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contact part deux
if this were modern times byerly would probably make you listen to total eclipse of the heart before you were able to leave a message
I am.
[ Nothing but pleasantness from Byerly, in turn. Make no mistake, he has no great love lost for Richard, with his sharp teeth and venomous bite. But buying loyalty is such a cheap thing to do. Byerly has long survived off of being able to figure out what someone wants and then getting it for them. And there's a perverse sort of pleasure in knowing that someone who dislikes you also depends on you. ]
Come by my office sometime. I'll get you a pouch.
[ Nothing but pleasantness from Byerly, in turn. Make no mistake, he has no great love lost for Richard, with his sharp teeth and venomous bite. But buying loyalty is such a cheap thing to do. Byerly has long survived off of being able to figure out what someone wants and then getting it for them. And there's a perverse sort of pleasure in knowing that someone who dislikes you also depends on you. ]
Come by my office sometime. I'll get you a pouch.
Provided your office is still habitable, [ he will, perhaps, stop by.
In the meanwhile he has his skunkweed to sip on, joint pinched up and ember sizzled aglow through the ash at its end. He steps back in the same beat, dismissing himself with a nod -- eager, it appears, to remove himself from the cold. Or Byerly’s company.
Both. ]
In the meanwhile he has his skunkweed to sip on, joint pinched up and ember sizzled aglow through the ash at its end. He steps back in the same beat, dismissing himself with a nod -- eager, it appears, to remove himself from the cold. Or Byerly’s company.
Both. ]
And to depend on those who've just crashed into this world without any real sense of their place in it must be terribly frustrating.
[ she looks absentmindedly down into her cup. ]
Was there ever a time when rifters were given a purpose to band together, other than fears of imprisonment or death?
[ she looks absentmindedly down into her cup. ]
Was there ever a time when rifters were given a purpose to band together, other than fears of imprisonment or death?
Same churl you are now, just one that happened to turn down a curious underling in need.
[Anyway:]
These crystals, have they ever been known to, oh I don’t know...fail?
[Anyway:]
These crystals, have they ever been known to, oh I don’t know...fail?
Mm.
Or sending one, for that matter. Either way.
Or sending one, for that matter. Either way.
Oh— no reason.
[His tone is light. High and breathy, conversational in the way someone might bring up weather over tea— and stays fixed there, unchanging.]
We tend to rely on them for missions, and it’s not all that far fetched to think someone might just have run into a unique situation where the things turn fallible all of a sudden.
But I suppose if something like that happened for a prolonged period of time, well. Most people would know about it by now. Meaning that there’d be warnings about it or precautions or things like that.
[A pause.]
I’m just curious is all I’m saying.
[Another pause.]
And now that curiosity’s resolved so.
[This time, his pitch drops lower, flatter.]
Thank you.
[His tone is light. High and breathy, conversational in the way someone might bring up weather over tea— and stays fixed there, unchanging.]
We tend to rely on them for missions, and it’s not all that far fetched to think someone might just have run into a unique situation where the things turn fallible all of a sudden.
But I suppose if something like that happened for a prolonged period of time, well. Most people would know about it by now. Meaning that there’d be warnings about it or precautions or things like that.
[A pause.]
I’m just curious is all I’m saying.
[Another pause.]
And now that curiosity’s resolved so.
[This time, his pitch drops lower, flatter.]
Thank you.
—what? No, why would you—
[Scoffing, sharp. So abrupt he almost chokes on his own rebuttal, sucking in air through his teeth.]
It's just a harmless question, stop snooping.
[Scoffing, sharp. So abrupt he almost chokes on his own rebuttal, sucking in air through his teeth.]
It's just a harmless question, stop snooping.
You say that like I wouldn't.
Besides, I'm certain that however unfair I am to you, you'll find a way to survive.
Besides, I'm certain that however unfair I am to you, you'll find a way to survive.
For fun. For a dare. For the unique instance of the war finally crashing down on our heads and us needing to hide away in some narrow little crevice without making a sound— I can think of plenty of reasons.
[And then, feathering:]
I never claimed to be nice, darling.
[And then, feathering:]
I never claimed to be nice, darling.
I think you might.
[Isn't that enough?]
One more question before I cut you loose: Satinalia— from a native perspective— how important is it? How much does it matter, really.
[Isn't that enough?]
One more question before I cut you loose: Satinalia— from a native perspective— how important is it? How much does it matter, really.
[For something else. Most anything else, he’d agree to those terms without flinching. It’s harmless, inquisitive curiosity; Astarion himself is guilty of it in spades.
But right now he’s too afraid to let something slip, and it means his hackles are raised so high as to be venomous.]
Then go ask Yseult for help in sniffing out my secrets, because if that’s the prerequisite, I’ll go find someone else.
You’re not the only Thedosian haunting this wretched place.
But right now he’s too afraid to let something slip, and it means his hackles are raised so high as to be venomous.]
Then go ask Yseult for help in sniffing out my secrets, because if that’s the prerequisite, I’ll go find someone else.
You’re not the only Thedosian haunting this wretched place.
I—
[He realizes it then, how unintentionally transparent he’s made himself. There’s no mistaking it once Byerly points it out.]
You’re too damn perceptive for your own good.
[Toothless. Low and deficient enough that the sound of his own exhale comes out more through his nose than his mouth. The last thing he surrenders before cutting their conversation short without warning.
Everyone has to pick their battles, and Astarion doesn’t deal in ones he can’t win.]
[He realizes it then, how unintentionally transparent he’s made himself. There’s no mistaking it once Byerly points it out.]
You’re too damn perceptive for your own good.
[Toothless. Low and deficient enough that the sound of his own exhale comes out more through his nose than his mouth. The last thing he surrenders before cutting their conversation short without warning.
Everyone has to pick their battles, and Astarion doesn’t deal in ones he can’t win.]
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