Tora Steals Things

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They set to work. Tora pulled out the folder Dwag gave him and shared what he found out. He had to stop when he revealed who Bolli was.

“Was your sister an asura?” FPS asked, confused.

Tora stopped a moment. “…My sister?”

“The necklace was your long dead sister’s wasn’t it?”

Oh fuck is that what I told him? “Uh…” He tried to think fast but blanked. “…Yes. Yes, she was. Found family, y’know?”

Tora rubbed his temples, trying to think. If this was the lie he was going with, it’d get complicated real fast if they talked to anyone who knew Bolli personally.

“I um… met them much later in life though,” he continued carefully. “Didn’t er… meet any of their old crew or anythin’.”

Was that enough cover? This lie was getting lazy and thin real fast. At this point he wasn’t sure what would be easier going forward: telling the truth or keeping up the lie. Lies were best for short term solutions and he wasn’t sure how short term FPS was going to be.

FPS bought it up though, or simply didn’t care to question it. He nodded sagely and let Tora share the rest of his findings with the list of crew members.

When he’d finished, he looked up to see that the eccentric fool he’d met the night prior had vanished, replaced by an eerily similar sylvari with the face of a wizened adventurer. Said adventurer studied Tora with a deep unsettling consideration—the kind that said they were suspicious of him. Who could blame him? Normal people don’t really have access to the kind of information Tora found, do they? And who would go this far for some trinket of a dead relative?

Cold sweat formed on the back of Tora’s neck as he began to realize his mistake.

Then he blinked and the stranger was gone.

The eccentric fool, as boisterous and chipper as before, returned. Tora frowned.

Had he imagined that? There wasn’t time to question it—it was FPS’s turn to share

his findings.

If they talked to the longer lived races, they’d have a higher chance of meeting someone who knew Bolli personally.

FPS agreed.

They packed up their things, tossed out their drinks, FPS gave the charr barista a compliment that nearly got him mauled, and Tora swiped a few napkins and creamers on their way out the door—mostly out of habit.

*

They had four people to talk to: Garan Ripshield, Eira Gunnarson, Yugoro Arata, and Ghell. Eira was obviously norn, so they started there, and then moved to Ghell the asura, Garan the charr, and finally Yugoro the human. It took them the rest of the morning, locating and interviewing each for whatever information they had to give.

They were all eager to talk about what had been stolen from them, and were interested to learn why they’d been targeted, but as suspected, only the norn and the asura recalled who Bolli was at all. Even then, they’d turned out to be too young to have known Bolli personally—only having heard of them through their parents and grandparents. On one hand, this made investigations harder, on the other though, at least Tora didn’t have to worry about being called out on the “Bolli was my long dead sister” thing. He didn’t even intend to bring it up, frankly, but FPS brought it up. Every. Single. Time.

He’d had to beg the plant to stop mentioning it, which naturally FPS didn’t understand.

“But surely, they’ll be more willing to talk if they know its a matter of the heart! She was important to you!” He protested.

“Maybe I just don’t want to talk matters of the heart with everyone, okay?!”

FPS paused at that, considering Tora’s words with what looked like an exaggerated seriousness.

“Oh, of course,” FPS said solemnly. “It’s sensitive to talk about, I understand.”

Tora wasn’t really sure he did.

*

They took a break for lunch after their first set of interviews to discuss what they’d learned, grabbing sandwiches off a street vendor and wandering about deserted back alleys. In the end they hadn’t gleaned much. Those who knew something of Bolli didn’t have much to say about her relations on The Meridian. If there were crew mates who had grudges, they didn’t know anything, and they sure didn’t know of any legacy Bolli left behind.

“But she makes a mean apple pie!” FPS offered.

“Heard about you from Ghell. Said you might be coming around. You’re Bandi… Bolli’s… brother?” Rhin raised an eyebrow at him.

“Sister,” FPS corrected. Rhin frowned, confused.

“Sibling,” Tora corrected again in a panic.

“Awfully young to be her… sibling, aren’t you?”

“Yes well, sylvari don’t really age so—”

“And she’s never mentioned you to me.”

“They met late in life!” FPS piped in, helpful and eager.

“Oh?” Both Rhin’s eyebrows went up at that.

“Y-Yes. Found family, you see.” Tora tried desperately.

Rhin gave him a long considered look. Tora could feel cold droplets form on the back of his neck. FPS opened his mouth to say something and Tora swiftly slapped a hand over it. Now was not the time to say something stupid.

The old asura squinted.

Sniffed.

Finally shrugged.

“Well, if anyone knows what it’s like to have unorthodox relationships, I suppose it’s me,” he sighed. “So? What are you after then?”

The thief’s shoulders sunk with relief.

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“Jealous?” Rhin was startled. Of course he was, what a stupidly suspicious question!

“Wait, who are you exactly? I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name.”

The artless plant’s thin eyes glinted with a self-importance that made Tora shrink back into his seat. Please don’t say something weird or stu—

“They call me… John Smith.”

YOU’RE A SYLVARI, Tora thought with the deepest frustration, AT LEAST CHOOSE A FAKE SYLVARI NAME!

“And your relation to Bandi…?” Rhin asked.

At the question, FPS suddenly turned coy. “Oh well, y’know. Proper courtship takes time you see.”

Two windows. He was going to throw this plant through two windows. Maybe punt him off a cliff for good measure.

“Ah yes, young love. I understand.” Rhin nodded knowingly, and Tora, quick to latch onto the story John Smith was spinning, smiled, played shy, tried his damndest to hide the murder in his eyes.

“Well, John Smith, it’s funny you should ask,” Rhin continued. “I should think most folks were envious of her to some capacity, especially for her baking skills but… few of us truly understood her genius with the engine. And some of us beyond that.”

“Beyond that?” Tora repeated, curious. That sounded promising.

“Oh well, Bolli and I go way back, along with our colleague—say, what was the names of her dogs again?”

This caught Tora off guard.

“Her dogs…?”

“Yes, yes, Bolli’s pups. I remember they had just the cutest names, I just can’t quite recall…”

“Oh you should know that!” FPS again. ‘Helpful’ again.

“Right, yeah,” Tora conceded, reluctantly. I should’ve come alone.

“Since you walked them and all.”

“Yes, thank you, Dear, I know.”

The two watched him expectantly.

Damn it! Why are we talking about these dogs again?!