![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
You would be up on a high wire.
[ Fond, and with a tone of conjecture, more imagination than proclamation. ]
Or maybe you would be here. Maybe you were born with something in you that would make you incapable of watching the world end, no matter what came before it.
[ Fond, and with a tone of conjecture, more imagination than proclamation. ]
Or maybe you would be here. Maybe you were born with something in you that would make you incapable of watching the world end, no matter what came before it.
So, just to let you know, some graffiti's been showing up around Rialto.
Griffons, mostly.
Griffons, mostly.
Edited 2022-05-09 22:43 (UTC)
Or a trapeze. [ Yseult's smile has an answering fondness for this alternate dream version of herself. His suggestion gradually flattens it as her head tips in consideration. ]
I don't know. [ She sounds doubtful. ] I wouldn't be very useful in that case. Were you?
[ The lift of her eyebrow adds a hint of a tease to the way she flips the question back to him. ]
Born with an inability to watch the world end?
I don't know. [ She sounds doubtful. ] I wouldn't be very useful in that case. Were you?
[ The lift of her eyebrow adds a hint of a tease to the way she flips the question back to him. ]
Born with an inability to watch the world end?
[ He laughs, appreciation for the teasing melding seamlessly into something more sheepish, accompanied by a mustache scratch, as he admits: ]
Not at all. You know, I nearly left after the first year? It wasn’t what I thought it would be, and the weather was so terrible for so long, and I was—going through something.
Personal, [ is a delayed description of something. He says it less like it’s a secret, more like it’s silly. ]
I had my bags packed. I was going to go as far south as I could and drink mulled wine and wish you all luck.
Not at all. You know, I nearly left after the first year? It wasn’t what I thought it would be, and the weather was so terrible for so long, and I was—going through something.
Personal, [ is a delayed description of something. He says it less like it’s a secret, more like it’s silly. ]
I had my bags packed. I was going to go as far south as I could and drink mulled wine and wish you all luck.
[ Yseult's nod is one of understanding--of his meaning and tone at least. Not that she's never considered running away from her duty, she'd just never describe herself as going through something personal, no matter how accurate.
Her head tips, a brow lifts. ] What stopped you?
Her head tips, a brow lifts. ] What stopped you?
[ With a mouthful of wine to justify the pause, Bastien considers lying—for her sake, and also for his own, averse as he is to being the target of disdain or disappointment—but ultimately only squints one eye shut in an I know, I know wince before admitting, ]
Byerly.
Not because—we weren’t, [ vague but evocative gesture, ] at the time. I wasn’t even quite hoping we would be. But he was there, he cheered me up, and he cares so damn much about every damn thing. It rubs off.
[ Maybe Bastien’s more like Darras than Yseult, in the scheme of things. He swirls his wine before he takes another drink. ]
Byerly.
Not because—we weren’t, [ vague but evocative gesture, ] at the time. I wasn’t even quite hoping we would be. But he was there, he cheered me up, and he cares so damn much about every damn thing. It rubs off.
[ Maybe Bastien’s more like Darras than Yseult, in the scheme of things. He swirls his wine before he takes another drink. ]
[ It doesn't take as long as it might for Yseult to come up with a response, if only because there are a great many comments and questions about Bastien's choice of partner that she has already determined she will never give voice to for the sake of their friendship and because she has made it this far letting other people's taste in personal relationships remain their own business and it seems foolish to break that habit now.
So she drinks, expression unchanging, and then remarks ]
It's a shame you don't rub off more on him. He might put all that caring to better use if he spent less time irritating people.
So she drinks, expression unchanging, and then remarks ]
It's a shame you don't rub off more on him. He might put all that caring to better use if he spent less time irritating people.
[ Bastien huffs once through his nose, but he does it smiling fondly into the middle distance, not glancing conspiratorially at Yseult. He thinks it's funny because he thinks Byerly is funny. They both came from—met in—a world where winding people up until they began snapping was a fantastic way to spend an evening. He misses it. So there's a pinch of mourning in his tone for, ]
He is, on average.
[ He did not bring charts and graphs to demonstrate the gradual uptick in Byerly's attempts to be helpful, his earnest conversations with the people who allow them, and the times he's done his best to intervene in conflicts rather than stoke them. But he could have. ]
I don't think it's me. I think it's the desk. I can feel mine— [ He uses both hands to mime something sucking something else out of his chest. Life? Fun? Something. ] The other day I folded a pair of socks. I didn't even think about it. I had them in my hands, I looked down, and they were folded.
He is, on average.
[ He did not bring charts and graphs to demonstrate the gradual uptick in Byerly's attempts to be helpful, his earnest conversations with the people who allow them, and the times he's done his best to intervene in conflicts rather than stoke them. But he could have. ]
I don't think it's me. I think it's the desk. I can feel mine— [ He uses both hands to mime something sucking something else out of his chest. Life? Fun? Something. ] The other day I folded a pair of socks. I didn't even think about it. I had them in my hands, I looked down, and they were folded.
Edited 2022-06-07 18:02 (UTC)
I take it you're already in the know about our resident mages and their very secret— very exclusive schoolyard meeting.
[He trusts her to know, and yet, like a dead mouse dropped by a cat on its owner's doorstep, here he is. Making sure.]
[He trusts her to know, and yet, like a dead mouse dropped by a cat on its owner's doorstep, here he is. Making sure.]
Naturally. [Despite the wording itself, it's pure deference— transparently so at that.] They've been kind enough to open the door to anyone with a shard in their palm or a staff in their hand.
Or both.
[A beat:]
At this point, though, most of the chatter's dying down into talk of action. How best to keep the loyalists from succeeding in having their proposal tidily run through— which, to their enthusiastic credit— thus far seems to involve not doing anything overtly violent or volatile.
That doesn't mean it won't happen, I'd like to add.
Or that they're all being forthright about their intent. [Because honestly, just as he'd said to Fenris: when it comes to collective causes comprised of misfits and vagabonds, there's no telling if the person at your side is as noble as Jim Holden....or as dangerous as Brother Gideon.] Anyway, I'll head back inside in a moment, finish seeing this through.
But, if there's anything you'd like mentioned or paid attention to...or done.
[Not that he's suggesting anything.]
Well.
I'm all pointy ears.
Or both.
[A beat:]
At this point, though, most of the chatter's dying down into talk of action. How best to keep the loyalists from succeeding in having their proposal tidily run through— which, to their enthusiastic credit— thus far seems to involve not doing anything overtly violent or volatile.
That doesn't mean it won't happen, I'd like to add.
Or that they're all being forthright about their intent. [Because honestly, just as he'd said to Fenris: when it comes to collective causes comprised of misfits and vagabonds, there's no telling if the person at your side is as noble as Jim Holden....or as dangerous as Brother Gideon.] Anyway, I'll head back inside in a moment, finish seeing this through.
But, if there's anything you'd like mentioned or paid attention to...or done.
[Not that he's suggesting anything.]
Well.
I'm all pointy ears.
Any potential for a violent response is our greatest concern at present. Should the mood change or a faction form.... [ That'd be priority intel, obviously. ]
Beyond that, I trust you understand what would be of interest.
[ It's vague and in some respect a deferral from determining or revealing any priorities of her own. But it's also something of a vote of confidence, the brownie point he presumably came looking for--but also earned--by reaching out with this information. ]
Beyond that, I trust you understand what would be of interest.
[ It's vague and in some respect a deferral from determining or revealing any priorities of her own. But it's also something of a vote of confidence, the brownie point he presumably came looking for--but also earned--by reaching out with this information. ]
Of course.
[Judging by his tone, Astarion isn't at all dissatisfied with her response; he knows well enough by now not to expect anything remotely akin to an open book when it comes to Yseult.]
As always, you'll be the first to know.
[And, just like any outdoor cat, he's off again without any further fanfare.]
[Judging by his tone, Astarion isn't at all dissatisfied with her response; he knows well enough by now not to expect anything remotely akin to an open book when it comes to Yseult.]
As always, you'll be the first to know.
[And, just like any outdoor cat, he's off again without any further fanfare.]
It was a set-up. Rowntree. They'd had a letter from us, [ again, ] saying he was up to some bullshit, asking their help taking care of it.
There is an SF involved.
[ Serafine Fitcher, he does not say. He doesn't want to put the idea in her head if she might have another one on her own. ]
There is an SF involved.
[ Serafine Fitcher, he does not say. He doesn't want to put the idea in her head if she might have another one on her own. ]
Oui. Rowntree thinks she fits. Julius says she's asked him about mages before. Derrica and the Seeker agreed she—Theophania—she should go to the Chantry with Serah Arlyn to see the letters.
I've asked them not to say anything to anyone else, for now, in case you decide we need to pretend the trail was cold.
I've asked them not to say anything to anyone else, for now, in case you decide we need to pretend the trail was cold.
[ This time it's a sigh. She doesn't know that it's Bastien's fault they're all considering Fitcher in the first place, but regardless that is not going to be an easy group to manage, should management be needed. ]
Yes, we'll need the letters and any other information they have. And this Arlyn, if possible. I take it Rowntree and Julius were recovered unharmed?
Yes, we'll need the letters and any other information they have. And this Arlyn, if possible. I take it Rowntree and Julius were recovered unharmed?
[ There is no more sighing in response, but there is a pause after Derrica interjects that goes on just a moment longer than might seem normal to someone, like Bastien, who communicates with Yseult by crystal regularly. ]
Can you safely remain where you are? There's no need to rush back if it would jeopardize their health.
Can you safely remain where you are? There's no need to rush back if it would jeopardize their health.
Page 43 of 55