Waystation Mingle Log!

[twocomplex]

Who: GAME-WIDE MINGLE aka everyone
Broadcast: If you want
Action: The Stations!
When: From 04/05 through the month of April.

[Well, that all sure happened. But at least you have the waystations! Whether you want to stock up on supplies, work, trade, or visit the very fancy Virtual Reality Dome, it's bound to be a nice break from the attacks of the 5th.

Make your own prompts, set up your own Virtual Realities, etc! For reference, the OOC post with info is over here!]

Comments

they totally have we are bums

[wolfuncaged]

...Yes. That would be an elf thing.

[He'll mistake the nervous laughing for something else. Honestly, their age difference never bothered him. But he had assumed Dorian had a good idea of it. Clearly not. ]

I- does it bother you?

"does your mother know" plays gently in the background

[serpentis]

No, not entirely. Simply a surprise, but I suppose it makes sense.

[He has, after all, often found himself drawn to older men, but Fenris didn't need to know that part, exactly. His other lovers, some whose names he had forgotten by now, were inconsequential to the larger picture of things.

He pats the sidewalk.]

Here, sit down here with me and we can talk about more things that don't matter. Did you know that when I was a boy, I collected duck figurines? Things like that.

[wolfuncaged]

You don't think Varric and Hawke are in their twenties as well, do you? I'm afraid you're in for a rather nasty surprise if you do.

[He might be teasing, a little. Still, he'll sit down beside him, still not especially enjoying the feel of the cobblestones, but trying not to pass comment on it. ]

Why ducks?

[serpentis]

[He looks down at his hands and chuckles softly, a touch embarrassed like he gets when he admits something he fears he'll be ridiculed for.]

When I was younger, I had a nanny. Elf woman, barely 20 years older than me. Her name was Berille.

My father, you see, the slaves he kept were treated well. He even paid them an allowance. They had rest days. I thought it was like that in most houses but...I know now that I was wrong.

[He glanced over to Fenris, guilt on his face, and then he looked back across the street.]

Berille used to call me her little duckling. When I was a child, I'd follow her everywhere. She bought me a little wooden duck, with wheels, to tug around behind me. I was...I must have been not even five at the time. I treasured that, I kept it in my room until I left the manor.

[And he chuckled softly.]

We would parade around the manor, Berille, myself holding onto her skirts, and a little wooden duck rolling along behind us.

[wolfuncaged]

[As Dorian speaks, Fenris' shoulders get more tense. He wishes he could enjoy Dorian's sentiment for what he meant it to be. A boy finding a dear loved one in a lonely world, where his parents were only there to shape and mould him into what they wanted him to be. Dorian needed that influence in his life, it's likely what kept him from truly becoming one of the vipers.

But he can't. Dorian speaks of her as he sees her, a nanny who loved him, and how he loved in return. Fenris sees her for what he has seen of all slaves in the Imperium. Certainly, she likely did love her family, but too often he has seen words of affection turns and twisted to keep the fires of rebellion down.

Be good and you will be safe. Love your masters and you can have an easy life. Do as you're told and you will want for nothing. Run away and die.

He doesn't doubt the Pavus estate took care of their slaves, but Dorian is missing the one, very important point. They could be given allowances, and rest days, they could never get beaten. But they were still property. They weren't free, they could never leave. You can guild a cage as much as you like, but it still remains a cage.

He keeps his gaze down the streets, shoulder's hunched. When Dorian finishes, he lets out a soft 'hn' noise in response. ]

[serpentis]

[Dorian looks over at the sound, and he looks Fenris over just for a second before he realizes he has misstepped. He feels entirely like a man tripping over his own feet, and for an Altus, he may as well be.

Be poised. Show no weakness. Every word must be carefully weighed and considered.

He regrets the words, and regrets himself being so honest and open. Slavery was a subject he danced around with Fenris at times, but he should have known better. He thought, perhaps foolishly, that it would be different.]

Forgive me, I shouldn't have mentioned it.

[His own voice sounds a bit less like the carefully composed purr it usually is, or the biting sarcasm. It's stilted, awkward.]

[wolfuncaged]

[At least the tone shows Dorian realises he's missstepped. That's a start. ]

Not mentioning it wouldn't make it any less so.

[He knows Dorian's trying. That he's trying to switch a worldview he's had since birth into something completely different. He understands this will take time. Still, this conversation, in this place. It bites at the back of his mind, and he hates it. His shoulders hunch, his eyes cast downwards. ]

You still don't understand.

[It's not said angrily. Just...tiredly. He stands in a fluid motion, he feels like the streets are closing in on him, and he needs some breathing space. He can't talk about this. Not with those stars above his head, or those blighted lanterns flickering in the dark around them. ]

I need to get out of here. [Before he says something he'll probably end up regretting. He is ever so good at speaking before thinking after all. ] I will see you later.

[He'll just make his loping way off towards the exit. ]