[log] the high life [closed]

[devoutish]

Characters: Alfie Solomons, Emily Kaldwin, Gregory House, Royce Melborn, Tifa Lockhart
Location: building 48 and building 42
Date: afternoon of 200 to night of 201
Summary: meeting up with the squad and taking advantage of a vulnerable man for the purposes of robbery
Warnings: probable discussion of drug addiction and withdrawal

Catch-all for EVERYTHING - reunion schmoop, highway robbery, etc. Top-level and tag as you see fit.

Comments

[bywolves]

I'm a regular folktale. [ Royce drawls. ] They'll tell stories of my victories, and so on. And so forth.

[devoutish]

[That actually gets Alfie to laugh.]

You're fucking accosted in the streets by well-wishers, are you?

[bywolves]

[ no he'd die if that was the case ]

My entourage wouldn't let them get close, I think. [ He sounds annoyed by this, actually. He also has forgotten Alfie doesn't know about his status. Oops. ]

[devoutish]

You've got an entourage? Fans?

[DO TELL, Royce.]

[bywolves]

[ UGH. Royce pauses to think about whether it's worth lying about or not, and then sighs. He already told Emily, she's not going to keep that secret. ]

I've got two elves following me around now, every time I head out across the river. Not for lack of trying to get them to leave me alone. It's a long story.

[devoutish]

Why?

[bywolves]

[ He just SAID it was a long story!! ]

Because I'm their leader, now. The elves. Fhrey. [ Sigh. ] Not through any volunteering from me.

[devoutish]

You're the leader of an entire species.

[Alfie isn't entirely sure what answer he'd been expecting, but whatever it was, it wasn't that. His mouth actually drops open a little in surprise as the full implications hit him.]

You're in government?

[bywolves]

[ God, he didn't even think of it that way. This is the worst. ]

Not by choice. And I wouldn't call it government so much as I'd call it babysitting. [ Royce says firmly. ] What have I told you about Novron?

[devoutish]

He has to think for a moment. It sounds a little familiar, but it's nothing that Royce has really sat down and explained to him.

"He's related to religion, yeah? Some sort of God or prophet?"

[bywolves]

Mm. [ He's just going to settle down on the couch, because this is going to be a long conversation, he feels like. ] Novron saved humanity from the elves attacking a long time ago. The city he ruled in collapsed because of a war intending to wipe out Novron and his descendants, but his son got away.

That son had children, and so on. This has lead to the church trying to find Novron's heir to make him the emperor of humanity. [ Royce rubs at his temple idly. ] The church assumed Novron was human. He wasn't.

[devoutish]

[Holy shit.

Alfie takes the opposite end of the couch, trying to parse this.]

Tell me if I've got this straight, mate. You're an heir to a religious prophet, and now you're the emperor of the elves?

[Beat.]

And you've only got two bodyguards?

[bywolves]

[ He's glad he didn't have to explain all that much. Royce makes a grouchy sound. ]

Yes. Not because I wanted to be, but because their crazy religion makes it so that I'm all that's keeping them from destroying humanity.

And two was what I could negotiate them down to. [ SO ANNOYED. ]

[devoutish]

Have you got a crown and robe? A scepter?

[He's teasing a little.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce gives him the DIRTIEST LOOK. ]

[devoutish]

[A little more serious now:]

You'll tell Emily? It'll be good for her to hear.

[bywolves]

I told her already. [ He sinks down into the couch further. ] I asked her for advice.

[devoutish]

I was thinking you could be a role model to her, mate.

[bywolves]

[ He lifts his eyebrows. ] That's a sentence I've never heard before.

[devoutish]

You know she worries that she won't be able to do what she wants when she takes the throne. You'll be able to tell that that doesn't have to be her fate, eh? Surely you haven't settled for giving up anything you don't want to.

[bywolves]

[ He's actually sort of vaguely offended by this. ]

I'm not going to do anything to depress her further, Solomons. I asked her advice to let her know I care about her opinion. [ And he'll do this as well, now that it's been brought up. ]

[devoutish]

I'm not suggesting I think you're going to depress her, Royce. I'm suggesting you're going to do the opposite. Yeah? Isn't that what I said?

[bywolves]

I almost prefer it when you give me orders rather than suggestions. [ He says this as dryly as possible. ]

[devoutish]

I don't see what's wrong with thinking you'd be a good role model, mate.

[bywolves]

[ A pause, and then Royce sighs again. ]

Don't - there isn't. Anything wrong with that. [ He rubs at the bridge of his nose. It's that voice, in the back of his head - the angry one, the poisonous one that tells him nobody is being sincere. ] I'm not used to people meaning that.