The doctor is in [ArkxJessan]

[nozomi]

To be quite honest, Jessan expected much less of Warden's; holding cells in Weyrs and Holds came across as rather dingy and wet, especially when the mold began to grow in the heat, and when they refused to wash the prisoners... Ugh. Her skin crawled at the mere memory of it. Built only a few turns prior, the materials still stood, the glows didn't flicker in and out in an intimidating fashion, and while the guards appeared to hate their jobs for the most part, at least they picked their feet up while walking. For her part, Jessan trailed behind the guard that led her to a cloistered off cell. Warden had given her a cell of her own, to use as a place of discussion, not an area to bed down.

Thank goodness. Warden's Weyr was no holding cell, but still not up to Jessan's standards.

She dismissed the guard with a flick of her hand. Jessan had better things to do than chat it up with the help - such as eye up her new 'office': the cots removed, replaced by a roughly put together table, three chairs, and... nothing else. Small and barren, yes, but hers, and she'd be able to chat it up with prisoners. It took a few minutes, but in the end, she'd shoved the table up against the far wall, the chairs on opposing sides to face one another.

The first prisoner? Male, murderer. Probably completely insane. She had all the paperwork, and instead chose just to skim it. Let the man tell her what she wanted to know - Jessan looked forward to meeting him.

So, she settled down in one of the chairs, ankles crossed demurely under the thick expanse of her skirt. One hand up and curling the ends of her already mussed hair, the Mindhealer watched the door, her brown eyes narrowed in anticipation of this new prisoner.

[tuathade]

The winter weather at Warden's was beautiful. It was all that Arkady could think about.

Out of the bitter chill that settled up north, a quick hop on dragonback through the starkness of between, and then... Warden's. That had been a few days ago. His head was shaved, he'd been issued the obligatory obnoxiously bright prisoner uniform, gone through detox... All the perfunctory rituals. Out of one cage, into another.

But what an infinitely better cage it was! He'd slid dangerously close to assaulting a guard when the word solitary was mentioned, but he had a neighbor! An actual neighbor in the next cell over, albeit one who threatened to throw things at him after an hour or so of near-constant chatter; Arkady shut up for the sake of not getting bludgeoned. And a window, barred and small but a proper window nonetheless. They'd explained the system to him - more perks awaited, if he was cooperative.

It was still a cage. But shards, he wanted to go outside.

He'd paced the boundaries of his cell for nearly an hour, counting strides. An appointment with the mindhealer. That's what they'd told him. She was the one he had to convince - if she believed he was safe, she'd tell the guards, it'd go in his file or whatever it was they kept, he'd get swapped from the 'dangerous' list to the 'not dangerous' list. Not right away. He had to be patient. He could be patient if he needed to be. Four Turns was a long time. A few sevendays wouldn't kill him. Not as long as he had a window and someone to talk to.

What to tell her? There were a million possible stories, all with their own little props. He briefly considered jitters - jitters were easy, especially when Arkady already felt halfway to manic. But while he might be able to lie to a guard, he didn't think he could fool a trained Healer. She'd know what real Dust cravings looked like, and he only vaguely remembered. Crazy was another easy one, but crazy was counterproductive when he was trying to convince her that he wasn't a danger to himself or others. Well, when in doubt, claim it was a crime of passion and that he regretted everything.

He offered no resistance when the guards showed up, walked with them willingly and obliged every order. Shards, Arkady even kept his mouth shut for the entirety of the walk. He was counting doors and hallways anyway, trying to form a mental map of the prison layout for future reference. (Never knew when it would come in handy.) He was somewhat surprised when they led him to what appeared to be another cell... and even more surprised by the woman whom he assumed must be the one he was here to meet.

Well now. He'd had an image in his head of some severe old bitch. Not... well, Jessan. Still, Harper training kicked in, and he masked his surprise under his most disarming thousand-watt grin. For once, it was even entirely genuine. Here was a lovely lady who'd called him in to talk, and he wanted her to like him. "Well, hello. You must be the mindhealer - I'm Arkady." There were two empty chairs in the room; he took a hesitant step towards one of them, but inclined his head and waited for an invitation to sit.

Mind your manners, and all.

[nozomi]

Oh, shards - seeing this prisoner reminded Jessan just how happy she was to have not been caught as her brothers assistance in his kidnappings, the murders, the Dust making: they shaved the poor creatures head! Perhaps the older prisoner with actual hair would garner less sympathy, but at the very least, she smiled sympathetically at Arkady, standing as he walked in.

"It's a pleasure, Arkady. I'm Jessan, and yes, I'll be your Mindhealer." She glanced to the guard, the almost genuine sympathy turning to something much sweeter, though her words held no less force because of us. "Guard, you may leave now. No debates, Warden's permission." Pretty eyes narrowed when the guard hesitated, and she flicked her hand in the direction of the door instead. "Shoo, now. If he tries to attack, I assure you I know how to scream louder then an irritated wher. Out."

Only when the guard obeyed did she settle back into her seat, that same dismissive hand gesturing to one of the free ones. "Please, sit. They aren't the most comfortable of contraptions, but at least they're here." Her eyes followed him, pleasant smile firmly in place. "How have they been treating you, Arkady, all things considered?"

[tuathade]

Though of course he had no way of knowing what Jessan was thinking, under her gaze Arkady ran a hand self-consciously along the jet-black stubble that currently dotted his scalp. Made his head feel kinda cold. He'd gotten used to having hair grown out all the way to the tops of his shoulders, long enough that he had to tie it back or braid it. But, eh. He'd grow it back out. Plenty of time to do so.

And at her command, the guard... left? The guard just up and left. Left him alone in the room with a woman that Arkady was reasonably certain he could overpower? Was this a test? If it was a test, it was a test for idiots. Like she said, she could just scream. And they were right smack in the middle of a sturdy stone building, surrounded by sturdy stone walls and more guards than he liked to think about. He'd seen Warden's from above as the dragon dropped him off. It was not a place you casually walked out of, even if you had a hostage.

Just for a fraction of a heartbeat, the look he fixed Jessan with was sharp, calculating. He couldn't read her game, not just yet. Then it vanished, replaced once again with the friendly, cheerful grin.

"Thanks, Jessan." He half-sat, half-sprawled in the offered chair, one leg stretched out in front of him and the other tucked loosely under him. Perhaps a bit too comfortable given that he was in a prison, but a completely relaxed and nonthreatening posture nonetheless. "And... All things considered, I suppose I can't complain. Honestly, a lot better than I was expecting. Don't know how familiar you are with the cells in most Holds, but after a few turns in a windowless box I'll take anything."

He spoke lightly, casually. Every trace of bitter malice was carefully scrubbed out of his voice and masked with a warm chuckle. "Whose idea was it to build Warden's on the southern continent? I like it. Bet it gets unpleasant in the summer, but the rest of the year..."

[nozomi]

Her smile widened a smidge with Arkady and his fierce, foxlike glance. Having grown up with people such as her brother, Jessan paid little mind to such a thing. A man such as Arkady would not have bothered to be there if he was bad at lying. She liked him already. While he lounged like some sort of lazy, half-folded feline, Jessan kept her upright position, back ramrod straight despite the soft curve of her shoulders. He could be as predatory as he liked, as she was more than content to wait the entire thing out.

Weather, indeed.

"I'm quite familiar with the insides of Hold cells - dingy, disgusting little places. It's impressive that after a few Turns in a small, dark room that you're able to sit here with me and carry on a relatively coherant conversation." Jessan leaned in on the table, her hands folding in front of her, demure and proper. "I'm curious as to what a young man such as yourself did in order to be locked away in the deepest pits of a Hold. I didn't look too much into the scroll on you - Warden has a very boring way of putting down words."

"So." Another smile, even a dimple just above the edges of her mouth. "Arkady. This is the part where I ask you how all of this makes you feel, and whether or not body odor is worse during the summer here on the southern continent. But, there is a much more pressing matter at hand - how long was your hair when you came here? You touched your head like you were used to having something much more substantial there."

Jessan glanced to the bald head once more, her lips pursing in sympathy. "Even a hole with windows is still a hole. Do you enjoy the outdoors, Arkady?"

[tuathade]

Crackdust.

She was playing with him. He was almost certain of it. Oh, he would play right along, at least until he figured out what the rules of the game were. Not that Arkady cared about rules. But you couldn’t break them effectively until you understood them.

He stiffened visibly when she mentioned his crime – the casual sprawl turned into a tightly coiled tension with no in-between, and he let his gaze slide away from hers to the table where Jessan’s hands rested. Arkady let instinct guide him, and at the moment instinct told him to avoid that topic and act uncomfortable. Let her think it was a painful subject for him – she seemed willing enough to move from subject to subject anyway. “I’d rather not dwell on the past. What’s done is done.” If she pressed, he’d deal with it… But he flat-out refused to believe that she hadn’t at least glanced at his list of crimes. She’d know he was violent. But he wasn’t dangerous – not to her, not at the moment.

The tension faded as if it had never been there at all, and he lifted a hand to the stubble again. “Hmm? What’s that got to do with anything – it was long, yeah. Didn’t cut it for a long while. I’m not bothered, though. It’s just hair, it grows back.”

The mention of the outdoors – she was taunting him, she was outright taunting him! Shards! He honestly couldn’t decide whether he hated her for that or liked her for having the balls to do it. Either way, she got a short bark of laughter, and a nod. “Who doesn’t? And I’ve never been to Southern before. Only just got a bit of a glimpse on the way in. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.”

[nozomi]

"It's considered quite common for people to be traumatized through forced haircuts," Jessan murmured, her eyes on his head, and the hand he used to touch it with. Silly man. "Especially when furthered with matching clothing, and confined into small areas for long amounts of time. Honestly, I'm surprised there haven't been more claims on crying inmates when their hair is cut." She tsked at the thought of it, large eyes flashing up with Arkady and his laughter. While she had not been at Warden's long, Jessan knew that laughter was not, perhaps, the easiest things to find within the walls.

Oh, guards joked around from time to time, and the people in charge were nice enough. But the prisoners - they had nothing to laugh about. Maybe the insane ones.

Arkady could possibly be insane. She didn't mind.

Damn straight she taunted him, all of it hidden behind a quiet smile, mild words and, shards, folded feminine hands! Arkady, the big masculine thing he was with the smile full of teeth, deflected with 'I' statements and relaxed body postures until caught off guard. Probably. Jessan could not place it, if upset at the memories or if he just didn't want to be reminded that he'd been locked up in a small cell for Faranath knew how long. The information she had bothered to look over didn't give exact dates.

Jessan paused, her lips curling up slightly. She eyed Arkady, and spoke lightly. "You Harpers can spin a pretty tale, Arkady, and just from the last few minutes, I am going to guess you are one of the better ones. So, with that, could you tell me what it was like, Arkady? Getting here, that is, seeing Southern the way you did." That almost-smile turned into a full one, maybe even genuine. Jessan herself didnt even know. "And yes, I'm asking how it made you feel. I'd like to hear your experiences."

[tuathade]

She was right, of course. Somewhere in the clockwork of Arkady’s head, a little tally was being kept of every slight, every small indignity. He wouldn’t forget. He’d set it aside until an opportunity arose, but he fully intended to pay it all back with interest... once he could do so with impunity.

Jessan was quite the puzzle. Usually by this point Arkady would hit his stride, but her pleasant smile and demure, neutral body language were as good as a curtain between them, keeping him slightly off-balance… She kept him guessing. Then again, he’d never gone head-to-head with a mindhealer before. Their discipline really overlapped with the Harpers in many ways, didn’t it? If you thought about it, both were all about people. How people acted, how they reacted. But that was all right. No one had said this would be easy. And he could respect a fellow professional at work. Arkady dipped his head bashfully at the compliment, waving it off. “Oh, I’m terribly rusty. Haven’t had any reason to spin tales for anyone lately.”

He leaned in, both elbows resting on the table and chin cupped in one hand. Bright hazel eyes, almost amber in color, met Jessan’s and held eye contact unflinchingly. “I grew up not far from High Reaches. Didn’t stay there, of course, I moved to the Harper Hall when I started my training. But I remember what the winters were like up there.” One corner of his mouth quirked upwards.

“And coming out of between, seeing Southern… Well, I’m ashamed to say I wasn’t paying much attention to Warden’s itself. I doubt I could even sketch it from above for you, if you asked.” A complete lie. “What I do remember is the sunlight. And I remember realizing that this is what winter is like down here – and how much it looks like a High Reaches summer. Something about that light, it’s just the same.”

Leaning back again, he broke eye contact at last, gaze going thoughtful and distant. “I’m going to be perfectly honest with you, mindhealer – I’m not mad. Desperate, yes, a fool, yes, but not mad. I understand I don’t have much of a future. But this isn’t a bad place to be. And I have no interest in making your life harder, or mine, by causing trouble.”

[nozomi]

How adorable: Arkady pretending to be modest! Jessan saw that trait often in children when complimented from the gender of their choice, and liars. She'd place her very last Mark that Arkady happened to be affected by a bit of both; Harpers had to lie, didn't they? Jessan preferred to use stories so detailed and rich that those she spoke with sometimes thought were lies, or little anecdotes to soothe them with. She stretched the truth. Jessan did not lie.

Except when she did, of course.

Jessan's smile widened when their eyes met, remaining in her previous position. Leaning in to meet Arkady in that manner would, for all intents, put her in his ballpark. Jessan did not play games she did not start, unless she knew already how to reach in and grab the game at the very guts, and twist the insides until they fit her needs. The charming prisoner did not need his guts messed with, not yet, and Jessan appreciated that. Such a nice boy. (Or something.)

"I'm sure you had more interesting things to concentrate on then the layout of the prison, Arkady." She chuckled, as quiet and small as the rest of her movements. "Except maybe the exits, how far the forest spread - all of those interesting things."

"And you aren't mad, Arkady." Those clasped hands broke apart, one waving in the air vaguely as the other settled, flat handed, on the table. "It's quite obvious that you aren't going to be leaping over the table to throttle me, nor are you talking to yourself. But," Her smile faded just a bit, her eyes still on Arkady. "I do believe you are a bit broken. Not shattered to a million bits and pieces, of course, but broken never the less."

The Mindhealer leaned back in her chair to study Arkady, though she didn't stop talking in that same gentle tone. "Maybe they're just spiderweb cracks. Everyone is broken, don't get me wrong. You happened to be a bit more so than most, and were caught for it. I don't know how you were caught, or the extent of the damage you did, but that's why I'm here, to try and help you weld those proverbial cracks shut."

And as if she hadn't just called the man warped in the most polite terms possible, Jessan smiled again. Fainter than before, but there never the less. "How were you caught, Arkady? Like I said - I didn't do more then briefly skim the information provided."

[tuathade]

Note to self: do not tell Jessan about the turn or so he spent talking to himself.

“Quite a lot of forest,” Ark agreed, pleasant and even. “Very pretty. But probably full of felines and other wild beasties, even if you could get past the clear-cut part without being spotted – red’s not my color, but I bet it helps the guards. Even if you get out, man gets lost in there, dies pretty quick, no more danger to the rest of Pern. Am I right?”

He had made his decision. He liked Jessan. The mindhealer was absolutely fascinating. Of course, that like still came with an edge of hate, because when you got right down to it weren’t flirting and fighting only a heartbeat away from one another? That was how he’d gotten in so much trouble last time. But she was brazen enough to tell him to his face that he was broken. Honesty, such a rare quality to find. Ark tangled himself up in so many flippant lies that he didn’t even care when people called him on them. When had this stopped being about trying to convince her of something, and started being about playing her game?

Well. Instinct said meet honesty with honesty. That was a new one.

“Four and a half turns is a long time, Jessan.” He half-shrugged, hands toying absently with the sleeve of the prisoner jumpsuit. “You make a mistake. It’s a bad one. You run, because what else are you going to do, sit there and let them lock you up? Turns out you’re good at running, so you keep going until they corner you and you go to ground. Then, four turns in a hole.” He looked up at her again, voice and expression almost wistful. “I wish we could have met four and a half turns ago. I wasn’t quite so broken then – but wouldn’t that crack anyone, just a little?”

Another little wry chuckle. “It’s a funny story, actually. Did you know they kept sending dragonriders after me? That crackdust doesn’t even work. Dragons only work on people who’re scared of dragons, who don’t know they can’t actually hurt you.” It felt like a stupid thing to tell her, like he’d turned around his hand in dragonpoker and shown her his cards. But it was all in his file with the Watch, how he’d finally been caught. And if the Watch had it, then Warden had it. Jessan was just inviting him to tell it for himself.

“I’d never had much experience with whers before. I mean, I knew about ‘em. Big ugly lizard things, not so bright as dragons but damn good at night or down a mineshaft. So I was hiding out in this little backwater hold, figured I would slip out in the dead of night, and wham. Straight into a wher patrol. And one of them, this big-as-a-runnerbeast bronze, he pins me to the ground and gets his teeth in my arm, and all I can think about is shards of the First Egg, these sonsofbitches can actually kill me if they want to. So I surrendered, because while there are fates worse than death, there are not as many as people think.”

[nozomi]

"They certainly did not choose the most hospitable place in which to put a prison, Arkady." Jessan chuckled, tucking some hair behind her ears. It did little to tame the mass, a few strands still escaping to fall into her face. Damnedable mess of it all, but it helped with her 'image' as someone who should have been a criminal. They all had their masks to uphold: Jessan smiled, spoke in a mild tone no matter how sharp the words, she attempted to tame her hair with the daintiest, pinkie-up movement she could.

As for Arkady, he grinned, all teeth and casual scruff. When he sat, he lounged, relaxed as a cat in the sun, until poked at. Never the less, from what Jessan could make of his act said nothing less than charm. She liked that, and the twisted mind she would bet her last mark resided in that pretty little skull. He smiled in the same was she did, and just as approachable with it (unless one took into account the red jumpsuit).

Had not Warden told her that touching the prisoners was strictly forbidden, she'd have reached out when he spoke, to touch his hand or something equally false. Behind that sympathetic smile for his wistful, dreamy expression laid only amusement. When Jessan did move her hand to rest on top of the table, palm down, fingers loose curled in distant comfort, her mind flicked through various ways he could be lying. Every good lie had some grain of truth to it but in this situation...

Maybe he told the truth. Who knew?

"I have a feeling that had we met four and a half turns ago," said Jessan gently, her head tilting to the side once more to send that pretty pale hair tumbling over one shoulder. "That I would have been the one to break you, Arkady. Though I am quite sure our conversation would not be as interesting as this one, broken or not."

Arkady dropped the formality, and he started to talk straight out of his brain, almost blathering. If he was acting, putting on a continued show for Jessan's sake and manipulation, she couldn't tell. It took quite a bit to fake out the little MindHealer and, if he acted, she would be quite impressed with him. It had turned into a conversation along the lines of two people at a bar, over a glass or two of klah, or wine. It'd turned into what she wanted.

Jessan loved getting what she wanted.

"Survival is the most important thing to remember. So few people do, now a days." Her hand withdrew, both of them folding on the top of her crossed knees, those contemplative eyes once more on Arkady. "Just as not many people know that dragons are basically just there to roar and be scary. Although I'm surprised that you didn't try to punch the Wher in the face or something. Never having had wher teeth in my arm, though, it's not really a thing I'm allowed to judge on.

"What did you think of while you were in the Hold, Arkady? Ways to escape? Those mistakes you made?" Jessan glanced up, and her voice gentled. "Did you feel regret for making them, or just for getting caught?"

[tuathade]

“Hah! One to break my heart, more like,” Arkady shot back playfully. The words left his mouth before he entirely analyzed the potential consequences of flirting with a mindhealer. Bad idea? Probably bad idea, yes. Didn’t stop him, though.

It wasn’t like there was any harm in it, really. He wasn’t going to touch Jessan, any more than she was going to touch him. There were Rules. And Arkady had no intention of ending up in a straitjacket because he hadn’t known where to draw the line.

He gave her a wry smile and rubbed absentmindedly at his arm. That had been turns ago, and it had healed cleanly, but he remembered the incident quite clearly. “I wouldn’t recommend you try it – the wher teeth or the punching, I mean. They’ve got jaws that can snap bone, from what I hear… Socking one just sounds like a fantastic way to lose a limb.” Arkady made a face. “I play gitar, Jessan. Very hard to do that one-handed, and I’d hate to permanently deprive Pern of my musical stylings.”

It was her last question that made him pause. The look he fixed Jessan with was thoughtful, a direct challenge. He was growing bolder now, more daring. It didn't matter anymore what she wrote in his record: he suspected he had a handle on her game, and Arkady wanted to know how far he could push his luck. “And that’s a leading question. The answer’s yes, naturally. Of course I regret it. I regret it every day. I was a sharding idiot, hopped up on Dust and mad as hell... I can't even remember why, now. Been clean for turns now, whether I wanted to be or not, and looking back feels like looking at someone else's life entirely."

"But even if I didn’t… Even if I were that sort of monster, there’s only one right answer to the question do you regret your mistakes when you're sitting in a prison cell. And even a dimglow can lie to save their own skin. Clever mindhealer like you, bet you can tell when someone's lying to you, though. So the answer doesn’t really mean anything, does it?”

Stretching like a feline, he settled both hands back behind his head and continued calmly. “Let me ask you a question: what would you do if someone came to you and said they regretted nothing?”

[nozomi]

Jessan laughed, and winked at the condemned criminal. She winked at the man - the girls at the Hall, and the Warden, they would've been utterly scandalized. A few of her healer friends probably would have given the man a little glare. Jessan - they wouldn't have gotten to Arkady flirting with her if not for the fact Jessan let him know how much she really didn't mind. After all, it was a part of the game. One of the cardinals rules at Warden's appeared to be "Don't have sex with the criminals", but it never said anything about doing her damned job. (Or not touching him. Look! Not a finger laid on the man!)

"You wish you were so lucky, Arkady," she said instead, a chuckle to her voice. "Cheeky thing."

Besides, he'd probably slit her throat in the middle of it all. Jessan disliked the idea of dying in a bloody shower, or at all

She smiled when he spoke of the wher, the broken arm, and her expression shifted to serene curiousity the moment Arkady fixed that hawk-eyed glare to her. Oh, no. She'd put the prisoner on his guard. Whatever could she do. "Of course it's a leading question, that's my job." To lead, to fix, to do whatever needed to make people better. In this setting, though, one could never be sure of Jessan's motives. Either way, she folded her hands once again to her knee, let Arkady talk on. Her expression did not change, save for the arch of an eyebrow when Arkady brought up Dust.

Wherry shit he'd been a user. He picked the wrong healer to lie to. He kept talking, moved as if he had won their little sparring match, and asked a question.

"First things first." Jessan leaned forward, her smile sharp and eyes glinting. "You are no more a former user than I am a little green flit. I can spot one from the opposite side of the prison. Really, Arkady. I though we'd have moved past all the polite niceities and moved on to honesty. I'm almost disappointed."

She tucked some of her tangled hair behind her ears, and flashed him a razorblade smile, though it faded quickly to her normal, gentle expression.

"That said, everyone lies. Some people feel bad for taking a life every so often, but most dislike the fact they were caught most of all. That isn't what interests me - it's how they lie, and what it is they say about it. Besides, even those "monsters"," Jessan even flexed her fingers for emphasis. "Feel remorse sometimes. It may not always be for the things that they're expected to, but it happens."

She smiled again, not so much full of malice as it were relaxed, the entirety of her casual. Jessan met his eyes. "There is a saying - he who has no regrets is the happiest man on Pern. Or perhaps the most prone to violence, so I'm not quite sure on my take of that yet. I'm not sure what I would say to them, Arkady, as it hasn't happened yet. What I would need to find out is a person, such as yourself, to look me dead in the eyes, tell me the truth of what happened and, at the end, when I believed them, say they regretted nothing.

"I would come up with a proper comment then. I wouldn't consider them a monster, though, no matter the regret or lack thereof, or the motivation behind the crime. What's the point?" She shrugged, hands unfolding in order to toy with the ends of her hair. Fingers twist and pulled at the strands, only a few, and idly so as the woman eyed up Arkady. "A Harper with a gilded tongue and pretty face may not be my first in that regards, but I have faith you'll be telling me your story eventually, even if it's not today, even if I don't believe that you regret it as much as you say you have. I'd be interested in hearing your tale anyway."

[tuathade]

She winked at him. She actually winked at him. Arkady couldn’t even remember the last time he’d had this much fun.

He spread his hands wide in mock abashment, shrugged and made no protest when she called him on it. “All right, you got me. That one was a blatant fabrication. I might’ve been, though – maybe I only tried it once, and it’s not like you can get more in a prison cell. Well, no, that’s another lie. Here, I bet you could. Big place like this, someone’s got to be running it underground.” He didn’t sound especially interested, though, remarking on it like someone would inquire after the location of the nearest latrine. There were so much bigger things to worry about than whether or not a few desperate addicts got their paws on one more hit.

“Still, you’re right. But I’d appreciate keeping it between the two of us. People get weird. They ask questions like why, and that’s an easier one than the real why, which is very complicated and not at all what people want to hear. Dust is simple. Most people, when they ask, want to hear something that makes sense to them.”

Not mindhealers, though. He listened attentively to her thoughts on lies and regrets… Well, he couldn’t say he agreed with all of it. But it was interesting nonetheless.

"I'll give you the whole story someday. Not today, but someday."

[nozomi]

"I'm sure there's a Dust-trade around here, somewhere, but it's such a nasty drug. Have you seen a long-time Dust addict withdrawing? I'm sure you did, while in the detox area. It's distasteful." And there it was, an honestly felt shiver that crept up through her skin. Jessan shook her head, banished the remembrance of the dead and dying from her mind because, really, who wanted to think of the disgusting habits of others when there were much easier things to contemplate? Silly Dusters. Had she been a feline, ears would have perked, and Jessan chuckled once again. For all the almost-serious conversation, she shot Arkady an amused smile.

"I forgot to tell you, didn't I? Everything said in this room is confidential. Nothing you tell me will be reaching anyone's ears, nor will ink touch hide about it. I'm serious," She shrugged, her hands palm-up. "Believe me or not, I'm quite honest on that front. To continue the honesty - I'm also quite interested in the why myself."

"But as you said, Arkady - that will be for another day. I am afraid our time is almost up. Schedules are rather irritating, but you are not the only broken charmer out there, you know." Jessan smiled again, a wide thing that showed teeth, and she braced her elbows on the table, fingers hooked together in order to rest her chin on them. The smile remained, dark eyes up at Arkady. "Would you be interested in speaking to me again, Arkady?"