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[ voice / video / text / in-person ]

Yes! I didn't even name the figure, and he's sent me nine thousand for it.

I tell you, it feels good to have something go right for once. I'll need to buy you a drink just for that much.

Wait - you didn't Deal for more? He just sent you the amount he thought was right?

I wasn't sure what the value was in the first place.

...It's rather intimidating to "deal" with an emperor, you know.

[ He relents a little bit. ]

Yeah. It is. And with the people surrounding the emperor, too.

Exactly.

[so relieved that someone else seems to get it.]

Look, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it makes up for the consequences I've suffered, but it's certainly more than the nothing I would have had. And that's your doing.

So - thank you.

I, uh...

[ What?? What do you do?? with someone saying thank you??? He shifts anxiously and uncertainty, and tries to figure out some graceful way to accept that - and, failing that, some rebuff. He doesn't have either. So instead, awkwardly, he mumbles: ]

Uh - what consequences?

Oh, you know... ruin someone's plans and they think that means you've earned new management.

[light, vague, and tired.]

Anyway, this should mean I can vest with you now, doesn't it?

[ Automatically: ]

Invest.

[ And then a pause as he debates whether or not to say anything. Whether or not he should...Hesitantly, finally, he says: ]

So then - Lucifer is...trying to tell you what to do?

Invest, right.

[there's a pause on the line - just enough time for an inner debate which is perhaps a little late.]

..."Trying". Possibly. It's - complicated. [and completely awful.] I'd rather even that be kept between us, if you don't mind.

But, ah, the money? I can still take your offer?

Yeah, uh...Yeah. You can. Minimum of five hundred dollars.

[ He swallows. Another one, then. Another one that Lucifer has claimed, just because of his connection to the Barrayarans. ]

How is it, uh...complicated, though?

Differences in opinion. [a little tightly.] Sorry, this isn't exactly a favorite topic of mine. Anyway, I expect the whole thing to blow over.

And I was thinking eight thousand, actually. Would that be all right?

...Yeah. I'll get you a good return on investment. You'll get rich before long. I'm going to invest in some restaurants - they're high-risk, but really high return, too.