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GUARD BARRACKS - MORNING
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Nesseth makes his way over to Louma's office, having woken up early so he could catch her first thing in the morning. Today, he strides with purpose, though he greets his fellow guards all the same as he makes his way to Louma's office. Once at the door, he knocks.
Louma slithers up behind Nesseth, pausing to blink at the lizard as she totes her tea in one hand. She gives the lizard a bit of a stern look as she clears her throat, carrying herself as she usually does in the general presence of the other guards.
Nesseth blinks and turns around. "Oh, there you are, Louma. I, uh... sorry about bothering you first thing in the morning, but there's something I need to talk with you about."
Louma glances at her tea, then back to Nesseth, nodding. "Alright, Nesseth. Go ahead in, since you've gotten to my office before me." She gestures toward the door, waiting for him, as she can't really slither through the guard to her office.
Nesseth smiles awkwardly, but nods as he opens the door and steps in ahead of Louma. He holds the door open for her, however, as he reaches his free hand over to flick on the light in the room.
Louma lets out a slight sigh as she slithers past Nesseth, looking to her currently empty desk when she's settled behind it. As the end of her tail crosses the threshold, she turns to him. "Thank you, Nesseth. Please close the door before starting." She uses the time talking to coil her tail under herself, resting on the nest of scales.
Nesseth nods again, shutting the door once Louma's tail is clear of the threshold. "So, I really don't want to dump more stuff onto your plate, but I think we might have a problem in town. Again..."
Louma gives Nesseth a levelled gaze, her tea cup hovering inches above the desk top. "Really? Oh no, that's fine... We've only got a murdered bounty hunter with no leads, a missing kobold, two tavern fights, a missing child, a stolen piece of hardware, and bandits on the East road that nobody can find." She sets the mug down, sighing.
Nesseth shrugs sheepishly as he moves to take a seat across the desk from Louma. "If only we could have some respite from all of that, hm? But, uh... well, it's about Cavro and Erika."
Louma sees the expression on Nesseth, closing her eyes for a few moments in which her own expression softens. "I'm sorry Nesseth, I don't mean to push my displeasure toward you." She looks at him, tilting her head slightly. "What about them?"
Nesseth sighs and shakes his head. "It's fine, Louma. But as for those two... I think it might be worthwhile keeping an eye on them. I spoke to them in the bar last night, and they were both acting... really off."
Louma hums, lifting her tea as she speaks. "Thinking about it, I haven't spoken to either of them in a while. How were they acting before that is so off now?" She takes a careful sip of the tea, humming as the flavor does it's thing for her morning nerves.
Nesseth leans lightly against the desk. "Well, you remember the two being really obviously head over heels for each other, right? Like, it wasn't a secret at all that they'd started dating and such, after being such close friends with each other for over a decade."
Louma thinks for a moment, then nods. "I recall some rumor of that, yes. Heard they were cute together, but Vandal doesn't care for how sweet they act. I believe that complaint came up when his patrol passed her garden a few times a day... If it weren't for your pretext, I'd say I'm happy for them."
Nesseth leans back in his seat a bit and crosses his arms, clearly doubting the question he's about to ask. "Then... would you believe that when I spoke to them yesterday, they were both acting like they've never actually dated or anything? Like they've been nothing but friends slowly drifting apart?"
Louma tilts her head as she thinks for a moment, sipping her tea again as she leans back. "Hm... Not likely, no. Unless they have a reason for breaking up and pretending like nothing happened at all."
Nesseth shakes his head again. "That's what I was thinking, but I decided to ask Erika a little more in-depth once Cavro left to head back to the forge. You know, just in case there was some kind of domestic issue, since we're guards." He shrugs, "But the way she answered, she seems to completely believe nothing's happened between them in the past few months."
Louma shakes her head slightly, tapping a talon on her desk top. "Strange... She's always been a bit aloof, that Erika. I find it odd she has no reason, though. Like I said, I don't know either of them terribly well, especially recently."
Nesseth hums quietly. "Mmh, well... the only thing I can think of is that Erika and Cavro are doppelgangers, right now, if there's actually no domestic troubles going on." He shrugs, "It's the only way I can figure why they're acting so weird all of a sudden."
Louma pauses, turning her head slightly. "Dopplegangers? You mean they are not them? That is... Quite a thought. How do we know this isn't some sort of delayed stress break because of her transformation?"
Nesseth tilts his head. "Then wouldn't that only be Erika acting odd? You'd figure Cavro would be going nuts trying to get some kind of help from others, like during that whole fiasco."
Louma scratches her chin, nodding after a moment. "Perhaps you're right. Still... Doppelgangers? Well, all we can do is keep an eye on them, I wouldn't like to arrest them and have it turn out to be nothing of that sort. If it is such a thing, where are Erika and Cavro?"
Nesseth: Erika's most likely at her garden, and Cavro's at the forge. They're going about their usual solo things, just acting like they're kind of strangers to each other.
Louma shakes her head, giving him a look. "If they're replacements, where are our badger and okapi?"
Nesseth shakes his head in turn. "If I knew, I wouldn't be suggesting we keep an eye on the two, Louma..." He sighs again, "I know it's not much to go off of, but consider it hunter's intuition. Drastic changes in behavior in a really short time means something is up."
Louma nods, sipping her tea again. "Alright, Nesseth, I'll trust you on this. I can leave it up to you? You can pick a few guards to help with whatever you feel should be done."
Nesseth hums. "Mmh... okay. Probably a couple of scouts to look around the areas near the town, maybe the forests and such to try and find where the real Erika and Cavro are. As for the two here in town... it shouldn't be too hard to keep tabs on them and see if there's a problem in need of sorting."
Louma smiles, nodding in agreement. "Hopefully whatever they've got planned is benign, and the real Cavro and Erika will make their way home." Her smile falters as she thinks. "I keep hoping things will go back to being relatively quiet and boring, but that time isn't coming, is it Nesseth?"
Nesseth smiles sympathetically. "Not at this rate, best as I can tell, but we might get lucky if we just keep working at it." He blinks, remembering another thing, "Oh! By the way, I did a little digging into Lianne and she gave me a description of the folks that attacked her. Maybe Bairnell will have better luck than us in finding them."
Louma nods, setting her tea down and taking a sheet of paper and quill from her desk, preparing to take down the descriptions in full detail.
Nesseth counts the folks off of his fingers as he lists them out. "She'd said there was a grey wolf, a blue jay, a brown squirrel, a green snake... and the leader was someone in a bright orange jester-ish outfit. She said that the leader could pull pistols out of nowhere and keep firing..."
Louma scribbles down the descriptions accurately, but roughly, though she stops halfway through the last. "I've heard rumors of someone like that... A couple years ago probably. Can't recall their name right now, though. I hope it's not them, though. Perhaps it's fortunate we have bounty hunters in town, could get them to deal with the issue is Bairnell's Foothold can't track them down, either."
Nesseth hums and nods. "Here's hoping we can at least get some kind of headway, though. Too much trouble and not enough info, right now, for a lot of things."
Louma grunts, finishing her writing and setting the quill aside. She shakes her head, leaning back and retrieving her tea again. "You know, it's a good thing I have good news in my life or else this caravan of awful events might get to me."
Nesseth nods again. "Some good news, some bad news, but it's been getting a little hectic this past year, hasn't it?" He sighs, "Hopefully it's just a transitional thing for the town, and things settle down again once the town stabilizes."
Louma nods, grinning a bit. "I thought the shield being reinstated was supposed to ease our worries? Oh well. I-" There's a sharp knock at the door, one she's well familiar with and it shows as her expression immediately cuts, looking toward the door.
Nesseth looks over at the door as well. "Morning reports incoming? I'll take my leave so you can get to work, Louma."
Louma groans, straightening up and nodding to Nesseth. "Yes, unfortunately, and no Brunilda to be seen. Thank you Nesseth, I'll discuss your findings and concerns with the other captains and the commandant." She gives him a short salute as the office door is opened.
Nesseth stands up and returns the salute, then turns smartly and makes his way out, giving the guard delivering the reports enough space to enter the room first. He looks over his shoulder at Louma as he leaves the room and flashes her a quick, reassuring smile before shutting the door behind him.