επτά; [dictated]

[lioneyed]

[Thamuris's voice is surprisingly icy, for him, over the journal - and he's annoyed enough to not be afraid to say this out loud]

I never asked to be one of your secrets, Felix.

Comments

[Thamuris - dictated forever]

[lord_wizard]

[His voice is neutral because he's really not in the mood to be yelled at]

I take it you talked to him, then.

[Felix - also dictated forever]

[lioneyed]

[You're never in the mood to be yelled at, Felix. Just to do the yelling]

Your brother? Yes. Three years and you told him nothing?

[lord_wizard]

[Well since you asked nicely]

It never came up!

[lioneyed]

What sort of excuse is that? It's not as if I could talk to him!

[lord_wizard]

Thamuris...[He has a point, but it was first thing that came to mind.]

Even if he had outright asked - and he didn't - I never could have explained the Khloïdanikos to him. He wants as little to do with magic as he can manage.

[lioneyed]

[he is now too busy trying not to facepalm to actually shout]

Felix, your brother doesn't ask for things. Not for his own sake.

And... I think he thought I was dead.

[lord_wizard]

[That knocks the air of him a little, and there's a significant pause after that]

I didn't know how he felt.

[lioneyed]

[Of course you didn't, Felix. You're not very good at thinking about how other people feel about things, and Thamuris knows that. There's a small sigh, and he mostly just sounds tired when he finally replies]

It's all right.

[lord_wizard]

No. No, it isn't.

The Khloïdanikos was the only place I could go to get away from The Mirador. Telling Mildmay would have been like...tracking it in on my shoes.

[lioneyed]

[That last bit actually catches Thamuris by surprise]

You think of him as that intrinsically tied to the place?

[lord_wizard]

He always will be, given the curse. But...no...not on that level.

It was the same reason I did not want to explain the rubies to you. It helped to keep the worlds separate. Not exactly the same reason you would walk there but not dissimilar either.

[lioneyed]

[He sees some flaws with your comparison, Felix, but nitpicking like that is not really his tactic in an argument. Mostly because he hates arguments]

I suppose. Still, life isn't really that divisible.

[lord_wizard]

Oh, I don't know. I've done it most of my life...

[lioneyed]

And that's worked out well, has it?

[That is a dry, rhetorical question. If it had worked out well you wouldn't have tried to hide those rubies in the Garden, Felix]

[lord_wizard]

[And that shuts him up for a few long moments. That's just unfair. Accurate...but unfair.]

It would if some people would leave things well enough alone. Perhaps you'd understand that if you'd ever developed a life beyond your Covenant. At least now you have Mildmay. May you have much joy of each other...

[And yet another benefit to the books is that he has the option of quitting the conversation abruptly. Which he does by rather emphatically shutting the journal]

[lioneyed]

[And he was almost not-angry at you any more, Felix. Good job.]