Another Musketeer Arrives

[not_apriest]

Who: Aramis and OPEN
Where: The Grounds
When: October 15th. Morning.
Rating: PG at worst? We don't really know what to expect yet.
Summary: Aramis wakes up on a beach and isn't sure how he got there.
The Story:


He opened his eyes and immediately squinted against the glare of the sun. And that was already wrong. He put his hands down to push himself up and noticed they sank in hot sand. He frowned. Very very wrong. There were no beaches in Paris. Where the hell was he? He pushed himself up to a sitting position, patting himself down, taking stock. He still had his weapons. His hat was on the sand near his left hand. He was still wearing his cloak and his boots. He grabbed his hat and stood, looking around. There was sparkling blue water to his right. Rich green grass to his left. Beyond, some distance away, he could see what appeared to be a great manor house.

He headed for that.

Comments

[airshipswank]

Buckingham continues his walk into the mansion, through the entrance hall and up the stairs to their right.

"If you have your suspicions, by all means, enlighten me."

He might find entertainment in it. Or inspiration.

[not_apriest]

"A fool would fail to have suspicions of you," Aramis tells him. "That doesn't mean I know what, precisely, you're thinking."

[airshipswank]

"Ahh, but I've had so much... time to contemplate. I'm a changed man!"

He turns to face Aramis as he delivers his last line with flourish and about as much sincerity as one would expect from the duke.

[not_apriest]

"Found God, have you?" He smirks. "Careful. He knows a lie when He hears one."

[airshipswank]

A quick nod towards the dining hall as they pass it.

"Does He teach that skill to His servants as well?"

[not_apriest]

"We're all His servants. You tell me," Aramis challenges back.

[airshipswank]

Again Buckingham chuckles. Very droll.

Truth to be told (or at least thought, for speaking it out loud is not entirely his style) Buckingham always found God entirely too demanding and humourless a master. Oh now, the kings appointed by His hand and the church working in His name, now there are some far more corruptible reasonable people to please.

"Not all servants reflect on their orders."

On a marginally related note, a set of doors is swung open and here is the library.

[not_apriest]

"I've noticed that myself," Aramis murmurs, glancing around as the doors open.

The library is quite lovely, but he won't say as much to his unexpected tour guide.

He looks at Buckingham. "So this is how you pass your time?" he asks wryly. "In quiet study?"

[airshipswank]

"Quiet study and contemplation," he confirms with utmost sincerity.

Oh, but it's all true! The duke has spent many, many hours here, at least... at least when not presently engaged in social intrigue, event madness or attempts at wooing an Egyptian princess on the other side of the mirrors. Shhh.

"Such a refreshing change of pace."

[not_apriest]

"I can imagine," Aramis told him dryly. "The ascetic lifestyle is very relaxing."

He took one more glance around, then looked at Buckingham. "Anything else worth viewing around here? Perhaps your personal prayer chapel where you spend hours in quiet introspection," he suggested wryly.

[airshipswank]

Buckingham briefly weighs the entertainment value of attempting to send Aramis off to be eaten by the forest against the consequences, should he succeed in such endeavour. He decides rather quickly that he is presently in no spirit to play host to the ire that particular plot would invite.

"A dining room, music room, ballroom, tea rooms and... bedrooms beyond counting."

He offers Aramis an especially apologetic grimace.

"Not one chapel as of yet, but perhaps you will... find the time to provide us with a remedy for that."

Time is, after all, one of the many things that just don't seem to diminish in this place.

[not_apriest]

Aramis smirks at him a little. "I'm not a priest," he points out. He gestures back the way they came. "But perhaps I'll continue to explore the grounds for now."

[airshipswank]

"Perhaps you'll reconsider... after a while. France has little need for your service here, but God might... credit you for the attempt."

Christianise the ever-changing land of magic? Now there is a fun pet project. Ah, but he would loathe to keep Aramis any longer, almost as much as he'd loathe to play all his best cards on the first day.

He gives the musketeer a nod.

"A bientôt."

[not_apriest]

Aramis manages a small, polite bow without vomiting before stepping away and turning his back on the Englishman. Buckingham bears watching. If God were to credit him with a mission, he expects that this would count.