Day 64, Public Channel

[whattaprick]

[ After the Ringmaster's finished kicking everyone out and the tent arrangements are more or less settled... ]

So, I'm up. [ Short and to the point. ] Heard people were yelling at my nightrunners. You wanna yell about it some more, you can come yell at me.

[ That's it, that's the post. ]

Comments

[insidescoop]

Really? Did what we learn balance out the part where dead or alive, the fae we didn't capture are going to notice?! [She snips, barely containing a growl.]

Naked until someone else complains, anyway..~ [She knows pretttttyyyy well that even the Ringmaster's not gonna let that go down buddy~]

[whattaprick]

No. [ Lambert admits. ]

But I thought it was worth taking the chance. I would have tried it no matter which of them we ended up against, if they were in that position -- I didn't realize the library's magic would be that effective. Didn't work as well, against Strange.

[ In short, taking advantage of an unexpected windfall, not something he really thought about in advance. Is anyone even surprised with Lambert anymore...? Good thing he didn't end up facing off against the Rose Queen. ]

It didn't make sense to leave another fae with a grudge -- the story would have let him go eventually. I told the Ringmaster we needed to take him with us, or kill him. If she ate him, it'd give her a better chance to face up against whatever's next. If she didn't ... [ He pauses. ]

... I figured someone else here had better ideas.

[insidescoop]

The Library's Magic works on belief and Narrative Pull..! It'd be easy for it to fail on one and not on the other..! [She protests, before choking on her words. She's only hearing one thing here after all.]

....You forced her hand... [That's what it's sounding like, anyway.]

[whattaprick]

[ Did he force her hand? It's hard to think of it that way. With all her power, the idea of the Ringmaster being forced into anything by a mortal like Lambert is laughable. But that phrasing is enough to give him pause all the same, thinking about it now.

Shame isn't a very Lambert-like thing to feel, really. He's felt ashamed about a lot of his vulnerabilities and weaknesses ... but never something he's done or said with his full conviction. Childermass had said the Ringmaster was upset, but...

The pause is getting a bit long. Lambert shakes it off. ]

I didn't think I could force the Ringmaster to do anything. [ He says it a bit more quietly. He knows exactly one other time she's been forced that way, of course, and thinking about it makes him angry at the courts again, but he hadn't quite realized what a similar position it put her in. ]

I'm still surprised she didn't kill me for it. Would've been her right to.

[fortuneglass]

[Carly, as well, manages a somewhat quiet tone. It feels like speaking to Susan- except less so, what with certain things not needing explanation, or careful phrasing, but...]

...You know by now, that the Ringmaster cares more for us than most would 'their' Changelings. She's aware that she makes mistakes- just as we do. She's aware that she has flaws- like we do.

...Of course she wouldn't kill you over this. Killing is permanent, and it solves nothing in this case. But in the same vein...

...couldn't she have left you there to die? ...You said you told her- 'kill him, or he'll come after us'. ...If she had wanted though...

...Couldn't she have just left you there, making those consequences null?

[The answer is... ....she likely could have.]

She doesn't want us dead.

...Not even if we do something that could create more trouble for us down the road, intentional or not.

[whattaprick]

[ There's too much to address all at once or bother responding to individually, so he'll just digest it for a little while and eventually settle on. ]

I know. [ And then, more jovially: ] ... but killing me wouldn't have been permanent because I got an egg. So she definitely could have killed me anyway.

[ WAY TO RUIN THE MOOD, LAMBERT. But it was getting way too serious there! ]

[fortuneglass]

[OOOOOOOOOGH!]

....Deflect all you want Lambert, I'm making you a supervisor-shaming shirt now.

[Spoken with Utter Seriousness.]

[whattaprick]

A what?

[fortuneglass]

It's a t-shirt. For you.

It's going to say something really blunt, but I have to decide exactly what for now.

It won't take me very long though.

[whattaprick]

[ ... well ... a T-shirt doesn't sound like it would be too bad. ]

How long do I have to wear it?

[insidescoop]

At least a week.

[A pause, and she adds-]

The Ringmaster has to see it at least once, on that note.

[whattaprick]

What, without washing it? [ Gross, Carly! Is that how you do your laundry? Admittedly thats how Lambert used to do his before he discovered the joy of the washer/dryer ...

Now he's just wary. He eventually realized 'IDIOT' was written on his head, after all, even if he doesn't know who was responsible. ]

I'll wear it, but I don't know if she's showing up back here anytime soon. She seemed ... [ Irate? ] ... busy.

[insidescoop]

I can have multiples ready~ [She hums, now relaxing a fair bit in her seat as she 'explains'.] And I did say at least a week, didn't I?

That means there's bound to be time! We can't be here that long!