[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/necCR92.png[/img][/center][hr][sub][color=darkorange]Location:[/color] The Jail — The Aurelian Commander’s Quarters[/sub][hr][hr]
Elio raised a dark eyebrow as the blond talked and talked. Seluna’s tits, he’d thought Elio was being literal. The metaphor had gone completely over his head — unsurprising, Elio supposed. He was rather short. 

This was the last time he ever tried to be subtle, he decided. 

Talking about planting seeds in hearts and minds… yeah, that was Elio’s fucking [i]point.[/i] Elio hadn’t said [i]don’t do the work.[/i] He just wanted people to not be idiots about their own trades. But hey, if [i]Gadez[/i] wanted to carelessly dump his words like water into frozen soil, not a care in the world about the conditions he was working in or if the people he was trying to convince were unreceptive because they found him [i]annoying as hell,[/i] that wasn’t Elio’s problem. 

…Except the prick had [i]made[/i] it his problem when he’d landed himself in a half-finished jail. 

His irritation spiked. It mixed with his amusement, forming something sharp and prickly as he held the other man’s gaze. Elio watched the way he put careful distance between himself and the bars, voice growing hard and eyes turning flinty. Elio’s gaze sharpened, the corner of his mouth almost twitching up. He expected Elio’s anger. [i]Good.[/i]

[color=darkorange][i]Look at that. Some consideration of his craft.[/i][/color] 

The ‘Gardener’ kept talking, making assumptions about his beliefs, his motivations, [i]why he was in Dawnhaven.[/i] What did [i]he[/i] know? Fuck all, because Elio knew how to [i]keep his mouth shut[/i] (he just strategically chose [i]not[/i] to). He hadn’t [i]chosen[/i] to be here. He’d been shipped off, because it’d been either this or an extended stay in a cell (due to… less than strategic decisions). Who the fuck cared if he had hope for the future? What shining dawn did this man see?

[color=darkorange][i]Aurelian,[/i][/color] Elio figured. [color=darkorange][i]Thinks the future needs to be bright instead of just survivable.[/i][/color]

Aurelia had been in darkness for the past six months. Lunaris hadn’t seen the sun in over a [i]year[/i] now. Didn’t see any northerners wasting time rambling about [i]hope[/i] though, did you? There was shit to do. 

Then the freak [i]bowed[/i] to him and all but dismissed him, turning to the guard. 

Elio let out a short breath that was almost a laugh. 

[color=darkorange][i]Prick.[/i][/color]

He gave a short nod to the guard as she complimented his work — even if it wasn’t [i]done[/i] yet. But Elio was silent as he pushed off the wall he leaned against. He didn’t spare any words — Gadez had used up enough. Instead he just made for the door. 

Before he turned though, he caught Gadez’s eye one last time. Elio winked. Then he was out into the Lunarian cold again. 

He moved with sure steps down the path away from the jail, the snow crunching under his every step. 

He needed Gadez [i]out of the way.[/i] Deciding to take it up with the Commander, he walked towards the guard camp. It was close, at least. He’d go bother them into finding some temporary holding cell for the prisoner. Or maybe just convince them to kill him or cut him loose. They wouldn’t take kindly to Elio just barging in again, but hey, maybe they’d be motivated to have a working jail if only to lock Elio up. Volkov had threatened him with it often enough. And he couldn’t well throw Elio into a jail he hadn’t finished building yet, could he? Not when the most usable cell was currently occupied by a [i]hobbyist.[/i]

Briefly, Elio considered getting thrown in the cell next to Gadez, with his incessant voice. The man’s words echoed in his mind, taking stubborn root —

[color=darkorange][i][b]…Fuck.[/b][/i][/color]

Maybe Elio [i]should’ve[/i] taken a swing at him. 

His footsteps only grew louder as he stomped down the road. Soon enough he could see the tops of buildings, gaudy Aurelian banners on display. The Lunarian camp would be just past it. 

He heard voices — Volkov, he recognized. Someone else bit back at him. Barrett. 

Oh good, Elio could harass both of them at once. 

He paused though, when he got close enough to see three figures: Astaros, the [i]Princess of Lunaris[/i], and a blonde woman in possibly the most ostentatious armor Elio had ever seen. 

The royal couple slipped through the door of Barrett’s quarters. A meeting? Seeing the Prince enter a meeting with the commanders wasn’t unusual… but the Princess made Elio raise an eyebrow. He’d barely seen her the entire time Dawnhaven had even existed (not for lack of trying). Astaros kept her to himself, hidden in that house of theirs. And hadn’t she just almost [i]died[/i] yesterday? Shouldn’t she have been… fuck, [i]recovering[/i] or something? What was she doing attending meetings with [i]both[/i] commanders now?

Elio continued to approach, keeping his footsteps loud, lest the… soldier? Full kitchen cookware set? Got jumpy. He stopped a few feet behind her, watching the way both the Aurelian banner and her blonde hair pulled in the breeze. 

[color=darkorange]“There’s a sight,”[/color] he finally said, voice filled with idle curiosity. [color=darkorange]“Keeps her hidden away for two months, then parades her around the day after she gets attacked, culprit still on the loose. Politics.”[/color]
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[sub][color=darkorange]Interactions:[/color] Gadez Paladice [@Dezuel], Daphne Athenus [@PrinceAlexus], Dyna Soleil [@Queen Arya][/sub]