OPEN | prompt three | PAIN

[wrens]

prompt three | P A I N dressing-room style. start your own thread. tag others. wash, rinse, repeat. open to all.

 

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[await]

Sometimes it's just called plain stubbornness.

[appoint]

[ Her mouth quirks briefly. A tease, draped in the trappings of a word of warning: ]

Not to my face, it isn't.

[await]

[ He recognizes the sentence for what it is, but still, he ducks his head. Lew isn't so stupid as to not recognize where the power lies, but he's smiling when he looks back up at Esther. ]

Note taken. I'll pass the memo on.

[appoint]

[ Sure, the writing's on the wall and has been for a man like Lewis Truman since the day he was born. But the two of them stopped operating at face value a long, long time ago. ]

Blind 'cc the other cabals while you're at it. [ She looks away when she smiles, as if somehow that will make it less sincere. ] They could use the update and I could use the slack.

[await]

[ It's funny, how relationships work. There's only so much that one is taught to expect out of life from birth, but, well. Sometimes things don't work out the way you expected them to. ]

Done. Anything else you want sent out? You know, "No birthday presents this year, please," or, "keep your petty arguments to yourselves," things like that.

[appoint]

[ Things hadn't worked out the way Esther had planned them to, that's for sure. She'd been perfectly happy minding the east side and the bridges, making sure that the boroughs stayed where they were and kept the worst of the violence off Halve Maen territory. She hadn't meant to be queen.

Turns out she was too damn good at the job. ]

I've got a whole laundry list. [ A beat. ] If you think they'd listen.

[ (They won't.) ]

[await]

[ Accordingly: ] Do they ever? You're determined, but at least you're reasonable, too.

[appoint]

[ She gives him a look, albeit mild, that makes it seem like he's just called her a dirty word. ]

They haven't decided yet whether that's a pro or a con.

[await]

[ He raises his hands in silent apology, shifting his weight on his feet. ]

Well, they're idiots.

[ Beat. ]

That's off the record, by the way.

[appoint]

[ Esther looks away, lets her mouth crook as she exhales and shakes her head. She gave up on sentiments like what am I going to do with you a long time ago. They both know what she intends to do with Lew. She intends to keep him. ]

And on the record?

[await]

[ He smiles, then, the expression a little smaller and less meant for a public front than it usually is. Lew perfected his for-the-camera persona a long time ago, and it's only Esther that ever gets to look behind that facade. ]

On the record, I'd be happy to offer them my opinion on the matter if they care to ask.