That's because she's a hideous witch from double hell. We have a mutual agreement that we hate each other forever and ever, hope to die. [...] Which I guess we did, so good on us.
[she's not saying any of this with any particular force, though. maybe she doesn't mean it.]
...Ah. Born into this chevalier business, were you?
[And now at last, he steps out of the way to permit Gideon entrance to the room — Harrow, presumably, being absent at this point — so that he can shut the door behind them for a talk in some relative privacy.]
[she... hesitates, for a second, glancing at him a bit warily, but she ultimately does come in and hover awkwardly. she's a lot of bulk and all fidgeting, something her teacher could never really beat out of her.]
That's the thing - no, and yes? [another brief hesitation, but like, what does it matter, right? she's dead, it doesn't matter. and harrow said to not say anything, which means she will immediately do the opposite.]
The Ninth House owns my ass, body and soul. Nonagesimus is my boss, but only because she says jump and her flock of emaciated sheep piss themselves in the attempt to jump the highest.
Personally, I don't know that I'd take all that kindly to indentured servitude. Especially not if my role was protecting someone I didn't particularly like.
[And there was a point in time, once in the not-so-distant past, when he would've related precisely to that sentiment, vague and ill-formed as it is. Because he knows what it is, in his own way, to exist for the sake of someone else. The standing in the shadows outside warm-lit windows and never going inside. Part without being a part. Half wishing to be free of it and half unable to fathom anything else.
He's not the only one. He's seen the endpoint of where a phrase like that leads, as well — a crystal arm and a too-large dose of self-martyrdom, and he could've ended up there, couldn't he, if he hadn't —
Gideon Nav is awfully young, he reflects, to be saying words like that.]
I doubt that.
[To his credit, it doesn't sound patronizing. Just matter-of-fact.]
And believing something like that isn't a path you want to start down, trust me.
[she's not expecting that. not that she knows what she was expecting. the people here in hell - in hell! - are so nice, and they say stuff like this. if she'd said this to anybody at the house, they would've laughed themselves to death.
it felt stupid to say, and she's furiously embarrassed, but she doesn't regret saying it. it feels true, more than anything else. she's a cavalier and she didn't really know what that meant until she died. it felt good to be needed, for once.
she rubs at her face again, and is glad that the paint is still mostly there. it covers how hot her face feels.]
What about dipping my toe in? [don't make a joke out of it, you idiot]
And remove your hard-earned footwear so soon after we've all escaped those holey monstrosities?
[DID SOMEONE SAY IDIOTS MAKING JOKES OUT OF THINGS]
Chin up. If there's one lucky thing about servitude of that nature, it's that bonds of that type are for life. We're all past that now. A fresh start for you.
[gideon's not the brightest bulb in the box, but she can pick up a context clue. she lets it go, and sighs heavily.]
Four won't sleep in the same room as a man, so we argued about that for I don't know, an hour? Personally I could give a shit or less. I have a bed, that's better than nothing.
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[Like, he could guess, but he would probably be wrong...]
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[No wonder he liked this kid from the start.]
And yet you seem more concerned for me winding up in a room with her than her ending up here with me.
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That's because she's a hideous witch from double hell. We have a mutual agreement that we hate each other forever and ever, hope to die. [...] Which I guess we did, so good on us.
[she's not saying any of this with any particular force, though. maybe she doesn't mean it.]
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[...]
As someone who's been acquainted with my fair share of horrid goblins, I'm curious what you think makes her one of them.
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Have you talked to her?
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[Well.]
She seems quiet.
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[...]
I've known her since we were babies. [she opens her mouth - and then closes it, rubbing at her nose. some of the paint flakes off.]
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[And now at last, he steps out of the way to permit Gideon entrance to the room — Harrow, presumably, being absent at this point — so that he can shut the door behind them for a talk in some relative privacy.]
Mayhap not by choice?
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That's the thing - no, and yes? [another brief hesitation, but like, what does it matter, right? she's dead, it doesn't matter. and harrow said to not say anything, which means she will immediately do the opposite.]
The Ninth House owns my ass, body and soul. Nonagesimus is my boss, but only because she says jump and her flock of emaciated sheep piss themselves in the attempt to jump the highest.
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Are you saying you're in this...arrangement against your will?
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... I was, but I'm all in now. Not that she needs to know that.
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Personally, I don't know that I'd take all that kindly to indentured servitude. Especially not if my role was protecting someone I didn't particularly like.
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what changed, he asks, and she doesn't... know how to answer that. she grinds through that thought, and then sighs out a short noise.]
The entire point of me is her. [she says, a little helplessly, like she doesn't know how else to put it.]
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He's not the only one. He's seen the endpoint of where a phrase like that leads, as well — a crystal arm and a too-large dose of self-martyrdom, and he could've ended up there, couldn't he, if he hadn't —
Gideon Nav is awfully young, he reflects, to be saying words like that.]
I doubt that.
[To his credit, it doesn't sound patronizing. Just matter-of-fact.]
And believing something like that isn't a path you want to start down, trust me.
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it felt stupid to say, and she's furiously embarrassed, but she doesn't regret saying it. it feels true, more than anything else. she's a cavalier and she didn't really know what that meant until she died. it felt good to be needed, for once.
she rubs at her face again, and is glad that the paint is still mostly there. it covers how hot her face feels.]
What about dipping my toe in? [don't make a joke out of it, you idiot]
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[DID SOMEONE SAY IDIOTS MAKING JOKES OUT OF THINGS]
Chin up. If there's one lucky thing about servitude of that nature, it's that bonds of that type are for life. We're all past that now. A fresh start for you.
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the second part makes her feel embarrassed again, and she pulls a face that only teenagers can make.]
Yippee, a fresh start in the bowels of hell. My eternal soul is walking around with toilet paper stuck to my shoe.
[things do feel a little less dire though so thanks thancred, you're a pal.]
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[He pauses briefly.]
Or so a friend of mine would say, in similar dire straits. Too optimistic by half, that one.
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[But let's not dwell on that, shall we.]
Speaking of good friends, I saw you've earned the dubious honor of winding up in the only room with three occupants. How is that working out for you?
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Four won't sleep in the same room as a man, so we argued about that for I don't know, an hour? Personally I could give a shit or less. I have a bed, that's better than nothing.
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[Whether that's pleasure (legitimate) or pleasure (sarcastic) is anyone's guess.]
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Tiny and weirdly nice.
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