open | if language were liquid

[coquettish_trees]

WHO: The Irrepressible Lady Lexie and You
WHAT: Catch-all for January
WHEN: Mostly current, may be some time travel in prompts
WHERE: Kirkwall/Gallows
NOTES: Come at me

[ This is the open, specific prompts will be in comments! Feel free to make your own. ]

Office Hours

Rather than share her time between the Jeshavis office and the library Alexandrie has had an additional bookcase (exactly matching the first, of course) brought in, and has a number of tomes on what is essentially permanent loan to join those from her personal library. An array of dictionaries, linguistic texts, and books on histories and noble families in the languages of their countries—books in Antivan, Nevarran, Rivaini, Tevene, Ander, and one on the Memories and their runic inscriptions sit alongside those from Orlais and Ferelden—have joined the publicly available project reports; she has moved her translation work in its entirety to her office. Perhaps it's for privacy, perhaps for easier availability to anyone who might be seeking her out.

The desk itself is covered in three books, half stacked atop each other, and a small sheaf of papers. At the moment, however, she's taking lunch at a small table brought in for the purpose of holding the silver tray and its contents. Despite the development of 'team spirit' that inspired her to seek the position in the first place, apparently she hasn't got enough of it to enjoy the common fare available a few floors below.

The lady is in.

Comments

[coquettish_trees]

Alexandrie she takes her seat again with a rustle and smooth of her skirts. “Let us start with Orlais, then, as I was presently being updated on her, and thus it is foremost in my mind.”

And so she does, with little of her usual embellishment and no hint that she is waiting for something else. A rather broad explanation, only the overarching thrust of the work unless he stops her for details.

“—And, as I told the Scoutmaster when we spoke on it, my last journey to Val Royeaux revealed that it has become something of a new game for my peers to fabricate Venatori connections for each other and consider the degree of their success the amount of interest and investigation such connections come under, especially originating from Riftwatch and so I believe it prudent to cultivate a more permanent network, perhaps among the serving staff, that might give us a better idea of which accusations are almost certainly spurious.” She gestures it lightly away. “We do not wish to miss information, of course, but nor do we wish to spend more resources chasing hats. Now, to Ferelden?”

[katabasis]

"By all means."

For a man who almost certainly is in possession of an ulterior motive and absolutely in ownership of a reputation for being short, he is remarkably patient with this. There are questions here and there, peppered selectively throughout, but for the most part he is simply a fixed and relatively easy audience. In sum, it gives off the strong impression of waiting. He is less hunter in his blind on keen tenterhooks for any sight of some animal making its way down into the clearing over which he looks and more steel trap: inert and imperturbable, secure in the knowledge that it does not need to be attentive to do its sharp work. He lets her talk about Ferelden, and then maybe Neverra, and perhaps even Antiva. When eventually conversation winds its way farther North still, he listens to what she has to say about Tevinter in much the same way he did any backwater Bann or Marcher state.

And then, in much the same tone as any other question that has preceded it, he asks: "Remind me - what was the reason behind why we first learned about Miss Jones' continued contact with a network of Tevene slaves from her instead of you?”

[coquettish_trees]

Ah, here they are.

Alexandrie tilts her head as if it is a mere curiosity, her tone light and matter-of-fact.

"Because it is her network, Commander. We all have cards that are ours alone to play, and rules by which we play them. It is hardly my place to make offer of agents that are not mine, especially if the trust and future use of those agents is likely predicated upon their trust of their contact."

[katabasis]

Bullshit it's hers.

"A networm she was introduced to through her Inquisition work, which she evidently reported to you as a representative of our outfit, and has since been allowed to wither on the vine under the sole oversight of a teenaged Rifter. Tell me,"—his tone is still even, though there in something about the temperature of him which has dropped by a few marked degrees—"Did you offer her any guidance whatsoever, or was it your aim to let a potentially valuable connection inside Tevinter be wasted?"

[coquettish_trees]

“In order for a harvest to wither on the vine, that vine must first have grown ready to bear fruit. As far as the suitability of its caretaker, Mademoiselle Jones was trusted with this vine precisely because of who she is, and I extended her similar trust as far as its cultivation to fruitfulness and granted her what she needed in order to feel safe in doing so. It is through that choice that I believe she will come to trust that our eventual utilization of the network is done with respect and full consideration of the risk to agents she fervently desires to protect, and we shall have far less need to consider the possibility that she might balk at its use. Pleased with it or no, she is the contact.” Alexandrie lifts her shoulders slightly.

“Ones desire to have the webs of trust and behaviour central to the proper management of clandestine affairs be other than they are is largely irrelevant. You are welcome to think the judgement I made erroneous, but it is one that was in my purview to have made.” A brief pause, while she carefully straightens a neat stack of papers on her desk that does not need straightening. “How much consideration should you give to my opinions on the deployment of our forces?”

[katabasis]

He listens patiently. When she is finished, he proceeds at a brisk clip - not heated, just pointedly brusque.

"I'm not asking how you got Miss Jones to trust you or why she wasn't immediately replaced with someone who might pose as her in communication. I'm asking what arrangements you made to support a young girl who has likely never cultivated a relationship with an intelligence asset before. I'm asking why the Division Heads were never made aware of the fact that there was even the slim possibility that we might at some point have an inroad with the Tevene slave population. I'm asking why you decided to keep this information to yourself instead of telling anyone above you - and mark me Lady Asgard, there are people above you in this organization; your position as a project leader may be voluntary, but the latitude afforded by it comes with the expectation that you report information sensitive to our work - when we might have put into motion efforts to encourage the strengthening of Miss Jones' connections.

“What you do and do not choose to tell us and how you pursue your work is tantamount to your opinion, and as it just so happens that does influence the deployment of Riftwatch's assets - Forces division included. So you'll forgive me if I find it reasonable to consider why a woman recently married to a member of one of Tevinter's noble houses might conveniently neglect to pursue this particular lead in any significant way."

[coquettish_trees]

"The currents of power in Tevinter are disrupted, Commander, and House Asgard, having markedly not afforded even cursory support to Corypheus, does not ride them smoothly." She folds her hands on her desk, and for this moment unveils the cool clarity of her calculations in her gaze. "It is likely that my beau-frère is even now joining Lord Odin in plans for the private mobilization of forces to aid in our fight from within the borders. If the slaves of Tevinter take advantage of civil fracture and the push of the Exalted March to rebel, and succeed, their success will turn the country even further upon its head." Alexandrie spreads her hands. "There exists a possibility that it would be in the best interest of the future position of my House to be sympathetic to that cause."

A play she has not broached with her husband yet, but one she lets simmer in the back kitchens. And one which the airing of may aid her here; little is more convincing than admitted self-interest.

[katabasis]

It's a fair play. He doesn't give a shit.

"Allow me to be clear-- I don't care about what your husband is or isn't or might be doing, or what state his family's house is in. I asked what could possibly be keeping you from doing your job here. The fact that you continue to be intent on not answering that question and instead are suggesting possibilities now as I'm asking you directly concerns me."

[coquettish_trees]

Blandly: "If you did not care, Commander, I imagine you should not have broached your 'reasonably considered' suspicions as to my motivations." Alexandrie tilts her head and lifts an elegant shoulder. "As to your question about what has kept me from doing my job, I believe I have been clear that I yet consider my choice to allow Mademoiselle Jones to largely control the knowledge and development of the network we have gained access to through her to be doing my job.

"You and the Scoutmaster have made clear your disagreement, and I have noted it and shall adjust my future actions accordingly."

[katabasis]

"I would very much like to hear how you intend to adjust, particularly in relation to this question of potential contacts within Tevinter." He smiles. It's one of those unpleasantly cold sort of expressions, the kind which plays at being cordial without bothering to hide being unimpressed. "That might put my mind more at ease."

[coquettish_trees]

"Why, to provide more transparency as to its development," she replies with mild surprise. Isn't that what you asked for? "I shall require Mademoiselle Jones to make report of her progress and provide copies of missives sent and received. Not accessible to the public, of course, but eminently available to you as a Division Head should you wish to inquire after them. I shall even add written summations of any instruction I give her, since you have expressed concern about the nature of my support."

And she will—although none of it will provide any information about how an intrepid and ambitious man might go about making contact himself.

[katabasis]

The shape of it should be perfectly acceptable, but he finds there's very little satisfaction in it; something in the Lady Asgard's pleasant temperament and gentle surprise set his teeth to edge. "It's a start," is what he allows for , though it's clear from some pinched line in his expression that the latitude allowed for in the whole arrangement hasn't entirely escaped him.

Or maybe he just doesn't care for her.

"Going forward, I would ask that this be the approach you plan to take with any sensitive contact behind our enemy's lines which might fall into your lap. I have no desire to tell you that you can't make decisions. But I would strongly encourage you to inform our Scoutmaster when you make them. It's possible there are plans in motion above you which might be affected, and the continuity of this organization depends on the coordination of all our limbs."