[OOM] Eiattu - Safe Quarters

[fighting_mad]

The secure apartments aren't bad, per se. They're just small. Plourr gets an idea of stark white and mismatched furnishings, but everything is blurry by the time she enters through the cordon of security measures and guards in the living area, so she could be wrong.

The bed is small and the sheets are scratchy, but she is beyond the point of caring. She collapses onto it, pulling a chrono toward herself and setting an alarm, and then she shuts her eyes. She is vaguely aware of small hands tugging off her boots (she lamely kicks at the hands, but they won't go away) and pulling the heavy coverlet up over her, and then

she sleeps like the dead.

---

Four hours later, there is a princess holding court in the lower level apartments' living area. Her court is made up of the four guards whose job it is to watch over the quarters; she likes them, but wishes that they could be stationed out in the corridor to allow for more privacy. However, when the aim is to keep their whereabouts quiet, it's not a good idea to have uniformed guards standing outside the door. So she's making the best of it, perched on a kitchen chair and listening intently to Lelian, Sy, and Aurelia, occasionally asking a shrewd question of them.

Comments

[eiattu_pride]

Rial hesitates for barely a second, then kisses back, eyes half-shut.

He's missed her so much.

[fighting_mad]

It can't last long, and it doesn't. Still, Plourr takes her time; every time it seems she may be about to say something, she presses full lips against his again.

Eventually, she leans back enough to speak, arms still locked around him. She curls a strand of long brown hair around one finger. "The Duke and the Duchess-- are they with us?" She wishes she doesn't have to ask, but the Duke is one of the best-respected members of the Priamsta, and she hasn't seen hide nor hair of them since she returned. Though admittedly, she has only been back a few hours.

[eiattu_pride]

Rial nods quietly, tugging against her finger.

"Yeah."

[fighting_mad]

She nods. "Good." And it is; it really is. The Duke is a wily ally, she suspects, and, well, they're Rial's parents. She doesn't want them on the opposing side. "How are we doing for support? Is anyone besides the majority of the Priamsta gunning for the throne?"

[eiattu_pride]

"Right now, it's hard to say."

He frees a hand and scrubs it over his face.

"Ah - the commoners have been frightened, but still seem to support us. Everyone else just seems to be waiting."

[fighting_mad]

Another absent, serious nod, and she disentangles herself from him, moving across the small kitchen to open the refrigeration unit door. "Has there been any other violence or threats?"

[eiattu_pride]

"Not yet. Or if so, they're not telling me."

He leans back against a counter.

[fighting_mad]

She digs through the nearly-empty unit, emerging eventually with a covered bowl of rygg-noodles. She opens several drawers before she finally turns up a fork, and, as is her wont, she hops up on the counter, within reaching distance of him with the sink separating them. "And the Priamsta officially withdrew from the government and claimed the explosion?"

[eiattu_pride]

"You'd better believe it."

He leans his head back onto a handy cupboard.

"So. That's pretty much it."

[fighting_mad]

"Have they made any official announcements as to their intentions?" Not that there can be much doubt as to what those are.

[eiattu_pride]

Rial rolls his eyes.

Then ducks out of the door, returning a moment later with a datapad.

He tosses it at her. "See for yourself."

[fighting_mad]

"This sounds promising," she mutters, turning the datapad in her hands and setting the vid to play.

She frowns the second that she sees Count Saume, but her expression darkens more and more as the vid runs on.

"The Priamsta do, with pride, not shame, take responsibility for the recent steps taken toward removing the current regime. Twelve years have passed and still, the throne of Eiattu sits unoccupied. Princess Isplourrdacartha Ilo leads the planet and its good people into a frightening, lawless future; one that must never be reached.

"The Priamsta hereby distance themselves from this sham of a government, and call for its immediate dissolution. This must begin with the immediate release from wrongful imprisonment of the good Count Fice Laabann.

"Eiattu does not need sweeping change. It needs the strong rule of the same men who have maintained order and ruled justly for the past twelve years."

The fleshy face turns hard. "Until the Priamsta have taken control of the planet once more, blood will be shed."

The vid clicks off.



Plourr's face would be accurately described as furious.

[eiattu_pride]

"It's all rather disgusting, isn't it?"

Rial's had his temper tantrum already.

[fighting_mad]

She sets the datapad down hard on the counter with a sharp clatter, and she lets both hands curl around the edge of the counter until it creaks in protest and her knuckles turn white. "I'd like to wring his kriffing neck."

[eiattu_pride]

Rial wanders over, and lightly touches her cheek.

"I know. But at the moment, you can't."

[fighting_mad]

"No, but I can dream." She's silent a moment, and some of the fire fades from her eyes, making way for grim practicality. "Do they have a base of operations, do we know? Is there any intel on their whereabouts or their plans?"

[eiattu_pride]

"Right now, we don't know much. We're still trying to tighten Security against further attempts before going on the offensive."

[fighting_mad]

"But we should go on the offensive now," she says, fingers drumming restlessly just under the lip of the countertop. "Before they gain more strength, more support."

[eiattu_pride]

He shrugs.

"Still, if we leave ourselves open - i'm not going to lose you, Isplourrdacatha."

[fighting_mad]

"I'm not planning on getting lost anytime soon." Her brown eyes are steady on him.

"But I still think we should strike now."

[eiattu_pride]

"Fair enough."

He stretches.

"Plan?"

[fighting_mad]

"Go through the list of the nobles who seceded with the group; see if there's anyone in the camp who we can convince to work for us. Gather as much intel about them as possible; their location, their movements, their plans. And then--" Her hand curls instinctively into a fist. "We bring them down before they cause any more bloodshed.

"It's all a test," she says. "If we're seen as weak or indecisive, even if we do root them out in the end, it's going to send one hell of a message to every violent fringe group on- and off-planet."

[eiattu_pride]

"Okay."

He nods, already forming plans in his mind, making lists.

"Finish your meal, and we'll get right on it."

[fighting_mad]

Plourr stares blankly at him and she moves her hand on the counter to-- her fingers knock against the abandoned bowl. Right. Her meal.

She picks it up and pulls her legs up, settling into a cross-legged position that shouldn't be nearly as comfortable as it is. "No reason I can't eat and plan at the same time."

[eiattu_pride]

Rial snerks.

"You'll ruin your digestion."

[fighting_mad]

She snorts. "My stomach can handle it." She forks noodles into her mouth, and she has mostly finished chewing by the time she says, "Bring on the lists."

[eiattu_pride]

Rial fishes through a half-open drawer and comes up with a datapad.

(no, he doesn't know why it's in there either)

"I've been being pro-active."

[fighting_mad]

She swallows, smiles, and slides forward a little more on the counter, though it doesn't really bring her any closer to him and his list. "Brilliant."

[eiattu_pride]

Rial comes over, leaning against the counter next to her.

"Okay. Let's get started."

[fighting_mad]

Plourr comfortably rests her arm on his nearest shoulder, taking another bite of her meal and leaning over. She noses aside his hair, eyes closed, and hides one kiss (that is a little awkward with the mouthful of rygg-noodles, but she manages) against his neck.

He's alright, he's going to be with her for a long time, and they're going to end this bullshit.



They set to work.