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No one said , not until after I'd already chosen. Life is better if you find the loopholes, y'know.
[He skips the rock. This one only gets two skips in before it falls.]
But if I'm being unfairly held to rules that I didn't know were so firmly in place before I started playing this game, and if I must be leaving the Scoutmaster out, even though she's a Division Head, and very easily arguably the best one to be married to, speaking from experience and a great deal of love.... I s'ppose I would marry Flint. You know me very well.
[He skips the rock. This one only gets two skips in before it falls.]
But if I'm being unfairly held to rules that I didn't know were so firmly in place before I started playing this game, and if I must be leaving the Scoutmaster out, even though she's a Division Head, and very easily arguably the best one to be married to, speaking from experience and a great deal of love.... I s'ppose I would marry Flint. You know me very well.
[ There is no sympathy from Yseult for Darras's complaints. ] Even I know the rules of this game. [ And she seems like she's probably never played a game in her life. ]
I chose Stark because he's most useful and least replaceable. The airships are just the best example.
I chose Stark because he's most useful and least replaceable. The airships are just the best example.
[Darras--a man who has played games with Yseult--pulls a face at her as he crouches to pick up his next stone.]
Water ships are better than air ships any day. And I chose someone that's not going to disappear from existence one day. Staying power, that's what you want.
Water ships are better than air ships any day. And I chose someone that's not going to disappear from existence one day. Staying power, that's what you want.
Très romantique.
[ He could mean either of them, with varying degrees of sarcasm. ]
Would you have a secret affair, the two of you, if you were married to Stark and Flint? Yseult throwing a rope down from her airship on a dark night, under cover of clouds...
[ He could mean either of them, with varying degrees of sarcasm. ]
Would you have a secret affair, the two of you, if you were married to Stark and Flint? Yseult throwing a rope down from her airship on a dark night, under cover of clouds...
Well, I'm romantic. So I'd be very much in favor of the secret affair. S'ppose we could have an open affair just as easily, but that wouldn't be as much fun, would it?
[He pockets an attractive rock before he selects a quick two more suited for skipping. One he holds out to Bastien, eyebrows raised. Want a go?]
Think of it. The cool sea air. The sails whipping in the wind from the airship, as Yseult climbs very nimbly down the rope, 'cos what's training for if not climbing down to a tryst.
[He pockets an attractive rock before he selects a quick two more suited for skipping. One he holds out to Bastien, eyebrows raised. Want a go?]
Think of it. The cool sea air. The sails whipping in the wind from the airship, as Yseult climbs very nimbly down the rope, 'cos what's training for if not climbing down to a tryst.
[ Bastien slips off the wall to take the rock. ]
What indeed.
[ He tosses the rock in his hand, as if feeling out the balance of it first. He could hit a man in the eye from—well. From a stone's throw away. Obviously. But skipping is another matter, and when he side-arms it out into the water, it only makes it three hops before it catches a wave and sinks.
He looks pleased with himself anyway, because it's fun, and joins Darras in the hunt for more. ]
Trained from childhood for only one purpose: romance.
What indeed.
[ He tosses the rock in his hand, as if feeling out the balance of it first. He could hit a man in the eye from—well. From a stone's throw away. Obviously. But skipping is another matter, and when he side-arms it out into the water, it only makes it three hops before it catches a wave and sinks.
He looks pleased with himself anyway, because it's fun, and joins Darras in the hunt for more. ]
Trained from childhood for only one purpose: romance.
My dear, I noticed you had nothing to say whatsoever during our fun little chat over those sending crystals of yours. It’s tempting to assume you simply didn’t hear us, but I thought to myself no— that can’t possibly be right.
Why, I can’t imagine anything at all happening here slipping your notice.
But don’t worry, I didn’t come calling to you make you play along or pick your brain about your beloved colleagues.
I just thought I’d let you know that I’ve been convinced to abandon all delusions of altruism, and instead place myself exactly where my skills would benefit us all the most.
Right beside you.
Well— figuratively speaking of course. Mostly.
Why, I can’t imagine anything at all happening here slipping your notice.
But don’t worry, I didn’t come calling to you make you play along or pick your brain about your beloved colleagues.
I just thought I’d let you know that I’ve been convinced to abandon all delusions of altruism, and instead place myself exactly where my skills would benefit us all the most.
Right beside you.
Well— figuratively speaking of course. Mostly.
[ Yseult snorts and shakes her head, but the roll of her eyes is more amused than anything. ]
Yes, that sounds right. [ A flick of a finger dusts ash off the cigarette. ] You do remember we were secretly married for ten years, yes? I don't think I ever did any rappelling.
Yes, that sounds right. [ A flick of a finger dusts ash off the cigarette. ] You do remember we were secretly married for ten years, yes? I don't think I ever did any rappelling.
Edited 2021-06-18 02:36 (UTC)
[They meet in one of the various labyrinthine boroughs of Lowtown. There are a series of shops and market stalls squirrelled away in the tight little alley way, and any number of narrow doorways leading to various public houses or gambling parlors. Perhaps she came from one of them; surely the encounter is a chance one.
All the same, there she is: a dark haired older woman, dressed in some quietly fashionable manner, with her mottle blue cloak draped rakishly to one side in deference to both the weather (stifling) and the aesthetic (appropriately dashing). Fitcher falls comfortable in step with Yseult.]
I see someone's managed to escape the Gallows for the afternoon. Not for business, I hope. [A pause—] Mind, I've finished all my paperwork for the day. So need to worry about reporting me for shirking.
All the same, there she is: a dark haired older woman, dressed in some quietly fashionable manner, with her mottle blue cloak draped rakishly to one side in deference to both the weather (stifling) and the aesthetic (appropriately dashing). Fitcher falls comfortable in step with Yseult.]
I see someone's managed to escape the Gallows for the afternoon. Not for business, I hope. [A pause—] Mind, I've finished all my paperwork for the day. So need to worry about reporting me for shirking.
Ellis will find a responding note in his pigeon hole the next morning in Yseult's brisk cursive with several times over the next few days during which she will be available for a meeting, most in the late afternoon or very early morning. Whenever he arrives, he'll find her door cracked partially open in invitation.
Shopping, [ Yseult replies. Whether that's the only thing that brought her to this part of town is less certain, but it at least seems not to be a lie--she pats the bag slung over one shoulder and it shifts with the papery rustle of wrapped parcels. ]
Darras is fond of the jeweller at the corner. Have you been winning? [ Perhaps it's unfair to assume it's the gambling houses that bring Fitcher to this part of town, but--. ]
Darras is fond of the jeweller at the corner. Have you been winning? [ Perhaps it's unfair to assume it's the gambling houses that bring Fitcher to this part of town, but--. ]
"Warden, come in." Yseult is at her desk but rises as he enters, gesturing instead to the pair of wingback chairs arranged before the hearth (cold in deference to the pleasant warmth of the breeze through the open windows). She moves to join him by way of a sideboard with a neat collection of bottles and a teapot on a rune warmer.
"Can I offer you tea, or wine?" He apparently doesn't seem like a liquor sort of man.
"Can I offer you tea, or wine?" He apparently doesn't seem like a liquor sort of man.
Is the hesitation for the wingbacks or the tea or the combination of both?
Regardless, it resolves into—
"Tea, please," as he sits. Polite, surely, to accept the offer even if the hospitality catches him off-guard. "Thank you."
Not that he raises the tea to sip once presented with the cup. Ellis is quiet until she's seated, turns the china in his hands before asking, "I'd like your advice as to how to approach something. If you'll hear me out."
Regardless, it resolves into—
"Tea, please," as he sits. Polite, surely, to accept the offer even if the hospitality catches him off-guard. "Thank you."
Not that he raises the tea to sip once presented with the cup. Ellis is quiet until she's seated, turns the china in his hands before asking, "I'd like your advice as to how to approach something. If you'll hear me out."
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