THE MOMENT
"So, you two are married...," Aries started the conversation with a simple statement of fact, and the two women glanced at each other. Miriam and Kendall were invited to the Guild Master's office without their adventuring party. It was a spacious stone room with an obsidian desk where Aries sat with an expressionless gaze. "The rest of your group has asked me to look into your situation; they had some concerns," he said. "Seemingly valid concerns."
"I knew it!" Kendall shook her head in annoyance. "We should've never trusted them."
"I told you they weren't ready for two women in love...," Miriam tried to ease her wife's frustration and spoke with a side-eye on Aries, as if to cast him in the same boat. He laughed.
"You're right. This is entirely about the social norms you're breaking and not at all related to the fact that 'Family members' in the same group get a single lump share. You're so brave to be living life on your own terms," he smirked. "And taking two shares while you do it."
"Fine," Miriam snapped at him. "We're married. The group knows already, we'll take the single share going forward. Are we done?" she asked. Aries shook his head.
"Not exactly," he said. "As little as anyone cares about your marriage, the fact is you lied to the group for several months."
"She's NOT my girlfriend!" Kendall replied. "We were always honest about that."
"It's one thing to let people make mistaken assumptions...," Aries shook his head. "It's quite another to actively and frequently insist that you're just traveling companions. At that point, it's lying. And of course, we need to discuss the shares of quest rewards you've claimed unfairly. Your former group members are due some reparations."
"Yeah, yeah," Miriam was already dismissing him, but Kendall caught what he said.
"Wait, former?" she asked.
"You lied to them for five months, and stole money out of their pockets," Aries nodded. "You're lucky they're only asking for reparations. Well, I'm asking," he added with a smile. "They never want to see you again. And on a personal note, if you continue to try this with any other group, the Void Guild will have no choice but to remove both of you from our membership roster and inform other guilds of your conduct."
"Are we done?" Miriam asked again.
"Almost," Aries nodded. "I'm done with you, but I need you two to stop at the clerk on the way out to update your files. We need to make sure you're getting paid the proper amount, so we know how much to garnish."