Beware the Ides of March. People might make you socialize then. on At Home

Grayson Wright

October 02, 2020 10:26 AM

Beware the Ides of March. People might make you socialize then. by Grayson Wright

He should, Gray thought as he went through the ritual of offering his cousin her birthday present and a peck on the cheek, have taken her up on her cheery invitation to bring along any of his colleagues he liked to any of her various events. Between the nature of Anne’s parties and the fact that her birthday was being celebrated in an actual hotel ballroom this year, it would have been very simple to write it all up as a professional networking event and get compensated for their time.

Admittedly, it wasn’t Anne’s fault, the ballroom thing – probably, anyway. Usually, she was to blame for the venues, but it was her birthday, which meant someone else had probably set it up. Hopefully only one someone, or else her husband; Gray could discern no obvious formal structure within the circle of friends, friends-of-friends, relatives-of-friends, and other hangers-on Anne had accumulated over the years, and was not entirely sure that a formal organization would be possible if someone tried to create one. Anne had started accumulating people, the ones she considered her extended ‘family’, in school, but then her former roommate had become a rock star, and her husband had gotten into politics, and Anne had taken up with these and those people she had met through them, and it had all just sort of…slowly expanded until it had become a bit silly.

She beamed fondly at him as she took the blue-wrapped present. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it!” she exclaimed. “Uncle Grayson and Aunt Janine showed up an hour ago.”

Oh dear Merlin, they dragged Mom into this? His mother was not really the most social of beings…admittedly, she had come to Anne’s fortieth birthday bash too, but he hadn’t expected her to make it out again until his cousin turned fifty. At the moment, she was only forty-five.

“You know how it is,” he said. “Paperwork, students – they do keep me busy.”

“I didn’t have as much paperwork when I was tutoring, but students definitely do,” she agreed. “Isaac hasn’t graced us with his presence yet, but Alicky has – she sent me all these flowers, aren’t they lovely?”

There were frilly blue ones and frilly purple ones, tied together with what he was fairly sure were white roses. He made a mental note to read some books about flowers – that was the kind of detail that worked well in writing, knowing what the flowers were. He nodded agreeably to the notion they were lovely.

Directly, he was sent out to mingle – Anne called it making friends, his mother called it hopefully finally meeting a nice girl he liked well enough to marry, and most people would call it either passing time or looking for people he could somehow benefit from. It wasn’t impossible that that would happen – he’d gotten his first network writing job through one of Anne’s parties – but it was, he thought, unlikely at this point – or did, at least, think so until he heard someone say his name.

16 Grayson Wright Beware the Ides of March. People might make you socialize then. 113 1 5

Alicia Pierce

October 12, 2020 10:54 AM

I know, right? by Alicia Pierce

Alicia was not really given to flights of fancy – she did not have time for such things – but Anne’s parties couldn’t help but bring to mind what she imagined it would be like to be at an underground speakeasy. You got all sorts here, socialites and politicians and journalists (a terrible mix, in Alicia’s opinion; she’d quietly jinxed three cameras already), researchers in various fields and random people Anne or someone else had picked up who-knew-where, grown-up children of those people…it was practically like going to school again, in terms of the variety of people one could meet, except that there was music and while there was something of a code of honor, things said or done here could have consequences, for better or worse. Usually better, but worse was always an option, hence her habit of discreetly damaging cameras, which were fortunately rather difficult objects to conceal….

It was, she thought absently, a pity that she might not benefit from the existence of more discreet recording technology than the wizarding world had at present. Her father had intimated that Muggles had such things, for their strange photographs that did not move, but their own kind still had rather large boxes to lug around if they wanted to capture images. Figuring out how to make a miniature version of the technology work for their kind as well would almost certainly be quite the lucrative development. She had enough revenue streams, though, and was not here to get new business ideas. Or, for that matter, to engage in flights of fancy, though she wasn’t sure her flash of thought even counted as one. She was here in part because, well, it was the birthday party of someone she cared for to some degree, and also to look for assets.

Anne’s cousin was her main target, despite feeling slightly guilty about it. He was exceptionally well-positioned for her purposes, though – possibly in more ways than one, even – and guilt was an emotion. Emotions could be ignored almost as easily as they could be faked – at least for her. She had read, to her surprise, that at least the majority of people could not fake a sincere smile – it was something to do with controlling certain muscles around the eyes, and only a minority of people had voluntary control over said muscles. She did not know if her sons had inherited the quirk; she was not sure she wanted to know, really. They were such terrible little liars now that she still felt completely at ease in their presence, able to discern what was going on with some certainty even on the rare occasions one of them tried to hide it, and she was not looking forward to the point when that changed.

Alicia was accustomed to being one of the only people in any given group who didn’t drink anything she wouldn’t give one of her five-year-olds, but she had gathered that this, of all things, was something she shared in common with the professor. She wasn’t sure what his motives were – it would be inconvenient if they were the same as hers – but it did give her a way in, she thought. Accordingly, having observed her target’s arrival, she extricated herself from a conversation, used a bit of nonverbal magic to clear herself a path, and procured two glasses of a non-alcoholic offering.

“Punch, Professor Wright?” she offered, reaching a distance where she could project her voice where she wanted it to go, then extending the glass without giving him a chance to answer either way. He’d be much easier to deal with if he accepted the gift – nine times in ten, accepting an unsolicited gift purely out of politeness was a sign of conventional psychological weaknesses, and everything she had both read and observed indicated that it would make him very much want to do something for her in return – but it didn’t matter much either way; even refusal would produce enough cognitive dissonance in most people to make them more agreeable as time went on. She smiled, careful to manipulate those little muscles around her eyes to momentarily give herself the slight crow’s feet of sincerity. “It’s not often I meet anyone else who takes it instead of some of the other options,” she added, initiating affinity and therefore most likely increasing her own impression of likeability.

OOC: Actual science time! The “Duchenne smile” is often regarded automatically, by the majority of people, as a sincere and trustworthy smile, because as noted, the majority of people cannot force it when not feeling sincere joy. Smile scientists (yes, a thing, apparently) have, however, concluded that a decent minority of people can do so. Over in psychology, we have reciprocity; according to Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Cialdini), it is one of the more potent compliance mechanisms that manipulative persons and organizations can weaponize. You didn’t ask for the initial gift or favor, you might not even want whatever was offered, but human social mores demand you accept politely (producing psychological stress if you try to refuse) and then it’s fifty percent more likely that you will do the next thing the giver asks you to, even if compliance inconveniences you. And even if you resist that initial trick, the odds you will comply with the next device used against you go up substantially. Aren’t brains fun?!

16 Alicia Pierce I know, right? 210 0 5

Grayson Wright

October 12, 2020 11:09 AM

I...would not expect us to agree about that. by Grayson Wright

Gray blinked in surprised at the sight of the woman in front of him. Tallish, slight, quite dark – normally, if a woman materialized in front of him and had those qualities, she was his cousin. This, however, was not his cousin. Unless he was very much mistaken – which he didn’t think he was, despite not really being one to follow the society pages and the faces in them; his accoster was, it seemed, one of those people who maintained a remarkably consistent appearance over the years – it was her protégé.

“Al – “ he began, and then remembered himself. To Anne, she was apparently still just ‘little Alicky,’ the scrawny, darkish, intense kid he remembered occasionally seeing in passing at that flat he and Anne had shared for a while before his cousin had gotten married – Anne had been teaching her Latin – but Anne was Anne. Everyone else was a separate category and he was not stupid enough to think that privileges accorded to Anne extended even vaguely in his direction simply because he was related. “Er – sorry – Mrs. Pierce, I mean, of course.”

He did not really want the proffered drink, but felt it would be more awkward to reject it than to take it. Besides, he’d have something to occupy his hands with, as he was, to his dismay, finding very few books stashed in corners around here. “Thank you – that is a funny coincidence.” It was. He vividly remembered an office party once which had resulted in him being dubbed ‘Juice Box’ for several weeks afterward, though he supposed that if that was the worst coworker-related memory he ever formed, he’d be doing well. “I’m never sure why everyone finds that so interesting, though, are you?”

16 Grayson Wright I...would not expect us to agree about that. 113 0 5

Alicia Pierce

October 12, 2020 6:09 PM

Believe me, I'd much rather be doing something else. by Alicia Pierce

Alicia’s smile became more genuine for a moment from amusement. The poor man acted as though he expected to be struck by lighting if he said the wrong thing, or brushed her hand in the process of accepting a drink. Alicia was certainly capable of causing that effect, if she wanted, but she couldn’t see any reason to do so, or any reason why anyone would think she would be inclined to do so.

“Alicia is fine,” she assured him. “It is still my name, after all – even if I have to share it.”

A perpetual annoyance, but a minor one, all things considered. She thought she did more with the name, anyway, and that was a consolation. In two hundred years, she was quite confident that when anyone remembered Alicia Pierce, she would be the one who that person was remembering.

“I would have called you ‘Mr. Gray,’ but I wasn’t sure you would remember me at all,” she added, half-joking.

She lifted one shoulder when he commented about other people being overly interested in the drinking habits of people who were uninvolved. “I’ve never been quite sure. I suppose it makes them uncomfortable, thinking later that there were people around who were less…impaired than they were.” She smiled slightly. “I like to be in control of my faculties. I’ve never understood why others would want to lose theirs, do you?”

16 Alicia Pierce Believe me, I'd much rather be doing something else. 210 0 5

Grayson Wright

October 12, 2020 6:11 PM

I'm certainly not going to stop you from doing them. by Grayson Wright

Mr. Gray. Good Merlin, it had been a long time since he had heard that. He wasn’t sure, come to that, if he would have remembered it if he had heard that instead of the more familiar ‘Professor Wright’. The former, however, seemed especially odd for another adult to use, even if said adult had used it before attaining said adult status.

“Grayson is fine,” he said. “Even if I also share it. Er – my father has the same name,” he explained. “Though we don’t exactly have many occasions to confuse people,” he added, though unsure this was relevant or interesting.

He shrugged slightly at the remark about other people wanting to escape their faculties. “I…think I can, actually,” he said, thinking of Evelyn. “Not that it’s ever a good solution to problems, of course, but – I see and hear a lot of things, working back at Sonora.” He assumed, from the address of ‘professor’, that she had already been aware of this information. “I suppose we’re lucky that we think staying in our heads is a good option – or at least, better than some of the alternatives. Though having headaches as a consequence less often is a perk,” he added, this time deliberately trying to lighten the mood. It was not exactly proper to talk about serious topics at a birthday party, and even if he had been inclined to have such conversations at all, it wouldn’t be with someone who he barely knew.

16 Grayson Wright I'm certainly not going to stop you from doing them. 113 0 5

Alicia Pierce

October 12, 2020 6:29 PM

Duty must override our inclinations sometimes. by Alicia Pierce

Alicia laughed at a polite register, actually a little surprised, at the existence of a second parallel between their situations. “That’s right,” she said. Anne’s uncle was someone she could vaguely picture; she had never really thought of him as anyone who had a first name, irrational though that was, especially since the only common acquaintance they really had always called him by it. “We really have a surprising number of things in common – you don’t have twins, do you?” she joked, perfectly aware that he was unmarried and childless and always, unless he had concealed the fact very carefully, had been. Humor was, however, a far more agreeable direction to follow than further discussion of the Other Alicia.

Smiling was her default expression, but there were times when it was inappropriate. He was not being very specific about what things he’d heard that someone might want to drink their way out of, but she suspected that even the allusion made the moment one when smiling was inappropriate. She allowed her mouth to smooth itself out and her eyelids to half-drop into a look of somber concern – one which had the advantage of exposing the gleam of silver powder above the subtly applied dark brown eyeliner she used to slightly thicken the appearance of her eyelashes. Just as well; the eyeshadow was a concoction of her own, one that seemed to work fairly well, as far as making straight men lose focus on any doubts they had about her. If it worked, just as well. If it did not, well, that was information collected.

“I’ve never had one of those headaches, but I understand I’m not exactly missing a very desirable experience,” she said. “It must take quite the thing, to make someone accept that as a consequence….” She might not know hangovers, but she had had more than one very nasty headache in her life, some while she was pregnant and again since she’d executed the Munich Protocol…she directed her thoughts away from that as quickly as possible, trying to avoid the uncomfortable sensation, which still came up from time to time, of having Something hovering like a shadow inside her head, flittering through her brain. “Now you have me worried about your boss,” she said, moving into territory which she actually wanted to get to, information-gathering to help refine further plans. “I’m not sure he left the bar all evening at his granddaughter’s wedding…I hope he doesn’t behave that way at the school?”

16 Alicia Pierce Duty must override our inclinations sometimes. 210 0 5

Grayson Wright

October 13, 2020 12:49 PM

Duty to who, though? Or what? by Grayson Wright

“No twins, no,” said Gray, laughing too, awkwardly. “Which is probably good – two things in common might be a coincidence, three would be a conspiracy, though I’m not sure by who, or what…”

Interesting plot idea, he thought. How would someone conspire to make two people who ought logically have very little in common somehow have three things in common? Of course, it might need to be a bit more interesting to really justify bringing in Seers as a plot device, but still – there was something to work with here, though he was unsure if he should mention it to Mrs. Pierce. He had never had anything even approximating a muse and so had no idea how one would speak to such a creature.

He was momentarily surprised to hear Mortimer, of all people, come up – he would have been a little surprised to hear Mortimer come up in conversation with Mortimer’s wife, never mind Alicia Bauer; Mortimer, as far as subjects of conversation went, was an unusually poor specimen, unless one wanted to speculate far more wildly than was really advisable about a Brockert – but then he remembered something and became slightly wary for the first time. He was not one to follow the socialites too closely, but Winston Pierce and Emerald Brockert, that had been a thing, a few years ago at school….

“It would be hard for him to pull that off at school, since we don’t have a bar there,” he said. “He….” What did Mortimer do, exactly, other than give a brief speech once or twice a year, and probably something involving infusing decent amounts of cash into the place? As far as Gray could tell, Selina was actually the managing authority around the school; Mortimer did not even appear interested enough in it to bring much influence to bear to the causes of his own various relations, direct descendants included. At least, not that Gray had seen…perhaps he pushed Selina this way and that behind the scenes, but that was back to wild speculation, especially since Selina had never struck Gray as a woman who was all that easily pushed. “Well, we don’t cross paths often,” he added diplomatically, “but I’ve, er, never seen him behave indecorously at school.”

16 Grayson Wright Duty to who, though? Or what? 113 0 5

Alicia Pierce

October 13, 2020 12:50 PM

Well, that depends on who you ask, doesn't it? by Alicia Pierce

He either wasn’t a gossip, or wasn’t prepared to gossip with just anyone. Interesting, though not entirely unfortunate – it allowed her to move to a more serious angle again, reflecting back to what he had said about concern for the children….

“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, lying without hesitation, when told that the professor had never observed Brockert behaving indecorously on school grounds. “There are…murmurs one hears…” She glanced down demurely, hoping to seem mildly embarrassed. “I’m not one to listen to silly gossip if I can help it, of course, but it’s hard to ignore when it’s about Sonora. Even if I weren’t so fond of the place – well – my sons will be six years old in August. It’s going to be the blink of an eye before I have to send them off, and it’s…troubling, to hear people suggest that the school might be…slipping, in some ways.”

She took a sip of her drink as though to clear away an unpleasant taste the idea left in her mouth. That gesture was nearly sincere. She was concerned about the state of things at Sonora, and not – entirely – just due to her fear of entrusting her sons to an institution where Emerald’s grandfather would have any degree of power over them. The more information she gleaned, one way and another, about what was going on there these days, the more unsure she became about what was actually going on there…

It was, she thought, possible that something a bit funny was going on back at the old stomping grounds, and while she would happily take any information she could use to discredit any of the Brockerts and become an anonymous friend to that awful Trevear woman and anyone else she thought might take the bait – the Brockerts were aligned firmly, now, with the Marcuses, and were one of the major reasons it was going to be tricky to dislodge said Marcuses, which was why she had considered some rather more aggressive and quickly effective methods of ruining them, before she’d performed that damned spell and effectively crippled herself – she also wanted to know for the very reason she had stated. Even if Mortimer did her an enormous favor and fell over dead of his own accord, without any shenanigans involving messy rituals and the blood of his grandchildren, she still was currently wary about what sort of situation her children might be going into in a few years, and eager to find opportunities to arrange it more to their advantages if she could. Four years was a long time, but rearranging entire institutions was not an overnight kind of job, especially when she wasn’t even part of the institution in question in any official capacity…yet.

16 Alicia Pierce Well, that depends on who you ask, doesn't it? 210 0 5

Grayson Wright

October 13, 2020 12:52 PM

Of course. What's your answer? by Grayson Wright

Gray frowned, concerned, at the mention of…slipping. What did that mean? What were people saying about the school? He felt a vague sense of offense, as though he personally were being accused of having low standards, or of somehow threatening the integrity of the institution.

“Slipping in what ways?” he asked, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible. He thought he did a fairly good job of that, on the whole. He had learned from dealing with students that it was better to remain calm and neutral and let the person he was questioning state their own case before he came to any judgments; more than once, he thought he had saved himself and possibly the entire school, not to mention the students involved, more than a bit of trouble that way.

Alicia was not – necessarily – accusing him, or even, he noted, saying that she believed the ‘murmurs’ she heard. It was a logical thing, for someone with children who would be at Sonora in the relatively near future to want to get to the bottom of that – or at least, what he would assume it would be logical for a parent to do. Not all parents appeared to care much about their children at all, much less about how well they were educated. Evelyn’s father hadn’t seemed to care for that at all; not only had he kept her out of school for a full year, preventing her from being taught to properly control her abilities, he had also apparently been one of the most significant players in driving her to a psychological state where it had become more difficult for her to learn to do so. Just thinking of it made him angry again, though he tried to push that down too. That, at least, was well and truly over…

16 Grayson Wright Of course. What's your answer? 113 0 5

Alicia Pierce

October 13, 2020 1:07 PM

I thought we were talking about you. by Alicia Pierce

Gotcha.

Not smiling was sometimes even more of a skill than smiling, but Alicia managed it. Not time for that again, not yet. Maybe later. For now….

Of course, it was still a delicate conversation, this. She was operating here with a knowledge of where most of the general levers of human psychology were, along with a few educated guesses made based on knowledge of specific fiddly little knobs that Aladrens, as a rule, had in common. These were excellent weapons, but she would have much rather had a particular knowledge of this human’s strengths and flaws and quirks, of this Aladren’s biases and dispositions and specialties. Indeed, not knowing that second part meant she had to maintain a particularly fine balancing act here – drawing him in, establishing similarity, because everyone complied more readily with people they viewed as similar to themselves, without touching that tripwire which would active that part of their House psyche – assuming he was like the majority, funnily enough, of Aladrens in having such a part – which did not seek conformity, which did not seek the herd.

Of course, she thought everyone might have a degree of that desire for individuality – she couldn’t conceive of a complete lack of it – but it was notable enough in their type to make it into official literature, which meant it was an extra thing to consider. Another tiresome thing she had to do instead of working on something interesting, or being with her family…Society was so. Endlessly. Tiresome. She just had to hope it was worth it, eventually, some of it.

“Some stories about people who’ve been hired have…raised questions about the school’s leadership,” she said with a slight shrug. “I mean, I’m sure Professor Skies is still far more competent than most, but she was my Transfiguration teacher. Mr. Brockert is even older, and then I saw him at that wedding, and it even made a social report….” She shrugged again. “And then you combine all that with how the Quidditch program has been declining awfully, you don’t hear of as many graduates moving on to do anything particularly impressive as you used to…perhaps it’s time for some changes in leadership.” She made eye contact, assuming the implication there was clear enough: if you played your cards right….

She did not dwell on it, though. She was unsure how ambitious he was, or how exactly those ambitions ran. Ambition was, after all, a broad church. Some sought recognition in the history books – great accomplishments or discoveries. Some sought magical power for its own sake. Some sought to take over the world, and some sought nothing more than to be head of the Families of Fallen Aurors Benevolence Society. She didn’t have enough information to estimate him there and so she moved on quickly, not letting him think too much about that. Now, anyway.

“I have to admit – on more pleasant topics – I was surprised to hear that you had taken up teaching,” she said. “You were so talented as a writer. I’m sure you’re a wonderful teacher – especially to have been made head of Aladren – “ she added warmly – “but it seems a strange change to make.”

16 Alicia Pierce I thought we were talking about you. 210 0 5

Grayson Wright

October 13, 2020 2:04 PM

That's...not really a favorite subject, honestly. by Grayson Wright

Eye contact was considered essential to most Western social interactions, and Gray kind of hated that. Most of the time it was fleeting enough, and the topic unimportant enough, that it didn’t matter much, but sometimes it was the least comfortable thing in the world; certain conversations with Evelyn came to mind. The moment after that delicate statement about changes in leadership wasn’t as uncomfortable as some of those conversations had been, but it was still more than enough to make him rather wish to flee.

Surely it did not mean what he had, for just a second, thought it might. Surely not. Nobody in their right mind would suggest he might…what? It wasn’t exactly accurate, was it, to say that nobody in their right mind would suggest he could assume a leadership position in the school – he already had. He was the head of one of the Houses. But –

He started to defend his colleagues and the school program itself (it wasn’t…well, she was right about the Quidditch thing, for what that was worth, but how was that Selina or Mortimer’s fault? And academically – well, only so many ever did do anything really impressive – there was only so much one could expect, wasn’t there? And anyway, Gary Harper, for instance, just off the top of his head, had a lot of potential, it was really down to the lot Fate put into the school at any one time - ), but before he could compose those fragments of thought into something coherent, she had adjusted the topic, as though she had implied nothing at all.

“Oh – er – well – thank you,” he said, flustered as always when someone knew he was a writer and praised his work. “For saying that about my old work, I mean – it was…well, politics.” He half-smiled, half-grimaced. “I really don’t enjoy politics. They’re so divorced from the facts, it’s….” He grimaced again. “So I had taken up tutoring, like Anne did, she put me in touch with some contacts – got a certificate – and then Sonora needed a teacher, and here I am.” The story sounded a bit pathetic even in his head; out loud, he thought it sounded even worse. “Though it’s not as dissimilar as you might think,” he added. “Lessons are written, after all – there’s a creative element to it, thinking through how to present the material so it’s interesting, and so everyone can understand it. It’s an interesting challenge. Once I was talking to one of my students and I thought of trying to present Charms theory through stories, actually – it’s hard to give up storytelling once you’ve started it, I suppose,” he concluded. That all, he thought, was equally true, but also sounded much better.

16 Grayson Wright That's...not really a favorite subject, honestly. 113 0 5

Alicia Pierce

October 21, 2020 3:22 PM

I thought everyone liked talking about themselves. by Alicia Pierce

"Oh, that's not good news," said Alicia, sweeping her face into a winning smile, when told that it was hard to give up storytelling once it was begun. "We tell stories to my sons - I make some of them up for them, putting them in myths and things - we named them after historical figures, you see," she explained. "And it's a handy way to teach them ideas, and make them see the point of doing their lessons, now...Could be bad news for me, when they outgrow me," she added, a trace of genuine melancholy entering her voice, without her intending it.

Idly, she wondered if she could drop these notions of provoking Wright into making a play for power as her tool, and instead just use Brockert and the statistically bizarre number of gays on staff to convince Thad to let her homeschool the boys. A passing fancy only, of course - it wouldn't work at all. Certainly she could give them a good education, better than the school could, even, but it wouldn't be the best thing for them in the long run. School was where they would make connections, some of which might be of use to them long after Alicia was dead, and they would be served well by Alicia having the time to devote herself to business too. She was cultivating all these assets for outsourcing because it would be more efficient even without the children around everyday, but she would make a lot more money and develop more effective ways to protect her family once she could devote more of her own time to it. But it was a pleasant flight of fancy.

"This stories with charms theory, though," she said, moving back to something pleasant - and unexpected. She raised an eyebrow slightly. "That's an interesting idea. Very interesting. You could have a major impact on education with something like that, especially if you expanded it beyond just charms. Have you tried it out at all?" She noticed he had said he had 'thought' of it, not that he had tried it.

16 Alicia Pierce I thought everyone liked talking about themselves. 210 0 5

Grayson Wright

October 21, 2020 3:35 PM

I'd think you, of all people, would understand that's not so. by Grayson Wright

Gray raised an eyebrow, a little surprised, when Alicia began almost rambling about telling stories to her sons. Not exactly behavior he would have predicted from her, really. Of course, it wasn't as if storytelling was something that people who knew him only as well as he knew her seemed to expect from him, either - they seemed to think that having learned to dress like an adult meant he was insufferably dull now. So it was really not on, he supposed, for him to write someone off as a practitioner of the art for being too...what? Intense? Rich? Social?

"That's very good," he said. "I'm sure they like that, and it probably, you know, it helps the material stick. I hope to see them in the House in a few years." Just so long as they weren't as intense as their parents. It was good, in theory, that there were people who apparently had no problem just taking over in the absence of the real authorities, but Gray wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be the authority in charge of such people under normal circumstances for long periods of time....

He was surprised again by the expression of interest in the stray thought he'd had with Evelyn about writing theory storybooks. Of course, everyone pretended interest in things they really didn't find that enthralling at parties - or so he had gathered and/or guessed - but she seemed to have put a fairly impressive amount of thought into the offhand comment, considering how little time had passed between now and when he'd said it. "Oh - er - no," he admitted. "It was just a thought. I'm not entirely sure how it would even work, to be honest. Lots of ideas - I mean, it's difficult for me, anyway, not to have ideas, I don't know if it's that way for everyone else, but not all of them really work out."

16 Grayson Wright I'd think you, of all people, would understand that's not so. 113 0 5

Alicia Pierce

October 21, 2020 3:48 PM

Depends on the context. by Alicia Pierce

"I hope you do," said Alicia, almost sincerely, to the hopes that Alexander and Nicholas would land in Aladren. She certainly wanted both of the boys in Aladren, but in an ideal world, he wouldn't be their Head of House. Having a headmaster at Sonora who wasn't aligned with her enemies and was indebted to her for his position would be an ideal situation to send the twins to school in, and Grayson here was her best chance at obtaining such an individual. Failing that, though, she did hope that what he said came to pass - having someone she at least had common ties with available to look after them would be better than nothing, and it would be better still if she had turned that person into an asset first.

His lack of ambition, though, was going to be a problem if it was sincere. Hopefully he was lying, just a little. If he wasn't, dealing with him was going to be very, very tedious, not to mention less profitable. Still, she felt a flicker of empathy; it was frustrating, having ideas, not being able to follow through...some of hers involved simply taking Thad and the twins to Florence and living in a countryside villa and being their own little nation of four forever, others of hers involved simply dispensing with the smiles and satins and forcing everyone on the mountain to kneel to her before she reshaped society in her own image, and his involved...probably nothing like any of hers, but still. His dilemma was something she thought she might somewhat understand.

"You should think more about it," she said, ignoring the loose bits of language and focusing back on the point. "It's a very good idea. I really think you might be on to something with that. Let me know if you ever do - I'd be happy to help facilitate that project in any way I could."

16 Alicia Pierce Depends on the context. 210 0 5