(no subject)

[dendarii]

WHO: Miles, Gregor - you're also welcome to catch Miles while he's wandering, but this is primarily for the Vor lords to find each other.
WHERE: Heropa, then De Chima
WHEN: Just previous to start of Pan plot
WHAT: Miles and Gregor find each other - and figure out what those weird headaches are all about.
WARNINGS: Probably none?

[ Miles has had a little time to figure out what's going on here - run into some interesting people in Heropa, figured out his comm, managed to both break his wrist and have it tended to. But what he can't figure out is this damn headache plaguing the back of his mind, like a strange pressure weighing down his thoughts. Nothing in his pamphlet had listed anything that looked like it was remotely close from a power perspective - though, admittedly, the description for each had been hilariously short.

In the end he finds himself pacing aimlessly along one of the boardwalks, not ready to go seek out his assigned dwelling but not much wanting to do anything else either. His mind is a frenetic whirl as digests everything he's heard and learned today.

And beneath it all, a sharp pang of homesickness. ]

Comments

(backdated to right after the first Tex & Miles thread)

[vorbarra]

[It really had been a wild ride on Gregor's side of the link, Miles's meeting with Tex. He'd been expecting something, given that he knows Miles's type (he does know Elena Bothari) and that they were going to look at a new kind of powered armor, but the sheer gamut of emotions Miles had run through was at first surprising and then obliquely fascinating.

When he gets home, Gregor is sitting calmly at their dining table pouring over a book - Coleridge, on Dorian's suggestion, now taken reluctantly - which he immediately bookmarks and closes on Miles's entrance.]

I take it it went well. [Debrief him, please. Post-action assessment.]

[dendarii]

[ He'd walked home too, to give his thoughts some time to work themselves out a little. Restaurant options and plans - strategies for approaching these restaurants, both from a financial and atmosphere perspective - and some wild mass guessing about what Tex might like. Something plain? She hadn't wanted high class. But Miles has to make this special, has to make this count. He hasn't dated since his last failed relationship on Beta Colony, hadn't fallen for anyone since ... er ... more recently.

He pushes aside the fact that he's juggling a couple different crushes at the same time here, focusing on the one that asked him out. By the time he gets home, Miles is still bubbling over, but it's more of a rolling simmer than a raging boil. And pleased, ever so pleased. Miles Vorkosigan, asked out by a badass mercenary woman in a truly glorious set of combat armor. He could just about swoon.

Debriefing will work too. He's grinning ear-to-ear as he comes over to sit at the table next to his Emperor. ]

Oh, exceptionally well. Her armor was breathtaking. [ And the rest of her too. ] And better than that, she asked me out on a date. [ Maybe a little swooning, at least mentally. The thought of someone - anyone - wanting him is a balm to all of his anxieties. And the opposite, well ... devastating. ]

[vorbarra]

[Miles, you're not subtle in the least. Gregor doesn't even need the link to see what's going through your head on this one.]

Ah. [That does explain it. Gregor's eyebrows shoot up.] She asked you? Not the arrangement of events I was expecting.

[Which is not a sexist comment, just a comment on the likelihood of anyone beating Miles to the punch on anything.]

[dendarii]

[ He'd be be kind of radiant with glee even without it; the link just makes it louder. ]

Er - well, she offered dinner. I asked to make it a date, and she agreed. So a little of both, really.

[vorbarra]

[That makes more sense.]

Opportunistic, [he comments, but not like he disapproves.] So now you have to figure out where to take her? That might require reconnaissance.

[dendarii]

Just so. [ He grins, briefly, and gives a sarcastic bow. ] That is the part I'm drawing a blank on ... she doesn't appear to want anything too high class.

[ Poor Miles just wants to sweep her off her feet, whether she appreciates it or not. ]

[vorbarra]

She wouldn't. She'd probably like something private, too, [Gregor speculates, thinking back to his conversation with her. He decides to throw Miles a bone and offer a suggestion-- not that Gregor's every gone on any dates, probably even fewer than Miles, but he does have a wide array of experiences with social occasions.]

You could pack something and eat outdoors. The beach was nice.

[dendarii]

[ Oh, there's a thought. Wine, Russian food, some good old-fashioned recon to make sure they're completely alone - just like him and Gregor going out for a picnic, except romantic. ]

That's not a bad idea. You think she'd enjoy it more?

[vorbarra]

[Just like him and Gregor except romantic, indeed.]

Just a suspicion. She seems to enjoy her privacy; I'd feel much too on display to relax in a restaurant. And you'd get points for being unconventional. [Which he knows Miles likes.]

[dendarii]

[ He does indeed. Not that Miles can't use conventional romance to his advantage - he has such a soft spot for that too - but he'd rather be remembered, right now. ]

A shame I can't cook any of it for her. She'd end up with pasta and burnt eggs.

[vorbarra]

[At this point, someone else might say something about it being just a first date and how you shouldn't go over the top. Aside from such advice being likely to be completely lost on Miles, this is Gregor.

He contemplates this dilemma.] Get something interesting, then. Finger foods. Little cakes and cheeses. [Gregor finds himself oddly warmed by the thought of getting to plan a date for someone he actually wanted to date. Maybe he could actually use all of his Imperial resources for something good for once. Too bad he doesn't anticipate that happening this side of ever.]

[dendarii]

[ Is Tex a little cakes and cheeses kind of woman? He could find out. ]

And just bring enough variety in case she doesn't like any of the above?

[vorbarra]

[Of all people to receive advice from, Gregor is going to err on the side of too-romantic rather than not-enough.

He shrugs.] I suppose, though really, that's what the wine is for. The food is just an activity for your hands.

[dendarii]

If food is the best activity available for our hands we are doing it wrong.

[ He's joking. Mostly. ]

[vorbarra]

... You have been working on your shielding, right?

[dendarii]

[ He bursts out laughing at that. ]

Gregor, honestly, do you think I'm Ivan? I'll be good.

[vorbarra]

[A very dour look.]

You're smitten. It's going to be distracting.

[dendarii]

[ His (smitten) grin fades a bit at that. ]

... Ah. Sorry. I can tone it down. It's just - nice, to be trying this again.

[vorbarra]

[Damn, not what he'd meant at all. Gregor hadn't even known he had the capacity to be jealous like that, and doesn't like it. He snuffs it out in himself impatiently, as well as he can.]

No, I know it is, it's not... something I want you to tone down. It's just... [He shakes his head.] I feel like I'm spying on you when you're like that.

[dendarii]

[ Too late, the light has dimmed a bit. Miles now treading more carefully, trying not to hurt Gregor. He's thinking of Cavilo. ]

No, no, I understand. I'll be sure to close off if I want privacy. Fair?

[vorbarra]

[Oh, God, that's the last thing he needs, is to think of Cavilo right now. Mostly Gregor's just thinking about what an unappealing trait it is in a person, to be jealous of his friend's ability to find any trace of happiness when he's so patently unable to. At least not with someone else.]

Yes, alright. [He's gained a guilty frown.] I didn't mean to dampen you. I am pleased for you, Miles. [Even if it is very fast-- that's just the speed Miles moves at.]

[dendarii]

[ It's not Miles unless he's hurtling at the speed of sound, breaking himself and everyone in his path. Now he's flummoxed, trying to simultaneously quiet a bit without making Gregor any guiltier. ]

Of course you are. I know that. [ He hesitates. ] I just - er - we've both had a rocky time of it. I don't know if I'd have liked having someone in my face about a date at some points in my life either.

[vorbarra]

[This puts him on firmer ground. Gregor hates to think that he's dampened his enthusiasm but he knows also that feeling guilty is just going to make things worse in a nasty circumnavigating feedback loop, around and around. He cuts it all off at the chase.]

That's different. I have no intention of dating any time soon, [he says solidly, very much not inviting commentary on this topic.] It has been nice to feel you so excited. I just don't want to intrude; it's not my place.

[Surely Gregor's desire for privacy explains himself here, that he wouldn't want to infringe on someone else's.]

[dendarii]

[ It is very Gregor, but something tickles at the back of Miles' mind anyway. Something to log away for later or explore now? He considers, thoughtfully. ]

... Why not?

[ He means about the dating, not the intruding. ]

a retcon happened here /waves hands

[vorbarra]

[Why not?

There's absolutely no response Gregor can make here that doesn't reveal himself in some way. His side of the link goes dark and shadowy, oblique. Declining from letting anything concrete through. Shielding is one skill Gregor is picking up with alacrity.]

I don't want to date someone I'm lying to, [is what he ends up with, which is true. But he's back to sounding neutral, which is a sure sign he's hiding something.]