-Cooperate with Policies- you know they have influence. If you can get on their good side, that can't hurt.
-Give Adashino something concrete. You know Casters Master and where they are.
-You're thinking ahead a bit to after the war, and how this choice would relate to you and the Mages.
It's an agonising decision. There's something about this woman. The glasses and tiredness might mask it, but there's a cold glint to her eyes. She's dangerous. You don't know-can you trust her? She's a mage of some kind after all. Your eyes flicker around the room as you bring a hand up from under the desk, a tense staccato filling the silence as you tap your fingers off the table, your coffee going cold in front of you. This isn't enough. You can't pick right now not when you know nothing about Adashino only that she feels dangerous you've got to make sure it's fine.
"How can I trust you- what's stopping you from just stabbing me in the back once you're done with me like all you mages do? I mean- L- El-Melloi- why didn't he say he trusts you?" The word "Lord" sticks in your throat as you glare at Adashino accusingly, El-Melloi groaning and rubbing his head in the background. You can't really say Lord. It's too respectful.
"Oh? Well well, this latest stray of yours has some fangs. I'd ask where you found her, but that part's quite obvious" The exhaustion momentarily vanishes from her as Adashino meets your gaze. With an icy chill, her cold eyes stare right through your veil as she gives a pointed glance down at your hand, your barcode clearly visible. You flinch, pulling your hand back under the table and out of site like you'd just tapped a live wire as Adashino continues to speak, the slightest of smiles at the side of her mouth. "Still, with that attitude, are you not interested in my offer?"
"I- I didn't say no." Your jaw clenches in a poorly concealed grimace as your nails dig into your palms below the table. She has you there. You know enough to know that this is something valuable.
"Excellent." Adashino smiles slyly, before visibly sinking back into her seat, taking a long drink from her coffee. That spark of animation is gone now, leaving her as worn-out as she was a minute ago. "But- fine. Given all of our circumstances, I will get straight to the point. Our mutual associate Lord El-Melloi the Second cannot say that he trusts me because I did try to have him killed that one time."
That's not what you were expecting to hear, as you try and fail to mask your surprise. Behind you, Ruler shifts her pose, her hands resting on the back of your chair as she stares intently at Adashino.
"And yet, here we are." Adashino gives a restrained gesture, dignifiedly indicating that she and El-Melloi are both here, doing business, and not attempting to gouge each other's eyes out with their coffee spoons. "Because we have both been useful to each other, and there is no point in holding such severe grudges against someone who we might need in the future."
A slight pause as Adashino looks at you, pushing her glasses down her nose slightly to give you an uninterrupted view of her glacier-blue eyes. "That is how a Mage does things. And if you help me? You will have been very useful. There would be no point in some petty backstabbing. Not when you're someone of interest. Does this reassure you?"
Not really, all things considered. But you know of Policies, and you know Mages. You know horrifyingly well how much better it is to be useful for them. And… this war won't last forever. You'll have to do something after. And no matter what it is… you won't be able to have anything like any of those normal people you've passed on the city streets. You're too far deep in the world of magic for that. So no matter what you end up doing, it can't hurt to be in Policies' good books. At least, assuming she's being on the level here. You tilt your gaze back a bit, up towards where Ruler stands. Is she?
"Viper on not, she's not lying." Ruler sighs, shifting her grip on your chair as she looks down at Adashino. "Hide it or not, I can see that desperation. Really, first the overseer and now you. Must we work with every suspicious woman we meet? Can't we work with someone nice and pure for once- No wait we have Gray we're covered there."
You stifle a slight giggle as Gray starts with a muffled squeak, before turning back to Adashino. Fine then. If she wants to use you, you'll use her right back.
"Okay then. Deal. You want names- here's one right away. Leonardo Lainur. Caster's Master, from Archeology. Has his base on some boat." You snap back to Adashino, holding eye contact as your hands move restlessly. She'd have found out that name sooner or later. You need this- you need her to owe you. Even if it means-
"Well then." Adashino cuts you off, pushing back and standing up from the table after making a note on a scrap of paper. "I will remember this. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
With that, she turns on her heel and strides out of the coffee shop, that fuzz of magic hat you'd been feeling this entire time vanishing with her as El-Melloi groans. "Why did it have to be her?"
And with that, an early-afternoon lull falls over your group as you just idle there for a minute.
What do you do next?
[] Go back to where El-Melloi and the others are staying. You've got a few things you want to follow up on with them, from last night, now, or even further back.
[] Sort out a meeting with Iza, compare what you know again. There's a few other things you might want to ask her again.
[] Just spend some time with Ruler. The two of you, and nothing else.
