[He crosses his ankle over his knee, bending forward slightly to weigh in his mind how best to phrase it.]
The Game is all behind masks and closed doors, isn't it? Secrets upon secrets, she said this and he said that and maybe it's all a lie.
Tevinter society is, at.. at least as I've experienced it, rather more upfront. You may get stabbed in the heart, but you'll see who's doing it and know why, even if the reason is idiotic.
[He shrugs helplessly.]
Loki has more freedom to be reckless because he's a second son and his actions reflect less on his father's name, though I doubt anyone was happy he married an Orlesian. Dorian Pavus was excised entirely before he could truly compromise his family's status.
The opposite of slavery, living your life unbound by rules or responsibilities. I thought I was free for a long time. My enclosure was designed to give me that impression.
[He opens his mouth as if to protest, but stops, closing it with the faintest of smirks instead.]
Maybe not.
The kids were mostly shut in a side room with a few hookahs and a keg of wine to keep us entertained. Too fucked up to remember our own names, let alone who we'd touched that night.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I admit I had a vested interest in breaking them up.
no subject
[ By seems distracted. ]
Why?
no subject
[He watches Byerly's face with a tinge of curiosity.]
no subject
Awful.
no subject
[The faintest, gentlest, most careful of ribbing. Something changed in Byerly's face, and his mind is on something else: that much is clear.]
no subject
no subject
[He twists his mouth to one side.]
...yes.
I got over it, I think around the time he stabbed me in the hand.
no subject
[ Said more with irritation than shock. Because, yeah, typical. ]
no subject
I don't remember.
[That in itself is somewhat troubling, but he shrugs.]
It didn't strike me as that unusual, even at the time. Or unearned, I suppose.
[Hadn't he... yes, he had debased himself right after. A different time, a different him.]
Things can just be like that, among the Altus.
no subject
no subject
[He crosses his ankle over his knee, bending forward slightly to weigh in his mind how best to phrase it.]
The Game is all behind masks and closed doors, isn't it? Secrets upon secrets, she said this and he said that and maybe it's all a lie.
Tevinter society is, at.. at least as I've experienced it, rather more upfront. You may get stabbed in the heart, but you'll see who's doing it and know why, even if the reason is idiotic.
[He shrugs helplessly.]
Loki has more freedom to be reckless because he's a second son and his actions reflect less on his father's name, though I doubt anyone was happy he married an Orlesian. Dorian Pavus was excised entirely before he could truly compromise his family's status.
no subject
[ An arched eyebrow. ]
And you? No siblings, right?
no subject
No siblings.]
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
[He almost disagrees, but shakes his head.]
--freedom isn't what I thought it was, in the end.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
[He folds his hands between his knees.]
I'm under more restrictions now than I've ever been, but I still feel freer than when I was at home.
no subject
no subject
Maybe not.
The kids were mostly shut in a side room with a few hookahs and a keg of wine to keep us entertained. Too fucked up to remember our own names, let alone who we'd touched that night.
[He's only slightly embarrassed by this.]
That's what I would've called a real party.
no subject
[ He seems genuinely offended. ]
Pathetic. You're all decadent blood mages up there, and that's the best you can manage.
no subject
I've never seen better.
[That might be a challenge, or a request.]