"Yes, sir," Tadaaki answered with a nod. It was so frustrating to listen to powerful men talk like this. To pretend that they cared about the little peons under them only to turn around and not ban the slave trade or do anything at all to use their power to help real people who were really getting hurt by overgrown children who liked to flaunt how many expendable people they owned. Or ruled. Or whatever.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Hehe, Harold putting his foot in it like a proper king would. Naive isn't the word I'm looking for, but I didn't realize he'd be this way and not just an angelic perfect king until I started writing him here)
"Anyway, I keep steering back to politics. My apologies. I expect you'll have more than enough of that when you're sworn in as a Loquitur, miss Ky. I'll spare you any more of this rambling." He smiled apologetically.
(My creative writing professor has a thing where he says to avoid adverbs like the plague and he's poisoned me against myself in roleplays)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(aha valid) (that's actually really admirable bc i use an obscene number of adverbs and try not to but i still do lmao)
Ky tried to take a deep breath, to force herself to recover, but her capacity for language hadn't come back yet. So she just nodded instead.
Tadaaki looked at her, wondering what he could do to help. He was so bad at talking to important people. Of finding ways to graciously accept apologies -- especially on someone else's behalf. But it was clear that Ky needed a relief just then. And she wasn't going to get it in an awkward silence or being the sole focus on the king's attention. He needed to help. Somehow.
"I, uh, would guess people talk about what's, uh, on their mind," he said awkwardly. "I would, uh, think it's, ah, reasonable for politics to, uh, be on your mind... sir."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(I feel like roleplay is an exception to the rule because I don't want to go painting beautiful metaphors about feelings when this is a character-driven story. I can do some pretty things sometimes but for the most part I don't want to overdo it)
"I suppose so." Harold shrugged. "I ought to know better by now, though. What about you? What's on your mind today?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
For the past almost hour nothing else in the entire world had existed on either of their minds aside from the fact that they were in the presence of a king. And, currently, the only thing on Ky's mind was how much she hated herself and wanted to die. For once, she welcomed the idea of getting executed for saying something stupid to an important person. That would be better than having to live with this humiliation for the entire rest of her miserable life.
"Oh, uh, I'm a pretty simple man, sir," Tadaaki said, deciding that he'd be able to come up with an easier deflection than Ky would just then. "I'm just happy to see Ky and the Loquiturs again, and am honored to be permitted to witness something as important as this."
(poor Ky lol she's such an anxious little bean)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Ah, certainly! That's tomorrow, isn't it? Very exciting. I expect you're qoing to be enjoying a lot of attention and gift-giving." This was directed at Ky. "It's been so long since I've had the honor of witnessing one of these ceremonies."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Yes, sir," Ky murmured, finally looking up, but she was still as small as her frame would possibly get. She tried to smile but couldn't get out much more than a grimace. "I'm very much looking forward to it."
Only, she wasn't. She wished she could just sign the stupid document and have Tomhas sign the stupid document and then have the king sign the stupid document and be done with it all. She didn't want to have to deal with the Ashes or Anneke's family -- although she'd admit, she quite liked both of them -- and she certainly didn't want to be the center of everyone's attention. Especially since the king's attention was now going to be part of the mix.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I'm sure." He noticed her discomfort, though. "Don't look so glum; it'll be over in a jiff, I'm sure. It's one day out of your whole life!"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Yes, sir!" Ky forced a bit more of a smile, but his words made her feel even worse, if that was even possible. She probably looked so ungrateful right now. And she didn't mean to. She was just so very embarrassed and anxious and wishing she was actually someone who deserved to have all this attention fixed upon her.
"It's just a bit overwhelming, sir," Tadaaki cut in, trying to help Ky yet again. He didn't know how much more he could keep doing this; he hoped she'd recover soon. "Being around lords and your... kingship?" He looked at Ky for confirmation that that was the right way to say it, but she didn't respond. "I don't think any of this could have possibly crossed either of our minds. We're just sl--" He thought better of it. Plus, they weren't slaves anymore. "Peasants."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Well, not anymore, it would seem! Though I do suppose I understand why you might be overwhelmed; not many people of a lower class mingle with those of the upper class on a regular basis. But we're just people, like anybody else! Nothing to be frightened of at all."
(*facepalm*)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Yes, sir," Tadaaki murmured. He was still having a hard time getting his head wrapped around all of this. He looked at Ky.
She swallowed hard, finally accepting that this was her job to have this conversation, not Tadaaki's. It was her fault that the king was here in the first place. Her face was still burning. "Yes, sir. Everyone's been so very kind to us. We appreciate it more than we could possibly express."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Harold gave another nod. "Really, try not to fret. It'll all go smoothly tomorrow; Lord Loquitur will see that it does." Sensing he ought to let things lie now, he settled back in the saddle and looked ahead.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
It was better than focusing on her embarrassment, but she still couldn't handle it. She needed to bounce back. To think of a way to fix this, if that was even possible. She'd fess up to Tomhas later; there was nothing she could do about it now.
She took several long moments to compose herself, then forced herself to sit a bit straighter in the saddle.
"I hear we'll be doing it outside," she said at last. "I hope the weather's in our favor."
Yes, resorting to talking about the weather. Because she couldn't trust herself for much more than that.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(For real though I couldn't think of anything more traumatizing for Ky on that special day)
"Hopefully," Harold agreed, surprised that she'd begun talking again. "The Northern Realm's fickle, though. Clear skies one minute, snow storms the next."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(haha yeahhh... I'm thinking I may let her get a minor stab to her arm bc I'm envisioning her getting flighty and being like "BUT WHAT IF THEY HURT ONE OF YOUR KIDS" and Tomhas being like they just did hurt one of my kids you little idiot haha)
"I guess that keeps things exciting." She forced another smile, and this one went marginally better. Not quite convincing, but it didn't look pained anymore.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
