Open post / Voicetesting

[komarran]

Feel free to throw starters up below or hit me up for one!

Comments

For Mark

[komarran]

Delia, his dear, lovely wife (words he has repeated to himself several times over to get him through dinner, like a mantra he is so desperately clinging to), saw it befitting to invite her sister and... Partner? Lover? Not fiance from his understanding. He wishes he could say Kareen and Mark's nebulous relationship was more difficult to define than his own to the other man, but that would be getting off far too easily.

Regardless, the two are visiting from Beta Colony. Which means sisterly bonding is in order. He's grown accustomed to it what with most of the Koudelka clan still in and around Vorbarr Sultana. What he's not used to is Kareen and by extension, Mark. His not-quite-brother or brother-in-law--why had anyone tried to insert that idea into his head?--but a welcomed addition to their household this evening, a fact Delia made sure to drill into him when faced with Duv's apprehension.

The main event is over, dinner consumed and the table cleared. Somehow the many pitfalls their meal conversation could have taken have been avoided thanks to both sister's having much to catch up on without the prying ears of their parents. That same saving grace however seems to have left him alone. With Mark. Where had Delia and Kareen gone off to? Better yet, how had they done it without him noticing?

There's a moment of shuffling as this realization settles in and he starts to relocate to the living room where they can at least sit comfortably. In silence perhaps? Only if he's fortunate.

:'D

[jacksonian]

The first two minutes, Mark spends with his eyes fixed hungrily on the far door. Kareen - beautiful, lovely, gracious Kareen, whom Duv Galeni actually likes and converses with willingly - can't be that far away. Right? She'll be back any moment, and she'll start up a conversation with...No, you know what, this is what he's imagining, so he's not even going to wish that Galeni's going to get favored with the glory of some Kareenish conversation. She'll be back, and she'll lean over and just whisper in his ear alone. Perfect.

But it becomes clear, eventually, that Kareen and Delia aren't coming back. Maybe their attention genuinely is elsewhere, or maybe it was decided that the two of them Needed To Talk - Kareen had made some noises like that when he'd made noises about his dismay over this visit, that she liked her family all being united, and that Galeni is part of the family and so is Mark so they need to at least sort of be on the same team.

And so he stares for those two minutes. And then he spends another forty-five seconds wandering over to the cheese tray and picking up tidbits and devouring them - in some moderation, admittedly, the whole Black Gang is as well-behaved as Lord Mark himself tonight. And then, finally, he turns back, and he ventures, "So - uh - I'm having a few troubles with some business ventures. On Komarr."

[komarran]

Ah, and there goes the silence. He manages to not look wistful at the sudden loss. No, he's sure Delia will be ready to grill him on what was discussed in her absence later tonight and realistically, he knows he can't avoid Mark forever. It wouldn't be fair to the man. After all, they were cut from the same cloth in a strange way. What happened after had made all the difference.

He clears his throat before speaking. "I hadn't realized Komarr was part of your business plans. I doubt the Vorkosigan name is doing you favors with those who make sport of holding grudges."

It would take another generation before such fond memories really began to fade and die off with those that lived through them.

makes up komarran families, please make up stuff in return

[jacksonian]

"Holding companies," he explains with a little wave of his hand. Because Galeni is completely right: MPVK Enterprises would never get any traction at all in Komarr unless it managed to ditch the VK part. "Registered with Kareen - " Because there is no stigma attached to Koudelka, and even if there were it would be hard to ever take exception to anything fronted by Kareen. And if some Komarrans went digging a little further...Well, it's not like being associated with a Vorkosigan was a scandal. And if they took exception to which Vorkosigan it was, well, in a way, this Vorkosigan had once been a freedom fighter on Komarr's behalf, right...

Mark throws back the little glass of port in his hand in a single swallow.

"It's more complicated than just being about me," he says. "There are some issues with some - old politics. I don't know if you know anything about it. Is there bad blood between the Mondavis and the Cabots?"

vague hand gestures in the air

[komarran]

There's a slight curve up of his lips at that. Of course he would be using holding companies. Jackson's Whole always gave their trade fleets staunch competition in trade. Economics has always been a form of politics he's stayed out of, his youth being consumed by politics of an entirely different nature.

But those names... His brows furrow and his finger idly taps his leg. That scandal hadn't escaped his notice even with the amount of time he's spent immersed in Barrayaran politics since his enlistment.

"They used to be joint shareholders until poor decisions caused the company to go under." He holds a hand palm out. "Neither family could decide who made the final blow to their finances and they spent months trying to pass the blame. The rest of their shareholders weren't as amused."

[jacksonian]

Mark blows out a sigh, momentarily distracted from the awkwardness of speaking with Galeni in the face of this unforeseen business complication. There it is, then - the crackling tension between the representatives of the two families. He'd recruited them both because they were moderates with regards to Barrayaran business interests, and because they had expertise in medical tech...but old bad blood between them. Old bad blood over the sinking of a corporation. Here's hoping his won't be next...

"I wish I'd had a historian on staff," he mutters, and then pauses to think about that a moment. "That's not a job that actually exists, is it? Historian-for-hire?"

[komarran]

"You'd be surprised how many would benefit from that." It's a light grumble on his part, though he manages to hold back any further rants on the subject. Not repeating past mistakes was always a theme he had to drill into his students, but it's been years since he's had to give that lecture.

He steps closer to grab a piece of cheese for himself and eyes Mark with bemusement. Clearly leaving them here to chat had been part of some sisterly plan if Delia had the foresight to leave snacks.

"You've never had scholars for hire in the Whole? Where everything has a price?"

[jacksonian]

"Tutors," Mark answers, his lips twisting very slightly. He'd had tutors aplenty, oh yes, teaching him to read, teaching him about Barrayar and its history, teaching him proper decorum...He grabs a piece of cheese between thumb and forefinger, a decades-late rebuffing of their lessons. "And the universities there, obviously, for-profit. Don't know if they have 'em like I'm imagining them, local business consultants. Obviously. Vasa Luigi didn't exactly let me have an inside look at his business plans."

His lips turn up in a wry, dark smile.

"Jacksonians tend to be a little bit more excited about destroying history, rather than preserving it."

[komarran]

Ser Galen would spend all his resources on tutors and whatever other torments he needed to simulate the true Miles Vorkosigan experience. The black thought passes quickly. They both have skeletons in the closet that don't need to be stirred up over cheese and alcohol. Well, maybe the alcohol.

"Blood feuds are bad for business, but the market value for consultant historians is poor," he remarks dryly and waves down at himself. "Hence my current employment."

[jacksonian]

The situation between him and Galeni is way too awkward for Mark to ever be able to laugh at him. And Galeni is too damn unreadable and weird for Mark to know when he's joking, so he can't know if laughing would mean he'd be laughing with him. So Mark just sort of stares for a moment, and then clears his throat and wanders over to get himself a little more port.

"Uh," he pronounces, very eloquently, very intelligently. "I thought this job was your passion." Which is, of course, going to sound really stupid if hence my current employment was a joke, which it probably is, but...Y'know. Better to sound a little stupid than to have Galeni challenge him to a duel over some offense. Because if anyone currently on Barrayar is going to go around challenging people to duels, it's going to be Galeni, isn't it. He has the unfortunate dual qualities of being bloodthirsty enough for it and being a historian, so he'd actually know how to go about it.

[komarran]

It had been a joke, in Duv's dry, humorless sounding way. A fact Delia has pointed out to him more than once. She really was better in awkward social situations than he, a point in favor to his previous comments about how wonderful a hostess she'd be should his career go as he plans. Where is Delia anyway?

"It is." He busies himself with pouring his own drink of scotch to sip, an action that takes a moment. A long enough one to hopefully let them slide right past that.

"What business ventures are you conducting on Komarr?" he asks, maintaining a tone of politeness. Besides interjecting himself into cross-family feuds.

[jacksonian]

Business...Yeah. Talking business. That's good. Even if it's Komarran business...But at least Mark feels on firmer footing there. Plus it honestly could be useful to get Galeni's perspective. Galeni knows Komarr quite a lot better than Mark knows Komarr - truthfully, Mark had found the planet immensely confusing, given how little it resembled the planet of Ser Galen's fevered propaganda. And so getting his perspective on a business could be good...

"Biomed equipment manufacturing," he says. "The tariffs for shipping that sort of equipment through Komarran space is high, to say the least. The tarriffs for exporting that equipment are quite a lot lower. So I'm looking to import materials to Komarr, manufacture there, and export. It'll bring down my margins on my other enterprises considerably, to say nothing of the profit I'll turn just by selling to other facilities." He grimaces. "The problem we're having is in finding a site."

[komarran]

Real estate. That would be the major hitch to any business start-up on Komarr. The domes make any space within highly desirable and if Mark needs it for manufacturing... Well, Mark might be looking for a long time for a space adequate enough if he isn't careful. He idly swirls his glass as he considers his broth--acquaintance's problem.

"If you're able to cover shipping costs between domes, you could have better luck in one without a spaceport attached," he says after a moment. However much that might cut into the projected profits. "Not many businesses are willing to go out that far. Are you searching for a place already equipped?"

[jacksonian]

He shakes his head. "All we need is the location. We want to build from the ground up, according to our specs. The equipment we're going to be producing is the best," he says, with rather pardonable pride. "So it won't just be some repurposed facility.

"And we had a location," he says, pride giving way to frustration. "A good one. In Solstice Dome - a cluster of old buildings that Mondavi was looking to tear down anyways. But it was blocked by the Solstice ruling council. A measure led by Cabot." Mark grimaces, and diverts some measure of attention to settling Killer. That's just what no one needs - another Councilor murdered by another Vorkosigan. Imagine explaining that one to his father.

"That's why I like business much better than politics. At least in business people forget old grudges if it means more money in the future."

[komarran]

What was the old business adage? Location, location, location. Solstice Dome would have been perfect for business purposes, but the mention of 'old buildings' has him internally grateful that the council still had their heads on straight. He manages to resist the urge to ask exactly what kind of history Mark had been attempting to mow down in the name of profits. The decision has already been made and he doubts the council will be swayed to revisit it. Thankfully.

"Ah, in that respect we're not too different from those in the Whole," he says, tone almost as if he's trying to lead a student down a particular path of thought. How much insider information on a competitor was Cabot gaining in this potential alliance?

"Did you look into Cabot's other business ventures?"