A Mouth that Praises and a Hand that Kills.

[Undefined Affections]

They were all startled to see Isaac smack Leyla, but Elijah ended up chuckling. He laughed so hard he went into a fit of coughs, but that didn't stop him from enjoying this moment. He actually came to respect Isaac a little more. Leyla did need to grow up, and if a slap across the face did it, then he was glad to see it done.

Ravid stared, horrified. He'd never dream of hitting a woman...well, in combat he'd shot many women, but they'd been firing right back. Self defense in battle was one thing; this was totally different. But he kept his mouth shut and watched Elijah chuckle.

[Calette_Sentrinde]

Isaac glanced at Eli briefly, then returned his hard stare to Leyla. "I'm not going to put up with having to worry about you constantly, alright? Are we through with this crap?"

Leyla was busy glaring at Elijah, but she drew her attention back to Isaac, holding up her cuffed wrists silently with a single nod.

"I wish I could take you at that," Isaac muttered as he started to take the cuffs off of her. "I'm too busy to watch you constantly until you get ahold of yourself-" That gave him an idea, and he turned to Ravid speculatively. "You aren't the most competent person I've ever met," he said calmly. "But, if you're going to stay here, you might as well make yourself useful. Bodyguard duty it is."

Leyla growled out a protest that Isaac entirely ignored, as he turned back to Eli. "I'm assuming, of course, that you don't mind having him serve an actual purpose?"

[Undefined Affections]

Elijah waved Isaac off. "By all means, take charge. Someone around here has to." He didn't have a problem with leaving the incompetent klutz in charge of watching over Leyla's well-being. That gave him one less problem to solve. And it gave him great satisfaction to see the girl so infuriated over having to be watched constantly.

Ravid nodded and stood at attention.
"I won't fail in my duty, sir."

[Calette_Sentrinde]

"Good." Isaac snapped the cuffs off of Leyla's wrists, raising his eyebrows at her, as if daring her to even try to argue with him.

"Fine," she muttered, rubbing her wrists briefly before she sat down at her desk. She stared at the computer screen for a few minutes, chin resting on the palm of her hand. How in the world was she supposed to break a curse when she didn't really know anything about it? This was impossible. Eli had set her an impossible task. He would probably die of old age before she figured this out, unless she could find some kind of clue.

[Undefined Affections]

Ravid seemed to take his job a little too seriously, as he took his place right next to Leyla, standing awfully close so he could keep both eyes on her. The mask he wore would probably make her uncomfortable, as Elijah noted, but Ravid didn't seem to notice. He was determined not to let Leyla destroy herself.

Elijah pointed to Isaac. "You, come with me. I have a job for you that might just come with a reward."

[Calette_Sentrinde]

Isaac raised an eyebrow, but followed Elijah willingly enough. He had other tasks to do, but this reward sounded promising. "What do you need?," he asked, curious. Eli had never asked him to do something before.

Leyla watched Isaac and Eli briefly, then glanced at Ravid- and sighed. "It won't do me any good to ask you to back off, will it," she said with a shaking of her head, turning back to the computer in front of her. Her money was the only thing she'd lost that she had a chance of gaining back, aside from her authority with her people. She had to at least try.

[Undefined Affections]

"Do you believe you can find anyone with that computer of yours?" Elijah glanced at Isaac as they headed outside. He put up his hood to protect himself from the sand that was constantly kicked up into the air, among other things.

Ravid shook his head. He wouldn't move from this spot, not until told otherwise by those who weren't out of their minds with grief. He took a quick look at the computer in front of her. "What are you looking for?"

[Calette_Sentrinde]

"Anyone that exists," Isaac answered promptly, glancing at him. "In one facet or another. If I connect to the processor you have in there, then definitely, yeah." He'd even found Eli- or, rather, he had found this 'Desert Rose', in logs from other groups like theirs. Nobody was completely invisible, that much was certain.

"I'm trying to-" Leyla paused, tapping her fingers against the desk. "That man stole my fortune and is refusing to give it back until I solve a puzzle for him."

[Undefined Affections]

"Good." That's what he wanted to hear. Perhaps this Isaac would prove to be more useful than he let on before. "I need to find someone by the name of Dame Fortune." A code name, but he doubted that could stop Isaac from finding everything he needed to about a person.

Ravid was in no position to take sides, so he wouldn't. "What kind of puzzle?"

[Calette_Sentrinde]

"Dame Fortune," Isaac repeated, raising his eyebrows. "I'll see what I can dig up. Is that all you have to give me?" The more he had to go on, the more accurate his results would be.

Leyla decided, after a moment of thought, that she didn't care if Ravid was a spy, in this case. "He wants me to break a curse," she answered, settling back in her chair and playing with a pen. "He's convinced that I'm a part of it, which I still don't understand, and I have nothing to go on." Some old woman, he didn't even know her name, had cursed him with a curse he couldn't remember the words to, and he expected her to figure it out.

[Undefined Affections]

"A man, red eyes and white hair. An Albino." Elijah said, bitterness clear in his voice, though he merely just took a drag on his smoke stick. "He's almost impossible to find in any records, he changes up his identity every chance he gets. He's harder to find than I am." If that were possible. "You don't want to find yourself alone with him." They continued to walk, as he didn't have far to take Isaac. He just didn't want Leyla to stick her nose in their business.

Ravid shook his head. "I don't believe in curses. Are you sure he isn't lying?"

[Calette_Sentrinde]

"Albino," Isaac repeated thoughtfully. He paused. "Aren't people with that specific genetic mutation sensitive to sunlight?" Rather like Eli's new masked friend. Of course, Ravid was too dark skinned to be an albino, really, but there were skin dyes. "..I'll see what I can do," he nodded again. "Is that all you needed?"


"I'm sure." Leyla sat forward again, sighing. "I don't have time to mess with this," she muttered. "I have to go back tomorrow, I won't have all day to work on this stupid riddle anymore."

[Undefined Affections]

"Exactly. No one's ever seen him in the daylight." Elijah nodded. "He and I...we have business to finish." He had so many problems on his hands that he had a hard time juggling them all. Since before Leyla had been born, he'd been occupied with Dame Fortune and his shenanigans, and then that curse had been brought up him...making it difficult for him to be as agile and strong. "What have you found on our masked klutz?"

Ravid tilted his head to the side. "Where are you going?"

[Calette_Sentrinde]

Isaac dug in his satchel briefly, pulling out a piece of paper and passing it to Elijah. It was a printout of Ravid's work history. "He can't hold a job, which, I can't say is surprising. Not with someone as clumsy as that." He shrugged. "I think he's at least a dedicated sort. He certainly hasn't let being kicked out from here and there stop him from trying. Now, I don't know where he was most recently 'exiled', but I'm working on it."

Leyla smirked a little. "Back to work," she answered, throwing him a small grin. Where did he think most of her information came from? She worked for the government. Briefly, she felt a thrill of exhilaration- she at least still had her sources, though she'd have to be more careful now. She'd been tracked. The calls she'd been getting, though, led her to believe that only that one spy had suspected her. She'd been on leave since the bombing of her old city, but the next day she was due to transfer here.

[Undefined Affections]

Elijah took the papers, gave them a quick glance, then handed them back to Isaac. "His digital history might show incompetence, but I'd still be wary around him. I've got enough s**t in my hands." He'd let the others deal with anything else that came up, unless it pertained to his two major concerns.

Ravid found this confession a little startling. "Aren't you against the government?" His voice held confusion.