[his lip curls, but it's a good thing aloïs puts it that way, an eye for an eye, forcing vane to think clearly about whether he feels he's owed something from aloïs for this. and the truth is that he doesn't. he accepted the challenge, they'd exchanged their blows, he'd held his own, and if not for the call that brought them here, he would have considered the matter ended (if not resolved).
what he hadn't expected to get was a reason, and now he's got that too - even if the reason does make the free shot tempting. truthfully, he's more furious about the idea of someone else looking and sounding enough like him to leave behind a mess for him to deal with, and the irony of taking that out on aloïs would be inescapable, even for him.
he narrows his eyes at the other man.]
What'd he do to you? The man you knew with my face.
[He doesn't relish talking about this, but the sting of digging into this particular wound is blunted by his having arrived prepared to give the entire truth if asked. No one --not Daphne, not Chris (not that the cleric had asked when he'd come to him after Daphne had)-- is owed as much, but Charles is.]
The long and short of it? [He unconsciously tips his head, raising his chin and squaring his shoulders along with it.] He abandoned me in enemy territory after we slew his father, the King of the Northern country. I gave up my life and family to go with him to make sure he didn't die, and what that was worth in the end was a knife in my back and me dodging the blades of his countrymen ever since.
I loved him. [It's offered as a cold statement of fact. It's nothing he's expecting or wanting understanding of or pity for. This man doesn't know him. He might as well be weaving a fairy story and he knows it. With a note of darkly ironic humor, he adds,] Needless to say, it wasn't mutual.
[He breathes out, his posture relaxing some.]
Like I said, what happened after the Finder was fucked. I don't plan on letting it happen again.
[ugh. the son of a king? what a fucking embarrassment that is. vane would hold him for ransom on principal.
but in any event, he listens, watching aloïs intently as the young man lays it out between them, something that cannot possibly have been easy to do but was done, again, without flinching. he doesn't offer pity. but understanding - yes, there is at least a bit of that. knowing what it's like to have someone you love turn on you - turn the world against you - is the kind of weak spot that's easy to exploit, if you know it's there.]
Sounds like a son of a bitch to me.
[specifically of a kind worse than him. he doesn't fuck around with his loyalties like that. when he looks aloïs over again, his demeanor has shifted away from scorn, towards consideration.]
I already took the blood I wanted from you. But if you wish for me to consider this matter resolved, then from now on, you will know me for who I am - or I assure you I will make myself unmistakable to you. Do you understand?
[Despite himself, a corner of the rogue's lips tugs up. He can more than accept that arrangement, and put to bed his meandering regrets and remorse along with it. If the man says the matter is settled upon certain conditions, and there's no further drastic amends or blood required between them to settle it, then he can observe the simple matter of telling two men with the same face apart. Easy.
It's unfamiliar in this place, but this moment has a feeling of being like the kind of accord between men and women of the blade that had been common enough back home. There's a certain relief (and aching familiarity) in that.]
You're already on your way to it, trust; I've still plenty of bruises from the hold you caught me in. Speaks volumes, that. [Fuck him, that was practically friendly. He doesn't know if that's something he should be treading into with this man given the-- everything of all of this.
But it's too late now. Taking a step forward, Aloïs offers one thickly-calloused hand to the other man.]
Charles Vane. I'll know you as you are. [No more, no less.]
[he looks at the hand, and then at aloïs again. then he releases the grip of his weapon so he can return the shake, firm.]
Then we'll know each other.
[there will be no forgetting aloïs after this, that's for certain. but as to the question of a new enemy, vane can admit that he's pleased to have landed shy of that. it's not worth it here, like it often was at home, to draw a line in the sand over what amounts to circumstantial fuckery and poor judgment.
for that matter, he can also brag that he didn't have to suffer through what would have been a painful recovery anywhere else.]
I was lucky - had someone patch me up with methods for expediting the process.
[not a scratch on him to show for it now, thanks to the tiger woman who lets him share her bed sometimes. for a moment he continues to look at aloïs rather thoughtfully, before adding one more thing.]
Once that demon of yours is silenced, should you find yourself in the mood for a cleaner fight, you know how to reach me now. I'd say we could improve each other.
Count me glad for that 'someone', then. You don't fight like a man who needs delicate handling, but your nose does look better when the tip's pointing in the right direction, [he teases. It's good that Vane's wounds weren't allowed to linger for long. His own sprained arm is proving a real inconvenience to his travels throughout the city, but the consequence has a karmic quality to it that feels justified. The next time someone in the city is familiar to him in any way, he's going to remember this and think twice about his approach-- or whether he'll approach at all. He's sure there are only so many times he can get into near-fatal scrapes with other LIERs where it all ends with the other person shrugging it off.]
Aye. [Aloïs smiles slightly at the offer of another fight, encouraged. There's a certain risk he can feel in becoming friendly with this man, but there's undeniable temptation there, too. He should resist, probably. There's no logical reason not to.
But he can't.] I'll look you up once my arm bends the right way again. [Gathering his cloak about him, Aloïs starts off in the direction he arrived from.] Winner buys a round of drinks.
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no subject
what he hadn't expected to get was a reason, and now he's got that too - even if the reason does make the free shot tempting. truthfully, he's more furious about the idea of someone else looking and sounding enough like him to leave behind a mess for him to deal with, and the irony of taking that out on aloïs would be inescapable, even for him.
he narrows his eyes at the other man.]
What'd he do to you? The man you knew with my face.
no subject
The long and short of it? [He unconsciously tips his head, raising his chin and squaring his shoulders along with it.] He abandoned me in enemy territory after we slew his father, the King of the Northern country. I gave up my life and family to go with him to make sure he didn't die, and what that was worth in the end was a knife in my back and me dodging the blades of his countrymen ever since.
I loved him. [It's offered as a cold statement of fact. It's nothing he's expecting or wanting understanding of or pity for. This man doesn't know him. He might as well be weaving a fairy story and he knows it. With a note of darkly ironic humor, he adds,] Needless to say, it wasn't mutual.
[He breathes out, his posture relaxing some.]
Like I said, what happened after the Finder was fucked. I don't plan on letting it happen again.
no subject
but in any event, he listens, watching aloïs intently as the young man lays it out between them, something that cannot possibly have been easy to do but was done, again, without flinching. he doesn't offer pity. but understanding - yes, there is at least a bit of that. knowing what it's like to have someone you love turn on you - turn the world against you - is the kind of weak spot that's easy to exploit, if you know it's there.]
Sounds like a son of a bitch to me.
[specifically of a kind worse than him. he doesn't fuck around with his loyalties like that. when he looks aloïs over again, his demeanor has shifted away from scorn, towards consideration.]
I already took the blood I wanted from you. But if you wish for me to consider this matter resolved, then from now on, you will know me for who I am - or I assure you I will make myself unmistakable to you. Do you understand?
no subject
It's unfamiliar in this place, but this moment has a feeling of being like the kind of accord between men and women of the blade that had been common enough back home. There's a certain relief (and aching familiarity) in that.]
You're already on your way to it, trust; I've still plenty of bruises from the hold you caught me in. Speaks volumes, that. [Fuck him, that was practically friendly. He doesn't know if that's something he should be treading into with this man given the-- everything of all of this.
But it's too late now. Taking a step forward, Aloïs offers one thickly-calloused hand to the other man.]
Charles Vane. I'll know you as you are. [No more, no less.]
no subject
Then we'll know each other.
[there will be no forgetting aloïs after this, that's for certain. but as to the question of a new enemy, vane can admit that he's pleased to have landed shy of that. it's not worth it here, like it often was at home, to draw a line in the sand over what amounts to circumstantial fuckery and poor judgment.
for that matter, he can also brag that he didn't have to suffer through what would have been a painful recovery anywhere else.]
I was lucky - had someone patch me up with methods for expediting the process.
[not a scratch on him to show for it now, thanks to the tiger woman who lets him share her bed sometimes. for a moment he continues to look at aloïs rather thoughtfully, before adding one more thing.]
Once that demon of yours is silenced, should you find yourself in the mood for a cleaner fight, you know how to reach me now. I'd say we could improve each other.
no subject
Aye. [Aloïs smiles slightly at the offer of another fight, encouraged. There's a certain risk he can feel in becoming friendly with this man, but there's undeniable temptation there, too. He should resist, probably. There's no logical reason not to.
But he can't.] I'll look you up once my arm bends the right way again. [Gathering his cloak about him, Aloïs starts off in the direction he arrived from.] Winner buys a round of drinks.