Zami awoke to the feeling of something jabbing painfully into his arm. Groggily, he sat up, his cheek peeling away from the surface of the table, and looked towards the direction of his discomfort. To his surprise, Caserion, of all people, was standing there and jabbing at his arm with his purple finger.
"Wake up, you disgusting thing," Caserion sneered, drawing a flat look from Zami.
"I'm awake," Zami said in Darnassian, pausing to yawn, "What do you need?"
"The table," Caserion growled, nodding towards the table, "We have a guest coming for dinner to discuss important business."
Zami perked an eyebrow but nodded tiredly, squeezing himself out of the tiny chair and getting to his feet.
"Go do something in the city," Caserion sniffed, waving a hand towards the door, "You smell terrible and I want to clear the stink out before our guest arrives, lest he have no appetite."
Zami just rolled his eye upon hearing this. Being a troll, it wasn't as though this was the first time hearing such comments. Even though, in his opinion, he was actually quite... unscented for a troll. Probably due to his willingness to actually bathe once and a while. It would've made stealthing rather useless if people could smell him before they saw him, after all.
"Hurry up now," Caserion snapped as he shoved Zami towards the door, "I have much cooking to do, and not nearly enough time as it is."
"Cooking?" Zami perked an eyebrow, looking back over his shoulder, "You know, I'm actually a really good cook. Everyone says so. If you need help-"
"No thank you," Caserion scoffed, "I'm afraid an expert at barbecuing humanoids has no role in this kitchen."
At this, Zami finally scowled. He leaned his forearm against the door and pushed himself away from it, and into Caserion. Caserion blinked in surprise as Zami easily overpowered him, as though he was nothing more than a child, and he fell back against the ground.
Before either of them could say anything, there came a sudden knock from the front door. Caserion's face paled and Zami turned to perk an eyebrow over his shoulder.
"Hello? Mister Moonshadow?" A male voice called in Darnassian from outside, "I've arrived as you requested earlier this morning."
Caserion scrambled to his feet and approached the door, neatening his clothes, before grabbing the doorknob. Then he paused, glaring over at Zami.
"Go hide yourself somewhere, at the least," He muttered, audible enough for Zami to hear but not the man outside.
Zami furrowed his brow and contemplated refusing his request out of spite for a moment, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Grumbling to himself, he moved out of the kitchen and into the hallway. As he leaned back against the wall, he heard Caserion open the front door.
"Ah, there you are. Right on time, as always," Caserion greeted his guest, "I confess I am a little bit late at starting the cooking. Maybe we should go out to eat elsewhere?"
"Oh, I don't mind waiting, sir," The other man responded, rather meekly Zami noted, "It rather reminds me of old times."
"Then perhaps you could help me and we could prepare much quicker," Caserion suggested.
Zami glanced aside, feeling slighted at how easily he asked this other guy for help with the cooking when he was rejected outright for offering to help.
"Oh, um, I'm afraid I'm not very handy in the kitchen," The man said with a nervous laugh, "I tend to burn most things."
"Mythene isn't much better," Caserion quipped, earning another laugh from the man.
"Speaking of which, is she here?" The man asked, "I would greatly enjoy getting to see her again. We didn't exactly leave off on the best foot when we spoke the other day."
"Oh?" Caserion asked, and Zami could hear the chopping of vegetables, "What happened, if I might pry?"
"She got rather angry at Cassene for something. I'm not exactly sure what," The man explained, "Something about either a student of hers or a troll she has taken as a pet. It was rather unclear."
"Ah, you've heard about the troll already?" Caserion tsked, "Sordid business, that. Would you believe that the troll is, in fact, her student?"
"No," The man gasped in surprise, "Really?"
"Oh, yes," Caserion sighed, "And she's quite serious about trying to train the monster, it seems."
"How bizarre," The man commented, "I thought Mythene hated trolls? Especially after…"
At this, Zami's ears pricked up curiously.
"Indeed," Caserion agreed, "I am equally as baffled as you are. But then, she has always been such a rebel."
"Still…" The man mumbled, "To so blatantly ignore their role…"
"Oh, believe me, dear boy. I know," Caserion huffed, "It infuriates me. She acts as though everything is well and fine with her befriending the creature. As if they didn't slaughter her mother."
At this, Zami's eye went wide in surprise. Mythene had never mentioned anything about her mother, come to think. There had been comments, here and there, about her father. But she'd always been rather tight-lipped about her mother. Suspiciously so. Zami had suspected the mother's death, but the cause was completely unknown to him. Well, until now.
Now it was rather clear why Mythene's whole family seemed to particularly hate him, too. Even if he had nothing to do with the death of Mythene's mother, he was most certainly a reminder. Realizing this, Zami frowned.
"...Anyway, you didn't answer my initial question, sir," The man pointed out after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "Is Mythene here? Can I see her?"
"Hm, I believe she should be in her chambers," Caserion said, rather loudly, "Perhaps go and call for her? You remember where her room is, Daras?"
"Yes, sir," The man, the infamous Daras apparently, said as Zami heard footsteps begin to approach the hall.
Zami quickly leaned himself back against the wall and stealthed, watching as a night elven man appeared from the kitchen. He had dusky blue skin, dark blue hair in a tight braid down his back, and his face was clean shaven. Zami perked an eyebrow, noting that the man appeared to be nothing special. No wonder he wasn't successful in his attempts to court Mythene, he mused to himself.
"Mythene?" Daras called, knocking on Mythene's chamber door, "Are you in there? It's me, Daras Nightwing."
Only silence greeted him, so he awkwardly continued.
"Um, your father came to me this morning. He said that we have something important to discuss," Daras called, "Regarding our future together."
At this, Zami's eyebrow rose. What future? As far as he'd been told, Mythene wanted less than nothing to do with this guy. Even so, that didn't stop the slight pangs of jealousy that began bubbling in his stomach.
Mythene still didn't respond, and Zami was beginning to suspect she wasn't even in there. It seemed Caserion had the same conclusion, as he stuck his head into the hallway from the kitchen.
"Perhaps she stepped out for a moment," He suggested, "I'm sure she'll be returning soon. It's getting dark."
"Ah, alright," Daras nodded, walking past Zami and returning to the kitchen, "Is the soup almost ready?"
"Yes, nearly. We can eat as we wait for Mythene to return. After all, she should be a part of this discussion as well. It pertains to the both of you."
Zami furrowed his brow suspiciously. He had a bad feeling about this in his stomach. And it wasn't just from jealousy.
