[PRP] Noblesse Oblige (Shiloh & Temperance)

[Melancholies]

Shiloh gawked, his expression looking incredibly offended, "I didn't geas them!" He huffed, "I just meant the sigil. When we all remade the sigil. Sonny has to listen to the principals now." He looked... pained. "We all caged them because we thought it would help, but now their free will got all ******** up. I would never tell Sonny to do something they didn't want to, never. That's why I don't wanna use the noble geas either. It isn't right. We shouldn't have that sort of power." Shiloh took a deep breath. "Sorry, it's just... one of the principals ******** with Sonny. I'm kinda on edge about it."

As for Melany, "I'm on edge about everything really. The second I got back my phone was exploding with texts from someone I didn't know, and it turned out to be her." Shiloh's own hands were fidgeting with his sleeves, "She claimed to be my best friend. She's all short and human and smiles and stuff." He huffed, cheeks puffing out. "I don't want he to be a monster anymore. She's happy."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Does that mean.... no, nevermind." Still, she wondered if Shiloh was a principal, too. There wasn't enough information to even create a hypothesis, though, so she dismissed the thought. "We caged Sonny because we didn't have another option at the time. We chose the lives of many over Sonny. And maybe that makes us awful, but as long as everyone is still alive, we can work on fixing things, altering, finding out if we even need a sigil." It had been so utterly harrowing for Adoelle and Sonny to show up in her apartment, the ragged remains of her throat fluttering gently.

Temperance frowned at the news about Melany. "Then... is she still a noble? It's not... it's not a trick, right?" To lure people into trusting Melany until she could use her considerable power to tip everything in her favor.

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"She is, I think." He sucked in a deep breath and drawled it out in a long sigh, "It's not a trick though. Like... I dunno. I don't believe it's a trick." He sounded adamant about this, "It's just a feeling I get. I guess that isn't super reliable, but..." He shrugged, Shiloh speak for 'I don't care if you agree or not'.

"Anyway though, there is a lot of opportunity now." He agreed with that much at least. "Since you can't leave the Court right now... if you're serious about this stuff, I can relay you back information I learn. It's—" Something troubling settled on his face, but it melted away, "It's not like I trust you, 'cause I'm still hurt over what you did... but you're still a tithe, so you're a part of this Court. I'm not going to exclude anyone. You start driving stakes between people and it gets real nasty real fast."

"But it might be a bit till I can get back. There's a lot of dumb s**t happening on the Otherside I gotta investigate too." His lips drew into a thin line, "Plus apparently Pax is dying, Pride's apparently no worse for wear. All the trees in Ashdown are dying and people are worried it's a sign that s**t's gonna end again." A hand kneaded the front of his head, "I wish life would chill the ******** out for two seconds."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She paused for a moment, frowning as she thought. "I think, um, where magic is involved, it must be best to listen to your gut above most else. Magic and, thusly, the people affected by it aren't entirely logical." Temperance toyed with the edge of her shirt.

The part about what she did.... she couldn't address that, tell him she still didn't, couldn't regret it. No one had ever really understood how there was no decision to make in that situation. "I would like that, Shiloh... I want... I want everyone to work cohesively."

Temperance glanced over, troubled. "I-I didn't know any of that. I'm so useless here." A deep breath. "Is... is our new Sonny doing okay at least?" It had been the briefest meeting, but still - there had to be a bright spot. "Try the nape of your neck - most tension begins there."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh didn't say anything, but a hand went to the back of his neck regardless, fingers kneading. He was a little desperate for any kind of relief, all things considered. "Sonny's okay... mostly." He rolled one of his shoulders, "Like I said, one of the principals keeps ******** with their free will, but they ain't like, hurt." He seemed a little grumbled about it, "Mercer said he thinks the tree rot is related to the principal too, and I guess it'd make sense cause they'd be the tree, but I also dunno where he got that source from." His eyes slid over to Temperance again, "Anyway, it's been wild. I guess it was actually nice to check out of the real word for a while, even if it was kinda hellish." That was an understatement.

"Work at your trials. Get out as fast as you can." He suggested with a shrug, "All you can do at this point. Try not to die, stuff like that. I guess Rabbit hasn't been telling you much, huh..." He sighed. "Whatever, you'll prolly do okay. I dunno what your fetch is like though. Kinda not wanting to encounter them."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I have some acetaminophen, too, if you want it." Her bag was a wonder storage - no more bigger than normal, but she kept it stocked. "Did Sonny say exactly what the other principal was doing?" It wasn't Temperance because, well, she was here and had seen Sonny all of one time. "The tree, and the knot, and the keys, right... Do you know who the key and knot are?" Temperance, of course, did not expect Shiloh to spill, but it was a question to be asked, anyway. Even if it felt kind of shady asking when she would not give information in return.

She sighed. "My trials... I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing! I sit and I talk to Oroh and sometimes Rabbit brings hurt creature by and I patch them up and.." She trailed off. "Sorry. And I've not idea what my fetch is like. Must not be too bad or you'd have heard something."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh was silent for a moment like he was heavily debating something, "Well, the knot is open about who she is, so I'll tell you. It's America. Y'know, Jones?" He looked worried for a second, but she had sent out a mass text. "The key is a little more, uh—" he laughed, "—lowkey, get it? Sorry, sorry, I don't usually make puns, but it was easy."

The grin left his face pretty quickly though, "Anyway, Meri isn't doing anything to Sonny, and I know the key isn't either. I guess..." He squinted, "Meri said they were messing with them, that they like... I guess took away Sonny's ability to talk about them?" He tapped his chin, "I have a lot of stuff to worry about, so I haven't really looked that into it—" guilt. Guilt. "—But I guess it's more the fact that they used the magic to make them that way. Son's real ticked off about it."

His mentions of her trials was a little more sympathetic, "I can't really offer any advice." He said, "The Madame's methods weren't anything I'd with on anyone, and I don't think I'm allowed to really intervene anyway. It's not like I got to talk with Ezra or Aodelle that often either, but, Melany also really hated them, so..." He shrugged.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Somehow it wasn't surprising that it was America. She eyed Shiloh and wished he would flat out tell her the identity of the key, but Temperance couldn't very well ask that without being willing to give herself up as the tree in return. "Yeah, I know America and... that is a terrible pun, Shiloh." But she smiled, grateful for at least something to be a little funny.

Still, that begged the question of what was happening to Sonny. There was the fetch, of course, but surely they didn't have the same feel as a principal and the same... power over Sonny. "I wish I could look into it. And it's fine I just... felt like complaining, or something." She shrugged and picked at her skirt. "Sorry, I know you're not the right person for that..." Temperance trailed off, feeling sillier than normal.

"Can you.. let me know if there's anything I can do to help you out with... the whole court things while I'm here? I don't know if I can, but I want to be useful."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

He shrugged, "I mean, I complained about my trials too." Something seemed tensed and off there, with the way he smiled tensely and awkwardly. It was gone the next second, eased into something more genuine, totally masked.

"I'll be sure to do that though. I mean, it's like I keep sayin', you might not be a noble, but you're still involved in the Court." He sighed, "And I mean, providing everything works out, you'll be a noble too. Everyone's input is... important, I guess." He scratched the back of his head, remembering how Algernon and Lady dealt with each other, and sighed a second time. "Either way, I'll be sure someone keeps you in the loop, yeah?"

He patted his legs like he was ready to stand up, "Anyway, if you don't got anything else to ask, I prolly shouldn't intervene too much in your trials, even if you're not busy at the moment or anything. I dunno how this stuff is supposed to work, honestly."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"No, that's all," she said, staring down at her hands. "Thanks, Shiloh." Temperance wondered if she sat there long enough... would the court absorb her as one of its fixtures? She remained seated as he rose, fingertips once again beginning their nervous rub against each other. She felt it on her hands; it never went away.

Temperance sighed. She needed to get back to Rabbit soon.

melancholies

wrap!