[ closed ]

[latkje]

Who: Byerly (vorrutyer) & Nash (latkje)
What: Magic!
When: After the conclusion of the disease plot.
Where: On the road from Wyver to Olympia.
Warning(s): 504 Gateway Time-out

[ The road from Wyver to Olympia is well-travelled and well-packed, the long stretches of monotony preventing Nash from enjoying the landscape. Travel was supposed to bring variety, he thought, new sights, new sounds— not the same thing, over and over. It was hard to tell how far they'd come, at least in the physical sense. ]

At least we're done with that awful humidity. [ He runs a hand through his hair— short and wavy, it had gotten unruly in the heat. ] I have a northern constitution, if you didn't know. [ And a northern fashion sense, as Harmonian clothes tended toward the dour and conservative. Nash was also in the habit of wearing gloves. He's wearing them now, in fact. ] There are some things I just wasn't made for.

[ That hangs in the air a moment, then he turns to actually look at Byerly. ]

But you wanted to talk about magic.

Comments

[latkje]

No. [ He raises an eyebrow. ]

If you want to sneak in the front door, tell someone you're coming in through the back. [ It's not like the truth has to be honest. ]

If I say I have no one, it makes me sound really lonely and pathetic. [ The truth is: he's skeptical that any of his own influence will do his sister much good. ]

[vorrutyer]

[ A shrug. ]

My strategy for robbing a house was always to start in the bedroom.

But no, that wouldn't be pathetic at all. I've known admirable men who deliberately arranged their lives so that they had no one. People are...weaknesses.

[latkje]

[ And saying things like that makes it really difficult to want to introduce you to his sister. ]

You don't have to calculate many risks when you don't have anything left to lose. [ He repeats himself. It still sounds pathetic. ] I'm familiar with the arithmetic.

[vorrutyer]

Mm. Though then again, to be fair, people without weaknesses scare me shitless. To be weak is human, after all, so those without those weaknesses are, well, somewhat less. Or more. Who knows.

[ By looks to Nash. ]

So I look at you, my maiden, and I wonder - is it possible that you're so ruthless? Uprooting all love from yourself? It doesn't look like that's the case, but that might just be your sweet face talking.

[latkje]

You don't make a tree stronger by cutting down its roots. [ Nash wondered sometimes if he would blow away, like leaves do, after their colors are touched with fire and there is nothing left to tie him down. ]

[ He thinks about lying; he can do a pretty good imitation of someone who doesn't feel. He's met enough people like that, over the years. ]

I have a family, Byerly. [ He even lives with them, some of the time. ] But as I said, I'm a different person when I'm at home.

[vorrutyer]

No doubt.

[ By inclines his head, but he presses: ]

But tell me - what is your plan for them if something happens to you?

[latkje]

They have each other. They'll survive without me. [ They have before. ] Your sister will, too, if she's as you describe her.

[vorrutyer]

Are any of them awake? Any of yours.

[latkje]

No. [ As far as he can tell, he's the only one from his world here. ]

[vorrutyer]

Why do you think you're awake and they aren't?

[latkje]

Because this kind of thing always happens to me. [ An exaggeration, but not a lie. ]

Though, frankly, I think I'm getting too old for it.

[vorrutyer]

That's not exactly an answer, dear maiden. Why does it happen to you? Why you, and not them?

[latkje]

Because I've been marked by fate. [ He says this casually, somewhat dismissively. ]

[vorrutyer]

[ Uh. ]

And what, pray, does that mean?

[latkje]

Oh, right, you're an atheist.

[ A shrug. ]

When I was young, I was given to the priests, who prayed for a day and a night that I, a first son of a first son, might be blessed with long life and shaped for great things.

[ A complete lie, spoken with only the usual hint of sarcasm. ]

[vorrutyer]

Yes, and my father prayed for a full week that I'd stop screwing boys. Didn't make it so.

[latkje]

[ He mouths the word "screwed" and adds a question mark, then pantomimes a twisting gesture with his fingers, looks at them, and then nods. Ah. ]

Well, I am here, and your father is not, so maybe my religion really is the right one.

[ Theologically sound. ]

[vorrutyer]

[ Byerly, helpfully, makes a circle with his thumb and forefinger of his left hand, then uses his right hand to mime thrusting in and out. ]

Well, I suppose so. But no priests ever prayed over me, and yet here I am.

[latkje]

So what brought you here? Why you?

[vorrutyer]

[ He lifts his eyebrows. ]

I'm a sneak and a liar. People have much use for lying sneaks. But if you're blessed...

[latkje]

Is it really that hard to believe?

[ Okay, the part that he totally made up, maybe. But he didn't make all of it up. ]

[vorrutyer]

Yes. It's completely impossible to believe. Though perhaps that's the atheism talking.

[latkje]

But you believe they woke you up because you're an accomplished liar.

[vorrutyer]

And a sneak. But yes. A liar has quite a lot to offer. [ He gives a graceful little wave of his fingers. ] A liar is a valuable tool in any arsenal. Someone who's chosen by the gods - Well. They're only useful in a world where those gods haven't been consumed by the storm.

[latkje]

Hmmmm. [ "Agnostic" is probably the best word to describe Nash's actual beliefs, but he doesn't believe all the gods were swallowed by the storm. If that were true, he wouldn't be able to cast, would he? ]

Everyone's a liar, Byerly. You would have to be the greatest liar in [ what was it again? ] Barrayar to get yourself summoned on that account.