View Single Post
Old 05-21-2021, 12:06 AM   #10 (permalink)
Felixir

Moderator
Book Club Mod

Alley Proprietor

MO & DoM
Banshee
 
Felixir's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 50,092

Hogwarts RPG Name:
Charlie Upstead
Gryffindor
Second Year

Hogwarts RPG Name:
Regulus Prince
Slytherin
Fourth Year

Ministry RPG Name:
Daxton Prince
Mysteries

Ministry RPG Name:
Nikolai Kaiser
Minister's Office

Diagon Alley Employee:
Ezekiel Ransom-Kruus
Ollivanders
x12 x12
Default
Lovely™ | Captain Hurted | Ariana's Bane | Resident Antagonist | Unparalleled Delight

There was a long pause; Nem didn't speak. For at least an entire minute, they only stared at Trent. Not because they were waiting for anything else, or because they didn't know what to say, not exactly. But the Headsman was playing the game now, Nem had suspected it in that morning's lesson; he was working an angle, and they needed to know what it was if they were going to proceed. And of course they were going to proceed.

When Nem did answer, they conceded at once. "Two then." Like it mattered. Maybe it would have been better to ostensibly bargain a little more in the name of letting the Headsman think he'd won something, but sometimes it was just too tempting to quickly back down when they thought people expected a fight. Genuine protracted arguments did not tend to be their thing in any case, which was easy when there was nothing they were that invested in, and could always find other ways to get whatever they actually wanted.

As for this business about addressing the boredom, that was not only highly unlikely, but another funny parallel to the Big Man's response. If Nem was not still trying to get the measure of post-war Trent, they might have innocently pointed that out, just for a reaction. Just for fun. As it was...

"How?" Address the boredom how? And, they had to know... if not the truth, which they doubted would be handed to them anyway, then at least the alleged reason, "And why? What's really in it for you if I stay?" What 'guilt' would that supposedly absolve, and how? Why wasn't he jumping at the chance to get rid? To keep an eye on them? They didn't see how he'd think it was worth it.

Nem liked to think they understood people, knew all that there was to know, and it wasn't like they hadn't procured an awful lot of knowledge on the subject from years of observation and research. Sometimes, though... sometimes the gaps in their understanding were closer to chasms, and trying and failing to bridge their way across often left them bewildered. It was tempting to use what Rosier had taught them in this situation, just to see and understand. But Nem's ability was still a little clumsier than they would have liked, and they were still working on improving the stealth factor; surely Trent knew enough to sense it, maybe even block it. Better to wait until they deemed it necessary. For now, they studied the Headsman carefully.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You?

You are Chocolate!
Felixir is offline