The Theorem of Awkward Amends; [Maia - Closed]

It was fair to say that Goibniu felt a bit nervous.

Shortly after venturing with other people to search for a lost locket, Goibniu petitioned one of his party members, Maia Tommelise, to talk about what happened when they met. In his mind, he'd attempt to apologize to her, and talk things out with her to avoid there being any resentment caused by offending her in some way he was not aware. Luckily, she accepted, would it mean that things would go well? He could only hope.

He opened the door of the inn he took residence. The time outside was dusk, during the wee hours of night time, and he recommended to talk things in the room he was renting, since it'd be peaceful and away from any unfamiliar eyes. Luckily Lochhedge was a peaceful town, with a no-so-peaceful surrouding, so this would prove to be the best location to talk.

"Alright... This way, madam." He said, his voice attempting to sound calm, in order to mask his worriness. Goibniu was a normally confident person, but there are things that are capable of bringing him down, like trying to talk to someone that yelled his ear out not to long ago.

The walk itself would be silent, as they'd cross hallways and stairways until they reached his room: A balcony room. Not only it was the only room left, Goibniu liked the view from the window. Observing a landscape from a high point was always soothing to him. But nevertheless, he took the key and opened the door, doing a small sigh of relief. "Well... These are my temporal headquarters, hehe. You can make yourself comfortable."

Why Maia agreed to this was beyond her. She didn't have much love towards the Expiate, and being asked to talk in private by one was something she would panic about. Of course, she also knew that Goibniu wasn't the average Expiate officer. Still wasn't a great person in her eyes, but at least he wasn't going to kill her or something. Well, hopefully not.

She raised an eyebrow when Goibniu directed her towards their destination. She didn't know if it was a command or a just a simple act of care. Maia was starting to get suspicious. She wondered if he was leading her to a trap, and a bunch of Expiates would kill her or something. Maia hadn't actually heard something like happening before, but still.

Maia looked around the room. It was a nice room. Nothing too fancy. Though he was lucky he got a balcony. The inn she was staying at a little ways away was just a simple downtown inn. No balcony, only windows. She snorted at the mention of getting comfortable. "What do you want, McCrae?" She asked in a bored tone. "Are you planning in doing an unofficial interrogation? Or are these your poor attempts to try and bed me?"

"What? No, I-What??" Goibniu stammered as Maia tried to implied he had nefarious purposes. He guessed he couldn't blame her, since being part of the Expiate never stopped being a thing, and it may not being a thing for a while, so even if they cooperated to achieve a goal earlier in the day, she would still have certain perceptions cloud her judgement.

Given how direct she was, it might be a bit complicated for him.

To gain her trust, not only he waved negatively at her accussations, one of his hands went towards his hip. A small ruffling sound was heard, and the next thing Maia would see, is Goibniu unequipping his pistol holster, hold his pistol, from his belt. He was disarming himself from his most useful weapon to show that he's to be trusted.

"It is none of that, I just wanted to talk to you. Er, living being to living being, unofficial matters." He said, before taking a chair from the room's desk, and sitting on it. "I mainly wanted to talk to you about matters concerning... The day we met, not too long ago." Would that event ring a bell to her? He hoped so.

Maia panicked a bit when he began removing his pistol holder. Depsite him telling her that he didn't want "that" from her, she still thought for a second that the Enkidu was removing his trousers. Oops. But she soon realized that he was just disarming himself. It was a bit relieving, however a part of her still felt that Goibniu was going to throw her off the balcony. She doubted it but still.

She thought about disarming herself, but honestly she hesitated. Maia knew a few spells, but they were pretty much useless if he got violent. With a deep sigh, she began fumbling with the belt that held her daggers. Maia removed it and held it to the side. Then slowly placed them on the floor.

At the mention of what happened the other day, she began blushing. Okay so maybe she overreacted a tad bit. But Expiates just got her riled up. No matter how nice they were. There was an awkward silence for a minute, then another deep sigh. "Fine. Let's talk, Monsieur."

If she were to pay attention, she'd notice that Goibniu's facial expressions relaxed ever so slightly when she removed her daggers. She understood the sign, and there wouldn't be any form of violence, which was good, since he didn't want to get kicked out of the inn.

And so, she was all ears. Here goes nothing. "Alright... So, ahem, I believe there may have been some form of miscommunication during that day, with you jumping to conclusions over a statement I may have not expressed well. I apologize if I caused you any grief, for it was not my intent." He started, his moustache moving just a tad once he finished that statement, before proceeding. "In terms of the topic... 'Discussed', there is no harm going to come to you from the Expiate, or at the very least, from my part. If you are a law-abiding citizen, any form of baseless accusation would be meaningless and the accuser should hold themselves accountable for it. And as seen before, you are that and well meaning, so you do not need to fear, you won't be incarcerated, or exiled, or any of that poppycock.

He felt a bit uneasy because it sounded like he was talking down to a child, which he was sure Maia was not (despite her looks being a bit deceiving), but he felt that stating the obvious would at least help her think more clearly.

"..."

Maia studied Goibniu as he gave his apology. She had already seen him relax when she removed her daggers, and was making sure he at least looked sincere while speaking. Good news for him, as Maia didn't see any form of bad intentions on him. But a small smirk grew on her face as he said no harm would come to her as long as she obeyed the law.

"I accept your apology, Monsieur McCrae." Maia replied. Then a sad chuckled escaped her mouth. She walked towards the balcony, and stepped outside, motioning for Goibniu to follow. The young woman leaned against the railing. "You really are naive, though." She said as she looked out into the evening sky.

A moment of silence was present, as Goibniu thought Maia was processing his words. Of course, just because he apologized, it didn't mean that she'd just accept in a heartbeat, a person first needed to grasp the apology itself, and then they'd decide if they should accept it or not, and he knew that pretty well.

Which meant it was a relief when she accepted it. But she was not done. A small chuckle noise made Goibniu stare at her confused, and as he was about to say something, she got up, and went outside. What was she seeking to do? He didn't know, but he knew better than to keep a lady waiting.

"Madam...?" He muttered, as Maia started leaning against the railing, her eyes focusing on the firmament rather than anything on the earth. "May I ask, what do you mean with that?" Was this related to Liseran's words when she first discovered he was part of the Expiate?

"The fact you bad to ask that sort of proves my point." Maia said as she watched a few fireflies flutter around the balcony. She didn't want to be talking with an Expiate about such things, but after the quest, she came to terms that Goibniu wasn't a bad guy. And he did apologize too. So at least he knew some decency and honesty. Still, a part of her still didn't trust him.

She sighed a little. "I'm aware that not all Walpurgis are good people. And frankly, the ones who pray on the weak deserve everything they get. But there are good people too." Maia explained. "It's the same for the Expiate too. Some just want to do their job, others want nothing more for my people than to be slaughtered." She explained sadly. How people could even think such things was beyond her

"My father died because of this. He never did anything wrong, but because he was a Walpurgis, because he was a Tommelise, he was murdered by someone in my town. And they have yet to be brought to justice." Maia's eyed watered a bit, but she continued to look away from Goibniu. She may have trusted him a bit more, but she wasn't going to cry in front of a man she barely knew. That would be crazy. Bit after making sure she wasn't all teary-eyed, she turned to look him in the eyes. "And the Expiate in my town don't care. They just said my dad attacked the man and he got stabbed because of it. Heh, to them, he was just another violent Walpurgis..."

The statement she made caused Goibnui to lean his head in confusion. Walking closer to lean against the railing next to her, he began listening to Maia's story, and why she felt disdain over the Expiate, and initially, over him. How her father was apparently unfairly murdered, and how no one batted an eye over it. Goibniu's curious look slowly turned into one of worry, and then pity, as he came to realize what her motivations were.

They were so similar to his.

"... Blazes, I can't believe they'd do that to someone innocent. My condolences, madam..." Goibniu started, before realizing that just expressing his lamentations weren't going to cut it. He looked at her, then to a side, and then back to her again. "... Actually, I understand what it feels to lose someone. Curiously, while being at the other end of the conflict." The last words were accompanied by a small, dry chuckle, before he placed his right hand forward. His gloved, mechanical right hand.

"This is not exactly something I'm willing to express openly, but... Do you know why I decided to join the Expiate?" It was a rhetoric question, unless she was spying on him when he explained to Liseran, there was no way Maia would have known. But, if she was going to explain her motives, it was only fair for him to do the same.

Silently, his left hand went ahead and held his right hand, before slowly lifiting his black glove. If Maia were to look up, she'd realize why Goibniu wore a glove in the first place. "A few years ago, Leiger was attacked by a Walpurgis. A stranger who seemingly formed a contract not too long ago. This person's first area happened close to the blacksmith I was working alongside my father, and while he was out, they attacked. Some of the townspeople tried to counter attack, but we were not warriors, and we were not ready. I tried to participate, and confronted them directly, but I was overpowered."

His voice would then get lower, as he was getting to the grimmier bits. "... It all happened to fast. At one moment I was grabbing a spear and running outside, and at the next I was within the inch of my life, the spear piercing my chest, right after they cut my hand off. After I lost conciousness, I woke up, and my father told me that the stranger and their Incantus were dealt with, but not before they murdering some of the villagers... My mother included."

Maia just nodded, but she perked up when Goibniu mentioned he also knew what it was like to lose someone close as well. She looked at the Enkidu, and her eyes widened when he revelaeved his metal hand. Mia wondered how he lost it. Then he told the story, she wanted to cry. She tried to form the words, but she struggled a bit. She didn't any to offend him or anything. But her heart also went out to him.

"... I'm sorry for your loss." She finally said. "I can't help but feel partially responsible. I really wish that these things didn't happen..." Maia muttered sadly. Two sides of similar experiences, both ending in the murder if a loved one. Funny how things worked sometimes.

Maia stretched a bit, and smiled softly at Goibniu. "You mentioned a father. Do you have any other family members? What are they like?"