[IC] [El Nysa] IC Contact Post

[dendarii]

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

Comments

[dendarii]

Hell no.

[vorrutyer]

Then why do you need to see it?

[dendarii]

You've been using it, haven't you? That's why you need this order.

As it is, I had no idea you were doing any such thing.

[vorrutyer]

Of course you didn't. I didn't intend for you to know.

[dendarii]

Precisely. You'll still be able to do that, but I'll have no chance at all if I don't even know what it looks like. Or what it's called.

[vorrutyer]

I'm not asking for you to enforce it, sire. I'm just asking you to give the order.

[dendarii]

Only if you tell me what it is.

[vorrutyer]

I don't know what it is.

[dendarii]

Then show me and I'll figure it out.

[vorrutyer]

This isn't about detective work, sire. I don't need to know the name of it. I just have this one simple request for you.

[dendarii]

I can't give it in good conscience unless I know what I'm forbidding.

[vorrutyer]

I don't give a shit about your conscience.

[dendarii]

You really should.

[vorrutyer]

Why?

[dendarii]

If you really think I'm your Emperor - and not just paying lip service - you ought to care.

[vorrutyer]

I follow orders. I don't fret over the morality of them.

[dendarii]

Fine, then. We order you to show Us what it is you're using.

[vorrutyer]

[ A slight pause. ]

That's not what I asked of you.

[dendarii]

You're fretting.

[vorrutyer]

I'm not fretting. That part of it just is none of your fucking business. All I need is your order.

[dendarii]

I've already given you one.

[vorrutyer]

[ About an hour of silence. Then, roughly, Miles' door is opened. Byerly stalks in, shoulders set and face immobile, clearly furious. He drops a small mountain of bags - some with pills, some with powders, some with plant life - on Miles' desk, then stiffly turns to go without a word. ]

[dendarii]

[ Was that he right call? Maybe not. Miles had paced in his room after the last text, waiting fruitlessly for a response. When Byerly finally shows up with the bag - no, bags - he jumps, startled by the noise and the sheer amount. ]

Wait - please.

[vorrutyer]

[ By just pauses, not turning back, spitting - ]

Is that an order, sire?

[dendarii]

No. A request. I - good god, Byerly.

[ He's alarmed by the sheer volume and variety here. ]