houseofcards_rp | [backdated/for Tegan]

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[backdated/for Tegan]

It's getting better. Every day is less of a challenge. Things are becoming safe, secure, in their new terms and circumstances. The sun keeps rising.

And rises just the same as every other day on the first day that Lancelot is officially replaced.

Really, Eileen ought to have found Tegan sooner. It's simply that the act of substitution isn't easy, even if it isn't a replacement. So it takes time before she asks the older woman to come to her office, for the first time not as Eileen asking Tegan, but as the Ace of Clubs requesting her Jack.

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It's an adjustment, being Jack. Not only because the jump in rank, regardless of what they say, is still large.

Still she's there, wrapping her knuckles lightly against the door. "Miss Eileen? May I come in?"

"Please. Have a seat." She doesn't have paperwork to fidget with. Her hands on her desk are perfectly still. It's... odd. Formal. Not the way she'd ever been with Lancelot.

Or really, the way she'd ever been with Tegan particularly.

Slipping into a chair, she doesn't let her own uncertainty show. This is definitely different from how things had been before -- it's unavoidable, really, but she can't help but regret it anyway.

However, she'd made her decision when she'd first accepted the appointment, to be the best Jack she could possibly be. The Suit deserved no less, after all.

A deep breath in brings a calmer breath out. Her fingers unclench to splay out flat on her desk.

"Congratulations, first of all, Miss Tegan."

That's a good place to start, right?

An excellent place, particularly since by now she's had enough practice that her thanks won't sound entirely hollow. She doesn't know why she, of all people, had been chosen to replace Lancelot - she has her suspicions but that's all they are, really - and the next few months - years - should be interesting, at least.

She nods, managing a smile. "Thank you. I hope to do the office credit."

"I imagine it must seem incredibly daunting. The role of Jack is incredibly pivotal. Perhaps..."

And here she has to pause, ducking her head against losing the faint semblance of a smile she'd managed on her own lips.

"...perhaps particularly so with our Suit." And, really, perhaps particularly in what had been etched into the Face Card relations of the Suit. "Which... seems pertinent to... discuss, Miss Tegan."

"Of course." There were, undoubtedly, aspects of the position that she's yet to really have a chance to consider. Seeing to the welfare of the Suit encompasses a great many things, after all.

"Is there anywhere in particular you believe we should start?"

And there go her fingers twisting together again, unconscious even though she's studying them with an absent intent. This would be so much easier if it had been another Ace, she's certain.

"I hope you'll... not mind if we start with the metrics of our own relationship." Actually looking up to meet Tegan's eyes, her own brows furrowed deeply, takes effort. "I'm certain much of what Lancelot did didn't actually fall under the duties you'll be expected to perform."

"No, I don't expect so." Right now the bulk of her attention - when not directed to setting her department to rights - is split between being a buffer between Alexander and the rest of the Suit and her own side project with Christopher.

"Though if you feel that there is...If there's anything that I can do to make things easier, you know you need only ask." Not just in her capacity as Jack.

"I should very much like assistance picking a proper replacement for my bodyguard." That, after all, was the thing that bothered her the most these days--having the shadow following her switch off between different Clubs as they were available. Besides, if Julien and her mother were in agreement that she shouldn't go places alone?

She probably shouldn't go places alone.

On this she'd have to agree -- the attacks on the Outpost were a concern, certainly, but there was also the Embassy's recent addition to consider. Mr. Turis was someone to be wary of, it seemed, whether or not he proved to be involved in the attacks.

"I'm certain that between the two of us we can find a suitable replacement." She might ask Elisha for his recommendation as well if only because his concern for Eileen's welfare was as great as her own. "In fact, I'll have a list of candidates sent through to you by the end of the day if you'd like."

That helps her hands relax a little as she nods. "I'd like that. If it's not too much of an imposition, of course."

Which has her head tilting very slightly to the side again.

"You've enough on your plate without making particularly much exception for me. You've already to do so much." What with the fact that, until the actual Ace turned sixteen, there were certain things the Jack had always done in her place.

"We all have plenty to keep us occupied, it's true --" Argine had already gone so far as to warn her that she probably wouldn't be up to par for a while and she had already made the necessary adjustments in her schedule to allow for that.

"But, I think that part of what makes us so great as a Suit is that, when times are at their most difficult, we tend to pull together. Wouldn't you agree?"

It's not the only reason Tegan's been picked, of course, but the relief of hearing that assurance--something Clubs children are taught from a young age about what made their Suit particularly strong--still brings a level of clarity to the young Ace's brow. Tegan can't replace Lancelot, but she's not going to be such a far cry as a new version of Jack of Clubs.

"Absolutely." Still, her hands shift again, elbows settling onto the desk as she rest her chin in her palms. "Which means it's not only for you to be supporting me, Tegan, but for me to do..." Her lips thin briefly. "...the best I can, at any rate, to make myself a help to you. Particularly now. Wouldn't you agree to that as well?"

Lancelot had been a good Jack but more importantly he had been a good man - and that was what counted in the end. She would do her best to ensure that the Suit endured - no, not simply endured but flourished. Which they would do, in time.

Tegan smiled, bright and genuine. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I'm certain will strike on the right balance, then." Of Acely duties, of course--because that had become part of the Jack's role, just as it had the King's and Queen's--and of the simple realigning from Card and Face to the strange mix of coworker and caretaker that the Upper Clubs all came to find with Eileen.

"And... I do hope you'll understand if this... takes some time."

"It's entirely understandable."

It goes without saying that Eileen won't be the only one having to adjust. Tegan will learn, and intends to do so as quickly as she is able, but for the moment they will both have to be patient with one another.

"It will be all right, you know. In the end."

"In the end, yes," she agrees with a slight bob of her head. "And functional far sooner than that."

Was, frankly, feeling fairly functional now, for all that her stomach felt slightly tense and her mind was working overtime to remind itself that this was the new 'way things are.'

"You'd not have been picked if you weren't suited to be precisely here, Tegan." It's a step, really, realizing she's dropped the honourific again. Comforting, really. "And we've all the wish to see you succeed."

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[backdated/for Tegan]

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