Maleficium [Julien's Intro Thread - Open]

With a scowl, Julien snatched the papers and held them before his gaze, but not before a last glare to Tourmaline. "It better, for your sake." Suddenly, however, as the man glanced at the documentation, he felt a pang of guilt. Hearing her pleas suddenly brought to mind his Atonement, and how he agonized over the loss and pain. It also made him remember, with a sigh, how he made his soul into iron that day. For a moment, it seemed to be the most grievous thing he had done.

As quickly as that sensation arrived, it was gone. The inspector sniffed dismissively as he handed back the papers. They had all checked out, and the Walpurgis was true to her word insofar that her record was apparently clean. For now, this was good enough for him. "I apologize for my conduct. You certainly are as lawful as you claim, please forgive me for my mistake." Julien took a step back and loosened his grip on his staff, tipping his head slightly in shame. Discomfort was written across his face like letters on her papers, however. "Please, miss, let me eschew my manners no longer; you may call me Julien Charbonneau."

Tourmaline felt a twinge of guilt, but immediately stamped it out. He'd just invaded her most personal of spaces, for heaven's sake. Taking the papers back, she said, "It's fine, it's fine. Nice to meet you Julien, although I wish it could have been under different circumstances. I'm Tourmaline-- but I guess you already knew that."

Indeed, with the guilt now gone, Tourmaline felt an almost savage joy at having outsmarted an Expiate officer. She didn't admit to herself that the only reason he trusted her was because she'd been an almost complete coward since her Atonement, doing no good for herself or her kind.

"So, um, did you want to ask me anything else, sir?"