(no subject)

[wedobones]

They're supposed to be hanging out, but Gideon's shift at Leviathan is going to end later than expected so she texts Palamedes and tells him to swing past the store, hang out with her for half an hour and then they can walk back together. She knows that he likes poking through the stores itinery while she does mundane things like sweep floors and count the cash drawer. When the bell over the door sounds, she looks up from the comic that she'd been reading.

"Sextus," she says, with a crooked smile.

Comments

[hellonspectacles]

The ping of his phone pulls Palamedes out of his books; at first, he assumes it must be Camilla, asking him some question about the errand that she has gone to run. Only slowly over the weeks since she appeared has Pal managed to let go of his panic when Cam is out of his sight; this time, when she had said they were out of dish soap and that she was going to the store, he had only felt the briefest twinge. Still, seeing the message from Gideon, he writes Cam a note and texts her, just to be sure that she isn’t startled when she comes home to find the apartment empty. Then he swings his messenger bag over his shoulder and heads out the door, texting Gideon a reply as he goes.

Leviathan is a funny place, its wares hinting at the many sorts of magic that have converged on Darrow over the years. They sell cremains here, as well as an ointment similar the gel they used at home to improve psychometric readings, both of which are useful to him. But what Pal really enjoys is wandering the aisles, hypothesizes about the uses of the many stranger items that stock the shelves.

The bell rings cheerfully as he comes into the store, and he offers Gideon a smile of his own. "Hullo. Any interesting customers today?”

[wedobones]

"The guy who's obsessed with the frogs came in again," says Gideon, rolling her eyes, her weight leaned on her elbows. "But at least I managed to convince him to just look at them this time, so." She shrugs. "Other than that, you're the last person I've seen in, like, forty minutes. But Sabrina's not answering her phone, so I don't want to close early." She sighs. "Working for a living blows."

[hellonspectacles]

"Yes, it really is awful how people come to rely on you to actually do things every day, isn't it?" Pal teases wryly. Honestly, he is something to do every day besides pry out Darrow's secrets, something a little more productive that actually changed people's lives in one way or another. He had decided to become the Warden of the Library by the time he was nine years old; once he had been appointed, he had immediately been consumed by the work, both scholastic and bureaucratic, of running the library. In comparison, his days in Darrow lack a certain clarity of purpose.

"How long before you close up?"

[wedobones]

"About half an hour?" says Gideon, glancing at the screen of her phone. Her background is a selfie of her and Maeve pulling stupid faces. Harrow hates it.

"And then I told Harrow we'd pick up food from the one pizza place she doesn't absolutely hate."

[hellonspectacles]

"You've found something she doesn't absolutely hate?" Palamedes quips. He wanders down one of the aisles, peering into one or two mysterious jars, only to be interrupted by another buzz from the phone in his pocket. He takes it out and grins at the message he finds, typing something back as he says to Gideon, "As you probably know, very few records exist from the early empire, but pizza is a surprisingly popular topic amongst the Lyctors.”

Another message comes in, and again Pal grins, this time pausing to snap a photo of himself before typing his answer.

[wedobones]

"I mean, I have to watch her to make sure that she's not basically just eating wet bread, but it's a start," says Gideon. She leans her chin into her hand, watching him text. Both of her coppery eyebrows raise. "Who are you texting? Did you just send a selfie?"

[hellonspectacles]

"Marianne's been teaching me about them," Pal says matter-of-factly. He shoots off another message, and then puts his phone back in his pocket. Turning to another area of the shelf and picking up a mysterious-looking, leather-bound book, he adds, "See, Nav, you're not the only one who can learn local customs."

[wedobones]

"I'm sorry," says Gideon, her grin shifting into full on shit-eating mode now. "Aren't you the same person who gave me shit about Octavia sending me selfies?"

[hellonspectacles]

"Those selfies were of a decidedly different nature," says Pal, sounding almost prim. He returns the book to the shelf and turns to look at Gideon, but his next quip dies on his lips when he sees her expression. A scheming Gideon Nav is a terrifying thing. "...What?"

[wedobones]

"I don't know what you're implying about the kind of selfies O used to send me..." says Gideon, doing the best approximation of prim that she can manage - it doesn't really fit on her face. "But you should definitely show me the photo that made your face do >that. Come on, Warden. Pony up."

[hellonspectacles]

"Used to?" Pal echoes, catching onto Gideon's phrasing and using it as an excuse to deflect from himself. His phone stays in his pocket, but he approaches the counter with his arms folded and an eyebrow arched.

[wedobones]

"We're not seeing each other anymore," she says. She's not ready for whatever is happening between her and Harrow to be subject to Sixth scrutiny so she keeps her face carefully blank. "Lemme see the photo, Pal."

[hellonspectacles]

"Oh." Pal stops short, a frown creasing his features. Gideon isn't the sort of person who does things by halves, so it's easy for him to assume that the break-up must have hurt. "I'm sorry," he says. And then, perhaps because he feels guilty for bringing it up, he sighs and hands over his phone as a sort of peace offering.

What does it matter what Gideon thinks of Marianne's photos, anyway?

[wedobones]

"It's okay," says Gideon, taking his phone and flicking to his photos app. "We weren't serious and we're still friends." She finds the selfie and raises her eyebrows. "You didn't tell me she was hot, Sextus."

[hellonspectacles]

"Hm." Pal finds Gideon's casual dismissal suspect, but he doesn't insist that she explain more. Even among the ever-practical Sixth, break-ups were never so straightforward as she's implying. But he lets it go. For now.

Instead, he rolls his eyes. "You think all women are hot, Nav."

[wedobones]

"Not true," says Gideon, mildly, scrolling through a few more photos of Marianne. "Ianthe Tridentarius legit makes me want to puke. And I have a healthy level of respect for the Sixth that does not extend to wanting to engage in anything naked. But this girl?" She holds up his phone. "Objectively hot."

[hellonspectacles]

"Well, I'm glad you don't want to have sex with my cavalier," Palamedes deadpans. "Now, will you give that back." He lunges for the phone.

[wedobones]

Pal is, possibly, close to being the best necromancer of his generation, but that doesn't translate to physical prowess and Gideon manages to stay just out of reach, grinning.

"Emperor's balls, Pal. She's almost showing her bra in this one."

[hellonspectacles]

"Then maybe you shouldn't be looking," he mutters. Pal knows that he'll never succeed if he tackles Gideon for the phone, but he does have other methods at his disposal. With a long-suffering sigh he says, "Give the phone back, Nav, before I do anything drastic."

[wedobones]

Gideon Nav might have no real sense of self preservation but she also has direct knowledge of what the Warden considers "drastic". She smirks at him for a moment and then she holds out his phone to him.

"She likes you."

[hellonspectacles]

Palamedes snatches the phone from her and shoves it in his pocket. “Thank you.”

She likes you. Pal knows exactly what Gideon means, and while he doesn’t think she’s right about it, the observation still makes his stomach twist. “I should hope so, since we’re friends,” he says, pretending to misunderstand.

[wedobones]

Gideon rolls golden eyes at that, an asymmetric smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"No girl is sending you photos of herself that look like that just because you're friends," she says. "She? Wants to jump your bones." She's cultivated that saying mostly because it makes the Reverend Daughter absolutely furious.

[hellonspectacles]

Palamedes can't help it--he blushes to the tips of his ears.

"No," he shakes his head, "no, that sounds extraordinarily unlikely."

[wedobones]

The blush just makes Gideon grin more.

"Why?" she says. "What was it you said to me at Cannan House? Evidence outweighs testimony."

[hellonspectacles]

Palamedes huffs. "Your evidence is incomplete. For one thing, she's constantly talking about her terrible experiences with men. For another," annoyingly, he feels himself flush again, "she's...objectively hot. Like you said."

Though he generally isn't self-conscious about his appearance, he knows quite well that no one would categorize him as hot.