[Mingler] A week hence...

[sissy_queen]

There have been rumors about an event - a tourney, wherein men would fight to show their greatest might, and ladies would cheer them, and grant them their favour if they did well

Comments

[not_snake_bite]

Steerpike is hardly going to compete, or even to lend a hand. He does like, however, that he can witness all this peacocking about, and that is exactly what he is doing, sitting up in one of the bleachers. He even brought a snack - something called popcorn, which he found in the kitchen, and which works well for his purposes. He wouldn't mind company as he sneers at the knights and chuckles at the medieval attire.

[mooninherhair]

Alice steps behind Steerpike, quietly, and sits down next to him, adjusting her dress as she sits, always as proper as possible.

"Does this amuse you?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. She has to admit, the jousting isn't her cup of tea, but it's something to do, so she's more than willing to be entertained for a time.

[not_snake_bite]

A glance and a smirk to himself, along with a smile, then.

"Ah, this is entirely foreign to me," Steerpike replies. "We did not have such... barbaric events in Gormenghast."

Instead, they had academics running around naked, goats in the living room, and wood-carving competitions. Coughcough.

[mooninherhair]

"This is a part of history to me," she remarks. "It seems quaint, not barbaric."

And a little pointless too, she thinks.

[not_snake_bite]

"Quaint?" Steerpike questions. "That is hardly what I would call running at each other with pointy objects."

He tilts his head, utterly detached as one knight eagerly clubs another.

"Though I could see the relevance of the display."

[mooninherhair]

"it's quaint because it's not actually killing people," Alice explains.

And she's seen that with her own eyes. Too much, she thinks.

[not_snake_bite]

"Hmmmm thus far, it isn't," Steerpike agrees. "I do wonder, though, if it is not a true risk."

[mooninherhair]

"It could happen, by accident. I prefer not to think about it."

It's easier that way.

[not_snake_bite]

"Does it distress you?"

Steerpike sounds so very concerned...

[mooninherhair]

"I have seen worse," she says, simply.

[not_snake_bite]

A nod, then, and nothing else.

Steerpike sighs, looks back at the scene. They're pausing, and one of the horses seems to be ambling their way for no good reason.

[mooninherhair]

She looks out at the horse.

"It's rebelling," she says with a small smile, amused.

[not_snake_bite]

"Or trying to head out of the carnage," Steerpike replies on a similar tone of amusement. "Would you not, in its place?"

[mooninherhair]

She nods.

"Of course. I wouldn't stay and fight," she says, and it's true.

Alice had other ways of surviving, back home.

[not_snake_bite]

Steerpike considers this, nods.

"It is true that fighting is only a viable answer to threats when it is a last resort," as with Flay, for instance.

[mooninherhair]

"Yes," she agrees. "It's foolish, otherwise."