letsplayamurder | Afterparty

[After the execution finishes and the culprit is once more dragged down into the Earth (he watches Snow be dragged down, with a pursed-lips look), and Typhon gives his goodbye, Quark doesn't wait in the silence this time. Instead, he says, arms folded:]

Well, since we're all doomed--[sarcasm, dry and acrid, edging a black humor]--then no better time to get a drink.

The bar’ll be open. Even if you don't eat or drink, stop in. [That's said with a side-glance at Leb. He then turns to look at Ferdinand, Aoi, Ranma, Cerejeira, and Vanity.] Ferdinand, you're gonna help me set up. Cerejeira, Aoi, you're behind the bar. Ranma you're in the kitchen. Vanity, if you've got more of that coffee, we could use it. Let's go.

[and he turns and walks out of the Arena. So...post trial, the Eatery’s been moved into bar configuration. There's a few more faces behind the bar again. Once again, there’s been several of the extra togas gathered and folded to be used as blankets. There are some dishes, light but filling for those that don't want to eat much, courtesy of Ranma.

Cerejeira, Aoi and Quark are behind the bar, the latter watching the other two like a hawk and teaching and helping when he needs to. They're all there to serve drinks, however. And Ferdinand? He's been relegated to the Dabo table. Maybe the first couple buttons of his shirt has been unbuttoned. He's paying off his tab!

The door is open.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No.

And she apparently did this despite not believing Typhon. And for what? Now two more people are gone.

People do not make the best decisions when they are devoid of hope, I think. Any option that seems... resembling a way out... well. I suppose it seems like it is better than nothing.

I had something of a different reaction than her, when I lost hope.

I stopped fighting.

...On some level, is that not what she did?

Maybe so.

[Ultimately, he didn't know her very well.]

But she wanted to change our fates. I never would have bothered with such a thing. My siblings hated me for it. How willing I was to go along with anything Cazador asked of me.

[Not that he could ever fight a command, but after a certain point, he stopped arguing completely.]

Well. At least you were honest with yourself that you did not have a plan, I suppose.

[It's not judgmental! Just matter of fact.]

[If Manulov had gotten judgemental, Astarion might have become defensive, but without the judgement he continues on with the conversation.]

It's quite a bit easier going along with the plan others have already formed.

Sometimes you can convince yourself it is even beneficial, depending on how the plans go. It happens quite easily.

Yes...

[It's disquieting how much he just went along with things. It's different now, at least it's different in the fortress. But old habits are hard to stop.]

It feels like one of the only options around here. Have a plan, or go along with the plan.

...Such is life, I suppose. The biggest difference is how direct the control someone else has over you ends up being.

[Astarion laughs bitterly.]

Oh, I know all about what it's like to have someone control every aspect of your life. I lived that for two centuries.

...

[he wonders. he shouldn't just bare his soul to someone he's known for a few weeks. but.

someone who actually kind of... gets it, maybe. there's that.]

I've been lucky in that I've had a fair amount of freedom. Do a job or two that's something I've wanted to do anyway... really, I just needed the push. I feel like I've been less suspicious of the whole thing than I should be.

Did something happen to you before?

[Something about how Manulov says that catches his attention.]

...I suppose it is different from what it sounds like happened with you. I made a deal. It's proven to be an equitable enough arrangement. And yet... sometimes I worry that it will go wrong.

What sort of deal?

[Asked very quickly. It's obvious this is one of those things he's extremely wary of, for the person making the deal's sake.]

A deal to protect my health.

[...]

I suppose that is an odd one compared to the usual "to avoid dying." But I was always sickly in my youth, and it left me unable to pursue my goals in the way I truly wanted. It was not enough to avoid death, though I was surely on death's door when I made the deal. It had to be more than that.

[Hmm... no, Astarion does not care for this. It sounds like something that could go horrifically wrong at any moment.]

It's a dangerous game to play, even to save yourself.

The deal I made with a devil was risky, and the only thing I needed to do was send a demon back to Avernus.

[By his wording, he doesn't mean killed. He's being literal, not metaphorical.]

...I know. I ended up an errand boy, of sorts. I haven't had to do anything to that extent yet, at least, but I wonder... will our goals always align? She is... well. I suppose a "devil" is the closest thing you could say, but I would consider her somewhat different from that.

Well, we do come from different worlds. I would not be surprised if the "rules", so to speak, were different.

Probably, yes. Your devils would... look like you, though, would they not? Humans and human-adjacent, roughly?

They do, yes. Especially devils like Raphael and Mizora, who are half-mortal.

Interestingly, ours do as well.

...

Unless you look too closely. You look like a thing that could exist in my world as a proper living thing. You have skin of flesh, hair and nails of keratin, and teeth of enamel.

It's... strange. How it seems some things in worlds match up more than others. I really don't know what to make of any of it.

I do not either. Then again, I have to wonder if worlds that were too different from each other would find the very request that brought us here incomprehensible?

That does seem likely.

Though I suppose our worlds also are likely to have their own idiosyncrasies we'd expect others to be familiar with, even if they're unique.

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