Posted by Civilian Kenzo B’tren-Hyrushi (Governor) in The Quill & Parchment: TMODJ (PRSIM)

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in The Quill & Parchment: TMODJ (PRSIM)

Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in The Quill & Parchment: TMODJ (PRSIM)
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Eela nodded and gestured that she was coming in. Torres opened the door more and she slipped in. “I’m actually here to see you Mr. Torres. We need to talk. Back room, now,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument. Eela set off towards the back, her heeled boots sounding on the wood floors and didn’t look back, fully expecting him to follow.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Karilan appeared from inside the coffee bar, a confused look on their face. “Eela? What’s wrong?” they asked and then looked from her to Rafael and back. “What’s going on?” Their tone was one of concern, but there was also an edge to it.

Massat, Owner, Quill and Parchment Books

Just as confused as Karilan, Raf began walking backwards and shrugged before turning and following the woman to the back room.

He stepped into the back room and she stood there with an almost blank expression on her face except for a very deep focus in her hazel eyes. She could see how this woman had been a Starfleet captain. She had presence, and it was a commanding one in this moment. “If I can help, I will,” he said softly, not sure what to make of this strange occurrence.

Eela took a step forward and took him in intently. “You can help by telling me exactly what you and Dash talked about at your lunch. Leave nothing out.”

Torres frowned. “Our lunch? I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”

“Maybe nothing, but maybe everything. Humour me,” she said, though her tone deepened and he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it.

Her heart raced slightly but he took a steadying breath. “Umm, it was pretty straight forward. We caught up a bit. I told him I had had a rough year, he told me about his family, about his sister, all who I know. Umm, and then I asked him if he could help me out with trying to find a job, because things were complicated for me. We had a bit of a difficult moment but he was good enough to say he’s try. That’s how I met Karilan,” he said, gesturing to the Deltan.

“And there was nothing else?” Dasca asked.

Torres shook his head. “No. You can ask Dash yourself. It was a very straightforward conversation.”

For a brief moment, something shifted in the woman’s expression and then it was gone. “If I could ask him, I would, but I can’t, Mr. Torres.” She pressed her lips together for a moment, sucked in a breath and when she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. “Dash was found dead in his apartment a little while ago.”

~Rafal Torres & Eela Dasca

Blood drained from his face and Raf stood there, forgetting to breath for a moment. Dead? Dash was dead?

“EELA!” Karilan almost yelled from the doorway. She stepped forward and put herself between Dasca and Torres. She looked at her friend and said “You can’t do this, Eela. No. You need to go. Now.” and she began to usher her friend almost bodily to the door. “Mr. Torres, please see the Dasinian Dark Roast is put by the brewer. It has been most popular.” and she moved Eela back out of the small room before taking her arm in her hand and half-guiding-half-pulling her towards the door.

Eela didn’t resist and really it felt like she was out of her body in this moment. And yet… her mind was still focused on what Dash was going to tell her today.

“You can’t do this, Eela.” they said softly. “It’s entirely out of bounds. You are not a police officer and you are not a detective. And Mr. Torres is not a suspect. I’m sorry, Eela. I cannot imagine how you feel right now. But I won’t allow you to follow this path here. Not like this. Call me later. But do not put you or him in a position like this again. If anyone connected to the investigation needs to talk to Mr. Torres, they can do so in the presence of my solicitor.”

She blinked, her thoughts suddenly a jumble. Karilan didn’t understand. It wasn’t about her. This was about Dash. About Oed.

As they reached the door, Karilan stepped in front of Eela and looked at her. She didn’t say anything, she just put a hand to her cheek and let her feelings of care and grief for her friend flow through the contact. “I am here for you, Eela. For you. But I won’t let you get yourself in trouble… not even for this.”

Karilan

There was no grief, no strong emotions of any kind flowing through Eela Dasca, except for determination.

Eela shook her head ever so slightly. “It doesn’t matter,” she said flatly. “Don’t you see? This is bigger than him, than us. The attaché to the Federation Ambassador is dead and we have a diplomatic contingent of Vren on this planet that we’re supposed to be negotiating with. Dash was struggling with something lately. Something he was going to tell me today. I am the Lieutenant Governor. I have to protect Oed, be several steps ahead before everything collapses down around us. The answer is right in front of us- every cell in my body tells me so. Yes, there will be an investigation, and sooner than any of us will like, this news will be made public. But this is not some everyday sad piece of news. It. Will. Rock. Oed, Karilan. I have precious little time before that happens, and believe it or not, I’m not out to get in the way or compromise anything.” This was another event in a string of strange ones she was still trying to make sense of. Were they all connected, or was it just coincidence?

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov. in Shock?

Raf had taken a moment to gather himself before grabbing the crate of dark roast beans Karilan had asked for. He brought them to the coffee counter and slipped behind, pulling the bags out of the crate. He watched the pair interact and it didn’t take much for Raf to understand that she was the one Dash had been seeing. Somehow that made perfect sense, knowing Dash. He went back to pulling the beans out.

Dash. Dash was dead. How? Why?! It made no sense. Unless…

He looked back to Karilan and the Lieutenant Governor and he thought back to the things he knew about Dash. Had he told her about his past? All of it? Somehow, that one detail he doubted Dash would have told anyone other than Dash and one other person. Then there were the ones involved. Well… shit. Had Dash gotten himself into more trouble? He wanted to say something, to call out and share with her what she wanted to know. Would that be betraying his old friend? Would it make any difference at all? The hell if Raf knew.

~Rafael Torres

Karilan held her hand on Eela’s face. “Whatever you think you need, you must get it the right way. If Mr. Jones is d-… if he is as you say… then there is going to be an incredibly detailed and far reaching investigation. And any whiff of impropriety, collusion, government cover up… that will do far more damage to Oed than this. You are the Lieutenant Governor, Eela. How would that look if you are interviewing people before even the police? How would that look?” and she looked her straight in the eye and said “How would Kenzo react to that?” She shook her head slightly. “No. Love, you are in shock. As you should be. You need to tale a step back. Allow yourself to feel… even if just for a few hours. But go home, Eela.. Go home and stay out of this until it is time for you to be in it. Go. Call Kenzo. The two of you have dealt with blows before. You need to be a team now.”

Karilan

A part of her brain knew there was logic and good sense in what her friend was saying, but it all just seemed… wrong. Eela was a do-er. She was not good at sitting on the sidelines waiting for others to do the work. She rolled up her sleeves and got in there with them.

A tiny nod was Eela’s only response. Still there were no emotions, nothing for her to even quell.

Eela stepped out of the shop, moving with slow and careful steps, her intense focus of earlier evaporated. She did not, as Karilan told her to, go home. No, she wandered down the street to Sloane Square and found herself on a bench. Goodness knows what her security detail though as she was a woman of few words right now. The number of people who knew what was going on was exceptionally small, after all. And all Eela could think was that she would go see Jeanette in a bit once the woman was home, or at the embassy. Dash was like family to the Mathis’. This was nothing short of devastating for them.

~Eela

How long she sat there was unknown, but a soft clearing of the throat of one of her Security detail broke the silence. “Ma’am, we have to go. The Governor has called for you. We are to take you to his home right away.”

Security

Back inside the bookstore, Karilan walked slowly back to the coffee bar and looked at her new employee. “Mr. Torres…” She began softly, “…I… I’m so sorry. I know you and Mr. Jones were close. And that was no way to find out. Please, have a seat. I’ll make us both something.” She gestured to one of the tables and then went about making a special coffee fou d only on Delta III.

She set a cup in front of Torres and took a seat. “How do you feel?” she asked gingerly.

Karilan