[OTA] I will eviscerate you in fiction

[dreamsofwords]

It's a foggy, rainy, less than pleasant sort of day to be sitting at an outdoor cafe with a laptop, but that's where you can find Alasdair DeWitt today, tapping away. The assumption from nearly everyone is that he's writing his latest magnum opus; perhaps a story of love and life and coming of age in Barcelona (everyone uses Paris and New York)

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[indeliblespade]

Its amazing how life can shift so much in a matter of days. He'd gone from misery as a page to a rather happy existence being surrounded by pastries in the nice shop in town, owned by the japanese family.

Alasdair had been sitting outside, alone with his laptop for a while now. So, when he could have a minute to do it, he picked up an eclair (because it kind of rhymed with Alasdair), and brought it out to him in a small plate, setting it up beside the computer without trying to disturb him.

[dreamsofwords]

He'd been mumbling under his breath, words that seemed ridiculous, considering what most people knew about the things Alasdair wrote. But In Su didn't yet, so he probably wasn't as surprised as most.

Still, Alasdair jolted as the plate slid into his line of sight, looking up with a stare before he offered In Su a smile. "Oh, hey," he said. "...I didn't buy this."

[indeliblespade]

In Su could only understand half of the words coming out of Alasdair's mouth, and he wasn't nosy enough to pry.

Still when he seemed to notice the treat, he stopped in his tracks and smiled at him right back "Hi, no... I know." He blushes, gesturing 'please have some'.

"You've been here, working hard for a while, so I brought this for you. It's a gift. Take a break, and enjoy it ok? Or would you like a different pastry?"

[dreamsofwords]

It was probably just as well. Several of them were pretty disturbing; Catherine Towers wasn't having a very nice end.

Alasdair finished his sentence, though, rereading it once before closing his laptop. "No, this is fine," he said. "So this is where you work?"

[indeliblespade]

He shrugged, looking through the glass into the pastry shop, a curious little smile coming over his face.

"Yes. I tried to work somewhere else, but it fell through. The family here is very nice, and offered I could work here. I like it, working with sweets all day."

He chuckled "It is less stressful than weeding in the rain, and meeting kings and queens." After a moment, he leaned closer, bending down to murmur "... I would like some tea, would you like some? Could I take my break with you?"

[dreamsofwords]

"Oh, they had you working as a messenger," Alasdair said with a slight smile as he moved his laptop aside. "Thankless job; I had to do it for the Hearts part-time when I was in high school."

He nodded, though, indicating the other seat. "I'm drinking coffee today," he said. "But they have good tea here."

[indeliblespade]

He sighed "It's not just that, it's everything. Laundry, weeding, getting food orders..." he frowned, chewing at his lip. "... it was terrible."

But he smiled at the invitation "Yeh, I'll be right back with my tea. Would you like more coffee?"

[dreamsofwords]

"The work of a Two in the Castle often is," Alasdair admits. "It's why people want to challenge up."

He nods then, though. "Black with sugar," he said. "Thanks."

[indeliblespade]

"Yeeeh!" he bows and scurries inside, telling the owner that he'd like his break now, before he pours himself an iced tea and another cup of coffee for Alasdair.

He sets the coffee down, with 3 packets of sugar on the saucer, as he sits, sipping his own tea through a straw. "Mmm... I don't think I want to challenge up." He blushes, stirring the straw into the tea through the lid, the ice clinking.

"Spades only like to kill each other. I don't want to do that. So, I just found another job. As long as I'm productive, they will leave me alone, neh?"

[dreamsofwords]

"...That's not entirely true, though," Alasdair says as he rips open sugar packets methodically, pouring all three into the coffee. "I mean, they do like their knives over there, but the current Jack, Clive? I think he challenged pretty much all the way with his wits."

[indeliblespade]

He groans, mid sip, looking somewhat disparaged "That's good, but I don't have any wit, either!" He sinks down, scooting his rear to the front of the seat, leaning back into the cup of the chair's back.

"Aiigoo, I asked if I could challenge in korean things, but I was told it has to be fair, something both parties can do. Or the counter could go very badly for me."

He shakes his hand, dismissing the idea "No, I will just do other work, and be ignored in the challenges."

[dreamsofwords]

He could point out that there are certainly other Koreans in the Deck - and likely in the Spades. He could even point out it was entirely unlikely that there was nothing In Su was good at.

But he just blows lightly on his coffee and shrugs. "Why do you want to be a Spade if you're so sure you have nothing to bring to them, then? What's the point?"

[indeliblespade]

If there were any, he hadn't met them. And he never said he wasn't good at things, just he didn't feel he was anyone to challenge anyone else. Given time, the idea might change, but as things stood: a recently homeless, starving failed artist, with a meth addiction, he didn't deserve much and certainly wasn't anyone who could be higher in rank than anyone else.

He leans his cheek into his hand, grumbling "I'm very new here... I don't think I get the point at all, of anything. I thought this was a game..." so he hadn't taken it seriously. He still didn't really get it, so there was nothing important about it. It was just people working and living, as far as he understood.

"I don't want to be anything, it is just where I was put. People say I can change, but I don't understand what all of this is about, so why would I do that?" He shrugged, self conscious as he sipped his tea through the straw. He looked at Alasdair quietly, and confided "You westerners do crazy things, you know? I don't understand half of the things you do."

[dreamsofwords]

"I imagine we'd say that you Easterners do the same," Alasdair points out, gently. He's not sure he'd call the Deck the West, anyway. Playing cards originated in France, to be sure, but there were versions from all over - and after the Arcana, it's not like they could say they were all French, anyway.

"It's like finding the right job, on the Outside," Alasdair explains. "You wouldn't like being an accountant, I imagine. And here, while there's no one in any Suit who is an exact stereotype and couldn't fit in somewhere else, there are kinds of people they'd rather be with. People they understand."

[indeliblespade]

He snickers, shrugging. That's possible, sure. Its more western than Korea, anyway, and he has only brief exposure to America. This goes way beyond that.

He combs back his bangs, pushing them behind his ear as he considers, looking upwards "Yeh, that is true... I don't know that many people here. And the japanese..." he motions at the pastry cafe "They are nice, I like them. So I like working here. They don't expect me to challenge anyone though. They just want me to sell cakes and be nice to the customers."

[dreamsofwords]

"Well, you don't need to do anything right now," Alasdair says as he takes a drink of coffee. "There's nothing wrong with taking some time to figure things out."

He sounded a bit like he did when counseling his students, but it wasn't a dissimilar situation.