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[IC] [El Nysa] IC Contact Post

"This is - Emperor Vorkosigan. Leave a message and We will return it at Our earliest convenience."

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Less presumptuous, firstly. Less boring, more importantly.

Boredom is a matter of taste.

[ This is a slightly stressful message to send. But, well - Byerly certainly hasn't been a good vassal, lately. Kidnapped, then unconscious for days afterwards due to that dire spell, and then - well. He's spent the past few days fighting unconsciousness, staying high to stay awake. And he's...Well. He probably needs to stop. He really needs to stop. So. ]

Sire, may I make a rather unorthodox request?

That's an excuse for not getting out more, and I won't have it. We're going camping.

Fine, fine. If you insist.

[ Unusual enough that Miles doesn't reply immediately. He'd hovered while Byerly had been unconscious, then been a bit awkward and distant when he'd been awake. He hasn't exactly been a good liege lord, either. ]

By all means.

Order me to sobriety.

What?

[ A few minutes. ]

Never mind. Forget it.

No, tell me. What do you mean? Have you been drinking that much?

[ He wouldn't blame Byerly for it. ]

No. I've hardly had a drop to drink.

[ That ... concerns him more than excess drink does. ]

And here I thought Vorrutyers had more wine than blood in their veins.

Oh, hardly. The truly mad ones make all their bad decisions completely without drink. They say Le Sanguinaire never touched a drop.

Then this is a sign of madness, Byerly?

It was only a matter of time before I cracked, wasn't it?

God. Don't talk like that.

[ And then, a moment later, because he doesn't want that to be an Imperial Command -- ]

Please.

What - don't tell me it upsets you. Your older self always seemed to treat me like I was three-quarters mad and one-quarter a drooling imbecile.

Three-quarters, sure. But not completely mad. I'd have no sane subjects left.

I'm flattered by your faith that you have one now.

I'd say I do. However narrowly.

... What do you need to be sober from?

Take a guess.

Some sort of drug, I'm assuming, but I've no idea what.

And does it really matter precisely what it was?

Of course it does. I can't tell if you're obeying me if I don't know what you're using.

It's nothing you'd be familiar with, sire. It's nothing I was familiar with, and I believe I'm rather more worldly than yourself.

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