[ota] come what may...

[wouldbetrump]

Long days made for long night, lately. For Clive it was at least in part from pacing in his office, restlessly tapping fingers against his desk and working through what he had of David's paper work to work through. And then there was Amy. Despite the best advice aimed at him, he worried about her. That night was not spoken of, but he couldn't very

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[civilizedpoison]

It bothered her, David's disappearance. A little bit, at least. He wasn't her King - hell, he'd killed her father and his wife had killed her mother - but she wasn't unfond of him. And she'd spent enough time in the Spades growing up to know he probably hadn't just flitted off.

But there was little she could do about it except be her usual watchful self.

She saw Clive as soon as he stepped into the bar, and raised her wineglass in salute. There was a man with things on his mind, she thought. But then, that made perfect sense.

"Milord Jack," she said. "Come to check out the alcohol inventory?"

[wouldbetrump]

"It does seem to be a prudent measure from time to time. I dare say some people would not survive long if we ran dry." He said with a light smile, watching the barkeep down before turning to Briony fully.

"Have you find the stock to be adequate thus far?"

[civilizedpoison]

"The wine's nice," she told him, and scooted over, flicking her tail of hair over her shoulder. "Which hardly ever happens in a bar, so I can't complain."

[wouldbetrump]

"I'll have what she's having," he said as the bartender came over. Within a few moments he had his glass and raised it toward Briony. "A toast than, to...the fact that the wine is nice, and we're both here instead of something that resembles a health social life."

[civilizedpoison]

"Cabernet Sauvignon," she tells him. "Willamette Valley." One of the quirks of graduate school had been living around people who knew things about wine, really. "I don't know," she says, though. "There are two of us now. We could almost sell that as a healthy social life."

It was worth a shot, at least.

[wouldbetrump]

"It has been some time, however, since we acted as one might expect friends to act. Such a stranger in my life, Briony. It hurts a little." Not that he could blame her- his family had been strong supporters of her own, but then the Bernards were also a tad insane. The Kellys, at least, were just ambitious.

"To each other." He said, clicking his glass against her's lightly for a moment. "How has your day been?"

[civilizedpoison]

"Now, you can't blame me for that entirely," Briony said. "I hear you've been buried under paperwork."

Not likely something he wanted to talk about, though, so she leaned back, an expression of unholy glee in her eyes. "Jeremy came in today to buy condoms."

[wouldbetrump]

"Well, I don't know if you heard- but we've an absentee king these days." He said with a bit of a shrug. "Apparently this is what Jacks do- make up for missing royals."

And then she said that. And he almost choked on his wine. "You mean the lad has finally found someone to sleep with him? God help us all."

[civilizedpoison]

"The latest rumor is that he's doing a vaudeville act with Lasandra Adare." Which was unlikely to say the least, and the look she cast at Clive was a bit shrewd.

"Well, it's possible," she said. "Then again, he could be using them as phallic water balloons. It wouldn't be the first time."

[wouldbetrump]

"Ah, the life. Maybe I should look into it myself." He said with an amused expressions.

"I wouldn't put the latter behind him, though I dearly hope for the former. The poor boy really does need to bed a woman and be done with it."

[civilizedpoison]

"Julien's face would be a sight to behold at the very least." Worth recording for posterity, she'd say. And then posting in public.

"Now, Clive," she added with a smirk that probably warned him that more was coming. "It's not Jeremy's fault that he didn't get the Kelly charm and mad skills at the art of flirtation."

[wouldbetrump]

"Wouldn't it? I should hope to keep a camera about for when he hears. Just to keep it as a memory forever."

As for his brother, he laughed at Briony's comment and shook his head. "Jeremy's problem is that he thinks Math is sexy, and that women love Star Wars."

[civilizedpoison]

"On the billboard of priceless, precious moments." She really wanted there to be one. In a nice, common area of Spade Castle. See to it, Clive.

"I know girls who think math is sexy and love Star Wars," she said, raising her brows. "Unfortunately, they were all in my grad program in Minnesota, and I'm not sure Jeremy's ready for Minnesotan winter."

[wouldbetrump]

"My first order as King if I ever become King." He assured her, with a smile.

"I'm not sure Jeremy is ready for the female gender, to be honest. Helena gives him a run for his money already, and she's out sister."

[civilizedpoison]

"Mm. Julien would love that." But Clive wouldn't be a bad choice, if David really was gone for good.

"As far as I'm concerned," from her experience, that is, "there is no man ready for the female gender. And no woman ready for the males, frankly." None of them made any sense.

[wouldbetrump]

"Are you suggesting we should all be homosexual? Quite progressive, Briony, I must say." He said with a laugh as he sipped his wine.

"I can't say Jeremy has it easy- he takes after our father, and he is just a disaster when it comes to Charm."