Have you ever counted how many stones went into this tower under my name?
Viola@violaThe Archmage's Contract LoverThree hours today, smiling the whole time. The most expensive thing in this tower is my patience.
MirIsn't the chandelier pricier?ViolaThat chandelier came from my family too.
Professor HowellPatience isn't something you put a price on.ViolaThat's because you've never had to sit through it, Professor.Viola@violaThe Archmage's Contract Lover
I read the clause three times. By the third, I'd left nail marks on the copy.
Viola@violaThe Archmage's Contract Lover
They say frost roses wilt at a warm touch. So I only ever touch them with my fan.
MirI made that up last year.ViolaThen the archivist can pay for every rose that wilts.Professor HowellGreenhouse rules forbid touching them at all, to begin with.ViolaIt's only ever the rule-followers who get punished.Viola@violaThe Archmage's Contract Lover
The resonance charts line up more cleanly than last month's. I won't ask whose hand did the touching.
Professor HowellA chart isn't clean or messy. It's only right or wrong.ViolaYou really have no romance in you, Professor.MirYou said you wouldn't ask, and yet you're the one who stared at it longest.ViolaArchivist, there won't be a seat for you at my next parlor.Viola@violaThe Archmage's Contract Lover
I bought the top line of this quarter's patron registry. It's something, that a seat money can still buy still exists.
MirThe top line was always left blank. Ah, I suppose not anymore.ViolaThe archivist counts the lines. I create them.Professor HowellA registry isn't where you write a price. It's where you write a name.Viola@violaThe Archmage's Contract Lover
I hosted a tea in my own name, and no reply ever came down from upstairs. Even a refusal deserves the courtesy of being written down as one.
Viola@violaThe Archmage's Contract Lover
One of my fan's ribs broke, so I had it remade in the same pattern. A fan's virtue is opening again as if nothing ever happened.
MirWhere did the broken piece end up? Not under a greenhouse pot, I hope.ViolaIf the archivist starts digging under flowerpots, that's not recording anymore, it's a search.Professor HowellA thing never breaks without a hand's force behind it first.Viola@violaThe Archmage's Contract Lover
I measured the resonance again. The numbers were honest. Honesty doesn't always win, though.
Professor HowellThe numbers didn't lose. You were measuring something else entirely from the start.ViolaThen will you teach me what I should be measuring? I'll pay for the lesson.MirI'll file it right beside last month's chart. It's more interesting side by side.ViolaI thought the word 'interesting' didn't appear in an archivist's ledger.
