Quoted By:
>Nope out
Do you have the time to head all the way back to town and still keep your Headspace appointment? Probably? If all you have to do is negotiate with the Courtiers, you can do that in a jiff and leave while Monty does the boring talking.
Of course, all of that hinges on you wanting to be alone with Monty, to <span class="mu-i">help</span> Monty, who— let it be repeated— <span class="mu-i">strangled</span> you, and magycked you with his spooky arm, and refused to apologize for any of it. And who is still acting coldly and rudely to you, <span class="mu-i">who has done nothing at all to him.</span> When he's the one who called you in!
You cross your arms. "No thanks."
"..." Monty furrows his brow. "...No thanks?"
"I'm not interested. <span class="mu-i">And</span> I'm busy. So— so there."
There's a small silence. "And what happened to the, er, eight winds?"
What? "What eight winds?"
"The ones you..." He pinches his temples. "No. Nevermind."
A longer silence. You clear your throat. "Ahem. I will be taking my leave now."
"You'll be taking your leave."
"Uh..." Monty was watching before, not staring: <span class="mu-i">now</span> he's staring. You can't read his expression at all, except that his face is kind of twisted up. "...Indeed. I will, henceforce, leave this vicinity, and you really ought to be grateful I heard your dumb offer out, by the way, so—"
He covers his forehead with his hand so you can't see his eyes, and you move your hand toward The Sword in case this is the precursor for an attack. You keep it there even as his shoulders shake: he is laughing, dryly.
"Oh, shit," Eloise says.
And then he stops, though he's still half-smiling. It's an odd look on him. "Well, I can't stop you, can I? You have every right and ability to do as you like. I can't stop you, or keep you here, or... exert any influence at all, when you get down to it."
"Um, yes." You shift.
"So go. You too, Eloise. I think we've exhausted the limits of this conversation. I'll... figure out another option for the Madrigal situation, I suppose, or just go. Captivity might do me some good." He props his chin on his elbow. "Though Charlotte."
You freeze. (You'd begun slinking toward the door) "Yeah?"
"I would like to have a personal chat later. When's a time that would work for you?"
"Chatting" with him is the last thing you want to do these days, so you have no idea why you respond. Maybe you felt like declining an on-edge Monty twice in 4 minutes would be risky, even by your tastes. Maybe you were just caught off-guard. "Uh... early evening?" (The Headspace thing won't last that long, right?)
"Fantastic. I'll find you." (Damnit.) "Have a good rest of your day, Charlotte. Eloise."
"You too," Eloise says loudly, and puts an unexpected hand on your shoulder. You flinch and squirm as she undoes the door-tie knot one-handed and steers you out into the sunshine.
«What was that.»
"What the shit was that?" Eloise is unsmiling. "I'm not kidding."
(1/4)
