on the nature of oaths
Sep. 17th, 2019 08:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zuhrovet posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
hexarchate_rpg[In the current move, Sasha has just accepted an oath of service from Jedao, a relationship Reshad believes is coercive. I'm not sure whether this properly counts as character rp or a new half-move, but I think we all need some new space to deal with the fallout!]
Sasha is waiting outside the antechamber. She has tied her scarf again, and looks as put-together as she ever does. "Are we having this conversation in my office?" she asks Reshad. "Or over tea, with everyone?"
Sasha is waiting outside the antechamber. She has tied her scarf again, and looks as put-together as she ever does. "Are we having this conversation in my office?" she asks Reshad. "Or over tea, with everyone?"
a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-14 02:11 am (UTC)If. The bigger problem is, Sasha has no idea what Reshad wants. She might be committed to a role as staff, and her uneasiness with promises might be ordinary cultural reticence. She might be cataloguing all of Sasha's faults, in preparation for some grand attack that will make all Sasha's promises irrelevant. Or she might be perfectly happy with oaths, as long as they are made to her--in which case she will probably triangulate with Ashari to back Sasha into a corner.
There's a fourth possibility (four for balance), which is that Reshad only wants room to work on her own projects. Letting Reshad pursue her own missions might have worked, even a few days ago. But now there is Jedao. The one thing Sasha knows for sure about Reshad is that she is interested in Jedao. And, Prophet guide her, Sasha cannot give Jedao up. If that's Reshad's priority, then their goals are all tangled up together.
So. Spin the web, find the scissors. Sasha needs a way to work with Reshad, unless and until Reshad disclaims allegiance. She needs, in particular, a way to signal that she appreciates Reshad's skills. And while she's gaming out what everyone might do, and specifically what ways Ashari might respond, given past behavior--there's a specific, stupid problem Sasha will soon have, whose solution is precisely in Reshad's domain.
If Reshad doesn't lie to her. But there are ways to check that. One strand at a time.
Feeling, already, completely like an idiot, Sasha heads down the corridor and knocks on Reshad's door.
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-16 01:15 am (UTC)"Good afternoon, Sasha. Come in, if you like." A careless wave of the hand indicates the room beyond the threshold. She treats this as entirely ordinary; indeed, it has to be less awkward than conversing in the hall.
Cantata's quarters are not extraordinarily large, and this particular room has been subdivided further. Since Sulen's visit, Reshad has added a hinged screen holding plain paper. The screen marks off an area that must be tight, even for a ship's narrow bunk - a narrow strip of private space, made distinct from the semi-public area around her table. The walls hold one decoration only: a mask, deep green fabric stretched over something carved. Its feathery cut would frame the wearer's eyes while exposing the lips and chin, were it not on a wall hanger.
A bench has been made by fixing fabbed cushions onto a storage chest, and that is where she must have been been, pinning ornaments to a mannequin's head to test their fall. The table's lone chair sits at an inviting angle, and the tablet, left open, shows fashions reminiscent of those seen at the trade show.
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-16 02:38 am (UTC)"Thank you. I have a small question whose answer lies, I think, in your domain." This is a stupid problem to be worrying about, but it's the domain of things Sasha always fucks up. "Ashari has been recruiting people, while we have been here. I don't know their precise plans, but it is safe to assume that they enjoy a spectacle. There will be--if I am lucky, a meeting, but knowing them, it could be another party--where I will have to meet these new people and explain that we have Jedao. I am guessing this might go a bit more smoothly if I wear something other than the jacket I got for free in the year 222?"
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-16 04:24 am (UTC)Even among the pins laid on the table, there are no gears - plant and simple beads in a variety of colors dominate. Not a single eye winks scarlet, although a smiling fox is draped over a comb. That one is set aside in its own little carton.
"It might just." Ashari is- or was- Andan, and that means they're looking. Reshad eyes Sasha's current clothing, and the shift from relaxed but curious to working is plain as her stance shifts. "If they're looking for a spectacle, what sort do you want to give them?" Because Sasha wouldn't be here if she didn't plan on doing something differently.
"As I see it, you have a few options, and it all depends on what kind of a spectacle you want to create. Do you want to show them a mathematician and grid-diver? A commander of a rebellion moth in challenging marches? A wanderer of time?"
She has half a dozen more questions, but patience will serve better than intensity just now. Reshad tucks herself back onto the bench and starts moving the loose hairpins aside, trying to reduce the distraction. A small box fills quickly, with a glimpse of still other ornaments wrapped away inside.
[Reshad's practicing hairstyles is not actually calculated to annoy Sasha. Just ask Sulen! 0:)
You can see her amethyst hair stick here if you're so inclined. I need to draw the mantis-like one, as nothing comparable seems to exist.]
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-16 10:19 pm (UTC)Sasha catches herself standing straight, as if for her mother's inspection. Of course, she would never have appeared before her mother wearing a boxy gray shirt like this one, not least because it would have reflected terribly on staff. Well, she had a good decade of not having to care about this shit; nothing in this sphere can last.
"Shall we say, a wanderer in time?" I just want to get through four hours without ripping the embroidery off my coat is not an answer Reshad will accept, and at least 'person from an antique time' is a role that Sasha knows how to play.
[The mantis pin sounds like it would be really cool! I'd wear one.]
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-20 08:05 pm (UTC)Reshad sits back, her own relaxation in stark contrast to Sasha's posture. /She/ looks something like a Kel candidate trying to stand at attention. "Of course, the ideal is something you can wear. If you aren't comfortable with it, no amount of spectacle will cover that. So it needs to feel like something you're all right with."
Reshad thinks about what she's seen Sasha wear. Shapeless shirts, in one memorable occasion, hacked off. References to long-obsolete technology. That same jacket. Head coverings, in deference to Naxorian tradition. (And thank goodness the databanks had something on the subject.) "Something from your work together, maybe something from the trade show we just attended?" She's searching for more ideas now and makes a beckoning motion, inviting Sasha to contribute.
[I drew the description of Sasha's wardrobe from OoC discussions; please let me know if I should alter anything!]
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-21 01:26 am (UTC)What the fuck have they all gotten into? It would be comforting, to thrash it out. But Reshad is going to slip sideways.
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-27 10:57 pm (UTC)/Team member/ is good, encouraging; it says that Jedao's prisoner status is not permanent. "Will he be attending? That... allows far greater flexibility in display." Among other things, including letting the team begin to combine.
[If there's something Hexarchate-flavored and used to signal allegiance that Reshad is missing here, I humbly request patience! It's been a long holiday season and I'm coming off a nasty cold.]
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-28 04:22 am (UTC)[I hope you recover quickly!]
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-30 11:06 pm (UTC)"Then, it may be good to display the connection you already have. Ask him to wear that hairpin; you wear some corresponding token. Doesn't need to be the bond itself to be effective." To avoid stepping on her sensibilities, and also to present the information in a way readable across cultural lines.
"So far as the rest? Your comfortable jacket may be a good choice." She tries a touch of humor. "And whatever you've liked to wear that isn't holed."
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2019-12-31 01:31 am (UTC)Yeah, there's no fucking way Sasha's leaving her hair uncovered around Ashari.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." With a bit less sarcasm, she continues, "Just to state the obvious, it's going to be black on black. Or did you think I should borrow the two gears?"
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-01 03:01 am (UTC)She smiles at the question. "Depends. Do you want to signal being in his command as much as he's in yours? If you don't, it might be good to avoid gold details entirely." Kel colors. "Or military silhouettes. In your shoes, if I wanted to make a claim of his loyalty, I would have him wearing your symbol - then make it very obvious it's yours."
[Does Sasha's wardrobe have much in the way of military cuts or different texture?]
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-01 05:12 am (UTC)[Sasha's complete current wardrobe consists of a floppy and generally execrable hat, a couple of scarves, some underwear, four gray shirts (one hacked short, one with part of a circuit board printed on the back), two pairs of baggy pants with lots of pockets, a black jacket with a stand collar (hers probably doesn't have the zippers), two workout tanks made from some high-tech sweat-wicking fabric (these are surprisingly flattering & show off her shoulder muscles), a pair of leggings of the same material, some shoes equivalent to sneakers, the hairpins seen earlier, and some ribbon. She left the hiking gear and all of her Naxorian clothes behind in the 200s.]
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-02 03:18 am (UTC)"That's fine. It makes a claim of both your loyalty to the rebellion." The rebellion logo and its inexplicable feathers.
"All right. How about this: wear your jacket, one of your tanks or a new shirt we can have fabbed in your dimensions. Have a pin to match his, and... maybe a black hat, to match?" She eyes the disreputable object on Sasha's head as if expecting that specific instance to be required, for Naxorian reasons.
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-02 12:55 pm (UTC)"We can print a new shirt. And a new hat, for that matter. Just as long as my hair is covered."
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-08 02:48 am (UTC)"Oh, good." There's some real relief there. "Then, it's pretty simple from there, no? Now - are you trying to bring in concealed weaponry?" The way she's phrased it, that's barely even a question. The more interesting query is /what./
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-08 01:49 pm (UTC)"I have the entire grid," Sasha says, with the slow grin that means, Are you going to tell me that's not enough?
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-10 01:24 am (UTC)A hand flutters out to retrieve her tablet. "Here-" She has a fashion program, well beyond what a standard fabricator offers. "Let it have your measurements from the grid, and if you see a style you like..." Her voice is gleeful, this being clearly a favorite game.
The software has a maquette that will reconfigure if Sasha gives it permission. A selection of filters is available: symmetry, range of motion, hidden pockets or other features, internal armor options, levels of decoration, and more.
[Let me know if I shouldn't give Reshad any of that! *Lol* but pseudomilitary fashion software seemed like it'd fit.]
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-11 01:51 am (UTC)Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-13 09:16 pm (UTC)It's tempting to suggest something absurd just to watch the reaction. Reshad quashes the urge to pick something truly inappropriate, and dials it down to three.
Simple trousers on all three maquettes, in a style Sasha's already familiar with, no fluttering ties, cutouts, or particularly interesting leg shapes. No glitter; she picks the same matte fabrics she favors, herself. One has a shirt patterned with feathers, the second a simple charcoal grey, and the third, a subtle vertical stripe. The jackets are likewise similar, a versatile, simple cut.
"Would you favor it, did I work clock hands or feathers into my own decorations?"
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-14 01:06 am (UTC)She picks the middle shirt, the plainest one. She would like more pockets, but those can be added to the jacket without changing the line.
Re: a day or two later - paging Reshad
Date: 2020-01-14 06:46 pm (UTC)"Then, I shall." As simple as that. She refrains from pulling out a pin right now; in all likelihood, she'll need to print something appropriate.
A flick across the tablet's screen sends the specifications to the grid. "Your new outfit should be available for anything else it needs."
[It didn't make it into the first description in that thread, but Reshad will indeed wear a black feather tucked into her other ornaments at the party.]