Night 2 into Morning 3

[borjafamily]

WHO: ~The Borjas~
WHERE: HOME
OPEN/CLOSED: CLOSED
WHEN: Day 2 night / Day 3 morning

[WE HAVE BEEN BUSY BEES MEETING PEOPLE HAVEN'T WE. PROBABLY WE GOTTA CHILL AND GOSSIP. We're all still quite fresh amnesiacs after all.]

Comments

[bad_in_latin]

That's the width an' breadth of his suggestion, kid. I ain't decided one way or t'other yet.

[supraliminally]

Did he say why, though? I don't understand what advantage it could offer.

[bad_in_latin]

Ain't advantage, kid. S'fairness.

[supraliminally]

[OBVIOUSLY AGITATED but trying to keep cool about it. uugh.]

No. Absolutely not. I won't accept any strategy other than the most optimal one. Even if we could scrape out a win without it -- a win by the skin of our teeth isn't enough. We have to win this without losing anyone. Have you thought about how difficult that's going to be? We can't afford to give even an inch more than we must.

[bad_in_latin]

[ his tone cools instantly ]

It ain't your decision.

[supraliminally]

[no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no]

[bad_in_latin]

Lemme tell you how it's gonna be. Everyone gets some kinda say in who we team up with an' how. Won't be I'll act on all of 'em - point of fact, I won't. 'cause we need t'be unified an' damn efficient. An' I'm guessin' you understand the need for that part.

You want this team to get through to the end and win? Then don't start lookin' horrorfilled at the thought of me directin' you in a way you don't like. I ain't decided yet.

[withswagger]

[started tuning RIGHT IN when he heard his name. And was not disappointed... watching them both keenly]

...

[supraliminally]

[not noticing vespera just yet. she looks absolutely livid for a few moments.]

What any of us like or don't like isn't the issue at hand here. If Vespera thinks betrayal will leave a bad taste, he ought to consider how he'll swallow the loss of our own.

[shakes her head. and then like flipping a switch, just goes totally expressionless.]

I'll abide by your decision without fail, regardless. That's all.

[bad_in_latin]

[ well he can't grab her collar so he will lean in her face at least. ]

One more thing. I'll kill every last one of those damn bastards afore I lose none of you.

[supraliminally]

[there's a flicker of something in her expression, not quite readable. she holds his gaze, unblinking -- like a predator looking for a weak spot. any hint whatsoever that he's anything less than sincere.

and then she relaxes, marginally.]

You are my Prime. There's nothing for me, other than put my faith in that promise. So long as that's your will, I'll carry it out perfectly.

[bad_in_latin]

[ Bergen's a lot of things, but insincere? absolutely not one of them. ]

An' for me, ain't nothin' but to live up to it. I'm beholden to all of you, same's you are to me.

[withswagger]

[. . . .]



... If I may.

[bad_in_latin]

[ whoops, jolts a bit. he didn't see you. ]

-- 'Spera?

[supraliminally]

[finally breaking bergen's gaze to look over to him. she looks somewhat apprehensive]

Vespera...

[withswagger]

[lightly!] Bergen speaks true of my thoughts.

Not to say I won't keep my blade sharp and aim true! We are already betraying all of them, after all.

You spoke of advantage. Betrayal only works should it be a surprise, and each and every family is brimming with readiness for it. We may play that game, but with all of them?

[bad_in_latin]

[ letting Vespera say his piece for now ]

[supraliminally]

Everyone expects betrayal, but no one knows the form it comes in or the time it comes. That's where the advantage lies. If we don't betray them, they'll betray us. In order to win, we need to betray them first, and in a particular manner that they won't expect. They'll take precautions. We see those precautions and look for a gap. A weak point they've missed. That's the game. We simply have to be more vigilant and more clever than they are...

[she seems to be deep in thought, though. obviously considering something. sitting up with her legs tucked under her and tapping her fingers against her knees idly.]

[withswagger]

We will surely need to. But universally, I want more advantages than vigilance.

... Consider our Governess. He could set terms of agreement to eliminate betrayal as an option entirely, 'til we are done with the match. Covering our backs, and leaving us open to an allegiance we can wholly trust in turn - and all the advantages that offers.

Especially when it is a family weaker than us.

[supraliminally]

Just put in something like -- the terms of the contract cannot be breached without advanced notice of a full day. And make sure there aren't any holes in the contract to be exploited.

Still. Betrayal allows for a clean sweep if we do it right. Open conflict -- we're almost guaranteed to get bloodied. It's fine as long as we all survive, but still.

[bad_in_latin]

[ firm ]

We ain't losin' nobody. S'a requirement no matter what the hell we do.

[withswagger]

We've plenty of families to kill. One at a time, shall we? They will all be gunning for us soon, eager to subjugate our resource. To be certain one family is not gunning for us - I believe that will do us good, that is all.

Ching Shih is a game I am willing to play. Ichibei... I admit you are right, the thought of playing them as we were played is simply sour in my mouth. Delicate or not, that is my stance. Nothing I'd allow to cost my Family.

[supraliminally]

We need to keep them at bay if we're going to play that way. The closer we are at the end, the bloodier it will end up being. If we intend to fight fair we have to absolutely dominate every single season. Not just through deception, but by fulfilling every role perfectly.

[withswagger]

As if that will be difficult.

Here I thought a clever betrayal would be bloody indeed. It should be no trouble at all to stay unattached.

What say you, Bergen? Thoughts?

[bad_in_latin]

[ hrrmmm, he thinks for a moment. arms folded loosely across his chest. ]

S'gonna be awful lonely if'n it's us against the world. But we all know what Achilles did t'us.