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

Comments

[cozen]

You think he has it in him?

[ Motive, of course, is not a question. Bastien’s heard them talk—whiteknuckling all the while to keep from jumping in to valiantly defend Byerly from a ten year old. ]

[bouchonne]

Oh, yes.

[ The smile is droll. But it's clear enough that he means it. ]

A dog with both bark and bite. Raised on the battlefield, surrounded by killers - not a place where a boy learns mercy or restraint.

[cozen]

[ Bastien doesn’t smile back. Somewhere earlier in the timeline, he’s gone after the kidnapped Marcus, seen Julius and Tsenka slam Templars into the ground from afar and half-crush them with stone, and gone looking for Fitcher with Marcus and Derrica almost exclusively to make sure they didn’t kill her if they found her. ]

Do you keep mage bane with you? Around here, I mean.

[ They’re all supposed to carry it in the field. Ostensibly for the Venatori, he thinks. ]

[bouchonne]

[ A hesitation. By's smile fades a bit. ]

No.

[ Then, a little uncomfortably - ]

I don't really think it's a risk.

[ But even as he says that, he wonders if it's true. Does he really think Matthias - or the other mages - wouldn't, if they believed his removal would serve their interests? Or does he just not want to give into that fear? ]

[cozen]

Maybe not.

[ He wants to think better of everyone. He does, on some level. But on another, Byerly already has nearly died in this office. ]

Gideon could have been a mage. We wouldn’t have known until it was too late. It couldn’t hurt. It doesn’t have to be about them.

[bouchonne]

Yes.

[ That's true. Yes. Not paranoia about the mages - just...all-purpose paranoia. ]

It's a good idea. I'll start doing that.

[ Then, with a caress to Bastien's cheek: ]

Not tonight's problem.

[cozen]

No, [ Bastien agrees, because the promise is plenty for him, and catches By's hand to hold across the desk. ] Tonight's problem is how we will justify a little trip for just the two of us.

[ Yseult disappeared for well over a week with Darras, after her kidnapping with Flint, and worked via the crystals. Something particularly well-deserved, given the torture. But if she can do it— ]

You want to make sure we have somewhere to go if Kirkwall becomes untenable, no? Maybe we should hop across the sea and talk to some people with spare fortresses. Or we could go to Kaiten. Introduce ourselves to the Viscount and, you know. Look around.

[ For his siblings, now that By's head from Nadine. ]