Aesthetics

In the name of "teambuilding," as Presa insisted they needed, she decided that the full Chimeriad should have a meal together on the rare occasion that they were all in the capital. As such instances were uncommon and their schedules conflicted, it ended up just being for tea that particular day. Especially since Agria was new to their group and often accompanied Presa on missions that took they both far away from the capiital of Auj Oule.

In theory, it wasn't a bad idea, but Wingul was not the kind of person who took breaks, especially not for tea.

"Lin, are you ready?" Gaius asked flatly, standing by the door.

"I'm busy," Wingul said as he didn't look up from the battle plan he was drafting. "Tell them I'll be a few minutes late."

Gaius knew him well enough to know that an excuse like that would lead to another excuse for why he wasn't able to come at all. "Lin."

He slapped his pen down on the desk and looked over at the king tersely. Gaius waited in the doorway as he gathered the documents and slipped them into a file folder and trudged over.

They spoke of mostly political matters as they made their way to the room where the full group was supposed to meet. Everyone else was already present and a servant was pouring tea and serving small cakes.

The conversation end of the "teambuilding" exercise was lacking. Wingul had no problems keeping conversation going with Gaius, but he has no desire to discuss anything of value in front of new members. Jiao made attempts at conversation, but his tries were too casual and trivial to get much going, leaving Presa to be the one to push the conversation.

"You read a lot when you were younger, didn't you, Wingul?" Presa asked.

"I still do," he said.

"I used to read quite a bit when I was young," she said as she sipped her tea. "Perhaps we've read some of the same ones."

He wasn't too hopeful about what the topic would lead to. On top of that, he suspected that she was going to bring up some sort of romance novel.

"I had very specific tastes," he lied.

She didn't need to know that he read every book in the Long Dau palace's library. No one did.

"Did you read Auj Oule's History Through the Eyes of Minor Tribes?" Presa asked.

"Yes."

"The History of Beast Tamers?"

"Of course."

"Howe's thesis?"

"Many times," he said, keeping an unchanged expression though he was admittedly surprised that she had was bringing up so many scholarly books.

"Ancient History of Auj Oule?"

"Yes."

"Onslaught of the Sarakhs?"

"Twice, naturally."

"Chronicle of Spirit Worship in Auj Oule?"

"Yes," he said offhandedly, seeming to sound bored.

"And what about the Aesthetics of Being a Pitcher?" Presa asked, perfectly casual.

"Yes," he said offhandedly, though he realized his mistake even before he was finished saying the short word. "I mean, no. No."

A wicked smile appeared on Presa's face. "Oh, it's alright, I figured."

Agria, who had lost interested several books ago, noticed the sudden change in tone and glanced between them. She took a large into her biscotti, sending crumbs everywhere, while very clearly listening to their conversation. Jiao sipped his tea as delicately as a man his size could while Gaius tactfully didn't join the conversation, despite his faintly amused expression.

"I misunderstood what you were saying," he said quickly. "I thought you meant a different book."

"What, the prequel? The Aesthetics of Being a Catcher?" she asked sweetly.

"Presa," he said low, dangerous tone.

"Oh, there's no need to hide it," she said with a smile.

"There is nothing to hide," he retorted.

"Your Majesty," Presa said, turning to Gaius. "Which would you say he's read more?"

Agria slammed her cup down on the table and looked between the two bickering Chimeriad members. "The hell is so bad about pitching and catching?"

"There's nothing bad about it," Presa said innocently.

"Are you even talking about sports?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Gaius took that moment to finally contribute to the teambuilding conversation. "Sports can be very competitive."

~oOo~

And Milla's books surface again!

The other night, I was trying to think of something to write with Wingul or Presa and TheSapphireRose suggested them discussing the books they'd read.

…Which turned into this. I got a little off course from the original idea there. But hopefully it was entertaining!

I debated whether or not Agria would know of the pitcher and catcher euphemism, but she is pretty young, so I went with what you read above. :'D