savetheearth | [closed] so about that wedding

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[closed] so about that wedding

Who: Thorir T Thorsson and Arnold Benedict
What: Talking about the upcoming wedding of their daughters and probably leading to lots of other things
Where: Thorir's place
When: Sometime during late January?

Arnold and Thorir agreed to meet for an afternoon coffee, and after a moment Thorir proposed his living room for the meeting - not because he doesn't like the more neutral atmosphere of cafes, but because between an Elf, a Dwarf and a wedding between the daughters of two rather politically influential families, a private location seemed better.

So Arnold has been asked to come to one of the back entrances of the Thorsson's Hardware main buildings in downtown Locke at 3:30pm. It's the one that also doubles as the private entrance of the main family flat that takes up the two top floors of the building. Thorir will be waiting outside for Arnold at the appointed time, mostly so that Arnold will find the right door (only partly because Liam's father, mostly because the door really is hardly different from any of the other back doors (which is on purpose)).

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They were supposed to meet for Christmas but well... things happened, and they had to postpone. That's okay. Arnold isn't particularly keen on giving away his baby girl anyway, and the longer he can put it off the better. At least she picked a nice girl. He's not so sure about the family, but his daughter has good taste in girlfriends, at least. And now he learns that they're Liam's friends too, and they've been looking after him, and... well, they can't be that bad, right?

So yes. That sure is a limo pulling up along the street (Liam insisted, because the last time Arnold took public transport he became fascinated with the street art, and then got lost, and was an hour late to Teagan's house). Arnold hops out, in one of his nicer suits (which is to say, he hasn't got paint on this one yet) and comes over with a bright smile and an outstretched hand.

"Hello! You'd be Thorir yes? Arnold Benedict."

"Yes, that would be me." His handshake is firm (carefully controlled so, though, he knows that it can be a bit too firm these days - even more so since there is a good number of people who seem to expect him to have lost strength because of the half-metre that he lost in height) but doesn't linger long, as he gestures for the door instead. "Please, come inside."

He knew that Keira's family has money even before meeting Arnold like this, so the limo doesn't really surprise him - on the other hand it makes him think that really, it isn't particularly surprising how easy Liam is with his money. No reason to not be happy about his daughter's match, though - so far, he thinks, he has really been lucky with how well his children have chosen their partners. Even if this one brings Teagan into his family, though indirectly.

If Arnold follows, he'll be led up a few flights of stairs - there are doors on all stories, but they are unused, and the staircase becomes more and more decorated and lived-in until they hit the fourth floor, on which a proper entrance door to an apartment is located.

"A pleasure" Arnold smiles and his own handshake is firm, something that still surprises people who see 'artist' and think 'wimp'.

"I must confess, you seem taller in your photos!" He says cheerfully as he follows Thorir.

On day, that will lose its sting. Today is not the day.

(That one day being when he gets the echo that really, dwarves don't care about being short).

"That is because I am." He opens the door and starts to take his shoes off, "please take your shoes off before coming inside - do you want slippers?", before hanging up his coat. "I used to be about half a metre taller than I am now." Which the interior of the apartment probably betrays - it was built for a family with no short members and later hastily adjusted to allow for very short family members - for a while, three 1.50 adults lived here.

"Oh?" Arnold blinks and then makes a soft a-ha sound. "Oh! That is an effect of ... ah, the Echoes yes? Liam mentioned that things might change, but I did not expect height to be one of them. Silly of me, I apologise."

"My friend Gabriel grew by a lot. He used to be shorter than I." And now he's more than half a metre taller. It's a bit ridiculous.

He'll lead Arnold into the living room once he has taken his shoes off. The apartment is large, and while the interior is more rustic and homely than expensive, there is nothing in it that is cheap, either - the people living in it and decorating it had money but only used it to get good quality, not to show that they had money. Asking the other man to sit, Thorir vanishes again for a moment to return with cake and fresh coffee.

"Have you met Birgir yet?"

"Gabriel, I think Liam mentioned him... the model, yes? The one involved in all that charity work? Such a baby face he has! How strange, to even change height!"

He takes off his shoes politely and looks around in delight as he sits.

"Your place is lovely" He compliments. "Such an excellent use of light and colour! And I have not, I'm afraid."

"Yes, and old colleague from my and Mardís's own model days. Only that he now looks like he looked back then, and me and my wife look our age." Which he doesn't mind at all, but it is strange to have someone who is in the same early fifties range look like he did when he was in his early twenties.

He puts the cake down in the middle of the table and pours them both a cup of coffee before setting the coffee pot down as well and taking a seat himself. "Thank you. A cousin of mine helped." He is still very proud of this place, even though he doesn't spend all that much time here at the moment.

"How strange! I wonder if I will see such changes as well. I hope Lisa will not mind overly. Your wife does not mind?"

He accepts the coffee with a grateful smile.

"He or she has excellent taste, in that case - do pass on my compliements! It can be difficult to blend the use of color properly, and this is superb!"

"I will do so.

...as for if my wife minds, I wouldn't think so; she enjoys teasing me relentlessly about it. And I did get a feeling for music out of the pulses, she considers that a definite bonus." Considering that before the pulses, his singing voice could empty a room and he has a very nice singing voice now.

"Ooh, you sing? The more I hear, the more strange these Echoes seem! Physical changes, skill changes! So very very strange. I wonder what I will see in myself! Ah, but I hope to hear you sing one day, in that case. I am rather fond of music, but it has been a while since mother made me learn the piano, and I was never much of a singer, although I like to fancy a passable voice."

"I can play the harp now, too, though it seems that Thorin was much more proficient at it than I am." He's still unsure why he didn't get the full load - he meant to expand on what he could do but it didn't happen, between the political situation and the mountain. "I don't sing much," he shrugs, "since it hasn't be a part of my life for 50 years and I'm a bit old for starting now." Though that last part is said with a smile. He's started with a lot of new things over the last year. "...if you would like to return to the piano and have none in your quarters here in Locke, you can always drop by - my son has one in his room, and I'm sure he won't mind you using it, as long as you treat it right."

Edited 2015-02-05 20:21 (UTC)

"The harp? Interesting choice! Although I suppose it was not yours, but... eh, your other self's one. Ooh, I dunno! I must be totally horrible without the practice! But if you don't mind the company, I suppose I wouldn't mind visiting. I don't know if Teagan has one in his place - I've been so busy looking after Liam I haven't had the chance to go looking."

Arnold shrugs a little. "Eh. Age is just a number - that's what they say right? If you thought you would enjoy it, you should definitely pick it up, I think!"

"We stored it in my daughter's room because my son insisted that it should not be stored in the attic." It has been a while now since he tried to do something with it - there had been a plan to properly learn the instrument past what he can already do, but then things happened. "The one that I pulsed back, that is; it's made of gold for the most part." His former self sure had a relationship with that material, but h won't comment on it now. It definitely is no topic for a first meeting.

"And age is more a number now than it used to be." He shakes his head. "A number of numbered do not age at a normal human rate anymore."

Arnold nods, understanding and then whistles lowly at the next. "Solid gold? Good grief that must be heavy. Your former self must have been quite rich."

"Not at..." Arnold blinks at Thorir. "Really? That's... so like, they age faster or slower or something?"

"Not solid, that would not make a sound, but there seems to be as much gold on it as they could put there." He sounds a bit unsure about this, mostly because he is - he's never been one for showing off with money, and to put that much gold on your instrument is too much of a "look I have money" for his taste. Though, going by all that he knows about Thorin's life before Bag-end, he can understand it to a degree. Still. Ew.

"Faster, slower, backwards... Gabriel, who looks less than half his actual age now, is only one example."

"Huh." Arnold blinks. "Well. I suppose it might have been a status thing, perhaps? Or a way to transport the gold in a relatively innocuous fashion? Although I imagine it weighs a tonne."

"... Wow." Arnold says slowly. "That's... sure something. I wonder if I will do so as well? Did yours change?"

"Status, I believe. He was a king and his people had gone from very right to having lost everything - and then slowly made their way up again under his reign." He's a bit more at ease with Thorin than he was a year ago - there are still a number of things that he strongly disagrees with, but he's gotten to understand him a bit better.

He shrugs. "I haven't started to get younger yet, so I doubt that that will be a problem." There's a long stare levelled at Maglor. "Eliot and Teagan did not lose in age, but they weren't around for very long, and Ariel and Liam are too young to tell if the deageing stops around twenty. I can't tell if you will."

Arnold nods thoughtfully. "Well, that would do it I imagine, wanting to at least be able to hold on to that one small thing, and also as a sign of renewed prosperity. Why, it sounds like a fairy tale!"

He blinks at Thorir. "... I am guessing those were all people who had something like Liam and I... and Ariel? I think I've heard Liam mention that name. A friend? And..." A slow, wicked grin. "Teagan? As in Liam's uncle, my brother-in-law? Ooooh, I wonder if Lisa knows~"

Edited 2015-02-10 13:35 (UTC)

"It has Elves and Dwarves in it." And also Hobbits and Orcs, so it's more fantasy than fairy tale, but still. The point is that the golden harp is the least issue if one wants to claim that it isn't a fairy tale.

"Ariel is my niece - or rather, my wife's niece. Her and Liam are friends... and yes, your brother in law. But he lost his echoes a long time ago." He looks sternly at the other man, and his voice carries a calm, definite tone, the one that he always employed with his younger siblings when he tried to keep them from idiotic shenanigans that would get everyone into trouble. Arnold is simply too old to get the tone that is reserved for children and nephews and nieces (and well, everyone that ends up in a category similar to that). "He most likely does not remember, and if Lisa does not know of it yet, it isn't our place to tell her." He... really shouldn't treat the other man like this, not with them only just meeting each other now, but really, Arnold, that is a supremely bad idea and at some point during his echoes he stopped caring about possibly insulting people.

Arnold shakes his head with a laugh. "Elves and Dwarves! At least the Golden Harp does not play itself! And I can't even call it a fantasy, because I am living it. My oh my, if only Mother could see me now."

"Aw" Arnold pouts but yields with good grace. "No fun at all. Although to be honest, I would not be surprised if Lisa knows. She has Mum-Vision. Ah-hh, but if Teagan still remembered I could bug him about it! Such a pity."

Somewhere Teagan feels a profound sense of relief.

He could mention that at least he hasn't tried to put curry or similar things on his ears yet, but he's not going to tell Liam stories to his father unless his hand is forced.

But that comment about Lisa - from what he has seen, yes. "Will you tell her?" It should be easier to make her believe that something weird is going on in Locke than it was for him with Mardís back in the day, at least.

"I already did" Arnold shrugs, as if it were normal to simply tell your wife 'oh hey I've got pointy ears and think I used to be an elf'. "I don't hide things from her, it never ends well!"

He confides with a grin "It is, probably, one of the reasons Liam does not want to come home. She was... very upset, that he had been keeping secrets of this sort."

"...It used to be dangerous, to involve outsiders. But then, I thought it more dangerous to not inform someone as close to me as my wife." In other words, he approves a lot of this decision, even though the circumstances are very different.

"I can tell him home that tarrying further will make it worse, if you want me to." Lisa does remind him of his sister, somewhat, and... yeah. Do not mess with them.

"Dangerous?" For a moment Arnold's eyes sharpen, and here is the worried father, and the businessman who not only kept the family fortune but expanded it.

"People have said that, but no one has specified how bad." He shrugs. "I would have thought it more dangerous NOT to tell those closet to you."

"It isn't anymore, at least not nearly as much so; but there were numerous forces in Locke who wanted all numbered out, or death. That is why some of us, including Liam, moved to Las Vegas."

So it wasn't only for avoidance of Lisa. "THe most powerful mafia boss simply wanted us dead and out, while the police was corrupt - but that part is unclear to me.

They tried to make the public hate all of us, and succeeded to a degree, which is why I left the store entirely to my wife." Considering that he is quite obviously numbered with his height change. "And there were many incidents of numbered being fired, kicked out of school, attacked or even murdered."

"hm" Arnold's eyes narrow thoughtfully. "That sounds like seeking to remove competition, at the least on the mafia level. Or...wanting to back you into a corner to make you vulnerable to their manipulations."

He shrugs. "All the more reason to tell your significant other to my mind - if they don't know, they can't protect themselves, although I suppose you could argue the opposite too. You said there were attacks? Was Liam involved?"

"I agree." Implied is that there were enough people who did not at that time.

"And ...Liam should better tell you about this himself. But when we attacked from our side, I left him in charge of the mountain." Or, in other words, he made him stay home for his safety.

Arnold hisses softly in worry but smiles at Thorir gratefully, understanding. "Thank you. I am sure he found a way to get in trouble anyway, but thanks for trying to keep him safe."

"There is only so much that I can do." He leans back a bit. "I believe that he endangers himself more than any outside force could." He hates to sic someone on another person, but this is something that is out of the hands of someone who, in the end, is a friend at most. Maybe a father can do something. "Have you been told of his eating habits?"

Arnold frowns and nods. "Yes - his doctor... um, Aaron, I think it was? Mentioned it. It's the other reason I'm still here, even though he's better." A wry grin. "Lisa was quite explicit in her instructions. I am not allowed to return home until he can demonstrate that he can cook reasonable vegan meals and has gained some weight. Lisa actually told me to see if I could get him to be simply vegetarian and not vegan, as she thinks he needs the extra nutrients."

"Good." He shakes his head. "He is a good boy, but I fear that he is too picky an eater and too little interested in cooking to live as a vegan.

Speaking of our children, though, has Keira said anything about the location of the wedding to you?"

"Ah well. He and I, we will learn together." Arnold says cheerfully. "Or I will burn down the kitchen. Either or. If nothing else, he might learn from sheer self-preservation." Yes. Someone may be deliberately exaggerating his lack of cooking ability.

"She has not, no. Every time I ask she deflects with 'not now, dad'. I'm starting to wonder if the two of them are going to elope! What about on your side?"

"I believe that a number of his friends have offered Liam cooking lessons. Perhaps you can take them up on it together." It's said with a half-smile, partly out of relief - he doesn't know how well Arnold can cook, but it is good to have the worry that Liam might collapse from anemia or some other malnutrition-related condition off his shoulders, or at least the feeling that he would be responsible in such a case. (And also, really, it is nice to know that Liam doesn't feel that he has to hide his numbered state from his parents anymore.)

But he has to shake his head. "They said that America was out of the question, and didn't name a place, but I think Birgir mentioned something about wanting everyone be able to attend, so I assume that they're looking at one of the areas where we won't leave our pulses - she asked specifically about Julien. Have you met him?"

"Ah, that might be fun!" Arnold agrees. "I'll have to bring it up with Liam and see."

He sighs fondly at that. "Ah that girl. Well hopefully they are able to work out where they think is suitable soon! And that is a lovely thought on both their parts - kind of them. And I have yes! A very pleasant young man with lovely plummage"

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[closed] so about that wedding

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Arnold no that's rude you don't just SAY things like that

ARNOLD

Cries I don't even know if he's trolling deliberately or not he's so blurr

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