takeitinstride | Waking the Dead 2.0 || August 6, 2063 || Saturday

Waking the Dead 2.0 || August 6, 2063 || Saturday

[Here's an official memorandum from your beloved Kaiser, in your inbox.]

SENT: 11:04 AM
Greetings, War Hounds. There are several matters that I need to bring to your attention, as a blade.

First: congratulations on the successful completion of your two most recent engagements. Keep up the good work.

Second: in light of recent events, effective August 6 until August 31, the Malice Kings of Netsach have decreed that your blade will be placed on a forced leave of absence from major engagements within the Vigil. You will only be allowed to participate in minor engagements.

Bostova, Marisigan, Zobel de Ayala and Stevenson: I have spoken to the leaders of the conspiracies that you possess additional licenses with (i.e. Magistrate Kalika Shinta of Zangyaku, Cardinal Paolo Inojosa of the Brotherhood of Violence, Senior Operative Jessiah Vice of the Methuselah, and Lord Thomas Regardi of the Thrones). They are happy to inform you that they share the sentiments of the Malice Kings, and have subsequently placed the lot of you on shore leave. The aforementioned dates still apply.

Third: Netsach's contingent will return to the Falner Estate at 00:12:00 hours tomorrow. All blades who participated in accompanying President Catherine Stone are under orders to remain grounded at Naufragio until call time.

Fourth: I would like to personally extend my gratitude for watching over the Blade King. He is beyond a comrade to me - he is family. In as much as his participation during President Stone's diplomatic mission was unplanned, his presence prevented 99% of the casualties, and your subsequent actions prevented him from overstretching himself. I understand that having him come in the first place was a call that your team, particularly your blade leader, decided to make, and it was a wise one.

If you have questions on any of these matters, you are free to approach me. I will make myself available for you at your convenience.

OOC Notes:
+ Liandrin actually sends this text after idling around with Jessie, Hikaru, Kaz, Josh, Taning, and Yulia. She'll be going around Cape Town all the way until departure time the next day: August 7, in-game.
+ Brianna and Brigade are free to react to this accordingly, and decide on the time that they wake up. So that there's no time paradox, though, make sure to pick any hour after 12 PM, in-game.
+ Josh, Kaz, Yulia and Taning: you're pretty much free to do whatever in Naufragio and Cape Town until August 7, so that gives you guys a day and a half, plus one evening.

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I'd be a poor leader if I didn't. Contrary to popular belief, especially within your circle, we're here to help you in any way we can.

[And to stop you when they think you're being self-destructive.

By the way, Josh: that was an opening. You're free to ask. If you don't, she'll tell you anyway because this is kind of important.]

[ That statement's getting a frown from this one. ]

Ma'am?

[ He hasn't heard any noise from his end. ]

[Called it.

She's lifting one hand up, and her phone is automatically floating up to land in it. It's also scrolling to display two strings of messages, which she then offers to Josh for his convenience.

Now to watch your reaction.

This ought to be interesting.]

[ And he's reading those now, the first time to get an overview of each message and then a second time to get a better read of his initial reactions ( that frown getting deeper, the look in his eyes shuttering ) to the exchanges themselves.

It's an interesting sight: Joshua LaRue is known for being easygoing, has something of a rep now as a Nice Guy.

The way the line of his mouth has set and the faintest hint of clenched molars does not fall in line with all of that.

Handing the Kaiser back her phone now, features schooling themselves to something a little more neutral. ]

Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Kaiser.

[ That assessment on himself on the exchange with Yulia was painfully accurate. But he'll take it. He knows his flaws. You've discussed them.

Give him a moment. He's trying to reconcile the reaction he's having with the way he normally operates. ]

You're welcome.

[Folding her arms over her chest now, and leveling you with a look.]

Now, as your Kaiser, I would like to know what you plan on doing with your senior operatives. Might I mention that perhaps the real reason why your blade has been placed on leave is because of them?

['Perhaps', when she really means it is. But once again, she is measuring you right down to this.

On a related note, she trusts that you realize that she's saying this to you in confidence. The reactions from Yulia and Taning should make it painfully obvious, by now, that they would not have been able to take her telling them this. Besides, you're their blade leader.]

Edited 2014-04-09 15:27 (UTC)

[ No. No, they wouldn't. Yulia because she's got issues to deal with that she's been pretty staunch about keeping tight-lipped about to the rest of the group. Stan is the same. Josh has been wondering about that, about the lack of mention with regard to anything about Ela and getting her back, but he'd thought ( perhaps wrongfully ) that the mage would be able to come talk to him about it.

Apparently not. ]

With all due respect, Kaiser-- [ and yes, the choice of title is deliberate on this one's part ] --even if this wasn't about my second and third running from their personal issues, the month-long leave is something the Hounds need right now.

[ Kaz will need to calibrate on the fact that he is now a Card. Josh personally wants to check in with Brianna again just to see how she's doing because their Changeling might be the most easygoing out of the lot of them, at least at first glance, but she's still the other kid in the group, five hundred Arcadian years notwithstanding. ]

I'll speak with Yulia and Stanley. [ A beat, as he considers, and then: ] I'll just need to check in with Magistrate Shinta first.

[ Yes, he's officially Fifth Circle and he's informed Kalika Shinta of his intentions to join up, but he hasn't had his initiation with Zangyaku, and that still means that they technically outrank him. ]

[And this is why she had approved, wholeheartedly, of the decision that the Hounds themselves had made with regard to choosing who their blade leader was going to be.]

Do so, because it will keep me from having to speak to them myself. As for checking in with Kalika... may I know what you plan on saying?

[Or doing, for that matter.]

[ Well. No time like the present to open that part of the conversation. ]

They outrank me, ma'am. At least where Zangyaku is concerned. I have some catching up to do. [ He'll explain that at length in a bit, though this one has no illusions that you likely already know. ]

I saw Magistrate Shinta's message. I'll need to check in with her about what she thinks of me putting my foot down where it concerns the "elder" half of the blade.

[ He pauses a bit. He knows it's not going to win him any points with Yulia in particular, but he can't have her doing another trip to Blaece. ]

When I accepted the position as blade leader, I told myself that it would mostly be on paper. I've a ways yet to go by way of experience on the field, and interning at Rhiannon's taught me that just because you hold a high-ranking position on the corporate end of things, doesn't mean you're necessarily the go-to person whose expertise is combat.

[ He takes a deliberate pause before he goes on. ]

I don't like the idea of micromanaging the Hounds, but given the exchanges, ma'am, and the fact that they decided to push it without airing their grievances my way first, I think I'll have to just this once.

[ He thinks on his next words; chooses them carefully. ] We can't afford to sound like children being given a Time Out. Not now. Not when recent events have put our name out there. It's bad press. It makes us look reckless.

So, [ hands in pockets now, ] they'll need to run anything they want to do by me from hereon. A break is a break. We need to slow down. The last thing we need is to burn out just because we're a little too enthusiastic about taking on missions.

[ For his part, he's gotten to his first checkpoint. Fifth Circle, in order to get back his mom. It's also not lost on him how many loopholes were exploited thanks to Brig's connections with Eli Tagabigay. ]

You've given us a lot of leg-room. Some might even say too much. I'm grateful for it, but I know it can't always be like this.

I didn't come back from the dead to throw myself into harm's way for -- pardon my language -- shits and giggles. It's not the kind of thing I'd want to see my blademates do either.

We have time. [ Josh's lips thin into a line at that. There's a part of him that worries what Stan might have to say, given that his personal goal -- his mom, safe and okay -- has been seen to. ] We can afford to heel for now.

Edited 2014-04-10 00:57 (UTC)

[She doesn't interrupt Josh, not for one second. This is partially due to the fact that she decided to have a cigarette, of course.]

That seems like a sound plan. I am not about to predict Kalika's reaction, but I will say that she may give you some valuable advice on how to negotiate this matter.

[Then tilting her head at you with a tiny smile.]

Besides, as things stand, the War Hounds, as a blade, take Netsach as their primary conspiracy at the moment - you, as leader, make the calls. And on Zangyaku's end, strength and good judgment are valued over rank. Perhaps you will just have to see how things go.

[She's speaking from experience there. She has Stories about how interesting it was, being a Methuselah operative gunning for Zangyaku while things between the two conspiracies were still not as smooth as they could have been.

On another note, she's not going to bother going into the dynamics between the individual members of the Hounds. That is their business.]

[ Josh tries to keep how grateful he feels over what Lia says off his face -- he manages; just about. There is also the familiar itch to light up a cigarette, but he ignores that and focuses instead on the Kaiser's quiet reiteration that he is at the head of the blade and is therefore still the one charged with the responsibility of making the calls where his team is concered; for good or for ill.

He needs a moment. This one hasn't felt particularly effective in the leadership role given recent events, and it's not a feeling he can abide by, especially since this has hit him in a way that has him standing before his direct superior with the urge to apologize because she shouldn't have to deal with the two people he listed as his second and his third. Not like this.

He's also yet to make heads or tails over why those two exchanges feel like a direct violation of his trust, which was implicit -- or was supposed to be. If both Yulia or Stan felt that they couldn't even check in with him before bringing their issues directly to the ( as Brig would likely put it ) top brass, what did that say then, about him and his ability to manage his own people? ]

I'll speak with them, [ he reiterates softly. ] And I will make it clear that I am a hundred percent behind this move for a break and if they have issues with that, it is not their place to bother you with them, ma'am. That is what I am here for. If they are unclear about why we are being taken off the field, I will offer them that clarity to the best of my abilities.

[ A pause then, because he needs to shelve what he is feeling towards his two recalcitrant blademates aside to recenter himself. ]

On another note, Ma'am Delacroix. I realize that the appropriate response to a "thank you" is "you're welcome," but if you don't mind me saying so -- I would like to apologize for calling the Blade King to assist in this most recent engagement.

[ Another breath, at that. ] I didn't want him out there. Not so soon, not given how Tohru Fukuzawa's condition was at the time.

But he is one of Kaz's Seven, and we have named him our unofficial Seventh.

[ His voice drops a fraction. ] Hikaru would have hated sitting on the sidelines for a second time.

Edited 2014-04-10 09:58 (UTC)

[Her gaze turns inward the moment Josh starts talking about Hikaru, and by the time he is done, she isn't really looking at him: she's staring out the nearest window, polishing off more of her cigarette.

When she speaks, her own voice is soft.]

He would have, and I would not have blamed him. That is the main reason why Magistrate Aoi and I both agreed to let him go.

[Then she's turning back to Josh. Her smile and the look in her eyes is a little softer.]

You have nothing to apologize for. As I stated in my message, his presence prevented anyone from dying that day. It also let him do what he does best for the people he cares about: be there for them.

[ The events from the day before are flashing in his mind: finally arriving to see Kaz dead, his head cradled in President Stone's arms; holding onto Yulia because their boy was gone and this after the three of them ( himself, Yulia, Stanley ) had promised the kid at Seigi that he would be okay, that he wouldn't die on their watch.

He'd called Rethe then because the Malice King was friend to them both, and because, he is quietly realizing now, that he had done so because he had been just about ready to beg whatever God was up there listening, that this couldn't be It, that they couldn't just lose their friend like This, because what was the point of knowing that something like that was coming.

And then Kaz was breathing again -- alive and well and a Card -- and Josh had needed to walk away, to clear his head and let all the emotion bleed out. Because his relief had been much too great and when a pair of violet eyes had peered at him worriedly he hadn't thought, had just wrapped his arms around Hikaru and clung on as tightly as he could thinking with a mix of guilt and gratefulness that it hadn't been Kaz's time. ]

He said... [ he stops, cleaes his throat, tries again ] Hikaru told us that... [ another breath, a momentary pause ] I believe his words were that he's come to the scary realization that he can't live without any of us.

I... he and I had a talk before. About how he hates getting too close. Because it's inevitable that we're all going first. And if not... then he's going to come back and find our graves and have to live with that.

I told him then that it's just the way these things go but... [ he doesn't finish. His hand is also in his coat, fingers curled around his lighter. ]

Edited 2014-04-10 17:39 (UTC)

[Even as her full attention is on him, she is also quietly filing away a mental note to herself to check in with Hikaru. They have not had a proper talk in a while, and she is sure that he'd appreciate a listening ear this time around.

Once Josh's words stumble to a halt, she wordlessly brings out her pack of cigarettes and holds it out in his direction.

Nicotine first. Words later.]

[ And he's shyly sliding a stick out for himself and slipping out his lighter.

He takes that first, long and steadying drag.

It's not as effective today as it usually is. ]

[She watches him do that from over the remnants over her own cigarette. She slips the butt into an ashtray that conveniently appears out of nowhere at her side, take another one, and lights up.]

There's never enough time when it comes to the people and the things that matter. [Saying that in that same low and even voice she used earlier.] Living for more than a human life doesn't really improve that sentiment, in my experience.

[ There's a pause before Josh slowly nods. He's starting to see that, honestly. But he still wants to hold onto the belief that time is what you make it, how you spend it.

He's reflecting on his father's words now, because Aaron Brennan had lost the woman he loved, kept on loving her anyway, and forces kinder and greater than Josh can comprehend gave her back. ]

I don't like how... a part of me just wants to take this break and cram as much as I can into it.

But that's-- [ a breath ] --that's not how I work.

[ Hikaru was right. With the exception of the weekend at New Atlantis, they've never had time for themselves. Not really. And the reality of things is, if he were to base them solely on how the last few months have gone down -- there won't ever be enough time unless they both decide to set aside time for each other. ]

And how do you believe that you work?

[The word choice on her end is, of course, deliberate. Belief did, after all, have a lot to do with pretty much everything that made a creature, supernatural or not.]

[ There's a shadow of a smile on his lips, a hint of uncertainty, but one he can live with..]

Cramming things in won't change the fact that I'm mortal. Sturdier than most, sure, but still human.

[ Lifting his gaze to Liandrin at that. ]

I want to spend the time right. Enjoy the fact that I have someone in my life who I care about, who my family likes and respects, and who I want to be there for. In whatever capacity.

Like I said. Time is what you make it, how you soend it. I want to be smart about the time that I have.

[ He's quietly coming to realize now what it was about Stanley's message to Lia that had him upset. ]

As you should be, Joshua. As we all should be, I think.

[And then tilting her head again, watching him. There's more on his mind: she knows this for a fact. But she isn't about to go dipping in with her own mind to find out what they are.

If he talks, he talks. If he does not, he does not. Either way, she is there.]

[ He passes her a smile then, nods.

And then takes a breath. ]

Don't worry about the Hounds, Ma'am Delacroix. I'll see to them.

There was... something I was hoping to speak to you about and I suppose now is a good time as any.

Go ahead.

[As things stand, she's already sent off a few clones to start her inspection of Naufragio. She can spare a few more moments for this one.]

I'm sure you recall back before the Quiapo engagement, that Alistair Mordechai mentioned that if I got to Fifth Circle, Zangyaku would be able to help me get my mom back.

[ Pressing his lips together for a moment before he goes on: ] I have my mother back and I am Fifth Circle. And I would still like to license with Zangyaku, because they're a good conspiracy and I know there's no need to feel this way, but I owe it to the memory of the operatives who died in South America. And I want to honor them by trying my best and earning a place among them.

[ He pauses, just briefly. ]

There's also the matter of my ties with Rhiannon, which has become something of a second home. They took me under their metaphorical wing and I don't think I'd be as focused or as driven as I am now if it weren't for them.

Edited 2014-04-11 06:21 (UTC)

Two conspiracies in one go, Joshua?

[Smirking a bit in amusement.]

I suppose I should not find this too surprising.

[Yeah, she really doesn't.]

[ And at this very moment, he's looking sheepish and very much like that kid who walked into your office back in March.

The only difference? He's got a bit more confidence in himself now. ]

I... was going to go for Rhiannon first. But things have changed. [ That last bit is said slowly, and with a certain kind of weight to the words. ]

If you think two at once is too much to take on though, ma'am. I'll take it as offered wisdom from one of my betters and space the two apart. I've made my intentions known to both Gabriel Marlowe and Magistrate Shinta [ yeaaah, apologetic look goes here ] but I can work something out.

[Lia, in turn, is leveling you with a look and once again lifting her hand to summon her phone.

She keeps her eyes on you as she makes the call.]

Put Cerberus on the line.

Yes. Kaiser Delacroix speaking.

Fifth Circle Hunter Joshua LaRue has informed me of his intention to pursue a Hunting license with the following conspiracies: Zangyaku, Rhiannon.

Yes.

Clear record? As expected.

Yes, I'm allowing it. I trust that you'll handle the rest of the arrangements for us. Thank you.

[Hanging up, and canting her head and topping it with a particular smile that pretty much spells out Well? at you.]

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