[He simply settled, watching the interplay with growing interest. It had been one thing to see Gregor carrying Miles with such exquisite care. This was a new layer on top of that. His own mind balked at the same interplay with Ezar.
But then Simon's role came up, and the dry humor flares like the sun, even though his expression remains cool, unbroken. His tone is perfectly bland.]
I'll see if Lady Vorpatril has his wine preferences before next Winterfair.
[ Gregor is all too cognizant of this evaluation and tries not to strain too hard with his effort to convey, See, I don't mistreat your son, I swear. It's nothing like with Ezar. It's not a fear he thinks Miles would be aware of, but Gregor has had far too much access to history archives.
He can't feel that dry humor, but he can guess at it, and his tone matches it. ]
That hasn't escaped her. It came to a point where we couldn't assign him to anyone else.
Insubordination was considered a family curse. Or a skill, depending on how it was phrased and to whom.
[He seems to feel no particular need to clarify whether he meant it as an adjunct to the crack about ImpSec's specialty assignment or the creative results.
He'd certainly done his own. It wasn't hard to picture Captain Negri's expression... or lack thereof, save for the twitch just below his right eye.]
More a curse for you than for me, [ he murmurs. ] I don't mind it.
[ Deliberately said, that, as a message that he's not about to demand strict obedience from Aral. Anyway, Miles (and Aral, though this comes up for Gregor much less often) is never insubordinate when it really counts. Gregor tries hard not to entrap either of them in orders they cannot fulfill without crushing some part of themselves. It's one reason he's so sparing with orders. ]
[ Only fondness over their link, drifting past Aral as it slides over to Gregor. ]
Admiral Naismith is a permanent cover for me. Hence why I fell to using it here until I could read the situation - and then Gregor turned up and made it all but necessary. It seemed unwise to broadcast his full identity.
[He meets Gregor's gaze, levelly, holding it for a moment, before inclining his head. There's a slight relaxing of his shoulders.
His attention falls back to Miles.]
Just so.
[There's nothing in him that would contest the need to protect the Emperor through whatever means necessary.]
Especially given what seems to be some confounding nonsense about proper time having no place in selection. The width and breadth of enemies expands nightmarishly.
[ Miles eyes go wide. He'd been picturing Metzov, Cavilo, maybe Oser. Not the whole range of Barrayaran history ... A particular shudder goes through him as he pictures, say, Prince Serg showing up to be a torment to Gregor. Yes, he's very glad h decided to keep a cover after all, even if it's unnecessarily complicated this particular meeting.
He sucks in a breath. ]
Yes, it does. All an accident at first, but permanent now. Admiral Naismith commands the Dendarii and serves as the liaison between them and the Imperium. A bit new, still, but we're working on it. It's not just a way of getting around Vorloupulous' Law any more.
Greg Vorthys? One of my Auditors-- a kindly old professor. He wouldn't begrudge me borrowing his name. [ Because that had been a consideration for him.
Gregor sounds smooth enough that it's very hard to tell he's hiding anything with his explanation as he goes on. ]
I'm related to the Imperial family and therefore well-connected, but orphaned with a foster-mother that looks after me. [ And here he nods at Aral, confirming that. ] I found life as High Vor too constraining, and ran off, whereupon Miles was gracious enough to rescue me from my plight of being a useless, penniless noble. I tend to come across as charmingly clueless.
Yes. Which is the most difficult part to fabricate, so I tried to keep that as close as possible.
[ He can't help a slight smile for Miles at that compliment. It's nice not to be seen as dead weight by the only person among them technically meant to be covert ops. ]
The network has most of it ... And the link helps with variations as they come up. Remarkably easy to synchronize when we can do it in our heads at any time.
Most of the time we've been deciding on the fly, [ he admits. ] Just passing along new bits of cover to each other as it occurs. Impossible to catch us out, really.
Ah. [He glances down to the blood drying on his pant leg, to where Miles' recent injuries are now invisible and vanished. There's quite a bit of regret that he HADN'T realized what that buzzing had meant, or tried it. What he says, is nothing of the like.]
I'd say ImpSec's deep cover agents would kill for a tech like it, but not one of the twisty bastards would take it, I imagine.
It is wildly invasive. [ A very faint echo of Aral's regret, just to make it clear he heard that. Then, a flicker over at Gregor too. ] But worth it if you can manage the trust required.
[ Obviously he has to trust Miles deeply in order for their link to work the way it does between them, but Gregor feels skittish about revealing that in front of this younger Aral. He still doesn't know quite how to handle him, or what he'll make of him. So he deflects. ]
If it were more like a radio signal, broadcast-receive, instead of a mutual muddle, maybe.
[ Huh. A bit of curiosity across the link at Gregor - but he acquiesces, following his lead. He'll end up telling Aral about the pain-sharing later ... ]
Absolutely not.
[ Is Miles' equally simple response. Have his parents be here and in another house? Never. ]
[ Gregor sends Miles back a hint of self-conscious wryness without a flicker in his expression. He trusts Miles will be able to figure out that he wants to make a good impression on Aral, and isn't sure how to go about that yet.
But he's similarly dismissive of this offer. He can't fathom splitting up the Vorkosigans more than they naturally are, with Miles constantly going off-world at home. ]
That's not necessary, [ he says diplomatically. ] You're not an intrusion. You're perfectly welcome to whatever accommodations I can give you.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[He simply settled, watching the interplay with growing interest. It had been one thing to see Gregor carrying Miles with such exquisite care. This was a new layer on top of that. His own mind balked at the same interplay with Ezar.
But then Simon's role came up, and the dry humor flares like the sun, even though his expression remains cool, unbroken. His tone is perfectly bland.]
I'll see if Lady Vorpatril has his wine preferences before next Winterfair.
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He can't feel that dry humor, but he can guess at it, and his tone matches it. ]
That hasn't escaped her. It came to a point where we couldn't assign him to anyone else.
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I'm not terrible to him. I bring him results, after all. Just ... not necessarily in the way he intends.
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[He seems to feel no particular need to clarify whether he meant it as an adjunct to the crack about ImpSec's specialty assignment or the creative results.
He'd certainly done his own. It wasn't hard to picture Captain Negri's expression... or lack thereof, save for the twitch just below his right eye.]
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[ Deliberately said, that, as a message that he's not about to demand strict obedience from Aral. Anyway, Miles (and Aral, though this comes up for Gregor much less often) is never insubordinate when it really counts. Gregor tries hard not to entrap either of them in orders they cannot fulfill without crushing some part of themselves. It's one reason he's so sparing with orders. ]
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[ Only fondness over their link, drifting past Aral as it slides over to Gregor. ]
Admiral Naismith is a permanent cover for me. Hence why I fell to using it here until I could read the situation - and then Gregor turned up and made it all but necessary. It seemed unwise to broadcast his full identity.
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His attention falls back to Miles.]
Just so.
[There's nothing in him that would contest the need to protect the Emperor through whatever means necessary.]
Especially given what seems to be some confounding nonsense about proper time having no place in selection. The width and breadth of enemies expands nightmarishly.
[There's a pause and he continues, mildly,]
Does that cover exist in full back home?
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He sucks in a breath. ]
Yes, it does. All an accident at first, but permanent now. Admiral Naismith commands the Dendarii and serves as the liaison between them and the Imperium. A bit new, still, but we're working on it. It's not just a way of getting around Vorloupulous' Law any more.
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And the other cover story?
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[A longer glance at Gregor.]
But I'd meant yours.
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Gregor sounds smooth enough that it's very hard to tell he's hiding anything with his explanation as he goes on. ]
I'm related to the Imperial family and therefore well-connected, but orphaned with a foster-mother that looks after me. [ And here he nods at Aral, confirming that. ] I found life as High Vor too constraining, and ran off, whereupon Miles was gracious enough to rescue me from my plight of being a useless, penniless noble. I tend to come across as charmingly clueless.
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But the rest, he merely nods, absorbing without comment or any obvious signs of suspicion that it is anything but what has been said.]
Fabrication in all but sentiment then.
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[ He can't help a slight smile for Miles at that compliment. It's nice not to be seen as dead weight by the only person among them technically meant to be covert ops. ]
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Is there anything I should know that wasn't mentioned on the network? That much I can research easily.
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I'd say ImpSec's deep cover agents would kill for a tech like it, but not one of the twisty bastards would take it, I imagine.
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If it were more like a radio signal, broadcast-receive, instead of a mutual muddle, maybe.
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[At that, there's a pause, looking around at the room, and then at the two of them.]
I was, in fact, assigned here, by some humor or intent of the government. I can find other accommodations.
[It's presented neutrally, a simple offer.]
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Absolutely not.
[ Is Miles' equally simple response. Have his parents be here and in another house? Never. ]
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But he's similarly dismissive of this offer. He can't fathom splitting up the Vorkosigans more than they naturally are, with Miles constantly going off-world at home. ]
That's not necessary, [ he says diplomatically. ] You're not an intrusion. You're perfectly welcome to whatever accommodations I can give you.