Appointments [Luceti]

[yourfononsarewhack]

For any meetings with Jade that go outside of given posts and logs! Please specify the date and format (Action/Video/Voice/etc).

Comments

[silversnowfall]

Shayera? [The arrival of the tea left her some minutes to think of a reply.] As recently as last weekend.

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He was patient - and he played the waiting game. Then he made a slight amused sound at her answer.]

I see. I don't believe that I was aware of this. [Last weekend - recent enough that it could have had to do with her odd behavior.] Was there any specific nature of this meeting?

[silversnowfall]

Oh, not particularly. [She just enjoys Mrs. Curtiss's company.] We talked about the children and the dance this weekend. Final preparations are coming together, you know. I also asked if she would mind lending a hand to our event at the casino, but she mentioned other obligations.

[yourfononsarewhack]

You don't say. [He raises a curious eyebrow. And he tries not to dwell on how disgusting the image of his wife working in a casino - even a classy one - seems to him.] She is a good choice if one is looking for tasteful conversation. She may even find this tea to be tasteful. [He had just taken a sip and set it to the side where it would be forgotten.] I imagine there was nothing out of the ordinary about her at the time.

[silversnowfall]

No one is forcing you to have any tea. [Out of the ordinary, he says. Shayera herself can be just a hair less ordinary than other lakeside wives. Unlike dear brother Jade, she had seemed interested in a high-class evening at a polished establishment; she was just too busy.]

One of the girls was struggling through something about a date for the dance, but I hardly consider that out of the ordinary. [It isn't like him to make feeler statements for no reason.] Is such a thing happening now?

[yourfononsarewhack]

And thank Catheria for that. [He says a bit wryly regarding the tea.]

I believe that such things are happening, yes. [But it's not quite the 'out of the ordinary' he was searching for. Nephry may truly not have any insights about Shayera's condition.] My girls seem to have an unusual amount of difficulty choosing an eligible bachelor.

[silversnowfall]

I can't speak from experience, of course, but most girls these days are instructed to seek out men that resemble their fathers.

[All with a genuine pleasant smile on her face. Nephry mastered verbal combat with Jade long ago.]

You aren't here about them, or you would have begun with them. Did you have an argument with Shayera?

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He always hates it when she manages to keep up with him.]

They need not seek out someone so ambitious. [After all, he had Adam to act as his young replica. He didn't exactly want his daughters to date people like him - but rather other Catherians whom he could intimidate and mold to fit his own plans.]

You don't consider that I could have started on something unrelated just to throw you off? If you must know, there have been no outright arguments. She simply has been - acting somewhat oddly as of late, to put it frankly.

[silversnowfall]

[Nephry knows better than to rile him further once he's actually started to talk about the problem at hand. Instead, she deliberately does not take a drink of her tea.]

Odd in what way?

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He pauses for a moment, pondering how many of his cards to put on the table. He wants some sort of insight, but he doesn't want to give his sister any power. He tries to give a casual tone throughout all of this.]

For starters, she's been displaying an unusual forgetfulness and has been uncharacteristically awkward around social convention. The last time she acted anywhere near this odd, it turned out she was carrying twins. [That's a way to address the problem without making it look like a Problem - to paint it as if she may just be pregnant again. It's a way for him to keep damage control on the situation.]

[silversnowfall]

Well, then I assume you've considered the chance that it might be triplets. [Shayera would have told her if she was expecting, Nephry's sure of that. Unless it was a complete and very new surprise.]

[yourfononsarewhack]

It's certainly a possibility. Of course, she may not realize that the sooner the truth comes out, the sooner that preparations can start being made. [It really is a possibility on some level - but by this point Jade has begun thinking it has to be something more - something bad. But that's the kind of thing he doesn't want to give away to his sister, when it could become dangerous leverage.]

[silversnowfall]

Well, if you can rule everything else out, you might want to suggest a medical visit for just that purpose. Imagine if she didn't know, either. [Jade is making the unwitting expression of 'no this isn't it'. Fortunately, Nephry likes Shayera too much and is too generally kind to think of blackmail.] I wish you would just lay out your concerns plainly, instead of trying to make me guess.

[yourfononsarewhack]

A medical visit is certainly under consideration. [Maybe even more. But he goes on with a flippant shrug.]

My, my. You can't blame me for having a proper sense of caution, can you? A Curtiss does not display vulnerability, after all.

[silversnowfall]

You know better than to feel the need to be "cautious" around me. We're family. [Which he probably considers a weakness.]

Would you like me to come over and talk to Shayera?

[yourfononsarewhack]

It's a word that only goes so far, Nephry. [In the end, people were people more than anything else. Everyone had a price.]

And I'm not so sure. I don't want her to feel suspicious about your intentions. [And if something really is wrong with Shayera, he'll have to keep it from Nephry.]

[silversnowfall]

Unlike you, I don't have intentions of which one should be suspicious. We may not be best friends but we do enjoy each other's company, you know.

[yourfononsarewhack]

Very well. [He rubs at the bridge of his nose for a moment.] If it's of your own volition, I suppose that there's nothing I can do about it. Just be sure to run it through a secretary. [And he'll do what he can to prevent an actual appointment from being made.]

[silversnowfall]

Jade, please. I don't need a secretary in order to have lunch with my sister-in-law. [Her hands half-steeple again.] Your desire to keep turning me aside from seeing her implies that something is really wrong.