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[cozen]

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[bouchonne]

[ He shuffles the cards meditatively a moment. Then, apparently deciding: ]

Last month I picked up a book to read. Of the sort you're quite fond of. A Wind Across the Waking Sea. I finished it, even.

[cozen]

[ His face was already plenty bright, but it lights up further. ]

Did you really? Did you hate it?

[bouchonne]

I did not. [ An answer to the second question, not the first. ] The plot was a little contrived, but it was still quite gripping.

[cozen]

[ He doesn't ask if it was because of him, because he doesn't know what he would do with a yes. Or, no, he does know. He'd feed it to the hope he's trying to starve. So instead: ]

Can I borrow it?

[bouchonne]

Of course.

[ He draws a card. ]

You can have it to keep.

[cozen]

Ah, ouais, you would not want to be caught with something like that. People might talk.

[ He hasn't even looked at his cards yet, but he does now, and they're either good enough or bad enough that he laughs. ]

[bouchonne]

Just so. It would do my devil-may-care image no favors to be seen putting time and effort into something. If I kept it, I'd have to carve out the middle and hide a bottle of liquor in it.

[cozen]

Ha. If you ever need a book for that, I can find you one that deserves it.

[bouchonne]

What! I thought you loved all books.

[cozen]

Oh, no. Just the other day I gave up on one because it was— [ an emphatic gesture while trading cards ] —shockingly racist. Even for Orlais.

[bouchonne]

Such sensitivities. Spending too much time with elves, Bastien?

[cozen]

Only Athessa, lately.

[bouchonne]

I suppose she counts.

Do you have sympathy for them, then? Elves?

[cozen]

Don’t you?

[ But—perhaps as apology for that earlier will you—it’s rhetorical. ]

I grew up near the alienage in Val Royeaux. Everyone liked to say, You could do worse! [ Chipper, with the rough edge of an uneducated accent and the rote intonation of a worn-out old joke. ] By being an elf. And we—the children, I mean—we threw rocks at the gates.

[ He takes a card, then discards it without trading. ]

After I was done thinking I was better than them, I spent some time thinking we were the same. But now no one knows what I’ve come from unless I tell them. With elves, everyone always knows.

[bouchonne]

Your ears are surpassingly cute.

[ A card drawn. And then, finally - ]

And I do. Yes. Don't get me wrong, they're a bit creepy - those eyes, you know - but if one were to stab me and every other human in the heart for what we'd done, I'd consider it a fair cop.

[cozen]

[ It's impossible not to think about the cabin in the mountains, and Byerly complimenting his earlobes, but he keeps it to a minimum. No dwelling. ]

Make sure not to repeat that where Sabine can hear you. She might take you up on it.

[ He lays out his cards, which are very bad, but it's not completely impossible to do worse. ]

[bouchonne]

[ Byerly wins with ease. ]

A secret from you, now.

[cozen]

Hmm.

[ He sweeps the cards back to himself on the table to reorganize and shuffle. ]

I am afraid of storms. Not horribly. I can deal with it. They wake me up, I go back to sleep, it is fine. But whenever there is thunder, I am, you know. [ He raises one of his hands to indicate a slight elevation of anxiety. ] A little nervous.

[bouchonne]

Really.

[ By smiles, his expression fond. ]

Do you know why?

[cozen]

Uhh, because they are scary?

[ Obviously. He's joking. Half joking. ]

I think it is probably because of the canals in the city. [ Deep, with their edges providing walkways and shelter for vagrants and les gamins—a category he fell into, even though he wasn't an orphan. ] They flood very quickly sometimes. I was never caught in it, or I would probably be afraid of the water instead. But peopled drowned often enough, so when it stormed everyone would start scrambling and panicking. I suppose it rubbed off.

[bouchonne]

[ He thinks about that as he deals. ]

What a misery it was for you, then. That month of rain.

[ After the execution. ]

[cozen]

I had a bag packed.

[ Another secret. Two for the price of one. He scoops up his cards and shoots a smile up at Byerly while he considers them. ]

But I unpacked it. [ Fanning his cards, ] Are you one of those who likes storms? Because they are dramatic?

[bouchonne]

[ A little gesture of his hand. Got it in one. ]

Storms are excellent for making one feel as though one is larger than one's true size. To yell at thunder - you might be a giant.

[cozen]

Is that what you do? Words, or just [ quietly ] ahhhh?

[bouchonne]

Depends on your mood. Have you never tried it?