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Ivan is asleep when it happens, but the captain knocking on his door gets him up quick enough. "What? Where's the fire?" Ivan asks. This was supposed to be a quiet posting. Well, the posting on Earth was supposed to be quiet too, cultural, etcetera, but Xerxes is supposed to be downright boring. Ivan is not supposed to be awakened from his eight hours unexpectedly.
"Murder, not a fire. You're cousin to Lord Mark Vorkosigan, aren't you?" says the captain.
Ivan has to think for a second. "...Yes?"
"Security vid picked him up within radius of a murder. This is the first we knew of him being on the planet, but the locals want us to bring him in so they don't have to it themselves and risk mishandling a Vor lord. Seemed worth consulting you on him - the file on him's really something."
Ivan blinks. "You need to arrest Mark."
"Yes."
"...Sir. Uh, give me a while to try doing it myself. He's... I'm not positive I can succeed but I am pretty sure I can survive trying, and unless he's in a cooperative mood I'm very uncertain anybody else can say the same thing."
"He may have just killed a man."
"I'm aware. He likes me. He doesn't know you from a hole in the ground, or anybody else within fetching distance, sir. Give me his last location and a few hours? Please?"
"By yourself?"
"He wouldn't know anybody you could send with me from a hole in the ground."
The captain chews his lip. "None of your shenanigans, all right?"
"Sir, I'm not the shenanigans one, it's just contagious when m'co- my other cousin's around. I'll see if I can find him, if I find him I'll try to bring him back."
The captain eventually acquiesces. And that is why Ivan is tromping around downtown, debating whether or not to call "Mark? Mark?" like he's looking for a lost dog.
Ivan has to arrest Mark
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middlingalong
middlingalong
"Okay. And you like everything, if I remember right. Soup place in the east village on the main drag, I can't remember the name but the sign's blue? Two days from now?"
middlingalong
Ivan produces about a third of a salute sort of gesture, and turns on his heel and heads embassyward.
unmarred
Mark, naturally, ghosts away.
Two days later, around lunchtime, he can be found loitering openly in front of the soup place.
Two days later, around lunchtime, he can be found loitering openly in front of the soup place.
middlingalong
"How've you been?" Ivan pushes open the door and holds up two fingers at the hostess, who finds them a little booth.
middlingalong
"Same old, same old. If you're curious about the minutiae of what I do all day even beyond the part where I clearly was not kidnapped I can tell you but it hasn't been anything out of the ordinary."
middlingalong
"I mentioned the mugger and my deranged ghost guardian angel to th'captain, he seems to think you're some kind of extremely complicated luck charm and decided not to bring it up with local law unless the mugger decides to try to press some sort of charge or Emily tells someone. Emily says she's not going to tell anyone. Brought me to her niece's flute recital last night, it was very cute, little kids tootling along trying not to make too many mistakes. Vic, the kitchen guy, I don't know if you picked up his name, managed to make a local friend - he's been stationed here for years, I think he must be very introverted, but he bonded with a fellow at a bar over a passion for, I think it was cheese but they used a lot of obscure vocabulary so for all I know it was chocolate but I'm pretty sure it was something you eat."
unmarred
"Congratulations. About Vic, I mean. I don't know the word for what you were trying to do, but I'm pleased that you succeeded."
middlingalong
"I don't really know a word for it either. Just a thing," shrugs Ivan. "He needed to get out more."
middlingalong
"Yeah. We'll see if Cheese Or Maybe Chocolate Guy can take over from here."
middlingalong
"I mean, somebody has to take over, I won't be assigned here forever. ...Probably."
middlingalong
The waitress comes by. Ivan orders one of the many forms of soup on offer.
middlingalong
The waitress goes away again.
"One of the sergeants thinks I'm being groomed to be an ambassador to somewhere eventually. Dunno what they're thinking, if he's right."
"One of the sergeants thinks I'm being groomed to be an ambassador to somewhere eventually. Dunno what they're thinking, if he's right."