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[Amazingly enough....................... dry humor meets the comment instead of that deadly whisper. The tone is exceptionally fond, but the talk is definitely shit.]

Ah. I see you've been working with him directly.

Uh -

[ He swallows nervously, trying to figure out what that tone is. He...never really heard that tone while being forced to listen to Vorkosigan's public speeches. It's...friendly? Good-humored? Maybe? But he just insulted Vorkosigan's beloved son... ]

Yeah. I mean - Yeah. I could be wrong, I don't know him that well, but he does seem to think that...he can provide the inspiration and everyone else will just take care of the shitwork.

[There's a pause here. The young man (with Miles' voice) seemed to have found a line drawn, a boundary, and shoved at it.

It was intensely familiar. His tone is far drier this time.]

Hm. Mr. Kane, have you ever had a commanding officer?

What?

[ Terror lances through him. All of it, held at bay while they settled into a relatively harmonious conversation, flooding back hard and bitter and cold. Shit - why would he ask that? What does he know? What has he figured out?

He forces himself to speak. ]

Uh, no...No. I'm, uh, not military.

[There is a pause here, a brief wonder, taken, considered and decided he didn't have enough specific background on it to put a thumb on... and just continues, mildly.]

I ask because it's a common complaint in the lower ranks or from those who watch from the outside. There's more work to it, and some dash of art, than it appears.

Oh -

[ Right. Right. That's it. He just thinks like a military man. Sure. So the question is pretty natural, pretty understandable...Sure. He swallows. ]

Uh. Yeah. I expect that, uh, business isn't that different from the military in that regard. The people who tell you what to do always make things a bit harder.

Ah. Good luck with that.

Good luck? With - um - business?

That, certainly.

Though, in finding one devoid of people telling you what to do as well.

Oh - oh.

[ Right. ]

Well, uh...You found that, didn't you?

[There's a pause here.]

How so?

Well, uh - um. [ Was that...a bad thing to say? What was that pause? Why did he pause? ] You're an admiral, aren't you?

[There's another pause... longer before there's a bark of an actual laugh.]

Good god, boy. Do you think because your orders are coming from someone further away they're less someone telling you what to do? I'll admit, they get a bit more flexible the more wormhole jumps you are between them and you.

[ Did he just - call him - boy? That - what? Why? That's not how you...address professional associates. Right? It - Is it meant as an insult? No, he doesn't think so - Vorkosigan's voice is gruff, but not angry or sarcastic or demeaning. And he laughed. Laughed for real. Is he...confused, maybe? Has he forgotten that he's not talking to his son? No, his accent is all wrong...

Hurghhh. ]

But - it's just the Emperor telling you what to do, isn't it?

It's the most important voice, certainly. But there's Ministries with agendas, restrictions on supplies and manpower. Policial parties, who will have pressure and stakes in the outcome. Individual Counts pushing for family achievements... it's a layer of strategy on top of the battles assigned.

[The voice remains curt and gruff, but the cadence is measured and patient, rightfully as one explaining to an outworlder, and simplified as such. There's a bite of exasperation but it's aimed for the necessity than the listener.

There was an age when he didn't give two damns about the political side of strategy. Those were long gone, the scars and old rivalries permanent from them.]

[ A slight hesitation. ]

You, uh...I'm sure you have ways of getting around the restrictions on supplies, at least. Right?

These days, at least.

Not before?

Rank and reputation do its job. Quite the same in business models from what I understand of them.

[ A grunt. ]

Sometimes.

Fair. What experience do you have, Mr. Kane?

[ Just peeing his pants a moment, don't mind him... ]

Uh - experience?

[Probably not helped as Aral's tone takes a slightly sharper edge here.]

Business. You've no military, as you say. Gregor hadn't mentioned your history.

[ Slowly approaching a panic...But not so much of one that he doesn't still have a firm grasp on his cover story. ]

Uh, yeah. I was a student back home. Business. That's about it. But I traded stocks on the side, too...

Hm. [The little vocalization doesn't give much.]

Successfully, I imagine. I look forward to seeing what you can do.

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