Mark Pierre Vorkosigan / "Peter Kane" (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jacksonian) wrote2016-03-05 11:05 am
jacksonian) wrote2016-03-05 11:05 am
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contact post
[ voice / video / text / in-person ]
[ There aren't many virtues to Mark's upbringing. One of the few is that, when he can't see any reason to lie, he doesn't lie. And he certainly doesn't see any reason to seem naive and trusting. ]
With a few things.
With a few things.
In that case, I'm glad we're on the same page what with our various levels of trust.
[ and not trust in some cases ]
Anything else you want to know about Gregs? Or maybe we can just talk for a while?
[ because Dorian wants to keep on being seen as cool in Mark's eyes, he's got this, he can do friendship ]
[ and not trust in some cases ]
Anything else you want to know about Gregs? Or maybe we can just talk for a while?
[ because Dorian wants to keep on being seen as cool in Mark's eyes, he's got this, he can do friendship ]
Well
[ Friendship. Right. It works like this, right? You talk to people. And do things with people. Frien....dsh...ip. Yes. ]
I feel like I owe you dinner or something after this.
[ n...ailed it????????? ]
[ Friendship. Right. It works like this, right? You talk to people. And do things with people. Frien....dsh...ip. Yes. ]
I feel like I owe you dinner or something after this.
[ n...ailed it????????? ]
[ wait he DID nail it???????????? ]
Steaks are good.
[ Dorian says he'll eat anything; the clone absolutely will eat anything, no exaggerations. But steaks feel classy and decadent and vaguely transgressive for someone raised on protein grown in a vat. It feels like something a rich asshole would eat, and Peter Kane is a rich asshole, so it seems right. ]
Steaks are good.
[ Dorian says he'll eat anything; the clone absolutely will eat anything, no exaggerations. But steaks feel classy and decadent and vaguely transgressive for someone raised on protein grown in a vat. It feels like something a rich asshole would eat, and Peter Kane is a rich asshole, so it seems right. ]
Lunch would be fine by me. I set my own schedule, so I can take a long lunch hour.
[ And it seems less high-pressure, somehow, than dinner. No idea why. ]
[ And it seems less high-pressure, somehow, than dinner. No idea why. ]
[ Uh.
This is not a message he likes. Doesn't matter the source. It is very, very much not a message he likes. And so, a little dry-mouthed, he mumbles: ]
Uh - who is this?
This is not a message he likes. Doesn't matter the source. It is very, very much not a message he likes. And so, a little dry-mouthed, he mumbles: ]
Uh - who is this?
[ No. No, no, no. This was all done. It was disposed of. There's a desperate, scared little crack in his voice when he says: ]
Nothing. You said you don't care. You said we all look the same to you regardless and that you wouldn't waste any time on me. So it doesn't mean anything for me.
Nothing. You said you don't care. You said we all look the same to you regardless and that you wouldn't waste any time on me. So it doesn't mean anything for me.
I -
[ He finds his hands are shaking. He clenches them to try to get them to stop - which leads to him fumbling and dropping his communicator. He bends over to pick it up, decides his chair is too far, and just conducts the rest of the conversation sitting on the floor. ]
I have...an office. In Maurtia Falls. I'm there now. You can...stop by.
[ He finds his hands are shaking. He clenches them to try to get them to stop - which leads to him fumbling and dropping his communicator. He bends over to pick it up, decides his chair is too far, and just conducts the rest of the conversation sitting on the floor. ]
I have...an office. In Maurtia Falls. I'm there now. You can...stop by.
[ ooc: Yes, it's quite all right! And I'm fine for AC so it's fine in here, or on the comm is also perfectly a-ok! ]
[There is a message on the clones' answering service that is possibly the last one he ever wanted. There was no mistaking the peculiarly rasped baritone, nor the command in the businesslike tone, even if Peter hadn't studied it.]
Mr. Kane, I require your attention this afternoon. Please call back promptly.
Mr. Kane, I require your attention this afternoon. Please call back promptly.
[ Oh.
Oh.
The sound of that voice makes him feel ill. Makes sweat bead on his forehead. Of course he knows the voice - how many videos did he study, listening to that voice? Public speeches, communications on the comconsole. Intercepted tight-beam transmissions, sometimes, the voice lowered in intimacy. Not often. Sometimes, though. It's a businesslike voice, now, but it's no less terrifying for being clipped and neutral than it would be thundering in rage or whispering in menace.
Privately, the clone wonders if this is the beginning of the end.
What could it be for? Will he ask to meet in person? What if he does? What if it's a trap? What if he's found out? What will he do? What will the repercussions be for him? The clone, insanely, thinks of calling up Lucifer and begging him for sanctuary and mercy. Hide me now. Act now against them. Destroy them, you have to destroy them, before they kill me.
He doesn't. Instead, he does the rational, reasonable thing: he pretends he never got that call and doesn't call back. ]
Oh.
The sound of that voice makes him feel ill. Makes sweat bead on his forehead. Of course he knows the voice - how many videos did he study, listening to that voice? Public speeches, communications on the comconsole. Intercepted tight-beam transmissions, sometimes, the voice lowered in intimacy. Not often. Sometimes, though. It's a businesslike voice, now, but it's no less terrifying for being clipped and neutral than it would be thundering in rage or whispering in menace.
Privately, the clone wonders if this is the beginning of the end.
What could it be for? Will he ask to meet in person? What if he does? What if it's a trap? What if he's found out? What will he do? What will the repercussions be for him? The clone, insanely, thinks of calling up Lucifer and begging him for sanctuary and mercy. Hide me now. Act now against them. Destroy them, you have to destroy them, before they kill me.
He doesn't. Instead, he does the rational, reasonable thing: he pretends he never got that call and doesn't call back. ]
[The afternoon passes and evening slips by without a return call. Taken with other matters, Aral himself hadn't noticed until early the next morning.
The irritation, however, was quite profound. Some lordly part of him, the rest simply used to being at the top of his chain of command... lent a bit more of a profound irritation than was possibly due in the lapse of their accountant's professionalism. Especially one that was supposedly so close in appearance with his son.
The call comes in the mid morning.]
The irritation, however, was quite profound. Some lordly part of him, the rest simply used to being at the top of his chain of command... lent a bit more of a profound irritation than was possibly due in the lapse of their accountant's professionalism. Especially one that was supposedly so close in appearance with his son.
The call comes in the mid morning.]
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