Misery Loves Company

[Sierra]

<Mari> ~
<Mari> Mari's still on her bed by the time Nik gets back from his meeting with the Lady. Lying on her back, hands behind her head, staring at the ceiling and generally looking unsociable. It doesn't seem like she's moved for a while.
* Nikkolai takes a step in the room and pauses momentarily, spotting Mari on an intact bed. "Is it safe for me to be in the same room as you?" Nikkolai directs his dry query to Mari, eying her warily.
<Mari> Mari's eyes flick over to look at Nik. "Come on in and find out?"
* Nikkolai shrugs. "I doubt there's much you could do to me that hasn't already been done." He shuts the door behind him and makes his way over to his own bed, which is admittedly useless to him now. "Is it possible for you to talk to me without biting my head off, at the very least?"
<Mari> "My mouth's not big enough for that. At the moment." She sits up, rubs her forehead. "And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that if you ever think a situation can't get any worse, it just shows you haven't got enough imagination to keep up with reality. Anyway...I was kind of rude before. I guess I should say sorry."
<Nikkolai> "No guessing about it." Nikkolai replied in a short tone. "But...there's no need to apologize. Despite the fact that I'm no longer among the living, I'm still your friend, Mari. I am quite aware of my glaring failure to keep you all out of her grasp. She's left me little room to maneuver.  If anything, death has given her a clarity of mind that she (more)
<Nikkolai> --didn't have in life."
<Mari> "That sounds alarmingly complimentary. She does seem to relish backing people into a corner, doesn't she? Real convenient how she keeps giving us choices that aren't really choices at all because she's somehow the least unpleasant one of them."
<Nikkolai> "She was--*is* very, very good at it. She excels at giving the impression that choosing to side with her is the logical thing to do, if not the lesser of two evils." Nikkolai lapses into silence a moment, trying to figure out how to broach the subject without upsetting Mari. "My audience with Her...cleared up a few things. And she relayed the news about (more)
<Nikkolai> --your sister."
<Mari> "Yeah? What about it?"
<Nikkolai> "The long and short of it is this: I cannot tell how much of her word is truth and what is falsehood. But I can say with some surety that she's very fond of using a dash of truth when she lies. Supposedly makes them more effective. The danger to your sister is real. As for the timeframe itself...that is known only to the Lady. I learned of the offer (more)
<Nikkolai> --she made you. If they were more...acceptable terms, would you take them? For the sake of saving your sister from her eventual doom?"
<Mari> "I'd be surprised if everything she told me was true. I've been wondering if maybe she had a hand in Ami being in such immediate danger in the first place, but I can't really prove anything like that, can I? She's a schemer and I don't trust schemers, so my mind runs all over the place." She sighs, runs her hands through her hair. "What kind of terms are we talking about here?" Mari says, some suspicion evident in her voice.
<Nikkolai> "All of those in her service are slaves, Mari. Make no mistake about that. Those who choose to wear her colors of their own accord are no less a slave for all of their cooperation. She sees your skills and covets them, wishing to make them her own. Willing slaves are much more useful than unwilling ones. I would not blame you at all for choosing (more)
<Nikkolai> --to take the tiniest chance available to you to save your sister on your own if it meant your freedom. But...I have managed to make the decision rest a bit easier, perhaps. In exchange for seven years of service as payment, my Lady will save your sister. At the end of those seven years, you may willingly leave her service, with no harm to you or yours."
<Nikkolai> "...seven years was as low as I could bring her, Mari. This is generous, even for her. She wants you and your skills very badly. She'll risk losing you eventually to have them."
<Mari> "You don't need to warn me about what she is or what she wants," Mari snaps. "I can see that clear enough." She rubs at her eyes, her tone softening a little. "Thanks for trying, though. For talking to her, I mean. I haven't got any illusions about how things would go if I agreed. She'd try to find a way to keep me on longer, I'm sure. She'd be trying from day one. At least it gives me the possibility of a way out, though." (more)
<Mari> A sigh. "This shouldn't really be about me, though. I've been thinking about this wrong. I mean, I'll take the best terms I can get, because I really don't want to be around her any longer than I have to, but you know, seven years is less time than Ami's had to survive living with devils."
<Nikkolai> "If this is what you really want, then you have my word that I'll make sure that she keeps her end of the bargain. I've made it quite clear that the only reason I've not so much as tested the strength of the leash she has on me is that you all are alive and free. If she reneges on her word...well. We'll both simply have to make her sorry." (more)
* Nikkolai lays back onto his bed. "I do admit, the thought of having someone around to keep me...me, is comforting. So, my dear, what word shall I take to Her in the morning?"
<Mari> "Huh. So that's your stake in this, I guess? Just want some company around? I guess anything beats skeletons and guy smiley out there. Huh. You know, I remember when you offered yourself to that fairy lord. I remember I thought that was pretty dumb at the time. I guess we deserve each other, don't we? And you don't need to tell her anything. My decision, I'll do it myself. She wants to drive a hard bargain, well, so can I."
* Nikkolai nods. "Keep that attitude, and you may just drive a better bargain than I. Sell yourself as an indispensable product and she might weaken her terms. And I remind you...the boy was the only reason that I even considered such a thing. Everyone has reasons for what they do. Some might seem dumb to those looking in from the outside, but then, (more)
<Nikkolai> --those people aren't you. I know I don't need to say it...but be careful."
<Mari> "Yeah, you don't need to say it. But thanks anyway."
<Mari> ~