#winning (abdicator) wrote in districtmarvel, @ 2016-01-20 14:23:00 |
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[Folded neatly, wrapped in paper, and bound with a ribbon to the following note is: this thing.] My dearest Loki, This is a bribe. If that should color your response when I say that I truly have, over the years, relished all of our little chats just as much as I have always professed to; that I’ve looked forward with almost painful anticipation to our many meetings, in our shared professional and - who would credit it? - social circles; that I have long remarked upon your distinctive and astonishing approach to your work; that there’s little in which I take greater pleasure than recounting your latest exploits to anyone who might listen - I say again, if the fact that this is a bribe should alter in any way the sentiment this gift (which is a bribe) should provoke in you, I can do nothing but confess myself disappointed, and hope that some part of you will accept it in the generous spirit (of bribery) in which it is truly and sincerely given. Allow me to offer a brief history of the article enclosed. My father, Howard Stark, was, so I was always told (and so I have no choice but to believe) considered to be a great arbiter of taste, as bold and judicious an innovator in the realm of fashion as he was in Gamemaking. This was his smoking jacket. I have many a fond memory of seeing him - thusly clad - disappearing into his study; or shutting himself out on the terrace; or greeting one of the endless parade of notables too lofty, of course, to be introduced to a mere boy - too lofty, in many cases, to be introduced even to his wife. My father was very fond of this jacket. He spent a great deal of time with it. I like to think it brought him the comfort and companionship which ordinary humans were, of course, incapable of providing to so grand a personage. I know for a fact that he wore it while congratulating himself over the climax of the very stimulating 43rd Hunger Games. I can have no doubt that he would have wanted this cherished item to pass into the hands of someone eagerly following in his footsteps. I suspect that for you it may pull slightly in the shoulders, but, as it successfully contained Howard’s immense self-regard for many years without splitting a seam, it may be that it’s larger than it at first appears. In any case, it gives me great pleasure to send it now to you. (As a bribe.) I remain, sir, in this as in all things, your most obedient and humble servant – P.S. There’s a hell of a lot more where that came from. |