(Untitled)

[i_machiavellian]

There wasn't much about that man on the bench that would attract anyone's attention. He sat with his elbows on his knees, an unlit cigarette in his left hand, and he was looking down as if the cigarette would light itself if he stared at it long enough. What light the evening sun could afford him made strands of dark hair a dozen shades lighter.

Comments

[ishineon]

"Afraid not. My apologies." She's much more subdued today, and for good reason. Even if he never considered the rumours about Hector being her lover to be true (which they were), the fact of the man's death last week would have reached him by now. Tens dying on Deck were rare. Tens dying Outside were rarer.

Still. She wasn't here for sympathies.

[i_machiavellian]

He paid enough attention to gossip as his rank deemed appropriate, and nothing more. If Hector was going to come up as a topic, he certainly wouldn't be the one who brought it up.

"Lung cancer can wait another day." He tucked the cigarette behind his ear. If there was anything comforting he could say, his eyes did all the talking.

"It's been a while," he said after a moment's silence.

sorry to make you wait so long for this tag!

[ishineon]

"I've been... distracted." With the shift in her duties, with the holes coming after Rachel's departure that had to be filled in. With making things work the way they used to. Not to the level of Silas' sleeplessness, perhaps, but she had a daughterward to badger her into nominally taking care of herself.

"Things have been well for you, I suppose?" David's absence... remains an unofficial thing. She'll not acknowledge it unless he assures her of it himself.

No worries mate ;D

[i_machiavellian]

"Yes, well. I think we've all been a little 'distracted' lately." A job was a job and he did it to the best of his ability. Now with David gone it seemed as if he enjoyed it so much, he just couldn't get enough of work.

"Good to see that despite all this, you're not cooped up in your office being miserable. I thought I might never see you again outside of work after you made Face."

[ishineon]

It didn't always happen that Aces moved on to become Kings or Queens when the previous one was removed, for any reason. The Diamonds, though, seemed to be making a habit of it. And however long she'd been a Face Card, Ace was still worlds apart from Queen.

"I'm not being miserable." It's an automatic snap, sharp and low as ever, before her slight distress smooths back into the proper Diamond facade. "I- have simply had a lot on my hands."

Hard to admit he has a point.

[i_machiavellian]

It was hard to imagine Säde feeling miserable. She was a strong woman and as Queen she was probably too busy to even have time to dwell on these things.

"I understand." Days when they were young and had more trivial responsibilities were long gone. In fact in all the time he's known her, she's always managed to keep herself fairly busy.

"You don't have to shoulder everything, you know," he said gently. She had a King by her side, a capable young Ace and Numbers she could share her burdens with, or at least delegate to. She had friends outside of the Diamonds, like him, who would always be there if she wanted to talk, or do things with if she didn't want to involve her Suit.

"My Lady," he added - very belatedly - with a smile.

[ishineon]

It didn't help that she didn't usually display her misery in any sort of public way, or even rarely in private. Diamonds just weren't built to show any sort of vulnerability- sometimes to their detriment.

Her lips crooked slightly upward at one corner. "I think you of all people can leave off the 'my lady', Michael. Besides, I'm shouldering everything that I have to." Although perhaps 'that she had to' didn't exactly align with her fellow Face Cards' ideas of 'that Säde had to'.

[i_machiavellian]

"It feels terribly impersonal," he commented. He would still occasionally call her Säde, just as he had done for the past fifteen years or so - God, has it been that long? - but now that he could tease her with formalities, he wouldn't pass up every opportunity to do so.

He was doubtful about how much she was actually dealing with. They came from Suits where swapping one intricately crafted mask for another moving from one scene to the next was the norm, where weaknesses were defined by the cracks in their façade. While they might understand each other, he felt it difficult to be completely honest and forthcoming - to be weak in her presence, and he suspected she felt the same.

So he doesn't push her, because he knows that he would react the same if she tried to push him.

"I don't expect you to tell me anything. But you can if you do want to."

[ishineon]

She's silent for a few beats, considering whether to take his offer. They've known each other long enough a time. There's no question that she can trust him.

But it's still slow steps to opening up.

So instead, "I hope next year eases up. Things have been... so unstable." Not just with the Diamonds, but the Deck as a whole.

[i_machiavellian]

Another year. More of the same. The little things were always changing but 'bigger picture'-wise, things never really changed. Some years were better than others though; they could only hope for quieter days to come.

"I thought this year was it. I've been told very sombrely that the apocalypse is coming. I should quit my job, spend all my money and make the most of it."

[ishineon]

That got him a proper crack of a smile, more genuine than he'd seen so far today in her face. Hope did spring eternal, but only where care was taken to give it avenues to grow.

"I've not much faith in doomsayers and prophecies. But if you do, perhaps be a bit less quiet than the rest? It gives us a better rest to see you partying than disappearing into a hole in the ground."

[i_machiavellian]

"I'll be disappearing into a hole in the ground at the end of the day if I'm lucky. There's no point doing it prematurely," he said cheerily. Though if he really believed that the end was imminent, there wouldn't be anyone left to dig any holes.

"I'm not sure I can throw an apocalypse party. Imagine the disappointment come 2013." He wouldn't even know how to spend his entire inheritance in less than a month even if he wanted to. The funds had been left untouched and steadily growing for decades.

"Perhaps Christmas can be a little bigger this year to make up for it."

[ishineon]

"Christmas will have to take care of itself," Säde said, a little dryly. "I'm sure there will be individual parties and family get-togethers, but the Diamonds is having a Feast of Fools this year. It'll be the 28th." Last year the Diamonds' winter festival had been on Christmas Eve, and far more traditional. She still isn't quite sure how Katriane talked her into something like this.

[i_machiavellian]

"A Feast of Fools?" he repeated with a raised eyebrow. Not what he would have expected from the Diamonds, no doubt. But who was he to point out the oddities of defying a Suit's stereotypes?

"You don't look pleased with how fun it will turn out to be."

[ishineon]

She shrugs her shoulder roundly, her displeasure more minor irritation than anything else. "I'm told it's good for us to 'loosen up' every so often. At the very least it'll only require me to show my face and little else. I can't say it's not traditional, so there's not anything totally ridiculous."

Oh, yes. That's how she was talked into it.

[i_machiavellian]

He couldn't help but chuckle. Ah, it would be fine. It was just the one event, and it would be talked about for a while, but unless something newsworthy happened on the night they'll have all forgotten about it come the next celebratory occasion.

"Honestly, the whole idea of Christmas is ridiculous to wretched heathens like me. I don't think having an equally ridiculous party to suit will be all that terrible."