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31_days2009-07-11 06:07 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2009-07-11 06:07 pm
[July 11][Original] We Both Know
Title: We Both Know
Day/Theme: July 11, 2009 "destroy the dreams I ever dreamed"
Series: Original
Character/Pairing: Bashir, Teleri Shi'im
Rating: PG
"May I ask you something? Just one question?" Bashir whispered through the dark room to his subordinate.
Teleri was waiting casually, an arm thrown over the back of his chair. Only a vague outline of his face showed through the depths of the unlit room. He liked the power the darkness gave him. It was a tactic to strike fear into the hearts of those brought before him, but was it really necessary to employ this strategy when meeting with his supposed commander?
"Ask me anything you like, General," he answered. His whisper was a rougher, slightly softer version of his usual tone that implied an unfamiliarity with keeping his voice down.
"I want to know what happened to the man that proceeded me as inquisitor general. ...What really happened to him." He paused and steadied himself with a deep, slow breath. "And I think I already know the answer. I just want to hear it from you."
Teleri's smirk shriveled. He regarded his commander with a cold clearness that he had never displayed before. It might have held a kernel of respect at its center, but Bashir could not see him well enough to judge his feelings that well. "Then ask the question."
"Did you kill the previous inquisitor general?"
The musty air seemed to grow stagnant. Neither one of them was breathing. Teleri was not angry, he was only thoughtful. For all his supposed knowledge of the workings of the human heart and mind, Bashir had been slightly outside his ability to judge. Bashir was unusually confident, unable to believe that he had earned himself a quick path to the funeral pyre with his bold questioning. This was no accusation; he only meant to confirm between them something they both knew.
"I did," Teleri spoke at last. Bashir exhaled with a sudden sigh of relief. So it was true.
"Do you want to know why I did it?"
Bashir tensed up again. He hadn't thought things out that far. This always happened to him. He was never sharp enough to think things out to their logical conclusion. He had never expected Teleri to offer such a thing to him. Did he want to know or didn't he? While the fate of his predecessor had been relatively certain in his mind, the reasons behind it were far from clear. It could've happened as a result of a dozen factors. "You'll tell me?" he answered one question with another.
"Yeah, I'll do it."
In the seconds it took for Teleri to begin his response, several possibilities flashed through Bashir's mind and he settled on the one he found the most likely considering all the connected factors he was aware of: that Teleri had killed him because he was doing something illegal or heretical. Perhaps he was selling secrets to the Catalonians or the Ghirans or Sukaki, perhaps he was conspiring against one or both of the emperors, or he might have turned from the true faith in some particularly heinous manner. Which of these was the most plausible, Bashir could not say.
The answer was none of them. "I did it because Blessed Ilekano asked me to," Teleri announced, sharp and sure, "He did it for you, Bashir," he boldly spoke the younger man's name for the first time, "He wanted you to have this position, with me at your back."
That was probably the last thing Bashir had been expecting. He started in surprise, "No, there's no way. I don't believe it."
"Hey, the man was siphoning some funds for himself, but that's not enough reason to ask him to dinner and then stab him to the gut in a back alley." The sparkle of humor was unmistakable as it returned to Teleri's eyes, "You're glad I don't consider that enough reason, right?"
"But...for me...?" he reeled with the shock, leaning his arm back against the wall as his thoughts swirled in a dizzying disarray. He just couldn't make sense of it. Certainly his stepfather had been adamant about him taking the position, but to kill a man just to hand it to him, particularly when he had no special aptitude...it didn't make any sense. It was the kind of maneuver Tiokihawa might attempt, but it showed nothing of the cunning of Ilekano. It seemed so...so...empty. "He...didn't tell you why?" he asked Teleri, trying to make use of his unusual turn for the helpful.
"No, not a word," he said.
Bashir wondered if he could believe him.
Day/Theme: July 11, 2009 "destroy the dreams I ever dreamed"
Series: Original
Character/Pairing: Bashir, Teleri Shi'im
Rating: PG
"May I ask you something? Just one question?" Bashir whispered through the dark room to his subordinate.
Teleri was waiting casually, an arm thrown over the back of his chair. Only a vague outline of his face showed through the depths of the unlit room. He liked the power the darkness gave him. It was a tactic to strike fear into the hearts of those brought before him, but was it really necessary to employ this strategy when meeting with his supposed commander?
"Ask me anything you like, General," he answered. His whisper was a rougher, slightly softer version of his usual tone that implied an unfamiliarity with keeping his voice down.
"I want to know what happened to the man that proceeded me as inquisitor general. ...What really happened to him." He paused and steadied himself with a deep, slow breath. "And I think I already know the answer. I just want to hear it from you."
Teleri's smirk shriveled. He regarded his commander with a cold clearness that he had never displayed before. It might have held a kernel of respect at its center, but Bashir could not see him well enough to judge his feelings that well. "Then ask the question."
"Did you kill the previous inquisitor general?"
The musty air seemed to grow stagnant. Neither one of them was breathing. Teleri was not angry, he was only thoughtful. For all his supposed knowledge of the workings of the human heart and mind, Bashir had been slightly outside his ability to judge. Bashir was unusually confident, unable to believe that he had earned himself a quick path to the funeral pyre with his bold questioning. This was no accusation; he only meant to confirm between them something they both knew.
"I did," Teleri spoke at last. Bashir exhaled with a sudden sigh of relief. So it was true.
"Do you want to know why I did it?"
Bashir tensed up again. He hadn't thought things out that far. This always happened to him. He was never sharp enough to think things out to their logical conclusion. He had never expected Teleri to offer such a thing to him. Did he want to know or didn't he? While the fate of his predecessor had been relatively certain in his mind, the reasons behind it were far from clear. It could've happened as a result of a dozen factors. "You'll tell me?" he answered one question with another.
"Yeah, I'll do it."
In the seconds it took for Teleri to begin his response, several possibilities flashed through Bashir's mind and he settled on the one he found the most likely considering all the connected factors he was aware of: that Teleri had killed him because he was doing something illegal or heretical. Perhaps he was selling secrets to the Catalonians or the Ghirans or Sukaki, perhaps he was conspiring against one or both of the emperors, or he might have turned from the true faith in some particularly heinous manner. Which of these was the most plausible, Bashir could not say.
The answer was none of them. "I did it because Blessed Ilekano asked me to," Teleri announced, sharp and sure, "He did it for you, Bashir," he boldly spoke the younger man's name for the first time, "He wanted you to have this position, with me at your back."
That was probably the last thing Bashir had been expecting. He started in surprise, "No, there's no way. I don't believe it."
"Hey, the man was siphoning some funds for himself, but that's not enough reason to ask him to dinner and then stab him to the gut in a back alley." The sparkle of humor was unmistakable as it returned to Teleri's eyes, "You're glad I don't consider that enough reason, right?"
"But...for me...?" he reeled with the shock, leaning his arm back against the wall as his thoughts swirled in a dizzying disarray. He just couldn't make sense of it. Certainly his stepfather had been adamant about him taking the position, but to kill a man just to hand it to him, particularly when he had no special aptitude...it didn't make any sense. It was the kind of maneuver Tiokihawa might attempt, but it showed nothing of the cunning of Ilekano. It seemed so...so...empty. "He...didn't tell you why?" he asked Teleri, trying to make use of his unusual turn for the helpful.
"No, not a word," he said.
Bashir wondered if he could believe him.