Golden Peacock TDM Overflow

[bardische]

Original Top Level
Overlfow 2l
Overflow 3

Comments

[bardische]

Basch, and I suspect you are correct.

[ He also suspects she has a much loftier title, but he understands the desire to meet as people and not as duties for the pockets that life allows, and so he neither presses it noroffes his own rank.

She releases his hand and his smile wavers; alas, he will miss her company.

Or -- not? Is it a mistake to join her, in the event this place pushes them to stronger intimacy? Perhaps it is already working, for the idea of pleasant company provided and received has a greater pull than staying wary. That, or his time with the pirate's ragtag crew made him weaker than he had been before his journey. ]

I would gladly join you, L-- Edelgard.

[ The device at his wrist chimes and buzzes. He glances at it, a small number appearing. ]

The house agrees we have finished here.

[crestsidestory]

Basch. [ Her smile, though small, lingers. ] I am pleased to have met you.

[ As the band around his wrist chimes she looks down first at it and then at her own, which quickly echoes his. It's somehow both reassuring and vaguely uncomfortable to know that their effort paid off quickly. ]

We are monitored well, aren't we.

[ Leading the way to the door, she steps through it and holds it open for him to follow her. She lowers her voice slightly, not certain of how serious to be this: ]

I suppose we should be careful in this corridor. We may risk being ushered into another room and another game.

happy to go whatever direction you want from here

[bardische]

It would seem we are.

[ At least here they know it. He has, more than once, found some new magic or technology has been being used to spy, and it is always an uncomfortable feeling.

Still. It is good to be wary that his activities are likely logged somewhere. There is no real privacy here.

She must be thinking along the same lines, and he nods. ]

I think it best we decline any invitation and insist we have a destination. There are private spaces near fires that seem safe, and I saw no foolery in the dining area.

[ Unbeknownst to him, the latter often sent people seeking private space after. He still does not know how any of this works. ]

how about some suspicious food and drink?

[crestsidestory]

An excellent idea. If we seem to have purpose we may not be accosted.

[ She glances sideways at him, a quick assessment. ]

If we join hands on our way through perhaps we would be more convincing.

[ She would like to say that after the abrupt intimacy of their game this practical proposal of briefly holding hands in order to use each other as a shield doesn't make her blush but it does, faintly. Fortunately blushing has never stopped her before. ]

I saw an elaborate buffet in one of the larger rooms. Have you eaten? Food has been an afterthought for me today.

sounds good to me!

[bardische]

[ Her point is a fair one, and he finds himself smiling and ducking his head. It's such an innocent request, one that means nothing, especially after what they've already done. But it's also a level of quiet intimacy he hasn't had with anyone -- not in public -- in well over a decade. ]

I think that is a wise stratagem.

[ He holds his hand out to her, large and calloused, and is more than happy to be used as a deterrent for others' attentions, so long as she does not want them. ]

I have not. Food is often an afterthought, but I think fortifying ourselves would be wise.

[ No matter he normally has to be cajoled into eating, and even then, he goes for the simple and the leftover. He would sometimes eat with Penelo, so that the girl would eat, and he feels like that now. Except Penelo was still a child; Edelgard is not. ]

[crestsidestory]

[ Clasping his hand, she nods in his direction and starts to walk with purpose down the hallway, as though the two of them have something urgent, possibly each other, that they must see to immediately, and it's odd to try to take advantage of that potential assumption without spending too much time thinking about it but she's boldly making the attempt.

The backs of her hands are softer and smoother than the palms and undersides of her fingers, any pampering she gives them tempered by her frequent training. Her war may be a bit... stalled, but she must remain ready for battle at a moment's notice. It isn't unpleasant to have her hand in his.

Not entirely necessary but not unpleasant and if they make it to the opposite end of the hallway without getting ushered into another room perhaps it pays off. ]

I agree. I saw an extravagant buffet laid out in one of the larger rooms nearby. A friend of mine would no doubt advise me to eat nothing I haven't seen others enjoy without incident. That amount of caution feels like a lofty goal here and I don't think someone who brought us here to play a larger game would get much out of harming us immediately.

[bardische]

[ It's easy to match her pace. He's spent a lifetime keeping his own wants and desires so far under lock and key that even he does not notice them. Which is why it's surprising that thoughts of how nice her hand feels, or that he wouldn't mind kissing her again cross his mind.

They ought to remain vigilant. Those must be more of this place's work. ]

This place must belong to a wealthy nation, to have so much excess so readily available for so many.

[ It makes him wary; such things were often produced on the backs of those without. ]

But I agree; I do not think poisoning us is the goal, and we will be able to see what others have eaten.

[ He knew basic remedies for poisons, but there was so little access to flora or magick here. Still, he suspected that she was right; it did not seem anyone here fell ill, and he found this many people unlikely to be able to keep that under wraps.

Still, nothing prepares him for how immense the buffet is. He's been at royal feasts that this puts to shame. His hand tightens slight in hers, the only sign of his discomfort that slips. ]

A gluttony of choices. After you.

[crestsidestory]

[ She nods, momentarily distracted by the fact that the oysters seem to be displayed on a bed of diamonds. Surely they can't be real diamonds - that's a level of excess beyond what she had previously thought. ]

Not just wealthy but so advanced that they can somehow bring us here from such a variety of different places. [ Without assistance or permission. ] They seem a powerful enemy.

[ It's somewhat surreal to make that acknowledgement after everything that has happened today. His hand seems to tighten around hers for a moment and she can't be certain if it's intentional or not but she impulsively gives his hand an answering squeeze, a rallying cry in tactile form. When she lets go, it's so she can take a plate and pluck some fruit and slices of bread and cheese from the buffet. Having a powerful enemy is an excellent reason to want to keep her strength up; they are at a disadvantage here and no amount of decadence distracts from that thought.

(Even if she does slyly snag the last exquisitely decorated tiny cake from a dish spotted with flecks of gold. It looks like the perfect mouthful.) ]

I have the impression that you would be useful if we needed to fight our way out of this place.

[bardische]

Is there magick on your world?

[ He asks it while his own eyes sweep the buffet. Opulent food, for one, but he also notices the diamond ice, and the costly inlays on the sides of the serving boards, and the gold on the edges of the plates. Just what is this place? And who is laboring to make this happen?

He does not realize that his hand tightens in Edelgard -- in protection or in a plea for rootedness, he does not know. Whatever this is, it is not normal, even for the wealthy.

She goes for food, though, and he knows there is wisdom of it. His plate, though, takes rice, simple roasted root vegetables. He indulges in spooning a bit of the juice from a roast chicken over these. The portions are, perhaps, too small for his frame and how busy his day has been. Food is still touch and go on his stomach, and he doesn't with Edelgard to see him despondent the way fresh fruit can sometimes overwhelm him.

That said, he does hide a smile at her plucking a single small cake. ]

I am honored, Lady. I would gladly be of assistance. You seem a commander with a good head and some experience.

[ Even-keeled, observant, kind but not loose, firm but not cruel, realistic but not unwilling to take risks. All traits he respected and worked well under. ]