[ P ] caught in your vicegrip

As she finally conceded he was free to go... just in time for another soldier to rear his ugly mug at the very end of the alleyway. There was no way out. He wasn't as confident he could take two Imperials so before he was spotted, he ducked behind a pile of rubble to the left of the alleyway. He could see the man turning their way between the wall and the pile he now hid behind and he turned to look back towards Calla, his eyes wide as he drew a paw to his lips and gestured for her to keep quiet. It didn't look like he'd been seen yet.

"You wouldn't have happened to see a big guy with brown fur and orange eyes running around these parts, would you Miss?" a deep voice asked.

Declan's ears titled back on his head as he edged against the wall, keeping plastered to it as if it were his only lifeline. The man had stopped just short of the pile and had no view of him but one wrong move or a word from Calla and he was caught. It was probably border patrol looking for him. They might've tailed him since he'd crossed for all he'd known. Fuck, fuck, fuck! he thought, his mind beginning to race. He could hear his father's berating words now... You stupid shit, why the fuck would you go and get yourself caught? He stilled his breaths and kept his eye on Calla, praying to whatever fucking God was up there that she would take pity on him and send that man on his way.

Before the other was able to see Declan, he had slunk into the shadows. Calla turned around to face the male that had come towards them. She thought about what Declan had said, and she really wanted to know what he was hiding. Why was he hiding? She weighed her options, and she knew what the right thing to do was, but her curiosity was killing her. “Sorry, I have not..” she said as she moved to try and help block the view of Declan from the soldier. The other wolf gave a nod of his head and moved on past the alley without trying to see past her form. Calla waited until she could barely hear the paw steps moving away from the pair. Then she turned to face him. “Can we continue with our question game?” He could have attacked her, he could have attacked the other, and he chose neither. To Calla, this meant that some of Declan must be even a little good. “Do you have a surname, Mr. Declan?” She sat down in the alley, no longer feeling the need to stand. She was still in the middle, so if he did choose to try and get past her, it would not be easy. She wanted answers, so if she gave him a small show of false loyalty, would he do the same back? “Right before your eyes...” @Declan

He bit his tongue and closed his eyes as he sent up a silent prayer to anyone that was listening. It must've worked because the next words out of Calla's mouth were that she hadn't seen him. He opened on eye, then the other, to see her moving slightly to further block him from view. What was her game? he wondered curiously. He didn't know what she was playing at but for fuck sake he was glad she was playing at all. The man took her word for it and retreated, the paw steps fading down the alley and out onto the street. Declan let out a heavy breath and rested the back of his head against the stone wall in relief.

At that moment, Calla turned back to face him and asked if they could continue their little question game and then, if he had a surname. He clenched his jaw, wishing she'd just let it go, but he supposed he did owe her one now. Oh well, might as well rip off the bandage. "O'Conaill," he grumbled. He had no idea whether the name would sound familiar to her or if he'd just dug himself another grave by revealing his affiliation to Lachlan.

He stepped away from the wall then and prowled up to her, his eyes glinting with curiosity. "You didn't have to do that, but I'm sure as shit glad you did." he said. "Why are you so interested in me that you'd turn away a fellow soldier?" he asked, quirking a brow as he looked down at her. He couldn't be that interesting.

As he came forward, she watched him carefully. She knew better than to trust someone from the north, but she had trusted a few of them already. He had not shown any aggression towards her, only a verbal attempt as a threat. “If you must know... Mr. Declan O'Conaill... you are correct.” She said with a smile. “I could have turned you in and gotten myself a medal of some kind just for that. But you would have wound up in prison or worse. I have seen and witnessed those locked up behind those iron bars...” She paused for a moment, recollecting the poor state that the unnamed male had been in. Not to mention the one with rumors that he had been a murderer, but she had not seen an aggressive bone in his body. “Sure, you were running late at night - which is suspicious, I must admit, and an ....odd.... odor is associated with your coat..” she was just going off of her thoughts at this point. “But I suppose you can call it being nosey.” She wondered how he would respond to such things. He could possibly attack her right where she sat, but why would he? She already said she was not going to turn him in and she proved it as well, sending the soldier on his way. Surely more could be lingering around the area - patrolling. Something deep inside of her told her to stay where she was, to try and get more information out of this male. She wondered just what I might do. And then she started to think more. What was he possibly doing, running away from someone or something this late at night and also having that odd smell wrapped around his form. “So if you are not from here - what is so important to risk your life to be here?” Calla had to admit deep down, she was very curious of this male - wanting to know everything he would offer. “Right before your eyes...” @Declan

She does not recoil upon hearing his surname and perhaps he was wrong to think his father's name had any far-reaching effect to those outside the Guild. He was glad for that, anyway, for it wasn't exactly legal what he and his family did. Instead she seemed against he idea of him winding up in prison or 'worse' as she so daintily put it. His gaze flickered over her curiously and he wondered what an Imperial might care about a criminal getting what they deserved.

"If you must know, I was running from border patrol. I'm on a job. One I've royally fucked up," he said, not bothering to refer to the odor that might be lingering on his pelt. He wasn't in possession of anything that would get him in trouble currently so just a smell was little proof.

His ears angled back on his head when she asked why risk it and he simply shrugged. "This border business is stupid and I have work everywhere. I can't just... stop because some King said I can't go where I please anymore." he explained. "There would be consequences," he added, shaking his head. He was in too deep to get out now and he feared he'd be stuck under his father's thumb forever. Killian talked about taking over someday but then what? Where would that leave Declan? He grumbled quietly to himself before starting to pace back and forth across the short alleyway. He felt like he was practically bouncing off the walls at this point.

"You're an Imperial. You wouldn't understand any of it." he said, throwing her an accusing stare.

The whole idea that the lands would be split was rather silly. She often liked to go to the northern areas and see what nature had to offer them. Now she was not allowed to do such a thing anymore. It was terrible. Families would probably be broken up, and that was even more upsetting to her. She did not have any family to speak of, “I would have to agree with you on the whole idea of patrolling the borders and keeping ones from being able to cross over..” She gave a gentle nod of her head. It was not that she needed to be able to go there. But it would have been nice to visit. “I wish things were different...” she said, mostly to herself. She looked to the male and smile appeared on her features. She realized that he thought she was a soldier herself. Interesting.. Maybe that was why he didn't actually attack her when he could have? “Not all Imperial soldiers are cut from the same cloth. Some choose to have compassion for others. Some dutifully follow the rules set before them.” She looked to him and wondered if he would decide which she was. She had more faith in others than she probably should have. “Right before your eyes...” @Declan

Declan blinked when she agreed with him, completely caught off guard on the fact that he could share common ground with an Imperial. He supposed it wasn't unlikely that they weren't all rule-following robots but he had yet to run into someone that exhibited any amount of free will. "I wish they were different, too." he admitted easily enough. The war had brought strife with it to these lands and while he didn't really stand on either side he could see both. It wasn't hard when your own views didn't align with one black or white side but were more... gray in color.

She corrected him gently, telling him that not all soldiers were the same and he snorted, his tail waving behind him. "I guess I can't say you're not wrong," he said. She was proof of that, if anything. She'd risked her skin just to save his own hide and that wasn't something just any Imperial would do. Did that mean he trusted her? Not entirely. His ear flicked and he heaved a sigh. "I lost my package on the way into town..." he mused quietly. How was he supposed to complete his job without it? For all he knew border patrol had already found it but he prayed they hadn't. He didn't trust Calla enough to ask her with help on finding it but he figured it was out in the woods still, somewhere.

It was odd. Everything she had been taught about the Jacobites, it was not always true. From her first interaction to the others she had come across, and now this wolf. He was not from her homelands, but he was the "enemy". Who was to say that the package he had lost had ill intentions? Perhaps it was something that Rionnach had not allowed or recently banned for some reason? She was not going to be the judge or jury for this male. He had been polite to her, and he had very little reason to be if he were the "enemy". “I would be careful, Declan... if you choose to wander into these parts often. This place is not safe for you. If I were to help you get your package, and potentially escort you home, at least to the border - would that be of aid to you?” She was very curious of him, and although something inside of her mind screamed danger, she did not fear him. Her instincts told her not to trust him, but the tiny voice inside of her heart told her to be brave, to see through the goodness that was deep in him. He was smart to hide it, as most wolves were. But Calla could not help herself, it had seemed. “Right before your eyes...” @Declan