fandomhighdorms | The Rocky Bits, Tuesday Afternoon

Arthur'd left a message to all about the change in location for today's drill, last week. He was in something of a better mood, although yesterday's spar with Lady Elspeth had knocked him back down to a normal grouch. At least he no longer looked like he was contemplating murdering his co-conspirator.

He didn't start speaking until he was fairly sure they'd gotten their haul of people for the day. "Today, we begin to work with our terrain," he announced, "And each other. You all have vastly different skills and powers at your disposal; now's the time to share them. You'll be venturing out to different defensible locations, spread over the seaside to your right," he nodded, "the Rocky Bits at your left," another nod, "And the ground you're standing on. Pick one, and set up a plan to make it defensible."

After a quick glance at Arthur, to make sure he had finished, Leto continued: "And after having made your own strategy for defense, some research will help you develop it. Find examples from various points in history of successfull defense of a geographic location similar to the one you chose and write a short report on your own conclusions."

[~~Wait for OCD!~~ OCD is up!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't. In fact, I can't."

She'd had a choice to make, between being tied to a box of chocolate or cutting out her own capacity to hunger and she'd made it, for good or ill. Of course, her aunt and her mother had only been able to give her another day of strength before she would have died, but they'd succeeded. She'd eaten the Golden Apple of Immortality.

And since then, everything was sawdust.

It wasn't that big of a problem until you realized how many social situations happened around food, how many bonding experiences, how many vital rituals used food as cement.

Fiona was painfully aware of this.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing that came into Leto's mind. He wasn't obsessed by food, but he knew well enough the importance of shared meals in most cultures throughout history. "But I assume your family share your condition, and so you are not alone?"

She shook her head.

Not so much.

"Just me. It was just an example."

She wouldn't use her mother for one. That was too personal by far.

"Then I truly am sorry," he replied. "Tell me, what gives someone reason to claim divinity where you're from?"

She seemed to possess an odd combination of innocence and experience.

She lifted her head, thinking of the rose stuffed in her bags back in the cabins.

"I was inducted into the Order of the Celestial Rose. It's as much a title as anything, in my family. A mark of distinction."

She didn't know much else when it came to religion as she'd been forbidden from learning it. Pagan, Christian, any. She had no cultural context for most of what she'd learned in the last month or so. It made things doubly confusing.

"I know there's more to it than that, but I wasn't allowed to read about it. Um, are you familiar with the Fates, maybe?"

They were the only ones she really knew about, the only members of her family she'd been able to identify. They'd gotten that far through the book they'd found in the basement.

"The Fates? Divine beings responsible for the destiny of mortals?" Leto did know about Greek mythology.

"Well," she said, somewhat uncomfortable in that he apparently knew more about his family than she did, "like that."

She didn't want to name any names. It just seemed... wrong. She wasn't even sure if this was wise, but she'd already jumped in headfirst and she wasn't about to go stepping back now. She'd just have to be more careful where she trod.

"You have prescient vision?" he asked quietly.

There was the question she didn't want to answer. After all, she wasn't looking. She'd seen her thread, seen her own death. Now, if she looked, she could see where the old thread had ended and the new thread latched on to continue the line.

She hated seeing it. And the sensations from further along the thread were so vague.

"It's not vision," she said carefully, "or not always. Sometimes it's sight, sometimes sound. Once it was the feel of bricks on my palms. The farther ahead you go, the harder it is to tell."

Leto tensed and looked away. No, it wasn't always vision. He had felt things too; his skin not quite his own. "And the paths become muddled? I... am sorry." He seemed to be saying that a lot.

She peered at him carefully, seeing him in a new light as he looked away.

"You do too, don't you?"

"My father did," he replied quickly, then added: "Perhaps."

[bedtime!]

She raised an eyebrow.

"This is more than I've told anyone, you know. First it was because you were nice. Then it was because I figured, since you're helping to run this thing; you should know. Then it was because I had a feeling about something, but since you don't want to share, I think I'll leave it there.

"It's unhealthy when there's a lack of balance, informationwise."

She was tired of being the one always in the dark. It was a mark for how much she had come to like him in the last few days that she put it as politely as she did.

She added a moment later, once she thought about it

"And you don't have to be sorry."

He hadn't done anything, after all.

Edited 2009-05-12 22:53 (UTC)

That was straightforward, and Leto had to appreciate that. "This isn't the time or the place for that kind of conversation," he said. That implied he would tell her more later, and it would give Leto time to decide exactly what and how. "It's not an expression of distrust. And I am sorry. It's a heavy burden to bear."

He met her eyes, and reached out to take her hand and press it for just a short moment.

She smiled at the touch nonetheless, pleased with his response. She pressed back a little, as far as she thought might be appropriate.

"It's mine."

Which was the most important, in some ways.

"When it's the right time and place, okay?"

"The right time and place." He dropped her hand and took a step back. The turn of this conversation had left him unnerved, but he did his best not to let that show. "I think I have to make sure the others know what to do," he continued.

She wasn't schooled enough in other people to pick up on it.

"Take care of business, then, and we'll talk later. Thank you, though."

She gave him a quick smile then made her way over to someone to start the activity.

He smiled back, then turned, but threw a glance at Fiona over his shoulder as he walked away.

The Rocky Bits, Tuesday Afternoon

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)

Re: Arrive/Mingle (NFB there, plz)