diplomacy, gird your loins.

[bouchonne]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Byerly and Eshal.
RECIPIENT: All y'all
NOTES: Blue is Byerly, red is Eshal.

Bonsoir, Riftwatch. I have some dreadful news for you all.

[ Byerly’s voice sounds a bit dry. And characteristically dramatic. ]

My dear comrade and equal, would you like to tell them?

It's not dreadful, get over yourself. Anyway, Diplomacy has two heads, because we're better than the lot of them. Right?

Oh, yes. It’s widely acknowledged as a show of faith to appoint two people to do the job normally done by one. A task given only to truly quality prospects.

Exactly.

[ A sigh. ]

My esteemed self and this esteemed lady have been appointed joint heads of Diplomacy. She, being a decent and righteous soul, has volunteered to hear any and all complaints that might be made about this decision.

Yep. Love to meet the rest of you, honestly. Come by the head office, any time. I'll supply the whiskey.

[ Byerly lifts an eyebrow at her; he’d expected a protest to him volunteering her for that thankless duty. But, well, if she’s willing to be the goat here, let her be the goat. A shrug. That’s it. Meet your new overseers. ]

Comments

[justashotaway]

[She shakes her head sharply. It does not.]

[bouchonne]

Why do you say that it doesn't.

[justashotaway]

[She swallows, trying to find a response that has words, not just overwhelming feelings she's never learned to name.]

Because...because it is over.

[bouchonne]

[ If it were over, she wouldn't be so pale. She wouldn't struggle so much to find her words. ]

Were you taught about justice, in your tutelage? [ If they didn't bother to teach her about the Deep Roads, it seems unlikely they'd teach her about this. ]

[justashotaway]

[Laura shrugs. Her knowledge of justice is a self-taught thing, the knowledge that stopping people is better than seeing them do to others what they did to you. Beyond that: Thieves are punished. Murderers are punished. She would do well not to leave herself open to such retribution.]

[bouchonne]

Justice is the saddest thing in the world. It's the principle that you need to do something even after things are over, just to try to make sure they don't happen again. It's weak and unsatisfying, but it's all we have, a-times.

[ He lifts his wine in a mock-toast. ]

What they've done might be over, but I'd still say it deserves a bit of justice, eh?

[justashotaway]

[This seems like it is also meant to be humorous, but nothing in it sounds remotely amusing. It is, fortunately, something she knows how to answer.]

It will not happen again.

[bouchonne]

No?

[justashotaway]

No.

[bouchonne]

And how can you be sure?

[justashotaway]

[She drains her wineglass.]

They are dead.

[bouchonne]

[ Hm. ]

All of them? You're certain?

[justashotaway]

[ A shrug. The man who made her is dead, at the very least. ]

[bouchonne]

And there were no others like them?

[justashotaway]

[That is a harder question.]

Maybe.

[bouchonne]

Hm.

[ A sip. ]

How would one find them?

[justashotaway]

[That is a good question. She sets her empty glass back down, the taste heavy in her mouth.]

I do not know.

[bouchonne]

Hm.

[ He taps a finger restlessly on his knee, then takes a breath. ]

Well. I'm quite good at finding things. People. So on. Just in case your thoughts ever stray that way.

[justashotaway]

[This is...this is something to consider. Genuinely, not just to get out of this room without saying Alexander Reis. If there are others out there, then she should stop them. She must.

Laura nods gravely, her gaze straying toward the door.]

[bouchonne]

[ He hesitates, then lets out a breath. It seems like he's made some headway. ]

Whenever you're ready.

[justashotaway]

[She nods again, and then, remembering--]

Thank you for the wine.

[But yeah, she's going to go now, bye Byerly.]