exsiliumlogs | There can't be too many secrets between allies;

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: Room 207

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There can't be too many secrets between allies;

Date & Time: [Forward dated] January 9th; Some time during the day...
Location: Room 207
Characters: Closed to Elissa Cousland;
Summary: Blaine has a ton of questions, and interrogations are always better with food
Warnings: Blaine being himself.

Once her foray into the outlands was done, Blaine gave Elissa approximately one day to sleep, patch herself up or whatever else she needed to do before he invited her over. There were things to discuss. He shouldn't have delayed it for so long after she nominated him, but he was distracted by... someone, as he tended to be sometimes. Then she announced her trip and playing twenty questions with someone going out into the wilderness wasn't productive and he didn't want even the slightest chance of being a distraction by giving her too many things to think about. He was sure she was used to being out in the wild, and maybe he was just using that as an excuse to procrastinate himself. He was well aware that he wasn't going to be the only one asking questions, and he wasn't sure how much he was going to tell her. The blonde wasn't worried, but he was... cognizant of potential issues.

Blaine had just finished stir frying rice and vegetables when there was a knock at the door. He poured it into a bowl as he called out, "Come in!" because the odds were it was his guest. If not, his gun was tucked into the small of his back and ready.

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Elissa's not wanting to pry wasn't going to do her any favors. The information most relevant to her and her desires would take prying indeed. They were tucked away under layers of distractions and truths that were there to answer the mundane questions you got in every day conversation. He gave an amused smile, "I have rivals but not enemies. If any of them came here they wouldn't even be that anymore, since we have nothing to compete over."

Blaine leaned back in his chair. "True enough. Coordination and organizing all the little bits and pieces that pop up are what's going to take the most work. Not everyone wants to be kept track of or be included in others' plans." Getting people to cooperate and be a cohesive whole may or may not be a bitch to accomplish.

That earned him two raised eyebrows. "...What were you competing over?"

She nodded silently, looking thoughtful once more. There were so many other things to consider, especially as others put forth their opinions. Fiona's attempt at a defense meeting had fared better than others...but she had to be prepared for it to fall through, too, should the situation change. "Right. But I do hope to make us a more cohesive group, just the same. Even just so far as awareness may go. No one needs to participate every meeting...though we'll need the help should we be attacked again."

"Sales," Blaine said with a smile. Working for Pfizer & Co helped camouflage his exorbitant wealth, since no one really knew how much they made anyway. "Basically, I sold medicine to doctors by convincing them my product was the best available and better than whatever they were using before."

"Coming up with a basic plan will probably help. Showing people it's possible and reasonable can pull people in where they normally would just scoff and say no out of hand." Only the most reticent and unwilling wouldn't be at least a little interested if you showed them a plan. The skeptical would look just so they could pick it apart, and even that had its place in the planning process.

"But was it the best or were those simply lies?" Elissa was all right with deception to a certain degree. He had better tread carefully.

"It's one of the first things we need to show when we're approached. Pulling someone in and making them understand will mean more than simply ordering them around." Anora had the authority but Elissa had the understanding. She only hoped people were more willing to listen to her than to go along with a woman who could easily lead others into trouble, as she had with Elissa.

There's the slightest narrowing of his eyes at that question, because as much as he lies it was a point of pride to not sell shit to people. Whether the product was illegal or a totally legitimate pharmaceutical product his name was attached to it. He didn't attach his name to anything or anyone of low or mediocre quality. Then there was the implication, ever so slight, that his mother made inferior products. There's a sharpness to his smile as he answers, "I sell the best. My reputation is my brand." He didn't tell lies that would tarnish it, though other lies were always a possibility.

"We have too many strong-willed people to try the top-down method of enforcement." Blaine reached up to scratch his throat. "Do as I say, not as I do only works for children and sheep, and we don't want either of those. Not at this stage."

Regardless of how well she knew him or not, she could hear the tone in his voice and knew enough to believe him. With a nod, Elissa settled back in her chair. She could appreciate the pride he had in his work. But she knew little of what it was and what it meant to someone in his era.

"Then what would you propose, specifically?"

"Propose for what? Organization?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows at her. They lowered and he lifted the hand from his neck and ticked off fingers. "You want personal self-defense and a battle ready force. There has to be a system in place where everyone is alerted immediately and people in charge of those who show up. Then people to usher in others to a safe area outside of the fight."

He drew his legs in some and then propped an ankle on one knee. "Do you have a hierarchical structure you want to use and people you want to plug in to those places?"

"For all of it. You've asked what my plans were but you can't tell me you had none of your own." He stepped forward without a great deal of hesitation. She didn't believe him to be coy. He had plans, possibly not to be implemented on such a grand scale, but he still had them.

She shook her head. "I think having Anora and Edgeworth do some of the work would be excellent, actually." She wasn't fond of using people. But they were supposed to work together on three separate teams, weren't they? "Anora has plans. I'll watch her and see what happens. Edgeworth is connected to the police force. If they do their jobs, we can all benefit from the same cooperative forces, so long as we're all friendly and cordial."

"I don't like being left out of the loop, and so this was my way of knowing what was going on. An organized group to pool information instead of me hitting up individuals one at a time by myself." He shrugged at Elissa. "I agree with all that you want to accomplish, and I think Edgeworth would be a good liaison between us and the Police Force that's been established, if it lasts long enough."

He reached over to pour himself another drink. "If Anora is so politically minded, maybe she should deal directly with the Initiative and their leaders. My main concern is to avoid being blindsided because of lack of information, and that is the only plan I have that might differ from yours."

"It was smart of you," she commented idly. To stand around the group and get information that way was wise. Even better, still, to examine the group dynamic and see who wanted to lead and who was only interested in abject criticism. She was glad she chose him; even if she knew little about him, she still thought he was the best choice.

Elissa watched him, raising an eyebrow. "I don't want to be blindsided either. I think allowing her to deal with the Initiative is wise, but she will certainly withhold information."

"The opportunity fell into my lap," and he sipped from his glass. "I stumbled on the meeting by accident. The first notifications came out before I was pulled here." He considered it a lucky turn of events.

"Most likely she will, thinking a tidbit of information here or there will keep her valuable and cement her place in the thick of things. Normally that's fine, but this isn't Thedas, where people are lurking around to commit regicide if she stops being useful."

Blaine took another sip of his juice. "Keeping information from them about us is fine, but I worry she's too concerned about her own head and relevance. She won't be the only person I'd put in the Initiatives sights." Even then, Blaine had ideas about recording what she talked to people about.

"I don't think she'll keep information from them. I think she'll keep it from us." Loghain had his secrets. He took over as the regent, despite claiming that Anora never stopped being queen. And she'd done her own share of heavy dealings, back and forth, and Elissa was beaten and dragged into a twice damned dungeon for her efforts. She didn't trust Anora.

"What will benefit the group can easily benefit her first. And she'll take advantage of that fact, sell her own skills, and make certain that she's given first priority. She's clever." Elissa knew that much. She would never underestimate Anora. "I simply worry that we could all end up in the lurch for all of her 'noble intentions'."

"That's what I dislike the most." Blaine drank from his glass for a while, slowly draining it until it was half full. "Too busy trying to trip us up to really be of enough use to anyone but herself."

Blaine did his fair share of information holding and haggling for his own benefit, but it didn't go so far as to cripple the Organization as a whole. He put his glass down. "Benefits or not, it doesn't sound like her being the Initiative contact would be good for anyone but her in the long run."

"It's what she's good at." When Anora has the people in mind, her people, she'll give no quarter to anyone else. With a population that is hardly Fereldan in nature, it would be a bit more difficult to decipher where her alliance was beyond herself. It didn't make her selfish to Elissa but it did make her dangerous to anyone she didn't count as an ally. And after what Elissa did regarding Cailan... Well. She wasn't on Anora's good list.

"Probably not. But we'll need to see how the vote goes." It wasn't in their hands any longer. "We can, however, push to make ourselves look like the better option."

"If that's what she's good at then we need to be part of the group that benefits her or deny her what she wants." There was that saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but how close did you want to keep a poisonous snake? Better to keep it close so you knew where it was? Or let it free to accidentally step on later? Or, his preferred method, chop off the head and burn the pieces.

"Lock her out of the voting and go to the Initiative to poison the well against her before she can worm her way in there. Assuming she hasn't yet. How well does a Queen do without an arm to exert her will?"

[[New thread please /o/]]

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There can't be too many secrets between allies;

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