use_everything | [IC Inbox]

Oh. Well.

[ At least it's not a surprise, exactly. She wouldn't have guessed on her own, to be sure, but...Sure. Greg. Emperor Gregor. It makes sense, far more than Gregor-the-Son-Of-No-Consequence having been raised in a strictly controlled environment, always strictly schooled on etiquette...Yeah. And Miles...That one's more unexpected. Because his cover had been so firm, so unwavering - the stories he told largely in line with his claimed background. But instead of being a clone, a man of a painful and oppressed past, he's...What? A privileged lord?

Look at him, Kitty. Looking like that...Privileged economically, maybe, but it's not like he's had an easy life.

Right. Well. Before she spends any more time processing this madness, Kitty has a burning, important question on her mind. She turns to Miles, her lips thinning just a bit. ]

The Dendarii. Your mercenary fleet. Is that just a fiction? Were you just making me empty promises?

[ Because lies are lies. Sometimes they have to be told to survive. But holding that hope out to her and then revealing that it was just some fairy-tale to get into her good graces - that she could not ever, ever forgive. No matter who they are and what they've done for her. ]

[ Leave it to her to cut straight to the heart of it. Miles admires that - admires her for it, even as it makes his guilt all that much worse. But he doesn't let that second part show in his face. Instead he straightens with a hint of fire to his eyes. ]

No fiction. The Dendarii exist, truly, and they are mine to command. The only difference is that they are the Emperor's Own auxiliary, primarily used for delicate situations that would be politically embarrassing for Barrayar to involve itself with directly.

[ He carefully puts out a feeler to Gregor - feels relieved that the link is open again, damn that power of Kitty's - and curls around him mentally as he goes on. ]

That promise was made based on truth. And I uphold it now. You have my word as Lord Vorkosigan that if it within my power to bring myself and the Dendarii to your aid, I shall do so.

[ Gregor latches on gratefully (likely even Aral can feel some greedy relief go through him, a distant echo) and for the moment doesn't spare a single thought for them potentially being too close.

Dryly, ] Given they are technically Our auxiliary forces, the Emperor himself might appreciate some knowledge beforehand as well. You might even avoid legal repercussion if he gave prior approval, even of a hypothetical exercise.

Just a thought.

How fortunate, then, that They are receiving such notification now and not after Their forces have been actually engaged.

[ Besides, who's going to say no to Kitty? ]

Aid across dimensions. [It had the tone of musing, something of a crackle of amusement and bemusement sharing space could easily be picked up from the elder Vorkosigan.

Across dimensions certainly seemed far less impossibly absurd than it did just a handful of days ago. It was still too big to properly conceptualize, so he just put it back into familiar terms and bit it off in chunks.]

I think I would like to witness the explanation to Simon.

It's a good cause. [ That's said fiercely to Aral, her lips hooking down into a ferocious scowl. ] To end the enslavement of an entire species. Don't speak ironically.

[ And also, sorry for threatening to kill you. She ought to add that part, but, well...That's a little harder to say.

She turns back to the boys, then. And she crosses her arms. ]

I'm still calling you Gregor and you Miles. That's not about your cover. You know I don't go in for any of this nobility stuff, and I don't trust it. So if you hope that this revelation's gonna get you more respect from me, think again.

[ God, Miles, this is why he loves you. You make jokes with him about the Imperial They. Affection-amusement courses through him strongly at that, though he doesn't respond directly, and Aral's comment doesn't help either because he really would like to witness Miles explaining that to Simon.

But he manages to turn serious enough to raise his eyebrows at Kitty. ]

Kitty, I think if you called me Your Imperial Majesty, I would choke. [ Which is his proper mode of address for anyone not Barrayaran. Weirdly, Gregor sounds very nearly chipper about that. He enjoys irreverence. ]

Just so. I expect you'll respect us less for it.

[ Is Miles' breezy response. He's not the slightest bit concerned with rank, especially not with Kitty. Goodness. He snorts, too, at the mental image of having to explain this particular escapade to Simon ... poor Simon, he thinks . And poor himself, trying to make conversions to Barrayaran marks from whatever Kitty's world uses. ]

But please do refrain from breaking our cover in public.

[ She scoffs pointedly. ]

I'm not stupid. Of course I'm not going to break your cover. Give me a bit of credit, won't you - I've been part of an underground revolutionary cell for about half of my life, haven't I. I know how this works.

[ And then a little sigh. Indicating Aral: ]

I wish you'd told me about this before I threatened to murder him.

[The earlier comment didn't get much of a reaction from Aral, other than opened hand.

As the conversation turns to him again, he gives a twist of a smile, inclining his head.]

It spared me any homesickness. Though I certainly agree with the sentiment.

[He glances back to Miles and Gregor.]

Have you any others who might feel so powerfully about my supposed place in your story?

[ Gregor certainly understands that jibe about homesickness, and sends a quiet little note of dark amusement at him in understanding. His first real tentative use of the link with Aral for anything more than checking on his existence.

Out loud, he says, ] None for me. Kitty is my closest friend here apart from Miles. [ Which Gregor sounds entirely matter of fact about. A glance at Miles himself-- ] Though you might want to tell Tex he's uninvolved.

[ Oh, that's right . Tex might react rather badly too ... ]

Ah, yes. Tex for sure. I don't think she would shoot at you but ... [ Then again he'd have said the same thing about Kitty. ] She is my bodyguard currently. An excellent one.

[ On a couple different levels of meaning. He flushes a bit, the prickle of warmth obvious over the link. ]

[ Kitty pulls a face. ]

Don't say that like I did shoot at him. The gun wasn't loaded.

[ And then she sighs. ]

So that means, what, you're going to keep going on about Evil Vorkosigans to people not in the know? [ And, half muttered to herself: ] God, this is making me worry about your self-esteem.

[There was a moment of curious regard at Miles. He would have sworn there was something for the young queen when he saw it. Both? Or just supremely 20 years old right now.

Kitty's interjection got Aral's attention back with a snap. Both brows lifted, and his head cocked.]

It wasn't?

[There was something in the tone that clearly asked Why not?]

[ Ask Gregor about Miles's romantic exploits here sometime, Aral. That'll be a fun conversation.

Gregor can well assume Kitty's reasoning, or at least guess at it enough to say factually, ] You may not have run into this yet, but we don't stay dead here. Our nanites would bring us back. Killing you would be a short-term solution-- threatening you into compliance, the long-term.

[ A lift of her eyebrows confirms this. ]

[ Aral pls. Miles can't help a faint thread of exasperation at his father - he gets it, really he does, but he's so glad Kitty didn't bring it loaded. With the way that gun has been thrown around this evening ... He shivers a bit to contemplate it accidentally going off.

But he has a more specific comment to focus on in this conversation. ]

My self esteem is fine, Kitty. It's a necessary fiction. [ A bluff further belied by his quick addition: ] And it is very important we not tar either of my parents with this. The only villain in this piece is me.

[ A fierce spark of protectiveness, equally as obvious as his fondness for Tex. ]

Necessary. Miles, I can think of a dozen cover stories that don't involve you describing yourself daily as both a mad murderer and his victim.

[ Gregor doesn't so directly express his displeasure at this terminology, though he agrees with Kitty. It comes too close to a hundred real slanderous mutters about Miles at home. It's the story they have and the one Miles had picked and he's not going to criticize him on the content of it.

He cuts in with only, ] It doesn't matter. That's the one we have. And anyway, it's not you that's the villain in it, Miles, it's a Lord Vorkosigan that doesn't exist. You're Admiral Naismith, and the only people you're a villain to deserve it.

[ The proximity to that slander is what makes it work, okay. Miles finds it much easier to summon up real emotion when he can tap into that dark thread of self-hatred. Even his own father had been provoked into a more direct attack than necessary because of it ... That's a testament to its efficacy. ]

Yes, yes, that as well. Admiral Naismith gets to have all the fun in this story.

[ His accent is flattening back towards Betan even as they discuss the topic. ]

It is public record. [He allows. He'd been able to find it, starting off the whole bloody chapter of this Milesian mess.

There's a stillness to how he watches Miles, both in the fluidity of the change, or the source of that obvious self hate. Nothing enough to pass to the other two, he was still forming his thoughts, there.]

I would not weep if that particular fiction was not actively repeated. With any luck its repetition would be vanishing on its own.

[ A grunt of frustration. ]

Yeah. I don't like it, either. I mean - I spent the last, what, month calling curses down on the heads of the Vorkosigans, and oh, look, here they are standing in front of me. Perfectly sweet. Not murderous at all.

[ Well...Maybe a little murderous. She's under no illusions regarding what Aral would be capable of - she fought against him, after all. He's...purposeful.

She crosses her arms. ]

We've got monsters enough in this world and in our own. Why pretend that there are more?

Because heroes are more convincing with heroes to fight. Didn't it work? You liked us better when we were a runaway and a clone railing against an unfair system, I'm sure.

[Before this can launch a debate, Aral lifts a hand.]

As there seems to be much to discuss, and there's one uninvolved soul on this floor [Who was undoubtedly trying to sleep through all of this drama.] perhaps we should move downstairs.

[Where there are chairs. And less of a standing battlefield and more like a reception.]

[ Kitty grunts and nods in confirmation. ]

Yeah. We ought to be talking about this over tea, I think.

[ Though she points thereafter at Miles. ]

And that is a vile thing to say. It's one thing to lie to protect yourself. It's another altogether to lie to make people like you more. The one isn't real dishonesty, because you're not really deceiving anyone. But appropriating that horrid story - appropriating the suffering of others - to make yourself sympathetic is simply horrid.

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