in "Err... Sorry, Watcher... I didn't mean for that to spurt out..." He said.
Broken formalities.
What next? Surely, Eitan would've done the exact same thing if Tobias was in danger. He narrowed his eyes at the crew member before cancelling out his annoyance. He appeared to be much more reserved when it came to public matters "I have something private to discuss."
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2022 4:02 pm
by Eitan Angevin
Eitan was just tying off a weave of warding energies when he felt a tremor through the deck beneath him and heard Tobias shouting. He had only halfway turned around when his Aspirant closelined him and brought him out of the way of the tumbling barrels. He wasn't an acrobat yet, but he managed to break his fall somewhat, bruising his back and backside, perhaps, but only lightly hitting his head against the weathered wood. Still and all, he was stunned for a moment, the breath knocked out of him. He blinked up at Tobias to find the man blushing and scrambling up to his feet. Eitan rose more slowly, brushing himself off as several airmen came rushing over, falling over themselves apologizing.
"I'm quite all right," he said with a pained smile. "Do secure those barrels, though." They were quick to comply, not wanting him to give a bad report to the captain as he was a Commander of the Air Defense Corps as well as a Watcher of Purity. He nodded to Tobias, who was trying to regain his aplomb.
"I ought to take a quick respite from my work anyway."
He motioned for Tobias to join him, and they repaired to an unused ready room. He closed the door behind them, then began to gingerly feel at his scalp.
"Report," he said tersely, probably because he was in a bit of pain rather than that he was angry. They could be friends, but they also had to be efficient at their work, as well. Tobias had stretched his mesmeric muscles, and now Eitan needed to assess how well he could listen and gather information.
"And Toby," he added before the man could report, "thanks." He offered another pained smile. He was fine, he gathered, but it wasn't comfortable. Vigilant Richter might not be generous with the praise, but Eitan tried to give constructive criticism and praise when it was warranted, the better to build Tobias' confidence in himself. And it would be rude not to be grateful for preventing a more grievous injury.
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2022 6:49 pm
by Tobias
Tobias looked at Eitan concerned for a moment; he wondered if he had caused him the injury by clumsily handling the situation. If he didn't move him out of the way, he would've been worse. Much worse. He sighed as he winced slightly at his concern as he shook his head "Probably best if we head inside..." He said as he patted him on the shoulder. The concern for him was something genuine, but perhaps there was something much deeper. Something that Tobias couldn't describe. The strange butterflies in his stomach as well as a somewhat shaky breath that he calmed down, hoping that Eitan didn't notice.
They both arrived in the unused ready room as he looked at him "Come on, I'm gonna do the same to you as you've done to me. You're hurt. Do we have a medic on board" He asked curiously as he got straight to the point. He appeared to be building more of a professional persona around Eitan, although it did seem like Tobias took his job way too seriously. Perhaps it was for his own benefit. He still appeared concerned, considering they were going to be working together it was normal for him to be able to look out for him. When Eitan asked him to report he sighed.
"Well, I'm afraid you have thieves aboard your ship. It appeared I overheard that guy and a few others talking about a heist that had gone wrong. Do you know anything about any heists on ships? I mean..." He paused for a moment as he moved a chair over for Eitan to sit him down "Here, sit down..." He said with a sigh as he sat next to him.
"I don't have to use my abilities to predict how your feeling do I? You'd tell me right?" He asked.
"I don't ever wanna have to do that... Ever..." He said with a deep sigh.
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:16 pm
by Eitan Angevin
"Interesting," he said again. He glanced at the door thoughtfully, and then back to Tobias. At the man's attempts to mother hen him, he could only chuckle. Then he stepped up and embraced him. "Thank you for quite possibly saving my life, Toby. It seems like the chance we took on each other is paying off." He pulled back enough to look him in the eye without letting him go.
"I'm a bit banged up," he continued, "but I do believe it's mostly my pride that's bruised. I'm remembering our acrobatic attempts at the club and now I can't evade a bit of loose cargo on an airship." He grinned at his own expense.
"Good work on the intelligence gathering, as well. I will report to the captain prior to debarking and we will let him handle it. A bit of thievery is the jurisdiction of the commanding officer, not the Order."
But as Tobias seemed a bit tense, Eitan's dark eyes narrowed a bit in concern.
"Are you all right?" he asked. He knew that overextending with any Rune was dangerous, and while Tobias seemed powerful, he was untrained. Richard ought to have found him a mesmer and an illusionist to train Tobias, but his options were limited. At least Eitan could walk him through training himself and, if all else failed, shield him so he couldn't hurt himself or others. He saw some of himself in Tobias, if he hadn't had the opportunities afforded to him by virtue of being an Angevin. Terrified of his Dratori temper, he had learned ways to cope. Nobody had taught Tobias to regulate his emotions, and so he could be a bit all over the place. Eitan wanted to help him, though. He just wished he knew how to ease past his understandable walls and traumas.
Re: Paying in Kind, i. [Tobias]
Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:18 pm
by Tobias
The eye contact between Tobias was intense as he embraced him before the room with praise. He didn't flinch a single bit by his touch as he appeared to be somewhat comfortable around his new mentor. It was somewhat odd to feel a sense of comfort from someone he close, but he was slowly building a rapport with him.
Tobias would look towards him, he was unsure of how to answer that, considering that he had delved into the emotions of others. He sighed for a moment as it appeared he was trying to hold back everything, but really it was building up tension within his body. He could feel it, all those negative emotions that he couldn't let out. It was tearing at him deep inside "I'm fine... I think..." He said as he tried his best not to crack. His fist clenched as the tension began to gain more uncomfortable for him to bare. It wasn't long until he realised that he wasn't fine; he was in somewhat a state of shock. What was worse was feeling the angry sensation when he analysed Eitan's symphony by mistake. It had him somewhat worried.
"You're not... Angry at me are you?" He asked with curiousity, knowing that everywhere he walked he felt the discomfort of such a heavy emotion when he was taking his mesmeric muscles for a spin. He sighed as he shook his head "Y'know, perhaps I'm just overthinking..." He said, trying to fakely smile towards him. He didn't know what to feel when he experienced his mesmer abilities, but it appeared he was delving into somewhat the darker side of these abilities. It was dealing with the aftermath of analysing one's emotions which made it difficult for Tobias "Sorry if I seem a bit aloof, it's just dealing with all those emotions circling around me..."
