[Meeting] Tea? (L'vey/Corvis)

[lithle]

It was late afternoon and, for Southern, not so miserably hot as it might be. Too late in the day for the lunch rush, and too early for the dinner, the mess hall was mostly occupied by those riders grabbing a quick bite between shifts. L'vey, who kept his own hours, was seated at one of the long table near the edge of the mess, and he was alone at it.

He looked even more alone, with the table being as large as it was. He was sipping something cool out of earthenware cup and studying his ever-present list.

Sweet, have the Guardmaster send Corvis to me here.

Not at meal time, certainly! L'vey, you must have a sense of timing.

Too much to do before the hatching for that, love.

Faeth sighed. She could sigh with the best of them. She was queen of sighs. But she touched the Guardmaster mind, telling him to have Corvis escorted to the mess hall.

Really, she would be speaking to a certain young green about all this, and soon. The guilt rode L'vey to heavily, and left him overworked.

L'vey, for his part, sipped his cool drink, his gaze focused toward the jungle. Were his students safe out there? Were they even alive? He knew well enough that he was supposed to feel anger toward them. Certainly, the egg theft had wounded him. But mostly, he worried over their safety. They were his responsibility, even now.

[tiamat]

Corvis was not at his best at the moment.

The breakout and Warden’s death had been bad enough, but he had gotten through that, even if he had been a bit jumpy for a while afterward. No, far worse for his peace of mind was the egg theft. The outlaws had broken in and gotten back out and he couldn’t see how things could possibly get better when they were so clearly going downhill.

No, this was definitely not one of his better moments, which is why he briefly panicked when one of the guards asked him to come with him. Briefly, which meant that he didn’t bolt out of some misguided attempt to get away from his imminent demise. He didn’t quite hear the guard’s exact words over his attempts to keep his heart from beating out of his chest, but he heard enough to know that L’vey wanted to see him for… whatever reason. Probably whatever he had spoken to the others about.

Regardless of the worries that ate at his peace of mind (or what little of it remained), he followed the guard to… the mess hall? Why was L’vey meeting him in the mess hall?

Thankfully for everyone involved, Corvis did not decide that this was yet another sign that he was going to die horribly in the near future and sat across from L’vey. “What was it you wanted?” He cringed slightly when he realized how rude that probably sounded, but didn’t add anything too it. With the way his luck was going, he’d just dig himself into a nice grave-sized hole.

[lithle]

L'vey looked up when Corvis was brought to the table, inclining his head slightly in what was clearly intended as a greeting. And then Corvis asked his question. It was the sort of question that required a smile, or a raised eyebrow, or even an irritated scowl. Certainly, so blunt a statement, free of greeting, required something of the person addressed. L'vey merely continued to look at the prisoner, his expression somber.

At least the man had sat down.

"This meeting is, in fact, more about your desires than my own," he said at last, his tone mild. The Guard, by now accustomed to bringing prisoners for L'vey had retreated at his nod, leaving the table to the two of them. "I understand you are interested in standing for the eggs now hardening. Should you impress, you'll be in my charge. I thought I might answer any questions you had and clear up any misunderstandings."

As he spoke, the kitchen worker he'd spoken to earlier brought by a tray with a cold drink, fresh fruit, and finger-rolls. The worker set the food in front of Corvis and left. It was certainly a step above what was common in the prison mess.

"So, to begin, do you have any questions?"