![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[ A squint, and she digs into a hidden pocket for a slim silver case of more conventional cigarettes. One dangles from her lips as she offers the case out to him, spread open across her palm. ]
You seem to find it difficult to imagine an honest relationship. Why is that?
You seem to find it difficult to imagine an honest relationship. Why is that?
[ She tips her head like she's thinking about it. A long pause, a thumb brushing hair back behind her ear. ]
My work... it has always required [ her hand circles in the air as if struggling to put words to the concept. She lingers over it, lip bitten and released, and then chooses: ]
Discretion. [ Deadpan, her look going abruptly flat to match. C'mon now. ]
My work... it has always required [ her hand circles in the air as if struggling to put words to the concept. She lingers over it, lip bitten and released, and then chooses: ]
Discretion. [ Deadpan, her look going abruptly flat to match. C'mon now. ]
Maybe you grew tired of the specifics of the work and both you and he saw this place as an opportunity to escape it. Maybe you are here because someone told you to be. Maybe something undermined your position where you held it and the Inquisition seemed like a shield capable of protecting both you and Rivain. Why does anyone come here? Throw a stone from that window [he motions to it with the end of the borrowed cigarette] and you will strike five people who don't give a fuck about--
[He stops, then laughs at himself. They've had the rough shape of this conversation already.]
My point is, if it is work which matters so much to you then I don't know how you can tolerate that as the thing you compromise on. [Before she takes it as criticism he doesn’t mean:] I couldn't do it.
[He stops, then laughs at himself. They've had the rough shape of this conversation already.]
My point is, if it is work which matters so much to you then I don't know how you can tolerate that as the thing you compromise on. [Before she takes it as criticism he doesn’t mean:] I couldn't do it.
[ Her consideration is real, this time, in the contemplative pause that follows as she purses her lips to blow a smooth stream of smoke up at the sky. ]
I don't compromise my work for him [ she says, tapping the first bit of ash off the cigarette, flicking it over the side. ] If anything, I'm compromising it trying to keep this organization on track when so many people--as you say--don't give a fuck about what's actually important.
[ She pauses again, more clearly a hesitation this time before she goes on. ]
I was tired of some of the specifics of my work. I told my employer I wanted to join the Inquisition, and they agreed to allow it as a show of support for the organization. I thought it would be a more straightforward fight. [ She flashes him a self-deprecating smile. What a stupid thought that was. ]
I don't compromise my work for him [ she says, tapping the first bit of ash off the cigarette, flicking it over the side. ] If anything, I'm compromising it trying to keep this organization on track when so many people--as you say--don't give a fuck about what's actually important.
[ She pauses again, more clearly a hesitation this time before she goes on. ]
I was tired of some of the specifics of my work. I told my employer I wanted to join the Inquisition, and they agreed to allow it as a show of support for the organization. I thought it would be a more straightforward fight. [ She flashes him a self-deprecating smile. What a stupid thought that was. ]
[In turn, he pauses as if caught off guard by it. He'd expected to open the door and find himself looking into some other featureless room, not-- whatever this is. Who is her employer? What promises has the Inquisition made in return, and which of them is Riftwatch still carrying forward by dint of her presence here? Those questions matter, but in the moment they strike him as superficial.
He smokes. Eventually, he says:] You should tell your husband that I could use someone to oversee the details of the fleet in Vane's absence.
He smokes. Eventually, he says:] You should tell your husband that I could use someone to oversee the details of the fleet in Vane's absence.
[After Perendale, facing Yseult is daunting, in its way. Nikos isn’t afraid of her. In fact, he almost likes her. He wouldn’t call her a friend, in any way. His friends are few, and generally fairly opposite of Yseult, who is measured and quiet and self-possessed, aqualine nobility without the noble. She doesn’t burn hot that he’s ever been able to tell. He doesn’t know her motivations, what she thinks. But as angry as he is with Riftwatch, this has to be known.]
This is Averesch. [Nikos. She’ll be able to tell, if anyone. That canniness in her, hawkish and keen, quiet behind her eyes.] I have news from Nevarra. From our contact.
This is Averesch. [Nikos. She’ll be able to tell, if anyone. That canniness in her, hawkish and keen, quiet behind her eyes.] I have news from Nevarra. From our contact.
[Teren at least knocks before she comes in, but she doesn't wait. She looks exhausted, irritated, any number of ways she might normally look, but doubled from the aftermath of a stressful trip and a long ride back.]
Averesch, [she sighs.] The fat one.
Averesch, [she sighs.] The fat one.
Thank you for alerting me. I will take this to the other Division Heads immediately.
[ And then, after a brief pause that suggests her first instinct was to end the conversation there without providing any reciprocal context: ] The guide from the Grand Necropolis and his Venatori lover are both dead as well. And there are mummies being placed throughout the capital for show and potential defense.
[ And then, after a brief pause that suggests her first instinct was to end the conversation there without providing any reciprocal context: ] The guide from the Grand Necropolis and his Venatori lover are both dead as well. And there are mummies being placed throughout the capital for show and potential defense.
Died of a related strain.
[--Is his guess, anyways.]
I heard the same, about the mummies. We have a Speaker in our midst. [The prick, is his subtext. Not that it's surprising, that's his general subtext for everything.] Could no doubt tell you everything you need to fucking know about the mummies of the Necropolis and how they're usually not trotted out like vicious show ponies. But I'm sure you knew that already.
[--Is his guess, anyways.]
I heard the same, about the mummies. We have a Speaker in our midst. [The prick, is his subtext. Not that it's surprising, that's his general subtext for everything.] Could no doubt tell you everything you need to fucking know about the mummies of the Necropolis and how they're usually not trotted out like vicious show ponies. But I'm sure you knew that already.
Edited (what's spelling) 2019-10-28 19:53 (UTC)
Page 21 of 55