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[use_everything]

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[vorbarra]

Yes. That was rather what I was thinking with the situation with Peter, too. A tactic I don't get to employ at home.

Befriend your enemies... [ A bemused, wry note. ]

[use_everything]

I'd be more concerned about this Peter fellow. The kind of investment to make a captaincy in ImpSec, even on a remote outpost with those kinds of odds, the idea of a plot lasting that far and with that much investment makes the odds long enough.

[vorbarra]

I am concerned about Peter. Captain Galeni has been, if anything, punctilious. I can find no fault.

[use_everything]

Likewise. There's great potential there.

[vorbarra]

I do hope he'll become more relaxed with time. This isn't exactly the most formal venue.

[use_everything]

There may be more than.. usual barriers to that.

[vorbarra]

To his credit, he is a historian, so I don't see him believing any misplaced untruths.

[use_everything]

And a somewhat level personality. I'm in accord, the less he has any notable association with us until this settles, the better.

[vorbarra]

Yes, that's settled.

... There is one more development you should be apprised of in regards to Lucifer. [ And he's not nervous about bringing this up, ohhh no. Gregor's gone a bit more composed. ]

[use_everything]

[There aren't the visual cues over the line, but there's a touch to the tone that has him narrow his own eyes.]

Go ahead.

[vorbarra]

[ Oh, God. How's he supposed to say this? But it's extremely strategically relevant, and Miles isn't about to be subtle about it. Lucifer's going to find out and probably try to use it against him. Aral has to know. If he lets Miles tell him, who knows what impression he'll give him of how Gregor had approached this.

Maybe the correct impression... No, damn it, he's been so vigilant (hyper-vigilant, really) to any inkling that he's taking advantage of Miles or coercing him.

He doesn't clear his throat or show any sign of awkwardness. It comes out smoothly, as difficult statements from Gregor always do. ] Miles and I have mutually decided to be together romantically. At least while we're here, in a committed capacity.

[use_everything]

Ah. [This is one of those situation where face to face would have been a better, if more nerve wracking venue. Simply because that sound, barely any more readable than a breath catching vocal chords has a long moment of silence after it.

In truth, he was relieved that his son's emotions hadn't been misplaced, buoyed to be dashed again. But in the context of such a confession presented as a strategic weakness, it's seems bafflingly difficult to find a way to express congratulation or... anything positive to it.]

I see. I don't see that adding any difficulty.

[vorbarra]

[ What does that mean?

A touch of tension enters his voice. ] I disagree. I think Lucifer will figure it out if he hasn't already and use it against him ruthlessly. And Miles is always most vulnerable there.

[use_everything]

[On the contrary, now that this is cleanly back to strategy, Aral relaxes with a bit of a mental note to come back to that not-so-small announcement later.]

Exactly. His own devotion and the intensity of it has hardly been a new development, and was always a factor. The very fact that you were threatened as well justifies the additional security.

I can hardly expect him not to react. No... I should say that I will not expect him to go without reaction or action. However, in the very worst case - that all measures fail, I would say the safest place for him will be the metaphorical tac room.

[vorbarra]

[ If strategy's the way he wants to go about it, Gregor will oblige. They needn't directly discuss it ever, if that's how he prefers. It's a damn sight better than the sort of reaction he'd been dreading, and trying to convince himself wouldn't occur... This is professional. They can coexist as well as they ever did.

Why does Gregor feel like he wanted more than that, fruitlessly? ]

Safest, yes, but the only way to get him to stay there would be to tie him to the chair, [ he says, not dryly as with his normal humor, inviting someone else in on isn't-Miles-aggravating, but instead a little crisply. ] I'm concerned he'd willingly walk himself into the dragon's den just to be there with me.

[use_everything]

[Arrive with ketchup in hand, and offer himself as an entree, no less.]

Should it come to pass, I'll offer to play the villain there.

I believe it will be critical to have the least reaction possible from Miles specifically to keep it from becoming an endless situation.

[vorbarra]

[ That's reassuring, at least, that they're perpetually allies in protecting Miles from himself. That much hasn't changed. ]

That's what I was thinking. It could too easily turn into a blood feud, and there's a reason we allow one reprisal only, with those uninvolved executing it. From that close up, it's impossible to see scale. And we can hardly trust Lucifer to be the one to find his limit.

[use_everything]

No, we truly can't. Depending on how close he is to the theist religion he supposedly comes from, long standing grudges and irrationally long tests are something of a norm.

[He HAS been studying.]

[vorbarra]

[ Gregor's been attempting to study, too. ]

... I confess that is of primary concern to me. I'm not sure it's even possible to bring this conflict to some conclusive resolution.

[use_everything]

No, not before a peak at the least. For a while, I hope you will consider submitting yourself to closer guard.

[vorbarra]

Closer guard? Are you planning on interrupting yours and Captain Galeni's whole lives to watch me?

[use_everything]

It would be voluntary. [Like most ImpSec assignments were voluntary.] There is prudence to it.

[vorbarra]

[ This is complicated to weigh. There's Gregor's desire for his own personal freedom-- reluctantly discarded, along with his imagined desire for it on behalf of Aral and Galeni themselves. Secondary concerns, surely. Galeni himself would be of little use if Lucifer tried to attack directly... Aral would be much more likely able to stop him. He thinks of pointing out that he's often around Miles, wince-inducing a misstep as that might be at this moment, but however much Miles would throw himself to the wolves for his sake, that's exactly what they're trying to avoid here.

Yet he can't die permanently, so what does his sacrifice matter-- no, damn it, he's tied himself too firmly to Miles to take so cavalier an attitude about that. He's been spending too much time in Miles's head to think that.

Gregor ends up openly considering this for long moments. ]

I'm not persuaded either way, [ he says finally. ] Anything above what we do currently seems prohibitively complex. I'm often around Kitty, who has proven herself able to handle him.

[ He doesn't want to walk into this cage again, of being constantly guarded. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Yet what Gregor wants is immaterial and irrelevant and it's this man who had taught him that so thoroughly. ]

[use_everything]

[There's a faint, exasperated noise over the line. He expected an argument, but not such a weak one.]

Then she's recruited. This is not a matter of life and death. Those don't matter here; this is a matter of threat and damage. There's far worse things that can be done to a man than merely stopping his breath. There's a catalog of them.

I no more want you to face them than I do Miles. Frankly, there should be pairs for all of us.

[vorbarra]

[ With a hint, just a hint, of sharpness-- Gregor is not easily cowed these days-- ]

This is not and will not become Barrayar. For one thing, ensuring my safety to the extent that it normally is is both impractical and infeasible. We have limited resources and, as we just established, no way of anticipating when this will resolve. There's other tasks for you to be occupying yourselves with. In emergencies, I can contact any of one you.

[ Funny how the moment he has to justify his reasoning, it all snaps together for him. ]