hexarchate_rpg | on the nature of oaths

zuhrovet posting in

[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?"

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From:

yhlee

Gerae enters shortly afterward, looks around at everyone's faces, bites his lip, then occupies himself helping feed hungry hatchlings banana-tuna mixture.

From:

zuhrovet

Sasha shuts the cupboard door, passes Chahle to Gerae temporarily, and cleans up the mess. In the middle of that process the tea alarm goes off. By the time she manages to recover Chahle and bring everyone a cup, it's definitely oversteeped. But then, it's green, so it still doesn't taste like much of anything.

Sasha pets Chahle along the spine, for luck maybe, and then asks the question she should have asked first, if she hadn't been so distracted by her own stupid lack of self-control: "Ione. Are you all right?"

From:

bariolage

At first, Ione is going to say something like I was just facepalming because of the fact that the pseudo-dragons think that breaking cups is a noise to mimic but she realizes that's not the question being asked, exactly. Her immediate response to the hatchlings isn't what they're talking about so much as the fact she looks like she hasn't slept in a year.

"Tired," she answers instead, but she's smiling faintly. "Kind of emotionally fatigued because it's -- there was a lot. These guys help." There's another scritch for her friend she hasn't named yet, who has stopped shrieking, and then she turns the smile onto Gerae briefly before focusing it back on Sasha. "Are you?"

From:

zuhrovet

Green saint, Sasha cannot do this, nothing this good can last. She's going to break something else, and she doesn't know when or how.

She watches Chahle decorously inhaling banana for a moment, just to compose herself, and then shrugs. "I'm fine. Nobody has tried to assault me for weeks, it's probably a record. I guess--should we get started?"

From:

bariolage

"We should be aiming for longer than weeks," Ione says softly, but doesn't protest the idea of getting to discussion.

From:

zuhrovet

Sasha's smile translates as "How is Ashari supposed to relax?" but she has enough sense not to say that out loud.

"Ione, if you can give us a more detailed assessment of Jedao's emotional state, that would be very much appreciated. Reshad, I know you have questions. And Gerae--are you part of this meeting or not?"

From:

yhlee

Gerae straightens his posture and almost drops the hatchling he's feeding, who yawps in protest. "I'm paying attention," he says, hastily catching and patting the little dragon.

From:

hoardingpearls

"I do have questions, but Ione's information may well answer some of them." Reshad looks between the women with their hatchlings and Gerae with his, and mimicking, finds some food and offers it to the next nose to emerge from the nest.

From:

zuhrovet

"I'm not going to eat you," Sasha says, in an aside.

From:

venndaai

[Let's pretend Sulen has been there quietly distracted by the magenta hatchling for the last couple minutes.]

From:

slybrarian

[Ditto Alaric, with a different hatchling.]

From:

bariolage

Ione is not laughing at Sasha's response to Gerae. She's not. She has a straight face because this is serious (but okay, there was a little crinkle to her eyes there for a second; Reshad and Sasha may have seen it).

"Okay," she says, and takes a long exhale. "So. First to clarify, I do have filters; in order to read him without things getting lost in the space between his field and mine, I would have to be touching him directly." Thus, the gloves: not having hand-to-skin contact with anyone prevents her from being overwhelmed. Or influenced, but that's another story for another day.

"The most important thing I picked up on is that I think it is very important to honor his word, and that it was the right choice to take that oath; I think he sees some kind of escape in it? That will make him inclined to work with us better, I think it's maybe protecting him or -- fuzzy, I'm sorry, but. He was very ... he seems at least actively self-destructive if not suicidal, so I'm not able to discern right now if he's using us as a tool for this or for some other means. It may not matter?" She stops to twirl her hair around her finger again, having to fidget as she wasn't working with a prepared speech. "But he never lied to us and everything he said was sincere - the rebellion's cause interests him, I think. That was washed out, though, by the -- intensity of his oaths and the emotional pain. It's too tangled for me to see clearer, I'm sorry. I could do a closer read but someone would have to be with me and he would have to consent."

From:

zuhrovet

Sasha doesn't want to look at Ione, but she makes herself speak seriously and slowly, because if anything else breaks she might have to explain herself to the wolves, as well as Reshad. Hoping she won't fuck things up is nothing like a guarantee, but it's the only strategy she knows. It's easier to break things on purpose.

"I told him that he might have to destroy his other self, and that I will protect my people. I am sure both were factors, in his decision."

Sasha has sworn to protect him now, against everyone but himself. That is--abysmally fucking stupid, by some measures. But she was already involved, and already responsible, and she's half looking forward to identifying her adversaries.

From:

hoardingpearls

Ione's description is fascinating on one level, still distressing on another. Reshad grabs for a metaphor and seizes on 'filters.' So, like particulates on a space station, maybe, and her gloves keep the worst of the dust from getting to unprotected skin.

"I do hope it'll ease working with us," she agrees. "And we must take precautions not to become a tool to hurt him further." There are questions -- so many questions! -- but that, she'd read loud and clear. She listens to the rest, and Sasha's comments, with one hand in the nest. Waiting for a touch that finally does come, a little faerie dragon curious or hungry. She scoops it up and pops a bit of goop into the crimson gape.

"I'm concerned, and not all of it is for him." She turns wide eyes on Sasha for a moment, then glances back down at the hatchling. Bright red scales adorn the hungry little creature, and she smiles at it, a sudden change of expression.

"He threw over his oaths to leaders he considered unworthy. Not easily, I don't think, but once done is easier done again."

"Nor do I think he has context to understand your existing bonds." She waits, but her serious mood is again interrupted as she gives the nipping hatchling another mouthful of paste.

Edited Date: 2019-10-05 03:34 pm (UTC)

From:

yhlee

Gerae stirs. "I know I'm very junior in this organization," he says, "and that I certainly don't speak for the other Rahal, but I would strongly recommend doing that scan, Ione, if you can secure his agreement. If he's unstable, we really need to know how deep it goes." He flushes and lapses back into silence, ostentatiously petting the hatchling that he's currently feeding.

From:

zuhrovet

"My commitment to the Cantata is the only tie that isn't obvious," Sasha tells Reshad. She doesn't like speaking of this openly: she feels exposed in a way that isn't logical, not when the chain of oaths is nearly military in its directness. Jedao's oath hooks into her own promise to Ashari, and that's almost all there is, that single line.

She's half-grateful to Gerae, therefore, for the distraction. She suspects he has not understood the cost to Ione of reading people, so she still leads with "You don't want to scry him thoroughly yourself?" But her sarcasm lacks bite.

From:

venndaai

Sulen moves over to Gerae, ostensibly to admire the hatchling he's feeding, but also putting themself between him and Sasha. "Ione's ability sounds more effective than ours, at least in these circumstances." They're not sure they'd really want to scry Jedao even with a full hept. There's something unsettling about his signifier, though Crowned With Eyes isn't one they've had any bad associations with before.

From:

zuhrovet

Sasha bites her lip. "What do you really expect to gain, from an active scan? We already know Jedao is dangerous. Ione can monitor passively now, without putting him on alert. If you want a full psych profile, and he's cooperative, we'd be better off asking Remi."

From:

zuhrovet

[We're having this conversation in the common room, which means the Cantata can listen in if it wants to.

Also, Sasha's running on levels of stress high enough that her exotic effects might activate again--I don't think it's inevitable, but do feel free to invoke them against her if that seems interesting?]

From:

yhlee

[Noted--will get to this tomorrow as I am fried tonight. I appreciate the help!]

From:

yhlee

[Sorry I'm late responding--I'm sick with what may or may not be the flu, or may be something else entirely, will try not to fall behind again...]

From:

yhlee

There's a rattling noise in the cupboard as Sasha's powers threaten to activate--and then a teacup shatters.

There's a sudden interruption from the grid, translating for the Cantata. "Excuse me!" it says. The grid somehow manages to convey friendly cheer on its behalf. "Is there a reason the cups are shaking? I asked the other voidmoths in the area if it's any of them and they say they haven't messed with our gravity! Since I am your transportation I thought I should bring this potential safety issue to your attention."

From:

zuhrovet

"The disturbance is my fault. It should be temporary." Sasha thinks she sounds admirably calm, considering that she is a few millimeters away from reconfiguring the common room layout so she can sink into the floor. "Ione, this is not mine to dictate, not in any way, but... If you could keep the hatchling away from your hair, I would appreciate that very much."

She gives Chahle another bite of squashed banana. They're so sweet. All the hatchlings are. There's one curled against Reshad now, probably--only the Prophet can guess what will smash next, if Sasha contemplates that apparent softness--so she watches the Rahal, wondering when they will shift from confusion to hostility.

From:

yhlee

Strangely, Gerae looks really, really excited. "You can break things without touching them?" he asks. "Does it work on locks, too?"

From:

zuhrovet

"You might have noticed my control is not ideal." Sasha's smile initially involves a lot of pointy teeth, but she shifts quickly to something more genuine: Gerae is asking just the sort of question she would have asked. "If I could reliably move a deadbolt, growing up would have been a lot easier. I have pretty good luck with electronic locks, though."