Resh POV
"Kayce, wake up. You've been asleep for hours, you can't travel with me to a Thalmor party and then sleep through it, plus I have a feeling you might enjoy it. After all, how often do I let you go to a diplomatic celebration?" Resh told her, shaking her shoulders to try and rouse her from her slumber.
"Fine," she growled, sitting up groggily. "In what way is this a 'diplomatic celebration' for us? all you're doing is getting me out of an arrest."
"First off, I've already sorted all that out this morning. And secondly it's now about something more entirely," the Tsaesci started smugly, seemingly proud of himself for his recent accomplishment. "Not only have I got our species on favourable terms with the Thalmor, but I myself am doing well personally with a specific one of them too if you catch my drift."
Kayci snapped up as quick as she good, wide eyes full of distraught, "You can't cheat on Lydia! you're having a kid! you're meant to be in love, and get married, and live together for ever!"
"Are you insane?! she's insufferable, can you please get it out of your head that me and her are going to live happily ever after? and why do you care anyway? it's a bit hypocritical for 'you' of all people to complain about infidelity considering your track record," Resh argued, not wanting this conversation when it was obvious he wasn't going to get anywhere.
"Stop saying that!" she shouted in denial, attempting to make him shut up.
"No, it's the truth. Besides, I probably won't do anything with her anyway considering she'll only go for me as a backup choice."
The smaller Tsaesci looked slightly disgusted, "You're so prideful Resh, why would you stoop so low just to have sex with someone who doesn't want you first?"
"They were my own terms Kayci, I chose them for certain diplomatic and social reasons… of which I can't tell you in case you ruin it. This is mostly for your benefit so you should be happy," Resh snapped, not wanting to justify himself for something he had done to try and help out his friend who clearly needed a better lover than that Dunmer.
Kayci looked at him for a few second in confusion, "I don't get it… how does this make any sense to you let alone me?"
"You know what, you're not meant to. I want to do a nice thing, so just get out of this room, enjoy some time around interesting people, and thank me later," he said, cheering up again at the end of his sentence as he left to leave the begrudging woman to change.
Kayci POV
Kayci couldn't help but get the feeling that Resh was leading her somewhere, he was trying to be subtle about it, by not directly walking somewhere, but through the multiple drinks they drank, they were definitely edging close and close to a door to the side of the party.
Fortunately she still hadn't seen Elenwen yet, but that didn't keep her from glancing around to make sure she wasn't near. After about ten minutes they had somehow reached the point where Resh was opening the door, Kayci was unsure what to do, but she trusted him, so entered, before looking up at him expectantly.
"Hey Kayce," Resh grinned. "Look behind you."
Turning, she walked face first into the very woman she was trying to avoid, and suddenly she was all alone with just Elenwen. Resh, nowhere to be seen after having seemingly having slipped out of her sight. "Kayci, Resh wanted me to tal-"
Elenwen didn't even get another word in before Kayci sprinted out of the room to the main hall, shifting to her Nordic form the moment no one saw her and hoping the Ambassador would no longer notice her. She didn't want any more awkward encounters with past lovers.
Barely two steps in and Kayci was accosted by the first person to notice her. Obviously a few of the high-up people she had annoyed in the past had attended. She just hoped General Tullius, who appeared to be standing far too close for her liking, was the only one.
"You are a thief," he hissed at her, poking her hard in the chest, which slightly hurt because of her burns, she looked around to Resh for help but he was nowhere to be seen. "Why the fuck are you here you harlot? I should have you arrested."
"What are you talking about?" she whispered, pushing her off him with her superior strength which still showed despite her injury.
"Hmm, other than punching me in the face after I tried to arrest you… how about when you stole 2000 septims off Rikke's contingent when they were sleeping?" he asked maliciously, not knowing the full story.
"I did a service for them, they paid me for it. Just because they don't want to look like people who buy whores in front of their Legate doesn't make me a thief!" she snapped, appalled she could be mistaken for something so disgusting and immoral as a common thug.
"Even if that's true it doesn't explain to me why you couldn't have just explained it then to me or Rikke instead of assaulting me after trying to run away. Or even more so why someone like you is attending such a high-class event?"
Kayci bristled at his words, not liking the insinuation there was something wrong with her way of making money, she hated when people were such prudes about something there was nothing wrong with, "It's not like you'd believe me is it? especially if the Legate is telling you I'm a thief. As for why I'm here, I'm escorting a friend on a diplomatic meeting with the Thalmor."
"I bet you're his whore too," he muttered in derision, still fairly hostile. "Regardless, I don't care about the reason, I can still have you arres-"
"No!" Resh interrupted abruptly, appearing out from nowhere much to Kayci's relief. "She has a girlfriend, and with any luck a better one soon, so she's obviously not my whore. And I think it's best if you don't try to throw her in jail."
Tullius obviously didn't like the larger man tone and challenged him, "Why not? just cause you're an Altmer doesn't make you Thalmor, and you're not wearing the robes either, so why shouldn't I?"
"Cause I don't think Elenwen would be very pleased if you did, you can go over and ask her if you want. I can guarantee the Thalmor would favour my diplomatic situation more than trying to argue about whether you send a whore to prison or not," Resh argued, after a few moments of eye contact the general finally relented and let the issue go.
"I hope you realise that you can't pull the 'Elenwen' card every chance you get, I'm willing to let this go though. What's this diplomatic reason that you have so much power because of out of interest?" the Imperial asked, not wanting to be left out of anything that could be important.
Resh didn't feel like letting every faction know about his kind so decided to make sure he wouldn't get told by a 'weak link', "Kayce, go find Elenwen, you two should have a conversation," he told her forcefully, not implying that it was an option.
"But I don't wan-"
"Do it Kayci, we both know my role in diplomacy, so do what I say. Have a conversation with her and tell me what she says," he glared at her until she eventually begrudgingly turned to the other room where she had last spoken to Elenwen. She looked back sadly, but realised it was probably for the best, even if it was going to be awkward for her.
"So about your Legion," Resh started, turning back to the general, "I hate the Stormcloaks too, I'm sure we could reach an agreement of some kind…" Resh explained, hoping to be able to do some good for the region, much to Tullius pleasure. He would need to check with Elenwen about it first though.
Kayci POV
Almost as soon as she stepped back into the room Elenwen noticed her, the room was empty so she was obviously expected to return. Perhaps Resh had talked to her about retrieving Kayci.
"Aaah Kayci, you're back," she greeted, the Tsaesci wasn't able to tell if she was pleased or annoyed, it was one of the many things about the Elf that scared her. "I assume Resh sent you back to me?"
She went to speak, but a high pitched croak left her throat as nothing comprehensible came out. It seemed terror had taken ahold of her, rendering her unable to converse.
"Speak louder," she snapped, jolting the scared woman. "I guess your words don't matter much anyway. I can't deny what was done to you by my men, and neither am I trying to, I regret nothing, but for the current situation I'm going to make this easy for you. You have two choices, you say refuse you endure it all again, but ten times worse, you accept and you can run back to that Dunmer Resh hates so much. What do you say?"
A few minutes passed before Kayci finally choked out the words, "I'll do it…"
Elenwen smirked at her murmured words, "That's what I thought. As you may know by now me and your friend Resh have an… 'alliance' of sorts in the making, and I came to the correct conclusion that an arranged partnership between us would definitely strengthen ties between the Thalmor and your people. Unfortunately he wants us to get back together, and I never even came close to liking a pathetic slut like you, so here's what you're going to tell him…"
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Kayci POV
When she re-entered, Resh appeared to be waiting. No longer was he talking to the Imperial man, but he was looking at her expectantly, "So… how'd it go?" he asked excitedly, almost if the two's usual roles had been reversed. "Are you going to get back together with Elenwen? you should, she seems great to me."
In her own head Kayci was screaming at him about how she didn't even want her anymore and was more interested in Resh, which was a shame really, if Kayci wasn't currently in a relationship with Brelyna she would be so pissed at herself for having ruined things with Elenwen.
"Kayce?" he queried again. "You haven't spoken for a few minutes."
"Er… no… I said no to her," Kayci told him, repeating what the Ambassador had said to her. Elenwen wanted something which would stop Resh from pressing her, so he would think that she 'wanted' to go with his favour even though that was obviously a lie, seeing as she wanted to be with Resh for political reasons.
Like they had foreseen, Resh was surprised at that, enough so to ask even more questions, which Kayci had planned for too. "What? why?"
"I felt like I had 'betrayed' her too much when I left her unannounced, and don't feel comfortable knowing I'll put her through it again. Especially considering the diplomatic significance of her to our kind," the Tsaesci answered, trying her hardest to make it sound like something she had decided of her own accord.
He looked at her dubiously for a few moments, not sure if he should believe her since she sounded slightly strange and not like herself, "Okay…" he replied, eyeing her as he did to see for a reaction, but after finally seeing nothing of the sort he accepted it. "I need to talk to Elenwen anyway about this civil war situation, so just try to mingle in this party, try not to cause trouble or make any enemies."
Once he left Kayci wasn't really sure about what to do, it's not like she could find someone to fuck because of Brelyna, and talking about something meaningful was out of the question considering how she had nothing of value to say. She supposed she could snoop around the place, see if there was anything 'Thalmor-ish' it was worth knowing that they would be told. Switching to her Altmer form when out of sight Kayci went to look upstairs, the Thalmor would likely mistake her for one of them, and she might as well try to help the cause by spying on them a bit.
Resh POV
"So can I?" Resh asked her, after explaining the conversation he had with the Imperial general and discussing his personal views of Stormcloaks. He wouldn't call himself a 'pushover' for asking permission, as it is likely he would have done it anyway regardless of her reply, but he decided it was probably be best to see what his new ally thinks before marching to war. No harm could come from it, and there would be a chance he would be funded to do so, and it would increase relations even more, so it was a win-win situation.
Elenwen smirked, definitely liking the new developments, not only was she going to have someone to fuck in the foreseeable future, but that same someone represented a powerful ally, and was willing to stamp out a minor annoyance. "No," she chuckled, before looking up at his mildly confused face, "You can't join the Empires, not with the Thalmor backing you that is. But how about this, you join our side? we'll give you an honourary rank so you get to keep your own Tsaesci title, and then with Thalmor funding and our support you take the country for us."
Resh considered, it was a very pleasing offer from where he was sitting. "How much 'backing' are you suggesting?"
"Think of it this way, you can now get involved in any and all political and diplomatic situations between factions, not matter how serious, whether you want to represent your own species or not is up to you; you can have well trained Thalmor agents at your side whenever you wish; I can try to get you diplomatic immunity within the Empire too, helpful if you get in trouble or want to kill someone," Elenwen grinned, as if suggesting he could now do whatever he wanted. "There will be nothing inaccessible to you in the Thalmor or the Empire. And you need any finance or requisition at any time? just let us deal with it. If you really wanted you could go around Tamriel in your true form and we could sort everything out for you so the Empire and common folk accept your kind as just another race and don't fear you."
Resh smiled, and for the second time that day shook her hand in agreement, "Anything I can do on my part? I'll be very sure to make sure the Tsaesci know just what to think when they hear 'Thalmor'."
"Other than sending back a few reports on progress, and I guess stopping any Talos worship if you can? no I shouldn't think so. Need anything done you ask me, and it will happen, whether it's placing you as 'temporary' leader of a city you help take over, or something as insignificant as helping you look for a lost key," Elenwen told him, every word making him more and more wanting to agree. The very way she said 'temporary' made it very clear she was practically offering him an entire city if he won it.
"Excellent. You really are the perfect ally, I'm sure my kind would love to be associated with you. I have one more thing I want though…"
"Anything," Elenwen promised, with the Tsaesci on her side their alliance and possibly confederation would be unstoppable, before quickly adding. "Within reason that is."
Looking at her with a now lusty eye, Resh started to speak again, "Kayci informed me of her declination for getting together with you. Do you know what that mea-"
"I'm sorry Resh, but that isn't happening, not yet at least. She also informed me that this 'Lydia' Nord you're with is pregnant… with your child. And however much I think entering a political relationship is a good idea, I can't do that, not now. It won't look very good for me if people think I'm some 'heartless' woman who tears families apart," Elenwen explained calmly, "There are solutions, some more favourable than others. You 'could' kill her," she started and hastily continued when he opened his mouth in shock. "But, that isn't anyones top option. There's also denying all claims that it is yours, but theres a chance of failure, perhaps you could wait until after the birth and then dissociating yourself with it entirely, but of course that isn't preferable either."
"I was planning on returning to Akavir anyway so I don't mind that option, although I don't think people will take kindly to me having a son I don't look after if I am to be of importance here. Other than a polyamorous relationship, which Lydia would never go for I don't see a viable solution happening any time soon," Resh sighed, genuinely having been looking forward to being with someone who was actually calm and collected, as well as sensible and important likely to take no nonsense and be very organised and perfect to be with.
Elenwen gave another smirk as she cupped his jaw. "Don't worry Resh, it's not an issue politically at all. I don't mind waiting until she's old and withered for a relationship, I'm a patient woman. Now when it's not a relationship?" she asked, moving so she was facing him and sitting on his growing hardness, hands starting to move down from his face. "That Resh, is something else entirely, consider this a fringe benefit of the agreement…"