whoops

[rootbound]

Who: Geir, Vern & you!
Where: Shehui (various)
When: Day 196 (backdated to just before the telepathic fail hijinks)
Open/Closed: Mostly open!

i. setting it up (closed to geir)

[this is it. they've spent days discreetly smuggling a small heap of Palai bones one by one to a public park in a less-busy area of the city. with traffic drawn away from it by the festival, and minimal risk of anyone actually getting hurt, it's time to finish up their plan and place the final bones. one to be the trigger, one as bait for the monitors...

they peer down the street.]

...I think we can go.

ii. kaboom (open)

[and if you're in that sector of the city today, you're likely to hear a thunderclap of noise and see a brilliant flash of light coming from said park. Shehui citizens and visitors around you exclaim and turn to look, and you may see monitors making their way through the streets to the source...

Vern speaks telepathically through the entire coven's signets before the dust of the explosion's even settled, voice clipped and abrupt]

Vern and Geir here. If you're walking the city today, don't go near-- [he names the neighbourhood of the park.] If you're already near it, don't actually go to the park; make sure there are eyewitnesses that you weren't there at this time. You don't know anything about this, you weren't involved. All right?

iii. in the aftermath (open)

[Geir and Vern don't actually get themselves arrested; they're on the ground floor of the coven house as usual that evening, if you want to ask them questions face to face in a reasonably private space. they look kind of pleased with themselves...? mission success?]

Comments

[rootbound]

[sounding kind of harried now, a little snappish; he's fine with being called out but the possibility of a coven member actually running over and ruining the whole plan while they're in the middle of it is just Bad]

You could also, I don't know, stop your child from coming over here yourself? This incident is our responsibility, but your bad parenting is definitely not. There isn't a ton of traffic in this area right now; you can't actually guarantee she won't be noticed! We're just trying to follow the monitors and see what they do with the bone we left them, now that we've gotten their attention; can you not mess it up?

[he doesn't know her daughter is a Palai, sorry]

[drizzle]

This is why you should've said this in the very beginning instead of the very cryptic bullshit from before!

[His own annoyed response may just get an amused smirk out of her, even if the mention of being called a bad parent stung.]

Ah, so you're saying it is bad parenting for my daughter to be an independent thinker with a good head on her shoulders and compassionate heart? She ran off the minute I told her about it. Which I am very proud that she did considering all she had gone through in this world.

[But at the mention of bones, she does grow very uncomfortable. Cold, even. A feeling she may be sharing through the telepathic feed.]

Wait, what do you mean by bone?

[rootbound]

Palai bone. It's not traceable to the coven the same way someone using a power would be, and also you are an actual horrible mother, I cannot believe I am having this conversation, tell me what she looks like so we can at least try and keep her out of sight if we spot her...!

[he is deeply frustrated and out of polite points for this, not to mention distracted by trying to hold multiple conversations and track the monitors at once. but he already didn't want the rest of the coven directly involved and in trouble, let alone one of the younger members.]

[drizzle]

Then you're a horrible person for using the remains of the dead for your plans! I thought Qri was bad enough when she suggested for us to collect them for her instead of fucking returning them to the Palai and have them make the final decision about the fate of their dead! Like normal and compassionate folk should do!

[It may be a good thing they were in a low frequency world or there will be a severe thunderstorm brewing right about now.]

No way! Having you anywhere near my daughter after using her people's remains is not only a sign of disrespect to the dead, but to her as well. Not to mention insulting her individuality! I may have raised her, but she has her own way of thinking and free will. I raised her to be honest with herself and others. If that makes me a horrible mother in teaching her morals and compassion, then I am one! I have no regrets in the girl she is and will become in the future because I believe in her! So don't worry about someone you can care two shits over, I'll get her myself. If your friend is correct over the distance of the park being super far, then I should be able to catch up to her.

[rootbound]

[his reply is brutally blunt; tone cold: there have been so many assumptions made on her side of the conversation that it's giving him a headache. he just has no time for this; there are monitors to follow, and if her child isn't actually as at-risk as he first assumed, then whatever.]

What -- your daughter is a Palai? Fine, go get her, then, instead of moralizing at me over something her people gave over freely to us. Maybe teach her not to run towards explosions while you're at it. Gods!

[he won't respond to her further. if only the signets had a block function.]

sorry for late reply, january was not my month. 8|

[drizzle]

[They finally are in agreement for once. Over there being a block function. Maybe there is one, it may be similar to the ones her people have used. A technique to lock people out of the link. If her family could do it, why couldn't they? A thought she may experiment on later.]

Of course! My husband is currently unavailable right now. And too young to give me any heirs to boot.

[And they aren't technically married yet. She was only a candidate to be his wife. With Livius being eleven years old, even for a king, it was far too young to wed or have any kind of scandalous relationships with others. Even with her. No, especially with her! Why is she thinking about this? Abort, abort, abort!]

With the amount of compassion her people have for others, no matter their species, I don't believe there is anything I can do to change her. It's natural for her in wanting to help others and be of service. If anything, her need to run into danger is a habit you all are teaching her. Myself included. I'd be a hypocrite to expect any less from her when we're all giving her this exact example, don't you think?

[There may be some stubbornness in her tone, but whenever it came to talking about her daughter and the qualities she most admires it will turn lighter. She loved her adopted daughter beyond all else. It was very clear by her overreaction and slight changes in tone.]

[rootbound]

[sorry; she can keep talking into his head if she wants, but he's already essentially just put her on ignore out of disgust. he can't deal with this.]