inbox.

[heirring]

[action + written + crystal]

Comments

[bouchonne]

Sometimes.

Have you ever thought about how you might use your little tricks to help yourself in substantial ways?

[heirring]

It would be rather unethical.

[Which she says promptly enough to mean Yes actually, she's considered it at some length.]

[bouchonne]

Ooh, how dreadful. Unethical. I'm sure that if you got a bit of guidance as to how to effectively use those tricks of yours, you would still never use them. Because of ethics.

[heirring]

[If it were anyone else supposing this theory, she might have agreed from the start. But this is Byerly Rutyer and it feels like a requirement to stand very upright to prove she has some spine..]

I suppose it depends on what this person offering guidance actually wanted. And whether the end results would be...objectively positive.

[bouchonne]

Hm. Well - what do you want, Miss Poppell?

[heirring]

[Lead by example, Wysteria. Be candid and maybe he will do the same. What a relief that would be!]

I'd rather prefer not to be thrown into a hole after all this is said and done. Don't get me wrong, towers seem like a very fine idea, but I'd like to be able to come and go and I please from them. And I'd like this war to be over as quickly as possible. It's such a distraction from anyone getting anything else properly done.

[You know. On top of all the stabbing each other and tearing holes in the world parts.]

But as you said, I'm not exactly the most knowledgeable person in the room, now am I? So I suppose dealing with Clorentine and trusting someone else to make the right decision seems the most... well, reasonable.

Also! [while she's at it] I'd appreciate if you wouldn't call me a child.

[bouchonne]

I'm sure you would.

Tell me, in your experience, do people often make the right decision if you simply trust them to do so?

[heirring]

[It had been worth a shot.]

Maybe not exactly, but in Kalvad? Yes, generally speaking, they do. [But, getting out ahead of what she's certain is something along the lines of 'Dear girl, how many times do I have to remind you this isn't your home--' or some variant thereof:] But clearly you have a different opinion of how Thedas works. In which case, you may as well tell me what your opinion on the whole election is. I assume you have one.

[bouchonne]

Well, of course I do. But if it is such a miserable thing to hear it, I don't have to tell you.

[heirring]

No, please. Do go on, Mister Rutyer. I can think of nothing else I'd like more than your unvarnished opinion of a thing.

[True, actually. Which he should know, seeing as how poorly she's lied to him in the past. Couched in sarcasm? Absolutely. But the point stands.]

[bouchonne]

Well. Do you know what I value, Wysteria? What I wish for?

[heirring]

[A good drink? To win at cards for all eternity? No, be kind Wysteria. The last time you saw him, he lay on his metaphorical death bed.]

I honestly couldn't say.

[bouchonne]

Survival, of course. Just like you.

[heirring]

My, common ground after all! And pray tell, what does that translate to, Mister Rutyer?

[bouchonne]

Well, to begin with...The candidates for Divine who would tolerate someone like you are quite similar to the ones who would tolerate someone like me, you know.

[heirring]

Someone like you?

[a scoundrel? A reprobate?]

[bouchonne]

Just so. So our interests align, dear heart. So - shall we act on our interests?

[heirring]

[Ugh. Infuriating.]

If you like. What do you have in mind?

[bouchonne]

Nothing drastic. Just - perhaps - a bit of...hm. Careful research.

[heirring]

[Sweetly:]

Careful research, you say?

[bouchonne]

You know how to do a bit of research, don't you? A bookish girl like you.

[heirring]

[A more deft hand would put her foot down and demand some straight answer here. Wysteria rises to the bait.]

Bookish! Didn't you just say I was ill-informed? What could you possibly trust me to research?

[bouchonne]

Being ill-informed is no fault of yours. You're like a newborn baby in this world. A mere six months old.

[heirring]

[An audibly frustrated noise.]

Mister Rutyer, if I'm to be at all helpful then you really must be clear about what it is you would or wouldn't like me to do on your behalf. --Pardon me. To our mutual ends. Is there a particular topic you'd like me to go combing through the library after? More to the point, I don't see what any of that has to do with my--

[Oh. Two dots connect.

Hm.]

I take it you don't mean to do 'research' in a library, do you?

[bouchonne]

[ With great satisfaction: ]

No, Miss Poppell; I do not.