fandomhigh | Freelance Treasure Hunting, Monday, Period 5, Class #4

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Freelance Treasure Hunting, Monday, Period 5, Class #4

"Good afternoon, my minions," Vala greeted everyone cheerfully from her customary spot atop the desk. "I'm glad to see you all back after last week's adventures. Last week, you escaped with your treasure, or without your treasure, depending on how things went. However, that doesn't always happen."

She leaned forward and confided, "Sometimes, you get caught. And occasionally even incarcerated, or held by the planetary authorities. This is when the real fun starts, because you have to be able to get yourself out of this situation--the problem is that often, you're locked in a small cell with no one but yourself and a guard for company."

"Then, the moment of truth...er, well, the person in charge shows up. If you don't want to spend the rest of your life in that cell--which, trust me, you don't, they smell unbelievably strange, get very little daylight, and often have vermin--you need to be able to tell a convincing story, whether true or," she cleared her throat and looked extra-innocent, "augmented, that will get you out of there."

"Sooooo," Vala grinned at them and leaned back on her hands, "Today, I want you to talk your way out of trouble. Either pick a partner or try to convince me. Anything that gets the other person to believe you and let you out of your 'cell'," she made finger quotes and everything, "is good enough for me. Go to it, and remember to do your best!"

[ooc: OCD up ~~in a sec!~~ Let the lies begin!]

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"Your lack of understanding of the nobility, obviously." He shook his head almost sadly as he added, "Thinking they would lock a noble, thinking they would lock me, Lord Deskin, in a cell like some filthy commoner. It is quiet pitiable, really."

Karal was mentally apologising even as he was speaking. He had a feeling he was going to have to do some actual apologising, and he wasn't sure if it was working on Vala, but he was certainly annoying himself!

"Well, Lord Deskin," Vala said, getting up and circling him slowly, "Unless you have proof of your nobility, I have no recourse but to lock you in a cell."

He twitched, feeling a strange itch between his shoulder blades as she circled him. This really was not fun. Maybe he should just admit what he was doing? "Are sure you wish to do that? It is an action which cannot be undone. My identity will be verified, and if it is discovered you have locked a member of the nobility in a cell the price you pay will be very high." He tried to school his features into a look of amused condescension, with minimal success. "Far better to release me now, and save yourself a great deal of potential misery."

"Is that so," she murmured, "Well, it so happens that I'm used to misery, especially the potential for it. So, yes, I will require proof, thank you."

"You actually dare to question me?" he demanded, wincing slightly. "You are saying my word is not enough?"

"I am saying that I could call myself the goddess Qe'tesh, but that doesn't mean I'm her," Vala said, inwardly wincing. At least she wasn't anymore.

Karal looked at her curiously, because it was such an odd example, and he couldn't help letting his persona slip. "This is true, but if you told me you were a goddess, I think I would take the cautious approach and assume that you were, until it could be proven otherwise. Goddesses, like nobles, rarely accept apologies."

"I don't recall offering you one," she said bluntly.

He blinked, confused, then remembered he was supposed to be an irritating highborn. Sunlord, this was difficult. "I don't recall requesting one. I did, however, offer you a chance to avoid the need for one."

"I like to live dangerously," she told him, "so I would like to see proof of your status and then I would like to hear an explanation for what you thought you were doing."

"And what proof would you accept?" he asked haughtily, about ready to give up the pretence completely and just admit what he was doing.

Vala considered that. "A piece of noble jewelry, or one of those family tree things would work."

The only piece of jewellery he owned - not that he thought of it as such - was his Vkandis medal. And there was no possible way he could bring himself to use it. Nor did he have anything he could pass off as a genealogical chart. He'd seen them, and they were extremely elaborate. "All right," he said, drooping a little. Time to give up. John would just have to understand. "I am not a noble. I was merely trying to annoy you by pretending to be a highborn."

Vala hadn't been expecting that. Up until then, her young priest had actually been doing surprisingly well at this exercise. "Really? And why is that?"

He squirmed a little. "An assignment for another class. I truly did not mean to give any offence. But you should still not lock me up," he said sheepishly.

"Oh?" She asked, amused now. "What class, and why shouldn't I lock you up?"

"How to Annoy Your Teachers is the class, and for some reason it emphasises not getting turned into an animal while doing so," he explained, confused as always by the addendum. "And you should not lock me up because someone who couldn't even keep up the pretence of being a noble could never have done something they would need to be locked up for! Obviously you must have the wrong person."

"Who teaches this class?" She asked casually, then added, "So, your argument for why I should let you go is because you're such a bad liar that you couldn't have done anything?"

"Your first story was better."

Karal thought about not answering, but John had said he should if asked, so..."John Crichton," he offered hesitantly. "And perhaps it was more imaginative, but this one has the virtue of being true. Honestly," and he gave her most innocent look (which, despite what he thought, was no different from how he usually looked), "can you imagine me doing anything which would result in me having to be arrested?"

"I can name any number of things that you could do that would lead to you being arrested," Vala told him.

"Oh." That was rather deflating. "But I didn't," he pointed out hopefully.

"Can you prove it?"

"Can you prove that I did?" he asked quickly. "Am I not innocent until you have shown that I am guilty beyond all doubt?"

Vala stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "Now where would you hear a dumb thing like that?"

He stared back, looking completely baffled. "That is the rule," although, until recently, not the practice, "in the ecclesiastical courts of Karse, and in the law courts of Valdemar."

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