(I went with Seivarden being humiliated in front of a subordinate she likes and wants to respect her, I hope it still works for you? (Breq is also definitely watching.) Warning for, uh, the content of the prompt, also Seivarden having some kind of panic attack, mentions of sex Seivarden was in no condition to consent to, and insinuations about sexual abuse on Mercy of Kalr before Breq got there)
(1/2)
"I don't know," Tisarwat said, taking her pastry apart by layers and picking out shreds of fruit, "why everyone always assumes I have ulterior motives for everything. Can I not invite my senior officer for a friendly meal and some delicious tea simply to avail myself of her wisdom and experience?"
"You were doing pretty well until about halfway through that," Seivarden informed her. She had ordered dumplings and wasn't enjoying them much, but damned if she was going to admit she should have taken Tisarwat's recommendation. "Seriously, why are we here? It's a nice enough tea shop, I suppose, but I don't see what you're going out of the way for. Are we spying on a secret den of revolutionary sentiment?" She thought about that. "Counter-revolutionary sentiment."
"It is a very nice tea shop run by people whose political views are entirely tea-based," Tisarwat said as if that guaranteed anything, "and I am here entirely for the pastries, and if you'll excuse me for a moment, Lieutenant Seivarden, I think I see someone I know. Hey! Hey, darling, over here!"
The target of this was a lanky teenager in the uniform of a merchant cadet who had been placing an order at the counter, who was now bubbling over with delight at the recognition. Tisarwat jumped up to greet her with enthusiasm, and Seivarden considered stealing her pastry, but the cadet was trailed by two older officers who were probably more observant, and she ought to make some kind of effort to be a good example.
"Oh, I'm being terribly remiss," Tisarwat said breathlessly, detaching herself from her new limpet friend. "Lieutenant, this is Aveis, off the Copper Tower. We met at the concert yesterday, and I've been longing to see her again-" That with an exaggeratedly coy sideways glance that made Aveis dissolve into giggles again. "Aveis, Seivarden, lieutenant of our Amaats."
"A pleasure," Aveis said cheerfully- any friend of Tisarwat's was a desirable acquaintance in her eyes, apparently- then remembered she had introductions of her own to make. The officers who had been watching this with tolerant amusement turned out to be the captain of Aveis' vessel and one of the fourth mates, who both nodded at Seivarden with as much decorum as you could expect from merchant officers. It struck Seivarden as an odd social combination, but no, on a closer look at the captain, the resemblance was obvious. She wasn't socializing with a teenage cadet, she was chaperoning a baby cousin or niece- or possibly her own daughter, trade families stuck together shipwise- with a petty officer along to run any errands. Perfectly understandable. Seivarden, who felt better to have them placed, gestured at the empty chairs.
"Have a seat, Captain." You didn't call merchant officers sir, but it was polite to acknowledge their titles. "You've been by Athoek before?" Cargo ships had regular routes, she was pretty sure.
"Not in some years," the captain said, taking a seat. "It's not a regular stop of ours, but all our lines are in a mess, of course. It doesn't seem to have changed much, I must say."
"Very little, administratively or structurally," Tisarwat said brightly, "but we're hoping to make improvements along with the repairs. Have you seen the new gardens yet? Still half scaffolding and notecards on sticks saying put the sunflowers here if we can't fit them in by the footpath, but it's really worth seeing-" She was clearly trying to make a good impression, but it would have been obvious no matter what she did, and her approach had a charming artlessness. Look how young and sweet and enthusiastic I am, I want you to think well of our rebel government because I'm proud of it and excited about it- Seivarden couldn't have pulled it off even when she was young and enthusiastic. She wondered if the Copper Tower was carrying something specific Tisarwat wanted, or if this was aimed at the cargo fleets in general, to let them know that Athoek was open for business and reasonably unlikely to explode in the near future.
At any rate, the conversation could get along without much help from Seivarden, whose role was apparently to look adult and respectable and occasionally say things like "Lieutenant Tisarwat is being a little optimistic, but even accounting for delays it shouldn't be more than six months." She leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea and listened to Tisarwat being appealing.
She became aware that the fourth officer was looking at her.
Nothing new, and Seivarden didn't object in principle, but something about the steady thoughtful gaze was making her uncomfortable. Saying something would be even ruder. She focused deliberately on Tisarwat, who was now apparently a beloved family friend and was teasing the captain about allowing Aveis extra leave to attend some theater thing. In the corner of her eye, the fourth mate was still staring at her. She wasn't bad-looking. Close-cropped hair, pale eyes, too much jewelry. Not really Seivarden's type.
The counter bell rang out their number, and the fourth mate got out of her chair. Seivarden, who was closest and not absorbed in conversation about the various considerations of taxing newly-licit mushroom farms, got up to help with the trays. "By the way," she said quietly, "I didn't quite catch your name?"
She got a sideways glance that went on slightly too long before "It's Cambrie," and then, "You told me your name was Paleika the first time I met you."
Fuck. "I did, huh."
"You really don't remember?" They were at the counter. Seivarden lined up tea bowls on a tray. She'd known perfectly well that this might happen. That this almost certainly would happen, someday. "There are a couple of years there which I don't remember with any clarity," she said calmly. "If I met you during that time, I'm sure I was no particular credit to my house. Do I owe you money?"
"Nah," Cambrie said, grabbed a plate from her, and set back to the table. Seivarden followed her trying to feel confident, like a respected officer who could account for her own whereabouts for every year of her life. What had that been like? It was hard to remember.
"-Justice of Toren," the captain was saying as Seivarden set her glass down. "Or should I be saying 'Fleet Captain'?"
"We do," Tisarwat said cheerfully, "but we all met her as Fleet Captain-" more or less- "and it's a habit. If you'd like to meet her," she went on, oozing helpfulness, "you'd be welcome to come to tea this afternoon- we'd love to have you, and you could explain your concerns about the tax code in person, too." The captain was willing, and started discussing her schedule with Aveis. Seivarden leaned back and looked at the ceiling. Is Breq actually free for tea? she sent Tisarwat silently.
Fuck, Tisarwat sent back, smile still fixed in place, I should probably have checked that, shouldn't I.
Keep her talking and I'll check with Kalr Five.
On it, Tisarwat said, and stole Seivarden's dumpling.
Re: Seivarden/randos, humiliation, whatever
Warning for, uh, the content of the prompt, also Seivarden having some kind of panic attack, mentions of sex Seivarden was in no condition to consent to, and insinuations about sexual abuse on Mercy of Kalr before Breq got there)
(1/2)
"I don't know," Tisarwat said, taking her pastry apart by layers and picking out shreds of fruit, "why everyone always assumes I have ulterior motives for everything. Can I not invite my senior officer for a friendly meal and some delicious tea simply to avail myself of her wisdom and experience?"
"You were doing pretty well until about halfway through that," Seivarden informed her. She had ordered dumplings and wasn't enjoying them much, but damned if she was going to admit she should have taken Tisarwat's recommendation. "Seriously, why are we here? It's a nice enough tea shop, I suppose, but I don't see what you're going out of the way for. Are we spying on a secret den of revolutionary sentiment?" She thought about that. "Counter-revolutionary sentiment."
"It is a very nice tea shop run by people whose political views are entirely tea-based," Tisarwat said as if that guaranteed anything, "and I am here entirely for the pastries, and if you'll excuse me for a moment, Lieutenant Seivarden, I think I see someone I know. Hey! Hey, darling, over here!"
The target of this was a lanky teenager in the uniform of a merchant cadet who had been placing an order at the counter, who was now bubbling over with delight at the recognition. Tisarwat jumped up to greet her with enthusiasm, and Seivarden considered stealing her pastry, but the cadet was trailed by two older officers who were probably more observant, and she ought to make some kind of effort to be a good example.
"Oh, I'm being terribly remiss," Tisarwat said breathlessly, detaching herself from her new limpet friend. "Lieutenant, this is Aveis, off the Copper Tower. We met at the concert yesterday, and I've been longing to see her again-" That with an exaggeratedly coy sideways glance that made Aveis dissolve into giggles again. "Aveis, Seivarden, lieutenant of our Amaats."
"A pleasure," Aveis said cheerfully- any friend of Tisarwat's was a desirable acquaintance in her eyes, apparently- then remembered she had introductions of her own to make. The officers who had been watching this with tolerant amusement turned out to be the captain of Aveis' vessel and one of the fourth mates, who both nodded at Seivarden with as much decorum as you could expect from merchant officers. It struck Seivarden as an odd social combination, but no, on a closer look at the captain, the resemblance was obvious. She wasn't socializing with a teenage cadet, she was chaperoning a baby cousin or niece- or possibly her own daughter, trade families stuck together shipwise- with a petty officer along to run any errands. Perfectly understandable. Seivarden, who felt better to have them placed, gestured at the empty chairs.
"Have a seat, Captain." You didn't call merchant officers sir, but it was polite to acknowledge their titles. "You've been by Athoek before?" Cargo ships had regular routes, she was pretty sure.
"Not in some years," the captain said, taking a seat. "It's not a regular stop of ours, but all our lines are in a mess, of course. It doesn't seem to have changed much, I must say."
"Very little, administratively or structurally," Tisarwat said brightly, "but we're hoping to make improvements along with the repairs. Have you seen the new gardens yet? Still half scaffolding and notecards on sticks saying put the sunflowers here if we can't fit them in by the footpath, but it's really worth seeing-" She was clearly trying to make a good impression, but it would have been obvious no matter what she did, and her approach had a charming artlessness. Look how young and sweet and enthusiastic I am, I want you to think well of our rebel government because I'm proud of it and excited about it- Seivarden couldn't have pulled it off even when she was young and enthusiastic. She wondered if the Copper Tower was carrying something specific Tisarwat wanted, or if this was aimed at the cargo fleets in general, to let them know that Athoek was open for business and reasonably unlikely to explode in the near future.
At any rate, the conversation could get along without much help from Seivarden, whose role was apparently to look adult and respectable and occasionally say things like "Lieutenant Tisarwat is being a little optimistic, but even accounting for delays it shouldn't be more than six months." She leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea and listened to Tisarwat being appealing.
She became aware that the fourth officer was looking at her.
Nothing new, and Seivarden didn't object in principle, but something about the steady thoughtful gaze was making her uncomfortable. Saying something would be even ruder. She focused deliberately on Tisarwat, who was now apparently a beloved family friend and was teasing the captain about allowing Aveis extra leave to attend some theater thing. In the corner of her eye, the fourth mate was still staring at her. She wasn't bad-looking. Close-cropped hair, pale eyes, too much jewelry. Not really Seivarden's type.
The counter bell rang out their number, and the fourth mate got out of her chair. Seivarden, who was closest and not absorbed in conversation about the various considerations of taxing newly-licit mushroom farms, got up to help with the trays. "By the way," she said quietly, "I didn't quite catch your name?"
She got a sideways glance that went on slightly too long before "It's Cambrie," and then, "You told me your name was Paleika the first time I met you."
Fuck. "I did, huh."
"You really don't remember?" They were at the counter. Seivarden lined up tea bowls on a tray. She'd known perfectly well that this might happen. That this almost certainly would happen, someday. "There are a couple of years there which I don't remember with any clarity," she said calmly. "If I met you during that time, I'm sure I was no particular credit to my house. Do I owe you money?"
"Nah," Cambrie said, grabbed a plate from her, and set back to the table. Seivarden followed her trying to feel confident, like a respected officer who could account for her own whereabouts for every year of her life. What had that been like? It was hard to remember.
"-Justice of Toren," the captain was saying as Seivarden set her glass down. "Or should I be saying 'Fleet Captain'?"
"We do," Tisarwat said cheerfully, "but we all met her as Fleet Captain-" more or less- "and it's a habit. If you'd like to meet her," she went on, oozing helpfulness, "you'd be welcome to come to tea this afternoon- we'd love to have you, and you could explain your concerns about the tax code in person, too." The captain was willing, and started discussing her schedule with Aveis. Seivarden leaned back and looked at the ceiling. Is Breq actually free for tea? she sent Tisarwat silently.
Fuck, Tisarwat sent back, smile still fixed in place, I should probably have checked that, shouldn't I.
Keep her talking and I'll check with Kalr Five.
On it, Tisarwat said, and stole Seivarden's dumpling.