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[featherduster]

Comments

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[it's random splatter and not deliberate symbols, so almost certainly trauma blood.

but! inside is a child's bedroom of sorts, a little spare and without much decor, but otherwise fitting with the rest of the mansion's fancy build.

there is a five-year-old redheaded child sprawled on his stomach on the bed, reading a book. unlike the rest of this place, he's in full colour. he glances up when the door opens.]

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

[ OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ok calm down Minuet. It might be the brother just wait a second. ]

Oh...

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[that tiny unsmiling frown is DEFINITELY the brother he actually knows]

Who are you?

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

Me? Oh, I'm just--

[ HOW DOES HE EXPLAIN ]

Nobody special. [ nailed it ] Just a drifter who got himself a little lost, it looks like!

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[tiny Charon reacts with even more inborn scorn than 25-year-old Charon]

You don't 'get lost' in somebody's house.

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

[ Somehow it's more withering from the baby ]

No? Well I'm really in a pickle, then.

[ anyway ]

What're you reading?

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[he can see the baby mentally turning over if he'll get in trouble for answering that or not]

...something Grandfather wrote. Why?

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

Curiosity! I won't tell anyone if it's a secret.

[ Drops cross-legged in the middle of the floor ]

What was your grandfather writing about?

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

... ... ... ... ...

[mumbles]

Th'war.

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

The war? Just one?

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

The important one.

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

Is that why you're reading about it? 'Cause it's important?

Whole lotta kids your age wouldn't bother with history lessons.

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[draws himself up like a tiny puffy bird]

I'm not most kids. I'm a Silverberg.

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

[ Diligently commits this to memory ]

What's it mean to be a Silverberg?

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[pretend the real name was censored kdjfjfg i always fuck it up]

It means...being the smartest. And winning the wars. And...having secrets.

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

[ TRIES NOT TO LAUGH ]

Having secrets is a requirement, huh.

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[nodding solemnly]

The most. Um..."knowledge is power."

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

[ Fuckin nerd ]

It can certainly be an advantage, if you want to win a war. Are you planning to follow in your grandfather's footsteps?

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[nods HARDER]

Grandfather's...the best Silverberg who was ever on the field.

I'm gonna be better.

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

Do you think that will make you happy?

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[he puzzles over that one, in the way a five-year-old might, where they have no idea but also don't really think of it as something to really dissect or worry about in the moment]

I think so...?

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

[ MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ]

Well, if it turns out it doesn't, just remember you can always change the path you're walking.

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[he starts to answer that, but stops and goes pale, as the sound of footsteps starts up in the hall outside. holds up a finger to his mouth instead: shhhhhh]

Re: [night 61]

[featherduster]

[ CLAPS A HAND OVER HIS OWN MOUTH ]

Re: [night 61]

[endsjustified]

[they're a measured tread on the tiles, a light, deliberate walk. when they pass by the room, Minuet can only see darkness through the crack in the door.

but he gets a kind of psychic echo, either spillover from the child or a memory or both: sharp excitement mixed with bone-deep terror, a sense of wanting something forbidden even knowing it'll cause harm, a deep certainty with 'a trusted adult told me this in very certain terms' feeling behind it that if he so much as peers out into the hall to get a better look Something Terrible Will Happen]