Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

.."
    "Someone must have," Vin said. "I mean, it makes such sense. I suspect those who thought of it, however, didn't share the knowledge."
    "Good point," Elend said, relaxing back. Yet, from as close as they were, she could still feel a tension in him.
    Tomorrow's speech , Vin thought. He's worried about it .
    "I must say, however," Elend said idly, "that I find it a bit disappointing that you're not wearing dog-scented perfume. With your social station, I could see some of the local noblewomen trying to imitate you. That could be amusing indeed."
    She leaned up, looking at his smirking face. "You know, Elend—sometimes it's bloody difficult to tell when you're teasing, and when you're just being dense."
    "That makes me more mysterious, right?"
    "Something like that," she said, snuggling up against him again.
    "Now, see, you don't understand how clever that is of me," he said. "If people can't tell when I'm being an idiot and when I'm being a genius, perhaps they'll assume my blunders are brilliant political maneuverings."
    "As long as they don't mistake your actual brilliant moves for blunders."
    "That shouldn't be difficult," Elend said. "I fear I have few enough of those for people to mistake."
    Vin looked up with concern at the edge in his voice. He, however, smiled, shifting the topic. "So, OreSeur the dog. Will he still be able to go out with you at nights?"
    Vin shrugged. "I guess. I wasn't really planning on bringing him for a while."
    "I'd like it if you did take him," Elend said. "I worry about you out there, every night, pushing yourself so hard."
    "I can handle it," Vin said. "Someone needs to watch over you."
    "Yes," Elend said, "but who watches over you?"
    Kelsier . Even now, that was still her immediate reaction. She'd known him for less than a year, but that year had been the first in her life that she had felt protected.
    Kelsier was dead. She, like the rest of the world, had to live without him.
    "I know you were hurt when you fought those Allomancers the other night," Elend said. "It would be really nice for my psyche if I knew someone was with you."
    "A kandra's no bodyguard," Vin said.
    "I know," Elend said. "But they're incredibly loyal—I've never heard of one breaking Contract. He'll watch out for you. I worry about you, Vin. You wonder why I stay up so late, scribbling at my proposals? I can't sleep, knowing that you might be out there fighting—or, worse, lying somewhere in a street, dying because nobody was there to help you."
    "I take OreSeur with me sometimes."
    "Yes," Elend said, "but I know you find excuses to leave him behind. Kelsier bought you the services of an incredibly valuable servant. I can't understand why you work so hard to avoid him."
    Vin closed her eyes. "Elend. He ate Kelsier."
    "So?" Elend asked. "Kelsier was already dead. Besides, he himself gave that order."
    Vin sighed, opening her eyes. "I just. . .don't trust that thing, Elend. The creature is unnatural."
    "I know," Elend said. "My father always kept a kandra. But, OreSeur is something, at least. Please. Promise me you'll take him with you."
    "All right. But I don't think he's going to like the arrangement much either. He and I didn't get along very well even when he was playing Renoux, and I his niece."
    Elend shrugged. "He'll hold to his Contract. That's what is important."
    "He holds to the Contract," Vin said, "but only grudgingly. I swear that he enjoys frustrating me."
    Elend looked down at her. "Vin, kandra are excellent servants. They don't do things like that."
    "No, Elend," Vin said. " Sazed was an excellent servant. He enjoyed being with people, helping them. I never felt that he resented me. OreSeur may do everything I command, but he doesn't like me; he never has. I can tell."
    Elend sighed, rubbing her shoulder. "Don't you think you might be a little irrational? There's no real reason to hate him so."
    "Oh?" Vin asked. "Just like there's no reason you shouldn't get along with Dockson?"
    Elend paused. Then he sighed. "I guess you have a point," he said. He continued to rub Vin's shoulder as he stared upward, toward the ceiling, contemplative.
    "What?" Vin asked.
    "I'm not doing a very good job of this, am I?"
    "Don't be foolish," Vin said. "You're a wonderful king."
    "I might be a passable king, Vin, but I'm not him ."
    "Who?"
    "Kelsier," Elend said quietly.
    "Elend, nobody expects you to be Kelsier."
    "Oh?" he said. "That's why Dockson doesn't like me. He hates noblemen; it's obvious in the way