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]

[ Her frown deepens, but describes her father anyway, trusting his reasoning even if she doesn't know what they are yet. The description decidedly does not fit this Admiral Naismith. ]

[use_everything]

[He considers, a moment, and then turns the screen to her, his own expression schooled. The first question had willingly surrendered any chance of some misguided attempts to shelter her.]

I had cause to wonder.

[keep_nothing]

[ She looks, mystified at first, then something else replacing the confusion in her eyes as she reaches out to take his communicator from him to scroll and view what he had seen. Her expression becomes more hardened the longer she looks. ]

[use_everything]

[It becomes evident that it not merely her father's name being used, but his own.]

The chance of a coincidence seems vanishingly small.

[keep_nothing]

Clearly someone who thought they couldn't get burned so far from the fire. but what could they hope to accomplish here?

[ She hands back his comm. ]

[use_everything]

Nothing comes to mind. There's no reward to such slander, no allies that could be curried from it.

The boy's accent is frankly Betan.

[keep_nothing]

Which makes even less sense than if he was Barrayaran.

[use_everything]

Hm.

He's the right age for service.

[There were more than enough lingering hostilities from the Escobaran-Barrayan war.. but Naismith would make no sense, then.]

[keep_nothing]

[ She sighs lightly. ]

We could sit here postulating all day. Couldn't we just seek this ... this Naismith out and get the story from him?

[use_everything]

It would save some time, wouldn't it?

[keep_nothing]

We both prefer the direct approach anyway, when we can manage it.

[use_everything]

There's an element of surprise still available... and no mentions I've found of you yet.

[Another curiosity.]

It should be enough to see if the local authorities have a cell they could spare. A single night, just to see what his nerves are made of.

[keep_nothing]

But what could you accuse him of? I wouldn't think any authority would hold someone just for slander.

[use_everything]

[Back home he could have just ordered it and it would have been done. Honestly, back home, he wouldn't have had to. Simon Illyan is far too efficient for that.]

I'll do some studying. Improvise, if I have to.

[keep_nothing]

Try not to go overboard here, will you? We only just arrived and we don't know how everything works yet.

[use_everything]

My dear Captain, would I ever?

[keep_nothing]

[ She gives a snort, pinching the back of his hand that's still on her thigh. ]

[use_everything]

[He gives a laugh to that, honest and audible.]

Perhaps we should see to accommodation.

[He's already working out what needs to be logged and what will need further detail while they research and planned for whatever action could be offered.]

[keep_nothing]

[ Her hand stays atop his, her free hand bringing out her file again. ]

That's listed here too, isn't it?

[use_everything]

The same, I'd assume.

[keep_nothing]

Some place called De Chima, #7?

[use_everything]

The same, it is.

Well, seems I wont have to displace someone else.

[It's light, almost teasing. One who didn't know him as well might actually assumed he wouldn't actually do that.]

[keep_nothing]

[ She smacks him lightly with the file again, knowing full well he would have. ]

How fortunate for both parties.

[use_everything]

The best conflict is the one you don't have to engage in.

[keep_nothing]

[ She lightly rolls her eyes at him, pinching the back of his hand again for good measure. ]

Come on, let's go see our accommodations.