Sun Marshal Headquarters

“Hm.”

A long silence follows. A long, contemplative silence on Naoki’s part. One she spends in deep thought, eyes looking out the window, but not actively observing what they see.

After a few moments, she continues, still gazing idly toward the window, “I see. So it isn’t as if you’d be able to accomplish a similar feat without a focus, then.” Her tone seems almost disappointed.

Another moment, and she returns, shifting her gaze back over to focus on Takhana, and inquiring more pointedly,“What sorts of items would be suitable to be a focus, then? And, how accurate is your ability, generally speaking? If I gave you, say, something from Gauldin- a territory you’re at least marginally familiar with, would you be able to tell me, which city, perhaps?...”

“Oh, well then. That works out just perfectly.”

Complete sarcasm.

“I’ll go ahead and get to the point, then. Look at me for a moment.”

This is, of course, a rhetorical. Takhana has been looking at her the entire time. Still, she raises one hand to indicate the side of her own head, and waggles her ears slightly to draw attention to them.

“It doesn’t take a functioning set of eyeballs or a scrying crystal to see that I’m not quite right. Not quite human. Sub-human or super-human, the distinction is yours so make, but ultimately irrelevant. The question is, however, begged: ‘What is she?’”


“And one would think, ‘Well, she’s a cat… thing-person. Of some sort. I have never asked, truthfully. But surely Naoki knows what she is. She knows what sort of lingerie Queen Arianne wears, surely she would know something like that.'”

Naoki’s voice adopts a smooth sort of edge that is almost reminiscent of Takhana’s own tone as she draws the dialogism, but not not quite so much so as to be mocking, and not quite so accurate as to be an honest-to-goodness impersonation.

“Joke being, of course: I do not. The truth of the matter is such that my memories only extend about ten years and a handful of months back from today. And they are me- albeit a somewhat smaller and exceedingly naive me- waking up in an alley.”

Apparently unable to stay seated, Naoki rises from her seat, and begins to pace off to one side of the room, one hand clasped tightly in the other behind her back.

“To rephrase, I don’t know any more than you- or anyone else, really, what sort of thing I am. And while it would be tempting to assume that I am a creature like Alden’s children- Have you seen them? They’re very cute. Amusingly enough, the one named after me seems to be taking after me in all of the best ways, and it’s amusing. But I digress. While the easy solution would be to assume that I am the product of the love between a human-like being and some manner of anthropomorphic cat-person, the differences extend deeper. Beneath the skin.”

Having reached one side of the room, she begins to pace back, and off to the other side, now using her hands to provide gesticulatory emphasis to each phrase and clause.

“Humor me here for a moment, but I’m convinced that I am fundamentally a different sort of thing. For instance, my memory. My memory is perfect. I don’t mean to exaggerate, it simply is. Every bit of sensory input I recognize, I store, I remember, and can recall later without much hassle. Additionally, either as a subset of the last thing or an independent sort of thing, I learn differently. In some cases, very easily. For instance, I learned Gauldish over a weekend. Simply for fun. Yet, when it comes to more… fiddly things, more intuition based skills, such as plant care, what to wear, cooking… contractions, I struggle. …”

“I recently played a game of chess with Ms. Untyrid. In attempting to consider each available move, each option and evaluate them to choose the most ideal one, I struggled, overwhelmed. There are thousands upon thousands of options. And I realize that that’s not how one is meant to play the game, but I seem to be unable to go about it in any other way. I was able to verbally teach her- who had never even so much as heard the word “chess” before, the theory behind it- enough so that she won our game- but not actually execute the same theory myself. I eventually started to evaluate only fifty possibilities in-between each move, and simply choose one of those. This lead to me getting caught in very simple traps, and losing the game because of it.”

Though she doesn’t raise her volume above what might be considered a reasonable level for speaking to someone from across a room, it’s abundantly clear that she’s very frustrated with the whole affair by the irritation seeping into each word, as well as the resentment practically dripping from her voice.

“I am the sort to plan and systemize to the point of absurdity, and disregard all aspects of a matter that are seemingly irrelevant to what I am considering. I find it extremely difficult to deal with variables I cannot measure and quantify. My mind functions in a manner that would seem to be entirely unlike every individual I have encountered to date. Even in attempting to understand others, I systemize and form models, which, while sometimes accurate enough for my purposes, still fail regularly, as I cannot form a perfect model of the human mind.”

“And,” she continues, brandishing a her index finger as one might brandish a rapier, “On top of that, on top of the ears and the tail and the mind and all, I’m sterile. I could elaborate with all the detail of a mind that never forgets, but you’ll want to just take my word for it, I think.”

Having completed her circuit around the room, Naoki flops backward into her seat in a decidedly unladylike movement. For a few moments, she simply sits, pouting. After a moment, she kicks off her sandals, bringing her feet up to rest on the cushion of the seat. Wrapping her arms about her knees and settling her chin atop one of her lower-arms, she continues, more quietly, but still with that edge of irritation, “It’s all immensely frustrating. Not knowing what sort of thing I am. Not knowing where I came from, the circumstances that brought me into this world- be they birth, construction, or transportation across the planes. Not knowing if I have ever so much as had any brethren. I squirm in that manner of uncertainty. And the general frustration that comes in operating on a day to day basis! I like to think that I do a reasonable job of hiding it, of coming off as more or less normal. Functioning as most people do in civilised society, going about my business; working, living, loving. … I actually maintain a model of the person I’d like to be, and use that for interacting with people. But I myself would be much more suited to sitting in a small box and doing mathematical calculations than I would be to attend a ball or the sort of statecraft I do.” The word is uttered with unmasked disgust.

“I was hoping that you would be able to work your magic and provide me some facts. I have tried to find facts before. A goodly portion of dear Mr. Cresno’s time was occupied by my searches.”

Based upon the fact that she does not continue, it would probably be a safe assumption to presume that Mr. Cresno never found anything in particular. At least, as it relates to the manner she’s referring to.

At Takhana’s mention of this secondary sort of process, one ear- which had been flattened along with its counterpart, perks up, turning to point in her direction. A half-moment later, the rest of Naoki’s head follows suit, turning to eye Takhana with a look. A careful sort of look; a deliberately restrained look. A look that doesn’t dare to be hopeful.

Her request is simply stated, “Tell me about it.”

“Oh, fun.”

Again, with the sarcasm. Uncharacteristically, Naoki seems to ignore the mention of 'close physical proximity,' not even so much as smirking. Whether this is out of respect for Takhana cultured sensibilities or simply a byproduct of her agitation is left to one’s interpretation.

“Unfortunately,” she continues, again swinging her gaze off toward the opposite wall, “I do not have the option. I can’t afford to be completely out of commision for an unscheduled, indefinite amount of time. Neither can you, for that matter. Things would stop working. People would start wondering, and knowing my luck, something important would catch on fire.”

A pause of three beats, and she continues, “I can schedule it, though. I need to prepare things for unscheduled absences anyway. ... Later today, I’ll review my schedule and set aside some time for this. In the meantime, I’ll practice. I’ll look into scrying, and try focusing energies into other things, so it’ll be that much easier when the time comes. I don’t suppose you exactly have any books on the matter, but I would postulate that The Enclave has something at least tangentially related to what you’re referring to. Scrying using a living soul as a focus...”

At this point, she stops, deep in the throes of contemplation. Stating it in the way she did, thoughts of Mr. Screwtape come to mind, and the question is begged if the same sort of process can be used on souls that have since been separated from their original owner. Though she doesn’t voice any of those sorts of questions aloud.

As Takhana’s hand settles atop her own, Naoki jumps slightly in her seat, genuinely surprised. Quite frankly, she hadn’t been expecting it, and wasn’t watching. Takhana isn’t usually one for physical gestures; she isn’t one for hugs, and usually isn’t even game for handshakes.

However, Naoki makes no effort to dissuade her, seeing at least some manner of significance in the gesture, and honestly not minding at all. Instead, her expression of surprise shifts into one of deep gratitude, complete with raised eyebrows and wide smile. “Thank you, Takhana.”

Though she supposes that it would be highly awkward and probably unwelcome of her to cross over and hug Takhana, Naoki hopes that her sentiment is adequately expressed. She does, however, resolve to have more pastries sent over throughout the coming weeks as edible tokens of appreciation. Even though Naoki remains doubtful regarding the whole endeavor, it’s immensely comforting to know that Takhana is willing to do everything she can to assist.

After allowing a few moments to pass in silence to properly shelve the matter for the time being, Naoki pipes up again, with a decidedly more light and conversational tone. “Say. Completely unrelated, but have you been keeping up with the events over on The Expanse’s southern border?”

Sliding her feet down off the seat and back into her sandals, Naoki nods. ‘Troublesome’ is certainly one way to put it. However, it wouldn’t seem like Takhana has much more to say regarding her premonition.

“I’ll be honest, I find the whole affair quite unsettling. A new brand of destructive force, dropping in and wreaking havoc on The Expanse. If not for the swift intervention of Commodore Finch and the other considerably powerful independent parties providing assistance, The Land Tillers would have likely been prevented from forming a cohesive defense and overrun. On top of that, we don’t know what it is, or where it came from. Or if something similar will strike again. … I don’t like unknowns.”

For a moment or so, Naoki leaves the room in a pensive sort of silence before another thought strikes her, “I think I’m nearly finished with matters I wanted to discuss with you, so allow me to voice my last- or, rather, second to last question.”

A moment's pause to collect her thoughts before Naoki continues, “I’m trying to lower my dependence on others and diversify my set of skills. Riding is a useful skill to have, so I’ve been contemplating obtaining a mount of some sort. I’ve not settled on what sort of thing, though.”

“Of course, Ildesias, he has his griffin, and that’s sort of the obvious choice, given the existing infrastructure and number of competent riders. I’m sure the Commodore would be more than willing to assist me with that. But at the same time- and don’t tell her I said this, but griffins are a bit bland, don’t you think? A bit standard. We’ve got legions upon legions of them, and while the legions are very nice, having a griffin isn’t exactly unique.”

“And, I suppose I don’t really have to have something unique. ... But there are so many options. It wouldn’t be terribly difficult to procure a pegasus, but they’re also not particularly flashy most of the time, and Liz would never hear the end of it from the Gauldish. I could spring for something terribly exotic… but…”

Naoki shrugs. “I suppose I’m both asking for your opinion and asking you to keep your ey- I mean, maintain a lookout for something that might be suitable.”

She shrugs again. “To be honest, I don’t intend to take very much action regarding this in the near future, but this is a pleasant enough topic to discuss, a nice enough note to end on, I figure.” With that said, Naoki puts a stop to her ramblings and allows Takhana to respond. 

A slowly nodding, contemplative sort of expression begins to form as Takhana mentions dragons. It's a bit of an unweidly topic to consider, but something indeed to consider. However, Naoki’s train of thought is violently thrown off its tracks as Takhana mentions the cats. She pauses for a moment, seemingly frozen in place, before her ears twitch a bit- as if they didn’t quite hear properly.

“Really.”

Swiveling her entire torso to face Takhana, Naoki gives her her best appraising look. Is this… Is this Takhana’s sense of humor? The fabled and thought lost sense of humor, which only presents itself in the face of mortal peril?

Just to be safe, Naoki’s ears swivel about once again, making sure that no mortal peril makes itself readily apparent. It does not. Takhana seems to be straight-facing it, as well. Naoki’s eyes rise with some manner of indescribable emotion. Perhaps disbelief. Perhaps amusement. It’s probably pretty hard to tell when one lacks eyes, anyway.

After a moment or so, Naoki composes herself ever so slightly in a flurry of movement, weaving the fingers of her hands together and pointing her index fingers in Takhana’s direction, keeping the pads of her thumbs back and pressed together.

“Giant… Cats,” The words are accompanied by pointed gestures. “As in, horse size... cats that are large enough to ride, and are kept as beasts of burden.”

A deeply contemplative look works its way onto Naoki’s face, etching her way into her features as she relaxes back into the seat. The deepest of contemplations. Which would- apparently, seem to involve pressing the tip of her tongue between her lips, a somewhat silly expression, really. Behind her, soft, swishing noises are heard; the sound of tail on armchair.

After a moment that seems like not nearly enough time to consider such an incredible topic thoroughly, she continues. Slowly, ponderously, as if speaking each word for the first time, “What you mean to tell me, is that- through some means or another, there exists the possibility of obtaining a cat, outfitting it with armor, and riding into battle on… a battle-cat.”

Looking up at last, Naoki internally laments Takhana’s lack of traditional eyes. It makes it very difficult to establish intense eye contact. Staring intently at the cloth will have to suffice, she supposes.

“Do they... Do they do that?” She would presumably be referring to the elves previously mentioned. 

Naoki’s contemplative look remains, and as Takahana speaks, she accentuates it with small nods.

“Hm. We’ll have to do that, then, if only for the novelty factor. Perhaps Ryden could head over there.”

Tabling the matter of cats in her mind, she continues by jumping back to Takhana’s second-to-last suggestion, “A dragon of some variety may be suitable as well, though. Issue therein being that they’re a very varied and very fickle sort- like humans. It would be a challenge to locate a dragon who would… fit. I’m not big into arrogance or burning houses or any of that. Still, if the right one came along and was willing, I’d jump at the chance.”

The unspoken follow up, of course, being that Takhana keep her mind’s eye open for such things.

With all of that seemingly finished with, though, Naoki considers for a moment what else she might have to say, before remembering a request: “Oh, if you would be so kind, please maintain surveillance on the foreign delegations when they arrive for the summit. Send a few Marshals out to remain in their general proximity with orders to intervene if something untoward might happen. It wouldn’t look good if some king died to a common thief on our streets, nor would I be pleased if the delegations leave us some nasty surprises, or use the visit as a front to cover for some covert operations of their own.”

Naoki nods, accepting Takhana’s suggestions. She had been half-joking when she had mentioned Ryden anyway, implying that she’d send him simply to get him out of her hair. Akai'a is almost certainly the far more competent diplomat in situations such at this one. And again she nods at Takhana’s response to the request, waiting until it seems as if she’s finished before continuing herself, “And now, for my final question, and perhaps the most crucial inquiry of the lot.”

She pauses, applying dramatic effect and making 'eye contact', before continuing in a low and most serious tone, “What… is your favorite variety and flavor of pastry?”