[ota] for the good of the Suit

[acethatmatters]

To say that Julien is displeased could be considered something of an understatement

Comments

[aliasinfacie]

For her part, Emily is mostly out for a much needed cigarette when she sees the Ace and his arrows

[acethatmatters]

Simmering is, at least, marginally better than boiling over.

But he'll glance over at her, then up at the sky. "I suppose it could be called that. Hello, Emlly."

[aliasinfacie]

She just inclines her head, tapping ash off her cigarette as she watches him shoot. Few are better. Perhaps David, but...well. That is the problem, isn't it?

"A curious legal quandary came across my desk today," she says idly. Of course, curious legal quandaries were her job. "The murders of a family Outside. A bit messy, some months ago."

[acethatmatters]

That gets his attention and he'll focus on her, resting the bow before him. "Is that so? And what is the problem?"

[headfollowheart]

Zoe's stalking pace towards the archery practice field slows when she sees Julien already there, and she pauses, catching her breath while she decides whether to approach or go elsewhere. It's been...frustrating, today. Almost as frustrating as when she was a Heart and having to work with John, she thinks. David doesn't often cancel meetings.

Though it's been happening enough lately to become irritating.

After a moment, she steps up beside Julien after all and strings her bow as she chooses her target. "Good afternoon, my lord."

[acethatmatters]

Archery nowadays, even on the Deck, wasn't exactly necessary, but still, it was something people tended to keep up. Julien had begun not long after he'd arrived on Deck, when he'd realized just that and the habit had never quite left him.

"Miss Kattalakis," he responds, "training?"

[headfollowheart]

She'd told Victor once, that she'd learned archery because her father was insistent upon her learning to shoot something - and that was true enough. But until she'd come to the Spades, she'd only used it for cathartic reasons; she'd challenged in the intellectual and athletic.

They were back to catharsis today, though.

"I like to keep in practice," she says as she notches her arrow and lets it fly towards the center of the target.

[acethatmatters]

"As do we all," or at least all of those Julien deems worth including.

He'll go back to shooting, as well, but eventually he'll run out of arrows and have to go collect them. And since he's out there, he'll collect hers as well.

"You shoot well," he says, dropping the arrows in front of her.

[morallydefunct]

Victor watched silently because that was what Victor did best. In the past few months, though, he'd made...arrangements for certain possibilities, idea that had been mutually agreed upon by the Ace of Spades as they both silently watched the King.

"He's getting worse," Victor said as he stepped up beside other man, frowning a little as he plucked at his sleeve's cuff a bit irritably. "Perhaps someone should take him some tea."

[acethatmatters]

Julien doesn't reply right away, shooting three arrows in quick succession, each hitting their mark, before he finally focuses his attention over at Victor.

"Someone may need to." Pause. "Beside Chives."

For several reasons.

[morallydefunct]

"That can be arranged." Esteban could be convinced to do it, even if he wasn't told precisely why. David wouldn't likely trust anything Victor brought him.

A third, neutral party however?

And his second's silence could be bought. One way or another.

"Shall I see to it?"

Handwaving this to happen after the convo with Katya

[acethatmatters]

Considering what the Queen had told him? Julien nods, "I believe that would be wise."

And then, an afterthought, "take care though, he's been rather more paranoid since the idiots tried to assassinate him." So he might view tea from someone not-Chives with suspicion.

[maidenthespade]

Katya's smiling features often are difficult to read, a long-practiced mask settled into reality. People rarely are looking behind smiles and humor to ice in her eyes. Those who she sees often may note humor has been lacking at best, has taken violent bent at worst

[acethatmatters]

"Have you, your Majesty?" Don't worry, Katya, the Ace is already cognizant of the Problem. But of course, having the Queen's approval would make things go rather more smoothly.

"Just how interesting?"

[maidenthespade]

"Oh," she says airily while nocking an arrow, "minor mishaps: forgotten and ignored appointments, authorizing purchase of 10000 new towels instead of 100, carelessly including list of Outside agents in letter to our banking contact." She lets arrow fly, straight and true, before looking over at him, one brow raised.

"Nothing out of ordinary."

And that is problem, yes? Too many errors becoming common place.

[acethatmatters]

Maybe one of them, even two, could be waved away, could be someone else's fault.

But the problem when you make yourself the final arbiter of everything in the Suit, when you put about that you're omniscient and finally you can no longer keep it up because you are, after all, only human...means eventually, the blame falls on you.

And Julien was never particularly lenient.

"I see. That must be quite interesting, indeed."

[lowtohigh]

Clearly he doesn't need that much practice. Never does, really, with anything she's ever seen, except perhaps smiling. It catches oddly on his lips sometimes.

That doesn't mean she'll actually be interrupting him so much as finding a spot to watch quietly. When a person doesn't need to practice but does practice, it's usually to do with something bigger than whether or not he or she can hit a target in the real world so much as the greater world.

When he's got a moment of mental time, she's certain he'll let her know.

[acethatmatters]

He'll finish a round before he lays the bow down and looks over at Eileen. "Afternoon, Eileen...did you come for training, too?"

Or, you know, to talk to her mentor. Something like that.

[lowtohigh]

"Not certain I can." Her left hand, after all, is still completely trapped in a cast. "Unless you can teach me to do this with one hand."

Which, actually, is not entirely not the reason she's here.

[acethatmatters]

Julien raises an eyebrow and frowns. "I suspect we'd have to find you a crossbow, instead."

But he also suspects there's something else that drove her out to see him.