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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.

[ 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.

[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.

[ 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.

[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.

[ 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.

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.]

[ 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.

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

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

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

[ 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. ]

[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.

[ 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. ]

Edited (dropped a parenthetical comma) 2016-04-24 15:00 (UTC)

[It's funny how silences can have edges to them. Especially with the lack of context clues in expression and body language. The chrono ticks a few seconds off before a let out breath and a slightly tight tone signals an acquiescence.

It was a poor idea, but ... the had fewer better ones. They had no network, no real manpower so to speak. Lucifer could wear them down as easily with inaction if they overstressed themselves.]

The links should remain open, all of them, to at least a tiny degree. That would take no effort and we've all the control to maintain privacy around it, I believe.

[ Gregor has his own silence, but a shorter one, and less edged. Just uncertain. ]

That seems a reasonable concession. If you or anyone else has no protest to the shift in the status quo.

[ He'll... God. Attempt not to be insufferable with Miles to the extent that it spills over to him. ]

[It's funny that he thinks Miles isn't as subtle as the fireworks display on the Emperor's birthday.]

I have none, though you make a point, it should be a unanimous vote.

[ That's Miles. Everyone knows what they sign up for by having a link with Miles. Unseemly emotion coming from Gregor is another matter entirely, and deeply embarrassing to him. ]

She really is getting to us, [ he says dolefully, vainly trying to redirect his thoughts. ] Although, if Lucifer doesn't know about the link already, he can't be far from figuring it out. He's... tapped into the universe, or something like that.

Tapped into the universe?

... Do you think he is what he claimed, truly?

He's convinced of it enough that the truth might not matter. A belief so strongly held, with power to back it up...

I can't say we're any better.

[The laugh wasn't much more than a burst of air, barely catching a vocal chord.]

True enough. We call it governance. Though it's the reason we identify by crests and not paint, I suppose.

[ It's so rare to hear even that much that Gregor is subtly encouraged, eyes brightening just a little. ]

I do find it hard to criticize too strongly, for all my distaste for it from the top of the system. Democracy seems so... lacking in accountability.

And a bloody organizational mess at the best of times.

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