[Hmm. Paolo brings up the Empress himself, and Jindosh frowns more deeply up at his ceiling to think of her. It stirs up pain and shame in him to really think about Emily Kaldwin, and his fussing with Paolo's hair pauses for a moment while he listens to him discount the Empress' effectiveness.
He's into that, too. So there's that.]
And yet here you are in bed with the man outfitting the worst this city has to offer with inventions worth much more than any of their flimsy court titles. [haha just kidding, that almost makes it sound like he cares-] I've been hoping they'll kill each other with my clockworks eventually.
No one can rule a city like Karnaca from as far away as Dunwall, in any case. Even the Duke is too far removed to realize the simple reality of things: the time of nobility is waning. It's time for men of intellect and action to inherit the earth.
[Ah, he's getting ahead of himself. He fiddles with Paolo's hair again, determined apparently to never let it look neat. That said, there was something else...] How many audiences have you had with the Duke?
Your inventions can only fend off the rabble for so long in the hands of people that don't know how to use them. If all they do is sit back while your soldiers cut down the people, they're gonna find we learn how to turn it against them. [He would know, he thought, with all his encounters.]
I may not be smart, my boys might not be either, but action... Action always wins. [He's fought so many of the things he knows the ins and outs, painfully or not. He probably shouldn't sound so smug, laying with their creator, but can he really blame him? It doesn't really help that what follows is more talking about how important he is lately.] And uh... quite... quite a few, actually. He decided to call the great Vice Overseer Byrne-- [there he goes, waving a hand to the sky like the Overseer was somewhere out there to strangle,]-- and I to the Palace after his party. Wanted to make sure we play nice. Give updates on how the streets improving, make sure we don't try and kill each other anymore.
[He drops his arm, turning his head to look up at Jindosh like he was reassuring him. He still is cool, he swears,] We still do, but... I'm getting him wrapped around my finger. Those Abbey pricks were so hung up on catching me they don't have shit to present about improving the city, so when I lean real close and make my promises? He believes them. Maybe after a whiskey or two, but... he believes them.
[Jindosh resists interrupting to chide Paolo—"It sounds like you want one of your own, not that you can afford it."—and just listens instead to his assessment of the city. It's different, but it's almost what he expects from a man like Paolo. Jindosh's own assessment starts and ends with nobility being a useless concept and intellect being worth about a thousand times more minimum, so at least he's learning something about perspective.
Does he buy it? Maybe he will, in time. He does scoff to hear Paolo's boys could take down his clockworks, because maybe Paolo could, but he does have a special advantage his boys don't.
But trash talking "Luca Abele" is a hobby of his, so when he raises an eyebrow at Paolo again, it's with interest.] He would not have not too long ago, you realize. [Does Paolo realize? Jindosh, who sees every person like a puzzle to solve and has solved most already, realized at once that the Duke is no longer the Duke, but he assumes most people at the time believed the body double story he heard months later in passing.
He has the distinct feeling Paolo does not realize, but that's alright.]
The leader of the Howlers, muttering in the Duke's ear? How scandalous. I suppose it was his idea to send you here to annoy me over and over, was it? At least that's typical of Luca. [he's not dumb, he figured it out before Paolo kept bothering him for personal reasons. whatever!!] The streets of Karnaca are surely improving while you whittle away your time in here with me.
[There's... no doubt in him that Byrne is a dumb asshole and Paolo is at least trying, in his hoodlum way, but he still has to get in that jab. He smirks.] When shall I start calling you "Duke"?
[Why buy one when you can just bed the manufacturer? Paolo doesn't spare it a second thought, mindlessly tracing his fingers over the skin of Jindosh's chest. He knew something was off with the Duke, but all these months passed and he hadn't bothered to look into what.
He knows he can ask what exactly he's supposed to be realizing, but he didn't want to ask if it were something so obvious. So he'll skip it for now, save his pride.] You can call me that anytime you like, Kirin.
[He meets his smirk with a grin, leaning his head up far enough to kiss the corner of his lips.] With all my time whittling away, you'll get to say you knew the real Duke before his prime. More than any rich choffers can say. Won't even have to go to any parties to know what I would and wouldn't do.
[They are expensive, that's the point. Hush. Jindosh laughs anyway—call him Duke, goodness, he's a master of comedy as well as machines. More importantly than that is how he likes this side of Paolo, that's grinning and going along with him.
Now Paolo is the cute one. Take that.]
Please tell me your reign of terror won't involve any parties. I couldn't bear another one for as long as I live.
Terror! [Paolo is even cuter when he laughs, probably. He's too wrapped up in the subject to consider keeping up his persona, shaking his head with shaking shoulders.] My reign of compliance won't need anyone fucking all over the palace. That's a right reserved for the Duke. They'll have their own homes to do it in.
[He paused, his grin growing wider.] 'S why I was so surprised you were a blushing virgin. [He can make jabs too, both verbal and at Jindosh's chest.] If Luca's too dumb to get anything out of you, then why'd you even go?
[He is cute, fuck. It's awful how he does that, making Jindosh smirk more fondly at him before he can stop himself. Is this really happening, lying in bed laughing with someone else? On purpose? What has he become...]
Blushing, please. [He wiggles his hand over Paolo's on his chest, to stop him from poking. Don't taunt him about his, uh, purity. Technically speaking.] As I told you, being in the Duke's good graces—more or less—has its own advantages, most of them monetary. And he has plenty of room in his atrocious palace to get away from his festivities, and plenty of drunken idiots with loose pockets who love to spend their money on the latest innovations.
Kirin Jindosh, Grand Inventor, hiding away unless it's to sell something. [His grin can't get any wider, it's awful. He'll stop poking his chest, but it's just so he can touch his jaw again.] If I ever get my hands on that fortune, I don't think you'll have to do a whole lot of persuading.
[All that without kissing him, what a tease.] And I will get my hands on it.
For you, it seems I don't even need to play nice. [Paolo is easy, pass it on. Jindosh nudges him closer for a kiss, which might contradict what he just said about not playing nice, but whatever. The point is that Paolo will do whatever he wants.]
Ambition suits you, Paolo. I daresay I'm looking forward to seeing it.
For... for some... [things he might, he would say. But to totally contradict the thought, he's kissing him without finishing it. He is easy, but Jindosh had no business being so comforting.]
We aren't going to see it if I keep whittling away-- [There he goes with another one, damn his weakness,] --instead of resting.
[Paolo really is easy... Jindosh can't complain, considering the unique advantage it gets him. And the kisses. He's content to smirk into these kisses and muss up Paolo's hair a little, for emphasis.
Gay emphasis. Paolo is totally his now, and that's going surprisingly well.]
If you're tired, then sleep. I won't keep you up. [He understands the need for an adequate amount of rest, see. But he also assumes Paolo will helpfully move off of him and let him go work until his own four hours of sleep are due. Waiting...]
[Waiting... Waiting... And Paolo lays his head back down on him, and even worse, lays the arm back around him.
Is he clueless? Absolutely not, but he'd rather intentionally keep him there than lay alone.] Holdin' you to that. Don't stay up and-- [he yawns, burying that smirk in his chest,] --complicate things. As you do...
[Well... hmm. This is not going as planned any longer. Jindosh blinks, lifts his head a bit from the bed to stare at him and blinks some more. Um??]
Complicate— What are you talking about? I'm not going to sleep. [Here, he'll start poking at Paolo's shoulder, like that will get him to get up and let Jindosh go. He can still get an hour or two of work in, why isn't he working??]
[And Paolo isn't moving. He's actually pulling him closer, making the situation worse. Paolo is dreadful.] And I think you should stay.
[Obviously, he thinks this carries some weight. Even if it isn't, though, he's still putting his own physical on him so he won't easily escape.] With me. Not your tools.
[This is too much affection, Jindosh wants to be single again already. Is he technically not single right now? That seems like something worth clarifying, but later, when he isn't being menaced by Paolo literally restraining him from going to do something.]
You'll find an empty bed is harder to sleep in... [He paused, his smirk faltering. His grip lessens, and his sighs as leans his head off him.] Someday.
[But Paolo is easy, for worse in this case. The most he can do is look unhappy about it.] I'm sure I'm warmer than your tools, but... if you want to sit on that sore ass, don't tell me about it in the morning.
Well, do your best. [And once again, Kirin Jindosh gets what he wants!! Which is what he tells himself as he pushes himself up, considers, and does indeed get up to go find something to do.
Which is harder than it sounds when now he's thinking about the look on Paolo's face and his stupid, emotional comments and goddamn it, it's barely five minutes before Jindosh returns, now for some reason clad in atrocious Karnaca-equivalent sweatpants and carrying a small stack of books including at least two notebooks.
These, he drops onto the bed next to Paolo's head whether he's still awake to pay attention or not, and sighs noisily as he sits down after them.]
[He is still awake, as it so happens, lying back in the robe he'd left on the floor. Come to think of it... everything off the floor seemed to have vanished. Had he put away his things while he was gone, since sleep apparently alludes him? He did. He doesn't want to talk about it.
He still stared blearily as the notebooks dropped, in a place between being exhausted and annoyed Jindosh hadn't stayed with him. Annoyance was significantly less, though, seeing as he's fighting back a smile.]
[Jindosh probably won't notice the rest of his things have been put away until the morning, considering how often he doesn't make his bed, but he does make a face at the robe.
Whatever. He's sitting, and very pointedly not lying down because he wouldn't be able to work that way and he is going to work. So there.]
Yes, really. I'm here, aren't I? The bed isn't empty any longer. [go to sleep you dumb little jerk.]
It isn't. You should put me to sleep real easy if you read those. [He agrees, but being the dumb little jerk he is, he is going to move closer instead of just laying there and going to sleep. Did he need that lap?? Too bad, he's favoring it over a pillow.
He is silent, for the most part. If you don't count an almost incoherant "thank you."]
[And there's Paolo again, putting his head in his lap and essentially pinning Jindosh to the bed, even if he could be nudged off easily. He's so not used to... caring. He lifts the first book he'd picked up to read a little, to peer under it at Paolo.
Hmm. He hears that mumble, don't worry, but he won't comment on it because the Feelings are too much for him right now.] You want me to read to you?
[Okay, this isn't going to help him get any work done at all. He stares down at Paolo a moment, deeply considering putting the book down open on Paolo's chest so he can read from it and turn pages with one hand and scribble in a notebook laid open on the bed with the other, but Paolo will surely complain again, and perhaps Jindosh can wait until he actually falls asleep to scribble some notes.
Compromise is a silly thing. He's not so sure about it.]
Alright. I'm not going to stop to tell you what every other word means, so don't ask. [Not that Paolo's pride would allow him to ask, but Jindosh is going to say this anyway. He'll just read, then, a little awkwardly at first but more smoothly within the first few pages, this illuminating volume on—
the history and usage of whale oil and other theoretical applications. He adds his own marginal notes, which he says out loud for Paolo's benefit.]
[Paolo would like to think he made it pretty far, when Jindosh was losing him halfway through the first chapter. There were words he didn't know the meaning of, and he almost asked just to tease him. Almost. He figured it might just come back tenfold with how stupid the question could be.
But it's just too boring. Little jabs at his ego during his notes turned to mindless agreeing, to inaudible mumbling, to silence. It wasn't hard to tell when he'd fallen asleep, muscles relaxed and his expression, for probably the first time in Jindosh's company, was completely peaceful.]
[Paolo is ridiculous and Jindosh studiously ignores him, save for when one of his hands finds its way back into Paolo's hair where it's been for so much of this evening, running his fingers through it lightly and almost distractedly while he just keeps reading. He's ignoring Paolo's commentary, all but talking to himself as he adds his own snide remarks about the book itself by the time Paolo falls asleep.
Ah. Jindosh trails off mid-sentence when he realizes, looking down at Paolo again as he lowers the book and puts it down to the side. This isn't like him—to come back and do this simply because Paolo looked disappointed that he was leaving? To read to him? Is he overestimating the significance of his feelings after sleeping with him, or did sleeping with him bring these feelings to the forefront of his mind after being ignored??
All of it feels like a fist closed around his heart and he hates it, but he smooths Paolo's hair back one more time before sighing shortly, inaudibly, and flipping pages in that notebook on the bed so he can in fact do some work.
Somehow, at an obscene hour to still be awake, Jindosh manages to rearrange their sleeping positions without shaking Paolo awake (he doesn't want to hear the whining, honestly) and lies down for his requisite 4 hours of sleep. If he can even get that many, tonight.]
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He's into that, too. So there's that.]
And yet here you are in bed with the man outfitting the worst this city has to offer with inventions worth much more than any of their flimsy court titles. [haha just kidding, that almost makes it sound like he cares-] I've been hoping they'll kill each other with my clockworks eventually.
No one can rule a city like Karnaca from as far away as Dunwall, in any case. Even the Duke is too far removed to realize the simple reality of things: the time of nobility is waning. It's time for men of intellect and action to inherit the earth.
[Ah, he's getting ahead of himself. He fiddles with Paolo's hair again, determined apparently to never let it look neat. That said, there was something else...] How many audiences have you had with the Duke?
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I may not be smart, my boys might not be either, but action... Action always wins. [He's fought so many of the things he knows the ins and outs, painfully or not. He probably shouldn't sound so smug, laying with their creator, but can he really blame him? It doesn't really help that what follows is more talking about how important he is lately.] And uh... quite... quite a few, actually. He decided to call the great Vice Overseer Byrne-- [there he goes, waving a hand to the sky like the Overseer was somewhere out there to strangle,]-- and I to the Palace after his party. Wanted to make sure we play nice. Give updates on how the streets improving, make sure we don't try and kill each other anymore.
[He drops his arm, turning his head to look up at Jindosh like he was reassuring him. He still is cool, he swears,] We still do, but... I'm getting him wrapped around my finger. Those Abbey pricks were so hung up on catching me they don't have shit to present about improving the city, so when I lean real close and make my promises? He believes them. Maybe after a whiskey or two, but... he believes them.
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Does he buy it? Maybe he will, in time. He does scoff to hear Paolo's boys could take down his clockworks, because maybe Paolo could, but he does have a special advantage his boys don't.
But trash talking "Luca Abele" is a hobby of his, so when he raises an eyebrow at Paolo again, it's with interest.] He would not have not too long ago, you realize. [Does Paolo realize? Jindosh, who sees every person like a puzzle to solve and has solved most already, realized at once that the Duke is no longer the Duke, but he assumes most people at the time believed the body double story he heard months later in passing.
He has the distinct feeling Paolo does not realize, but that's alright.]
The leader of the Howlers, muttering in the Duke's ear? How scandalous. I suppose it was his idea to send you here to annoy me over and over, was it? At least that's typical of Luca. [he's not dumb, he figured it out before Paolo kept bothering him for personal reasons. whatever!!] The streets of Karnaca are surely improving while you whittle away your time in here with me.
[There's... no doubt in him that Byrne is a dumb asshole and Paolo is at least trying, in his hoodlum way, but he still has to get in that jab. He smirks.] When shall I start calling you "Duke"?
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He knows he can ask what exactly he's supposed to be realizing, but he didn't want to ask if it were something so obvious. So he'll skip it for now, save his pride.] You can call me that anytime you like, Kirin.
[He meets his smirk with a grin, leaning his head up far enough to kiss the corner of his lips.] With all my time whittling away, you'll get to say you knew the real Duke before his prime. More than any rich choffers can say. Won't even have to go to any parties to know what I would and wouldn't do.
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Now Paolo is the cute one. Take that.]
Please tell me your reign of terror won't involve any parties. I couldn't bear another one for as long as I live.
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[He paused, his grin growing wider.] 'S why I was so surprised you were a blushing virgin. [He can make jabs too, both verbal and at Jindosh's chest.] If Luca's too dumb to get anything out of you, then why'd you even go?
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Blushing, please. [He wiggles his hand over Paolo's on his chest, to stop him from poking. Don't taunt him about his, uh, purity. Technically speaking.] As I told you, being in the Duke's good graces—more or less—has its own advantages, most of them monetary. And he has plenty of room in his atrocious palace to get away from his festivities, and plenty of drunken idiots with loose pockets who love to spend their money on the latest innovations.
[And grapes.]
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[All that without kissing him, what a tease.] And I will get my hands on it.
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Ambition suits you, Paolo. I daresay I'm looking forward to seeing it.
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We aren't going to see it if I keep whittling away-- [There he goes with another one, damn his weakness,] --instead of resting.
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Gay emphasis. Paolo is totally his now, and that's going surprisingly well.]
If you're tired, then sleep. I won't keep you up. [He understands the need for an adequate amount of rest, see. But he also assumes Paolo will helpfully move off of him and let him go work until his own four hours of sleep are due. Waiting...]
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Is he clueless? Absolutely not, but he'd rather intentionally keep him there than lay alone.] Holdin' you to that. Don't stay up and-- [he yawns, burying that smirk in his chest,] --complicate things. As you do...
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Complicate— What are you talking about? I'm not going to sleep. [Here, he'll start poking at Paolo's shoulder, like that will get him to get up and let Jindosh go. He can still get an hour or two of work in, why isn't he working??]
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[Obviously, he thinks this carries some weight. Even if it isn't, though, he's still putting his own physical on him so he won't easily escape.] With me. Not your tools.
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If you're sleeping, what is the difference?
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[But Paolo is easy, for worse in this case. The most he can do is look unhappy about it.] I'm sure I'm warmer than your tools, but... if you want to sit on that sore ass, don't tell me about it in the morning.
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Which is harder than it sounds when now he's thinking about the look on Paolo's face and his stupid, emotional comments and goddamn it, it's barely five minutes before Jindosh returns, now for some reason clad in atrocious Karnaca-equivalent sweatpants and carrying a small stack of books including at least two notebooks.
These, he drops onto the bed next to Paolo's head whether he's still awake to pay attention or not, and sighs noisily as he sits down after them.]
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He still stared blearily as the notebooks dropped, in a place between being exhausted and annoyed Jindosh hadn't stayed with him. Annoyance was significantly less, though, seeing as he's fighting back a smile.]
Really?
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Whatever. He's sitting, and very pointedly not lying down because he wouldn't be able to work that way and he is going to work. So there.]
Yes, really. I'm here, aren't I? The bed isn't empty any longer. [go to sleep you dumb little jerk.]
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He is silent, for the most part. If you don't count an almost incoherant "thank you."]
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Hmm. He hears that mumble, don't worry, but he won't comment on it because the Feelings are too much for him right now.] You want me to read to you?
[Is that... the pseudo-request here?? Is it?]
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Yeah. [He won't meet his eyes, because it's somewhat embarrassing at this rate, but.] If you want.
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Compromise is a silly thing. He's not so sure about it.]
Alright. I'm not going to stop to tell you what every other word means, so don't ask. [Not that Paolo's pride would allow him to ask, but Jindosh is going to say this anyway. He'll just read, then, a little awkwardly at first but more smoothly within the first few pages, this illuminating volume on—
the history and usage of whale oil and other theoretical applications. He adds his own marginal notes, which he says out loud for Paolo's benefit.]
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But it's just too boring. Little jabs at his ego during his notes turned to mindless agreeing, to inaudible mumbling, to silence. It wasn't hard to tell when he'd fallen asleep, muscles relaxed and his expression, for probably the first time in Jindosh's company, was completely peaceful.]
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Ah. Jindosh trails off mid-sentence when he realizes, looking down at Paolo again as he lowers the book and puts it down to the side. This isn't like him—to come back and do this simply because Paolo looked disappointed that he was leaving? To read to him? Is he overestimating the significance of his feelings after sleeping with him, or did sleeping with him bring these feelings to the forefront of his mind after being ignored??
All of it feels like a fist closed around his heart and he hates it, but he smooths Paolo's hair back one more time before sighing shortly, inaudibly, and flipping pages in that notebook on the bed so he can in fact do some work.
Somehow, at an obscene hour to still be awake, Jindosh manages to rearrange their sleeping positions without shaking Paolo awake (he doesn't want to hear the whining, honestly) and lies down for his requisite 4 hours of sleep. If he can even get that many, tonight.]