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Post by Agrippa on Mar 6, 2021 5:07:44 GMT -8
Without looking, Agrippa capped the pen, put it back in place, and slid the contract off to the side so as to make space for the glasses Archie was so generously offering. The talk of drinks brought them down to an easy contentment.
"Sweet is good enough for me! I would warn not to judge a book by its cover, but in this case my palate is exactly as saccharine as my sense of fashion."
Chuckling, they reached out and placed gentle fingertips around a glass to claim it, even as Archie was filling it with ice
"Keep me? That implies there's something more important to keep me from! Nonsense, I'd love to share a glass. Besides, we may not be drinking the traditional drink of celebrations just yet, but I think it would be remiss to not toast to a journey started, don't you? Please! Pour me some of that sweet liquid gold."
Their eyes travelled to the bottle in question, scanning the label with lazy interest. They didn't recognize it
"I'm sure there are less official topics we can discuss, in the meantime."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2021 19:34:02 GMT -8
“Alright, simple start - what brings you to The Meadows? Native, or heard of the promise land? Or do you just like the sound the slot machines make - personally the last one is more than enough to win me over. I am a sucker for the one armed bandit.”
He filled a glass and passed it to Agrippa and raised his own glass so they could toast.
“Some ships are wood ships, but those ships may sink, some ships are friendships and to those ships - we drink.”
clink
It was worth taking the time to get to know Agrippa a little more now. Business and parties aside it would do both of them some good to know at least some basics about one another since they were likely to come across one another throughout their own ascent in the Court. Plus there was no safer place to talk shop then his office.
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Post by Agrippa on Mar 8, 2021 23:40:32 GMT -8
Agrippa shook their head, smiling like Archie had lost a good-natured bet and now owed them a tenner
"You've got it all backwards- the question isn't why I'm here, its why I'm not still back up across the border! The answer to that being mostly a question of unresolved identity theft..."
Their tone dipped into a deep distaste, making the euphemism clear
"I had been absent for nearly ten years. A little difficult to live life in a small town where everyone knows your name when you have a doppleganger that appears to know more about the last decade of your life than you do. Didn't feel it was worth it to deal with, but the price to pay was that one of us would have to leave, and it obviously wasn't going to be them. A friend of mine had a contact down here. Between that, the distance, assurances that this was a good place to go, and a general lack of other options... Well, the decision was fairly easy on my end."
They shrugged, the distaste melting off them as the fairest recited the poetic toast. Their hand lifted the glass, clinked it to the other with gentle grace, and then brought the amber alcohol to their lips
"Not that I haven't enjoyed my time here so far, mind you. Quite a bit more populated than I am used to, and far too warm, but nothing that I can't get used to. Mostly I'm angling to make a life here that has the kind of sustainability that my life up there didn't."
There was a pause, before the unicorn decided to tack on a leading question of their own
"I presume you've been around the block here for quite some time?"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2021 17:34:11 GMT -8
Fetch life, it made sense. Archie had been lucky that he was so easily dealt with and that he had been able to slip into what he had had before - even if it was a little scuffed compared to how he had left it. Thus was where the merits of hard work came in in rebuilding things brick by brick. Thus was where Archie had found his niche in helping others do just that.
“Now let me defend the heat as it is far better than humidity. LA is just a stone's throw and if you like sweat that is the town for you. You need to double your shirts, and triple your kerchiefs. Though I will admit if I had the bevy of sports teams I would be a happier camper. I mean hockey, sure, just what we needed in the desert, and football is on its way! Still…”
He couldn’t have it all, but he still was going to defend his city.
“Plus with all things considered we have to agree that it doesn’t hurt that the walls of this city seem to be rather impenetrable - so no complaints from me. Peace of mind is its own reward.”
He raised his glass once more in a quick tip before tasting the sweet rum with the hint of banana on it.
“Well, I don’t know if I would call it around the block - has a certain connotation.”
Mr. Agrippa, were you insinuating that Archie sold himself? The scandal.
“But I have staked my claim, and made something of myself here. Twice. Can’t tell you which time around was harder - when I didn’t know what I was doing, or when I didn’t know just how wrong it all had gone.”
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Post by Agrippa on Mar 10, 2021 3:24:12 GMT -8
The unicorn raised a skeptic brow
"Dry or wet, you can still cook an egg on the hood of a car on the bad days, of which there aren't too few. For someone who grew up in a place where there was snow on the ground for a good portion of the year, its a bit of a shock to say the least! You know, the house that I grew up in didn't even have an air conditioner. We had electric heating, and a wood burner for when the powerlines would go out. Fans in the summer, though honestly with all the shade we got from the trees, the heat wasn't much of a problem at all. That would be the Horseflies."
Agrippa shuddered
"They don't call the place Horsefly for nothing. But. Irrigardless, I do like it here."
Archie's explanation of his own position didn't tell the whole story, but it told enough that Agrippa felt it safe to move past the question, rather than ask for clarifying details. They nodded and took another sip, clearly enjoying the liquor beyond simply the demands of social niceties.
"Seems to me you've done rather well establishing yourself- I wouldn't have guessed you had any hurdles to deal with at all. What about the community?"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2021 17:13:59 GMT -8
“For myself? Arms length at best to be perfectly honest.”
He offered a gentle shrug as he swirled the rum for no good reason other than to simply just do it.
“Call it the easy side of Spring, but I focused on me - somewhat selfishly, and made sure I could live the mundane life. I have always brushed with the community. A client here, a client there, making sure that gigs are lined up, and options are wide open. It was actually only recently that I took an interest, did some screening, and hedged a bet on who would be willing to come to bat together. And I mean, well…”
He looked to the side and sighed audibly as he tipped the liquor back, letting the sweet spirit warm his cheeks a touch as he chose that with Agrippa of all people it was worth some measure of reflection.
“Well let us call it what it was, a disaster. Egg on my face. I am glad we cobbled something together despite the snarling but it didn’t make me feel any better. I am sure I sounded like the madman that Ivory made me out to be, and I am sorry to have put you through that. It was just calling it as I saw it. Four individuals that would play the system just like everyone before them, and just as everyone after them. Preferences here and there, but not exerting the power of the many versus versus the efforts of the few. I just wanted to help…”
He sounded genuinely disappointed in his failure.
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Post by Agrippa on Mar 10, 2021 22:32:52 GMT -8
"Its not selfish to make sure you have yourself in order before helping others. Like the oxygen masks in airplanes. I might have done it too, had I had the choice"
Of course, really they had the choice to kill their fetch- they still did. But they didn't want to think about that right now. Perhaps they never would... An easy smile turned sympathetic as Archie went on to lament the previous meeting, and what they apparently saw as a failed attempt at allegiance. They shook their head, both as apology and rebuttal.
"Ivory doesn't speak the same political language as you do. None of us do, I'm fairly certain. For good or for ill, I am willing to look past the discrepancies. Its not a trait universally shared, and neither should it be."
While self-awareness wasn't exactly high on the beast's list of virtues, they had been called a spineless doormat enough times in their life to know that their submissive approach towards cooperation was something most would violently deride. Ivory certainly included.
"Ivory likes to hold power, politically and otherwise. She'd rather grab the authority to ask or order something directly, rather than manipulate. You on the other hand seem quite content to talk circles around people to get them to the place that you'd like them to be. Riley... to be entirely honest I can't quite pinpoint them, though I suspect that is due to them being no where near any extreme. They certainly trust Ivory's method more than yours. They are friends, though I also suspect it might have something to do with Ivory's method simply being more outwardly visible. And then there's me, who attempts to forge as genuine a connection with people as I can, so I'm dealing with friends rather than strangers."
The irony inherent in Agrippa implying that they don't approach political situations methodically while dissecting the political motivations of all involved seemed to escape them. They took another sip, stalling for time to think of the best way to order their thoughts on the matter.
"Each of us requires a different approach, and none of us respond well to the approach you used off-hand. Ivory would have likely appreciated a concrete plan put forth directly without much explanation or fanfare. She wouldn't have to be asked to provide criticism, nor would I imagine she be hesitant to ask for clarification. I believe Riley would have responded more positively to a curt description of your motivations. I... to be entirely honest I had a hard time even following what you were trying to propose. An elevator pitch would have, I think, made things a little clearer."
They shrugged
"Of course what has been done is done, but I don't think its all doom and gloom from here. Ivory hasn't completely shut the door on you, and if you manage enough positive interactions, I am sure you can smooth it over like this little hiccup never happened. Its nothing bad really, just a little miscommunication."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2021 22:29:13 GMT -8
Agrippa ran up and down the roster, but their insight wasn’t for not. Even once they glossed over Archie and while he felt a little called out he raised his glass again and drank once Agrippa had him dead to rights. It had proven an effective tactic and if not something familiar.
“Well you have your fingers on the pulse to say the least. Should I have ever doubted that though? A good writer should know how to dissect the characters in a scene - if if that scene is real people happening in real time. I guess that tells me a bit more about you.”
Archie would straighten up in his chair
“And it gives me some hope that you say that. I have a habit of assuming finality sometimes. Maybe if the right time comes around something can be done about that. In the meantime though...I am planning a get together sometime in March, a big cookout - I wanted to use the chance to invite you, personally that is. Rather than through the grapevine. Not too many details yet, but it is a community event to let you know beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
He polished off his rum.
“And one of these nights we should stop by some place fancier than my officer and grab something a little more constructed.”
He laughed as he set his now empty glass down.
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Post by Agrippa on Mar 11, 2021 22:49:32 GMT -8
Agrippa smiled warm, glad their advice appeared to be taken exactly as it had been meant to. They kicked back their own drink, and set it on the table with a gentle clink.
"I have to keep my head above the social quagmire somehow, don't I?"
They chuckled, turning back so as to start packing up their things
"And I would be honored to attend any event you hosted, especially one with a personal invitation! That goes for both the cook out and whatever else you conjure. You can count me in. I'll get on finishing this draft here, and you have my contact when you have the details for those readings hammered out!"
They pulled the strap of the bag over their shoulder, grinning
"I haven't forgotten anything, have I?"
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