Giants, Sleeping and Otherwise

Re: Giants, Sleeping and Otherwise

Postby Treadwell » Mon Feb 23, 2015 12:09 pm

An amused chuckling.

"Lad, were I to lose so much flesh so fast. . . . Hmph! So, for now, why don't we keep this simple, hm?"

Absent rub at stomach, here.

"You and I start properly, mmph, by not trying to badger each other endlessly, not trying to annoy, to pester, mmph mmph. We make a concerted, shared effort, dear fellow, to be friendly again, hm?"

Warm smile, squinted eyes.

"And, in addition, we make up our minds to meet somewhere--here, perhaps, hm?--to discuss specifics of how to make Myrken Wood a splendid, golden vista, if we might, or at least, mmph, a decent sort of place of its own, again?"
"Looks like a table to me. Do you think it could hold up someone as bulbous as Treadwell?" -- Dr. Brennan, Myrken Wood Rememdium Edificium
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Re: Giants, Sleeping and Otherwise

Postby Glenn » Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:35 am

Simple, the fat man said. Simple. What in Myrken was simple? Not he and not the man he spoke to, certainly.

Burnie looked at him, straight at him, or at least as straight as he could. It was the nature of Aloisius Treadwell that he was always at least somewhat in your peripheral vision so long as you were within ten feet of him. Men had to back up to understand the whole of him and there was scant time for that. Usually, people did not complain for they would rather have him off in the corner of their eye than right before them.

Right now, though, the former mapmaker cared only about meeting the eyes of the erstwhile toymaker. "Apologize. Apologize and know full well for what you ought to apologize for," the sort of question put to a young child who is being taught right from wrong. "If you can manage to tell me that and apologize for it, I will accept it and we can start anew."
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Re: Giants, Sleeping and Otherwise

Postby Treadwell » Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:45 am

"For leaving you alone to handle the aftermath of your being deposed as Governor? For not being able to find a way to get you out of this bothersome fix, mmph mmph, with your alleged beloved? For somehow making you feel that I have acted as I have merely out of self interest, mmph? For not making the time to pack everything up and heft myself down to Razasan to seek audience with someone closer to Chedwry, mmph, in the name of relieving some of the tension here?"

Shlurrrrp.

"For these things, I do make an apology. Of them, a couple, mmph, might be salvaged yet. For doing as I thought best for the continuation of Myrken Wood--for not openly railing, mmph, against the Baron at his announcement, for not passing on the appointment of Lord Steward to another from outside it--these I do not and cannot make apology for, Glenn, mmph. I would rather there be that slight bit of feather ruffling between us, if that is what it results in, hm hm, than for this town and land to have fallen under the hands of someone many, many miles distant who doesn't know or care a bit, mmph, of the people here--yes, including me and my family, but also you and every other person or family here, hm hm."

Shlurrrrrp.

"Mister Burnie. . . Glenn. . . I do care for you: your health, your clarity of mind and habit, your presentation among those in the town, mmph, your advice, your friendship. I have made enough enemies in my time; it's one reason I visit Westenford so rarely as of late. I would rather see a few more friends in my old age, mmph. So, all told, I fear, hm hm, that I simply cannot convince you by words alone that I don't have some ulterior, self-serving motive, some seedy plot to line my pockets and fat my belly, mmph. You've many reasons to think as much, after all; for much of my first, ooooh, sixty years or so, hm hm, I lived as such. It's how I built a fortune atop that of my father, mmph, held the head of a corrupt and bloated council for forty years, and ruined those sweaty and bulging bellies who thought themselves brash enough to waddle between me and what I wanted, mmph mmph. A man of my, hm hm, age and size and family and estate requires very much to stay comfortable, stable, and happy. And yet?"

Final shlurrrrp. Empty mug, at last.

"Glenn, in the last ten years, or thereabouts, I've done no such villainy. I've had no need to, mmph. Life has been comfortable, soft, welcoming, and pleasant. I've had no need, nor desire, mmph, to eliminate opponents, to throw my weight about, or to force others out of power or wedge my own men beneath to prop me up, mmph mmph. Now, I don't know that I can make you believe any of this,"

A lazy spinning about of pudgy finger in the air.

"But if spelling it all out, mmph, and saying that I'm truly sorry, hm, for having been thought a scoundrel or a mercenary means much. . . well, I am. I've no need for some charade, some masque, some dance 'round a floor with a smile on the face and a knife ready for the back, mmph mmph. Does any of that make a bit of sense to you, sir? You wanted an apology, and, I suppose, the truth to accompany it, and, well, here you have both."
"Looks like a table to me. Do you think it could hold up someone as bulbous as Treadwell?" -- Dr. Brennan, Myrken Wood Rememdium Edificium
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Re: Giants, Sleeping and Otherwise

Postby Glenn » Wed Feb 25, 2015 3:12 am

Engaging with Aloisius Treadwell on this level was a danger in and of itself. It was a risk certainly, and it was one borne out in the specific word choice that the old wheezing lump mmphfled forth. Glenn was a creature of intent. He was a creature that understood intent. It was obvious that Treadwell was trying. It was painfully obvious that this was his best. That almost made it better. "I won't spell out everything that happened to me. I think it might help you to understand but it feels like so long ago. I was compromised, though, like Bromn and Helstone before. It was by my own hand, as a way to escape a fate that I opened myself up to because I wanted revenge. The circle that brought down Rhaena was started by a single person and I tried to force retribution on that person and in doing so, I made everything far, far worse." There was pain in this retelling, pain that he usually hid from the world. "I loved Myrken and my madness, as it was, became channeled in the direction of trying to better this place, but it was still madness and the no matter how noble the ends, the means were horrific."

Burnie slumped forward just a little, just enough. He wasn't a physical wreck, nor entirely an emotional one. Yes, he looked world-weary, but his youth was unmistakable as well. He tried to stare past the older taxman, which was no easy task in itself. Usually such attempts bounced off some part of the man's girth. "You're intimating, again and again, that it doesn't matter, that none of this matters, and that what matters is today and tomorrow. I understand that. I appreciate it. Were our positions reversed, I'd probably tell you that, but I'm walking around Myrken with a gaping wound in my side, Aloisius, and it refuses to heal. I'm trying, but even getting out of bed in the morning is hard." All of this was easier to voice when he was yelling and not admitting.

He ran both hands back through his hair, finally meeting Treadwell's beady eyes, very much despite himself. "I accept your apology for being yourself, though. I'm sorry for bringing so much to ruin, or a near thing."
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Re: Giants, Sleeping and Otherwise

Postby Treadwell » Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:47 am

"Glenn, my dear boy. . . ." A soft, warm smile. "You didn't do such at all, mmph. Now. . . ."

Heft from rocking chair after much effort; a creakiness of joints; painful pops in the knuckles that bring obvious tears to already wet eyes.

"Let me get us a little more drink, mmph, maybe something else to munch, hm?" A nod, seeking reassurance. "And Glenn?" as he wobbles for the arch leading to the kitchen, an obvious carefulness without his cane as he so apparently favors his left side, "I want you to stay with me and my family a bit, if you might, mmph mmph. We've a spare room on the ground floor, near one of the studies, mmph, just a short walk from the dining room. It's away from the children--"

Treadwell disappeared through the arch, soon enough to return with a new kettle of tea he sets to heating up in the fire, along with a replacement plate (already prepared!) of cheeses, meats, and bread, which was set atop the crumb-laden predecessor.

"And generally everyone else, mmph. . . but you need companionship, mmph, and I want for a good friend around the house who's not a Treadwell by birth or marriage, hm, or one of the servants or my doctor. Would you consider my offer, hm hm?"
"Looks like a table to me. Do you think it could hold up someone as bulbous as Treadwell?" -- Dr. Brennan, Myrken Wood Rememdium Edificium
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Re: Giants, Sleeping and Otherwise

Postby Glenn » Thu Feb 26, 2015 3:20 am

A danger, in and of itself.

Incurring the man's compassion was just as much of a possibility as drawing forth some level of bewilderment. It had its own risks and benefits too. On some level, however, this was exactly what he had refused from everyone else in the province and likely much of what he needed. It wasn't that no one cared. it was that everyone cared in their own way. He had to keep a distance from Genny due to her talent and his own mind's gaping need for it. Agnie he had saved, in his own way, but not without cost. She was in need of what he couldn't provide and she could not provide what he needed. There were very few others who could.

Treadwell certainly couldn't. Egris, for all of her effort and attention, provided something else altogether. She had kept him in a gilded cage of concern and pleasant facade and that had done more to sway the broken ex-Governor than the amply offered bosoms of a hundred dark elves. It had been a game between the two with very high stakes. He meant to tie her to Myrken; she had been very close to successfully tying him to her. The problem was that she had to open herself up to win the final gambit and that was too high a cost.

"It's a kind offer, Aloisius." Burnie noted. "And i may well take you up on it in the days to come. Soon, if for a time. I need to make sure my affairs are in order, first, and I suppose we need to think, once again, what sort of political statement such a prolonged visit might make. It's never just yourself or I for our own sakes after all." This talk was proof positive of that.
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Re: Giants, Sleeping and Otherwise

Postby Treadwell » Thu Feb 26, 2015 5:03 am

Ears wiggled gently as the toymaker settled back into his rocking chair and resumed munching away at the delights between the two men. A nod of agreement came, though, as Glenn finished his talk.

"Well, Glenn, mmph, that is acceptable, hm hm."

Another nod. A tap-tap of pudgy finger to plate.

"Eat, dear boy, and have a little more tea once it finishes warming there at the fire, hmm? I'm not sending you out into the cold without having had a chance to have something close enough to lunch, mmph mmph."

With that, Aloisius squirmed upright a little in his chair with a grunted hrmph, tugging his coveralls a little tighter, a little more snug, before he sank back into place with a squeak.
"Looks like a table to me. Do you think it could hold up someone as bulbous as Treadwell?" -- Dr. Brennan, Myrken Wood Rememdium Edificium
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