week three | dates

[marriagebroker]

Here we go again.

You all better kiss.

Comments

[crimsin]

[ Nico lingers behind for only a moment, if just so he can watch Aventurine, a warm little smile curving his lips. Oh, he's right. Aventurine really is darling.

He urges his horse forward in short order, trotting over to catch up. ]

The grounds seem to be quite large. We can take our time, non?

[gamboler]

[ Turning his attention away from his horse to offer Nico a nod: ]

They said there's a nice view of a waterfall near the edge of the property. Shall we see if we can find it?

[crimsin]

I think we shall.

[ Nico grins at him, expression warm. ]

While we go, will you tell me more about yourself? In the interest of our deal.

[ His tone is a little teasing, but his interest is genuine. ]

[gamboler]

[ Right, right. That's only fair, his tone turning a little wry. ]

But of course. I'm not one to renege on terms. [ A beat, as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind an ear. ] Is there...anything in particular you'd like to know?

[ Not a question he is easily able to offer up freely, but he's trying, for Nico. He could launch into the sanitized explanation of his work and his life that he's offered to some of the others, but if he wants this to turn out different, then he too needs to let it. ]

[crimsin]

This?

[ He says, motioning with his fingers to his own neck, tracing the place where Aventurine’s tattoo sits. It’s been a point of curiosity for him for a bit. ]

[gamboler]

[ ...Right. That. Nico hasn't asked about it, and so Aventurine surely saw no reason to volunteer information about it. Idly, his fingers lift to the mark on his neck, over the symbols that will remain burned into his skin forever.

...Okay. ]

...It doesn't come with a happy story, I'm afraid. [ But then again, few things in his life do. ] It's a number. A brand I earned after my people were gone, and I was...sold, by the men who found me.

[crimsin]

Oh, mon étoile. I am so sorry.

[ Though, the concept is nothing new to him. Humans are often treated like so much cattle back home, bought and sold and bartered like things. He's seen many who come from circumstances like Aventurine's.

That sort of life is never kind. ]

Are you... free, now?

[ If not, who does he need to hurt— ]

[gamboler]

[ ...Ha. What a question. He words his way around it, ever-conscious of the cameras that follow them. ]

I killed the man who bought me with my own two hands. Had to be done, I'm afraid — he didn't want to pay me back for my value.

[ A mere sixty copper coins. ]

[crimsin]

That is not something I would ever hold against you.

[ He glances at the camera crew, plodding along with them. That non-answer is pretty telling, and he makes a note to ask about it later. ]

And now? You are a businessman, oui?

[gamboler]

That's right. A strategist, consultant, negotiator — and notoriously difficult to work with, if you asked my coworkers. I'd rather just say I like to do things my own way.

[ Topaz aside, he tends to see things differently than most of the other Stonehearts, and even with her, she's reluctant to collaborate with him. He's unpredictable and cunning, and no one likes a volatile investment. ]

[crimsin]

It sounds as if you would do better as your own boss! Have you not thought about giving entrepreneurship a try?

[ He says it so lightly, no different than the way he asks anything else, but he is fishing for information. If Aventurine is reluctant to speak on it, then he can only imagine his employers are watching.

If you are not free, do you want to be? ]

[gamboler]

[ He can see the nature of the question implicit beneath the surface. Very clever...but how to answer it? ]

A solo venture, hm? If the right opportunity presented itself, I'd have to consider it...but my talents are so well-suited to the Strategic Investment Department. It'd be hard to say goodbye!

[ ...They didn't even kick him out after he shattered his Cornerstone. There's no way they'd let him simply walk. ]

[crimsin]

You have really found your niche, it seems. I am glad they could part with you this long, or we would not have met.

[ Genuinely, though he is awfully concerned for Aventurine's work situation now. It seems to him like he stumbled free of one sort of slavery only to land right in another. ]

[gamboler]

[ It's definitely not soul-crushing misery day-to-day! Ha...haha... ]

We have Lady Jade to thank for that. I wonder what will await me when I return? Haha, I can't wait to find out.

[ little does he know it's the holy grail war, apparently ]

And what about yourself, Nico? When you return...what will you do?

[crimsin]

[ Can't believe Aventurine is going to get to live out everyone's Fate/ AU fanfics. ]

I am going to overthrow the government, of course.

[ How very French of him. ]

[gamboler]

[ Oh. As you do. ]

Ah, of course — you make it sound as though it's just that easy.

[crimsin]

The wish will help, of course. The Lord Emperor is not a man easily toppled.

[gamboler]

You...believe what they're selling, then? That there's some all-powerful wish they can grant us to give us anything that we want.

[ It would be...nice, wouldn't it? ]

[crimsin]

[ He blinks a time or two. Everyone has been treating it like a certainty, he didn't even consider that some might not. ]

You do not believe it?

[gamboler]

[ A thoughtful hum. ]

It's in my nature to be skeptical of gifts peddled that sound too good to be true. Then again, they did manage to have the power to bring us all here, so maybe there is some kernel of truth to it.

[ And if so...what should he use his wish for? ]

[crimsin]

I have seen some of the show before. The wishes seemed to be genuine.

[ People with all sorts of kooky powers were out here trying to earn their wishes. There has to be some truth to it. ]

Wish or no, though, I am truly grateful we have met.

[gamboler]

You believe the experience has been worth it? Just for the bonds you've made while you've been here?

[ He is taking that "we" in the royal sense and doesn't assume it applies to himself only. ]

[crimsin]

Darling, if I had met only you alone, this would have been worth it.

[ And he does genuinely mean that. To say Aventurine in particular has been a bright spot for him would be an understatement. ]

1/2

[gamboler]

[ There he goes again, surprising him and flustering him with those sweet words... ]

2/2

[gamboler]

You charmer. You already have my affections, you know.

[ His protests are totally a bluff, though. Please keep it up. ]