AUDIENCE FOR: Yuri Leclerc

[guestservices]

Comments

[ashenvaliant]

[ i know what i’m about. ]

oh, and pick a favourite colour.

[guestservices]

I don't really have one, so I'm going to throw a dart instead.

[a few moments later:]

Pink it is.

[ashenvaliant]

... did you really, literally, throw a dart?

[guestservices]

Not literally, but I did randomize a colour.

[ashenvaliant]

well the randomiser has spoken. pink it is.

[guestservices]

Should I meet you at the spa, then? Or elsewhere?

[ashenvaliant]

spa would be fine, unless you want to avoid it. there's direct access to the full selection there after all.

[guestservices]

Spa works for me.

[ashenvaliant]

Spa it is then, meet you there.

[guestservices]

[they will show up at the spa!]

[ashenvaliant]

[ hurrah!

except there's a burst of stardust and an immediate memory! (39:40 - 42:29). Not hurrah! ]

... [ yuri sighs. it sounds kinda fond. ]

Anyway. I went with a lighter pink, unless you have a real hatred for that shade then we can swap it.

[guestservices]

[that sure happened.]

I'm not picky. Any shade is fine.

[normally, they wouldn't comment given that yuri immediately moved on, but that doesn't seem like an "oh god do not acknowledge it" sort of memory, so.]

You certainly have interesting friends.

[ashenvaliant]

[ yeah. sometimes liquorice boots happen. or will happen. it’s fine. ]

Yeah, well. You know she actually went and invented an entire spell for make boots taste like liquorice? I’m not sure if she’s a complete moron or an undiscovered genius of our time.

[guestservices]

[amused,]

Well, sometimes they're two sides of the same coin.

[ashenvaliant]

Both would probably suit her. Even if she takes my meaning too literally.

[ he shrugs, pushing the polish bottles he wants to use across the counter. ]

Restoring her House isn’t a bad goal, but she doesn’t quite realise how much work and how much, well, boot licking she’s going to need to do with the still established nobility to make it happen peacefully. Even if I don’t literally mean “lick boots”.

[guestservices]

[idly, they pick up one bottle to examine it.]

It's interesting to see prideful people at work. They're often the ones who make history happen, for better or for worse—but you're right in that they can underestimate what needs to be sacrificed for that to be happen, pride included.

[ashenvaliant]

They have the goals they want to achieve, and the drive to get there. They take the hits harder than most of us along the way though.

[ he motions for their hand. he’s going in for a lovely gradient look today ]

[guestservices]

[they will give him their hand!]

Mm. Would you say you're not like them, in that case?

[ashenvaliant]

[ paintsies ]

I’m not going to pretend I’m not prideful. I absolutely am. But it works better for me to keep my goals and dreams on the down-low, and work on them where they can’t be interrupted en masse.

[guestservices]

So, you're fonder of working from the shadows?

[ashenvaliant]

It's easier. Underworld's kinda dangerous after all. If your tracks are well covered, life's just more peaceful.

[guestservices]

[becks go to fucking bed]

Mm. Things are easier when you avoid direct confrontation.

[ashenvaliant]

[ i slept... ]

Depends on the kind of direct confrontation. There's... definitely those, but perhaps it's not so in the public eye.

[guestservices]

[a hum]

True, even the underworld wouldn't be free of fights. Or assassinations, I assume?

[ashenvaliant]

It has its fair share of both, although I'm in a position now to be picky about what work we actually do.