Meeting Alexander

[ishineon]

[Säde waits in the Club castle foyer, hands held behind her as she examines her surroundings, matching them with what she remembers of her last visit. She has caught a nearby Four, sending him to summon his King. No hurry. She came unannounced, after all.]

Comments

[livebytheclub.livejournal.com]

[He feigns surprise, raising his eyebrows]

"Do we? And here I thought I was the only one - well, the only one save for an as-yet undiscovered hatchetman."

[ishineon.livejournal.com]

[She shrugs.] I don't mean that we go so far as to execute the disloyal, but a firm hand is needed. Appearances must be maintained, of course. Constantly bandaged Numbers are unappealing.

[livebytheclub.livejournal.com]

[He grins]

"Oh I don't know. I've often held to the axiom that if you're not hurting, you haven't been practicing hard enough - or rather your partner hasn't."

[He follows this deep thought with a deeper draught from his glass - he really does keep meaning to have some proper drinking horns stocked. It would take a great deal of the drink to affect him, but of course she wouldn't know that. He wonders if he's over-doing this little sham of his. He is, after all, an amateur at court intrigue. Oh well, practice most when the outcome isn't critical...]

[ishineon.livejournal.com]

If everyone has wounds from their partner's superior fighting skills, they could hardly be ready for any surprise attacks, surely? [Joking now.]

[livebytheclub.livejournal.com]

"But harder to put off guard with simple pain"

[He counters, not taking the discussion seriously, but speaking his mind none the less]

[ishineon.livejournal.com]

If they must be inured to pain, surely there are better methods than continuously being outmatched in combat. [No, she's not suggesting torture. Goodness, the places a mind can go to.]

[livebytheclub.livejournal.com]

"When we learn to perform when outmatched in practice, we do not embarrass ourselves when it happens in reality."

[ishineon.livejournal.com]

True... but it isn't always possible to have an even mix of the excellent and the inexperienced, or even a full set of excellent fighters. And right now? The Deck is pretty lopsided with inexperienced fighters. [The Hearts, for one. A good third of the Diamonds, for another- though she won't mention that.]

[livebytheclub.livejournal.com]

[By noting one of his own points of contention she has effectively neutralized any attempt he would make at practicing intrigue - at least on this point]

"We agree on that matter. Do you see this as a problem?"

[ishineon.livejournal.com]

It's unlikely that we'd face any threats from the outside world. From within... it's one thing to have Suits tolerant of each other, and another to have warring Suits.

[livebytheclub.livejournal.com]

[Damned non-answers put him even further from a subtle mood, especially coming from this well-kept porcelain thing before him]

"I think you have not seen the same frontier I have - or perhaps you've only read about it in tabloids.

As to tolerance, it's all well and good until one runs out of cheeks to turn."

[ishineon.livejournal.com]

[Too bad she lives for non-answers.]

The only ones outside who know are the ones we leave to come here- or the ones who leave the Deck after growing up here. What could they possibly have against us?

[Silly question. Her dear brother despises the Deck, as she well knows.]

And there ought to be compromise. The Deck comprises four Suits, not one or two. We can't allow it to be decimated by petty things.