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 Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in The Quill & Parchment: TMODJ (PRSIM)
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

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.

Raf pulled the last bag out of the crate and then collapsed the container, sliding it to the side. He moved to the table and sat down with a sigh.

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

Karilan

His hands slipped around the mug, soaking in the warmth just until the point where it became uncomfortable. “He and I… we’ve lost a lot of the people we’ve known. Dash was the only one who truly made it out when he was younger.” Raf lifted his gaze to meet Karilan’s. “And honestly I’d rather have heard it from her than from some news report. I guess… I just never thought Dash would go before me, ya know? Given our lives and all.”

~Raf Torres

Katilan watched him closely and opened themselves up to what Torres was feeling. “Our fates are not set in stone, Mr. Torres. They are shaped constantly by our choices and actions. Mr. Jones seemed like a good man. And I know many will feel his loss. But right now, I am only concerned with how that loss impacts you.”

Karilan

Raf sipped his coffee, letting the steam waft on his face for a moment. “Dash was always like a younger brother to me. We grew up together, but didn’t really become friends till that ass of a father of his died. Then Dash was always around. I took him under my wing, but I can admit I wasn’t always the best big brother. I didn’t look out for him the way I should have. I regret that. I wanted to make it up to him somehow. I guess if he could see I was really trying, that things would be better between us.” He ran a hand over his head, dragging his nails through his scalp. He could feel that tension inside, that gnawing that he could never could get rid of. Oh, it had been better since rehab, but he knew all too well how easily it slipped back in.

He dropped his hand and looked at Karilan, eyes full of despair and sadness. “It’s not fair,” he said quietly. “For him or myself.”

~Rafael Torres

Karilan looked at him for a long moment and then said “No. No it is not.” She sipped her coffee, staring into the cup for a moment before saying “What was Eela asking you about, Mr. Torres? I do not mean to pry… but I want to help you. I do not wish for your past… or the past of Mr. Jones… to further complicate things for you. I want to try, if you will allow me, to do what I can to insulate you from the pressure this… occurrence… is bound to bring to you. I do not want to see it hamper your recovery… or your continued sobriety.”

Karilan

He frowned. “I’m not quite sure. I can tell by context that she knows about stuff from before, and I can’t presume to know how much, but…” His hands tightened around the mug. “Dash came to see me when I was in prison. He had finished his community service and was still attending a special boarding school. Something had happened and he wanted advice. I understood that he wanted me to be his big brother and so I tried. I told him to not let himself get derailed because of a bad decision. That he had a future to fight for and opportunities other weren’t going to get.” Raf actually broke into a sad smirk. “I also told him he better make good use of those opportunities or I was going to come kick his ass after I got out of jail. He laughed, even if he knew I was serious.”

Torres sighed. “The thing is, as far as I know only myself and one other person know about that incident, that bad decision. I don’t know if it has anything to do with anything at all that’s going on, but if he was worried about something and was having such a hard time telling her that he wanted to wait? Karilan, it can’t be good. It has to be pretty big. Dash doesn’t worry about little things.

~Rafael Torres

Karilan weighed the options before them and finally took a deep breath. “Mr. Torres… tell me what the ‘bad decision’ was. I am no expert in political machinations, especially at that high a level, but I think you and I need to both cover our proverbial backsides. Secrets are like a glitch in the computer code. If you leave them buried, the entire system will become compromised at some point.”

Karilan

Raf froze and then shook his head. He pushed his chair back and rose, moving back towards the coffee bar. Karilan had stopped Dasca from asking him more, and he understood why. The woman was upset in her own way, and wanted answers. If he thought his answer might have helped, he would have told her. Did that make him weak? Untrustworthy? He already felt uncomfortable telling Karilan that much, but he owed her so much already. The admission that he and Dash had talked about stuff going on in his life seemed okay. After all, it hadn’t bene the only time they had touched base.

He braced his hands on the countertop, his fingertips tracing the lines of the polished wood grain. “I… I made a promise. One of the very few I’ve ever kept.”

~Rafael Torres

Karilan looked at him and then stood up, moving to face him across the counter. “I understand. I do. But right now, where we sit, your promise- I am assuming to Mr. Jones- could set you up for some very unpleasant interactions. I wish to spare you that. So… allow me to act in your stead. Give me the information that Eela wants from you. Then you do not have to feel the pressure to choose to divulge it or not. I can deal with that for you. And I promise you… unless it is imperative for the investigation or to keep you out of trouble; I will not divulge it to anyone.” She looked him in the eye and said “I promise you that. I will be your second. You can tell me, then I can keep you from being the focal point of Eela’s… inquiry. Or whomever else she decides to try and coerce the information through.”

Karilan

For a moment, Raf closed his eyes, remembering those rare days when things were okay, before their bad behaviour caught up with them. When he opened his eyes, resignation filled his eyes. “I have a criminal record. I’ll automatically be questioned, Karilan- I know how this goes. And I’m not going to refuse to talk to the police. I’m not stupid.” He sighed. “But, I will tell you.”

For a moment he turned and looked around the bookstore and then back to Karilan. “Dash’s record is sealed, because unlike me, he was a juvenile. He completed everything that was asked of him, and at the age of nineteen, five years after he was sentenced, his record was sealed. Even if the police check for one, it won’t come up. He got a fresh start.”

“But things were hard after he finished school. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do and had a job at a shuttle repair facility while he worked out what he wanted to do next. You have to understand that Dash only started hanging around me and the other guys and getting involved in the B&E’s because he was having a hard time coping with his’ dad’s death. The man was a monster and most of us were rather okay with him being gone. it did something to Dash though. Anyway, it was just him, his mom and little sister after that, and Dash tried to help out. But then he was spending all his time being a student and doing his shit ton of community service that he couldn’t really help his family. He wanted to do something for them as they were really struggling. His mom had had some bad health spells and money was tight. Then one day this guy his dad knew shows up offering Dash a one-time job.” Raf blew out a breath. “He wanted him to steal this seemingly innocuous painting from someone’s house. Dash said no, but the money was really good, and the painting wasn’t anything super famous as far as he knew. The job would be a quick in and out.

“He caved, out of guilt he told me, because he had screwed things up for his mom and sis and he owed them some stability. And it was exactly as advertised. In out, no one knew he was there. And the guy paid him as promised. Dash gave it all to his mom and sister. Had he been caught though, Karilan? He was an adult and he would have been tried as one. But the thing is that this painting turned out to actually be worth tons and the police never found out who took it. The owner knew it didn’t look like much and most people thought it ugly, so he hid it in plain sight. No security, nothing.

“Dash only ever told me and his therapist at the time,” Raf said. “But a big shot diplomat with a criminal past? It would be bad for him here, that’s why I understood that he needed space from me. But that case was never solved. I don’t know how long someone can get charged for something like that, but if I was Dash and someone might know? I’d be hella worried too.”

~Rafael Torres

Karilan looked at him for a moment, blinking slowly. “Wait… you are telling me that now… now… almost thirty years later… now Mr. Jones was worried about being found out?” She looked at him for a long moment, and then shook her head and tried very hard not to laugh. “I’m sorry… but this is… this is so absolutely a case of blowing something so far out of proportion as to be almost a plot device in some fictitious short story.” She didn’t laugh, but the smile on her face conveyed her sense of absurdity about the whole thing. She reached across the counter and took Torres’ hand, giving it a reassuring pat. “Mr. Torres… the statute of limitations for such a crime has long expired. And even if it did come out- and I will ensure that it does not- the most that would have probably happened is the tabloids would have a few days of mockery of the Art Thief Turned Diplomat.” and she sighed and smiled, shaking her head. “If that is what he was so worried about, then I feel for him. He was carrying a weight that he should have dropped a very, very long time ago. As are you, Mr. Torres. Do not fret over this. I am quite sure that Mr. Jones was a victim of something far more complicated than a thirty year old theft. And you… Just because you have a criminal record is no excuse for the authorities to question you. No no. Not on my watch. You had nothing to do with Mr. Jones’ situation. I know that for a fact. So there is no reason to bother you. And if the police try, well… I have a very good attorney. And they do so love telling the police where their authority starts and stops.”

Karilan

His pensiveness was replaced by incomprehension. “Wouldn’t it be more suspicious if I refuse to talk to them? I want to help Karilan. He was my brother. Maybe not by blood, and maybe I haven’t lived up to that title, but I feel it still. Even now that he’s… ” Raf shook his head and folded his arms on the counter. “It doesn’t even make sense.”

~Rafael Torres

Katilan shook her head. “No, it will not be more suspicious. They have no reason to suspect you. And I know you want to help. Mr. Torres. But allowing yourself to be used as a pawn by the police wouldn’t be helping. And I sincerely doubt Mr. Jones would want you involved in this, isn’t that true? Now, I am quite certain that the police will come to speak with you. When thru do, you are free to do as you wish. But there is nothing wrong with having a lawyer there with yiu if you do speak with them; to ensure you are protected… correct?”

Karilan