Two Birds One Stone

Zora · Nov 1, 2018

"I hope you are right," Zora said with some hesitation as she also glanced around, almost instinctively, when Jude did. She had met men like Frederick before, and she knew they could be very resourceful and charming, and maybe even dangerous when cornered. She, herself, had found Broen's father to be extremely charming and polite when she had first met him and could see how people might be fooled by him.

"The problem is, perhaps, that Broen doesn't think he's a problem, which, I admit, he may not be," she said, "But I think, it's bothering him a lot more than he will ever admit. I mean, how can it not bother him? " Zora said with concern, "The man made his life a living hell when he was younger, and the very fact Frederick was snooping around, that he came to see me at my home, makes me wary..." she admitted to Jude as she wrapped her hands around her coffee cup.

Romi · Nov 1, 2018

That was a question in itself, wasn't it? How had he known. How much had he known. There were a lot of questions, and Jude's fingers started balling into a fist in his hand before he forced himself to relax, taking a deep breath and letting the tension ease out of his shoulder.

"What did he say, exactly? How much did he know about you and Broen?"

He doubted she'd talked to him, but even introductions could help a lot.

Zora · Nov 1, 2018

"That's the crux of the matter," Zora nodded as she met Jude's gaze more calmly than she actually was, "He seemed to know a lot... like maybe too much for somebody who just arrived and was supposedly surprised his son was alive."

"I mean, he knew Broen was working for me before the incident, and that he wasn't after...which, I guess is not that strange," she said as she took a sip of he now cold coffee and grimaced, "But he seemed to know that Broen and I were close, more than just friends close..." Zora admitted.

"I know, it wasn't a secret we were sleeping together, but we weren't public about it either. In fact, I doubt many actually realised that we were. I never told anybody, and Broen, well, I honestly don't think he cared enough to say anything to anyone about who he slept with," she told Jude very truthfully.

"When Frederick asked, or implied, I knew his son well, I told him that the rumour mill was probably full of stories and we were just friendly, not friends," she said, "Though I am not sure whether he believed me or not."

Romi · Nov 1, 2018

Mentally, Jude was consulting his massive memorybanks. He was thinking about what he'd heard. He was thinking about what had been said.

"Broen's said it a few times," Jude said. "And it's likely that more people know then that. It's the kind of thing that not everyone knows, but he might have heard through the grapevine."

Jude caught himself drumming his fingers again, and had to force himself to stop, pressing his hand firmly into his lap. "Broen keeps his secrets, but he doesn't consider you a secret. He doesn't talk much about his personal life unsolicited, but he does talk about it."

He was running through a mental list of everyone around when Zora had been even alluded too, but... that was a very long list.

"Or process of elimination," he admitted. "Easy enough to find out Broen was working for you. If he knew Broen was with someone, he might have assumed that if it wasn't you, you'd at least know who it was."

Zora · Nov 1, 2018

"I can see that, yes, I do know about the sugar mama comments, and I guess you could have easily put two and two together back then," Zora surmised, trying to see it from a logical non-emotionally clouded point of view.

"And we were together at the harvest festival, Broen appeared just after Frederick had left and the evening was winding down. He could have easily talked to the others that were there... though, we weren't many, and I'm not sure any of them would have gossiped," she mused, "But then again, I'm only assuming..." she admitted as she looked at her coffee cup which was almost empty.

"Although coming to my house, when he could have shown up at my offices... that bothered me. I can't say why though," she confessed, maybe it was a leftover, unresolved fear from Woodcroft and from Tomas himself, even though he was dead. Fear of her safe place, her sanctuary, home being breached somehow. She hated feeling insecure at times, and had hoped moving house would calm those fears, but sometimes, especially when she was alone, she still found herself checking windows and doors.

Romi · Nov 1, 2018

"Most wouldn't even see it as gossip. People will just say things like 'oh, Broen was here with his girlfriend'. I doubt anyone would have given even a second thought to saying something like that around him. Especially if they knew Ga- Frederick was from Halcyon City. They might have thought they knew each other, and it only takes one person saying it."

The last bit though was easier. She might not have been able to say exactly why, but Jude could. He'd dealt with it himself.

"Home invasions can be emotionally damaging even in the best circumstances. There's a level of inherent safety that comes from being at home. A person's home is their castle, after all, and something like a home invasion--of someone being in your house who isn't wanted--leaves a kind of mental mark. It's hard to feel safe when you have no home, or when your home is tainted like that."

He'd gone to therapy for many things, but that had been one of the easiest things to talk about, so of course he'd talked about it a lot.

Zora · Nov 1, 2018

Zora pondered Jude's explanation, frowning a little when she considered what Frederick had actually tried to do. "So basically, it was a power play of sorts..." she stated rather grimly, now feeling slightly sick to her stomach and angry if that was what Frederick had been trying to do.

"Crawford was trying to make me feel uncomfortable in my own home, hoping I'd be accidentally reveal something because I would possibly be more focussed on the fact that he was in my home than on thinking about what I was revealing," she said, not liking the idea that he had tried something like that on her.

Romi · Nov 1, 2018

"Likely a power play. I'm not sure it was intended to make you feel uncomfortable in your own home, so much as...."

He trailed off, picking his words carefully. "To throw you off, yes. That's good way of putting it. In that situation, most people would spend a lot of time thinking things like 'how did he find my home' and not a lot of time thinking about what exactly he was asking you."

Which seemed to have worked, because she was definitely caught off guard.

"It's a pretty standard technique. Throw someone off so they're distracted, then talk to them."

Zora · Nov 2, 2018

"Well, it half worked," Zora shook her head, "I mean I knew who he was before he stopped by, but still..." she said, not at all impressed. It was sneaky and a bit devious. And in her mind, it meant he suspected way more than he had been letting on.

"Did you talk to Crawford? And was he asking about Broen at all?" she asked him, trying to understand everything, make sure she had the facts, and kind of order them in her mind so she could get a grip on everything.

Romi · Nov 2, 2018

"We only talked once," Jude said with a sigh. Part of him regretted that. It left him missing a lot of very important facts, didn't it? "Before he knew about Broen, apparently. I told him to fuck off. At the time, I suspect he thought it was my father's influence, but he hasn't approached me since. From what I gathered him and my father have a history of being at each other's throats. I'm not even sure he knows Broen and I are friends, honestly. I think he might legitimately just think 'damn those Genovese men' with a comical shake of his fist."

The idea was kind of funny, and Jude smiled a bit, some of the tension easing out of his shoulder.

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Two Birds One Stone

Zora

Event Witch

Romi

Secretly a Bird

Zora

Event Witch

Romi

Secretly a Bird

Zora

Event Witch

Romi

Secretly a Bird

Zora

Event Witch

Romi

Secretly a Bird

Zora

Event Witch

Romi

Secretly a Bird