Spiders and Shadows | Kupiec

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There it was. That familiar chill followed by a familiar dark voice- the kind of voice that fit both an alleyway mugger and a friendly politician; fitting, given they both were planning something unpleasant for you.

“Being modest suits me,” she said dryly. “You should try it sometime. You might have more friends than just me, Daniel, and … The Goddess of Dreams. That’s who that was, yes?” At this point she turned to him, but without aggression. Her demeanor was kept firm but nonthreatening, though she knew the conversation would not allow such politeness going forward.

“Hah.” She said. A single laugh at his implied thanks. “That’s a first. If only you could be so polite when I’m at the diner.”

She met his gaze, tilting her head lazily to him and looking at him as if he was no more interesting than a shadow on the ceiling. They both knew that each other knew; that was part of the game, wasn’t it? Constantly keeping up with your opponent, thinking five moves ahead… pieces moving across a checkered field. She grinned back at him.

“Like to? No, not in particular. But let’s not beat around the bush when it comes to business.” She folded her arms and tilted her head slightly. “Yes, I’m familiar with Her. And She with you, I take it.” Rhetorical. Maevia already know that Arithelia was acquainted with the devil; that was going to be Maevia’s unexpected gambit in this match. She just needed to wait for the right moment.

“I know you have an interest in Her. The only question is: business? Or personal?”

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Tags: Kupiec
Notes: short but adequate

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Maevia’s eyes narrowed in surprise. Another deity was present? If so, they were subtle about it; likely not the Spanish-speaking acquaintance of His. She would have to speak more with her contacts at the ball, and perhaps obtain security footage from Anansi, if he would grant it; Kupiec had already proven that deities don’t show up on camera, so a close investigation may give her some hints. In any case, the opportunity to greet them was gone, and there were more pressing issues that demanded her forefront thoughts.

She raised an eyebrow at his customs tangent. It was mostly an aside, but it seemed to get him talking. “Well perhaps I will dine at home more often, if those are the customs to which you adhere,” she said. It was meant as a playful jab with a hint of annoyance, similar to throwing a snowball with a small rock inside.

She watched his face closely as he spoke, drifting only for a moment by the flickering of the monitors. When he posed the question, she smiled, and put her hands behind her back.

“Your ability to deflect and half-answer questions remains finely honed,” she said. She shifted her gaze to data scrolling by on her wall of information, monitors moving tirelessly to display raw and filtered data fed by agents, automated programs, and uploads from contracted hackers and spies. “My interest is business, as always, and I have never faltered in my transparency regarding my motives. Why wouldn’t I take an interest in another deity? Certainly you can see the wisdom in making such an acquaintance.”

She stepped around him with lazy steps, and stood in front of her large screens, silhouetted by the artificial light. Her hair moved weakly against the wind from the fans. “I have an interest in Her well-being, now and in the foreseeable future. She is quite a kind goddess, isn’t She? We have had several lovely conversations, and I would like to maintain a positive relationship with Her. That should answer your question.”

She crossed her arms in front of her and tapped her arm, flesh rapping on hard steel. Her voice turned colder. “I know your fondness for such things firsthand, Kupiec. And let me be clear: I will not be sharing information that could lead you to Her.” She turned to Him with a dire look. “I wouldn’t put it past you to make such a trade with the hunters, and in fact wonder if the only reason you have not done so is because you simply don’t know where She is.”

Her finger stopped, frozen before making contact with her arm once more. She stood like a statue for a few moments as her brain remembered the goddess’s words.

If you wish to maintain a positive relationship with Him, don’t bring it up again.

She looked down for a moment, focusing on a server town, before turning her body fully to face the god. “Or maybe… there’s something more important to you than such mortal trivialities. Something beyond the worth of a soul or servitude, something that affects you so thoroughly that only your kin can understand, a pain worse than falling that affects you even now.”

It was out there. It was subtle and vague, but Kupiec’s mind would pick up on it, whether He showed it or not. Hopefully Arithelia’s assessment was wrong, for Maevia’s sake.


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Tags: Kupiec
Notes: One of many topics to broach

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For mortal kind since the end of the war? That was dripping with implications. She wasn’t going to fall for the bait, though; He certainly wanted her to inquire, to be able to hold information from her and drive her crazy. Not today. Besides, she already had planned to talk to the Owl about some history; this was only one more subject to bring up for that meeting.

Her mouth twitched. Precious little head; did He know how condescending His word choice was? Mortals were nothing but adorable little playthings to Him, she knew; years of working with Him led to some easy deductions about His personality. He even thought the same of her. She didn’t care for things like pride, nor about pleasing Him like so many others tried; what she cared about was her own ambitions, her network, and everything she’s accomplished. She would demand respect from Him, not for her own ego, but to be taken more seriously as a business partner.

She was not a pawn. Not His. And not Anansi’s.

“That much is obvious,” she said, straightening her posture. “Nothing a mortal could offer you would be worth a goddess. My statement still stands; there are many non-mortals who you deal with, I’m sure, and even more certain that not all of them have Her best interest in mind.” That was that. Kupiec would not be hearing Her whereabouts from Maevia, nor her network. If He truly did have only good intentions for Ari, then He should be happy with how seriously Maevia took Her security.

For once, Maevia felt what could be considered fear. Not since their first meeting, where she risked everything, had she felt such tightness in her chest. She had to look at His face, had to read whatever His reaction would be. And she noticed, oh yes. His haughtiness behind His smile was faded. There was a hesitation. There was no going back from this point; a bomb was dropped and she had to face the fallout.

Mortal.

Her mouth twitched into a grin that lasted but a brief moment. The ever-composed deity was angry. The warping of her electronics was His way of bristling up like an angry cat. Maevia was no fool; she would not press the topic, not now, not while the fangs were bared and ready for the kill. The confirmation was all that she needed. Details would come later.

“Just musing out loud regarding something I heard from a recent acquaintance,” she said. She took slow steps around him towards her cot, where she sat down lightly and crossed her legs. “We all have our histories and secrets, don’t we? Things that happened long ago that to this day shape who we are and how we act. It’s interesting, wouldn’t you say, Ku?”

She tilted her head, and shifted into speaking the Olden Tongue. “For example, as far as secrets are concerned: did you know I know what you say about me under your breath? That wasn’t very polite of you back at the diner with Mr. Caim. Tsk, and here I thought we were closer than that.”

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Tags: Kupiec
Notes: And that's all I needed from it. I'm sure you'll be happy to move on.

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She turned to regard the “malfunctioning” electronics; Arithelia did not lie about this being a sore subject. She barely even hinted at it and He was exuding rage unlike any she’d seen. The business voice in her said that He better not break them; buying more wasn’t a matter of cost, but one of delivery. There were at least a dozen hoops and fake setups needed to get these to her bunker in secret; it was a waste of time, and time was a priceless commodity to her.

She noted, too, His pointed stare and lack of response. Would he continue, or would she succeed in switching topics? After all, there was much for them to discuss.

It appeared she succeeded, and what was more, Kupiec’s confident tone was… lacking. Whatever happened in His past, and she had a pretty good guess at the topic, it was enough to throw the normally neutral deity into what could only be described as an emotional state. Off his game. Without the cards.

And yet for her joy in establishing her hand, she couldn’t help but feel some degree of pity for the god. There was something out there that bothered him that much, that held some degree of control or influence over him. Almost like how despite her independence and power, she was still technically subject to Anansi’s whims; while he rarely exercised orders over her, the fact that it loomed in the background gave her a constant, if faint, feeling of unease. What she didn’t feel sorry for was giving Him a piece of her power and shrinking his ego all in the same moment.

“No doubt,” she said, smiling in return. “Someone has to give to back to you, after all.”

She couldn’t contain a small laugh at his reply. She slowly walked towards her monitors and gave them a once-over to inspect any damage his tantrum may have caused. “Maybe that’s exactly why I didn’t mention it, hm? But you should know by now that I’m full of secrets and surprises. It keeps things interesting, in my opinion, and I don’t think you’ll argue that.”

Other dialects, hm? She knew exactly what He was hinting at. “Claro que sí,” she replied, the common way to say ‘of course.’ Yes, unfortunately she was subject to the conversation He had with his familiar guest at the ball in Felici. “Though part of me wishes I was not privy to your celebrity lays.”

She turned back to him once she was satisfied her monitor wasn’t a fire hazard. “Let’s focus on more recent business,” she said, eager to forget the ball entirely. “You are deeply involved with Mr. Caim. You have plans- If I am involved in this deal, I want to know them. All of them. Even the ones you ‘accidentally’ forgot to tell him and whoever else you have wrapped up in this particular web.”

Her voice was more stern than humorless, as the latter often was when Kupi was around. Her posture and tone made something clear: She was not going to be left in the dark. She was not going to take his playful quips and wave of his hand to try and change the subject. She was not going to accept half-truths and insinuations this time, nor would she ever going forward. She was not going to bear his condescending treatment. She had her own hand in this game, her own secrets, and her own information to hold over His head.

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Tags: Kupiec
Notes: Topic two

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Oh yes, his mind was elsewhere. There was so much opportunity for banter, and He always wanted to draw Mae into it. Now that she was, He wasn’t even responding like Himself. This was worth noting, though whether it was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

“Supply and demand is economics 101,” she said. “Right now, I’m focused on demand.”

She watched His display of cracking his neck. Was there even a neck to crack, or was He just making the sound? The inhuman display had no effect on Maevia; Ku was a common sight to her, and really nothing He could do would disturb her. It’s kind of hard to top “watching your arm and eye get eaten,” or the dozens of desperate pregnant women she directed to Him, knowing what happened to their unwanted and unborn after they signed a contract. It was all just… part of His charm.

For certain definitions of charm, anyway.

She crossed her arms and gave Him an unamused look, like a mother at a sassy teenager. “I would try, certainly. But you would try your best to reach and wiggle out of those loosely-defined terms, of course. So I’m simply doing what’s expected, if the tables were turned, hm?” Well, that absolutely confirmed He had a larger game in mind than simply putting Daniel in charge of straightening out the hunters.

“Perhaps your motives are aligned with mine. Perhaps they are opposed,” she continued, walking by Him once more. “It’s safer for me to assume the latter. Mr. Caim is a motivated and intelligent man, with connections and experience that may very well lead him to succeed where others have failed.”

It was now her turn to look over her shoulder at the deity. “But you don’t care about the guild, do you, Ku? Why would the god of deals and contracts care if hunters developed a moral compass? In fact, I wager you’d get more desperate deals from both magi and hunter alike, were things to continue on their current path. So why make this deal?” She turned to Him fully and put her hand to her chin in an exaggerated gesture of deep thought.

“It doesn’t add up as a wise business decision,” she said. “Considering you might just piss off the Huntress Herself doing this.” Her thoughtful gesture turned into a wicked grin. “So. There’s some reason I’m not getting the whole story. What? Don’t you trust me, Kupiec? After all we’ve been through?”

He always mocked her in that way, and she knew why. It felt damn good.

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Tags: Kupiec
Notes: Did something happen, Ku? Why don't you trust me~?

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A harem, was it? For a moment she forgot that Kalidas was also the goddess of debauchery; such things were usually the last on her list of thoughts. She made no comment, and watched as Kupi’s shadowy spider limbs pulled two chairs together. There was no reason to push her luck further here. Once the seat was in place, she sat down, crossed her legs, and folded her hands on her knee.

She matched His stare with an even look; she was listening while thinking, as she often did. She only nodded at his assessment. Of course materialism wasn’t the only thing worth dealing in; she was possibly the only mortal, Anansi aside, who understood that materialistic gains only went so far, and weren’t worth anything compared to simply holding onto a debt, or banking favors. They were only good for passing onto shortsighted individuals in exchange for something greater.

Her neutral expression faltered into a sour glare at His relapse into what she considered His condescending tone. She was not His, she was not little, and last time she checked, she didn’t have wings. Still, it was a bit of a shock to hear Him admit she was right (even if it was padded with a backhanded insinuation).

“It’s possible,” she agreed. “But they can’t do it by themselves.” They weren’t the power players anymore, not like years ago; right now the major player was… She smirked. Ah. Of course.

Now it all tied together.

”I understand,” she said, matching His language shift and bursting with confidence. “Funny you should call Her that: ‘Blueberry.’ You could say that all of the gods are blueberries. At least…” She lowered her voice to a sly whisper. “On the inside.”

Oh yes, she knew. And He almost certainly did not know she knew. And that? That was sweet in itself, but nothing could be sweeter than bringing His shadow-woven plans into light. And so she pressed forward. She straightened up in her chair and took a calm breath.

“Did you know that there’s a small, rural region in Strun that refers to Runic Users as Blueberry Scholars? It’s because of the color of the ink, or so I’ve read,” she said. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. The lighthearted, joking tone disappeared in the next instant. She brought her folded hands to her chin and idly tapped them against it.

“I am very likely the only mortal outside of the University who knows. I will keep it that way. So tell me, then: How many are kept there, and what exactly are you planning?”


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Tags: Kupiec
Notes: I know more than you think I do

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