iii. dictated

[heloise]

Would you leave the Castle now, if you could?

Friday was unfortunate. But for most of the year, surely it has given us a comfortable home and the most singular of friends.

And so, as for myself, I would not. I should like to tarry here a little longer, if only to relish the taste of liberty and the fruits of invention. Refrigerators are so magnificent!

[ With that, she will be in the kitchen with the fridge door open, sticking her hands into it with glee. ]

Comments

[secondchances]

Yep. Most of them tend to come and go, but we seem to be in the upward swing at the moment.

[heloise]

Does that make you happy?

[secondchances]

Very happy. [Yay for no longer feeling entirely responsible for a child.]

Anyone you'd like to see from home?

[heloise]

[ She makes a happy chuckle. ]

Yes, my brother, Cesare. I think he would be happier kept here in chains.

[secondchances]

[A small laugh.]

Kept here in chains?

[heloise]

Yes. He said the same of my staying in Rome, away from my husband. And he was right.

[secondchances]

Hus... wait, how old are you again?

[Trying hard not to sound TOO freaked out, since she at least knows that people got married younger back in the day.]

[heloise]

I shall be sixteen in a few months.

[secondchances]

Hoo, boy. And you have a husband your brother doesn't approve of. [Lucrezia doesn't sound all too thrilled, either.]

[heloise]

[ She giggles. ] My brother would approve of no husband.

[secondchances]

That's one of the jobs of a brother, I guess.

[heloise]

What of the jobs of a sister? Is it also to approve of no wife?

[secondchances]

Beats me. But I think it involves teasing, becoming friends with his wife, and sharing embarrassing stories about said brother. That's what I would do, anyway.

[heloise]

[ She chuckles. ] Then I have fulfilled my duties well.

[secondchances]

See, some things transcend time.

[heloise]

Do you have siblings, Stephanie?

[secondchances]

Not really, no. I mean, I don't have any biological siblings, but I do have a pain in the butt that might as well be related for all the headaches he gives me. That's as close as I get.

[heloise]

[ She laughs. ] I suppose the headaches are the true measure of relation.

[secondchances]

Does your brother give you headaches?

[heloise]

Juan does, perhaps, as he gives my father headaches! But Cesare soothes them.

[secondchances]

Oh, so he's the good brother. [Teasing:] Do you give anyone headaches?

[heloise]

The best brother. [ She laughs. ] I do try not to, but I hazard I have.

[secondchances]

Maybe he'll show up one day. Ezio's sister ended up here not too long after he did.

[heloise]

That would be all my dreams come true.

I think he will be fond of you, as you are my friend.

[secondchances]

[Steph laughs.]

I'd love to meet him, then. No way we wouldn't get along with you in common.