"An explanation would be much appreciated," he mouthed to Eighth Headman.
She raised an eyebrow and looked around, then pointed to herself, as if to say "Talking to me?" She mouthed back, "I'm sure it would. But for once, I'm as clueless as your boring self."
She continued after inflating her voice to a low whisper. "I was making myself merry and comfortable here when she came in behind me. She curled up on your side there, and when I sat to--" He raised his hand. When Eighth Headman sat, Ch-4 moved to her lap. The former was too confused to do anything except wait until his arrival, and here they were. He studied her, searching for signs he hoped not to find.
And he didn't find them. Instead, he found all the signs of sleep deprivation. Depressions under the eyes and paleness once masked by rare face additives. Stale breath. Drooping corners of the mouth and eyelids. A small, unconscious tremor in her fingers. He knew how they got there, didn't know why they were there, and relieved he hadn't found what he first searched for. That left some questions that needed asking; he was reluctant, though, to wake her, especially when the signs of her needing rest were so pronounced.
He rose and moved behind his desk, pulling out two soft cushions connected by an arched band of synthetic material. He returned, and, careful to disturb her, slipped the ear muffler over her head. After checking they covered her ears, he sat. "Let's carry on; we can confront her after."
"Right." Eighth Headman adjusted her hold and brushed Ch-4's hair with light fingers. He wanted to object but knew it to be an exercise in futility. They began in earnest, switching back and forth on different topics, until they came to the item on their agenda that concerned him most: how Ch-4's bloc knew what they did, especially after all the preparations made by the First.
"I'm still mad, you know. I understand keeping that information out of the home interest's hands, but what about the militarists? You left us in the dark, boring man, completely unable to assist you when it all came crashing down."
"I'm sorry, but I can't trust you yet."
She rolled her eyes. "Still with this? After we've known each other for so long, I have no idea how to make you abandon the ridiculous notion that there might be--" Her eyes flicked down to Ch-4. The younger woman muttered something and shifted, one arm wrapping around Eighth Headman's midsection. "You know. That."
"I have proof," he offered.
"Which you won't show me."
"Not until I can trust you."
"Do you trust the Third, then?"
"He didn't know either, did he?"
She grimaced. "Guess not. Still, this divide can't continue if we're going to remain a united front against her coalition. Yes, we have the Sixth now--strange how easy it was for you to make that happen," she eyed him with playful suspicion, "and the Ninth isn't far behind, but new support won't mean anything if the existing foundations are rusting."
"That was a bad analogy. Scutumsteel doesn't rust." He hid a smile and the rest of his face behind one of the cushions as Eighth Headman's foot flicked up, almost catching his chin.
"Hmph. Boring man." She spoke it like an insult. "I meant what I said."
"I know. Believe me, I know."
"But you won't settle things?"
"I can't."
"Then can I assume that whatever you sent the Flux Monolith and Dervish's Palm to do relates to that?" When silence was the answer, she nodded. "I thought so."
She changed topics, sudden and without warning, much like most of what she did. "How's Pa-5?"
"Alive." He felt the chills returning.
"Have you seen her?"
"Yes."
"And spent time with her?" When silence came as an answer a second time, Eighth Headman grunted and lashed out with her foot. He let this one connect. "Boring man, come~ on~. Do better!"
"I…"
"You blame yourself, is that it? I say damn that." Compared to In-3, Eighth Headman was hardly conservative with her improper grammatical inclusions. "The Aud will gut every last one of us sooner or later; it's a matter of who gets gutted first, nothing else."
"Oh, come on~!" Seeing her words weren't making the intended mark, she poked him a third time. "Did you think you could protect her forever? Like you thought you could protect her?"
Her grin was on full display when he reacted. Swallowing a heavy breath, he sank further into the sofa. "That's rude."
"You made it necessary. Talk to me, and I won't need to resort to drastic measures to keep a conversation going!"
"That's hardly a 'drastic measure.'"
"Too bad, disappointing. Blame the Aud and move on. Or, if you can't bring yourself to do that, at least don't blame yourself. It's the worst thing you can do right now when she needs you most. If she wakes up and you're not there, how do you think that's going to make her feel?"
He could imagine. Like she wasn't important enough to make time for, at best. And at worst…he chose to not envision that side. But still…
"Look, if you're that convinced that you're at fault, punish yourself, or whatever you want to think, by doing exactly what you don't want to: see her, and stay with her. The First can survive without its Prime Beacon for a few hours."
"You give bad advice."
He hadn't said that; he didn't sound like that, either. They both looked down at Eighth Headman's lap, finding Ch-4 rubbing her eyes and yawning. Despite coming back to the waking world, she made no move to extricate herself from her position. Eighth Headman's eyes twinkled. "Really? Why is that?"
"You told him not to blame himself, then switched at the end. Telling him to do one thing, and then the opposite is bad advice. It's confusing and unhelpful."
The older woman snorted. "How long were you awake for?"
"Only now."
Eighth Headman didn't push, settling for rolling her eyes and uttering "mm-hmm." "Are you planning on moving?"
"Are you?"
"No. His sofa is more comfortable than mine."
"Me neither. Mine too."
"I'm the only headman with a sofa," he cut in. They glanced over and shrugged in unison.
"Huh, that must be why."
"Makes sense. I should come in here to sleep more often"
"Please don't. I'd rather not have the leader of the home interest bloc make a more permanent stay in my office."
Ch-4 tilted her head. "I don't understand. In-3 is our faction's representative."
"And I don't understand why you're trying to act. We both know all he is, is the loudest voice, far from the most important." When she leaned back to stare at the ceiling, he chuckled. "Fine, be that way."
"Stop that."
"Stop what?"
"Treating me like a child."
"You are, to me."
"Is Pa-5 as well?"
"Yes."
"Interesting. I don't know why you call him 'boring man'," she said to Eighth Headman, "he's so interesting I doubt he ever had a boring bone in his body."
"You should see him off-duty. He's so boring then, he makes up for anything he does differently now."
"...you know what your problem is? Your brain is too smooth."
"Hmm…?" Eighth Headman looked across the sofa. "Do I want to know what that means?"