|
Post by Agrippa on Apr 13, 2021 18:57:39 GMT -8
Agrippa stared at Archie for a long moment, trying not to bare their soul through their eyes while they scrutinized the Fairest's
"What would you have me do?"
The question had layers- vague on purpose, to prompt the answer to a multitude of questions the unicorn could have posed instead. There was a bitter edge of resentment that loitered at the wings of a tone otherwise helpless.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2021 19:36:21 GMT -8
The Fairest furrowed his brow, and brought his left hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
“So that is a no then.”
A soft sigh as he released his nose and leaned back in his chair. Disappointment clear across his face. He spun half way in his chair, and stood. Moving around his desk. Eerily the spotlight that hung on the Chatelaine seemed to grow brighter...Or the room darker? His steps...They sounded hollow, like an actor crossing the stage. The Wyrd crept along the edges of the room. As Archie passed Agrippa the Unicorn could tell one thing...
When it came to Verdant affairs, Archie's stature stood taller, as the favor of the Emerald Court made itself known.
Once passed, He opened the door to his office.
"Thank you for your time this evening, I am glad we could work something out."
He said with a quaint smile
|
|
|
Post by Agrippa on Apr 13, 2021 20:46:16 GMT -8
Agrippa frowned. Complex explanations had been tossed aside, submission was ploughed through, and the only thing clear was that there was no right answers. It was almost enough to give the writer a backbone. A retort was delayed as the mantle swelled in the room, causing the unicorn to feel even more claustrophobic, like a rat in a cage of someone else's desires. They turned around in their seat to face the door, but didn't get up quite yet.
"Do you need to hear that I understand that failure isn't something you have the luxury for? Or that I understand I cost you? That there is nothing you will do for me that isn't fundamentally conditional and transactional? Or that I can't afford failure either? Or that you believe me to have less direction and drive than what is necessary?"
The intensity mounted in their voice, though it was difficult to tell whether it was pleading or frustration
"I can tell you all of these things sincerely, though it is a mystery to me what benefit you get from hearing me voice what you already know. You are in the profession of dealing with people, and I am not particularly opaque. Not here, not now, and I know you can see right through me. I tried, I failed, and you want me to try again with this sword of Damocles called failure hanging over my head. Preferably with you just in reach to catch the coin if I am in good fortune, or my bloody crown in the absence of it. And I will. I will try again because it is all I can do. You have the luxury of dropping me if you would like, but I have to live with myself, and if I don't continue to try I will never succeed. So if it takes failure, then failure it will take. If you want to let me go at it on my own until I have a proven product you don't need to gamble on, then go ahead. Its what I've been doing for the last year, and I could continue doing it for a while more. I wouldn't have a safety net or as much reach, but quite frankly I'd rather drown alone than in a pair."
They forced themselves to stand up, pushing with their palms against the back of the chair like a crutch
"And I understand that there is nothing I can say right now that will assuage your temperament because I have already committed the cardinal sin of not succeeding on my first try. You don't want to beat me down or get me to do anything further- you just didn't want me to fail in the first place. Unfortunately I can't go back in time and fix what has already happened. So the most I can do is leave it to you to do what you will, about this, about me. I'd say I'm sorry, and I am, but you don't want to hear it."
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2021 22:01:18 GMT -8
“Your Desires Are Your Own.”
A simple. Curt. Reply.
“Did you drop the ball? Yes. Was the cost to fix it immense? Yes. Will I recuperate my losses? Probably not. Can I just cut you loose? Yes. Should I cut you loose? Yes. Has any other teary eyed sob story with a half decent voice learned that results are expected? Yes.”
“I give you opportunity, but I cannot seize the day for you. Failure to meet this opportunity has consequences as you are well aware of now. However the only person who can fail you, is you. My fee comes either way.”
“Is this a warning? Or a wake up call? That depends on whether you think you can cut it.”
“You referred to yourself twenty-four times in that tirade. None of them were you admitting what you want.”
The prize was there. Dangling.
|
|
|
Post by Agrippa on Apr 14, 2021 3:26:51 GMT -8
"Mr. Hartman, the only thing I can control is whether I try, and how much time and effort and heart and soul I pour into my endeavors. I can't control whether I fail despite my most earnest attempts. I fail by my own hand of course, but I don't fail on purpose. I have not had a failure to seize the day and take the opportunity, because I tried and I did! I merely had a failure of execution. And that happens sometimes. Sometimes people fail, no matter how hard they try. Its... human."
Agrippa temporarily lost their voice to bewilderment, shaking their head
"What I want is to write. To get the things in my head on paper, and to have other people experience them. Its just as I had said earlier, when you asked me what I wanted. I didn't lie. If my only choice was to scrawl my stories on a bathroom stall, I would. Now how I conceive to to do this is to make writing my profession so my financial concerns do not suck away time and attention from my writing. But the goal of being a professional is merely a means to the end of being an author. I need money, and I am trying to be a professional, but neither of those two things are at the heart of what I want. Its all a messy, blurry line where wants and needs run into each other. Clear as mud. There simply is no way for me to only chase what I want when what I want and what I need are not the same thing. So I am forced to navigate between them, and come up with compromise. Trust me Archie, I am not blind to my desires, and I have been transparent about them."
The beast's voice grew quiet, melting into the music as a question gnawing at the back of their mind finally broke loose of its bonds
"If you don't want this and I don't want this, then why are we working together? You were the one who came to me. I accepted the contract because... well because you were enthusiastic about it, honestly. And I know that is a dumb reason, but I trusted you knew what you were doing. You knew my background. I didn't pretend to be any better or more experienced than I was. I didn't defraud you. You..."
They blinked and swallowed, suddenly realizing the words they were about to say. they said them anyways.
"You took a kid with one year's real life experience out of collage and threw them into the entertainment meat grinder because you thought they would be the next big thing. Sure, I technically am older then that, but you know where those years of my life went! And yes, I should have recognized what this was. Part of me did, but I didn't think-"
It wasn't meant to be the end of the sentence, but it was. Somewhere in the reaches of their mind, the memory of directionless hooves and mindless braying mocked them. They pushed it back before it had the chance to breach the surface and become anything more substantial, but the distraction was enough to dash their train of thought, leaving them unable to do much in the way of communicating their original intent.
"...I didn't think."
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2021 10:43:18 GMT -8
He wasn’t listening, was he? The deflection was numbing as the Unicorn searched for the easy way out. Archie wasn’t going to bombard them. Their mind was already fluttering. What was clear at this stage is their contract would stay in place, and this was a second chance. However consequences were a very real thing, in their very real world. The collected presence of the Fairest remained professional even as their client cracked. While he wasn’t fuming, he was frustrated and not here to do therapy. Perhaps one could call this Spring Lessons? “Agrippa, you have settled up. Now we are on to the next one. Take this as a lesson, do something with it.“Now what I think is being missed here is that I have no intentions of terminating our agreement at this point. Whether or not I will continue to invest as heavily is a different matter entirely. Perseverance is an expression of how I chase my own dreams, Agrippa and now is no exception. If you feel you are wavering we could sooner deepen this relationship.”The door was pushed and the latch clicked. An opportunity to feel had been given and for the moment it was not retracted. Back to the table for renegotiations it seemed. “Failure stings, its bitten me many, many times before. If you want to make this smoother, and are dedicated to being a better version of you then the question is are you willing to involve the wyrd? My half being stipends and support beyond just making the connections - but not necessarily to the levels where they need this level of correction, in exchange? Dedication, effort, and hopefully we see an improvement in your output.”[/color] Patronage at its most base level. There was no Desire to end their working relationship - Archie didn’t even bother to brush over that. The ink had already dried and unless his client was spiraling it made no sense to release a talent when could shine at any given moment's notice. That just wasn’t good for business. Strong King - Archie — Today at 11:38 AM
YDAYO
Take this as a lesson, Agrippa
Manipulation + Empathy
@dicecord-CoD roll 7
Dicecord-CoD
BOT
— Today at 11:38 AM
@strong King - Archie rolled 7 dice and got 3 successes. 1 8 2 10(1) 8 2 1 [/font]
|
|
|
Post by Agrippa on Apr 18, 2021 2:02:39 GMT -8
Agrippa blinked. Once, then twice. They had said it themselves- there was nothing they could say that could mend this. Such a shame was it that they still felt the need to speak regardless, hoping beyond hope that Archie would catch himself on one of the countless threads they had dropped. But it was not meant to be, and now for their desperate pleas for understanding they were getting what sounded like a offer for an oath, which was almost infinitely worse than the mundane contract that had already burned them. It was almost enough to make the beast drop straight from hurt to dread, but open honesty clearly hadn't worked, so they made the hasty decision to bury that emotion deep instead. They could cry in the shower later- for now they needed to concentrate on leaving this office without setting off anymore proverbial bear-traps.
"What about this: I get my next project done without any direct support. No payment to editors on your part. Once I get something that passes the mark, then you help with all of the rest of the backend. That way, I am the only one who suffers my own folly, and you still get to be connected if I succeed. Less stress on my end, less risk on yours, and... no more meetings like this."
The defeatist tone was still there, but it was now thickly masked by a pragmatic sort of professionalism. Even a slightest edge of hope, if Archie was so inclined to search the Unicorn's eyes for it.
"As said, I have no intentions on stopping myself- I have no choice but to try again. I'm only concerned for the golden trailer that you've hitched to my wagon. But clearly you'd consider letting go to be a defeat of your own, and I hope if nothing else I've made it clear that the last thing I'm interested in is furthering that feeling."
They shrugged, helpless, but not judgmental of the circumstances that made them so.
"If you feel the need to invoke..."
They threw a hand in the air, gesturing at the ephemeral
"I suppose I can shake to that, if it would make your position more secure. On my end, what I proposed would make me glad enough."
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2021 21:21:26 GMT -8
“And how long would you take to accomplish all of this without a helping hand or a professional courtesy? You see, we have a contract - signed and sealed - and it gives us an exact amount of time to work together to make things right. It combines your deft hand, and sharp mind - with my cunning and wit of how to place it in the best hands to see it succeed. This is Vegas afterall, what is life without a little gambling? Still all risks can be calculated, and the question is how many seconds, minutes, hours, days, months do I want to let fall off our ever so valuable clock before I am left to assume there is simply time being wasted?”
Archie stepped to his side and placed himself in front of the closed door. Escape was no longer just harder, it was now blocked. He was the only way out of this room, and he needed to hear something that made sense.
“Now being the creatures we are, with fantastical origins, my offer stands to alleviate any worries you have that you are burdening me beyond what is reasonable - while at the same time I know you aren’t going to need a mimosa break between sentences. Even if I am an optimist though, and agree fully, and let you put your best in - we have seen where a lack of investment gets us in the first place.”
He wanted to protect his investment, maximize time, and had no issue applying an adequate amount of resources to this. However he had seen what blind trust got him, and so there had to be something to do about it, and sadly there were times where it came down to the carrot and the stick.
“So - let's talk terms, because at the end of the day I am willing to hear offers. I want a product ready to put out there by the end of the season. You can do this with my help as I have suggested and the whisper of the wyrd encouraging you - or we can go with your suggestion and I can let you chase this on your own, but with the Wyrd looming at the end with consequences.”
Trust and failure were not good bedfellows
“Which will it be, because tick tock, the seconds are turning into minutes even as we speak - and you are only robbing yourself of precious time.”
|
|
|
Post by Agrippa on Apr 20, 2021 18:24:39 GMT -8
Agrippa shifted their weight from one foot to the next, uncomfortable and yearning silently for the streets outside. Maybe once they got cut free, they would bleed their wounds out on a long walk to nowhere. Perhaps talk to a man who wasn't there about things dead and gone and anything and everything that wasn't the problem at hand. Agrippa had always been good at running from their problems- they couldn't do it long for this one, but tonight couldn't hurt. Tears tended to gum up the keyboard anyways.
"I think I could do it alone. Producing a short novel at least, by the end of the season. Working alone is what I've done up until now... But if you are even uncomfortable with that, I'll acquiesce."
They spoke slow, deliberate, and cautious, as if they were choosing their words from a list
"I'd warn against the gambler's fallacy, but this isn't your first time around. It is Vegas, as you said, and I'm the neonate here. And if you are going to invoke the Wyrd anyways..."
They trailed off, as the bulk of their concentration flooded away from their words, and towards efforts to keep their anxieties out of their tone and expression.
"I was just trying to mitigate, is all. Not for my sake- I have to deal with the full brunt of myself whatever I do. You wouldn't necessarily have to."
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2021 19:36:30 GMT -8
“You are perfectly capable which is why you are here in the first place, so I won’t be accepting any excuses.”
There were hints attempting to shift things towards being purely manipulative - but no force was going to be applied. He was simply laying out the simplest options for the both of them that would see them through this rocky patch in their relationship. It was going to to all work out, he was sure of it. Well...For Archie that was. Agrippa would have to take care of themselves on that front.
He stuck out his hand, the wyrd swirling around his palm where it was open and waiting for the Unicorn to join him.
“One novel, ready to go by the end of the season, and I place my fullest trust in you to work on this and complete the work alone. If you don’t? A service pledge, six months on top of your other obligations.”
The decision was left with him so he formalized it.
|
|
|
Post by Agrippa on Apr 21, 2021 3:11:56 GMT -8
Agrippa took a deep breath, in and out, their chest heaving in time. They stared at Archie's hand as if it was something alien and vaguely threatening. For a moment, nothing save their diaphragm dared move. A little voice whispered to them that at the very least, they had gotten one thing they asked for- two, perhaps, if the unicorn would count their plea to have the fairest tell them in plain terms what he wanted them to do. It was a cold comfort, but it was there none the less...
And it was a thought that managed to distract their head just long enough for their body to do what it knew it needed to. Before Agrippa quite understood what was going on, treacherous feet had taken them to the Fairest, and their hand betrayed them by taking Archie's grip in kind.
"A novel or service; you will get your due from me either which way."
|
|