I am in the mood for something light and silly today, in the hope of taking my mind off various things that are being a bother, so here's a meme
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Just truth, this time... also, this was going to be a drabble. Um. I'm not very good at drabbles ;-). Two parts again.
Secrets
"Tell me," Laisa said, leaning back on the sofa, "tell me a secret. Something about you that nobody else knows."
"That nobody else knows?" Gregor echoed. "That's a tricky one. There's not much Simon doesn't know, or Miles, or Cordelia..."
Laisa was getting used to the way these sorts of names dropped into the conversation, mapping 'Simon' to 'nightmare chief of Imperial Security', 'Miles' to 'Vorkosigan's son' and 'Cordelia' to 'Countess Vorkosigan the enigma'. They were, it turned out, people as well as public and political figures, and the perspective she gained on them from talking to Gregor was dizzying. Even a successful Komarran family that worked with their conquerors had reason to fear those names. But alongside Gregor, they all seemed to shrink down to human size.
"And once I say it, Simon will know," Gregor pointed out. He seemed fairly blasé about the fact that his every move was monitored by security, one way or another, and Laisa was learning not too flinch too visibly about it. It probably did make it very hard to have secrets. Something to get used to. If Gregor had, she could.
"Whisper it in my ear," she suggested, leaning in helpfully. Gregor gave a sudden flash of a smile.
"It's a lovely ear," he said. "Perfect for whispering in. All right. Let me think." He paused, eyeing her. "Do you mind if it's ... not very happy?"
Oh, Gregor. There had been a lot of unhappiness in his life; the odds were against it being a happy thing. "I don't mind," she said. "I want to know all about you. Everything."
He pulled her close, so that she was half sitting in his lap, and spoke into her ear. "I remember my father. I don't think anyone realises that. They all tried to keep him away from me, and they did, most of the time. But not all the time, and I remember him."
That was more truth than she had expected. He'd told her about his father, the true story, expecting her to run into the night the way he had when he'd learned the truth, and when she hadn't, he'd never raised the subject again as if declining to tempt fate.
Secrets
"Tell me," Laisa said, leaning back on the sofa, "tell me a secret. Something about you that nobody else knows."
"That nobody else knows?" Gregor echoed. "That's a tricky one. There's not much Simon doesn't know, or Miles, or Cordelia..."
Laisa was getting used to the way these sorts of names dropped into the conversation, mapping 'Simon' to 'nightmare chief of Imperial Security', 'Miles' to 'Vorkosigan's son' and 'Cordelia' to 'Countess Vorkosigan the enigma'. They were, it turned out, people as well as public and political figures, and the perspective she gained on them from talking to Gregor was dizzying. Even a successful Komarran family that worked with their conquerors had reason to fear those names. But alongside Gregor, they all seemed to shrink down to human size.
"And once I say it, Simon will know," Gregor pointed out. He seemed fairly blasé about the fact that his every move was monitored by security, one way or another, and Laisa was learning not too flinch too visibly about it. It probably did make it very hard to have secrets. Something to get used to. If Gregor had, she could.
"Whisper it in my ear," she suggested, leaning in helpfully. Gregor gave a sudden flash of a smile.
"It's a lovely ear," he said. "Perfect for whispering in. All right. Let me think." He paused, eyeing her. "Do you mind if it's ... not very happy?"
Oh, Gregor. There had been a lot of unhappiness in his life; the odds were against it being a happy thing. "I don't mind," she said. "I want to know all about you. Everything."
He pulled her close, so that she was half sitting in his lap, and spoke into her ear. "I remember my father. I don't think anyone realises that. They all tried to keep him away from me, and they did, most of the time. But not all the time, and I remember him."
That was more truth than she had expected. He'd told her about his father, the true story, expecting her to run into the night the way he had when he'd learned the truth, and when she hadn't, he'd never raised the subject again as if declining to tempt fate.
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