on the possibility to heading to another game

[seem]

[ As wryly as possible without slipping into disdain: ] From one fire to the next, I see.

You don't make a particularly persuasive argument, but I suppose absolute control allows for a certain lack of subtlety.

Comments

[debts]

[ Her mouth pitches up then down again, not particularly permanent one way or the other. ]

And here I had my money on the other one. English. This high?

[seem]

[ Lips forming a slight moue, Littlefinger shrugs, his expression just as fleeting as hers. ]

Well, what are expectations if not to be defied? But you're not too far off the mark; if I'm understanding things correctly, the possibility still isn't out of the question.

[debts]

Can I flip a coin? [ It's a joke, kind of, or as much of a joke as Natasha's sense of humor will let it be. ]

At least let me figure out who I should be inviting to my dinner parties.

[seem]

Dinner parties?

[ His eyebrows jump once in amusement. ]

I wasn't aware the destination allowed for such luxuries. That said, I'm hurt that you would have to leave the choice to chance.

[debts]

Isn't there a saying? "Space: The Final Frontier?" [ Her mouth quirks. ] You never know how well a catering buisness might work.

[ But if any of this is genial or friendly or any offshoot of kind, it's not without agenda. Like attracts like, genuine or otherwise. ]

[seem]

[ That particular adage flies over Littlefinger's head, but he doesn't stop to address it; the meaning is self-evident. And besides, that's not the whole topic of conversation. (Like attracts like, and he's always been fond of the game, let alone those who are good enough to play it.) ]

For every song, there is an audience, [ he says easily, ] though I imagine you could sing sweeter.

[debts]

[ Natasha smiles, the kind of expression a woman wears when she's playing at shy. (It's not flirtation, exactly, even if it carries the cadence and breath and weight of it. That's half the point.)

She hums, meeting his tone with an arched brow. ]

I just think you're trying to make a good impression.

[seem]

[ In turn, he allows himself a huff of laughter, lowering his gaze as if in concession. There's no script to the conversation but there are rough steps laid out as a whole, a give and take, a push and pull. ]

That doesn't preclude the possibility that I might also be telling the truth.

[wont]

[ The thought of anyone having absolute control of anyone or anything is an idea that does not sit well with Alayne. Even less so, to think Petyr Baelish a victim of it.

(Who moves the man who moves the pieces? It is an uncomfortable question.) ]

'Absolute'. [ The word is a careful, tenuous thing in her mouth. ] Is such a thing possible?

[seem]

In this instance, I regret to say that it is, [ he answers, and though the fact of it doesn't sit well with him, either, he doesn't seem too bothered, as such. ]

And has been, for some time now. But we've made the best of it, have we not?

[wont]

[ That gets her to smile, though with a lowered gaze, some of that earlier grimness tempered by his response. ] We have. And so shall continue, is it not so?

[ A pause and only then does she lift her gaze. ] Will she not be moved by you?

[seem]

Of course. [ And then, somewhat more mildly: ] As to your latter question, time will tell. As loathe as I am to say it, I have little jurisdiction in the matter.

[wont]

[ Alayne opens her mouth and then shuts it again, considering her words before she finally says them. ] Yet you do not seem terribly displeased.

[seem]

Fortune has smiled upon me thus far. [ (A figure of speech — he doesn't believe in fortune — but obvious enough in meaning.)

Then again, with the rhetorical: ] Wouldn't you say?

[wont]

[ He doesn't believe in fortune and neither does she, though Alayne Stone has seen more than her fair share of misfortune. (And whose fault was that — or was blame impossible to place in such matters?) ]

Then you will go? Without argument or issue? [ The latter is less than likely. ] Nor truly, without a song?

[seem]

Would you prefer that I protest?

[ It's a facetious sort of question — whatever he does at the end of the day, he will do of his own volition – but he seems good-natured enough in asking it. ]