[molly just laughs a bit, equally fond? It isn't as if he knows what to do with all of it either. he's never grieved for anything before this place. never really lost anything or anyone? so he isn't really practiced either.]
Well, okay, imagine this, he's in an empty locked room, no weapons or furniture or clothes in sight, just a puddle of water on the ground.
Yes, I'm sure. [She doesn't know what a water genasi is, but also her main complaint was that this was a locked room riddle? What?
Anyway. Sigh.]
. . . My the Ninth House, when I left it behind, measured a little over a hundred individuals. Ranging from the age of thirty six to over a hundred, but principally the elderly. Pilgrims, nuns, refugees from other Houses, the odd retired Cohort soldier, a handful of living guards, my marshal, and my aunts, and that's about it. [There's a twinge of homesickness when she describes this, though. Not at all about the aunts, a little towards the marshal, but just generally towards the people.] My mother and father died when I was young, so I managed the household most of my life. We lost an entire generation of children, before I was born - everyone under the age of nineteen went at once due to a contamination incident - and most of the generation after left for Cohort service or other reasons. [Both the bit about her parents and the 'contamination incident' stick out as big old lies or at least omissions, but there's not really a feeling of nervousness like she's hiding anything, so much as choosing to brush past it because that's not the point of what she's saying right now.]
When I left, it was to travel to Canaan House, on the First. The population there being three priests, and the heirs and cavaliers primary of seven other Houses besides my own. [A little odd nostalgia for this, too.] And secretly one Lyctor, of course. I spent some months in convalescence on the Erebos, and that is a behemoth class ship, but I never left the hospital ward and hardly had a conversation with anyone who wasn't Ianthe or the Emperor. And then the Mithraeum - myself and Ianthe, the baby Lyctors, plus the three saints who all hated me in various unique ways, and the Emperor himself. [Only bad vibes for the Mithraeum! Except the Emperor and Ianthe, both of whom she is fond of, and who are also both great people probably.]
That is essentially the sum of people I've known and places I've seen before coming here. It is not extensive.
[There honestly isn't even a pique of curiosity when she gives the obvious feeling of lying. He just lets it pass, without question. And he listens to all of this pretty intently - it feels less conversational, more confessional, admitting the obvious that she doesn't have that much experience with life that's actually good in general.
It just makes him kind of excited about showing her places?]
I haven't been that many exciting places. I mean, the carnival stopped all over, but not big cities or anything like that - our audience was small towns and such. Folks who are a little move wowed by a marvelous display of minor magic and all.
And I think-- [There's a pause here. Some mild hesitation? Regret? Fear? It's hard to pin down, because he isn't sure exactly what it is anyway.] The rest of the Nein have had a lot of time without me. Going places. So we'll both have some catching up to do.
[Yes, that was the point - that really almost anything he could show her would be new to her. The emotion his excitement gets in response is bittersweet; the idea of it makes her happy, too, but there's a lot of sadness mixed in with it, too. She's ready to vaguely talk around this concept, but not quite ready to talk about this like it's actually happening. 'We' is met with a little resistance.]
Well. Excitement is a quality with pros and cons. [. . .] What sort of places would you go?
[Scoff! A scoff! At the idea that excitement has cons. it does not. No cons to be found.]
Well, I mentioned the month off in Nicodranas. Then I suppose I've got to see the rest of the Menagerie Coast, Port Damali and such. And I've never seen Rexxentrum! Capital of the Empire. Supposed to be quite the sight.
[Neither has Molly? He can't help that much. He isn't really that educated about the world, so he just mostly knows names and rumors, things the Nein had mentioned or pointed out on a map when he was nearby. But he reels it back a bit.]
Beau showed me Nicodranas, when she was here. In the thing.
[And that's fond. There's a shade of sadness to it, of course, but ... he's mentioned it so much before now, it feels like he's sort of hanging onto it a bit. like some sort of wish talisman.]
Little port town. By the beach - kind of rocky, looked like? But nice. Different from the beach here, rougher round the edges. Market stalls and shops and such, not a huge place, but I think everyone is going to be . . . very bright. Like me! Hells, I might even fit in. Going to have find something loud to wear.
[There, more interest at that. Even though this whole concept might be a little overwhelming for someone who has only seen the one beach, they're still just playing pretend, so it just sounds fun in a far away kind of way.]
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Well, okay, imagine this, he's in an empty locked room, no weapons or furniture or clothes in sight, just a puddle of water on the ground.
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[No, she's glad he laughed.]
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There's no evidence on his ass either.
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[She doesn't read murder mysteries, also.]
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Oh fine. It's a stupid riddle. A water genasi did it and hopped out the window you wouldn't have thought about when you imagined the locked room.
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Anyway. Sigh.]
. . . My the Ninth House, when I left it behind, measured a little over a hundred individuals. Ranging from the age of thirty six to over a hundred, but principally the elderly. Pilgrims, nuns, refugees from other Houses, the odd retired Cohort soldier, a handful of living guards, my marshal, and my aunts, and that's about it. [There's a twinge of homesickness when she describes this, though. Not at all about the aunts, a little towards the marshal, but just generally towards the people.] My mother and father died when I was young, so I managed the household most of my life. We lost an entire generation of children, before I was born - everyone under the age of nineteen went at once due to a contamination incident - and most of the generation after left for Cohort service or other reasons. [Both the bit about her parents and the 'contamination incident' stick out as big old lies or at least omissions, but there's not really a feeling of nervousness like she's hiding anything, so much as choosing to brush past it because that's not the point of what she's saying right now.]
When I left, it was to travel to Canaan House, on the First. The population there being three priests, and the heirs and cavaliers primary of seven other Houses besides my own. [A little odd nostalgia for this, too.] And secretly one Lyctor, of course. I spent some months in convalescence on the Erebos, and that is a behemoth class ship, but I never left the hospital ward and hardly had a conversation with anyone who wasn't Ianthe or the Emperor. And then the Mithraeum - myself and Ianthe, the baby Lyctors, plus the three saints who all hated me in various unique ways, and the Emperor himself. [Only bad vibes for the Mithraeum! Except the Emperor and Ianthe, both of whom she is fond of, and who are also both great people probably.]
That is essentially the sum of people I've known and places I've seen before coming here. It is not extensive.
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It just makes him kind of excited about showing her places?]
I haven't been that many exciting places. I mean, the carnival stopped all over, but not big cities or anything like that - our audience was small towns and such. Folks who are a little move wowed by a marvelous display of minor magic and all.
And I think-- [There's a pause here. Some mild hesitation? Regret? Fear? It's hard to pin down, because he isn't sure exactly what it is anyway.] The rest of the Nein have had a lot of time without me. Going places. So we'll both have some catching up to do.
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Well. Excitement is a quality with pros and cons. [. . .] What sort of places would you go?
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Well, I mentioned the month off in Nicodranas. Then I suppose I've got to see the rest of the Menagerie Coast, Port Damali and such. And I've never seen Rexxentrum! Capital of the Empire. Supposed to be quite the sight.
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Ah. It sounds very exciting.
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Beau showed me Nicodranas, when she was here. In the thing.
[And that's fond. There's a shade of sadness to it, of course, but ... he's mentioned it so much before now, it feels like he's sort of hanging onto it a bit. like some sort of wish talisman.]
Little port town. By the beach - kind of rocky, looked like? But nice. Different from the beach here, rougher round the edges. Market stalls and shops and such, not a huge place, but I think everyone is going to be . . . very bright. Like me! Hells, I might even fit in. Going to have find something loud to wear.
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I do like the beach here. It's nice.