Understanding there is a significant number of things requiring our attention at the moment that won't be neglected, I think it's time we spoke about our shared interests. Don't you?
[Darras, in the Gallows, feeling very shut-in with all the world out there--with Yseult, out there--]
I've not heard anything. [In case Silver thought there might be something going on behind the scenes. He looks over to the empty sofa where Yseult could be found after working. A glass of wine, a tired smile. She didn't trust Flint. They've disappeared, together. There's a line that could be drawn between those points.] I assume the same's true for you.
[He could, but he won't. There could be something to be learned. Yseult would say yes. Or Yseult would say no, but she would find out anyways, and Darras hasn't got that skill, so this is it.]
If it's a conversation best not overheard--you know where the scoutmaster's office is. That's where I am.
[ What are the chances that Yseult orchestrated this absence, that she saw and opportunity and seized it? What are the chances Yseult returns alone?
What are the chances that when all is said and done, Rutyer and Stark choose to leave well enough alone and give the pair of them up for dead?
These thoughts, having chased each other around and around the edges of John's consciousness since the moment Byerly Rutyer imparted the news, accompany him all the way to the Scouting office. He lets the bottle in his hand thud onto the desk, before turning towards Darras. ]
Cups?
[ is not a greeting, nor is it an introduction of a subject. ]
[This is Yseult's office. The boundary--for Darras, at least--is normally less important. With Yseult's absence, there's a noticeable difference. Her desk is bare. The chair is empty. The door to the adjoining personal quarters is open, where normally it would be found closed.
There are some glasses on the low table that serves as a bar, which is stocked only with a bottle of rum. Darras pushes them aside and selects a pair of tin cups instead.]
Always prepared.
[Or Yseult is, anyways. He brings the cups over.]
Diplomacy has Scouting and Research has Forces, is the way it's arranged.
[ A nod. Yes, John has considered the division of labor, noted how the Diplomacy office now houses a new mismash of reports to set alongside the familiar missives they'd been dealing with not so long ago.
Leaning his full weight on the armrest of his crutch, John works the cork free, tips the contents of the bottle into proffered cups. It's not until he's straightened, readjusted the balance of his own weight and offered out one cup to Darras to take, that John draws breath, summons words to him. ]
Have you given thought to how you might proceed if, after things have settled one way or another in the Marches, the cursory attempts to locate missing Scoutmaster and Commander turn up nothing?
[ There is a better question—
Have you considered that there are people here who might be pleased to see them gone? Have you considered such attitudes will color search efforts? ]
[Darras takes the cup, but does not, at first, drink. He looks into the cup. The contents are dark like the sea at night.]
I won't let them turn up nothing.
[It might sound like a boast, a claim made out of desperation or denial. Darras means it.]
If there's to be a search, it will be done properly. And if nothing is turned up, then they'll search again, because there's something out there to be found. She's out there and I'll dismantle Drake's Landing stone by muddy stone to find out where.
[Now he drinks, quick and sharp. Gestures, with the cup, toward Silver. And him?]
[ She's out there communicates a particular belief.
Darras believes her to be alive. John tips his own cup, swirling the contents. He has not let himself consider alternatives, but that's not necessarily the same as believing with such certainty. ]
I have a crew of men who I might turn to the task, but they aren't trackers.
[ Personnel problems with the Walrus crew notwithstanding. ]
Do you suppose, [ John asks, cup tipping back, then forward. ] that someone or something caught up to her? The type of danger she'd prefer you not share with the Ambassador and the Provost?
[Darras looks up at him, calculating. Thinking of what he knows and doesn't know. Of that dream of the future that had him sat in a cottage with Silver.]
But the type I might share with you?
[What would Yseult say, if she were here? She'd know when to give secrets, when to hold back. He doesn't look away from Silver.]
She's good. She doesn't leave loose ends around where they might come back on her. [Though there was a time that he thinks of, as he says that. A woman that knew her as someone else. And he has to admit,] It's not impossible.
[ There are diverging answers to the question. John considers them, the shape of possibilities. How many of those who would like to see Flint dead had no real idea whether or not he was truly alive? Yes, there are people who would like to see Flint dead, or if not dead, then removed.
It would be easier to trust Darras, if John did not suspect there was a chance that the list contained Rutyer and Yseult both. ]
A pirate captain acquires enemies in the course of doing business, as you must know, [ is what John says instead. ] But given our present commitments, I can't rightly say we've any rivals dedicated enough to pursue him onto dry land. Beyond that...
[ A tipping of the hand, standing in for Darras' same beat of consideration. Yes, beyond that there is something. Someone. Perhaps several someones. ]
He is Tevene, fighting against Corypheus. Surely there are Venatori zealots incensed by that.
[ That being said— ]
I don't care to pry into her life. But I would more readily trust your efforts to retrieve her than I would Rutyer's.
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timeasmymeasure
crystal / whenever darras is in kirkwall in late stage modplot
Date: 2021-07-27 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-27 10:09 pm (UTC)I've not heard anything. [In case Silver thought there might be something going on behind the scenes. He looks over to the empty sofa where Yseult could be found after working. A glass of wine, a tired smile. She didn't trust Flint. They've disappeared, together. There's a line that could be drawn between those points.] I assume the same's true for you.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-27 10:59 pm (UTC)[ Why pretend otherwise? ]
I've a bottle of something decent. I would think this conversation might be easier if we split it between us.
[ stopping just short of: where are you? ]
no subject
Date: 2021-07-28 12:57 am (UTC)[He could, but he won't. There could be something to be learned. Yseult would say yes. Or Yseult would say no, but she would find out anyways, and Darras hasn't got that skill, so this is it.]
If it's a conversation best not overheard--you know where the scoutmaster's office is. That's where I am.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-28 06:50 am (UTC)What are the chances that when all is said and done, Rutyer and Stark choose to leave well enough alone and give the pair of them up for dead?
These thoughts, having chased each other around and around the edges of John's consciousness since the moment Byerly Rutyer imparted the news, accompany him all the way to the Scouting office. He lets the bottle in his hand thud onto the desk, before turning towards Darras. ]
Cups?
[ is not a greeting, nor is it an introduction of a subject. ]
no subject
Date: 2021-07-29 02:54 am (UTC)There are some glasses on the low table that serves as a bar, which is stocked only with a bottle of rum. Darras pushes them aside and selects a pair of tin cups instead.]
Always prepared.
[Or Yseult is, anyways. He brings the cups over.]
Diplomacy has Scouting and Research has Forces, is the way it's arranged.
[Thus the empty desk.]
no subject
Date: 2021-08-01 12:17 am (UTC)Leaning his full weight on the armrest of his crutch, John works the cork free, tips the contents of the bottle into proffered cups. It's not until he's straightened, readjusted the balance of his own weight and offered out one cup to Darras to take, that John draws breath, summons words to him. ]
Have you given thought to how you might proceed if, after things have settled one way or another in the Marches, the cursory attempts to locate missing Scoutmaster and Commander turn up nothing?
[ There is a better question—
Have you considered that there are people here who might be pleased to see them gone? Have you considered such attitudes will color search efforts? ]
no subject
Date: 2021-08-03 12:41 am (UTC)I won't let them turn up nothing.
[It might sound like a boast, a claim made out of desperation or denial. Darras means it.]
If there's to be a search, it will be done properly. And if nothing is turned up, then they'll search again, because there's something out there to be found. She's out there and I'll dismantle Drake's Landing stone by muddy stone to find out where.
[Now he drinks, quick and sharp. Gestures, with the cup, toward Silver. And him?]
no subject
Date: 2021-08-03 01:51 am (UTC)Darras believes her to be alive. John tips his own cup, swirling the contents. He has not let himself consider alternatives, but that's not necessarily the same as believing with such certainty. ]
I have a crew of men who I might turn to the task, but they aren't trackers.
[ Personnel problems with the Walrus crew notwithstanding. ]
Do you suppose, [ John asks, cup tipping back, then forward. ] that someone or something caught up to her? The type of danger she'd prefer you not share with the Ambassador and the Provost?
no subject
Date: 2021-08-04 02:25 am (UTC)But the type I might share with you?
[What would Yseult say, if she were here? She'd know when to give secrets, when to hold back. He doesn't look away from Silver.]
She's good. She doesn't leave loose ends around where they might come back on her. [Though there was a time that he thinks of, as he says that. A woman that knew her as someone else. And he has to admit,] It's not impossible.
What about Flint?
no subject
Date: 2021-08-04 05:23 am (UTC)It would be easier to trust Darras, if John did not suspect there was a chance that the list contained Rutyer and Yseult both. ]
A pirate captain acquires enemies in the course of doing business, as you must know, [ is what John says instead. ] But given our present commitments, I can't rightly say we've any rivals dedicated enough to pursue him onto dry land. Beyond that...
[ A tipping of the hand, standing in for Darras' same beat of consideration. Yes, beyond that there is something. Someone. Perhaps several someones. ]
He is Tevene, fighting against Corypheus. Surely there are Venatori zealots incensed by that.
[ That being said— ]
I don't care to pry into her life. But I would more readily trust your efforts to retrieve her than I would Rutyer's.