Voice Testing Post

[use_everything]

Canon

A.

[You may find yourself facing large, heavy gates. Behind the bars, you can easily see the enormous, austere residence spread both tall and wide against a backdrop of a lake, stables and a small, private cemetery. The unbridled horse grazing, unhitched beside a carriage, by a liveried servant is in direct opposition to an obviously futuristic lightflier not far from it.

Even the guard that narrows to nervous attention holds both a sword and a strange, small device.]

And you are?

[The voice comes from behind.

Aral, for his part, neither looks, nor feels the part of the lord. Having taken the long way, treacherous and unmonitored paths and foothills back to the residence, he smells of sap, a chemical tinge of smoke and the exertion it took to get back. His green dress uniform had survived in all but the pressed edges, looking as if he'd intended the slight look of disarray and set jaw.

He lifts a hand, stilling the guard from comment on him, and focuses all of his attention on this newcomer.]

B.

[The Counts and Minsters poured out of the building first. The debates of the evening being traded in words so sharp that they might as well have been blows. Aral followed much more sedately, having taken a bit of time to brief his intelligence officer and leave orders for the evening.

It's by chance he stumbled across a stranger, enough out of place to inspire both caution and curiosity in equal measures.]

You seem lost.

Mask or Menace

C.

[It helped to liken the city to a space station. It had the bustle of a large hub.. the rowdy clash and wild fusion of fashions and cultures that defied any easy identification of a trend or perhaps some anthropological hint as to the people - and species... intelligent and alien, the very thought sent his mind into fits of fantasy and planning at once. It was like water, as far as he could tell. Formless, impossible to grip, but could fill the air around you and sweep one far away should he let it. There were colors and layers fitting the ghem Cetagandan... lack of modesty known to the Betans... the maliable gathering of anything adorned by a Jacksonian mindset...

And yet, nothing that fit anything else.

There was only one way to begin. Diplomatically.]

Might I ask a question?

OTHER

[Pick your poison, or let me know and I'll cater a starter to you.]

Comments

[keep_nothing]

[ Watching his hand, eyes darting around herself too. ]

I don't see it ...

[dendarii]

It's right here. I'm going to touch it, all right?

[ He inches just close enough to make contact. ]

[keep_nothing]

I'm not sure that's—

[ There's a split second when he does touch it, cold and it gives a little under his touch—then it zaps at him, sending a shock through his whole body. ]

[dendarii]

[ Ow. The jolt goes through him - out the other side of his link, onwards towards Aral and/or Gregor. Meanwhile he has the most uncomfortable sense of a rubber band warping somewhere inside his head. He shoots back up to normal - past it by a few inches - and then back down again, slowly wobbling his way back towards baseline. The combination of the two at once was, quite frankly, nauseating. ]

[use_everything]

[The terrible thing is, he could believe that. His brows draw close and his lips thin to a line. He begins some gesture towards Miles and stops.]

I think there's some analgesic in the kit.

[keep_nothing]

[ Cordelia flinches too, though not because of the feedback along the link, that was reflected away from her. Instead she got the agonizing jolt of Miles' pain at shooting up in size, the ache suddenly becoming agony at the rubber band snapping up and back. She hisses in a breath through clenched teeth. ]

[dendarii]

[ He wasn't kidding about it being worse to get larger. Those few inches above his baseline are worse than anything below it combined. With a faint gasp of his own, he manages to wrestle both powers back under control and settles, solidly, back against the couch. ]

-- Mother? Are you okay?

[dendarii]

[ He just nods weakly, desperate for any balm. If his powers weren't still off he'd be tempted to lose a few inches to take the stress off his bones. Maybe he was too quick to ask for them back. (Maybe he's too prideful to do anything but.) ]

Please. I'm not allergic. We checked.

[keep_nothing]

[ Thanks, son. She takes a couple breaths before speaking, forcing herself still so she doesn't shake in front of Miles. That had hurt. ]

I'm fine. Guess it works, huh?

[dendarii]

Yes ... yes, I suppose it does. No need to test it further.

[ He swallows kind of thickly himself. ]

[keep_nothing]

Good to know.

[ Though she doesn't sound very glad of it at the moment. She eases back into the couch for a moment, needing to relax and let her muscles unwind from the sudden stress. ]

[dendarii]

[ Good job, Miles. Hurting your own mother with your nonsense. His sense of guilt is keen over the link. ]

... Sorry. I hadn't realized how badly that would backfire.

[keep_nothing]

[ She turns her head to face him, only causing a little tweak of ache in her neck. she reaches for his hand, trying to reassure him physically as well as through the link. ]

It's all right. I had an idea, just ... It's fine, Miles. Really.

[use_everything]

[He retreats to the kitchen to fill a glass with water, and fishes two tablets out of the kit. Miles had been correct, Aral reflected dimly, on the backwards nature of the med tech in this world.

The water and tablets are offered without fanfare or show - again, that pride. He didn't need to reopen that link to guess.]

A common problem for you?

[dendarii]

[ Not on this one. The flicker of gratitude is evident enough on Miles' face as he takes the pills, awkward as it is to juggle first the pills and then the glass of water with the shoulder that's merely dislocated. (He suppresses the twinge of pain in his face each time, so that it barely shows at all.) ]

Extremely. On top of everything else. Native Barrayaran vegetation in particular is a horror for me.

[dendarii]

[ He still ducks his head, the curve in his back more readily visible. ]

Yes - well - you can blame me too. This is typical for me. Rushing headlong into things.

[keep_nothing]

[ The corner of her mouth turns upward, somewhat self-deprecatingly. ]

Wonder where you get that from.

[dendarii]

[ Ha. He can't help but mirror her expression. ]

From both of you, but ... mostly you.

[keep_nothing]

Hey!

[use_everything]

Cordelia often liked to opine that Barrayar was out to get its children.

[The humor is dry, a half smile following it. He considers sitting next to Miles, but the angle would be awkward with the binding. He retreats to his place across the table.]

[dendarii]

[ Sitting next to Miles might have been the better choice; seeing Aral across from him brings a flashback of that first, terrifying impression and makes him flinch. There's still a big stab wound in the table, after all. ]

Yes, well ... Doubly so in my case, I suppose. [ He huffs faintly, forcing himself to relax. ] I was in and out of the hospital for allergic reactions to my treatment as much as I was for the treatment itself. One bad incident had me spending a week convinced that the ceiling was the most peculiar shade of blue...

[dendarii]

Can you really deny it? I've heard the stories.

[keep_nothing]

That depends on which stories you're referring to. I've been accused of many that weren't mine, you know.

[dendarii]

What about nearly drowning your therapist in a fish tank to get back to Da? Is that one real?

[keep_nothing]

[ She grimaces slightly, a hand partly covering her face. Definitely the truth. ]

We told you about that?