driftfleet | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Anyone! Everyone!
Broadcast: If you want!
Action: On the FLOOT LOOP stations! Or the planet!
When: WHENEVER time is an illusion.

[you know the drill! this is a mingle for the stations floating around the bizarre forest planet, or the forest planet itself!

want to get away from the forest illusions? are you stopping for supplies? were you just really craving a bowl of Floot Loops for some reason? whether you are backdating for pre-planet shenanigans or just want to mess around, this is the post for you!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh yeah? It's way different than the big ship, huh?

[elf buddies! they're friends, right? elves have to stick together...]

[No. No they do not.]

There are at least more people than the witch and the demon to speak to. And we can gain some freedom outside of it.

Whoa... a witch and a demon?

[he looks sufficiently spooked by that.]

[Fenris nods.]

The witch, at least, I am used to. [He points to his ears.] The other elf. I am sure you saw her on the tabl- communicators.

[he blinks, ears kind of twitching up as his brow raises in surprise.]

--She's a witch?

A mage, if we are being more precise. But yes.

Oh.

[boo, he's kind of disappointed now. mages aren't that special.]

That's all?

... You think there's a big enough difference? It is magic all the same.

[Fenris, you have met Flemmeth, you KNOW witches and mages are not the same thing.]

[it's not Nel's place to be contradictory, especially with someone he doesn't know at all. so, he nods, like he agrees.]

Yeah, no... I guess you're right. I just thought you meant something else.

...So, you don't like magic at all then, huh?

[Fenris grimaces at the mere mention of the word.]

It is a plague that will bring down all it touches.

[WELP. that answers that.

the strong opinion is noted, bookmarked, and highlighted. and he's not about to do anything that might be considered arguing it.]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. The city back home uses police mages, and a lot of people think it's a really bad idea.

[Clever lad. Fenris tenses, a little.]

The country I came from, before I found my freedom elsewhere in my world, had mages in control of everything. It is a bad idea. They rule with fear and hatred, living in the lap of luxury with their slaves tending to their every need, while the rest of the world doesn't know what to do with them.

[Nel just... invites himself into a seat while Fenris explains.]

Oh yeah?

[he's distracted when he asks, because he's thinking. comparing a few things in his head.]

...What about magical creatures? Or is it just mages?

[A pause.]

I am...unsure what you mean. We have dragons, but I would not call them magical.

[his eyes bug out a little! and he shoots a quick and fearful glance over his shoulder, like he's making sure no one can hear them.]

Are you kidding?

[he leans in, just to make extra sure their conversation is private.]

I worked for them all the time, and they're really magical!

[What. Fenris frowns, because that's...pretty damn crazy.]

There a cults. Who worship them, but it is insanity. Dragons are monsters, too dangerous and too powerful. They destroy all they come across.

Well...

[he looks pretty damn uncomfortable. as if his scaly employers are going to descend down upon him at any moment.]

We're not supposed to use the word 'monsters.'

...But they are really dangerous. That's why they're not allowed in the city without having their little stone-things guarded.

[Fenris catches that look, and it resonates with a part of him he can never really be rid of. He stares, for a moment, brows furrowed. The question is there, chewing at his mind, but he doesn't ask it. Not yet.]

I am glad there are precautions. They likely save a lot of people.

[A pause. A fidget. He doesn't want to ask, but he needs to know.]

What is it like? Working for them? What are your duties?

[his eyes flick back to the other elf in an instant, the rest of his expression subtly stilling... and then his gaze continues off to the side like it had never paused.

he shrugs, like it's nothing. well-practiced.]

Oh, different things. Whatever they want. ...It's just this arrangement we have.

[...Well, that clinched it. Fenris is silent, for a moment, trying to find the right words and knowing it was impossible.]

Arrangement.

[There's no need to dance around it, in Tevinter. It's allowed there, worse, it's accepted. They don't hide their slaves under cloak and dagger. No, they parade them, proud. ]

There are other words for that, where I come from.

[he tries to cover it, but he's already getting defensive--quietly on the retreat into a shell. he's been called plenty of words, and none of them are good ones.]

It's nothing bad.

[Fenris knew that shell, he still carries a little of it. It never goes. Never. Perhaps it's a defence mechanism. You have to make yourself believe the little lies so the big ones don't hurt. ]

I believed that, once. [And he did. He would have done anything for Danarius. He would have followed him anywhere, complied to his every wish, all the while telling himself it wasn't bad. That this was his place. That his Master loved him. That, if he could believe anything in this world, it was that his Master would always love him.

His eyebrows knit together.]

I was wrong.

[it has taken just an instant for Nel to go from open-faced friendliness to quiet retreat. he's all avoidance now-- avoiding even making eye contact, though he keeps up the polite smile well enough.

if he has caught onto the fact that Fenris shares his fate and isn't just judging it from the outside, he isn't letting himself absorb it.]

I shouldn't even be talking about it anyway.

[Fenris won't push. Not all the way. It took a lot of him to come to that conclusion. It took watching the Fog Warriors, slaughtered only because they were good enough to take him in. It took learning that unless he got away, right there and then, he would just be Danarius's little killing machine forever.

He still is a killing machine, but at least he has the choice of whom he kills, now.]

It helps. Eventually. With time. There are no dragons here, no arrangements. What do you make of that?

[The roughness has gone out of Fenris's tone. There's a much quieter one now, almost gentle. It's a side he keeps away from most, the side he needs to keep guarded, but it still exists. He doesn't demand an answer, here. He simply asks.]

[and really, it's that softer tone that scares Nel the most. it's harder to bounce that away from himself with a smile. he wasn't prepared for it; it's the worst kind of confrontation.

he looks around while Fenris goes on, searching for some distraction. but nothing comes to his rescue by the end of it. and he does need to answer, because he can't just let that sit there where it can potentially absorb into him.]

It's fine. I'm still working here, so... it's all fine.