![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Tell me you're still awake.
[Ah— music to his ears.]
Aha, no luck sleeping, I take it? Or is this one of those long, diligent work nights I keep hearing so much about?
Aha, no luck sleeping, I take it? Or is this one of those long, diligent work nights I keep hearing so much about?
Checking for defensive weaknesses.
[roll 9 perception or higher to realize he is lying.]
[roll 9 perception or higher to realize he is lying.]
It's hardly adequate. It has been besieged several times, once in living memory.
Mm.
You do realize you could do that during the daytime, which is what most of the living world would opt for.
Get a little rest. Shut your weary eyes. Drift off.
[This suggestion, of course, isn’t necessarily helpful: he’d rather Fenris stay awake for his own selfish reasons.
...but that’s at odds with his perpetual desire to tip the scales.]
You do realize you could do that during the daytime, which is what most of the living world would opt for.
Get a little rest. Shut your weary eyes. Drift off.
[This suggestion, of course, isn’t necessarily helpful: he’d rather Fenris stay awake for his own selfish reasons.
...but that’s at odds with his perpetual desire to tip the scales.]
I slept earlier. [In daylight.] My schedule is my own. Or should I be saying the same to you?
[There’s a chuckle let loose from behind a tongue pressed flat against sharp teeth, subdued.
Well played.]
We vampires do our hunting at night.
I’m still not quite used to anything else.
[And with everyone else already sleeping like sweet little newborn babes, well...it gets unbearably quiet once the sun goes down.]
Well played.]
We vampires do our hunting at night.
I’m still not quite used to anything else.
[And with everyone else already sleeping like sweet little newborn babes, well...it gets unbearably quiet once the sun goes down.]
[A sudden spark of interest in Fenris' voice-]
You need to hunt?
You need to hunt?
Mmhm. Used to. Now I can eat solid, well-cooked food just like the rest of you dear creatures—
[And it isn’t bad. Really. Every last meal since he'd dared to branch out on arrival is a reminder that he's far, far from Cazador's grasp now.]
Although I...[he laughs, almost. It’s a little bitter, a little more thready and out of place] you know I find myself missing it all the same.
Blood, I mean.
I don’t even know if I could tolerate it anymore, let alone hunt anything down the way I used to.
[And he realizes in a flicker of a thought that he didn’t really mean to confess this much. But then again, Fenris already knows he’s different, and with all that kin and kindred spirit talk he’s fairly certain no pitchforks or torches are going to come rushing into view.
No, this is probably safe. No vampires in Thedas, after all.]
[And it isn’t bad. Really. Every last meal since he'd dared to branch out on arrival is a reminder that he's far, far from Cazador's grasp now.]
Although I...[he laughs, almost. It’s a little bitter, a little more thready and out of place] you know I find myself missing it all the same.
Blood, I mean.
I don’t even know if I could tolerate it anymore, let alone hunt anything down the way I used to.
[And he realizes in a flicker of a thought that he didn’t really mean to confess this much. But then again, Fenris already knows he’s different, and with all that kin and kindred spirit talk he’s fairly certain no pitchforks or torches are going to come rushing into view.
No, this is probably safe. No vampires in Thedas, after all.]
[Fenris listens to this, weighs it in his mind. For all Astarion's lengthy explanations, Fenris can find only one answer.]
There is a saying among the slaves of Tevinter. Etiam sic natus carceris, desidero dominus. Even those born in prison miss home.
There is a saying among the slaves of Tevinter. Etiam sic natus carceris, desidero dominus. Even those born in prison miss home.
[For a rare, lengthy moment, Astarion is utterly quiet in the wake of Fenris' response. No laughter, no jokes, no teasing.]
You know, I don't think I care for that saying.
[It isn't self-pity nor sadness. Just acrid. Bitter as bile on his tongue.]
You know, I don't think I care for that saying.
[It isn't self-pity nor sadness. Just acrid. Bitter as bile on his tongue.]
I don't either.
[But it is, like the gentle crash of waves outside, inescapable.]
If you don't need a hunting partner, what can be done?
[But it is, like the gentle crash of waves outside, inescapable.]
If you don't need a hunting partner, what can be done?
You could always spare a drop or two of yours, for old time’s sake.
[A mild pause, no doubt one where he’s found his own smirk again.]
Joking, of course.
No, I imagine the only thing I can do is keep on playing the diligent little soldier and hope that eventually I’ll learn that darkness means closing my eyes instead of opening them.
[But they’re sharing secrets in the moonlight now, aren’t they? If so, then perhaps...]
Why did you decide sleep earlier on? I didn’t think elves in this world were nocturnal.
[A mild pause, no doubt one where he’s found his own smirk again.]
Joking, of course.
No, I imagine the only thing I can do is keep on playing the diligent little soldier and hope that eventually I’ll learn that darkness means closing my eyes instead of opening them.
[But they’re sharing secrets in the moonlight now, aren’t they? If so, then perhaps...]
Why did you decide sleep earlier on? I didn’t think elves in this world were nocturnal.
I can say from experience I prefer my blood within my veins.
[No offense taken.]
We are not. Though seeing in the dark is an easy thing. I simply... have lived on the run these past years. I sleep when I am tired, not when politeness dictates.
[No offense taken.]
We are not. Though seeing in the dark is an easy thing. I simply... have lived on the run these past years. I sleep when I am tired, not when politeness dictates.
[His own flight was quick. He was barely a full day into his freedom when he went to sleep unbound and woke up here instead— so in truth he really can’t picture a handful of years spent like that, not just yet.
No, not at all, now.]
And that’s why you joined up, I’m guessing? A little security watching your back, keeping you safe and warm.
Makes perfectly good sense to me, seeing as we’re birds of a mangled feather in the same sinking ship.
No, not at all, now.]
And that’s why you joined up, I’m guessing? A little security watching your back, keeping you safe and warm.
Makes perfectly good sense to me, seeing as we’re birds of a mangled feather in the same sinking ship.
No. I killed my master many years ago.
[He says it calmly, but there is pride in that memory, and it bleeds into hid voice.]
Since then, I have focused my efforts on freeing others. I have made myself an enemy of the Venatori, and all those who would have me in chains again.
[He says it calmly, but there is pride in that memory, and it bleeds into hid voice.]
Since then, I have focused my efforts on freeing others. I have made myself an enemy of the Venatori, and all those who would have me in chains again.
Well well, lucky you.
[That’s envy in his voice, of course, though not without approval: being free of Cazador is one thing, but now he supposes the most he can do is dream of dragging him screaming into daylight.
Ah well, it’s a comforting bedtime lullaby anyway. One he’ll keep close for as long as he lives.]
Still, you made the right choice, settling in alongside the rest of us. No point in going at it alone— that’s usually how martyrs earn their crowns, after all.
[That’s envy in his voice, of course, though not without approval: being free of Cazador is one thing, but now he supposes the most he can do is dream of dragging him screaming into daylight.
Ah well, it’s a comforting bedtime lullaby anyway. One he’ll keep close for as long as he lives.]
Still, you made the right choice, settling in alongside the rest of us. No point in going at it alone— that’s usually how martyrs earn their crowns, after all.
I do not mean to brag.
[He can understand, easily, this envy.]
I was in danger of no martyrdom. I simply realized I was stopping a symptom, not a cause. Hopefully what can be done here is more wide-reaching.
[He can understand, easily, this envy.]
I was in danger of no martyrdom. I simply realized I was stopping a symptom, not a cause. Hopefully what can be done here is more wide-reaching.
Oh but you should. I certainly know I would, if I were in your nonexistent shoes.
[A terrible choice, by the way, Fenris. How do you manage walking on city streets like that? Let alone rocky footpaths or— anything else, actually.
Seems like a nightmare.]
Well. Either way, it’s not terrible having you around. Do try to keep your head attached to your shoulders while you’re endeavoring to perform all those wild acts of noble heroism and whatnot.
[A terrible choice, by the way, Fenris. How do you manage walking on city streets like that? Let alone rocky footpaths or— anything else, actually.
Seems like a nightmare.]
Well. Either way, it’s not terrible having you around. Do try to keep your head attached to your shoulders while you’re endeavoring to perform all those wild acts of noble heroism and whatnot.
You have yet to see me fight. You would not call it noble.
Dear boy, you’re talking about risking your pretty little throat for people you barely even know. [No, on second thought, he likely doesn’t know them at all.]
You could be rending tormentors to death with blunted teeth and I’d still say that counts as a shining example of selflessness.
—well, then again, I’ve always been a touch overfond of violence. Nothing to do with my own vampiric nature at all, I’m sure.
You could be rending tormentors to death with blunted teeth and I’d still say that counts as a shining example of selflessness.
—well, then again, I’ve always been a touch overfond of violence. Nothing to do with my own vampiric nature at all, I’m sure.
It is the latter. I'm humbled you find it so noble.
[Ah, sarcasm.]
Can you fight?
[Ah, sarcasm.]
Can you fight?
I still know how to kill, if that’s what you’re asking.
[Even so, nice as the trade off has been, he does miss some of the power he’s lost— not that a vampire spawn is given all that much of his sire’s strength to begin with.
No, he might be a little weaker-boned, now, a little less physically resilient, but he can walk in daylight and bathe in hot water, bask in his own reflection and control utterly,
entirely his own body. That alone is worth it.]
[Even so, nice as the trade off has been, he does miss some of the power he’s lost— not that a vampire spawn is given all that much of his sire’s strength to begin with.
No, he might be a little weaker-boned, now, a little less physically resilient, but he can walk in daylight and bathe in hot water, bask in his own reflection and control utterly,
entirely his own body. That alone is worth it.]
Page 1 of 7