sotirisdeleora:
gloria had a reputation for knowing more than anyone thought she had a right to. the irony of it was, she very rarely sought out any such knowledge these days. most of the information she came across was given to her by her assistant, ivan, who had a penchant for gossip and the uncontrollable urge to update her on every scandal on the island. occasionally, he would also bring her news from off the island, or more recently, off the planet.
he was a very good assistant, but the councilor rather wished he’d skipped the update on celia. gloria loved her niece, she really did, but finding out she’d had a rather salacious conversation - in public - with tiago ixora - had been something she’d rather not have been appraised of.
jerking slightly as celia’s loud voice interrupts her musings, gloria glowers as some of her drink sloshes onto her hand. sighing loudly, she shoots her niece a withering look as she waves over a white robot. “you did that on purpose you little fucking grindylow.” setting her drink down on the robot’s tray, she grabs the cloth napkin it offers her and cleans her hand off before placing the used cloth on its tray and waving the machine off.
“and no, i have not done any drugs recently, nor do i intend to. malfeasance for the sake of advancement is not in my nature, and i am not so desperate as to turn to collective drugs when hundreds of our ancestors advanced without the need for such crutches.” a subtle unvoiced yet hangs in the air before the woman continues. “marli woodglade is a brilliant woman but she is also irresponsible and quite a bit more free with her thinking. i have my doubts this dorian will be of any help to leorans without her personality….. quirks. you haven’t done anything quirky lately, have you?”
gloria raises an eyebrow, folding her arms neatly across her chest. “you’ve been doing someone rather quirky, but I do hope you’re not aiming to give me an aneurism by doing two idiosyncratic things at once.”
the immediate insult makes celia realize how rare their meetings have become as her heart is filled with something close to longing. maybe they should hang out again, after all. they’re both busy women (gloria more than celia), but that shouldn’t stop them from a weekly meditation catch up and gossip round session. “everything i do is on purpose.” a wide grin accompanies her words as celia proudly watches the small misery she’s caused, watching the robot with sympathy as it helps out her aunt.
“marli woodglade is a freaking icon and my absolute idol. if i wasn’t sworn to engineering, i would pursue a teaching career.” while her words are mostly chosen to get on gloria’s nerves just a little more, it’s not far away from the truth. she does consider marli woodglade an icon. and she would lie if she said that the drugs hadn’t sparked her interest, though she would rather not consider taking them herself. “though crutches do tend to be helpful, i’m sure that you are not in need of such thing. given i have only recently avanced to highgold, i haven’t considered dorian yet, but now i know that if i do, i won’t have to ask you to join me. i will be lonely and successful. on my own. the usual quirky things.”
“idiosyncratic.” she repeats, immediately checking to see if tiago is close enough to hear what she’s saying (which luckily, he’s not), “i wouldn’t label it like that. quirky. also quite the word to use. i would describe them as rather..noticeable. he has quite the connections, no?” sipping some of her wine, she sends an innocent smile in her aunts direction. yeah, she missed her. their therapeutic evening conversations. so much.
“while i do feel a slight distaste for him, he’s so good with words. and their hands. mostly, it’s because i offered him my company in exchange for materials i can use for my work. and it’s not idiotic if i get two things out of it.”
celia taps her wine glass with her finger as she watches the crowd. “i reconnected with amala thevar today. gorgeous woman. would you prefer if i did the quirky things i do with her?”















