To Take From A Tau
#1 of To Take From A Tau
Quick A/N: This short story draws on a piece by the artist, twinkle entitled 'X':
http://www.sofurry.com/page/145823/user
Please do not plagiarize another artist's work. Always get permission and cite your sources. So with that said, enjoy.
To Take from a Tau
Installment I
By Tigh
It was not a small favor to ask on such humid, oppressive day. It was a simple enough question, but not the sort of thing a highborn would stoop to tell any random fur on the street. But the flare of Konan's persistence might well have topped the Sun's had he the size to match. With so many creatures inside or resting under the protective shade of thick canvas overhangs, it was his game alone to play to the weaknesses that so many left unchecked as they hurried from one source of shelter to the next. It was his pleasure to squeeze what little concessions others might have stored as they shed lengthy engagements and made bad promises, if only to get away sooner and tuck into the cool shade.
There were no clouds to edit the thick heat into intervals on this day. The stone ground was twice as hot, holding in and reflecting back at the saturated patrons like so many slabs of meat on a grill. There were no trees to provide free shade. Here in Kahlid Square, everything was bought or not enjoyed at all, including a spot beneath the canvas. Drinks were not free, food was not free. Waiters bustled between tables holding sweating jugs of water like precious diamonds, and confirming the exaggerated value of the cool liquid were furs with great chiseled muscles standing close by to monitor the rope-off verandas. The bank entrance, by contrast, was defenseless. But if nothing was free, no one lacking money would dare to participate in all the Leisure District had to offer. Those with emptier pockets and savvier minds would wait for a milder day to entertain the Square as any option for fun.
Konan counted on this with good cheer.
The Sun was to him the great separator of the masses, the test of endurance that any leisure activity might be measured against. As soon as it peaked above the horizon, the Sun had winked to Konan, giving him permission to rise to the best of moods, as others were preparing for the worst. He had grinned a toothy grin this morning, elated by the impatience the heat would bring to fickle minds. He had allowed himself a deep drink of his secret water reserve, relishing its cool descent into his empty belly. For the first time in a few days, he would leave his unbearable living spot and shake off the boredom that coated his bones. For the first time since his last visit to the basilisk at the center of town, he would exercise and speak to others. He stretched deep and clawed the cobbled stone in excited anticipation--and then repeated the stretch once more with a slight lean to the right, and again to the left. Today would be a Rich Fools day. A hot, sticky Rich Fools day. Tonight, he would eat.
Konan's line of work required patience. To the fast-approaching passerby, the phrase, "Could I spare a moment of your time?" was often a favor in and of itself that was met with a huff or no response at all. But Konan would do more than speak at random strangers, as months of practice had taught him. He would target those who would be most likely to stop and then he would stand right in their way, daring them to snub a direct confrontation. Many of these targets happened to be female furs, as they could not be reasonably expected to ignore a charming young lion such as Konan, making the chances of successful engagement that much higher. Or so the formula went.
As he stood now before an impatient potential, Konan was all confidence that this would be his first catch of the day. But still, it was not a small favor to ask. The Gods would be urging him to take his time.
"Sorry to bother you, Miss, but I wanted to know if you could do me a favor?" The question was simple enough, but it instantly separated potentials into catches and fails. The use of the word 'favor' would either turn them off completely or play on the dormant curiosity that so many rich furs seemed to suppress. And rich she was, by the looks of it.
"I..." came the typical, trailing off sort of response and lucky for Konan it was usually a symptom of curiosity. Konan could almost see a live version of the internal battle that coupled her lack of words. She was weighing her options: learn more information or cut off all contact with the next sentence? Potentials like her, of course, would weigh the risks of talking alone to a stranger. But for her trepidation, Konan had taken great care to appear charming, clean and anything but a stereotypically dark sort of fur. He would not allow a split-second to be wasted. If the potential had just enough time to know they were unsure but not enough time to make a decision, he would play right to the middle and make their decision for them. This way, if they did not like what they heard, strangely, they would be tricked into thinking it was their fault for letting him speak so long.
"It's really nothing of consequence, miss, I just noticed you're wearing the crest of the Tau Clan so beautifully." He pointed to the garnet-fixed golden choker that all Tau Clan females wore. A fur in his line of business could not make the proper impression without memorizing all the symbols of the various Clans. "I have been summoned by His Honorable T'yrnin Malaka and while I know how to spot him in person, I'm afraid he left our recent meeting in a hurry and without proper direction."
The feline touched her crest unconsciously. With a full appraising stare she replied, "And how am I to believe a stranger? You are vague and I am hot standing here." She began to stalk off, but Konan stretched out a forestalling paw.
"Then let me follow you a piece," he offered keenly. One weakness of the Tau Clan was their tendency to allow things to continue through to their logical end (making them top-tier potentials). And there was second advantage from the outset. Seeing that Konan was a lion--and therefore automatically a candidate for a meeting with the Assistant Advisor, referred to as the T'yrnin--he had only to make a plausible case and push it through in order to buy time. Before the young lady could sort things out, he would surely have what he wanted.
She eyed him again and shifted uncomfortably. She would be wondering, If I ask more, will I be implicated in whatever is to come? Am I already in deeper than I should be? And then, Might it benefit me to smooth over the T'yrnin's schedule? This lion will surely mention my name and how helpful I was! Finally, and maybe only to reach the shade again, she nodded her head in the direction she had been walking and took off at a pace that warranted following. Konan's face fell into a private smile as he stepped in just behind her.
After a few minutes of conversation, he would know which type of play could squeeze out the most for the least risk. After all, as any fur could imagine, there wasn't just one singular prize to be won from a passerby, but as many options as there were furs to extort. Konan's unique ability was to locate what was useful and then wheedle it into his possession. For this he relied on a particularly abundant personality trait rather than a skill, a veritable skeleton key in the hands of the patient: charm.
For a few paces as they walked, Konan's brain was a whir of dots connecting. She was a lioness and therefore a core member of the Clan instead of an honorary one. Only male lions could join without birthrights; this rule centered on controlling the three bloodlines. But being a core member didn't mean she was less disposed to social climbing, for there were always the endless little footholds to be won over another member of a group. She was definitely following a lead by assenting to his company, which meant she was used to making deals. Her social tug-o-war was no doubt a constant thing at court, a social structure Konan despised and understood to a tee. More so than that inference, the symbols etched into this particular female's golden choker gave away an even deeper motive for intrigue. They were patterned counter-clockwise to denote that she was not born of the direct bloodline of the T'yrid himself, but a minor family. She might be a lioness, but she would forever be solidifying her place in the Clan.
For a member of the Tau to even grant a walking audience with an outsider was rare. In fact, for all the material gain Konan had accrued (and summarily spent) in his life it was only once that he had nursed the possession of political sway into his paws. The first and last carefully crafted relationship had ended in what could only be remembered as a wincing failure. Here Konan had been so close to so much wealth--literally, physically next to a pile of gold!--and he had let his softer need to be free of death on his conscious ruin the whole affair.
But those two points of departure were enough to start. Konan took a deep breath and engaged his ability to think of nothing at all, allowing joints to loosen and an easy smile to catch the edges of his muzzle. He was alert and yet physically relaxed, which tended to relax the other fur involved by a measurable amount. They passed under the Kahlid Square's northern archway and hugged the mid-afternoon shadows created by the two-story line of buildings that enclosed the downtown area into four main thoroughfares. Already the din of the Square was less abrasive and in order to allow no time for the quiet and the shade to work their magic on the lady's sense of caution, Konan launched into an eloquent lie.
"Thank you very much for your time--" he gestured as if he were searching for her name on a mental list of contacts the T'yrnin had given him. Always learn more information than you offer up.
"Kanaela."
"Yes, Kanaela!" he repeated as if it had been on the tip of his tongue all along. "The T'yrnin, as you know, has been taking on extra responsibilities due to the overworked status of the T'yrae himself." It was common knowledge that the Advisors to the leaders of each Clan were extremely busy with the recent onset of inter-nation war. Though each Clan could be seen as its one separate entity, their infrastructure was tied to the High House system that governed the nation of Vazhura. Each Clan leader was a seat in the oligarchy. It could be reasonably assumed that the T'yrnin of Tau Clan was just as busy, if not busier than the Advisor. Another weakness of the Tau Clan was their tendency to separate females from the fray of politics. What was just a reasonable observation could be made to seem like inside information when coupled with a declarative tone.
Kanaela nodded with deliberate gravity. She would want to make herself seem privy to the exact details of the T'yrnin's busy schedule. "Well in light of this," he continued, "I have been marked as a potential conduit for information due to my talent for efficiency and speed." This sentence was made vague to entreat a clarifying question.
"You mean he wants you to be a messenger?" It probably did not occur to her that it would be preposterous for a non-member of the Clan to be asked to perform such a delicate task, but this was a perfect test question to make certain of her ignorance about the official affairs of Clan governance. She was indeed one who reaped the benefits of affluence without any knowledge of the mechanisms by which such wealth was possible. She might instead be an expert in the personalities of those at court, a diligent party to their interests or frivolous pursuits.
"Indeed, my good lady. But I'm afraid I have not the credentials to prove my lot because of the delicacy of the current political situation!" With an almost self-effacing timbre, Konan danced around his bluff in an attempt to get her to make an offer on her own terms. "The Honorable T'yrnin would not decorate me as a clan-adjunct for the plain fact that it would name me and make it considerably harder to move messages around with the proper discretion. That is, of course, why I am naked of any distinguishing garb. I saw you on the street by the good fortune of the Lady Herself!--and I am hoping you will take an ear to my predicament, as I am sure any Tau clanscreature would make it their duty to do!" Using the right mixture of exuberance at his "good fortune" and implying that he knew intimately of the proper duties of the clansmembers, Konan hoped to succeed in becoming at once important and yet humbly faulted.
With a frown of hesitation, as if there was some tag she was mentally reaching for to peel away his lies, Kanaela slowly came to a response. By now they were under the shade of a lean-to tent shop within the second layer of downtown. "I see how these circumstances might have you in a... bind, good lion, but I am wary of doing any favors for those I have not dined with, if I may be so bold as to imply you are not at level with my ease."
Translation--let's have lunch so I can pick you apart and make sure I'll get what I want! Just as well with me, you greedy claw-climber! With all the poise of the T'yrid himself, Konan suggested the one restaurant in the whole city where he was owed. It was no mistake that they had exited the Square under the Northern arch, following a line that would led them directly to a restaurant manager who just happened to have had his stolen bag of coins returned by an upstanding lion-citizen. Though it was only mid-level dining, Kanaela accepted the offer with a stiff nod that did nothing to hide the narrow fascination around her eyes.
As they approached the establishment, which was marked by a sign over an entryway instead of an outdoor seating area, Konan explained that despite its modest looks this restaurant was one of the best-kept secrets in the capital. As smoothly as Konan brought her into his company with the right kind of personal connotations, he would similarly imply that this restaurant held more than what it first appeared. It was certainly a risky set-up if the pieces did not fall into place correctly. The Tau were almost exclusively seen at the finest dining establishments in the city, as their abundant wealth allowed and obliged. If the angle took, Konan could mark himself as the type of lion that could uncover opportunity where it never existed. Subtly, he was reeling her in like a magpie to a shiny object and teaching her to treat him as a source of hidden treasures...