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| character:rose-kaiki:conversation-with-jagdish [2013/06/19 21:14] – Saving progress pinkgothic | character:rose-kaiki:conversation-with-jagdish [2017/11/18 21:34] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
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| The gaze has shifted to something casually probing, as if he expected her to fill in the blanks for him. //Not listening.// | The gaze has shifted to something casually probing, as if he expected her to fill in the blanks for him. //Not listening.// |
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| "I am Arbiter because the Legendary Council appointed me. That's not to say I haven't inspired any of the rules - I have no interest in washing my hands of the matter, I freely admit that unlike you I firmly believe they're proper as they are - but that it would trivial for them to excise me from my role once I ceased conforming to their preconceived notions of the position. As such, there's a bit of a... shall we say, selection pressure: I simply wouldn't be Arbiter if I didn't agree with the framework the Council supplies - and, more importantly, someone else who //did// would be. Off-hand? I can think of at least one person who'd be quite eager." | "I am Arbiter because the Legendary Council appointed me. That's not to say I haven't inspired any of the rules - I have no interest in washing my hands of the matter, I freely admit that unlike you I firmly believe they're proper as they are - but that it would trivial for them to excise me from my role once I ceased conforming to their preconceived notions of the position. As such, there's a bit of a... shall we say, selection pressure: I simply wouldn't be Arbiter if I didn't agree with the framework the Council supplies - and, perhaps more importantly, someone else who //did// would be. Off-hand? I can think of at least one person who'd be quite eager." |
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| Rose's gut churned lightly. It took her a moment to get her bearings about the implied mental image - [[character:Keith Sirius]] as Arbiter was a chilling notion. She desperately wanted to deconstruct even the possibility, but she couldn't quite convince herself that the Council would reject him given no 'better' candidate. Was that what this reduced to? And yet, Jagdish's manner didn't mesh with her perception of the Council - the way things worked now seemed infinitely more like the product of his manipulative machinations than anything the mythological creatures could possibly deem just... but she couldn't attribute enough obliviousness to them to allow for the necessary scale of deception - and their power was certainly uncontested. | Rose's gut churned lightly. It took her a moment to get her bearings about the implied mental image - [[character:Keith Sirius]] as Arbiter was a chilling notion. She desperately wanted to deconstruct even the possibility, but she couldn't quite convince herself that the Council would reject him given no 'better' candidate. Was that what this reduced to? And yet, Jagdish's manner didn't mesh with her perception of the Council - the way things worked now seemed infinitely more like the product of his manipulative machinations than anything the mythological creatures could possibly deem just... but she couldn't attribute enough obliviousness to them to allow for the necessary scale of deception - and their power was certainly uncontested. |
| "Additionally, my longevity..." - apparently there was no cause any more to hide it in conversation - "...works in my favour. I know the Council's idiosyncrasies quite well by now and they know mine. They trust my judgement, even - and this is a precious commodity, indeed - when it conflicts with their own. And as difficult as it may be for you to believe me, I have no inherent desire to torture anyone. | "Additionally, my longevity..." - apparently there was no cause any more to hide it in conversation - "...works in my favour. I know the Council's idiosyncrasies quite well by now and they know mine. They trust my judgement, even - and this is a precious commodity, indeed - when it conflicts with their own. And as difficult as it may be for you to believe me, I have no inherent desire to torture anyone. |
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| "What keeps me in my position? The genuine belief that I'm as //moderate// as the Council is going to allow." | "What keeps me in my position more than any other reason is the genuine belief that I'm as //moderate// as the Council is going to allow." |
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| She didn't doubt for a moment he believed what he said; that was precisely what made it difficult to deal with. Conviction was difficult to argue with, especially if it was the conviction of a man implied to be several decades her senior, regardless what age he physically appeared to have. It was clear they couldn't possibly disagree any more than they did. | She didn't doubt for a moment he believed what he said; that was precisely what made it difficult to deal with. Conviction was difficult to argue with, especially if it was the conviction of a man implied to be several decades her senior, regardless what age he physically appeared to have. It was clear they couldn't possibly disagree any more than they did. If this were any other subject, she might approach his stubborn misconceptions with the patience of a saint, but this was far too personal. |
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| ✘ **IN PROGRESS** | Her silence seemed to imbue him with the faintest traces of self-consciousness, something she couldn't recall ever seeing in his features before - but it was quick to vanish, proving a mere flicker of a hopeful mirage. |
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| | "I'm sorry," he said, softly, practically exhaling the words. "I prefer honesty to diplomacy in the few occasions the two are at odds with each other." There was a tinge of resignation lacing itself into his body language and tone, like someone who had fully realised that he'd made a grave error in judgement that the conversation wouldn't recover from. |
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| | She wasn't altogether sure the words he spoke classed as honest in the strictest sense. Surely he believed as much - but if he had half the life experience she attributed to him as an immortal demon, he'd have perfected the art of self-deception a long time ago, after he'd run out of a need to practise deception of others. It was possible he simply couldn't tell the difference between truth and a well-crafted lie any more. A part of her felt an urge to pity him for this imagined plight, something that took considerable edge off her unease. |
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| | He paused in his stride. An abrupt shift of his gaze swerved it through the landscape, but there wasn't any point of interest he could conveniently linger it on. Instead, he brought his gaze back around after a moment's loiter, apology in his eyes, albeit without any humble air to go with it. Very formal, very precise, as always. "Do you think I can try that again?" |
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| | A fresh fear crawled in under her skin, but she spoke despite it - or because of it, seeing as it made as good a motivation as any. "...maybe some other time," she said, failing to banish the tension from her voice. |
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| | His left hand crept up to the back of his neck, kneading fingertips against it, slanting his head back to peer up at the sky as if temporarily more spiritual than he usually dared to be, imploring some creature of faith to grant him an insight that he - from her perspective - deliberately turned a blind eye to. It wouldn't be forthcoming even if something metaphysical existed to bestow it upon him. |
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| | Then his attention came back to Earth. Back to her. "I'd like that." |
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| | Rose gave a distorted, meek and cynical smile in response, but didn't answer. In her mind, the words lined up with a crisp clarity regardless: |
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| | //Please wait until the stars burn out.// |
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| {{tag>[raw]}} | {{tag>[raw]}} |
