canon is codex alera

[antillar]

Crows take you, woman, do you really think this is a good idea?

[ he's silent for a moment, face smoothing out and shifting into something of a carefree grin instead. ] Oh, all right. So long as there's some ale and ladies to be had.

Comments

[disloyalty]

What would you consider as a good idea?

[antillar]

Oh, I could think of a thing or two. Dinner and drinks, for one. A bath. [ a little more seriously, though there's plenty affection in his tone: ] Helping out Calderon, the crowbegotten fool.

[disloyalty]

A bath would be practical, out of that list. Your friend's always in trouble, then?

[antillar]

You're not saying I stink, are you? [ well let's be honest he probably does. that's what you get for fighting legion-style okok ]

Trouble's too harmless a word.

[disloyalty]

It would be rude of me to say something like that, don't you think? [ But a small smile threatens to play on her expression. ] Does he get into... hm, what's a harmful word for what he does?

[antillar]

Ah, of course. And a lady wouldn't say something rude like that. [ HE SEES HOW IT IS ] Bloody insanity and madness.

[disloyalty]

[ Girls just want to have fun, okay. ] A lady wouldn't, yes.

Perhaps his madness serves a purpose even he doesn't see yet. Would you say the same thing, about him?

[antillar]

[ max is all in favour of girls having fun. ] So should I assume you are a lady?

[ oh you have no idea. ] It serves a bloody purpose, all right. I don't know how many times the crowbegotten fool has saved Alera from impending doom. [ five times, that's how many. ]

[disloyalty]

Only when it suits me, if I'm honest. [ Maybe she's lying, though. Maybe she's always a lady - albeit one who wears a knife. ]

If you wait a man out as he sets a fire, eventually the fire will take him. That is to say, sometimes a problem solves itself on its own, if you let it be.

[antillar]

That so? Commendable. [ a lady who can fend for herself. his faovurite kind. that's a lie. all women are his favourite kind ]

[ sharply: ] A problem like the Canim or the Vord doesn't solve itself. Unless you consider the death of all Alerans a solution.

don't make me ship things so quickly this is like the fifth time!!!

[disloyalty]

[ He's not calling her a liar. She's more than pleased with that. (Or Ciela would be, because she pleases people all the time. Cairncross is more than different, and leans the other direction.) ] Thank you.

—How many of those are you meant to fight, if I may ask?

I AM NOT SORRY your characters/my characters otp 5eva okok

[antillar]

[ why would he call her a liar? max has a healthy dose of respect for women and a particularly unhealthy one for his stepmother, but that's another story entirely. he's not stupid ( no matter what he pretends at times ), he's not going to call her a liar. ]

Only the Vord, now that Calderon's made peace with the Marat and the Canim have surrendered to him.

that's a lot of otps oho

[disloyalty]

[ Most men have no compunctions about placing a woman in a villain's role. It makes her work so much easier - much easier, sometimes, to the point of frustration. Embry— is a thing best forgotten, now. (He would not be happy with this, but dead men's opinions hardly weigh.) ]

Those are names I'm afraid I'm not familiar, but they sound formidable as they are. Which ones have you actually fought, then?

[survival_isnt_living]

Easy to keep appeased, are we? [Amused smile. One that frankly is almost exactly like the smile of someone Max knows rather well.]

But the answer is yes, she probably does think so. And is unlikely to change her mind.

[legionare]

Easy enough. [ the surprise is covered very quickly by a lazy grin, but that smile is frighteningly familiar and max would have to have lived under a rock or like one of those romanic people tavi keeps talking about not to know what gaius septimus looks like.

he is not going to think too hard on what the familiarity of that smile means. ] Crows, but you're right. She's yet to change her mind and it's been a month.

[survival_isnt_living]

[Sep may not be the devious freak Tavi is, but he's politician enough that he saw that surprise. Interesting.] I remember when things were that simple. One of my friends, back at the Academy--

[He shakes his head with a laugh.] But no matter. Great furies, it's good to hear speech from home after so long.

[legionare]

[ don't comment on the fact that it's the dead princeps of the realm, don't comment, max, don't do it. the grin stays firmly in place. ]

How long is 'so long', Sire?

[survival_isnt_living]

[Okay, that question earns a mildly chiding look which would look, frankly, a lot like one of Sextus' except for the part where he has good humor in it.

Way to not comment on it.]

That's my father, not me, and it's hardly relevant. It's just Sep these days. [No biggie, Max, right? His tone turns so wistful now.] Been almost a year since I was dumped on the back of a giant turtle.

[legionare]

[ he's never been very good at keeping his own resolutions, except for when it really matters and right now there doesn't seem to be a threat to the crown, not when it's gaius septimus himself that he's talking to. ]

A giant turtle. [ he repeats it almost incredulously, perhaps playing it up drolly because it keeps him from having to say that there is no way he can call the princeps of the realm sep, not just yet. ]

[survival_isnt_living]

[Septimus just smile wryly.] I know. It's insane. But yes, a giant turtle. It's more like a living island. Something between an animal and a Great Fury, almost. [Not exactly accurate, but it's a way to help himself comprehend it.]

[oh come on max you've called a princeps of the realm worse things than casual nicknames in your life.]

[legionare]

Crows, are you sure? [ yeah asking the princeps of the realm inane questions is, apparently, a thing. can you really blame him, though? ]

[survival_isnt_living]

Pretty bloody near sure. [Septimus suspects why the inane questions. It is, after all, a rather forceful memory.] At least, it was when I arrived--not at home, on the turtle. And not a word of home since.

[The wistful longing is palpable--he doesn't lock down emotions like Tavi does.]

[legionare]

It's — been a few years since you have heard from Alera, then.

[ and how disconcerting is that? tavi's features, but the behaviour is different. ]

[survival_isnt_living]

[Well--some of the behavior is different. He's more sociable and outgoing, certainly. Still, sometimes he does unconsciously mirror his father's mannerisms (ones which Tavi also learned, just as unwittingly).

Like this one, for instance. Now he goes still, expression thoughtful and measuring, one eyebrow raised very slightly. His voice is quiet--don't beat around the bush on this one.] How long?

[(It's a good thing Max hasn't seen Septimus commanding a Legion or he'd be really creeped out by the resemblance.)]

[legionare]

[ this is supremely uncomfortable for a number of reasons, and the resemblance is certainly one of them, but telling the princeps of the realm that he's been dead for essentially a quarter of a century? max winces slightly and then straightens because at the core, he's a legionare and he's going to do his duty. this counts as that. ] 24 years.