on the nature of oaths

[zuhrovet]

[In the current move, Sasha has just accepted an oath of service from Jedao, a relationship Reshad believes is coercive. I'm not sure whether this properly counts as character rp or a new half-move, but I think we all need some new space to deal with the fallout!]

Sasha is waiting outside the antechamber. She has tied her scarf again, and looks as put-together as she ever does. "Are we having this conversation in my office?" she asks Reshad. "Or over tea, with everyone?"

Comments

trying not to break things

[zuhrovet]

Sasha cannot do this, she can't, it doesn't matter if Reshad will not control her hair or her hatchling, she's not going to break another cup. There's nowhere safe to look, so she closes her eyes and thinks about snow.

The girl looked north, and everything there was flat and white. She looked south, and everything there was flat and white. She looked east, and saw mist rising up, rising as high as she could see, opaque and white. She looked west, and saw the footprints of the person who was also a wolf.

The girl walked west. With her steps, snow fell; from her footprints, snow fell on the world below.

When everything feels still, Sasha opens her eyes and says, "Any human can shift the calendar, over a short distance. With all of us together, from different times and places, maybe the shift is greater. Is that the risk you mean? Or do you want to know more about why Ione wears gloves?"

Re: trying not to break things

[bariolage]

Ione's hatchling has been relocated to her lap, and doesn't seem to be against it now that she's sitting in one place; it can stay settled there without causing any more issues. Even if Ione doesn't understand why it's an issue, there's been more than enough attention placed on Sasha. Better to ask in private, if she even remembers.

Instead, and instead of offering up that one of her siblings is much more destructive with his breaking things without touching them than Sasha is, which was also tempting, she just tries to answer the question:

"Yes, though to a limited extent. I can get overwhelmed and pass out. I don't just read feelings, I'm actually feeling them, so it's very--tiring, and I sometimes have to work hard to remind myself the feelings aren't mine." She wiggles a gloved hand, in case that was the question. "Skin-to-skin contact turns into getting everything the other person is feeling fed into my head and I find it extremely unpleasant to have happen by mistake. Because of the risk of losing consciousness I prefer to be guarded by someone I can trust when doing it intentionally. I have," with that same hand she touches her hair again, but this time it's just the top of her head, "something in here to prevent being like that around everyone all the time. What we are calling an ability is thought of as a disability by some in my home world."

Re: trying not to break things

[zuhrovet]

Sasha's cheeks burn, but she thinks, snow. It's like snowshoes: she has to let the weight of her attention settle evenly. And just as when snowshoeing, everything seems harder than it should.

"So. We have some transit time, before we reach our rendezvous with Ashari. Ione, you are likely to spend much of that time with Jedao and Reshad or me, but please be clear about your limits. This isn't a short-term process. We need as much information as we can get about this Nirai collaborator: how he thinks, what his resources are."

[Maybe the next person to respond should start a new comment thread?]

Re: trying not to break things

[hoardingpearls]

New thread here!