The Hegemony Compound, Blackstream/Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, Monday
Peter had been putting this off.
He knew that.
But after last weekend, he was forced to acknowledge he couldn't put it off much longer. And with that decision made, came an almost-immediate follow through. It was a minor thing, really, just a shifting of a couple of work tasks from Envy's desk to someone else's. Nothing blatant. Nothing terribly noticable, unless Envy was still as fully invested in the work as she had been a year ago - but Peter was starting to wonder about that. More bits and pieces would follow, someone would be assigned to shadow what Envy was doing-- so that when she inevitably left, there wouldn't be any cogs falling out of the machine.
A couple of years ago, he might have decided to fight. The way he'd fought when Valentine left, with snide words and loud arguments. But that felt like another life; a life where he could still afford to let his emotional state be thrown by the actions of a single girl. No matter how important that girl had been to him then, or this one now, that had changed.
He tried to write to Valentine about it, once the preparations were done. It didn't work. In each draft, he could see all the points she'd use to her advantage, all the weaknesses she could exploit. And the last thing he wanted on this subject was a struggle of words with his sister.
In the end, he went for a walk.
And in the end, the walk brought him to the doorstep of the house he'd had built to hold Petra and Bean's exponentially-growing offspring. Bean's mother opened the door, and while she looked surprised, she didn't comment on his visit. Instead she invited him in, and made him tea, and somehow an hour later he found himself standing in Bean and Petra's living room, companionably changing diapers while Bean's father talked about Greek politics.
It was... nice.
He wasn't sure what to do with it, so he just let it happen.
[[ mostly establishy. can be open for phone calls et al. ]]
He knew that.
But after last weekend, he was forced to acknowledge he couldn't put it off much longer. And with that decision made, came an almost-immediate follow through. It was a minor thing, really, just a shifting of a couple of work tasks from Envy's desk to someone else's. Nothing blatant. Nothing terribly noticable, unless Envy was still as fully invested in the work as she had been a year ago - but Peter was starting to wonder about that. More bits and pieces would follow, someone would be assigned to shadow what Envy was doing-- so that when she inevitably left, there wouldn't be any cogs falling out of the machine.
A couple of years ago, he might have decided to fight. The way he'd fought when Valentine left, with snide words and loud arguments. But that felt like another life; a life where he could still afford to let his emotional state be thrown by the actions of a single girl. No matter how important that girl had been to him then, or this one now, that had changed.
He tried to write to Valentine about it, once the preparations were done. It didn't work. In each draft, he could see all the points she'd use to her advantage, all the weaknesses she could exploit. And the last thing he wanted on this subject was a struggle of words with his sister.
In the end, he went for a walk.
And in the end, the walk brought him to the doorstep of the house he'd had built to hold Petra and Bean's exponentially-growing offspring. Bean's mother opened the door, and while she looked surprised, she didn't comment on his visit. Instead she invited him in, and made him tea, and somehow an hour later he found himself standing in Bean and Petra's living room, companionably changing diapers while Bean's father talked about Greek politics.
It was... nice.
He wasn't sure what to do with it, so he just let it happen.
[[ mostly establishy. can be open for phone calls et al. ]]