In Which Jadin Maintains His Streak

November 17, 1179

"Huh. I never really thought about it." Of course he hadn't. Lorn was only a year older than Jadin was, but the death of his father had left him a duke at the age when boys ought to have spent their afternoons pelting each other with mud rather than reviewing accounts and tending to any urgent social crises. Lorn had never had time to learn the pastimes of young men, and bizarre hypothetical scenarios were no exception. But while they had time to kill, why not introduce him to the game? "Why? Who would you choose?"

"Izzy."

Lorn frowned. "That was a suspiciously quick answer."

"It's not the first time I've been asked that." Jadin flashed a quick smirk, but Lorn didn't return it. He supposed he was after the reasoning. "He's small, so he wouldn't be too intimidating, but he's strong, so he'd still be good protection. And he's got that big ugly scar, so it's not like he'd have any other prospects. That and he's not going to find anyone who looks more like Riona than I do." His brother-in-law snorted. Good to know that he at least got the point of these silly conversations: fun. "So, out with it. Who would you pick?"

"I don't know... Searle, maybe?"

Eh? "My brother?"

"No. Your cousin." Not that that narrowed it down. "You know--cranky, sadistic, small animals die every time he smiles?"

That did. "Interesting choice. Why?"

Lorn lifted a shoulder in blase unsureness. "I don't know. First name that came to mind, I guess."

"Fair enough. Now, suppose that all--" The door swung open and in shuffled the last person Jadin would have wanted to overhear that chat. Good thing it was over. "Hello, Sparron."

"Hello yourself." Jadin turned away from Lorn just long enough to stick out his tongue at his old friend; Sparron returned it with an arguably less immature gesture that Jadin was relieved to see Lorn had missed. "Lorn."

"Hello, Sparron." Lorn turned his head as Sparron shut the door, an early hint of a question lurking on his lips. "Hey, question. If you had to f--?"

"Ah, never mind that!" Jadin chirped up just in time. He smiled at Sparron perhaps a bit more widely than was necessary, though one eye remained on Lorn. It was a relief to see he hadn't caught anything suspicious. "Now that we're all here, we should probably find something more important to talk about. Any suggestions?"

Jadin and Sparron met with Lorn every few months or so in their fathers' steads, the idea being that they could weigh in on a few decisions under reasonable guidance without said guidance being from the men they would one day succeed. It made sense--they wouldn't be lords while their fathers were around, after all, so they couldn't rely too heavily on their present judgments--but sometimes they were pressed for problems large enough to merit concern yet small enough that neither Jadin's father nor Sparron's were needed.

Jadin's father had suggested Deian's supposed return and probation, but he already knew how that would turn out. Lorn, no doubt nursing some long-lived desire to bring the creature who'd killed his father to justice, would say they couldn't believe Tavrin when he said that Deian couldn't cause any trouble and would want to hunt him down as soon as they thought of a halfway plausible way to approach him. Sparron, resource-minded and undeniably itching to get home to his long-suffering father and his precious little son, would point out that they didn't know how long Deian had been back and there had been no incidents since their previous known encounter with him, and that--while it wouldn't be unwise to warn the people not to wander the forests alone--it would be a waste to send any knights on a wild goose chase until there was actual cause for alarm.

Jadin didn't know who he'd agree with. Probably Sparron in the end, but he'd see Lorn's points too clearly to make much a tie-breaker. The two of them would clash and he'd get frustrated and throw them both out, and that would be the end of it. It would be just as pointless as putting the moves on Camaline.

So instead, Jadin just jumped at the first thing that came to mind. "Guess whose turn it is to host the Advent party?"

...that was the first thing that came to mind? Good Lord. It wasn't even December yet.

Sparron didn't look to be any more impressed with the thought. "Your family's Advent party? Really?"

"Well... not much else going on around here, is there?" His friend glowered and it occurred to him that he may have deserved. There was always something going on with Sparron and it was rarely any good. "Anyway. It's Riona's turn. So... you'll both be there, right?"

Another stupid question. Sparron twitched and Jadin had to kick himself. Any party hosted by Searle's sister was bound to be attended by Searle himself. "No."

Lorn sniffed. "A little soon to respond, don't you think?"

"Hardly. I'm a busy man."

"As are we all. But it wouldn't kill you to give yourself a break every once in a while. You'll burn out." Jadin had to nod in agreement. It was the sort of thing that most men who'd lacked sufficient boyhoods tended to miss, as Sparron clearly had. Lorn, however, had somehow managed to learn that in spite of everything. "Besides, when was the last time you called on someone other than Jeda? Your absences don't go unnoticed, you know. At least think it over and let Isidro and Riona know closer to the date."

Sparron nudged at the ground as if sheer pride was the only thing that held him in place, but Jadin knew better. Sparron had no pride. "Fine. But don't expect me to change my mind."

And with that, he gave in to his restless feet and left without so much as a 'farewell' to either of them. An awkward sort of tension was all that remained. Jadin decided to break it, if only for the sake of some appearance of normalcy. Or maybe just to maintain his streak of moronic inquiries. "So... are you going to the party?"

"I don't know. Ask me when there's a concrete time and when it's actually December." Lorn glanced back at the closed door Sparron had left and sighed. "Is it just me, or are these meetings growing more and more pointless?"

Well. At least he wasn't the only one asking stupid questions. "It's not just you."

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