(OTA) I've Swallowed a Secret Burning Thread

[trainingwreck]

The sign on the door of the salle said there was to be no training until Monday at the earliest. The note on Tally's apartment door said she was out. The servants have been given three conflicting stories about where she'll be, including the tale that she's skipped to the Outside for a week in Paris

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[uncutclarity]

The Paris story had gotten a skeptically raised eyebrow, but the Two had just shrugged, and so Avery had continued her investigation until she found the right servant. And eventually, she did, and had Drusilla, the sorrel quarter horse mare she'd bought a month after becoming Jack herself, saddled so she could ride out.

"When I got the news," she tells Tally as she dismounts and ties Drusilla up, "there was an unbelievable amount of cake baking happening."

[trainingwreck]

"The news is out and open? Fuckitall, I'm glad I ran, then. Though I'm sure rumors will spread." Maybe even the Paris story, if she's lucky. She gestures to a brown leather pack, glancing up at Avery from her seat by the fire. "Marshmallows are in there if you want to stay for a bit. I need to plumb your brains on more than one topic."

[uncutclarity]

"Just among the servants, for the most part. But they talk in the kitchens, and I still have enough friends there that I end up hearing it nearly as quickly." Avery pats Dru's muzzle before coming over and plopping next to Tally.

She spears a marshmallow on a skewer before she speaks. "Should I offer congratulations or condolences first?" She's joking. Really, she's joking.

But there might be some truth in there, too.

[trainingwreck]

"I went on a date the other night." She's reasonably sure that Diamond servants haven't been whispering about that one, so she pulls it out because...

...because she's feeling off-balance and she's mildly sure that the idea of her dating again would probably throw Avery off-balance and she wants to not be the only one off-balance here. Nevermind that this is the official death of Avery's dream of being a Face, at least for the moment.

[uncutclarity]

"...Really." Because, no, the Diamond servants haven't been whispering about that one, though Avery is absolutely sure they will the first moment they have the opportunity.

Tally gets her wish, though, because Avery just blinks at the fire, turning her marshmallow automatically, before she forces herself to sound like a reasonably intelligent adult woman. "Who with?"

[trainingwreck]

"Amy Sinclair, Two of Spades. Soon to be Three, I'm pretty sure." Which was slightly awkward. I mean, don't get her wrong, rank plays no role in how she sees Amy. But a Jack dating a Two is bound to cause talk. Look at how things were around Isadore and Alexander, back when. "I caught her out taping a Three in his training, and...things happened and she asked me out to dinner."

[uncutclarity]

"Oh, we've met." And unlike many, Avery had not formed a particularly bad opinion of Amy. She was short (in both senses of the word) and abrasive, but hardly the only person in the Deck who could be described that way. "Did you have fun?"

[trainingwreck]

"Yeah, I really did. I mean, I recognize the deep-seated self-esteem issues that I'd be dealing with, but...she's got play to her, still, under all that fuckitall she gives the world." She smiles, warm and glowy and not really Tally-ish.

[uncutclarity]

"I got a similar feeling about her when we met. She watched the training here, once when I was supervising, and seemed surprised that Diamonds practice with swords." That's said with some amusement, because there are martial artists in all the Suits, even the Hearts.

"I hope it works out," she says. And she does, though when her smile widens it's for a different reason. "Let me know if you need advice navigating relationship disapproval. I'm at expert-level at this point."

[trainingwreck]

"You're an expert at a helluva lot of skills I'm going to be needing coming up here, Ave." She sighs, sitting back a little and eating a marshmallow raw, talking with her mouth full. "Do they even know why I suck at paperwork-y things?"

[uncutclarity]

Avery laughs a little, but it does make her feel a little...better. The unexpected apology from Säde this week aside, she spent most of her tenure as Jack feeling as if people thought she was floundering even though she had a handle on things.

She shakes her head. "I don't think they do," she says. "I've never mentioned it to anyone, at least, and I've never heard Rachel or Säde say a thing about it." She takes her marshmallow out of the fire, layers chocolate on top of a cracker, and smashes the marshmallow on top of it. "What you need is a paperwork-eating demon of an assistant." She pauses to devour most of her s'more. "Which I'd tell anyone who got named Jack."

[trainingwreck]

"...can't I just be named the Tally of Diamonds?" She rolls her eyes. "But I will need a good assistant. Someone to be the brains to my brawns. Do you know anyone?"

[uncutclarity]

Avery just grins at her. "Not off the top of my head; Silas is looking for one too. Michael's just a bit...much." She considers for a moment, and then nods. "I'd raid either IM or HR. Becky in HR would be a good choice, she's highly efficient. If she doesn't work, there's Kazuki, in IM. He'd be good at it, and I imagine wouldn't mind getting out of the department."

She hands Tally the remains of the chocolate bar, which she's probably going to need even more than an assistant.

[trainingwreck]

A chunk is broken off the bar straight-off, and disappears down her gullet. "Becky's last challenge up was in ice fishing, you know. I spent a week on the ice with her. Great calm, but conversation was...empty."

[uncutclarity]

"She's not the most sparkling conversationalist the Diamonds have ever produced." Highly efficient, but slightly unable to understand the concept of humor. "Kazuki might be your man, if you don't mind the occasional resemblance to a J-Rock star."

[trainingwreck]

"Perhaps. But still, Ave, I don't know what kinda Jack they expect of me. I mean, Silas said they know I'm not you and what they want is me right now, but I don't know how to do that as a Jack." Babbling isn't only a Berthier trait under stress.