The Principal's Office

[tailor_made]

The door to the principal’s office is open at all hours, although you will only find Hester at the receptionist’s desk from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. This is primarily where you can have private conversations with her. Though there’s an actual office in the back, it is always closed and locked.

Comments

[tailor_made]

[For once Hester doesn't answer his knocking right away. There's a long pause before he hears Hester call out in a surprisingly even tone:]

Come in, monsieur.

[violentenvies]

[for a moment, there, he's concerned. But he waits through the silence, worry growing--until she finally responds. There's relief there, simply to hear her there, but the evenness of her voice is a bit surprising.

Never the less, he balances the tray he's carrying in one hand and opens the door with the other, moving to step inside]

Good evening, Mademoiselle Hester.

[tailor_made]

[When he comes in Hester doesn't turn to look at him right away. She's behind her desk, per usual, her compact open as she methodically dabs away at the streaks of watery mascara and smeared eyeliner running down her cheeks with a tissue. She looks, frankly, an absolute mess but despite her clear distress at the trial she looks entirely, almost eerily, calm now.

After a beat she finally sets down her mirror and turns to look at him with a small smile.]

Good evening. How's the afterparty going?

[violentenvies]

[that's...peculiar. Very peculiar. Salieri blinks once, but continues his movement inside, moving to set the tray down. He affects his own calm, even as he feels very wrong-footed, put off by the calm she exudes]

It seems to be winding down. It has been a difficult day for us all. [his stomach lurches and tightens even as he says that, but he continues to affect a calm facade]

Yourself included, if I'm not mistaken. So I brought you some of Benjamin's hot chocolate, and some of Mademoiselle Maya's cooking. It's not much, but I thought it would be a comfort. [he sets the tray down in the same place as before, at the corner, so there is plenty of room]

[tailor_made]

Oh, monsieur, that's so thoughtful of you. [Her voice sounds as even as it did behind the door but being in the same room as her there's definitely a sort of dreamy quality to the way she's talking, like she's not quite awake yet after a nap.]

Maya was here, a little bit ago. She said I should eat something but I wasn't feeling up to it. [Regardless she reaches over and takes the hot chocolate in both hands to have a small sip.] Thanks.

[violentenvies]

My pleasure, truly.

[he pauses]

You weren't feeling up to it, you said?

[tailor_made]

[She shakes her head slowly.]

Mmhm. The trial took more out of me than I thought it would... [She takes another small sip before setting down the mug to pick up her compact again to clean her ruined make-up.] But I'm feeling a bit better now.

[violentenvies]

I'm...glad to hear that.

[he pauses]

Madame, ah...[he has to pause, swallowing against the tightness in his throat, trying to clear it] Madame Elisabeth mentioned the zither. If you have an interest in learning...I would be happy to teach you in her stead.

[tailor_made]

[Hester pauses, freezing for a solid few seconds before she look sat him again with slightly wider eyes. A small crack in the dreamy fog she seems to be stuck in.]

I'd...I'd like that very much. Thank you.

[violentenvies]

[he can see that crack, and it's not difficult to parse its origins.

Salieri deliberately softens his expression into something a little sadder, something understanding]

I imagine the two of you spoke of it before...I had some quite lovely talks with her myself. I'm sure she shared quite a lot with you as well.

Perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you've already discussed?

[tailor_made]

We did, a little. [She eases back into her chair, turning just a little back and forth on the swivel. It's a subtle and silly thing, almost childish.] She asked me for it and I was happy to get it for her after she described it. We didn't speak a lot but...

She was always so kind, even to me. Like you are.

[violentenvies]

[There's a throb of pain somewhere in his chest at that, and he sucks in a small breath, having to blink a little bit at the moisture in his eyes]

Madame Elisabeth was a very kind woman. She was thoughtful and sweet, and humble in a way that one doesn't normally expect from an Empress.

[he's quiet for a brief moment, then]

As for me...how could I help but be kind to you?

[tailor_made]

Because I know most of you hate me. [She says it so softly but as a resigned fact.] And it's okay. I'm used to people not liking me.

At least here you all have a good reason.

[violentenvies]

[at that, he frowns slightly, in concern]

...I...am sorry to hear that. That this is something you're used to. In here I cannot say that I fault those here in their bitterness, however...there is the saying that I'm well aware of about not shooting the messenger. Here, if I'm not mistaken, you deliver whatever messages the Wizard asks you to. You are not an architect of whatever game is being played here.

However...I cannot imagine what on the outside would make anyone treat you that way. Not when you've been so kind and helpful to myself and others, when it was requested.

[tailor_made]

I didn't make it but I'm helping. And no matter what our reasons are, I don't think they're wrong to hate me. [She shrugs her shoulder slightly but smiles a vague little smile.]

I've...been told I can be very annoying, monsieur. That and I was moved around so much when I was younger I never really made many friends.

[violentenvies]

...I'm sorry for to hear that, Mademoiselle Hester. I know it is perhaps of little comfort, but...I cannot fathom what anyone could find annoying about you. [there is, perhaps, a touch of anger in his voice] And even if they did, to treat you terribly is simply intolerable.

I'm sorry that whomever these people are have treated you unkindly.