Jeffrey: "Okay. What do we know about Bora?"
Fynn: "She's a cook. She cooks things."
Grylock: "Aye, she makes a right tasty duck stew. Burned the devil outta the shrimp that one time, though. Ruined it, like."
Jeffrey: "Not what I meant, guys. What do we know about her other than her cooking skills? Where'd she come from? I know she wasn't working in the castle..."
Libby: "We picked her up in Villeinville. She was doin' Robert."
Daena: "The librarian? Oh my."
Libby: "No, no, Dragomir's brother. Cooks boff cooks, I guess."
Grylock: "Did 'e know she was a big fuck-off beastie? Ye'd think he'd notice that while jumpin' her nethers."
Fynn: "Mom, what's he mean - "
Libby: "Go lift some weights, hon. Or play with Traveller. He might need the attention."
Jeffrey: "There's another point to raise. He says she stole his eye? Any signs she would do something like that? Anybody? Did she mention, say, a criminal past?"
Logan: "Who the hell would mention a criminal past?"
Celine: "You did. Several times. Seemed quite proud of the fact."
Logan: "Quiet, brat. You ain't innocent. I've seen you pursuing some questionable agendas in the past."
Celine: "Tee hee."
Jeffrey: "Hush, you two. Anyone else? Criminal past?"
Libby: "Gonna toss in your two cents, Dragomir? You've been awful quiet."
Me: "Huh?"
Libby: "C'mon. Everyone knows you got all comfy with that whore for a while. I'm not stupid. You probably know her better 'n any of us."
Me: "Shit, you think I knew she was... was..."
Logan: "What?"
Me: "That? A giant... spindly... fat... spider... thing? No, sir, I did not fucking know she was that."
Jeffrey: "Fair. But did she hint at a sordid past? Ever?"
Me: "Errr... well, I sorta... had... suspicions..."
Jeffrey: "Tell us. We need to know. For our own protection."
Grylock: "Yeah, Dragomir. She might come back 'n sit on us with that big behind 'o hers. Man alive, did ye see the size of her ass when she changed? I swear she's more attractive now than as a human - "
Libby: "Are you ever helpful, goblin?"
Grylock: "Didna hear ye complainin' those thousands of times I went scoutin' for ye, woman. No appreciation 'mongst you pink folk, I tell ye."
Jeffrey: "Hush! This isn't getting us anywhere. I don't care about Bora's body - "
Daena: "Oh, come now, I saw your eyes wander a few times."
Jeffrey: " - SO MUCH AS, speaking of, her eyes. C'mon, the rest of you must've seen them. Didn't the colouring remind you of something? Many somethings?"
They surely did remind me of something.
I pulled Plato to one side after the meeting disbanded. He came sullenly, though willingly, as I led him into the empty Neo Beefiary. We have no idea who is going to take over as cook now that Bora's gone, and everyone seems to be avoiding the place when they're not picking through the food stores.
"Okay, 'duck'. Spill it." I glared at Plato. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. "I've seen you two gettin' all cosy before. Betcha know what she was more 'n the rest of us. I want what you know."
The platyNon turned oily black for the briefest second, eyes flashing green, before settling back into his usual disguise. I think it was nerves. He quacked a single word.
I slapped my head. "Teacher? Her, too? Fuck me, Plato. Lemme guess, same school as The Baron?"
He nodded. Another quack.
"Of course Iko worked there too. Of course he did." I beared my teeth at Plato, as if making to chew on his head. "I'm gettin' real sick of you Non, you know that? The Baron betrays me... Kierkegaard kinda betrays me... Bora betrays me... you betray me, in your own way, by not telling me she''s not fucking human... she's not even fully Non, is she?"
Plato squeaked an uncertain negative. He couldn't expand beyond that, and, quite frankly, I don't think he knows what Bora is. Maybe she was fully Non, at some point... but... now...? Damned if I know.
Despite our happy reunion, the mood on the Dauphine is distinctly unhappy. Tense. Slightly miserable. We're continuing west, leaving Rodentia in our tracks, with the hopes that our days of standoffs against the Imperium's armies are over. The sloth saw to that. 'least we got that much going for us.
Of course, that leaves us with a different problem. The Imperium was, as far as I can tell, the only military force capable of holding back the Non. With a huge portion of their troops and equipment now destroyed... or at least badly mauled... what's to stop the Non in the east from spreading west?
Non.
Non.
Non. Non.
FUCKING NON.
I MADE OUT WITH A FUCKING NON.
My lips burn,
Dragomir the Wanderer
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