( closed-ish )

[excipio]

WHO: Caspar Perakis, Kenna Carrow, Lukas & friends
WHAT: Misc starters
WHEN: Varies, default backdated to pre-Elf Drama
WHERE: All over Kirkwall/the Gallows
NOTES: Closed starters below! Feel free to DM/otherwise get in touch if you want something with any of mine.

[ placeholder to guilt me into writing open starters later, maybe ]

Comments

[heirring]

"Oh, desperately."

Which is a third beer sort of answer, in that Wysteria says it immediately and then promptly begins an unending string of qualifications from where she sits, bright eyed and cheerful, directly beside Kenna. They've this end of a long table more or less to themselves now, but when they'd first shouldered into the public house sitting side by side had been the only real option. 'All the better,' Wysteria had declared. 'I hate having to shout conversation across a table.'

"Well, not desperately. I'm not desperate. But generally I believe it's the thing one is meant to do. And you know, having a husband makes certain things much-- well, easier isn't the word. But say, hypothetically, that you and I were very good friend with a young lady, and that young lady were to be married. I have found it is practically impossible, no absolutely is tantamount to flying to the moon, to spend any time with a friend once she is married. One needs a husband of their own to distract the lady's spouse with."

Not that she's been put any thought into this extremely specific scenario.

zombie groans

[gritted]

It had been a little awkward to start, because when you're sitting right next to someone you've got the issue of leaning into them, accidentally or otherwise, and also the issue of having to look at them very, very deliberately. It's a bit easier to manage acceptable levels of eye contact when you're looking at each other by default, or to manage the awkward look-away-because-maybe-you've-been-looking-too-much maneuver without it being completely obvious.

All of which is less of an issue a few beers in, admittedly. Whatever awkward energy Kenna had brought to the table initially has more or less melted into casual, easy comfort, minus the usual stumbling over words.

"Really? Meant to do," she can't help the way her brows pinch, but any further disagreement is derailed by further clarification. Which is... well, a little abstract. It takes her a moment to follow. "So... the point of marrying a man—,"

A dramatic pause, just to make sure she's got this right. "Is to ensure you can spend more time with other women."

sweet, my necromancer subclass finally came through

[heirring]

"I wouldn't say more time, really. More that getting married is an investment one makes to maintain a particular lifestyle, and to keep familiar company close." This she says with a perfectly straight face and all other hallmarks of being rather quite genuine.

"It's not just for women either, you know. It does the men good as well. I tell you, there is nothing quite so miserable as a bachelor whose friends have all gone and married. Go on - ask me how I know."

Gossip is a terrible habit which she clearly rarely stoops to indulge in, but what is the harm? If she were really worried about any part of the rumor traveling on account of the public nature of the setting, she might simply whisper it to Kenna and swear her to secrecy. Anyway, it's not as if the man in question is even present to be offended. So there.

hm seems a little buggy might want to submit an error report

[gritted]

Wysteria keeps speaking and Kenna's brows knit ever closer together. Then her mouth twists, disgruntled, and by the end of it she's more or less scowling. Not at Wysteria. It's a very confused kind of scowl, and mostly aimed at the world in general. Or maybe at Wysteria's world, specifically, though there's something about all of it that reminds her frighteningly of her own mother—

Only her mother loathes gossip, and there's a certain vigorous enthusiasm with which Kenna latches onto that entirely distinct trait and enables it with a hasty, "How?"

She also hasn't worked out a response to getting married is an investment and particular lifestyle yet. Time will tell if this is a stalling tactic while she works it out or a way to bail on that specific conversation entirely.

[heirring]

"Because I have seen it for myself, of course."

Here, she pauses to takes a conspiratorial sip from her mug. As far as dramatic pauses go, she doesn't have the patience to let this one go for long but the intent is there even if the execution is lacking. "Where I come from - if you believe in such things, I know there are lots of people who don't so call it a dream or whatever you like -, I studied with just such a man. Allegedly, he once had been quite popular in certain circles and the best of friends with a particular colleague. However, by the time I came to know he he had become something of a pariah among those same circles. How could such a thing have happened, I wondered to myself. It isn't as if the man's mind had faltered at all, and though it's true this his practical abilities were limited, he remained a brilliant essayist.

"So imagine to my surprise when we attended a gathering of like-minded intellectuals and I discovered this friendship, which he'd always been quite protective of, was hardly a friendship at all. And why? Why, because his colleague had been married to a lovely woman with whom he had nothing at all in common with and no companion of his own with which he might distract her, and so he and his dear friend had a falling out. All of which could have been avoided if he'd simply wed himself."

[gritted]

If you believe in such things doesn't even make sense, for a moment, because Rifters are about on par with magic at large — not something she gets or thinks much about. Easier to take for granted that Wysteria is very real and the place she comes from must be very real, too. She's not wispy or anything. Surely that counts for something.

"Wait," said while squinting, both through the beer and Wysteria's very roundabout way of saying literally anything. "So you're saying if he'd had a wife to chuck at this other man's wife, then they could have gone on being friends."

Also are they talking about....... friendship or........ friendship. Unsure.

[heirring]

"Yes," she cries. "That's exactly it! I'm so pleased you understood so instantly from just those details. It would be terribly crass to have to dig into the semantics of the thing - what he said and what was overhead, and the circumstances under which I learned any of this to begin with as pieced together by a half dozen remarks from the lady in question and, say, a series of notes found in a locked drawer. Which was not snooping; I don't have to tell you of course, but the discovery was accidental to the extreme.

"--Isn't it lovely when two minds are so well aligned as ours? Even the barest descriptions have such clarity."

looks at this tag a month later, laughs again

[gritted]

She has no idea what Wysteria’s talking about.

She knows what she’s saying, on the surface. That this man couldn’t remain friends with this male friend after his male friend had gone and got married? That if he’d had a woman with which to distract the man’s wife, then they could’ve continued being friends? What kind of society wouldn’t allow a married man to have single friends? Or, of course, she’s missing what isn’t being said. Which Wysteria clearly thinks she isn’t missing.

Kenna, entirely out of her element, leans forward and attempts a small, conspiratorial smile.

“Not too terribly crass, though. I mean, to discuss what he said, or what the notes said. Even less crass when you’re a whole rift away, I’d bet. Not that it’s necessary, obviously, because we are so well aligned, just— you know. I love hearing about your world.”

please god explain

[heirring]

The thing is, it doesn't really hurt anyone to discuss it now does it? It isn't as if Ralston or the Doctor or dear Lady Elizabeth will come tumbling out of a rift to be plagued by the fact that their personal dramas have been shared over a few drinks had in a loud public house. Or rather-- the odds seem very slim. Why, she cannot think of a single Rifter who has such a close association with any other. And if it does happen, she will simply have to swear Kenna to secrecy and it will be one more bond of true and everlasting friendship between them. There are, simply put, no drawbacks.

Besides, she rather likes discussing Kalvad when given the rare opportunity. It allows her to think of the place without considerable pangs of homesickness (or rather, guilt spurred on by the fact that she doesn't really seem to miss it all the much).

So, the story goes: "Well, just this once then. So you will have to listen closely, for I could not bear to repeat it a second time. As I said, it was at this evening salon where I first discovered that the two men's associated was hardly an association at all. Oh, the man's friend - let us call him Henry which is not his name, but it will be easier to discuss them in such terms - was warm enough and quite cordial, and his wife - Henrietta. Again, not her name and rather too close to Henry, come to think of it. Agatha? Lucasta? Oh no; let us call her Ursula. I have always fancied that name--

"Ursula and Henry were very cordial to the gentleman when we arrived, and though he did his very best to appear the same, I have something of an intuition for these things and could easily discern some uneasiness between the three of them. Not an uncommon state for those forced to bear the gentleman's company, mind you, but I had never witnessed it return in kind. He is a very irritable sort of person, you know, and those people rarely realize the discomfort they inflict on the people about them. Despite this, the evening went far more swimmingly than I would have guessed given the wide range of the company and the presence of at least four colleagues I am certain the gentleman in question despised.

"Toward the end of evening, myself and one of the other guests took some air in the back garden. You would like Martine. She is darling. --As we reached the rear of the garden, we realized suddenly that someone was speaking in a very sharp tones indeed. It was not eavesdropping, merely done incidentally as we made our way down the path. This voice belonged to none other than the gentleman in question and he was sharply upbraiding poor Doctor Henry himself on some matter of politics which is important, but hardly relevant here as shortly thereafter Henry cut in and informed the man that he would not discuss the matter under such pretenses, and if he wished to say something about his wife then he should simply say so directly."

Here, she falls into theater and pitches her voice lower: "'Your wife? Not everything is about your wife, Doctor.'" A different voice: "'Is it not?'" Toggling back: "''If you think I have even a single feeling for the woman, than you have grossly overestimate the situation. I am entirely apathetic to her.' --Isn't it shocking?"

This is, at best, half the story. But here she pauses for the appropriate reactions. One must pace these things appropriately or they risk alienating their audience.