Aleth stared at him, aghast, squirming despite himself.
"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]
"If you've touched anyone you're in for some trouble." He rocked back slightly, still pawing at himself. "Better not say if you did. Prison wouldn't be so bad if I had a little company, you know?'
"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
“…I haven’t.” He glared at the bars in front of him, letting out a shaky breath. Gods. That little whore better keep her mouth shut. Whatever they did to him he’d give to her five times worse when he got out. And he would be getting out, one way or another.
"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]
"That's the spirit!" He nodded. "Keep your mouth shut and you might do okay. Although not talking at all might get you in trouble too."
"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
“I’ll tell them whatever they want to know.” Aleth shrugged. “Like I said, I’m innocent.”
"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]
"Good for you." He settled back against the hole. "Good luck convincing them."
"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
“Mm.” Aleth wrapped his blanket even tighter around himself. “So, what? You just in here til you die?”
"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]
"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
"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]
"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
(Maybe a baby skip somewhere? I don’t really have anything more for Ky at the moment)(dinner? Or is that invite rescinded now? Lol)
"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]
(Dinner is totally on the table [no pun intended]! Let's go there!)
"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
Ky had been actively refusing to allow herself to be anxious. Well. As much as she could anyway. Reminding herself, frequently, that Ash had promised not to hurt her or Tadaaki. And forcing herself to acknowledge again and again that he’d told the truth so far.
Bay never did come to drag her to the dungeon.
Aleth never did materialize behind her with a knife.
And Tadaaki remained safe and okay. Terrified. Of course he was. They both were. But safe.
She almost took a breath.
But now it was dinner time.
And it felt rude to decline.
And she wanted absolutely nothing less than to insult their host.
So she was anxiously walking next to Emery on their way to the dining hall.
(Dunno how protocols are gonna work with them but if they were given the choice then Tadaaki is absolutely still with her rn lol but they wouldn’t have given any resistance at all if anyone told them they had to separate)
"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]
"So I think you'll be near Gaius," Emery was saying. "He usually puts family and new arrivals closest to him."
"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
Fear stabbed through both of them at the thought of that.
Tadaaki, because he knew Ash was in a league of his own. Well. In a league with Aleth and maybe Ky too. But. Well. Tadaaki didn’t stand even a single chance. He felt like an idiot and afraid that anything he said may turn into a noose around his neck.
And he didn’t even have to lie anymore.
But. Well. What if he accidentally insulted his lordship somehow? What if—? Gods he was going to be near the Ash family? He visibly paled at the thought and hoped Ky would be a buffer between them. He’d stand between Ash and Ky. Any moment of any day. But… around his wife? Small children? It wasn’t safe to be a big black man around a powerful man’s wife and children. All it would take was one glance in the wrong direction and it’d be to the gallows with him.
“That’s good to know,” Ky said quietly, also paling a bit and for a similar reason. Not anywhere near as bad. Not even close. But she’d been shouted at by many a men who believed she was Kyber for the crime of being in the same room as their adolescent daughter. If she glanced at them, she was a predator; if she refused to make eye contact she was arrogant. There was no winning when family was involved. No. Winning. “Thank you.”
She supposed she was in a somewhat better spot with that now, though. Now that she was free to live as a woman; not as heavily suspected of being a child molester was a woman. But still. Being around a powerful man’s family was a very, very risky business. And neither of them savored the thought whatsoever.
"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]
