vatheon | 3rd - I may be a fool, but I intend to be a live fool.

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3rd - I may be a fool, but I intend to be a live fool.

Who: Matrim Cauthon and you!
Where: Inside the Nostalgia Nook
When: Morning to Afternoon
Style: [Action!]
Status: Open~!

[Today, Mat's decided to look through all the selections of longbows, and if what he's muttering is any clue, he isn't finding what he's looking for. Only really seeing all the bows on his right doesn't help any.]

Blood and ashes...Too short. And that one feels about to crack... [He reaches for a couple more, lifting them individually before putting them back with a grumble, leaning on his ashandarei a bit.]

Too light. And that one was too heavy. [He turns left to better see the selection, lifting another possible choice before putting it back with a sigh.]

This one's too tall. And all of these probably wouldn't have enough flaming range. [Bother him?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The Band isn't really tied to any country...though they did get hired on by Murandy for a short while, and he did send some of them to help Elayne in Cairhien... Elayne had also made him agree to having the Band on a renewable contract with Andor in return for the Dragons...

And what does dude mean?]

You could say that. Mostly we just traveled and fought when we needed to, but we're helping Elayne since she's making the Dragons for us. [When they weren't contracted to anyone. The Band actually isn't a band of mercenaries.]

[Nothing negative like flaming, that's for sure.

The mercenary nature of the band doesn't pass over Kurow, but confusion over the bizarre logic in a general not serving a lord or country doesn't stay for long. Rather, he turns to the new topic at hand, and he tips his head to show his newfound curiosity.]

Seriously? She must be one heckuva person to do something like make dragons.

[Flaming isn't all that negative. Try blistered bumps on the Dark One's backside for negative.

Oh, that's the same sort of confusion that Rand had. He chuckles.]

They aren't the scaly dragons out of legends. They're devices for launching large chunks of metal over a mile or so. They have something like the exploding powder from Nightflowers in them to make the "dragon's egg" fly.

[They're cannons. Yep. And he grins.]

She had all of Andor's bellfounders working on them when I left. She's certainly not what you'd think of when you're told she's the Queen. Swears too much, for one thing. [That's what heckuva means right?]

[That just sounds nasty.

At first, Kurow thinks of some sort of catapult, but the second Matrim brings up "exploding powder," he's reminded of the Goryeo. There had been that loud device . . . ]

Oh. So they're, like, cannons.

[One mystery down. The next piece of statement puzzles Kurow a little, though he doesn't react too much otherwise. He's just subdued in general, if he had to say so, himself.]

No kidding? Isn't a queen taught to speak all proper and good since she's born?

[Not as nasty as some of the other things he's said.

He shrugs. Dragons are new technology for his world, so he isn't all that surprised that they have another name in a different world.]

If that sounds like a cannon, then I guess so. I've never heard of a cannon before.

[He laughs. Instead of looking at bows that don't fit him, he ended up talking about Elayne?]

She doesn't talk like she grew up on the streets, but she swears like a sailor or a stable-hand. That's probably where she heard them, on the docks or in the stables.

Geez . . . Never thought a queen would actually talk like that.

[Much less pick up the habit from commoners, considering how Otohime talked around sailors. Kurow scratches the back of his head.]

Maybe they do, but just in private . . . ?

[He thinks for a moment, then shakes his head.]

I don't think her mother - the old Queen - did, even in private. [Before everyone thought she was killed. He's not even sure that she does swear now; Perrin didn't say. And why would he? It's not like that's important.

He laughs a bit more.]

Elayne's one of the few nobles I like. She's got her head screwed on straight, for an Aes Sedai Queen. [He hopes becoming Cairhien's Queen worked out for her. It'd be bad if it didn't, this close to Tarmon Gai'don...]

[That throws that theory under the bus. Kurow tips his head, thinking again, when the mention of Elayne and queens brings him back.]

You say that like most queens don't have their head on right. Or is that just for Aes-Se-Dai queens?

[His pronunciation is a little rigid; not fluent, certainly.]

[He thinks for a moment, tugging his scarf.]

I think most queens and most Aes Sedai don't. That's how they seem to me anyway.

[Tylin had seemed strange, even if he realized now that he did like her. Saying Aes Sedai rigidly doesn't even make him blink his eye. He wonders what would happen if someone said other Old Tongue words rigidly to him...Maybe he'd actually be able to tell. That wouldn't really help him explain what he said though...]

. . . well, all queens are related, right? I guess that'd explain the trend.

[Of course, he's taking Matrim's word for the women without contesting it. To Kurow, everyone is a stranger in this particular conversation.]

[He blinks.]

I don't think they're all related. I'm not sure the Borderlander royalty are related to the Altaran or the Andoran royalty.

[Tylin being related to Elayne...he gives a small shudder at the thought. Moiraine was nobility too, related to a king of Cairhien if he remembered right. He really hoped she wasn't related to Elayne or Tylin. Or Faile, since wasn't she the cousin of the Queen of Saldaea?

Not thinking about Queens being related sounds like a good idea...]

What about your world? You know any royalty or mages?

[Uh-buh? So many royalties?

Wherever Matrim is from, it sounds like a fairly sizable place to boast multiple rulers. Nippon, all things considered, is tiny; easily managed under one Queen, save the waters, which is reserved for another.

. . . and they're probably not related, either.]

Donno about mages, but I know a miko. Met a queen, once, too, but we parted ways fast. She didn't talk anything like yours.

[He didn't even mention all of them...He raises an eyebrow.]

A miko?

[He shrugs. He...might not be considered Andoran anymore, since he's married to the Seanchan Empress...huh. He should figure that out when he finally returns home. Wasn't that the first thing on his little list? "Talk to Tuon".]

I think Elayne might talk that way around me because I'm one of her [...they aren't actually married. RAND...] husband's best friends. I'm pretty sure she doesn't talk like that around everyone she meets in private.

[Keep your big fat list to yourself, young man.]

Yeah. Like, a priestess with holy powers.

[With that aside, Kurow bows his head, pondering this new piece of information. One of her husband's best friends, huh? A lofty social position.]

I guess that makes sense. They've got a public image to keep with their subjects. It'd be totally different with friends . . .

[He will. It's not like there's much on it...]

Oh. Holy powers meaning magic? [...he doesn't know what a priestess is, but that probably doesn't change what he wants to know. For all he knows, that's what he meant, though the powers didn't have to be holy.

He'd be happy if that was his entire social position. That'd mean no balls or anything like that where he'd have to be proper and have fancier outfits and different boots since he'd just be Rand's childhood friend from the tiny little village that didn't know it was part of a kingdom. Nevermind the fact that if Rand was still the Dragon Reborn, he'd still have to do all those things.]

Yeah. I don't really want to know how she talks when she's just with him. [Again, he thinks Elayne would have made a good serving girl if she hadn't been born the Daughter-Heir of Andor.]

[He considers the terminology, then nods, accepting it for what it's worth. In a place like Vatheon, it isn't as if there's a big gap.

Ah, the responsibilities that come with being friends with someone of such importance.]

Heh, you think they get all fluffy and say totally sweet things around each other? Stuff like, "you're sooo delicious!"

[ . . . that probably doesn't sound as amusing as it does in his head. Not necessarily funny, because that's the sort of thing he says, himself.]

[Well okay. He opens his mouth to say that's what he meant but then...

...sorry Kurow. That actually makes Mat laugh. A lot. Maybe it's because this is Rand and Elayne they're talking about. Or maybe because the mental image of anyone saying that would make him fall over in laughter.

So he doesn't manage to actually say anything, just laughing. Oh Light, what if they actually did say things like that to each other? If Rand was the one who said it...he'd say it to Aviendha and Min too--

. . . sorry Kurow, Mat's still laughing. Just the thought of Rand saying that to any of them makes him laugh. Elayne saying it might make him laugh harder...]

[Why is that so funny? Is it funny? Maybe he shouldn't mention that's his line from way back when.

Kurow looks off to the side -- the ground is awfully interesting -- sheepishly, scratching his cheek. Laughter is good, though, so he lets Matrim have it. After a moment, he looks back, straightening.]

You done?

[He'd been mostly leaning on the spear to keep upright when he was laughing his hardest, but he nods, adjusting his scarf.]

I think so. Light, I've heard things and seen things, but I can't imagine Rand or Elayne ever saying that.

[Without it being a line for a story...He's already seen Rand and Min without clothes on when he wasn't even in the same country. He doesn't want to know what Rand would be saying during things like that. He gives Kurow a sheepish smile, rubbing his hair under his hat. He hoped he hadn't accidentally made him feel bad.]

[No harm done, stranger. Simply embarrassment, or some feeling akin to it as Kurow shrugs again. Anything is possible with people; ridiculously cheesy lines included.]

Imagination and reality can be pretty different, dude. But you know them better than me.

[He really really hopes that isn't possible with people. That'd mean Leilwin/Egeanin could say that and...that'd make him laugh harder.]

I agree with you there, and really strange things have happened... [Like him getting married. But even if the Pattern made it happen, he wouldn't believe it unless he heard him say it himself. And he really wouldn't want to be there if it was between Rand and his women...]

Maybe I should ask Rand when he wakes up. [He'd have to explain, sure, but the look on Rand's face might be worth it.]

[Kurow's brows arch up. Is Matrim for real? After that burst of uncontrollable laughter over one line, maybe that isn't such a great idea.]

Dude, you're really gonna ask? You sure you're not going to laugh in the middle of it?

[He smiles. He's said plenty of things that get that same reaction out of people, so he can sorta guess what he's thinking. Not a good idea... or is he serious? Sometimes both. Sometimes just "he's an idiot," but...]

I might. His reaction would be worth it. I could always just write it down... [Yeah, he's actually thinking about it.]

["He's an idiot" is an entirely valid reason for anything.]

So you're gonna write it, hand it to him, then watch his reaction while he takes the time to read it? That's kinda overdone . . . But hey, if it works.

If I do it that way, I don't have to worry about forgetting about it if he's asleep for much longer.

[He really is thinking about doing that now. Very very seriously.]

If I leave it in his room, then sometime after he wakes up, he'll see it and then probably stare and then yell at me.

3rd - I may be a fool, but I intend to be a live fool.

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sorry--

beautiful.

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