etrayalogs | Whisper to iron (closed)

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Whisper to iron (closed)

WHO: Vax'ildan Vessar, Dion Lesage
WHEN: January
WHERE: Near the apartments
WHAT: Thief lessons
NOTES\WARNINGS: None.

[ It's been a rough couple of weeks since returning to Etraya. Between people disappearing and conducting searches, all the upset and worry can wear a half-elf down. Vax needs to remember that he can't simply dwell on those unfortunate circumstances all the time, even if brooding is something he's quite good at.

After recently gifting Dion a set of lockpicks, he needs to follow through with teaching Dion how to use them, and that provides a welcome distraction.

At first, he thought he'd just have Dion practice on a few padlocks, but then, he thought he'd make it a bit more interesting. Vax sends a message, asking Dion if he's up for some lessons and invites him to meet at an empty three-story building a few blocks from the apartments. That's where Vax is waiting outside for his friend to arrive. ]

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[ Vax picks up his glass of water in the meantime. ]

No, you're not. But you don't have to return every compliment, you know? I don't expect you to.

[ Getting one back is not the reason he gives the compliment, though it might also be part of Dion's upbringing that requires him to say those things. ]

[ Dion's eyebrows pinch together as he processes this. Does Vax think he's indulging him? ]

I don't feel obligated to voice my opinion.

[ Because he'd simply said what he saw. ]

I'm not reflecting your comments back at you, but the subject was the appearances we wore during that mission. You made a comparison, so I regarded that as a discussion.

[ One to which he responded sincerely, because he appreciates that he can speak more openly with Vax... Not that he thinks to tack that sentiment on. ]

[ Vax smiles warmly and nods. ]

Right. It was.

[ It was just a normal conversation between two guys telling each other how attractive they are. ]

If you just said something like that out of the blue, I'd wonder if you were interested in me.

[ Vax has normalized this by commenting on Dion's appearance on a fairly regular basis, so here they are.

But also because he does that, Dion invests a few seconds in thinking about what Vax has just said. ]

Would you? [ He takes a sip of his own water, incidentally letting that question hang between them for that brief span of time. ] I don't typically make such direct remarks, nor did others, my position being what it was.

[ He couldn't put particular weight behind it if they did, for that same reason. ]

Because of your father.

[ And what he might do. Dion had to keep his feelings hidden. ]

I guess royals, in general, do things their own way. Different from regular folk. Like show their interest in someone with a fancy messenger and a big box of gold.

[ Vax smiles. ]

I'll admit, it would've gotten my attention.

Alas, my interest would not have been of consequence.

[ Dion fully expected his father to consign him to a loveless marriage. Whatever was politically expedient would have been par for the course, even with his having been bypassed as heir. ]

There would have been a series of formalities that had naught to do with me, but it seems you're describing a dowry.

[ Vax laughs a little at the thought of someone offering him a dowry. ]

No nobility would want me, let alone show up with a dowry, no matter who my father is.

[ And Vax's father is not a nobody. He and Vex may not live it or look it, but they do come from a very old and noble house. Despite that, marriage among elves was never in their future. ]

That's one of the good things among elves, I suppose. They're not really into arranging marriages. Not to say it can never happen, but it's not usual. My father may have been cold to us, but elves do believe in love.

[ The bot returns with two plates and sets them down. Dion's is a half turkey sandwich with a side salad. Vax's dish is a bowl of chili over rice with a side of bread. The bot departs as Vax wonders... ]

I thought we ordered the same thing.

[ It's interesting, learning something of elven culture. Dion would venture to ask more about it, were it not tied to such painful memories for Vax. And also if not for their conspicuously mismatched meals.

Not that the bots have ever been the best at performing tasks in any sensible way. ]

Perhaps this is evidence of their secret cabal.

[ His comment comes lightly, unbothered as he proceeds to extact his utensils from the napkin they're wrapped in and cut that half sandwich into two quarters. ]

[ Vax doesn't mind talking about it. He may have no love for his father or Syngorn, but he's able to speak about it from a cultural perspective. Not everything about elven society is bad, and he can understand the reasoning behind some of it.

There's an amused smirk at Dion's words. ]

Here.

[ Vax uses the small bowl his bread was sitting in and scoops some of the rice and chili into it, then passes it to Dion. ]

[ They have the same idea. Dion uses his utensils to move some of the salad to his plate and transfer that quarter sandwich to the bowl before sliding it across the table for Vax to take. An even swap. ]

And for you.

[ It's enough that they can compare these dishes. ]

[ Vax accepts the trade and takes the sandwich to have a bite. The food here is decent enough. Nothing to rave about but fair. The bots have the fundamentals of cooking down as well as a robot can achieve it. ]

Pretty good.

[ Dion samples his own bit of sandwich. In most cases he doesn't find the diner's fare objectionable, though he doesn't find himself fond of "sloppy joes". Who sets out to make food sloppy with intent?

Fortunately this time a sandwich is just a sandwich. ]

Indeed, it is decent. Nothing insidious in this part of the daily special.

[ And his bowl of chili is just a bowl of chili, it would seem. Vax dips a bit of his bread into it and chews.

He thinks about what Dion had said about what his future might have been. Stuck in an arranged marriage. One he would have accepted without a fuss, no doubt, all for the good of his people.

And what would have happened to him and Terence in that case? ]

You would have ended it.

[ Vax murmurs the words to himself, thinking out loud without meaning to. ]

[ More familiar with curry than chili, Dion tries a spoonful. The rice doesn't strike him as unusual, given what he's used to, and he ponders this as he chews.

Only then that muttered comment surprises him. So once he swallows that mouthful of food, naturally he must ask. ]

...Ended what?

[ The bot cabal? ]

Uh, nothing.

[ Vax doesn't want to spread any sad feelings over their meal, even if they had already been brought up previously. ]

I think I prefer the chili. It's got a little more kick.

I doubt it's nothing.

[ One does not brood over nothing, and Dion knows brooding.

Regardless, he punctuates the words with a shrug, even as the mild concern refuses to leave his face. ]

The chili reminds me somewhat of curry... It has that stew-like quality.

[ Vax didn't want to bother Dion with those 'what if' thoughts. It's not like they matter, and they're not going to come true, but keeping it to himself is also going to bother Dion since he's shit at hiding it.

He lowers his spoon and frowns. ]

I was just thinking about what you said. About how you would have been arranged to marry someone. I suppose that's normal procedure for royals but... I didn't like picturing it.

[ It is normal, and assuredly expected. Dion knows it would have been the same for Joshua. Odds were in favor of him being betrothed to Jill, regardless of how she or Clive may have felt.

None of them would have had a say in the matter. ]

I admit, I did not look forward to that eventuality. [ He folds his hands primly on the table, if only to occupy them with something. ] Yet it was just that, and Terence was well aware. It would never have lasted.

[ Ten years was, quite frankly, far more than Dion would have thought he could have. ]

Yet I'd have felt sorry for a wife I couldn't be a proper husband to. I've seen that comes of such unions.

[ Vax continues to frown as Dion talks through it. He would tell Dion he should have run away, but he knows Dion would never have done that. He hadn't after everything else he had been through. ]

I guess having someone else would be out of the question. Seems like it's a thing royals also do.

[ Dion wouldn't be here, otherwise. Dion's prospective wife could have had a lover other than him, which Dion would not have begrudged her of, Vax believes. ]

[ It would never have entered Dion's mind to run from his life, his duty. He knows just as well that Terence wouldn't have either. Neither of them were the sort, and that fact shackled them to their positions until they parted ways. ]

For me, yes. I would not do as my father did.

[ It's the reason he exists at all, but he had no interest in frequenting pleasure houses. Then there would be the questions raised by such a thing. Dion lacks his father's ruthlessness in silencing any inconvenient voices that might be raised. ]

Having said that, I'd not have faulted a wife for discreetly seeking out what I couldn't provide. That would be unreasonable.

[ It's as Vax expected. Were he in Dion's position, he might not be able to endure it. ]

What if you were to find a way to go home, both you and Joshua, and somehow survive? And fix all the wrongs. To go back, only to live that kind of life sounds lonely.

If I somehow lived, and if we prevailed, there is naught to say that I would still be a prince. I would help rebuild my homeland, but I would not rule, nor would I be Bahamut any longer.

[ Their world would have no more Dominants or Bearers. The political order of their great nations had been upended. ]

Then, might that be better? You'd be free to live your life as you choose. Be with whoever you choose.

[ Dion could still help, as he said, but without the chains that come with being royalty. ]

Supposing I had lived, that may have been so.

[ But he had so much to make up for still yet, so he couldn't say romance was at the forefront of his mind. ]

I try not to concern myself with what might have been.

[ Not at the forefront, but eventually, maybe it would have been. ]

I suppose there's no point in it.

[ Just as there's no point in Vax thinking about having a life back home when he returns. Not for more than a year or two, which will be used to secure a future for his world against the threats that are waiting for him. ]

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