Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in Shadows of the Past

Posted by Civilian Jeannette Mathis (Federation Ambassador) in Shadows of the Past

Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in Shadows of the Past
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snips)

Jones took a moment to truly take in the fascinating place as he followed Massat to the chairs. The space certainly added an interesting dimension to the shop owner that was rather interesting.

With nothing short of resignation, he took a seat and braced his arms across his thighs. He wasn’t sure what to say, but Eela trusted them implicitly. She didn’t invite people socially into her own without that trust. She couldn’t afford to and that was a more important point after the last few days. He gazed off to the side for a moment before his clear blue eyes took in Karilan. “A friend showed up. Not even really a friend really. Not anymore. Someone I knew when I was younger. He wants me to help him, and if I could, I would, but I can’t. Even if I had what he wants, life sent us our different ways for good reason. I can’t go revisiting the past, not even for him. I’ve worked too hard to get where I am. I can’t risk it.”

~Dashiel Jones, Attaché

Karilan sipped their coffee and felt the concern, irritation, frustration… and aprehension in him. “Alright. Let us break the problem down into manageable parts. First: are they your friend or are they not? Because friends bring joy and light when they show up. If theis person doesn’t do that… are they your truly your friend? Next: what are they asking you to do? Is it illegal, or just ill-advised? And can you truly not do it, or do you simply not want to? And lastly… the past is what makes us who we are. We are the sum total of the past. Everytime you make a decision, you are revisiting the past.” and they cocked their head at him slightly and asked “Unless your particular past does not match with your particular present?” and they took a sip.

Massat

Dashiel snorted and reached for his cup, taking a long sip that both allowed him to ponder but also ease a bit of the tension in his body. “No, they do not match, Karilan. Not even close.” He expelled a breath, wishing he could just explain easily. “This friend… we’ll call him that just to make it clear to talk about, he… I guess we were never friends really. Not the way we should be. But we grew up together and we were there for each other during some tough times, but…” Dash shook his head and sipped more coffee.

He was trying to push it all to the background, but it was a lot harder than he expected. Harder than it should have bene with her experience as a diplomat. “What he wants me to do isn’t illegal, but he is assuming that just because I have connections I should have ones that are useful to him and want to use them on his behalf. Neither are necessarily true. Because the problem with this friend is that when he’s fine, things are okay, but when they are not, everyone around him gets sucked into the mire. I’ve been there before and I refuse to do so again.”

~Dashiel Jones, Attaché

Karilan was silent for a moment and then said “Let me ask you this… this ‘past’. Is this something that you are simply 7ncomfortable with? Or would that past coming to light through this ‘friend’ be more than just embarrassing?” They sipped the coffee and then said flatly “Are you ashamed or are you hiding something, is what I am asking. And please… truth. You need a road out of this… I can perhaps help with that. But I need to have all the data.”

Massat

The mug in his hands allowed him to focus on the sensation on his palms. The heat didn’t burn but it was just uncomfortable enough to draw his mind away from his emotions, to steady himself. It still didn’t help him know what to do though.

“I told Eela that I made the only choice I could have at the time, that I couldn’t live with myself if I just did… nothing. I still believe that’s true,” Jones said before blowing out a breath. “It goes without saying that this doesn’t leave this room,” he said firmly.

He looked at Karilan, anguish hiding in the depths of eyes that normally were alit with much happier emotions. “Look, I had a rough childhood and I was an angry kid who did stupid things and got into trouble for it. Same goes for my friend. But the difference is that he took things a step too far, and I could walk away and let someone die. So… I stayed. And then we both got caught. He was older and went through the adult system, but I was still a minor and the social worker assigned to my case advocated for leniency. I got a chance to turn my life around and I took it, Karilan. Because if I didn’t, it would never end. So this friend showing up now, I think he thinks I owe him, because his options weren’t as good as mine. But he made his own choices afterwards, I’m taking taking the blame for that. But he knows too much. This sh!t would discredit me. And Jean. Hell, and even Eela tangentially. I will not drag either of them through my old mess. Mathis knows about it too, so don’t think I’m keeping it a secret from her. But we’re about to have a major diplomatic event here in just over 24 hours. I don’t need this crap right now.”

~Dashiel Jones, Attaché