contact part deux

[bouchonne]

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

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[bouchonne]

[ He lifts his brows, pouring her a glass of wine. Then, because she asked that he speak plainly: ]

Do you have a side career, madame?

[ Well. Plainly-ish. ]

[untiltheyarent]

Outside of Riftwatch? No.

[She raises her glass to him, waiting for him to pour his own before she takes a drink.]

[bouchonne]

[ He hums, and obediently sips from his own glass. He doesn't miss that caution. ]

And inside Riftwatch? Does the Scoutmaster take your reports?

[untiltheyarent]

[She pauses to sip from her own glass, and perhaps takes a moment to think on it. Then,]

Yes.

[bouchonne]

[ Well, good. Otherwise, this conversation would be a lot edgier. ]

I hope she treats you well. I suspect she does, from my discussions with Bastien. So what brought you to Riftwatch?

[untiltheyarent]

[The shadow of a smile.]

She does, [Fifi confirms.]

I came to Riftwatch with a friend from Val Royeaux. We were associated, for a time, with the Freemen of the Dales, but we were intercepted by Inquisition agents while making a lyrium delivery, and... it was the excuse I needed.

[A strand of hair is tucked carefully behind one pointed ear.]

After all their pains to establish themselves as separate from and against the War of the Lions, they re-entered it in opposition to both sides. I had no stomach left for it.

[She looks down at her wine as she swirls it gently, some of the light leaving her eyes.]

[bouchonne]

The Freemen of the Dales?

[ Huh. ]

I thought that was a predominantly human organization. No?

[untiltheyarent]

[Meeting his eyes, she nods. Though her gaze is not exhausted, per se, Fifi has the overall look of someone who has spent a lifetime concealing her true opinions for the sake of survival.]

[bouchonne]

[ His smile is wry, but rather kind. ]

You'll find me hard to shock. You can speak freely.

[untiltheyarent]

[She warms somewhat, but only slightly.]

If I was noticed at all, I was the help.

[A small, bitter scoff through her nose doesn't change her expression.]

My husband was killed in action. I hoped I might find some justice for him there.

[bouchonne]

I'm sorry to hear that.

[ And for what it's worth, that seems very genuine. ]

The civil war was truly a blight. The Duke and the Empress both acted unconscionably in their hunger for power. And it was Orlais that suffered for it.

[untiltheyarent]

[She believes him.]

For all the culture and grandeur of my country, there are many who've died within its borders without ever seeing it.

[bouchonne]

Do you see it? Its grandeur? Or has it always been denied to you?

[untiltheyarent]

I auditioned for the opera ballet, when I first arrived. I was...

[Self-consciousness hits her, and her eyes lower.]

...foolish. Elves have been known to make it there, but a select few, who have been training under the masters their whole lives, brought up to do only that. I came from the countryside. I was a shepherdess with a bit of dance knowledge.

[The strand of hair has fallen forward, and she tucks it behind her ear again.]

My husband's brother painted the backdrops for the theatre near the alienage, and was able to secure us cheap seats there sometimes. I think that's the closest I've been to grandeur.

[This yields a fond smile, despite the bitterness of the conversation.]

[bouchonne]

[ And he smiles. Not pitying; just a little wry. ]

I'm half-Orlesian myself. From my mother. And yet when I came to Val Royeaux, looking for a home among people I thought would accept me more readily than the Fereldans had, all I saw was rejection. And I ought to have had every advantage - a man of noble birth, with cousins in the capital - but I was turned away.

[ A one-shouldered shrug. ]

Orlais is not a land that loves easily. I can only imagine the hell it put someone like you though.

[untiltheyarent]

[Pausing to drink her wine while Byerly speaks, Fifi watches him with quiet interest. She offers a commiserating nod as she sets her glass down, her posture unfaltering.]

Yet I love it still. My Jacques gave his life for it, and that... has to mean something.

[Or everything is pointless.]

[bouchonne]

[ He lifts his glass and says, with a sloppy good humor: ]

To taking a stand. It's the only thing worth living for.

[untiltheyarent]

[Her mouth curves upward slightly, and she does the same.]

To taking a stand.

[Once they've drunk, she lowers her glass again.]

I admit I'm surprised your family in Orlais wouldn't accept you. Are they on bad terms with your father's side?

[bouchonne]

Quite the opposite. They were on terms too good with my father's side.

[ Then, by way of explanation: ]

My father and I had...a parting of the ways, of sorts, when I was but a lad. They'd have faced some censure from the old man and the whole clan if they'd given me succor. So there was no advantage in taking in the flotsam that showed up on their doorstep, so they didn't.

[untiltheyarent]

I see.

[Her brow knits sympathetically.]

I'm sorry.

[bouchonne]

[ An indifferent, jaunty wave of his hand. ]

For the loss of a sour, miserly son-of-a-bitch in favor of a life of freedom? I'm not. Even if it would have been easier to find a bite to eat if I were still in the Rutyer good graces, I've never mourned the loss of them.

[ And then, with a little tilt of his head: ]

So did you earn a living as a spy? Or was it merely something you did recreationally?

[untiltheyarent]

[She actually laughs lightly at his forwardness, but seeing as that particular cat's already out of the bag, there's no sense in dancing around it.]

It's unique to my time with Riftwatch. Scoutmaster Beleth sent me to work in the house of the brothers Asgard, asking that I relate anything unusual to her. It took some time for me to realize what I was doing was spying.

[bouchonne]

[ That makes him laugh. Because - ]

That story feels rather familiar.

[ Anyway. ]

Do you like it?

[untiltheyarent]

[Fifi laughs in response, her face truly lighting up for the first time since they met, whether asleep or awake.]

Was it similar for you?

[She doesn't answer his other question yet.]

[bouchonne]

[ He presses a hand to his chest in mock-shock. ]

What are you accusing me of? Me? A spy? Don't you know how useless I am?