You're getting a dog? Or your manager has noticed that you use a lot of phrases like "Sit! Stay! Beg!" around your protégée and has started asking you why?
The UK is very nice at the moment: it's raining, it's not hot, just pleasantly warm, and it's not Malta :)
Stays The waiter swung past their table carrying menus but Dread gestured him away. Fabian stared at his drink, slightly shocked. The thoughts in his mind alternated between wondering what the drink was, in an abstracted, intellectual manner, and why Sebastian was trying to put spells on him. Control spells, he suddenly realised. He sat upright as though he'd been drenched in ice-cold water. "Why was he trying to control me?" he asked. Dread shrugged. "Don't know," he said. "So far he's answered a few questions, badly, and then he's shut up. Whatever he's up to he's refusing to talk about it, and that's interesting." "Why?" Dread tapped the side of his nose with a finger. "I can't... may... let's leave it as Sebastian is a mage and knows what our policies and capabilities are," he said after a few false starts. "How you interpret that is up to you, and I'm not commenting on any interpretation you find." "That doesn't sound ominous in the slightest," said Fabian, frowning. "Ok, you won't tell me, but it's interesting. Ok. Fine, well, Rystin says the wisp-elves won't help us so can Sebastian?" Dread waved the waiter over instead of answering and accepted the menus. "See what you fancy," he said, carefully studying his. After a minute more of silence, he said, "The strozzaprezzi are very good here, they stay on the menu all year round. And... why would you think Sebastian would help us when he's tried to enscorcel you at least three times?" He didn't give Fabian a chance to answer, but continued, "I suppose he's shown prowess in the areas we want, and he's a mage so it might actually be good to have both viewpoints but... I still don't see why he should help us." "Finished?" asked Fabian. "Well, I actually want to try the salt-crust duck breast this time and the seasonal vegetables look rather good to me too. But mostly we need someone who can turn that damn altar off and you've got someone who might, depending on what your policies are, be inclined to... I don't know, plea-bargain?" "Hah! Plea-bargain!" Dread chuckled and fell silent again until the waiter returned; they both placed their orders and the menus were expertly disappeared. As the waiter left and Fabian drained the last of his drink and wished he'd ordered another Dread steepled his fingers together. "You have a point," he said. "And while the spells are a worry, there's more there -- why send you an informative note with the spell on it, and not just a blank piece of paper? I... I'll consider what you've said. If the Mages College allows for 'plea-bargaining' and Sebastian wants to try it, then that could be an option. Though... there's the small matter that officially this wouldn't be exactly that since we're not telling anyone what we've found so far. It would stay just between us and Sebastian." Fabian nodded. "I know," he said. "But Sebastian doesn't."
Greg - well, 'why' is better than 'stop that immediately'...
And happy to see you haven't lost your unappreciation of Malta :)
Hmm. The intrigue continues. And while I think Fabian has the right line of thinking, I still worry that Sebastian will try something underhanded if it is at all possible for him to do so...
2 comments:
You're getting a dog? Or your manager has noticed that you use a lot of phrases like "Sit! Stay! Beg!" around your protégée and has started asking you why?
The UK is very nice at the moment: it's raining, it's not hot, just pleasantly warm, and it's not Malta :)
Stays
The waiter swung past their table carrying menus but Dread gestured him away. Fabian stared at his drink, slightly shocked. The thoughts in his mind alternated between wondering what the drink was, in an abstracted, intellectual manner, and why Sebastian was trying to put spells on him. Control spells, he suddenly realised. He sat upright as though he'd been drenched in ice-cold water.
"Why was he trying to control me?" he asked.
Dread shrugged. "Don't know," he said. "So far he's answered a few questions, badly, and then he's shut up. Whatever he's up to he's refusing to talk about it, and that's interesting."
"Why?"
Dread tapped the side of his nose with a finger. "I can't... may... let's leave it as Sebastian is a mage and knows what our policies and capabilities are," he said after a few false starts. "How you interpret that is up to you, and I'm not commenting on any interpretation you find."
"That doesn't sound ominous in the slightest," said Fabian, frowning. "Ok, you won't tell me, but it's interesting. Ok. Fine, well, Rystin says the wisp-elves won't help us so can Sebastian?"
Dread waved the waiter over instead of answering and accepted the menus. "See what you fancy," he said, carefully studying his. After a minute more of silence, he said, "The strozzaprezzi are very good here, they stay on the menu all year round. And... why would you think Sebastian would help us when he's tried to enscorcel you at least three times?" He didn't give Fabian a chance to answer, but continued, "I suppose he's shown prowess in the areas we want, and he's a mage so it might actually be good to have both viewpoints but... I still don't see why he should help us."
"Finished?" asked Fabian. "Well, I actually want to try the salt-crust duck breast this time and the seasonal vegetables look rather good to me too. But mostly we need someone who can turn that damn altar off and you've got someone who might, depending on what your policies are, be inclined to... I don't know, plea-bargain?"
"Hah! Plea-bargain!" Dread chuckled and fell silent again until the waiter returned; they both placed their orders and the menus were expertly disappeared. As the waiter left and Fabian drained the last of his drink and wished he'd ordered another Dread steepled his fingers together.
"You have a point," he said. "And while the spells are a worry, there's more there -- why send you an informative note with the spell on it, and not just a blank piece of paper? I... I'll consider what you've said. If the Mages College allows for 'plea-bargaining' and Sebastian wants to try it, then that could be an option. Though... there's the small matter that officially this wouldn't be exactly that since we're not telling anyone what we've found so far. It would stay just between us and Sebastian."
Fabian nodded. "I know," he said. "But Sebastian doesn't."
Greg - well, 'why' is better than 'stop that immediately'...
And happy to see you haven't lost your unappreciation of Malta :)
Hmm. The intrigue continues. And while I think Fabian has the right line of thinking, I still worry that Sebastian will try something underhanded if it is at all possible for him to do so...
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