[Jaeyi] Waylaying Astivan's snack tray. (Vignette)
This was originally planned as a scene, but things got all wonky with RP time, so here's the next best thing. XD
Supsicious mind, that's all it was. Jaeyi was looking for things that weren't there, jumping at shadows. Right?
Except-- except-- except it wouldn't quit bugging her. Why, of all people in the Hold, of all the important people in the Hold, was Astivan the only one getting his afternoon snack from some other source? Under any other circumstances, it might have just been a quick sting to her pride, that Astivan had this other cook that he preferred to her, that this other cook's snacks were better than hers, but it wasn't... that... With everything else, with everything she already suspected, watching the kitchen worker depart with a snack tray for the former Lordling, something just clicked.
It wasn't exactly easy, to ensure that - just this once - she would be the one to deliver the tray. The kitchen worker had to be otherwise occupied, a feat she accomplished by sending the boy (Why did she tend to think of the kitchen workers as 'boys' and 'girls' even when they out-aged her by decades? She was going to have to think on that eventually.) out to the cheeseroom some thirty minutes before Astivan's usual snacktime, well knowing that the cheesemaker was so long-winded that a half hour would never be enough time to get there and back. Then she had to be sure that her own hands were empty, that she was loitering in the right place, that she was being pointedly casual about the whole matter, that her smile was easy and she appeared appropriately vapid.
Bearing that tray, with its snack and its juice, she left the kitchen and, instead of following the corridors to Astivan's rooms, veered away to find the office of the healer. It was a gamble and a big one, but-- well, wasn't it all a gamble by now?
A half-hour later, she slipped out of the healer's office, leaving the tray behind, and tried not to look like she was sprinting to Astivan's quarters to try and keep him from reporting the failure of his snack to arrive. Some part of her wanted the healer to say she was crazy, that there was nothing in the boy's meal but wholesome, healthy snacks.
Another part of her, a bigger part of her knew that wasn't how this was going to turn out.
A very small part of her realized that this dress was not meant for running!
Supsicious mind, that's all it was. Jaeyi was looking for things that weren't there, jumping at shadows. Right?
Except-- except-- except it wouldn't quit bugging her. Why, of all people in the Hold, of all the important people in the Hold, was Astivan the only one getting his afternoon snack from some other source? Under any other circumstances, it might have just been a quick sting to her pride, that Astivan had this other cook that he preferred to her, that this other cook's snacks were better than hers, but it wasn't... that... With everything else, with everything she already suspected, watching the kitchen worker depart with a snack tray for the former Lordling, something just clicked.
It wasn't exactly easy, to ensure that - just this once - she would be the one to deliver the tray. The kitchen worker had to be otherwise occupied, a feat she accomplished by sending the boy (Why did she tend to think of the kitchen workers as 'boys' and 'girls' even when they out-aged her by decades? She was going to have to think on that eventually.) out to the cheeseroom some thirty minutes before Astivan's usual snacktime, well knowing that the cheesemaker was so long-winded that a half hour would never be enough time to get there and back. Then she had to be sure that her own hands were empty, that she was loitering in the right place, that she was being pointedly casual about the whole matter, that her smile was easy and she appeared appropriately vapid.
Bearing that tray, with its snack and its juice, she left the kitchen and, instead of following the corridors to Astivan's rooms, veered away to find the office of the healer. It was a gamble and a big one, but-- well, wasn't it all a gamble by now?
A half-hour later, she slipped out of the healer's office, leaving the tray behind, and tried not to look like she was sprinting to Astivan's quarters to try and keep him from reporting the failure of his snack to arrive. Some part of her wanted the healer to say she was crazy, that there was nothing in the boy's meal but wholesome, healthy snacks.
Another part of her, a bigger part of her knew that wasn't how this was going to turn out.
A very small part of her realized that this dress was not meant for running!