domainless (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
domainless) wrote2021-03-12 07:29 pm
domainless) wrote2021-03-12 07:29 pm
Duplicity Inbox
Martin is away from the phone right now. Pleas leave a message and he'll get back to you.
It's not that I don't like him. [Okay, so there were parts of Jon that Tim didn't like.] It's just that he can be a bit selfish and I worry that you can't see that because you like taking care of people so much.
I don't. I don't like taking care of people, Tim.
But someone has to do it. Someone has to- to make the tea and be nice to Rosie so she'll make sure the Archives get their paper delivered, and remember to send birthday cards to the library staff so we can keep using the books without things being difficult.
And that person is apparently me.
But someone has to do it. Someone has to- to make the tea and be nice to Rosie so she'll make sure the Archives get their paper delivered, and remember to send birthday cards to the library staff so we can keep using the books without things being difficult.
And that person is apparently me.
[Huh... he never once thought of Martin's actions in that way. He always thought of it as Martin just being... Martin.]
Wait, really? You sent birthday cards because you wanted to use books? Not just because you wanted someone to have a happy birthday?
Wait, really? You sent birthday cards because you wanted to use books? Not just because you wanted someone to have a happy birthday?
I mean, I *do* want them to have a happy birthday! But it also just makes things run smoother if you send a birthday card and- and offer to make a cup of tea if you're going to the break room.
And if I made sure the people in the library, or in Artefact Storage, got a birthday card 'from the Archives team!' then it makes them more likely to *want* to help.
It's like if you're pleasant to the cashiers at the shop, they're more likely to overlook it if you're a a few pence short and they let you keep the extra potato anyway.
And if I made sure the people in the library, or in Artefact Storage, got a birthday card 'from the Archives team!' then it makes them more likely to *want* to help.
It's like if you're pleasant to the cashiers at the shop, they're more likely to overlook it if you're a a few pence short and they let you keep the extra potato anyway.
I mean, I admit I flirt with cashiers sometimes, but it's more that I enjoy making them smile. Plus it can be fun to come up with creative one liners. The occasional free drink is just sort of a bonus.
And I certainly didn't think about you having that sort of motivation before.
And I certainly didn't think about you having that sort of motivation before.
It's not-
I'm not doing it to be manipulative. That's not the reason. I just know how to make things easier.
I mean, you have actual qualifications, right? I don't. I spent ten years terrified that people would figure out I was clueless, and people- if you're nice to them, helpful, remember birthdays or someone's coffee order, they're much more willing to believe 'Well, that's Martin. He's a bit absent minded but he gets things done' rather than 'he's obviously an idiot and lying about having a degree'.
I'm not doing it to be manipulative. That's not the reason. I just know how to make things easier.
I mean, you have actual qualifications, right? I don't. I spent ten years terrified that people would figure out I was clueless, and people- if you're nice to them, helpful, remember birthdays or someone's coffee order, they're much more willing to believe 'Well, that's Martin. He's a bit absent minded but he gets things done' rather than 'he's obviously an idiot and lying about having a degree'.
Hey, you shouldn't have been so hard on yourself. Even if you did come in without any experience you gained it while you were working there. You're a good worker, Martin. No matter what Jon says.
[There is a pause between that message and the next as Tim remembers again that there are years now between the two of them.]
Or use to say.
[There is a pause between that message and the next as Tim remembers again that there are years now between the two of them.]
Or use to say.
I mean, I know that. I did end up running the Institute for a few months.
You did? Martin! That's amazing! You should be proud of yourself!
I mean technically I was assistant to Peter Lukas, but he was useless and someone had to stop him throwing more researchers into the Lonely.
β Master Martin Blackwood, Beloved of Jonathan Sims,
A gift for the winter, to keep you warm.
In my home, we give gifts at the end of harvest - to keep us in good cheer all through the long dark to come. I think perhaps it shall come as a surprise to you, as it seems Master Sims as thought to deceive his kindness from me by pretending it was you that sent me gifts. But I found your company so wonderfully pleasant, I should dearly like to be a companion of yours, if you do not mind my own. So it seemed right to give you a gift just the same for this Harvest-Tidings. The wreath is usually given at midsummer, then they are kept until mid-winter when we burn them on the longest night to ward off bad omens for the new year.
In all regards, yours,
Gilia St. Loe, Daughter-Sea, She Who Sings the Ocean to Prosperity
[ With the note comes a box that has been carefully packaged, scented faintly with lavender and rosemary. On the top is the wreath of leaves, flowers and berries, bound together with twists of herbs and ribbons that make it faintly sweet, with how it has all been carefully dried. Below it is the main gift itself. A black scarf scarf of the same silk she made Jon's vest and the same silk thread embroidery upon it. Ornate and vibrant to the last. ] A gift for the winter, to keep you warm.
In my home, we give gifts at the end of harvest - to keep us in good cheer all through the long dark to come. I think perhaps it shall come as a surprise to you, as it seems Master Sims as thought to deceive his kindness from me by pretending it was you that sent me gifts. But I found your company so wonderfully pleasant, I should dearly like to be a companion of yours, if you do not mind my own. So it seemed right to give you a gift just the same for this Harvest-Tidings. The wreath is usually given at midsummer, then they are kept until mid-winter when we burn them on the longest night to ward off bad omens for the new year.
In all regards, yours,
Gilia St. Loe, Daughter-Sea, She Who Sings the Ocean to Prosperity
[Tim was following along well until the Lonely is mentioned. He sometimes forgets how much more Martin and Jon have had to put up with since worms.] That's good. Someone had to put a stop to something like that.
Should I ask what the Lonely is like? Or is it better that I don't know?
Should I ask what the Lonely is like? Or is it better that I don't know?
It's... it's cold. An empty sort of terrifying. You know on a foggy day, when you're outside and sure that absolutely no-one will care or even notice if you just never show up for work the next day? Like that.
You just feel kind of numb.
You just feel kind of numb.
That sound awful. [He would say it's an awful way to die, but he has a bad feeling most who get trapped there don't get to die.] Is there any way to get those people back that he sent there? [He use to work in research. Tim still knew the names and faces of everyone in that department. He may not have been able to call them all close friends, but he can't think of anyone he'd want to know was being tortured for all of eternity.]
...Get someone who loves you and has extremely strong ties to the Eye to come in after you?
I don't know. I doubt it. It would have to be done very quickly.
I don't know. I doubt it. It would have to be done very quickly.
So, they're all just stuck there? Isn't there anything to be done for them?
They're dead, Tim! It was months ago. They probably washed up on a beach somewhere when the Lonely was done digesting them.
[Martin is not expecting any deliveries, and certainly not gifts, so it comes as a surprise when this arrives. It's beautifully wrapped, and the gift is... it's lovely. And looks valuable. People don't give him gifts like this, he's never- It's a lot. He almost wants to write back and ask if Gilia is sure she's got the right person. But the note is very clear.]
Gillia I- I don't know what to say! This is really lovely! I've never seen something as pretty as this. Did you embroider it? I don't know anything about embrodiery really, but it looks amazing.
Jon is very sweet, but he's bad at showing it. I think he expects people to make fun of him if he shows it, so that doesn't surprise me.
I'm- do you want to get tea or something sometime?
-Martin
Gillia I- I don't know what to say! This is really lovely! I've never seen something as pretty as this. Did you embroider it? I don't know anything about embrodiery really, but it looks amazing.
Jon is very sweet, but he's bad at showing it. I think he expects people to make fun of him if he shows it, so that doesn't surprise me.
I'm- do you want to get tea or something sometime?
-Martin
You're sure that they're dead? They're not stuck in some limbo forever?
Then I suppose that is for the best.
Then I suppose that is for the best.
I mean, I didn't exactly go into the endless foggy domain of the Lonely to look for them?
But probably. They are probably dead.
But probably. They are probably dead.
Oh, I'm free most of the time! Do you want to come here or... there's Honestea? They do nice cakes.
Or they're just as probably suffering for only god knows how long in an endless cycle of torture?
If they weren't then, they would have ended up that way anyway.
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