ivan's made a huge mistake

[whatdidisay]

Who: Ivan Vorpatril (whatdidisay), Alys Vorpatril (hostessing), and Elizabeth DeWitt (tearmeanewone).
When: Before all the nonsense with the mutant-zombie-what have you. The night of the 13th, maybe?
Where: Ivan's new room.
What: Someone's effort at keeping his mother away from his girlfriend fails spectacularly. One man can only be so lucky.
Warnings: Groats, Ivan.

Ivan's not sure how he got roped into this. No, that’s not quite true, his mother had asked for weekly meals and Ivan had considered the size of the ship and his ability to effectively avoid his mother for weeks at a time, and come up with the sobering conclusion of not possible. So: dinner.

He has a nagging feeling that he's potentially missing something, however, but he's faced with his mother in his private room this time. It’s tastefully decorated — a light wall color, light wood, with highlights of a familiar Vorpatril blue and gold. There's a version of a window set into a wall — wide and synced to the ship's clock. Ivan went for a light, airy look that doesn't put one into mind of a small, tiny room on a ship. But it also, thankfully, meets her critical eye when it comes to design and, well, most everything else.

"We've decided to let visitors in," Ivan explains to his mother, offering her his arm to take before they go to leave. "Now that he’s actually got himself sorted out. You can come see him, if you want."

Miles should be better at being a functional human being since last time his mother ran into him. Or so Ivan hopes.

Comments

[hostessing]

The need to check out anything is a foreign concept to her, but she understands the process. She wonders how the books are kept here, digitally or paper like old, antique collections? She almost asks before deciding better of it, she'll see for herself on the tour soon enough.

"Thank you, Elizabeth, I would appreciate having a copy to read. If they have anything of the sort, they have yet to inform me." Much like Ivan neglected to inform her of Elizabeth until he absolutely had to, but she's not afraid to pry into the boys' business if needed. "Have you received much from home?"

[tearmeanewone]

That sounds like quite the double-edged comment, 'they have yet to inform me'. "Well, I'm sure that if they are holding anything back, it's for... timeline preservation purposes. I certainly wouldn't withhold anything from my parents unless it was important."

Like... everything she'd let Booker find out on his own after Columbia.

"Oh, no, not at all. And I think I prefer it that way," she says with a little laugh. "I prefer being here-- my timeline isn't a place I want to go back to."

[hostessing]

Well, her son had declined to inform her about Elizabeth. It does make Alys wonder what else the boys have been hiding from her. The ship is large enough that there could be several well-kept secrets.

"Mm," she says in mild agreement with Elizabeth's first statements, her focus shifting entirely to Elizabeth's apparently dislike of her home. "I'm sorry to hear that. Even with the danger aboard the Moira you prefer it here?"

Barrayar may be considered a horrible place by most of the galaxy's standards, but she would still prefer to return home than remain.

[tearmeanewone]

"I know it sounds crazy, believe me I've been on the end of some stunned looks when I say that," she says with a laugh. "But the place I came from was... much worse. No family or friends, just violent addicts with their minds thoroughly addled by genetic mutation. Not even a nice place to visit."

[hostessing]

Her eyes widen slightly at that. She'd have to talk with her son further about how well he was treating Elizabeth. Surely he knew of her situation if the woman so readily shared it with her and the last thing needed is for Ivan to bumble around during their time here.

"My sympathies, Elizabeth," she says honestly. "I hope your time aboard the Moira has been a worthy escape. If there's anything my son or I could do to make it more enjoyable, please don't hesitate to ask us."

Because if her son is courting Elizabeth in some form, that makes her practically family.

[tearmeanewone]

"Oh, that's very kind of you Lady Vorpatril, I appreciate the offer. Though Ivan has been... one of the best parts of my new life here," she says. There's no ulterior motive in her voice, or ingratiating notes, Elizabeth sounds honestly touched by her friendship with Alys' son.

"He's done everything he can to give me experiences people our age should have. He took me dancing, and on a picnic..."

She's leaving out details here, but Elizabeth isn't about to go into those with Ivan's mother. He'd probably appreciate some privacy.

"...and we read! He asks so many questions, it's wonderful to be able to have a conversation with someone about what we're reading."

[hostessing]

"I'm glad to hear he's been making your time here enjoyable."

That's heartening at least. She knew no son of hers would be raised to behave poorly around women, but it's nice to have outside confirmation. Elizabeth stands to gain nothing from lying about her son's behavior when he's not in the room and their social status holds no weight here.

So this is what her son does for fun. Now if she could just figure out why he declined to tell her sooner.

"I had no idea he was interested in reading." Dancing and picnics were to be expected. Reading? Not so much. "What sorts have you two been going through?"

[tearmeanewone]

"Well..." Elizabeth wishes she could swallow that word after it leaves her mouth, but now it's out there and she has to finish the sentence. "...I... encouraged him, a little."

She brought books to his cabin so she could see him again.

"It seemed as though he'd read nothing but nonfiction sorts of things, so he didn't equate reading with pleasure."

Not like that.

"As recreation."

Better...?

"So we read a lot of fiction. The first thing I read him was a story that exists in the place I came from, called 'A Christmas Carol'. It's about an old man so obsessed with his personal wealth that he doesn't have any connection to people or the world around him. He's visited by three ghosts, and they show him what he's lost."

[hostessing]

She raises a brow slightly at Elizabeth. The woman is trying to be very careful with her word choice. Just what has her son told everyone about her?

"Likely from his schooling and time at the Service Academy," she assures Elizabeth. "It's good he's found stories to keep himself entertained while here." Even if she's unsure about stories involving ghosts. Was it common in other universes to make light of one's ancestors?

"There's no need to watch what you say around me. If you're a..." Potential spouse? Someone Ivan's courting? She goes for the more neutral, "Friend of my son, you have my trust and assistance."

Because if she can't trust the judgement of the adult son she raised then something went horribly wrong in the process. She may need to ask Gregor and Miles for more regarding that given how evasive her son has been on personal topics. Either way, Elizabeth seems to be a woman of good character and that matters a great deal to Alys.

[tearmeanewone]

"Well... I think I do, actually," Elizabeth says in complete seriousness, straightening up a little. If Ivan wasn't going to be back anytime soon, she has to take this by the horns. "You're Ivan's mother. He's an adult now, and he's never said anything to indicate his relationship with you is bad--"

Aside from calling her terrifying, which is probably coloring this entire interaction.

"--so... I'd prefer it if my friend's mother didn't think I was a bad influence."

If anything, it's Ivan who's the bad influence, but that's not what she's about to confess.

[hostessing]

Oh, she catches that phrasing. So their relationship isn't bad, but what does that make it then? She can't imagine herself with a strained relationship with her son unless he's hiding more than she realized.

"I'm more worried of the opposite truth be told," she says, a touch quieter. "He's been reluctant to tell me much since I've arrived, I've learned more about him from speaking with you."

[tearmeanewone]

"Oh..." Elizabeth doesn't seem surprised by this, only troubled. She can understand, honestly, why Ivan could be hesitant to tell Alys everything that's happened to him.

"He might be trying to preserve any semblance of a timeline for his own safety." Perhaps-- maybe Miles walked him through it, or Gregor. At least, Elizabeth knows she tries to avoid talk of quantum physics with Ivan when she can. "Things become unraveled quickly, even when your intentions are good."

[hostessing]

She raises a brow at that. "This is the first I'm hearing of such concerns." And she hasn't gotten the impression that her son was thinking that far ahead merely hoping for privacy. If that had been the case, why had none of the boys mentioned it?

"You've been here a good deal longer than I. What do you mean by things unraveling?"

[tearmeanewone]

"It's not something that's specific to just the Moira. I've been a student of quantum physics for a while now--" In a manner of speaking... "--and so the idea of a planet like Barrayar existing in a universe that could potentially be my own isn't so strange to me. The universe is made up of timelines, dictated by constants and variables.

"Take a branch on a tree, for example. One branch splits into two-- one choice, two options, each one creates a new timeline. However if you were to say, cut the branch off before it had a chance to grow and split, it never happens. Everything attached to that branch never grows.

"Everything is happening, will happen, and has happened at the same time. So if Ivan or Miles or Gregor gave you too much information about something you could ostensibly prevent, when the time comes if you made a different choice your timeline could be affected in strange and unanticipated ways. Things that are happening as a result of that choice 'unravel'. Cease to exist.

"Not that there's any evidence that we remember anything if we're returned to our timelines by the Ingress, but erring on the side of caution isn't such a bad idea if it could potentially get one of them killed or worse."