forbarrayar | [ february ii log ]

Entry tags:

[ february ii log ]

Who: Everyone
What: Traitors exposed, celebrations had, sleight hands passing cards under the table. And so begin the preparations for what is soon to come.
When: February 18th - 28th
Where: Barrayaran camp / Cetagandan base
Warnings: Torture (interrogations thread)

Quick links:
Riverfall
Barrayar: Barrayaran camp / Party / Missions
Cetaganda: Cetagandan base / Moon-poetry party / Missions

The harsh weather rages on, which temperatures still averaging far below freezing, and the wind is still strong. But things are a little less dire for the outsiders, and for the exotics -- well, they have their own chills to deal with.

riverfall
Riverfall village is your typical Dendarii mountain village, which means it's small, humble, and mostly poor. This is the most rural of the rural around here, a little backwater even by Barrayaran standards. Most of the villagers live in houses of wood and stone built themselves or by ancestors. Despite the cold, there are plenty of people outside at any given time -- working, mostly, because the daily grind stops for no one, but even the occasional group of children taken over by fits of cabin fever. The village is built up against a rocky mountain face, from the top of which the eponymous waterfall flows into the river that borders the west edge of the village and continues down the mountain. The place isn't exactly hidden, but if you don't know your way around, it'd be hard to find without a native guide.

The villagers are wary of the outsiders at first, even more than the soldiers had been -- the rural Dendarii are as superstitious as they come -- but, slowly convinced of their good intentions, start to warm to them. They're a blunt, hardy people, largely uneducated and tending toward the most extreme of Barrayaran sensibilities, but they are undeniably fierce. The General Count trusts them, so they'll be more or less civil (by Barrayaran standards, anyway), but you might catch the occasional scrutinizing, watchful stare. With Cetagandans in camp and exotics among them, they border on hostile, especially those who are visibly nonhuman. They keep their heads down enough to keep from getting into trouble with the soldiers, but they do not like you at all.

Not everyone in Riverfall speaks English -- Russian is everyone's first language, and only about half the village has any passable command of English. Thankfully, the village's Speaker Yakiv Gura speaks English, if heavily accented. They're clearly stretching to the limit to help the camp, but to the Dendarii, there's no higher act than one in the Count's service, especially when it comes to fighting this war.

barrayar
Even after scoring themselves a little extra food, morale in the camp is at an all-time low. The miserably dangerous weather hasn't let up, food is still heavily rationed, and everyone is still at least a little tired, cold, and hungry all of the time. It doesn't help that they've lost a few soldiers in the last couple of weeks, and in Riverfall, too, some villagers have died of the cold despite their relative warmth and safety, mostly children. This is hardly the first harsh winter they've faced, but that doesn't stop the inexorable loss that comes with it. Some villagers may be somberly putting their loved ones to rest in the village graveyard when the outsiders are in town.

But Piotr finally calls Negri out as a spy sent by his aide-de-camp Captain Ezar Vorbarra, partly to deliver a message and partly to test Piotr, because Ezar loves coy bullshit. However, he does learn that both Ezar and Prince Xav Vorbarra, Olivia and Sonia's father, are en route to Vorkosigan's District with relief supplies from Beta Colony secured by Xav's ambassadorial connections and tireless lobbying. Once Piotr judges it safe to release this information, it bring with it a bit of hope -- and to seal the deal, Piotr and Olivia arrange a celebration of sorts in the village.

Finally outing the ring of reason in the camp helps to bolster morale, too. Vorhalas is interrogated, and the names of his co-conspirators are revealed: Lieutenant Boris Vortala, who killed himself in disgrace shortly after his fast-penta interrogation at ghem-General Zefyst's hand, and their commander Captain Aaron Vorbataille. Vorbataille has, of course, already started to make his escape -- but with the help out of the outsiders, he won't get very far. Once Piotr is satisfied with Vorbataille's interrogation as well, both men are put to execution, but not by beheading as Doctor ghem-Miko: the sentence for treason is death by public starvation and exposure, and in this weather, it doesn't take long. They are publicly and emphatically denounced as traitors with no honor to speak of, sending a very clear message. Although this might seem like a gruesome sight to the outsiders, to the Barrayarans this is simply how it goes, and very few of them are sorry to see these traitors suffer, particularly as Vorhalas was the one responsible for their food shortage in the first place.

Reports from those soldiers and outsiders who were in the village at the same time as the Cetagandan field science team present the General Count with another troubling problem, however: the implications of the Cetagandans building a device that could control this phenomenon are terrifying, particularly to this threadbare resistance movement. But sabotage seems hardly a worthy solution, either. This is the only lead they have on sending the outsiders home, and so many of them have already put their lives on the line for the cause of a planet that otherwise nothing to most of them. There would be no honor in robbing them of their only chance to return home. But whether they should continue to allow the Cetagandans to proceed with their research or try to find a way to copy their plans themselves, a dubiously possible venture at best, weighs heavily on his mind. It only complicates his strategic concerns further, but by his military orders in the next couple of weeks, at least one thing is clear: he wants Cetagandan bodies.

camp
Morale is critically low among the soldiers, particularly after a few casualties during a recent skirmish with a Cetagandan patrol, but spirits definitely begin to lift with news of relief. The soldiers are now more or less accustomed to the outsiders' place in the camp, and they're even starting to become a little friendlier toward them, particularly those who've been involved in the war effort. They might invite outsiders to play card or dice games with them, or share a conversation over an admittedly meager meal, or better still, bond with them in the true Barrarayan form: over a lot of alcohol.

Negri has more or less built himself a niche in the camp, and doesn't look like he's going anywhere any time soon. But he isn't the only spy around. They desperately need a man on the inside, particularly with the troubling news about the wormhole device, and right now, that man is Byerly Vorrutyer. Starting next month, Piotr is sending him on assignment to infiltrate the Cetagandan base under the cover of a cowardly collaborator.

party
By the time they have the party on the 21st, the villagers have warmed up to the outsiders a little, but they don't really bond until the party. With what little they have to share, they scrape together as much of a feast as they can: not much, but by this month's standards, any hot meal prepared with fresh ingredients seems absolutely decadent. And because this is Barrayar there is, of course, plenty of liquor, that Barrayaran moonshine maple mead not the least among them, and there's no shortage of wine or vodka, either.

The hillfolk light lanterns all around the village and raise large tarps to cover the open center of the village where they usually hold gatherings. Inside, protected from the wind and lit by the bonfire and braziers placed around the perimeter, it's actually almost warm. Every villager who's ever laid hand to an instrument seems to gather there to play music all night long, an energetic mix of lively folk music and raucous drinking songs. Anyone with any musical talent would be welcome to join them as well. There's plenty of dancing, too, very little of it formal or complicated, but everyone's having a good time for the first time in weeks, maybe months, and the mood is infectious. By the end of the night, morale seems to have risen overall, and people in camp have something real to look forward to. The partygoing visitors are put up in warmed tents within the tarped village center or in the villagers' homes where they have room. Come morning, they'll head back, but for just one night, it's almost like there isn't even a war on.

missions
Outsiders have been assisting with moving supplies between the camp and Riverfall all throught he rest of the month, and it mostly goes smoothly. Vorbataille is caught on the 20th, although he and Vorhalas aren't publicly executed until a few days later, when Piotr is satisfied with the intelligence he's extracted. By the time he gets Vorbataille's name out of Vorhalas, the traitorous Captain has already fled -- but thanks to Carolina, Duv and Zarya, he's dragged back to camp for his interrogation.

That evening, Maine and William have the misfortune of encountering a dragon -- Darkstalker is on a mission with a Cetagandan patrol, and they run right smack into each other. A fight breaks out, but ultimately Darkstalker and the Cetagandans come out on top, and the outsiders and Barrayarans are forced to retreat -- but not before managing to kill a Cetagandan soldier or two, just barely escaping with one of the bodies.

Miles finds himself in a terrible position when a guard patrol shift goes horribly wrong in a skirmish against some Cetagandans, resulting in the death of their squad leader and a very ugly aftermath.

Zarya, William, Beth and Miles are in Riverfall with some Barrayaran soldiers on a supply run when a Cetagandan field science team arrives with a few exotics in tow. This is a rare chance to learn more about the Cetagandans' scientific exploits, and among other things, they find out that whatever it is that brought them here, the Cetagandan scientists are convincede it has something to do with the wormhole that collapsed 700 years ago.

The unabridged mission writeup is here.

cetaganda
The Cetagandans are a notoriously tight-lipped bunch, but they're blowing away most of the smoke surrounding their wormhole science research. As has been alluded, they're currently working on a device to harness the phenomenon that brought all the exotics here in the first place, and hopefully find a way to send them all home with it. They invite any exotics with scientific expertise to a series of interviews about neurology, astrophysics, and mechanical engineering. None of the advisement they receive helps to solve one of their most critical problems -- that of generating a Necklin field to match the one that must have surrounded each exotic -- but it certainly puts them closer to their goal, particularly in the area of neurology, and they're hardly going to stop there. But it's clear that the mathematicians and astrophysicists on base don't have sufficient expertise to solve the most complex equations before them. But on the brighter side of things, in the interest of this scientific exchange, they're letting the lab techs help a little more beyond just grunt work.

Meanwhile, the genetics project that seems so strange and arcane to the exotic carries on, largely behind the scenes, although Diya is increasingly at odds with her husband and even some of her senior staff, particularly the precocious Amai ghem-Soren. But there is very real purpose behind it -- and far more than just one -- and Diya d'Zefyst is a woman of great ambition. And more than anything else, she is haut.

Unfortunately, the relative peace on base is abruptly broken when Daryl, Lakshmi and Wash all manage to escape in a wild breakout attempt on the 25th. York and Ratchet are left behind, and as a result, some of their privileges revoked. They're now being watched a little more closely as a result.

base
Overall, despite simmering tensions under the surface and the miserable weather, life on base seems to be going more or less smoothly around them. The Cetagandans have had some recent victories against the Barrayarans, so morale is high. Unfortunately, after the breakout they begin cracking down on security with the exotics -- going back to treating the exotics a little more like they did when they first arrived. They aren't under guard, but after the 25th, they are being watched.

They still maintain that insistent veneer of civility, however, breaking only in cases where they feel the need or security risk is significant enough. The ghem on base remain overall cordial and courteous to the exotics as they ever were, which is to say considerably and always with a touch of smug superiority. With her success at the party earlier this month followed by her performance in the moon-poetry garden, the often-sequestered Amai ghem-Soren is seen more around the base.

moon-poetry party
The moon-poetry party is about three hours long and steeped in ceremony, each participant taking their turn to recite. This is, apparently, not a recitation of one's own work, but rather selections of classical Cetagandan poems, and in so referencing something culturally ubiquitous, each makes a statement in its mere selection and juxtapositions. If you pay close enough attention, you might notice that each participant has very subtly coordinated their outfits to further complement the theme of their recitation. Although there is a definite dignity to the party, it doesn't take much to pick up on the fact that this is yet another arena ghem use to try and socially one-up one another. Among the participants are both the Chief Medical Officer Colonel Faro ghem-Naru and Doctor Amai ghem-Soren, whose performance was especially well-received, the theme apparently being something about subtle passions.

missions
The science interviews with the exotics go more or less well, although not quite so hopeful as the Cetagandans were hoping. They do, however, learn some things about FTL travel in other worlds as well as other kinds of neural implants.

On the evening of the 21st, York, Natasha and Kaidan accidentally bear witness to what is clearly some kind of travesty: clearly a human being, but both overgrown and underdeveloped, and exhibiting powers of hydrokinesis and psychic empathy, referred to only as a ba.

On the 23rd, Jasper, Lapis, Pearl and Darkstalker accompany some soldiers and a field science team to Riverfall village, coinciding with a visit from some outsiders and soldiers. They encounter some outsiders while there but also pick up a bit on what it is the Cetagandans are doing -- that the Necklin field problem still remains their biggest problem, and they've been getting conflicting orders from the higher ups lately.

The unabridged mission writeup is here.

Note: Negri and Zahal are available for threads by request only this round. Please hit up Madi or Ammay respectively if you want threads with either of those NPCs. You can also request a thread with Village Speaker Yakiv Gura if you want, in which case hit up Madi.

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And Sonia's just Vor enough to mutter, "I know," in response, but she just tucks herself closer against him, heaving a sigh. She thought maybe telling Byerly this would lift some great weight off her chest, but it hasn't. He's just someone who knows. Maybe that's enough.

She shakes her head in response, her voice slightly muffled. "No. Only by Olivia's grace, and...my father's, I suppose. But I ruined that man, Byerly." She squeezes her eyes shut. "And then they sent us back to Vorkosigan's District, ostensibly because Vorbarra's District wasn't safe enough for us anymore. But I know that's not the only reason. I was just causing too much trouble, Uncle Yuri said. He thought I ought to marry Lord Vorbataille. Said that at least -- " A bitter snarl creeps into her voice, and she shakes slightly against Byerly. "If I had any children, they'd at least know who the father was."

Yuri. Uncle Yuri. Uncle Yuri, who one day will send assassins after this girl in his arms, against her sister. Against their children. Unconsciously, his grip tightens, squeezing her close, as though the embrace of his arms can save her from that future.

If I killed him... He wonders. High treason, that would be. Exposure and starvation. But if I killed him...

That's...for later. That is something for later, once the Cetagandans are taken care of. Sonia and Olivia need to survive this war to be able to even be at risk from their piece of shit mad uncle, after all. He speaks with flat practicality. "He's an idiot," By responds flatly. He pulls back just a bit to confirm, "You grew up on Beta. You have a contraceptive implant, don't you?"

Then he shakes his head and reaches out to push a lock of hair from her face. "Look. My dearest. Let me speak to you frankly, as a man," he says. "I know the propaganda is that we're all victims of our own cocks. Controlled by them. Enslaved to them. But that's a great lot of rot. If Vorbataille slept with you, it's because he wanted to sleep with you, not because you victimized him. And if he went on to disgrace himself by chattering about it, then he's a damned idiot. He's not a good man. He's a dim man. And frankly, someone that incredibly stupid has no place in Vorbarr Sultana. Thank God you had him banished from the Emperor's confidences. Good lord."

Sonia nods in response to his question, brow knit, because she knows it's not a problem or else even she wouldn't be irresponsible enough to keep picking up soldiers. That had made it sting even worse, somehow. But then, everything Yuri ever said to her stung just a little.

He brushes the hair from her face and she holds his gaze with red-rimmed eyes, still wet with tears. It's not as though she's forgotten what it was like to live in a place without such ridiculous sexual double standards, but when it's all you have, when you're entrenched in them... Aside from her sister, Sonia's never heard this from a Barrayaran, let alone a Barrayaran man. She hiccups and then quite abruptly bursts into tears again, pressing her face to Byerly's shoulder, but this time, at least, there's something less horribly devastated about it.

"I've never had an honest fuck in my life," Sonia mumbles into Byerly's coat. Surprisingly enough, she doesn't curse often, but she's drunk and this is -- a hell of a something. She sniffles again. "I'm sorry I tried to kiss you."

Somehow, in the midst of her story, he's forgotten his own misery and impending guilt. Right now, all that matters is her. And so he actually laughs - not at her, but sympathetically, warmly. He kisses the crown of her head tenderly, and strokes her hair, saying -

"Don't be sorry. Sonia, I only said no because I'm sparing you more of the same. I'm not an honest fuck. I am, by very definition, a dishonest fuck."

He wraps his arms around her and snuggles her in tightly against him, letting her cry herself out. After a moment, when it seems like her sobs are dying down a bit, he asks, "There's really never been anyone? Not even on Beta?"

"That isn't what I meant," Sonia mutters, almost managing to sound sullen, but she lets it drop, because right now, she just wants the comfort. Being held like this is almost as much of a novelty. No one else does save for her sister, and not as much these days, not as often now that she's no longer a little girl. Being held like this is even rarer than the occasional tryst, so much more of a novelty, and God -- is this what she really needed? She knows what she wanted. But maybe -- maybe Byerly is right, that it's better this way. She'd rather have this, if she can have it again.

She shakes her head against him, arms wrapped tight around his middle, curling in as close as she can. "I'd only just gotten my contraceptive implant before we left Beta. We'd spend half a year, maybe a whole year at a time here, but our schooling was mostly on Beta Colony. Olivia and I went ahead with Da -- Evgeny had something to finish at school, and he and Mama would follow..."

She trails off. It feels so strange to talk about family she hasn't seen in ten years, calling her mother Mama like she's still a child. She breathes out a slow breath. "I was only thirteen when it started. No time at all. I didn't meet...anyone until I was fifteen."

He hums thoughtfully. Ah, yes. That...would be troubling, wouldn't it? Growing up amongst the Betan norms of free-love-and-freedom - and then being unable to partake of them. How altogether maddening.

"And?" he prompts. Somehow, this miserable is actually safer territory than what had gone before. Imagine that. "Who was that someone?"

Yes, maddening indeed. Sonia won't admit it out loud, especially since her sister is happily married off to the most Vor Vor she's ever met, but she is, at times, ferociously jealous of the teenage years Olivia got to spend on Beta. Dating, experimenting. She lets out a huff.

"No one at all." Her words are still muffled, still a little thick, but audible enough. She doesn't want to move just now. "It was just before we left Vorkosigan's District the first time. We'd just gotten reinforcements from one of the neighboring districts. A whole battalion joining us up in the mountains, scattered about, but close enough. There was a bit of a party one night, after some little victory. I was getting good at dodging Gavalas by then, and I think he let me get away with it sometimes, bless that man... I found a little group of them, the soldiers, all drinking, mostly already drunk. And hardly a woman in sight... They took me for a hill girl, and that suited me just fine. No one had ever looked at me without reservation before, not like that. I picked out the prettiest one and asked him to dance. And so we did. Very privately." She shrugs slightly against him. "It was alright. I don't remember his name. Ilya, or Ivan, or something."

Byerly gives a little laugh. "They're all named Ilya or Ivan or something," he says rather fondly. And you'll have a weakness for the name Ivan, dear lady...

He pets her hair a moment longer, and then offers his own story in turn. "My first," he says, "was a Vor. I shan't say her name, because dignity and honor are of course at stake, and because I'm a damn sight smarter than Vorbataille. Twit. But I was fumbling and awkward and completely unsatisfactory. It was her first time, too, and I think we each gave each other the mistaken impression that sex is terrible, awkward, and worthless. I, at least, recovered. I hope dearly she has as well."

Sonia breathes out a quiet laugh at that, relaxing by fractions as Byerly holds her, pets her hair. All the crying was so damn exhausting, and it's an enormous relief to just...sit here like this.

"I hope so. That would be a terrible fate indeed." Sonia turns her head, resting her cheek against his shoulder rather than burying her face in his coat. "But that is always the way it goes, isn't it? Or so I hear. It was awkward as hell, and -- outdoors, too." She makes a face that Byerly can't see, but can easily hear in her voice. "But I was fifteen and didn't really care. I didn't have friends save for my sister, and Barrayar's never heard of the word dating."

She sighs, though not altogether miserably. "One of these days... God, I hope I don't have to wait until this war is over to get a decent lay."

"Well," he says, a little slowly. "Don't...idealize sex too much. Yes, there is a bit more pleasantness in being able to have sex under your true name, with someone who knows who you are. But it's still - well. A fundamentally dishonest process. You suck in your gut and turn off the lights and try to make the right noises to please the other person, to make sure they don't turn on you. So do not misapprehend and think that a decent lay will be a magical lay."

He hesitates, then shrugs. His hand comes up to her face, stroking her cheek softly. "Though to be fair - again. As you said. I'm not exactly good at honesty. Perhaps a true-hearted person like yourself will have a better go of it."

That actually pulls an unexpected laugh out of her, her face brightening for the first time since...well.

"'Don't idealize sex too much' - Byerly Vorrutyer. Can I quote you on that?" She actually smiles, just small and soft, and her eyes are still red-rimmed, her nose still a little stuffy, but that little smile transforms her face entirely.

"You could be better at it with a little practice," Sonia says, knowing he'll reject the idea out of hand. She rests her cheek against his hand, sighing softly. "Then I shall do my best to reap the pearls of wisdom from your senescent shell, dear Byerly."

"Ah," he says, a miserable little smile plucking at the corners of his mouth. He turns his face away to hide it. No. No, I won't be practicing it...And I won't be around you to drop any pearls of any sort.

"I wouldn't even know where to start," he says. "Practicing, I mean. I suspect it'll be like practicing the piano for someone who never learned to play - if you don't have the basic skill, you can't train yourself up, can you?" He strokes her cheek with his thumb. "It's all right. I do all right as I am, I think."

And there it is. But Sonia thinks she's had enough unrealistic expectations of Byerly tonight. Perhaps she ought to give the poor man a little slack. She smiles slightly even as he turns his head away.

"You do." She reaches up to touch his face, just three fingers over her cheek before she drops her hand. "Better than you think, even."

"Oh, don't say that," he says, his voice going light with irony. "You haven't the faintest idea of how truly, deeply egotistical I am. No one loves Byerly more than Byerly."

Which is not, perhaps, saying so much. Ah, well.

He's quiet a moment, then says, "Sonia...The war will end. Have faith. It will end, and you will be...all right."

"Mm. Yes, I'm sure all this chaste cuddling is doing wonders for your ego. But everyone gets their kicks somewhere, I suppose."

Her voice creaks a little, still weak from crying, but teasing him even slightly -- that's a good sign. Her expression softens, watching him, and she just blinks, not quite sure how to react to that. That was nothing but honest, and...something else. She raises one eyebrow, letting one corner of her mouth tug up slightly.

"Ah, suddenly blessed with clairvoyance now?" she says lightly, but she lets out a sigh, pressing her forehead to Byerly's shoulder.

"I know. It must eventually." She shakes away the inevitable lurking thought of that doesn't mean we'll win and closes her eyes. "I'm trying. I'm just...a little tired."

"And all the talking in the world cannot cure exhaustion," he allows, sighing. "All the pearls of wisdom cannot buy more energy." He pets her head, stroking lightly down her hair. "Nothing to be done but to rest."

He's quiet a moment, thinking about how much worse it's about to get. How much more exhausting her life is about to become. How this is the best she's going to feel for...a very long time.

"We could sleep a while," he offers. "Together."

Sonia feels, very suddenly, so small in Byerly's arms. But it isn't bad. She just feels...comforted, and God, how she's been starved for comfort.

She hiccups and nods, looking especially weary now, strings cut, limbs slack. "I'd...like to get back to the party at some point," she says slowly, rubbing at one still-damp cheek. "But...I don't want to go just yet. And I'd like it if you stayed."

I'd like to stay, too. It's a strange thing, isn't it? To care this much. He has held many women, many men, just like this - well, not just like this, generally there were fewer tears - and never has he felt this wrenching, disconcerting sense of contentment. He has never permitted himself to indulge in this much emotion, in this much idiotic fondness. And of all the places to do so, why here - why now - in a war zone, with a girl who is doomed to other things, another life...But he does want to stay. He wants to...ward off the inevitability of this hurt.

"Then let's lay down," he says quietly. "For a bit." And then he takes her hand, and extricates himself to lead her to the bed - chastely, pulling back the blankets so they can snuggle under them. Snatching at a bit of real warmth. "And you should tell me all about your happiest moments." What makes her happiest? Yes - "Tell me about your sister."

This isn't where Sonia had thought tonight would go, nor where she hoped, but right now, she couldn't wish for anything else. She smiles tiredly as Byerly takes her by the hand, and she wriggles under the covers without hesitation, curling up against Byerly as soon as he joins her. She draws in a deep, slow breath and lets it out, her cheek pressed against Byerly's shoulder. She smiles a little, feeling warm all over, truly warm, not just from the wine or the blankets.

"Happiest moments. Mm." She thinks about that for a moment in the quiet between her breaths and his. She can tell the happier end of that uncomfortable business with Lord Vorbataille, the part that made it worth it. "When she got married to Piotr...ha. We arrived here just a week ahead of Da, and Olivia didn't want to miss her chance. We had the groats, and witnesses -- Cousin Ezar and one of Piotr's officers for him, and me for Olivia, and I made Armsman Gavalas stand in, too..." She smiles, actually smiles. "I have pictures of them together. Happy. Only time I've ever caught Count Piotr smiling on camera."

He laughs, wrapping his arms around her and snuggling in close. "Hard to imagine," he says. He hesitates, and then - with a mixture of curiosity and genuine self-interest - asks, "Why on earth did she fall in love with him, anyway? I hope you'll not take offense, but I find the man to be...Well. Olivia is a serious sort, but that doesn't seem enough for a relationship. How did it all begin?"

Sonia smothers a laugh against Byerly's shoulder. "Beats me. I think it has something to do with how incredibly Vor they both are. Is there such a thing as Vorsexual?"

She breathes in deep again. Byerly smells like...comfort. Almost like home. "I think it happened very quickly for her, but I had to beat her over the head with it a little nit before she truly realized it. I never really liked Count Piotr much, and he wasn't particularly fond of me, either...but he was always good to us, and...well, over ten years he sort of grows on you."

She smiles wryly. "But they didn't get along at all when they first met, you know. Olivia was the first woman who ever really challenged him, and as I'm sure you've noticed, she doesn't back down easily."

Byerly laughs at that. "I've noticed," he says ruefully. "You can be quite certain that she took me aside to give me a grand speech about how if I'll hurt you, she'll hurt me. Or, well...less of a grand speech, more of a few well-placed looks and devastating words. But you get the idea."

Sonia makes a face. "Of course she did. That's always how she does it, you know -- at some point she learned to be intimidating just by not talking."

She tucks her chin against his shoulder and her voice turns slightly smug. "You made a really terrible first impression on her. Gave me a look when I first mentioned you. I said, of course you don't like him, he's not your kind of people."

"Ah," he says, his voice smug and amused, "so you've discussed me?"

He grins at the top of her head, then says, "In her defense, I completely mishandled our first encounter. I was entirely charmless. Of course, in my defense, I had no idea where I was or why I was there - suffering from the most grotesque confusion and displacement - so she might have been a bit gentler. Mistakes made on all sides. Ah, well. Truly, I am not her sort of people, nor - I will confess - she mine. I much prefer my friends vivacious and lively." He gives Sonia a little squeeze, just to demonstrate who he's referring to.

Sonia lets out a little laugh, her body slackening by fractions, finally starting to properly relax against Byerly.

"She probably wouldn't have, if it makes you feel any better. She's gotten that way. Not hard, just -- mm. Unmoving." Sometimes it's bizarre, thinking about who Olivia had used to be all those years ago, and who she is now. And Sonia, who's...hardly changed at all. She pulls her mind away from that, looking for another happy memory to focus on.

"I always loved coming here in the summer. Beta's sort of the same year round, but Barrayaran summers -- " She breathes in deep and lets out a satisfied hum. "I didn't see the ocean for the first time until I was five or so. Best summer of my life, I think."

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