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[ She gives his hand a squeeze, and a smile that's fond and just a little wry. ] I know you would.
[ She lets go after a moment, to be able to spread cream on a bite of pastry. When she's finished she remarks, casually, ]
That tavern where we went dancing with Bastien last year is a few streets west.
[ She lets go after a moment, to be able to spread cream on a bite of pastry. When she's finished she remarks, casually, ]
That tavern where we went dancing with Bastien last year is a few streets west.
[Darras is (at least today) the slower eater. He glances up at her at this comment, mouth full of pastry. A little smile further distorts his mouth as it crooks at the corner.]
Oh, aye? [he says, once he's finished chewing.] S'ppose they're just getting started at this hour.
Oh, aye? [he says, once he's finished chewing.] S'ppose they're just getting started at this hour.
You're eager. [ A gentle tease, and one reflected back on herself as well, judging by the curl of her smile. She's ready when he is.
She takes his arm when they reach the street, a brisk wind sending everyone bustling about their business. It's not far to the Red Duck Inn, brightly lit and with music and noise already overflowing into the road, the band playing a rollicking Starkhaven reel. ]
She takes his arm when they reach the street, a brisk wind sending everyone bustling about their business. It's not far to the Red Duck Inn, brightly lit and with music and noise already overflowing into the road, the band playing a rollicking Starkhaven reel. ]
[ They’re continuing this conversation like a transition in a movie where they walk through a door and it’s suddenly the next season but they’re still having the same conversation.
Except Bastien is now having his half of it in an attempt at a vague Southern Free Marches accent that’s a little off, but not as bad as it used to be. ]
And what were the pieces? A tavern, a storm—that smile.
Except Bastien is now having his half of it in an attempt at a vague Southern Free Marches accent that’s a little off, but not as bad as it used to be. ]
And what were the pieces? A tavern, a storm—that smile.
[ She casts a sidelong look at him, quelling the italics before sliding away in a manner that concedes the point after all. ] That smile [ she repeats, only a prompt to adjust his vowel slightly, of course. ]
Some time away from work [ she says, in the accent they're aiming for. It isn't so different from her own, just flattened and drawn out a bit, all the crisp edges and odd corners sanded off. ] After a few bad jobs in a row. Terrible wine. You've heard how he tells stories, how he pulls you in even when they're ridiculous. He made me laugh. He made me make him laugh.
Some time away from work [ she says, in the accent they're aiming for. It isn't so different from her own, just flattened and drawn out a bit, all the crisp edges and odd corners sanded off. ] After a few bad jobs in a row. Terrible wine. You've heard how he tells stories, how he pulls you in even when they're ridiculous. He made me laugh. He made me make him laugh.
[ He's listening, but for the first couple of sentences he's doing it with his mouth a bit open and his lips pulled back from his teeth, tongue held in an attempt to recapture the correct i in smile. ]
Were you more serious then than you are now? Or less?
Were you more serious then than you are now? Or less?
No. Not really. Not more than everything is work, when you are in bard in Val Royeaux. Like if you have been sent to observe a foreign city—you make friends, you eat lunch, you wash your face. [ His accent slips. He pauses to put it back. ] It's not all work. But you're always listening. And always lying, at least a little.
[ A fair point, says the sideways bob of her head. ]
At first with my employer. I'd train with them between assignments. After a few years I took a flat in the city and lived there when I wasn't working. But I always kept to myself anyway. Not how you would have done it.
At first with my employer. I'd train with them between assignments. After a few years I took a flat in the city and lived there when I wasn't working. But I always kept to myself anyway. Not how you would have done it.
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