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[oneman_onevote]

Here's a guy who's not around much.

Or... yes, actually he is. But mostly he's outside, being depressingly healthy, upstairs being depressingly intellectual, or lurking creepily about in the shadows.

Today he's sitting at the bar with a notepad, a pencil, and a calculating expression.

It's probably not worth asking him what he's up to.

But it can't hurt to ask?

Comments

[smallestopener]

Ingress is totally not sneaking into the bar from the House of Arch painting. No, of course not! She simply didn't bother Tom and Door with the knowledge that she was stopping in for a milkshake. They are busy people, after all. They probably won't even notice she's left the House.

She waves when she sees Havelock. "Hi! Did you get Tom's note? He said he left it for you."

[oneman_onevote]

Havelock turns around, and pulls the note out from under a page of his notebook to show her.

"I did," he says. "Hello, Ingress."

[smallestopener]

"I'm glad you can be my teacher. I'm going to get a milkshake. Would you like one? Or a sundae?"

Ingress bonds with people through ice cream.

[oneman_onevote]

"No thank you," Havelock says seriously, folding up his notes.

"You go ahead, though. We should go over a few things before your first lesson, I think."

[smallestopener]

"Oh. Okay."

She smiles, but he's awfully serious all of a sudden. She hopes he's not going to be like Nynaeve. That would be a lot less fun, even though she learned a great deal of important things from Nynaeve (and learned them well).

"I'll be right back."

She asks Bar for her milkshake and returns momentarily.

[oneman_onevote]

It's okay, Ingress! Havelock gets that way sometimes.

He's smiling underneath.

All the notes have vanished by the time she comes back, possibly concealed in various pockets. He nods to her, and tugs out a stool for her to sit on.

[smallestopener]

In her experience, adults always have notes and books and papers and parchments and boring things to keep busy with. She doesn't even think about their absence when she returns.

"I've always liked the ice cream here best," she says, sitting down on the stool. "It's even better than Florean's on Diagon Alley."

[oneman_onevote]

"Diagonally?" Havelock asks, frowning.

[smallestopener]

She laughs. Wizards are funny.

"Diagon-" she pauses slightly and continues. "Alley. It's a street in Tom's old world. We go there sometimes for shopping and ice cream. Knockturn Alley is another street there, but he says it's not a place we need to go."

[river_meimei]

River doesn't bother to ask.

Whether this is psychic cheating or just laziness, only River knows!

She does, however, peer more or less at the paper. (Out of what is probably courtesy, she approaches from an angle that's within his sightlines. It could also be accident, of course, but -- probably not.)

[oneman_onevote]

This particular page is detailing several kinds of magical binding.

This may not be by accident either.

He glances along at her with a pleasant nod.

"Hello, River," he says.

[river_meimei]

"You're practicing knots," River says amicably, in what's probably greeting.

She drops onto a barstool, running her fingertips lightly along the edge of the bar. (That's definitely greeting, although not to Havelock, and he may or may not recognize it as such.)

[oneman_onevote]

It will do, whatever it was.

"How are you?" he asks, ready to interpret any number of things as possible answers.

[river_meimei]

River glances at him.

"I'm okay."

So there, Havelock's narration!

[oneman_onevote]

Well, that was straightforward!

"Good," says Havelock briskly. "I wanted to ask you something about how you spoke to Puck."

He glances around. This is most inconvenient. While he's fairly sure he isn't being followed, the trouble with unknown power is that you can't be quite sure whether you are alone or not.

[river_meimei]

River, too, glances around; a little more broadly, and with rather more visible uncertainty.

"I listened," she tries, somewhat hesitantly.

[oneman_onevote]

Havelock nods thoughtfully, watching her.

He really doesn't know much about what she does, and how.

"Would you be willing to listen to him again, some time?" he asks.

[reallyaduck]

What's the sound of one duck tripping over her own feet, stumbling into Havelock's chair, and bouncing off into a nearby table?

In this case, it is the sound of CRASH.

[oneman_onevote]

Havelock blinks downwards.

There is a heap of child at his feet.

That hasn't happened since the twins left.

"Are you quite all right?" he hazards.

[reallyaduck]

"Yeah, I'm okay!"

Duck rebounds very quickly (and so do her bangs, which have now sprung back to full attention after being briefly flattened to her head). She's now on her feet again, hopping from one to the other with an excess of energy.

"Thanks! Um . . . I hope I didn't disturb you!"

[oneman_onevote]

Ah, the energy of youth.

...Thinks the guy in his early twenties.

In any case Havelock shrugs lightly at her.

"Not really. Were you hurrying somewhere?"

It must have been important for her to lose balance like that, surely!

[reallyaduck]

"Not really - I guess I just wanted to go look at the lake 'cause it's so nice outside! But -" She glances out the window. "It's sorta dark out now, so maybe I won't after all . . ."

Those demon bunnies are pretty scary if you are a Duck-sized person.

[oneman_onevote]

"That is probably wise," Havelock says - by which he means, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES GO OUTSIDE IN THE DARK.

"It has not been particularly safe out there recently."

[reallyaduck]

"My friend got attacked by rabbits with teeth!" Duck says, nodding vigorously.

The vampire threat has not yet worked its way into Duck's consciousness. Sometimes it's helpful to be utterly oblivious to the world around you! Sometimes . . . it's less so.

"Um, I'm Duck!"

[oneman_onevote]

...Really?


"Hello Duck," says Havelock, with great solemnity. "I'm Havelock."