paradisa | fifty-four favors

[She's in a better place than she was earlier this week, certainly, but she still sounds a little more tired than usual- weary might be a better word for it, actually.]

I do. Have you a particular topic in mind?

I suppose there are topics which you would rather avoid?

[speaking of which--]

Mm. I didn't get the opportunity to say this earlier, but your son looked like a wonderful boy.

Not so many as you may think.

[...And that would be the reason she's been emotionally exhausted this week. Not that she's going to be obvious about it. She continues in the same semi-casual tone.]

He is. I was glad to have him returned to me this year.

Perhaps this place took pity on you, for having to deal with certain other more troublesome children.

I did wonder how much you would recall when you came to yourself.

All of it. Just as I had the time before.

[She had hoped that might be the case- had chosen her words as for his later understanding as for the moment in which they had been spoken.]

Tell me: had I called you "Legato," would you have known the name?

[hmm... a question he hadn't really been expecting to be asked]

...No.

It meant nothing beyond a name that some felt compelled to call me.

[She has her reasons. It would be far too straightforward to ask the obvious questions- too simple and expected. Things not suited to either of them.]

May I ask how you came by the name?

[unexpected is certainly not the same as unwelcome. It quickly reminds him of the many reasons he enjoys speaking with her]

It was given to me by my master.

[--he will go with straightforward answers for the time being, however]

And you choose to use it still. [She's honestly surprised. But then again, elves have a certain flexibility with names that most people do not seem to share.]

Why wouldn't I?

[She actually has to think for a moment to put this into words.]

There is a certain power to such things; the power to define you, I suppose. Each of my names was a gift of love.

I cannot imagine carrying with me the mark of a man who mistreated me so- to be linked with him, if only in my own mind.

[oh... after a moment, there is a shift. His voice is changing a little, a bit of a smile creeping into it]

...Have I ever shared anything about my master with you? --My true master?

You have not. [Something in that tone makes her nervous. Hesitant. But her voice remains steady.]

[it's harder to keep his voice completely even, these days. Ever since his time spent in that box, he is no longer the master of emotionless masks. His facade is much looser now, letting out broken pieces of expression at odd moments... and this time, it is a smile--something maybe even a little reverent]

The boy that you met was what came before. Those chains were put there by human hands, and they were later removed by my master's.

He saved me, and he gave me a name.

Why would I ever wish to be called anything else?

I see. [She had made an assumption- an incorrect assumption, as it turns out- that his "Master" was the one who bound him in chains. Though she can't help but wonder if it really is as simple as Legato makes it sound. Not all chains are made of steel, after all.]

Forgive my misunderstanding.

[and it is a very important distinction. Though he has been the possession of many, there is only one that he still calls 'master.']

It is an easy mistake to make.

You call him "Master." [ The unspoken question there is "why?" She also wonders just how far she can take this- how much he will answer before he pushes back with questions of his own.]

[so far, he doesn't push back with anything. He's being terribly cooperative]

Because that's what he was. [ah, and another important distinction...] --And is, still.

In what sense? [It's difficult, trying to suss out the nature of this relationship, but she does feel it will provide some insight.]

In the sense that I will never serve another as I have served him.

[voice maybe softening a bit--] --It is something I have had time to re-learn, recently.

And if he arrived here? You would return to his side, I assume.

[Pardon Galadriel. She's never really served anyone, except in the sense that all rulers serve their people.]

I only hope I may inspire such loyalty.

If he arrives here, everything will change--it will matter very little what I choose to do.

[whoops, speaking about Knives always gets the obsessive fanboy in him to sneak out. He reigns that in and trades it for a very honest question, then]

Do you think you deserve such loyalty?

It matters more what my subjects think, does it not? [But if he wants something closer to a real answer...]

I aspire to deserve it, certainly.

[he does want a more honest answer, yes]

You aspire... have you not earned it already?

I like to believe I have. Perhaps it is better to say I aspire to continue to be worthy of what devotion I receive.

What an admirable outlook.

I have no doubt that you must make a remarkable leader.

How flattering. [And amusing, given they've been in a sort of opposition most of the time they've known each other.] May I ask what has inspired such confidence?

[funny thing about him, the two are far from mutually exclusive]

It is an opinion I have always held. You make quite an impression, you know.

[The same with her, though she doesn't necessarily expect it in others.]

Do I? [She knows full well she does. She counts on it.] I might say the same of you.

fifty-four favors

Legato

Galadriel

Legato

Galadriel forever

Legato forever

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