houseofcards_rp | [OTA] a Few Threads Hold Us Together

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[OTA] a Few Threads Hold Us Together

There was little he, personally, could do about the latest discovery just beyond the Outposts - maybe if the script had been in Aramaic, he might have been of some use - so he'd ordered rubbings and lured Fin into productivity with chocolate and coffee. Then he'd slipped past Hadyn to go talk to the engineers about how the constant quakes were effecting the structural integrity of the castle. That was, he thought, something he knew at little more about; if your job in the military had been in explosives, it usually helped to know how much C4 it would take to bring a building down.

Not that he explained to the chief engineer the provenance of this particular knowledge.

After he'd done all that, he supposed that the general consensus was that he should have some tea and get back in bed. He was in his office instead, but at least the papers stacked next to him weren't reports to sign off on. They were completed watercolors, on a particular theme. Sketches from a few parties this year - Victor and Zoe at the Berthier wedding, Hadyn and Zoe dancing at the Spade ball - and more private moments as well, of the four close friends and Ben Mackinnon. Sophie Berthier, too, and some of the bride's other close friends; there was every a painting from memory of Lasandra Adare. She and Zoe had been friends, as Elisha remembered. She might have been the other bridesmaid if she hadn't left.

He was sewing the watercolors into a book with heavy silk thread, and the last picture to be in the little book of memories was less an actual event and more something he imagines would happen. Zoe in the dress he'd asked to see the week before and Victor in the formal kilt that matched the one waiting in Elisha's closet. He'd finished it the day before, before Hadyn got home.

It had seemed like a good thing to paint on Valentine's Day.

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"What? It kept everything running smoothly- I really don't see what is wrong with that." He said, making a face at Elisha as he did so. Picking up on of the bottles of water, he moved toward the King and his desk, though, tipping his head slightly.

"Are you going to claim it terrified you? Because frankly- your sense of organization is a touch terrifying. You do have an entire staff of department heads, you know. They can do some work for you."

"The buck stops here," he says with a shrug. "I don't do everything, I just like to see the final product." Lord knew he didn't want to get his head stuck into acquisitions and animal husbandry. "And my system works pretty well for us, I think. Hand me the adhesive."

It's not that Hadyn's was bad. It's just that their minds didn't work the same way.

"You'd be an amazing department head, you know." In the Hearts, or the Spades, or..the Clubs.

"I was doing my best. Next time I'll just let it pile up on your desk while you waste away in bed." He said with a slightly bemused tone before picking up the adhesive and handing it over. He set the water on the desk too, before resting his arms along the back of Elisha's chair, watching him silently for a moment.

"And what department would I be head of, mm?" He asked, his tone dry and skeptical He knew that things were different now than the past- Theo, for example, was much more likely to give him something than Judith ever would have been. But...didn't much change that he wouldn't even know where to start in deciding a course for his life. "I don't think there is a department of organization."

"Sure there is. It's the one your brother runs for the Spades." Which led him to believe that the Novaks had some sort of genetic predisposition towards highlighted spreadsheets. Then again, he'd received a highlighted and annotated schedule from Zoe for the wedding , too, so maybe it was something about their generation.

"Though it sounds frankly boring to me. There's always arts administration, too."

"Blake Thomas would not be pleased to be ousted out of his office," Hadyn commented, dropping a hand down to run his fingers through Elisha's hair. "Particularly by me." There was a bit of bad blood there, considering Hadyn's move to Seven had been from ousting Mr. Thomas from his rank.

Not that he stayed a Six long, really.

"Besides, what would Henry say if you convinced me to leave my humble place in his troupe?"

"Blake Thomas leaves most of the organization to Henry." Elisha would know, since he'd been doing in for the Clubs for nearly two years now. He smoothed the paper in place, pressing down lightly to smooth out any air bubbles. "Which is understandable, since he's good at it.

"It was just a thought, anyway." Elisha wouldn't mind giving up arts, himself. God knew there was enough to do between managing the Suit and intelligence.

"Henry is good at what he does, you can't fault him for it." Hadyn said softly, his hand smoothing over Elisha's hair as he tipped his head to the side and laid it against his other arm as he watched the man work. "It isn't really fair, you know, the way you talk about him sometimes. Henry lives and breathes art- more than some people."

And it wasn't a bad idea, really- but disappointing Henry was not something Hadyn ever looked forward to. Even if he was in his off season at the moment with plenty of free time.

"I would probably have to change suits anyway," he said after a moment, pulling himself up straight and moving away from the chair. "I mean, really. There is a lot of...discontent between the more centrist Hearts and myself. I'm not sure we could ever learn to play nice enough to work that close together."

"Living and breathing art hasn't been a luxury I could afford for a number of years." Due almost entirely to his own choices, admittedly, Elisha thought as he flipped through the pages, the small paintings little more than a blur of color.

"If you feel that way, then maybe you should think about it. I'm sure your brother and sister would be happy to see you become a Spade." He sprayed a thin layer of adhesive and picked up the other endpaper. "If you think you'd be happy there."

Edited 2013-02-18 19:00 (UTC)

"Join the Spades?" Hadyn give Elisha a skeptical look before flopping in a chair only to have bond bound over to him and try to crawl into his lap. Honestly, this was a bad habit they were going to teach- Bond wasn't going to feel so lapdog-like when he was 40 pounds or so.

"I don't think, honestly, I would deal with some of them well. Ethan in particular." And then the training...training that would somehow land him in a room to deal with Ethan. Ugh. He'd rather shoot himself, to be honest. "And the Diamonds....really aren't for me, darling. No matter how fabulous I am." He went on in a falsetto voice, smiling a little as he shook his head.

Which left the Clubs.

Which left the only reason he had seriously considered moving to the clubs- the fact that he was sleeping with the King of Clubs, being seen as somehow being favored over others, being a hundred things that were really almost more of an excuse not to try than a reason. He, at least, was aware of that.

"And I just don't know...."

"You're worried that off you come here, people will think of you as nothing but my boyfriend." It was a risk, of course, but not as insurmountable of one as Hadyn thought. He's impressed the Clubs this last week. "I can understand that. But I'm not your only friend here."

He wasn't sure what Briony Williams would think - she was a cipher - but she was worth mentioning.

"No. I worry that nothing I accomplish will be acknowledged as my own, and than it will be viewed as if you were handing it to me." Hadyn said, holding back the slight snap that was ready to come out of them as he ruffled Bond's fur and tried not to have his face bathed in puppy slobber.

"I also never claimed you were the only person here for me." He said after a moment, "but that doesn't mean that I'm eager to rush off and test the boundaries of what your people will or will not accept." He sight then, shaking his head a little. "I just don't....I'd not be a Nine, that is for sure."

"No, you probably wouldn't." That would smack of favoritism he couldn't afford. And really, he couldn't convince Hadyn in one day; he couldn't convince Hadyn at all. It had to be what he wanted.

"It's just something to think about," he adds As he closes the book and weights it down. Then he leans back and picks up his water. "How was your day?"

"How do your rules for that even work?" Sense they were going to discuss it. Hadyn honestly wouldn't be surprised to know that just for him- he'd have to cross over as a two or three- to prove he wasn't being given any favor.

Nine to two was a really long fall; even if one was miserable as a Nine or their suit. And there was always that small voice in the back on his mind that said- it could all be for naught. Six months from now this relationship could be over- and then he would be a two of Clubs...and not much to show for it.

"Mm?" He said, looking up from where he was playing with Bond with a bit of a frown on his lips. "Oh...a bit dull. Did the usual rounds, stopped by the theatre to watch the Ballet's rehearsal for a little bit. And then...Spade castle, had lunch with Jordan. Sort of a boring day really. No new disappearances, probably a good thing."

"Isadore had to come over as a Two because of circumstances," he says. "She had been passing information to Alexander. But typically, while there's a drop, it's not a significant one. In your case, you'd have to drop to Six or Seven." They'd be whispers at any rate, no matter where Hadyn dropped to, but he didn't see a reason to punish Hadyn for it.

"Right, the ballet, interspersed with chamber music recitals. They asked me to choose a program." That has him looking up with a sardonic look. "Conveniently forgetting I'm tone deaf. How's Jordan?"

"As long as I could pass the challenge, eh?" He mused, not even sure what he would remotely challenge in for something like that. Certainly not the arts, though he wasn't sure what sort of martial challenge he'd look at either. Confidence was one thing, but there was such a thing as over confidence too.

"Jordan's fine, goes on mostly about the research on the whole...whatever is going on. He's going to take Sophie out to the outpost soon, I think. Part of research, I'm sure." He shrugged a little. "I think he's getting some perverse enjoyment out of the whole mess."

"As with any challenge," Elisha agrees, and leans back.

"It's something for him to do," he says after a moment, swirling his water bottle. "Your brother's one who needs an occupation." Which likely made him useful to Clive, but as he got older, Jordan might find it an uncomfortable way to be as he grew older.

"I can't say that I like boredom very much either," Hadyn said, leaning back against the chair as he ushered Bond off his lap finally. "Also, this very delicious food is going to get cold if you don't get over here, sir, and enjoy it."

And one was not going to bitch about Hadyn's lack of eating if one did not eat himself. Right? Right.

Well, he's not sure what he'd do if he lost his bitching rights. And he is hungry, so he moves over and flips open the box.

Sometimes they were disturbingly like an old married couple.

Well, they were a bit like an old married couple. But then, Elisha always found a way to make them push the boundaries for good taste...what with the sex in public and all.

"Hope you like it, I just sort of picked at random."

"It's good," Elisha says as he takes a bite, and slants Hadyn a look.

"Of course, given you've been bringing me dinner for a week, you probably have a good idea by now about what I like."

Not to mention dating-not dating for several months.

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[OTA] a Few Threads Hold Us Together

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