[center][h3]A Day in the Life of Sirine Al Nahel[/h3] [/center] [hr] [i]12th of Midyear, Early Morning, Scorpion's Song aka That Crappy Tavern[/i] The sun wouldn't rise for an hour yet, but the same couldn't be said for Sirine. As they had for years at dawn, her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring up at a very dimly lit ceiling. The candles she had lit before coming to bed were nearly melted out, letting out just enough light that she could make out the figure of a large man sleeping next to her. What was his name? [i]Asher? Asif? Asfahan?[/i] It didn't really matter as long as she knew it when he wanted her to. But that was the previous night and this was overtime, something she didn't care for, especially if she wasn't going to be paid for it. With a barely hidden grimace, she slipped away from his grasp and let herself slide to the floor. Once she was sure he was still very sound asleep, she stood up and reached for one of the candleholders to light her way. It wasn't hard to locate her clothes, and once she did, Sirine noiseless made her way out of the room and headed for the baths, wanting very much to wash off any remaining trace of the man she had lain with. All false smiles had left her face even before they had slept away, and for now the only expression on Sirine's face was one of passivity. Lighting a few candles for light and filling one of the bathtubs with steaming hot water, she eased herself in; after an initial gasp at the heat of the water, she let herself slip in further, enjoying the searing feeling. It was almost cleansing in a way. After a little while, she reached to her neck, pulling at a small chain newly bought just the day before. That wasn't what caught her attention, though. She let her fingers slip over it until finally taking hold of a small golden disc, a septim with a hole pierced at the top through which the thin chain passed. Opening her eyes, Sirine gazed at the coin, flipping it from one side to the other, contemplating why exactly she had gone through the effort of intimidating that poor blacksmith to render the septim useless... [i]"Why?" he argued, clearly perturbed by her intentions for it. "It's a waste of a good coin!" "Maybe, but it's my septim and I will do with it as I wish." Sirine pulled out another septim from her money pouch and slapped it on the blacksmith's working table. "I'm paying you for this. Now get to work otherwise I will take my business elsewhere." [/i] It was unclear whether the other gold coin had spurred the man or the menacing look in the former pirate's eyes, but the deed had been done, and to the man's surprise he had found himself with another coin for the purchase of a chain. [i]Why[/i] was clearly on her mind as well. She sunk lower in the bath, dark locks floating in the water as she continued staring at the coin. It was the first one he'd given to her. [i]Why[/i] had she chosen that one? Or any at all for that matter? Her forehead creased as she tried to come up with a reason that wasn't sentimental drivel, but alas, for the time being, such reasons were evading her. "You better do as you said," she muttered as she sat back up, slightly annoyed with herself. "Or else I'll find your hide and make sure you do." Soon enough she was bathed and dressed and frankly ready to leave the tavern, if only for a few hours. She made a small detour to her room to grab her bottle filled with water along with her rucksack, and once both were secured she slipped out of her room first and then the tavern. Once again her destination was the docks. By now the sun had risen, still dark but lightening as it rose higher and higher. By the time the Imperial Redguard reached the her lovely pile of nets, there was sufficient light that a person could walk easily without the need of any lantern. The blood spatters that had been there had been cleaned up by her when she’d had the chance, though there were still faint marks remaining. Sirine didn't particularly mind. Blood was part and parcel with the line of life she had chosen, she'd simply cleaned it because she liked tidiness. Taking a gulp of water from the bottle, she then set it to the side and pulled out a roll of paper from her sack and spread it open on her lap. This was followed by removing a quill and an inkpot, and it wasn't long before Sirine was busy writing more intel she had gathered during the night. The fight night had been rather sparse with anything useful, though there was the mention of a fight taking place in the streets of Gilane that Sirine thought interesting enough to write down. The previous night however Sirine had managed to pick up something from one of the night's patrons, an old Breton seadog. [i]"The Sand an' Pearl," he hiccuped, wiping sloppily at his mouth as he set his tankard down. "Sittin' there are fancy-like. Tol' me t'get m'arse outta there 'fore he stuck a sword in me."[/i] Sirine was actually familiar with that inn. It was someplace that relatively wealthier folk headed to, including her brothers and herself when she still travelled with them. It hadn't been odd then to see mer there, so she wasn't surprised to hear that the old Breton had seen an Altmer there... rather she was a little surprised someone like her current customer managed to sneak his way in. Nodding to herself as she finished her writing, she carefully put her quill and inkpot away and then leaned back, waiting for the ink on the paper to dry. She watched the now bright blue sky, enjoying the sun as she listened to the waves. It felt as if it had been years since she had been out at sea. Every day at the Scorpion's Song felt as if she was being drained away, losing herself and the person she had become. Until two days ago. Her eyes opened; she lifted the coin, watching it glint as sunlight hit against it. Focus. Purpose. Direction. That was what she had now. She would help find his sister, and in return... "Just wait a little longer, Bakih." Her hand closed around the septim tightly, eyes narrowing. "We'll find you." [hr] It was about noon when she finally returned to tavern, having bought some fruit for herself. While she did have the gold Zaveed had given her, she had decided to use it only in regards to important affairs and not for menial things like food and drink. For the moment the money she was using was what she made as a barmaid, which now that she thought about it really wasn't all that much in the grand scheme of things. Had she really been fooling herself thinking she could make enough money here to be able to... what? Nothing. There had been nothing in her mind when she had come here aside from staying someplace inconspicuous and earning gold. And somehow, the solution to finding her brother would magically appear before her. She had never been that kind of person, one who relied on fate or coincidence or the help of others to further herself in life. The dwemer it seemed had changed all that, broken her so that she had no choice but to rely on a stranger with a handsome face and silver tongue. Oh how she had fallen. The piece of apple she was chewing on seemed to have lost all of its former sweet taste, though she forced herself to swallow it; she would finish the whole damn fruit. Another bite, more chewing, and then it began- the stinging in her eyes. She could feel it all coming back to her, the grief, the anger, the helplessness- [I]No. Stop it.[/I] If she continued down this current direction of thinking, she would end up upset and incapable of doing anything, and this was something she refused to tolerate. She needed something to distract her, something to focus on… As she passed through the hallway, she remember there [i]was[/i] something she’d had planned which would certainly keep her silly emotions at bay. Glancing in the general direction of the tavern, hidden behind walls, she could hear chatter and laughter, and if she listened even more carefully, there was the sound of Jamir, probably sucking up to one patron or the other. Out of habit, she didn’t expect him to return to his room any time soon. Maybe it was folly, but it seemed she had been doing many foolish things lately. As long as she didn’t jeopardize her partnership, it wouldn’t really matter, right? With her apple now finished with earnest bites and the core tossed away, Sirine quickly made her way to the owner’s bedroom, pushing open the door. Inside was the same as usual, a messy bed, clothes tossed about on the floor. Clearly no one had cleaned up, and she didn’t think anyone was planning to any time soon. Giving the hallway one last glance and making sure it was empty, she walked over to the dresser and pulled at the top drawer. Locked once again, but that was to be expected. [i]Now where could a key be?[/i] Knowing her boss, she didn’t think he would actually put it someplace too complicated and hard to find on account of he himself forgetting where it was. Turning away from the dresser, she looked to his bedside tables. [i]Maybe in there?[/i] Whatever key fit would be small judging from the keyhole. The first table had nothing in its drawer aside from dust and a couple of empty bottles of mead… and was that a little spider in the corner? She didn’t waste time to find out, pushing the drawer back before heading to the other side of the bed to check that table- Laughter could be heard clearly as a door leading from the tavern to the hallway was open. She knew who that belonged to instantly, and judging by the footsteps, there was more than one person. [i]Damn[/i]. He was coming back to the room, completely out of habit. Did one of the other barmaid’s look particularly appealing today? [i]Never mind that.[/i] She needed to hide, or else the only other way to get out of the current situation would be seducing the man, the thought of which made her want to throw up a little. As the steps came closer, Sirine dropped to the floor and quickly crawled under the bed, grateful that it was larger than the cots she and the other girls were given. Spared from being seen, she was unfortunately [i]not[/i] spared from the sounds that accompanied the tryst taking place above her head. Flat on her stomach and pretty much covered in dust all over, she put a hand over her mouth, very worried she might end up coughing or sneezing. [i]Don’t. You’ll regret it if you do.[/i] It was a tedious affair, simply waiting for the two on top to hurry it up. She was quite sure it would barely take a few minutes, but this was a rather uncomfortable position she found herself in. The most she could do was simply cover the lower half of her face in her arm and wait… Her eyes narrowed a little as she heard something clink against the floor from the shaking bed. Reaching out with her hand, she felt about until she finally touched something metal. It took only a little more feeling to realize she had found what she was looking for. [i]So he kept it hidden under here…[/i] For a man who was normally a little careless, it was not as obvious a place as she would have expected, which begged the question: what was hidden in that drawer? After what seemed like hours but was probably no more than a few minutes, Jamir and his current chosen were finally finished with their shenanigans, and it wasn’t long before they finally left the room. Sirine knew very well why any of the girls would want to spend extra time with him- more gold was more gold after all. Well, that wasn’t her problem at the moment. Waiting until she could no longer hear footsteps, Sirine grabbed the small key and wriggled her way out from beneath the bed, quickly standing up once she was in the clear. One look at herself and her shoulders slumped- she was going to have to bathe and change into something new. But first… glancing in the direction of the door, she quickly headed back to the dresser. The drawer unlocked like a breeze and she finally pulled it open. Inside was gold, quite a bit of it in fact, enough for her to wonder why in Oblivion the Scorpion’s Song was such a detestable place as well as why his employees were paid so little. Along with a few other useless trinkets, she saw a couple of rolls of paper. Curiosity got the better of her and she pulled one open. Her eyes flitted over the page as her lips twisted into a dry smile. She reached for the second roll as well and was greeted with more of the same. [i]So not only are you a rat, but a snitching rat as well. I can’t say I’m surprised.[/i] Jamir was exactly the sort who would pretend to sympathize and support insurgents while giving names to the dwemer if only to keep his own hide intact. It was pathetic. For a moment she thought of simply leaving her findings, but then she folded both papers and hid them in her tunic. Who knew when random bits of knowledge could come in handy? Perhaps Zaveed could make something of it. [hr] Night showed itself much more quickly than Sirine would have wanted. Having bathed, changed and eaten some more of the fruit she had bought, she had been busy copying down the names from Jamir’s list into her own notes as she’d rather read her own handwriting than his. She barely finished before it was time for her shift. Putting her things away safely, she left her shared room with a sigh of resignation, ready for yet another night of playing pretend with drunken men and the occasional women. False smiles and even falser words were no big feat, and it wasn’t long before the Imperial Redguard found herself lead away. Her mind wandered, slipping into a world of its own, leaving behind the man, the room, the tavern. There it was… her home. Salt water and crashing waves, the sound of open sails flapping in the wind. Bakih’s eager voice and smile, always ready to learn. Calum with his serious talks, someone she could trust. Samer with his often lewd jokes that caused her to snicker along with him. Peaceful times before she realized the world wasn’t the land of wonders she had believed it to be. If she reached out, she could almost feel the spray of water as it hit against the side of their ship… And just like that... it was all gone. Her customer left the bed to get dressed and Sirine turned to her side, hand wrapped around her coin as she gazed at the wall, looking for someone who wasn’t there. [i]Soon… soon.[/i]