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[cozen]

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[justashotaway]

I think other people are interesting.

[cozen]

Me, too. Maybe that is why we get along so well.

[justashotaway]

I think it is one reason.

And I think you are trying to distract me.

[cozen]

[ His merry laugh says she's right. ]

You are on a mission today, huh?

[ In a manner of speaking. ]

If you want me to talk about myself, you have to trade me. That is the rule.

[justashotaway]

You already know about me.

[ But it doesn't sound particularly stubborn. ]

Who were you before Riftwatch?

[cozen]

I was Édouard Almary, a printer who came to Val Royeaux from the Deauvin Flats.

[ Monsieur Almary had a whole story. An imaginary family. Toward the end of Bastien's six-year stint with that false identity, there were days it even felt real. But it's hardly relevant now. ]

Only for a few years, though. Before that I was a bard.

[justashotaway]

You changed your name.

[ Of course he did. A bard, or a former bard, might change their name over and over. But Bastien has always seemed so steadfastly one thing that it still feels surprising to know. ]

Did you like being a bard?

[cozen]

Sometimes. Often, in the beginning, and less often at the end. After I quit I missed the—the work, I suppose. The excitement. It's good to be doing some of it again now, for a better reason.

Now you have to tell me...

[ A moment to think. She's right; he does know about her past. Not all of the details, of course, but enough to know it's full of trip wires. ]

Something you want to do after the war.

[justashotaway]

[ This, she has to think about, too. Bastien has told her things she didn't already know; she doesn't want to respond with something he could easily guess. ]

I want to go back to Nevarra. I want to find the place where I lived and make sure no one can ever make someone like me again.

[ Possibly sooner than after the war - during a war is when someone would want to. ]

And I want to visit someone at their home.

[cozen]

[ The first part—a good goal, important, something she'll have no shortage of help with if she asks for it—he tucks away for later. ]

Someone, in general? Or someone specific?

[justashotaway]

Someone.

[ Helpful, Laura. But if she'd meant a specific person, she'd say the name instead. ]

If the war ends, people will leave. I want to visit them where they want to live, not where they have to.

[cozen]

[ Cute. ]

I’m certain everyone will want to see you. And of course I will. You will have to come visit me.

[justashotaway]

Where will you live, after the war?

[cozen]

I think home will be Denerim. We’re excited to travel, [ him and By, ] so maybe we will live a little bit everywhere. And I have to visit Val Royeaux. She is my mother. But I think Denerim is where we will go back to.

Have you ever been there?

[justashotaway]

No. But I read Brother Genitivi's thoughts on it.

[cozen]

Does Genitivi mention the bread bowls?

[justashotaway]

No.

[cozen]

I went to a tavern in Denerim when I was there last, and they put their stew inside bread. It was amazing. I’m obsessed. You will have to come visit so I can buy you one.

[justashotaway]

If I can, I will.

And I will bring Matthias. He would like soup inside bread.

[cozen]

Ah.

[ A delighted ah, not an oh no ah. ]

You are planning for after the war with him? It must be quite serious.

[justashotaway]

[ Her ability to answer with something true and personal is helped along by his own bravery in another conversation. ]

He understands me. I like to be understood. And I understand him.

[cozen]

[ His smile is audible. ]

It’s hard to think of anything better.

[ He’s not her father; he doubts she needs one, and the most he’s ever aspire to being for anyone is a fun uncle. But still. He’s most familiar with Matthias as someone calling Byerly a wanker and saying he wouldn’t care if he died, so— ]

And he’s kind to you? He listens? No name-calling?

[ Asked mildly, with only a small amount of real worry. He’s pretty sure Laura wouldn’t tolerate it. But only pretty. ]

[justashotaway]

No.

[ Her answer is immediate. The very question feels peculiar; if anything, she's of a mood to think herself far less kind. Matthias has learned to heal people, and she still exists to harm them. (Even Matthias himself, if only by accident.) She leaves the Gallows - and him - for months at a time, and he's never resentful. ]

He always listens. Unless I don't wish to say anything. Then he talks.

Is Byerly kind to you?

[cozen]

Always.

[ Shocking as that might be to some people who get his argumentative, ornery pieces. But that’s why Bastien’s willing to believe without question that Matthias is gentle with Laura. No one is only one thing all the time with everyone. ]

If he weren’t, I’d have called things off a long time ago. And thrown all of his clothes into the harbor.

[justashotaway]

[ This brings out a startled little laugh from her, delighted at the thought. ]

I told him I was happy for him. I'm happier for you.