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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
Well, because he's quite good at listening, to begin with.
[ That is a voice that is, briefly, absolutely thrumming with adoration. ]
And because he has many of the same sorts of frustrations. Freemen - commoners - are treated like they're below notice in many places, but especially in Orlais. So he had to grow up with utter disdain, despite his very real and very remarkable talents. Much as you did.
[ That is a voice that is, briefly, absolutely thrumming with adoration. ]
And because he has many of the same sorts of frustrations. Freemen - commoners - are treated like they're below notice in many places, but especially in Orlais. So he had to grow up with utter disdain, despite his very real and very remarkable talents. Much as you did.
[ It takes an unusual amount of effort, for him, but he's just so happy, and for all the emotions he's had to suppress on a job, unencumbered joy has never been one to worry about. Still, he manages. His face settles back into the high-drama sobriety from before. ]
It is not far to the smugglers' passage.
[ A few twists and turns away, and one twist and turn down through a trap door, into the twisty and turny tunnels in the stone beneath their feet. Would they be markedly increasing the odds of someone trying to stab them, for real, to avoid an imaginary bird threat?
Maybe. But look, it's not Darktown. ]
It is not far to the smugglers' passage.
[ A few twists and turns away, and one twist and turn down through a trap door, into the twisty and turny tunnels in the stone beneath their feet. Would they be markedly increasing the odds of someone trying to stab them, for real, to avoid an imaginary bird threat?
Maybe. But look, it's not Darktown. ]
I know.
[ He might not be able to smell a mage, but he can certainly smell nobility. ]
But it's much the same sort of thing. Bastien's birth, much like your...I presume you were late-apprenticed, and to a master of lesser renown, because someone mismanaged their social connections? Didn't exploit them properly? Or was some other misfortune involved? - Regardless, you're both undervalued because people have paid attention to circumstances instead of talents.
[ He might not be able to smell a mage, but he can certainly smell nobility. ]
But it's much the same sort of thing. Bastien's birth, much like your...I presume you were late-apprenticed, and to a master of lesser renown, because someone mismanaged their social connections? Didn't exploit them properly? Or was some other misfortune involved? - Regardless, you're both undervalued because people have paid attention to circumstances instead of talents.
Let's go.
[ Is it stupid? Immensely. Incredibly! But who cares? It's hilarious.
He grabs Bastien by the wrist and pulls him down the alley...and then turns in the completely wrong direction. (It's been a minute since he's done something this cheerfully dumb, and has perhaps forgotten the way.) ]
[ Is it stupid? Immensely. Incredibly! But who cares? It's hilarious.
He grabs Bastien by the wrist and pulls him down the alley...and then turns in the completely wrong direction. (It's been a minute since he's done something this cheerfully dumb, and has perhaps forgotten the way.) ]
No, it's— Well, I suppose there is some similarity. Only, I chose it. I wasn't meant to have been apprenticed at all, you see. I picked it.
[Not the assignment, or how dreadful her company had been maybe. But still. They're circumstances which she herself designed.]
It's not like an ordinary apprenticeship or even like the Circles here, and Kalvad is very different from Orlais— It would be dishonest, [she resolves, as if it's only just occurred to her given how closely they've hewn to the subject] To pretend otherwise only for the sake of talking about it.
[Abruptly, and more honestly still:]
I don't wish to talk about it.
[Not the assignment, or how dreadful her company had been maybe. But still. They're circumstances which she herself designed.]
It's not like an ordinary apprenticeship or even like the Circles here, and Kalvad is very different from Orlais— It would be dishonest, [she resolves, as if it's only just occurred to her given how closely they've hewn to the subject] To pretend otherwise only for the sake of talking about it.
[Abruptly, and more honestly still:]
I don't wish to talk about it.
I don't feel poorly about it. I don't wish to discuss it because it's not important.
[And she does, in a sense, sound like she's telling the truth. What difference does any of it make? It was years ago now, and will never touch her here.]
You won't tell anyone, will you? About mine knowing just a bit of magic. It wasn't on the list that was made of all the Rifters who did and Val mustn't know. I mean, he wouldn't even if you did because he doesn't know anything about anyone in Riftwatch. He hardly knows who you are, and only because I made fun of him for it. And there are other people as well who shouldn't know either, of course.
[And she does, in a sense, sound like she's telling the truth. What difference does any of it make? It was years ago now, and will never touch her here.]
You won't tell anyone, will you? About mine knowing just a bit of magic. It wasn't on the list that was made of all the Rifters who did and Val mustn't know. I mean, he wouldn't even if you did because he doesn't know anything about anyone in Riftwatch. He hardly knows who you are, and only because I made fun of him for it. And there are other people as well who shouldn't know either, of course.
[ A heavy sigh. This is painful, but: ]
I'll lie, but I won't break promises. You'll notice I didn't even insult your lord husband after what you just told me, eh?
[ let's gloss over the fact that calling him your lord husband comes dangerously close to an insult. ]
I'll lie, but I won't break promises. You'll notice I didn't even insult your lord husband after what you just told me, eh?
[ let's gloss over the fact that calling him your lord husband comes dangerously close to an insult. ]
Edited 2022-07-06 01:34 (UTC)
[ A puff of breath, audible between his lips. This is going to sound...bad. Maker, this could be absolutely disastrous. ]
I've sworn an oath of service to Ferelden, such that I must give to them certain pieces of information I've discovered. This is one of those pieces of information I'm honor-bound to tell them. [ Making excuses: ] But it will not be of any great interest to them; they have no great love for the Chantry, nor any mistrust of Rifters. It will be as nothing.
I've sworn an oath of service to Ferelden, such that I must give to them certain pieces of information I've discovered. This is one of those pieces of information I'm honor-bound to tell them. [ Making excuses: ] But it will not be of any great interest to them; they have no great love for the Chantry, nor any mistrust of Rifters. It will be as nothing.
[ Bastien follows. For the first two steps in the wrong direction, it's his habit of going along with things. For the third and fourth, it's thinking that perhaps it's on purpose—perhaps Byerly doesn't want to climb down into a drippy mining tunnel and say hello to Bonny Lem and his collection of knives.
On the fifth step he digs his heels in, arm twisting to hold By by his wrist, and tugs him— ]
Other left, mon beau péquenaud.
[ A very old term of elbow-to-the-ribs endearment, and even more outrageously unfair now than it was when they met in Val Royeaux. ]
On the fifth step he digs his heels in, arm twisting to hold By by his wrist, and tugs him— ]
Other left, mon beau péquenaud.
[ A very old term of elbow-to-the-ribs endearment, and even more outrageously unfair now than it was when they met in Val Royeaux. ]
Noo.
[ The little tweak - one that had earned a few rotten fellows enmity back in the old days, but which is cute and fond and beloved coming from Bastien's lips - gets a little smile. But the correction - ]
Is it really? I swear...
[ Shaking his head, he lets Bastien drag him, laughing at his poor sense of direction. ]
[ The little tweak - one that had earned a few rotten fellows enmity back in the old days, but which is cute and fond and beloved coming from Bastien's lips - gets a little smile. But the correction - ]
Is it really? I swear...
[ Shaking his head, he lets Bastien drag him, laughing at his poor sense of direction. ]
It is because you are not used to seeing the city in the daylight.
[ True? Maybe.
He looks over his shoulder—for the birds, you know—but, predictably finding nothing, wraps his hand around Byerly's elbow and shifts halfway into a new game. ]
Close your eyes. Maybe you'll know it that way—left or right?
[ True? Maybe.
He looks over his shoulder—for the birds, you know—but, predictably finding nothing, wraps his hand around Byerly's elbow and shifts halfway into a new game. ]
Close your eyes. Maybe you'll know it that way—left or right?
[Not all that long ago, this particular information may have been met with little more than disbelief. What does she care who does or doesn't know her association with the arcane arts? Far more ridiculous that Byerly Rutyer could be an informant.
But working in close association with certain suspicious parties eventually inspires caution in even the most incautious people. And she has been spending a great deal of time with Richard Dickerson, and much as she might pretend otherwise Wysteria knows a thing or two about the man she's speaking with at present.
So, cue the aural equivalent of squinting and the bristling of hackles. Like how a small terrier might show its teeth—]
You're lying to me. No one asks to be told things they don't think are important.
But working in close association with certain suspicious parties eventually inspires caution in even the most incautious people. And she has been spending a great deal of time with Richard Dickerson, and much as she might pretend otherwise Wysteria knows a thing or two about the man she's speaking with at present.
So, cue the aural equivalent of squinting and the bristling of hackles. Like how a small terrier might show its teeth—]
You're lying to me. No one asks to be told things they don't think are important.
I have sworn to be honest with you.
[ His voice is even. He doesn't sound like he's lying - though with a confessed spy, who can tell? ]
And if I thought this information would put you in true danger, then - [ Well. ] I suppose I would be compelled to dishonor myself.
[ His voice is even. He doesn't sound like he's lying - though with a confessed spy, who can tell? ]
And if I thought this information would put you in true danger, then - [ Well. ] I suppose I would be compelled to dishonor myself.
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