TRP: Gavi, Goro, and Immanuel (Negotiation)

**COYOTE**

 [SETTING: Day 261. Gavi passes the note from Levi to
Immanuel.]

The note was brief. It said, What do we do? I'm sorry for
always dragging you into this shit. Don't die.

Yeah, that was just like Immanuel. Short and to the point.
Didn't even sign his name. Immanuel crumpled it up and reread it a dozen times,
alternately angry at Levi, at the damned humans, and at himself.

They fucking tricked him.. They'd kept both him and Levi.
Idiotic mistake. Of course he knew they'd try to trick him, but he'd expected
himself to see it, subvert it.

Immanuel sat in the cell, eyes closed, resting quietly
against the wall, trying to come up with a plan and failing.

**ABBY**

Gavi hung close by Immanuel's cell. She'd done what she
could. Fuck-all that it was. "I'm sorry," she said. "I wish it
wasn't this way." It was though. And wasn't that a fuckin' shame.

**COYOTE**

 Huh. Maybe this could be useful.

"What do you mean?" Immanuel said carefully.

**ABBY**

"I mean." What did she mean? Gavi ran her hand
through her hair. "I mean I wish I didn't have to fuckin... sit here while
you're in there. Feel like a traitor." She wasn't. She would never. But
here she was, sitting around outside a cell while one of hers sat inside it.
Felt real fuckin' wrong.

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel rested his head against the wall and watched her
for a while. "It's alright. I know you think you did the right thing, doda.
You always do."

**ABBY**

Gavi laughed bitterly. "I 'think' I did the right
thing. Yeah. Fucking you too huh?" Was this how Griffin'd felt? So very,
very alone? Fucking awful. "I told you what I saw," she said.
"Does that sound like a god you wanna serve? Want Levi to serve?"

**COYOTE**

 "Hey, hey. Gavrielle," Immanuel said. He didn't
move from where he sat. "Ah, I didn't mean-- that wasn't what I
meant." He pieced it together. "The world is complicated, yes? And we
have all these... pieces. And we all do what is best for ourselves. Now, I can't
say if what you did was right. I don't think there is a right, doda. But you
did what you thought was best, just like I did what I thought was best."

He didn't respond to the other part. He could say, Yeah, I
don't fuckin' serve Gruumsh and never did. Seemed counter-productive, though.
Might throw her off, knowing he'd just been lying to the tribe for a good
twenty years.

**ABBY**

"And you still don't think I got a good enough reason
to do what I did to back me up," Gavi said flatly.

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel was sitting with his eyes closed, but he peeked one
eye open to look at her.

"Back you up," he said.

**ABBY**

"Yeah. Back me up. Help me convince Levi that it ain't
worth it." Gavi leaned forwards, resting her elbows on her knees and
staring Immanuel down. "Between the two of us I think we could shake 'em.
You love him. I do too. So help me save him."

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel nodded slowly.

She was probably right. They probably could turn Levi
against Gruumsh. Frankly it'd make Immanuel's life a whole lot easier. He'd
also get to talk to Levi and make a plan to escape. Maybe they could talk under
the guise of trying to convert Levi.

"No, you're right," Immanuel said, trying to sound
fervent. "We can convince him. Doda, I've had my doubts about Gruumsh for
a while, but... I was always too afraid to speak the truth, to admit I wavered.
We ought to talk to him. Can you bring him here?"

Then they could make a plan and get out. Go live on a beach
somewhere. No more damned armies or damned Bloodgrut or fucking Gruumsh.

**ABBY**

Well now. That was... a lot fucking easier than Gavi had
been expecting. She chewed her lip, glancing at the guards. "I-- can't.
Not right now. But we'll figure something out. All right? I'll... I'll figure
something out." Between the two of them they'd turn Levi. And then... Gavi
didn't fucking know, she'd figure it out when they got there.

**LINA**

Goro had hoped to talk to Immanuel alone, or with someone
like Larkin helping him out. But nah. Fuckin' Gavi was there.

That was alright. Goro could work around it.

He sauntered up to the cell and stared at Immanuel through
the bars for a moment. Then he smiled. "Hey, lover boy."

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel flipped him off with both hands.

**ABBY**

Gavi snorted and cackled. "He's got two
boyfriends," she said to Immanuel. "I don't think he's got room to
talk."

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel folded his legs again. "You want something,
lover boy, or you just come to gloat?"

**LINA**

"I do want something, as a matter of fact. I'm looking
to reunite you--" Goro pointed at him and clicked his tongue-- "with
your special guy."

**COYOTE**

 "I'm listening."

**ABBY**

Gavi stood up and leaned against the cell bars, where she
could watch Goro and Immanuel. What angle was he playing here?

**LINA**

"Breaks my heart to keep the two of you split up, it
really does. I'm hoping we can remedy the situation as quick as possible. You
know why we're not letting you see each other, right?"

**COYOTE**

 "Enlighten me."

**LINA**

"Well, the two of you are two of the enemy's most
powerful. I can't have you conspiring, and shit, you know? So my goal's to talk
to you, and hopefully convince you that working for that asshole Bloodgrut is a
lost cause. Then, once I feel comfortable knowing neither of you's gonna go
running back to him, I let you go. And ideally, you go to work for me and my
crew. Just like Gavi, here." He snapped his fingers. "Mercy. That's
the word I'm thinking of. I'm offering you mercy, instead of an
execution."

**ABBY**

"Hey." Gavi leaned in a little closer, baring her
teeth at Goro. "Who said you get to execute any of mine at all?"

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel considered this.

He thought, Yeah, fat chance. I'm done taking orders from
people. First chance I get, I'm gone.

And then he thought, Fuck Bloodgrut, though. It would be
good to smash his weasley face in. The problem was, though, Immanuel didn't
want to be on the losing side of this little conflict. He didn't want to be in
this conflict at all.

"Mercy sounds better than execution," he said.
"I'll be blunt. I have no loyalty to Bloodgrut."

**LINA**

"Great," Goro said. "How's about your
boyfriend?"

**COYOTE**

 "Harder to convince. Let me talk to him."

**ABBY**

Gavi shifted restlessly. Bloodgrut didn't understand. She'd
find him though, explain it. He wanted what was best for their people and she
could make him see that this wasn't it.

But in the meantime. "Hey you! Skinny asshole!"
Gavi snapped her fingers at one of the guards. "Where the keys to the
cells at? We need 'em."

**COYOTE**

 The guard looked uncertainly at Goro like she wasn't sure
who was in charge here.

**LINA**

"Hey, hey, hey, slow the fuck down." Goro held up
a hand to Gavi and the guard. He turned back to Immanuel. "You sound
awfully eager, there, pal. I'm gonna need a little more assurance that you
really are planning to change your ways."

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel's eyes shifted from Gavi to Goro. He didn't like
talking in front of two people at once; made things harder. If he was with just
Gavi, he could appeal to her morality. If he was just with this scrawny
asshole, Immanuel could be honest and say he'd never worshipped Gruumsh and
stabbing Bloodgrut in the back was no skin off his nose.

"I've had my doubts a while," he said. "I've
no interest in this conflict. I'd like to get out alive, thanks, with as little
damage to everyone as possible. I bet you want that too."

**ABBY**

"Good plan," Gavi said to Immanuel, while staring
at Goro. Fuckin' suspicious little asshole. It was getting on her nerves now.
"Immanuel keeps his word. Unlike some people." It hadn't been Gavi
trading off some shapeshifter instead of Levi. "So I say let 'em talk so
we can get somewhere."

She rounded on the guard again. "If you don't wanna
give me the keys at least give 'em to him!" she jerked her thumb at Goro.
"If I gotta hunt 'em down myself I might be breakin' a few fingers while
I'm at it!"

**COYOTE**

 "Your elf friend had a suggestion," Immanuel said.
"The one with the black hair. Did he tell you?"

He laid out the deal. "Let me go. Let me lead. I'll show
you where Bloodgrut is. Bring Levi with-- as insurance. Once I show you where
Bloodgrut is, let us both go. Simple. Everyone gets what they want. Everybody
gets insurance."

**LINA**

"Nah." Goro shook his head at the guard, too. God,
Gavi was fuckin' gullible. "Yeah, I don't know what the fuck Raef's
thinking, but that's not gonna work. You don't get to lay out the terms of the
deal. You're not exactly in a good spot for negotiating, are you?"

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel shrugged. Technically he'd stretched the truth:
Raef never suggested they take Levi with them, he'd suggested keeping Levi
hostage. And Raef had never agreed to let them go once Immanuel led them to
Bloodgrut. He agreed to let them go once Bloodgrut was dead. He'd hoped he
could stretch the terms of the deal.

"A bad spot?" Immanuel said. "I think I'm in
a fine spot. I know things you don't, and you need that information. And the
second I give it up, I'm useless, and you might as well gut me. I'm not stupid.
Let's make a deal where we can both trust each other. You want to trust me,
right, half-elf?"

**LINA**

Goro shook his head at the ceiling, then at Gavi, then at
the guard. "Why do people always think I'm planning to gut 'em after I get
the information I want? I've never fuckin' done that in my life. Why waste the
goddamn energy? I got a long-ass kill list I'm working through, and this joker
ain't even on it."

**COYOTE**

 Huh. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad, if he meant it. In
Immanuel's world, though, Bloodgrut would gut a man as soon as he stopped being
useful just to make sure he wasn't a problem later.

Fuck it, Immanuel decided. Might as well be straight with him.

"I have some useful info to you," he said.
"Bargaining information. This might sound weird, but it's the truth. He
split himself into... parts."

**ABBY**

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Gavi
frowned, crossing her arms. "He didn't say anything about that to
me."

**LINA**

"He fuckin' what?"

**COYOTE**

 "Yeah," Immanuel said. "Parts. Y'know those
golems he made? The ones with the bones inside?"

He was standing, but he settled down again. He sat in the
stance Levi taught him, the one he used to meditate.

"It's like that," he said. "But... he's
alive, obviously. Not just bones." He kept looking at Goro. "There's
three of him now. One has an arm, part of his chest, a leg. Another has his
heart and his liver and abdomen. One has his head."

**ABBY**

"The fuck? What'd he go and do that for?" Gavi's
face was twisted in disgust. That sounded fucking awful. And Gruts had gone and
done that to himself?

**LINA**

"What," Goro said again. "Fuckin'...
what?"

**COYOTE**

 "Yeah. There's three of him." Immanuel rubbed his
hands together. "So this is how I think this should work," he said.
"You want him dead. I'll tell you where one is, then you go kill it, then
I tell you where the next one is, then you go kill it. That way I can trust you
and you can trust me. You need me and need to keep me alive-- and Levi alive.
Fair?"

**LINA**

"Psh. Pff. 'Kay. Fuckin'... sure. Where's the first
one?"

God. Goro knew at some point he should stop being surprised
and weirded out by things, but this was not gonna be that point.

**ABBY**

"Hey. Hold the fuck up. Who said we were killing my
brother?" Gavi glared at the two of them. Goro yeah, she expected it from
him. But Immanuel?

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel's eyes shifted between them.

"Gavi," he said. "Y'know that thing I said
about doing things you thought were best?"

**ABBY**

Gavi pinned Immanuel with a challenging stare. "You
saying that in your mind its best for my brother to die?"

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel spread his arms. "What makes a person worthy
of death?"

**ABBY**

"Worthy of death?" Gavi snorted. Immanuel always
did like to get philosophical. "Nobody's worthy of death. Death just
happens. I'd say, what makes a person worth killing. And in my mind that's
pretty simple. Being a threat to my people."

**COYOTE**

 "Ah," Immanuel said. "So does murdering
peaceful orc villages-- then blaming it on elves-- count?"

**LINA**

Goro's eyes widened and he looked away, pretending to be
interested in something on the far wall.

**ABBY**

Gavi had a sinking feeling in her gut where this was going.
"What are you saying?" she asked evenly, gripping the cell bars.

**COYOTE**

 "I'm saying Bloodgrut is a threat to your people, and
I'm not going to defend him when Levi's fucking life is on the line."

**LINA**

Goro worked his mouth around to hide a smirk. Yep. Fuckin'
called it. He'd found the guy's pressure point.

**ABBY**

"Fuck you!" Gavi snapped. "I oughta go in
there and tear your tongue out for that!" She whirled around and kicked
the stool she'd been sitting on into the wall. Grabbed a table, ignoring the
guard protesting on the other side of it, and flipped that over for good
measure too. Smashing things didn't help her calm down though so she took a
second, back to the two, breathing and trying to get her temper back under
control.

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel sat down and tried calm breathing. Yeah. Shouldn't
have lost his temper.

"Doda," he said, but couldn't find anything else
to say. He ground his teeth. "Doda, you welcomed me into your family,
but--"

He wasn't sure where to take that, except You know your
fucking colleagues and paladins almost killed me, right. Almost threw me out of
the tribe for not being orc enough. Always tougher on me than the others. You
know my ma fed me fucking last over my brothers because they were more orc than
me. You know that, right?

**ABBY**

"Your god-fucking-dammed right I did," Gavi snapped.
Scrubbed her hand over her face and sighed. Turned back and leaned against the
cell bars, staring at the floor. "You know what's the worst fucking thing?
My fucking family being at each others fucking throats. First it's Griffin--
Imesh, changed his name-- and Bloodgrut. Then Ezra--" and if that still
didn't put a pang through her heart-- "and Griffin. Now you and Bloodgrut?
Fucking fantastic!"

Gavi slumped against the bars, feeling her rage dissipate.
"I already lost my god Immanuel," she said softly. "And my nephew.
My people hate me. And now you tell me that Bloodgrut, bout the one thing I
thought I had left, ain't worth spit? I can't buy that. Not from you."

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel wasn’t sure what to say to that. Hard to talk to a
person you lied to. Hard to say, Yeah, I’ve always hated Bloodgrut. Guy’s a
dick. Seemed convenient to lead his army, help him expand, then wait for him to
die of old age and make Levi the Chief. It was a solid plan.

“Bloodgrut’s stuck in the past,” Immanuel said. “Look, Gavi,
I didn’t want to hurt him—“ Because it’d be hard an inconvenient, and waiting
for him to die made a lot more sense. “But maybe it’d be better for the tribe
if they could move on. Had a different leader.”

**ABBY**

"Because you think he kills our own and blames it on the
elves," Gavi said flatly. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
This would just drag them in circles and Gavi didn't want to do that. She
didn't like this resentment churning it her gut, aimed at Immanuel. "I've
already wanted to talk to him about that Gruumsh thing. May-fucking-be I'll
turn out to lose the last fucking thing I can believe in while I'm at it,"
she said bitterly. The way her life was going right now, Immanuel probably
would turn out to be telling the fucking truth.

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel looked away.

To Goro, he said, “One of his three golems is on Blackwater
Isle. The other is heading the army to the North, heading towards Gentleglen
and Shepherd’s Hill. Take your pick.”

**LINA**

"Fantastic." Goro gave Immanuel a mock salute. "I'll
let you know how it goes." He turned to leave.

**ABBY**

"Hey," Gavi said before he could. "I'm coming
with. Whichever you go to."

**COYOTE**

 Immanuel settled back down to wait.

[end]

**LINA**

Title: Negotiation. Summary: Gavi and Goro talk to Immanuel.
He shares that there's three Bloodgruts, each containing just part of his body.
He offers to tell the locations of each, one at a time, in exchange for his and
Levi's safety.