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[ Helping him out of kindness if by kindness you mean wanting to keep Mark around because Mark can make him $$$$.

but as for the not trusting Greg part, Dorian knew it. Or, at least, he knew Greg was a lying liar who lies. ]

What I want to know is what's so important about Miles N (now Miles V) that he a, pretended to be a clone but b, still publicly confessed to being the admiral of the space navy or something like that. Any idea on that?

[ also, there is no way on earth Dorian will be able to spell "Vorkosigan" multiple times, Miles V it is. ]

[ Lots of ideas. ]

He's an egotistical megalomaniac who had to pick the most grandiose cover story possible? At least that's why he claimed to be a mercenary Admiral. As for why it's important that he kept this secret, he said it was a safety measure. So maybe he's protecting someone.

If that's the case, then he's dumber than I expected. The best lies stick as close to the truth as possible.

[ not that he's speaking from experience or anything.... ]

Who on Earth would he protect though? Gregs? Because, and if I'm remembering this correctly, Miles V and Gregs arrived before the rest of the V family.

Seems logical, then, doesn't it? And Greg does sort of carry himself around like he's someone really puffed-up and important, doesn't he?

He comes off like he's boring!

[ but actually.... ]

At least, he comes off in a calculated sort of boring. No human being can actually be as dull as Greg presents himself to be. Plus, there's that whole business with oaths.

His Porter power, you mean? Yeah, that's true. Powers are always very deliberately chosen, aren't they?

They certainly are. I came in with my immortality but originally had another power granted by the Porter—it certainly made sense with my personality and my experience.

Yeah? What was it?

[ embarrassing, that's what it was ]

I could land on my feet when I fell off of things to a certain height.
I have a habit of falling out of windows.

How much of a habit?

An annoyingly frequent one.

You don't mean that you were suicidal or anything, right? You really had a habit of falling out of windows?

I'm IMMORTAL Peter, I couldn't kill myself even if I tried. Yes, I had a habit of falling out of windows. Because when you're being chased by a troll or a golem or what the hell else decides to bother me, sometimes your only option to get away is through the window.

I know you can't kill yourself. That doesn't mean you wouldn't necessarily have tried.

Still, that's useful, at least. Not as useful as Greg's power, of course, but useful.

[ just.....casually not talking about that period in the 1990s when Dorian did suicide for funsies, LET'S TALK ABOUT OTHER THINGS. ]

I can tell you a bit more about his oaths, if you want. I'm currently sworn into one—something completely inane, of course.

Yeah. I'd like to know.

You can't strong-arm Gregs into an oath. I have a feeling the power is mutually consensual. Oaths can be made over the communicator, they don't have to be made face to face. There's a sort of clicking noise when an oath is made. I don't know if this is just for me or for others, but I feel a little nagging feeling that happens until I fulfill my duties of the oath.

As it is, my oath is that whenever I see Greg, I'll provide honest commentary on his appearance. Which is good, because a lot of the times he needs it.

[ just dragging Gregor a bit here, nbd. ]

Can you resist that oath at all? You feel a nagging feeling, but can you just ignore it?

I honestly don't know. Criticizing Greg is just so much fun that I gladly take the opportunity.

Do you think he trusts you?

Not in the slightest.

And you don't trust him, right?

Not in the slightest as well.

[ and, because Dorian's genuinely curious... ]

Do you trust me?

[ 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.

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 ]

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