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crack_van2011-03-20 08:40 pm
beatrice_otter) wrote in crack_van2011-03-20 08:40 pm
Entry tags:
Keeping Score by C. J. Muir (gen)
Fandom: VORKOSIVERSE
Pairing: (no abbreviations, please)
Length: short
Author on LJ: none known
Author Website: none known
Why this must be read:
Barrayar works on nepotism and loyalty. It may be strange to us, but at its best it does work. Here's a closer look at the how and the why of it, from the underside.
"You can always trust a Vorkosigan". That's what the old man used to say, and he would know, wouldn't he? His Granda followed old Count Piotr, fighting the Cetas. Coughed his lungs out, after they bombed Vorkosigan Vashnoi, but his wife made it through, and the kid she was carrying - Vorkosigans saw to that. Always trust a Vorkosigan.
The wife paid some back, when Mad Yuri's men came. Nursemaid to Countess Olivia's sister, she was. The Lady died, but her kid made it out under great-grandmere's skirts.
My granda, now, he served in the Fleet. Went with Lord Aral to Komarr - senior comm tech by then. Married, with his own son already serving. Don't think Lord Aral knew, but when he went after the political officer started that bloodbath, wasn't just an accident all the comm systems went to static till he came out again. Granda figured he was even, after that.
Not my old man, though. He was with Lord Vorkosigan right through the Pretender's War. Figured to help, but never got the chance. Other side burned his arm off. The Vorkosigans saw him right anyway. He was gardener down at Vorkosigan Surleau till he died, oh four, five years ago now. Kept the graves tidy too, though he wasn't paid for that.
Respect, see? He knew too many of the faces. The care - the weeding, one-handed in the summer evenings after work; finding the right plants to put around each plot, keeping the carvings clean on the markers. It was a service, a respect. Being able to give back something meant he could face himself even though he survived and others didn't.
Keeping Score
Pairing: (no abbreviations, please)
Length: short
Author on LJ: none known
Author Website: none known
Why this must be read:
Barrayar works on nepotism and loyalty. It may be strange to us, but at its best it does work. Here's a closer look at the how and the why of it, from the underside.
"You can always trust a Vorkosigan". That's what the old man used to say, and he would know, wouldn't he? His Granda followed old Count Piotr, fighting the Cetas. Coughed his lungs out, after they bombed Vorkosigan Vashnoi, but his wife made it through, and the kid she was carrying - Vorkosigans saw to that. Always trust a Vorkosigan.
The wife paid some back, when Mad Yuri's men came. Nursemaid to Countess Olivia's sister, she was. The Lady died, but her kid made it out under great-grandmere's skirts.
My granda, now, he served in the Fleet. Went with Lord Aral to Komarr - senior comm tech by then. Married, with his own son already serving. Don't think Lord Aral knew, but when he went after the political officer started that bloodbath, wasn't just an accident all the comm systems went to static till he came out again. Granda figured he was even, after that.
Not my old man, though. He was with Lord Vorkosigan right through the Pretender's War. Figured to help, but never got the chance. Other side burned his arm off. The Vorkosigans saw him right anyway. He was gardener down at Vorkosigan Surleau till he died, oh four, five years ago now. Kept the graves tidy too, though he wasn't paid for that.
Respect, see? He knew too many of the faces. The care - the weeding, one-handed in the summer evenings after work; finding the right plants to put around each plot, keeping the carvings clean on the markers. It was a service, a respect. Being able to give back something meant he could face himself even though he survived and others didn't.
Keeping Score
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