please don't yell :: tamar

Amerie's heart had been in her throat all day. A few days ago the Dian overloridian had sent word to her, asking if they could set up a meeting to discuss "important things". Today was the day they had settled on, and Amerie was sure this was the day she was going to be told what an awful leader she was.

She'd heard it before, of course. From her parents and tutor. Mostly after they first met Aran, and also whenever she made a decision without consulting them first. Also whenever they saw Aran. Even now, weeks after Amerie had first hired her. It probably had something to do with her hair. Oh well.

Amerie had never met Tamar before, but she could only imagine what she would have to say to her. What was Amerie doing wrong now? She was honestly trying her best, but that just didn't seem to be good enough. Aran's encouragements were the only thing keeping her going, but even those seemed less effective lately. She was probably just being nice.

All day she had suffered from a tummy ache--her whole body nervous for this meeting. And now it was time. Tamar would be here any minute and--

"Overloridian Lux?" asked Mellan, sticking his head into Amerie's office. He was one of Amerie's butlers. "The Dian overloridian is here."

"B-bring her in," she responded. It was happening. It was happening.

Tamar wasn't exactly feeling extremely confident herself. It wasn't as though she was nervous about meeting the new Solas overloridian, Amerie Lux--far from it, in fact--but there was a lot at stake in this meeting. Tamar was going to pitch her power plant idea to Amerie, which was necessary because she had recently cut off all trade with Deilig, which had once supplied Dian with its energy. If Amerie said no...if she said no...

I'll either go down in history as the worst Dian overloridian of all time, Tamar thought to herself, Or I'll have to go crawling back to Kole and give him what he wants.

She wasn't sure which was worse.

She gathered herself and knocked at the door to the Solas mansion. A servant answered, and led her to Amerie's office.

Be polite, remember? Telpin warned her. Tamar had a habit of being too arrogant for her own good, which tended to put people off.

"Hello, are you Amerie?" Tamar greeted the young girl in her most polite, professional voice. This was the Solas overloridian? She looked like a frightened child. "I'm Tamar Batel, and I came here to..."

She trailed off when she happened to look around the room and take in the state of Amerie's office. It was in complete disarray, with paperwork piling up all over the desk like crazy.

Great. Another incompetent. "Is this a bad time?" she asked flatly.

Oh, Tamar, Telpin sighed.

Amerie was almost calming down when Tamar started to introduce herself and then

Tamar wrote:Is this a bad time?

Her voice was flat. It made Amerie wish she were flat. Amerie watched as Tamar looked around the room, obvious disgust on her face.

"I-it's my off week," Amerie stuttered out. Hadley had told her that taking time off and letting things go for awhile was the best way to go about stressful overloridian stuff, so Amerie was trying to take his advice. For some reason it wasn't working, though. Every night she tossed and turned thinking of all the things she needed to do, yet knowing she wasn't going to do them.

Which is why I keep telling you to actually, you know, do them, Caviar reminded her in her ear.

Caviar didn't know what he was talking about, of course. He knew just as much about being an overloridian as she did. Hadley had been doing this for years. So she ignored him yet again, although that also wasn't something she liked doing.

"It's why I had you wait a few days," Amerie explained, pushing some things out of the way. She had even purposely left the room a mess so that maybe Tamar would see she was doing things the proper way. "Today is the day I start back on my duties!"

Tamar still didn't look happy. Amerie wished she could melt into the ground.

Tamar was dumbfounded. This was not happening. This was not happening. She could not partner with someone on a huge energy reform project who couldn't even do her fucking paperwork. Oh, the fates were cruel. This was the end.

Having almost completely lost it, Tamar took a step forward and opened her mouth to explode at Amerie about her incompetence, when Telpin shouted, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! in her head so loudly that she stopped. Just. Wait. The power plant thing could still work.

Are you kidding!? Tamar demanded. Are you hearing what I just heard? An OFF WEEK!?

She's new. She needs help, Telpin explained. So help her. And maybe she'll help you.

Tamar considered this. She didn't like the idea, but what choice did she have? None, except for the aforementioned 'Worst Overloridian Ever' and 'Do What Kole Wants.' Ugh. 'Help Incompetent Girl' it was.

"Okay," Tamar said, taking a deep breath, forcing herself calm. "Okay. Please tell me...why you feel the need for an 'off week'?"

Tamar's eyes got all big and her face got all angry and Amerie was SURE it was time for her to yell, but then her face suddenly smoothed out. A little.

Tamar wrote:"Okay. Please tell me...why you feel the need for an 'off week'?"

Well, that wasn't what Amerie was expecting. "H-Hadley told me you all do it," she said meekly. "That it would clear my head."

Amerie's mind suddenly tried to grasp at the memory of exactly what Hadley had told her. Was she doing it wrong? Had she misinterpreted what he had said?

Tamar ran her hands through her hair in clear frustrations. Hadley told her to do it. How was it that she seemed to be able to trace all her problems back to two specific overloridians? Hadley fucking Sterling needed a good smack upside the head. With a large blunt object. Wielded by her.

Alright. Okay. So this wasn't necessarily Amerie's fault. Sure, she was a complete and total idiot, but at least she hadn't come up with the brilliant idea of an off week on her own.

"Let me tell you something about Hadley Sterling," Tamar said in the most patient voice she could muster. "He's a compulsive liar who would find it funny to give you bad advice just to see whether or not you would follow it."

It may have been a bit of a harsh way to break it to Amerie, but the girl needed to know. Tamar should probably tell her what she needed to know about the other overloridians as well, but she'd get to that later.

Amerie grimaced when Tamar ran her fingers through her hair. This was not good, not good at all.

She listened to Tamar explain about Hadley, her voice sounding agitated.

WHAT did I tell you? Caviar exclaimed loudly. His words rang in her ears.

"He--he what?" Amerie stammered, her eyes growing and heart dropping. "Why would he do that?"

Tamar watched Amerie's eyes widen with surprise and sadness and began to feel a little bit of pity for this girl. Sure, it was dumb to believe anything Hadley said, but Amerie had obviously never been warned of that ahead of time. Why hadn't the old Solas overloridian taught her anything? This all could have been avoided.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have had a mentor like Thema, Telpin said wisely.

"I don't know," Tamar said honestly to Amerie with a sigh. "He's...not a good person, Amerie. Look, let me help you."

Without waiting for a response she walked over and sat at Amerie's desk. "The real trick is to organize everything in order of importance," she explained, getting to work. She began to sort through Amerie's papers. "If you can't organize these all yourself, hire a secretary."

"You can delegate some of the less important work," she continued. Pretty soon she had Amerie's mess sorted into three neat piles of paperwork that looked much less intimidating. "But always get the most important work done yourself, first. Always. The work doesn't go away. That's a fact."

"And never, ever, ever trust anything Hadley says. In fact, the only overloridians you should trust are me, Aspen Flint, Paisley Sommers, and Liam Pendant. Understand?"

She looked back up at Amerie with a stern look on her face. She had better understand or it was going to be a long, hard road ahead for the both of them.

Amerie watched as Tamar quickly sorted through the haphazard assortment of paperwork that was scattered over her desk. Soon there were smaller piles that made Amerie's stress level drop by about 50 points.

She listened to Tamar's advice and then nodded her head meekly. She wanted to ask why she could trust those certain clio and not the others, but she was intimidated and didn't want to ask questions. So she just swallowed and gave a small, "Thank you."

Tamar frowned slightly. That wasn't a "yes." Oh well, Tamar wasn't going to hold every little thing against this poor girl. Besides, she really needed to get down to business. "Anyways," she went on, standing up from Amerie's desk. "The reason I came today is to propose an idea I've had for a while to form a new partnership between Dian and Solas."

She reached into a bag she had carried with her and pulled out the document that detailed her proposal. Handing it to Amerie, she continued in her 'professional mode'. "I believe it would be mutually beneficial to both eilemaiden. Look over it and tell me your thoughts."

This was the moment of truth. All she needed was for Amerie to agree, and then Tamar could take over the rest.

Maybe offer her something in return? Telpin suggested, apparently feeling that her 'mutually beneficial' comment wasn't convincing enough. Let her know you're really on her side.

"I can, er, help you out with some of your work in return," Tamar added hastily. "Get you caught up...give you some real pointers. What do you say?"

Say yes say yes say yes say yes.

"Real pointers?" Amerie asked quietly. What did real pointers even mean. It seemed like there was no such thing as a real pointer. Who could she trust?

Maybe Aran was right and you should just listen to your own instincts, Caviar offered. Tamar seemed nice enough, and she didn't rub Caviar the same way Hadley had, but still.

Amerie contemplated the offer, and looked down at the documents that Tamar had handed her. "A power plant?" she asked, looking up. "I thought I read somewhere that Dian got its power from Deilig."

Tamar sighed in annoyance. She wasn't annoyed at Amerie (anymore,) but just thinking about Deilig irritated her now. "We used to," she admitted. "But after some recent events, I just can't trust the Deilig overloridian to have anything to do with Dian anymore."

She paused. Amerie had already been tricked by Hadley. She probably wouldn't stand a chance against Kole.

"In fact," she added. "You should probably avoid having anything to do with him too."

Why would Dian not trust Deilig?

"Why, though?"

Amerie had taken too much advice from too many clio who turned out to not know what they were doing. She wasn't going to write off this Kole guy just because Tamar told her to. Not until she had a reason, at least.

Amerie tapped the papers so that they were all aligned. She was going to agree (she had no reason not to), but she wanted to hear about these 'recent events'.

There was absolutely no point to keeping this a secret from Amerie. As an overloridian she deserved--no, needed to know about Kole. Plus, Tamar felt that the more people who knew what he was really like, the better.

"It's hard to explain," Tamar began. Kole had never explicitly been caught doing anything wrong, that she knew of, but everyone who had ever met him knew he was up to no good. Not to mention his grating personality. He would tear Amerie apart if they ever met one on one. "The Deilig overloridian is the type of person who only cares about himself. He threatened to cut off my country's energy supply if I didn't help him with some secret project that he wouldn't even tell me any details about. He'd go to any lengths to get what he wants, and definitely isn't above using underhanded methods. I'm not about to go along with whatever it is he's scheming, which is why I need your help."

Amerie weighed her options. Amerie had gotten a few congratulatory letters from other overloridians once she had settled, but Kole had not been one of them. She hadn't really had any contact with him at all in the few months she'd been in power.

Hmmm.

Amerie sat the papers back down on the desk. "I think this should work," she told Tamar, talking about the deal she had brought to Solas.

"I guess I just never knew that the overloridians didn't get along. I'm just... surprised. I really wasn't expecting any of this," she admitted. And it seemed like no matter how hard she tried, she kept getting caught up in her naivety.

"I am trying," she told Tamar. She didn't want Tamar to think she was completely incapable. "It's just... a lot."

Tamar couldn't help but let a sigh of relief escape her lips. She wasn't usually so candid with her emotions in front of other overloridians, but this was just so important to her, and to Dian as a whole. She would never have to depend on Kole again.

"Thank you, Amerie," she said. "You have no idea what this means to Dian."

Amerie wrote:"I guess I just never knew that the overloridians didn't get along. I'm just... surprised. I really wasn't expecting any of this," she admitted. And it seemed like no matter how hard she tried, she kept getting caught up in her naivety.

"I am trying," she told Tamar. She didn't want Tamar to think she was completely incapable. "It's just a lot."

Tamar's expression, which tended to be sour by default, softened at Amerie's words. Maybe she had been a little hasty in making her initial opinion of the girl as being incompetent. Sure, she had been making a lot of mistakes, but she was just inexperienced, and it wasn't her fault that Hadley had taken advantage of that.

Whoa, whoa, are you actually going easy on someone for once? Telpin asked in surprise. Usually Tamar accepted absolutely no excuses when it came to someone's performance, especially other overloridians. What's this girl doing to you, Tamar?

Tamar ignored his teasing. "I can see that you're trying," she said. Amerie might be having a hard time, but at least she cared. She had potential. Tamar thought of reaching out, maybe putting her hand on Amerie's shoulder, but that just seemed too awkward to try. "And I know you might be a little wary of hearing this, but I wasn't kidding when I offered my help. I have been doing this for almost ten years, after all."

She really hoped Amerie would take her up on the offer, but was worried that she might be too distrustful after Hadley's little game with her.

"Tamar might seem kinda mean, but she does want what's best for everyone," Telpin whispered to Amerie's daemon, who was fluttering about nearby. Tamar heard him and shot him an annoyed look.

Amerie smiled at Tamar. For having had such a scary presence when she walked in she was actually kind of nice.

"Thank you," Amerie said, this time with more conviction and less fear. "I will probably end up taking you up on that offer." All her life she had wanted to eventually be a good overloridian. The first few months hadn't been what she was expecting, but maybe with Tamar's help things could get better.

For a few more hours the two overloridians hashed out a plan that would benefit both eilemaidens. Dian would provide metals and workers to help actually build the power plant in the southern district of Solas, and eventually Amerie would prove Solas workers to keep up the electricity which would flow into Dian, supplying them with power.

In the end, when Tamar finally left to return to Dian, Amerie felt oddly at ease. She had formed an alliance (this time, one that seemed completely legit), and had made a business deal that would probably bring in a good source of income for Solas for years to come. Not only that, but Tamar had helped her sort through her papers, which Amerie decided she would start work on immediately.

Maybe life was looking up.