ph_logs | [Slightly Backdated] Merrymeet Outfit Planning

Annabel places her hand on top of his, her expression blooming slowly into a smile. "Now, she does. We had a very in-depth talk in the aftermath of her disappointment with you. I didn't give her direct guidance on the point of contention, but I did voice some support for you in my own way."

River had heard that we're, if in another context.

"That was very good of you to do," gratitude warms his tone and expression both. "It comforts me that you approve of me enough to defend me in any small way." She could easily have influenced River away from him. She didn't. He doesn't take that lightly.

"How much of what I told her did she explain to you? I ask because I am going to offer to tell you more if you wish to know it."

"Lord Osborne, we haven't explored the similarities between our worlds in depth, but...I'm from a point in time where chattel slavery has been outlawed in England for less than a hundred years. And I didn't explain that fact to River. I'm not as stunned as she is at the possibility of people owning people."

Is it evil? Sure. Horrible. Were her family involved in the slave trade before 1807? Did her family derive part of their wealth from such things? We don't fucking know because her canon is avoiding touching on such matters, and I don't blame them. But, like, it does need to be acknowledged in some way in this conversation.

"She said it was something she had to figure out. I pointed out to her that it's a matter others may also have opinions on, should it become public knowledge. She hadn't gotten that far yet."

"Not stunned, no, but that doesn't entirely tell me what your personal opinion of it may be. I am interested to know it. And, though this may seem in bad taste to argue for myself this way, I feel compelled to note that it was not a practice I sought out on purpose. What came about with my servant, Max, was a situation born of necessity and not one I would happily repeat." River knows that. She must.

"On the matter of public opinion, I should also note that there are a couple of new arrivals here who have met my former servant and know of his history with me. They are sure to make their own opinions known shortly."

"River didn't give me the details of the matter, Erik." That's an opening, if he wants to. And a subtle, polite way to avoid giving a full opinion without it.

He will take that opening, gladly.

"I am a vampire, so I'm certain it won't shock you to know that our society operates by different rules than that of mortals. What I have done is not considered illegal by my people's own tradition, and that is why it worked. Bear with me, this is a complicated story to tell." He doesn't want to keep her here all day when she is so obviously busy.

"I had a twin sister. She was also a vampire of Elder status, like me. In terms of where that sits politically, you can think of us as dukes or duchess. Max, in defense of his own life, killed my sister. But my sister had powerful allies who sought vengeance. They would have killed him or turned him so they could keep him to torment longer. I was their only obstacle. Because of my unique blood relationship, I had the first right to claim retribution. So, I claimed Max as my slave, as what in my society we call a Pet. I claimed him so that they could not. It was the only way I knew to spare his life."

"Why did you spare his life?"

Like, he's just said a lot, but that's the first important detail she wants to be sure she has clarity on.

"Because he was innocent and he did not deserve to die. Because killing my sister was a favor he'd done for me, without realizing it. I owed him. That he was an attractive man as well as a kind one were secondary to that fact. I simply could not stand by and watch him die for what I felt to be my own sins."

"I see. What happens if-and-when we do whatever we've come here to do and you're sent home?"

By this point, Annabel's leaning against the counter, taking up space in that subtle way, that unspoken reminder that he's come to her in her own space. But it's not imposing, not meant to intimidate him specifically.

He watches her lean and stays utterly still himself. Neither a retreat nor a play to claim back any of the space he lost.

"If I'm given a choice, I do not think I will return home."

He's been thinking about that for some time. When he thinks about what he misses from his other life, it comes down to very little. The people close to him, yes, he will miss those. But, it took losing his position of power to realize how little he enjoyed having it to begin with.

"If I am forced to leave, and if all is just as it was when I left, then I will have to continue on in my arrangement with Max. Because it remains just as true now that the only hope he has for his survival is to stay within my protection."

"I see. Tidy, the idea of staying here, being able to wash your hands of the arrangement you began. But you're not the only one who'd make that choice, given the opportunity."

One eyebrow lifts. "Is there anything else you'd like the court to know, before we pass our judgment?"

"Am I not?" Not for the first time does he wonder what arrangments Ms. Whitlock might be eager to wash her own hands of.

"One thing, your honor," he tries for whimsy but it falls flat. "I'm not ignorant of what I've put him through. I was once kept as a Pet, myself. Though I have ultimately failed, what I did to him, I did because I believed it would make life less painful for him than it was for me. If I must return home, I will try to make amends. I will try to conduct things differently."

Annabel nods slowly, once he's done talking.

"Are you ready for my verdict, Lord Osborne?" As she has in the past, she accords him his title while getting emotionally honest with him, never taking that from him to cause him pain, not since the gala.

He smiles sadly when she uses his title--the very thing he is speaking of throwing away if he never returns--and closes his eyes, head bowed as if in prayer.

"I am."

She clears her throat, stands straighter.

"The court finds...that litigating crimes committed back home over and over again is a path to madness and a distraction from the effort we're putting in to make this world a little better. You want to do better, let's do better. I'm not saying that anything you did with regard to your Max is right or okay or wrong. I'm saying...knowing that about your past doesn't undo the impression I have of who the man you are here is. You tell me it's what you had to do back home, and I'm accepting that, but underlining that we're not in either of our homes, now."

He lets out a breathy laugh, and the tension leaves him with all the suddenness of a marionette with cut strings. River does have such brilliant taste in partners, for the most part.

"I find the court to be very fair in its assessment. Thank you." He smiles for her, and it's the kind of smile that he reserves for a friend.

"We are not, no. But, I hope we can make this a home given enough time and effort. I am making the effort. I will continue to do so."

"You won't make it alone. I promise you that." Not on River's behalf (though she's certain of the truth of that), but for herself.

[Slightly Backdated] Merrymeet Outfit Planning

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CW: references to real world historical slavery.

CW: references to real world historical slavery cont.

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this one could wrap here?