tactic | essek.

[ He watches what he can of Essek's face from where he's lying on the bed, and Aventurine's silly, wide smile falters for a moment as the words catch up to him. But the smile doesn't disappear all the way, softening into something brittle and wane. ]

Sorry, force of habit.

[ There's a laugh in his tone, but it lacks any real energy behind it. ]

My own life and my luck... Those were the only two things I ever had to bet with.

[After a moment, he glances over one shoulder at Aventurine, the whisper of a wry smirk on his lips.]

You know, I have a spell which imparts luck onto someone I choose, and if I cast it at a higher level of magic, I can pick an additional person. It increases the probability of an attack, or a dodge, something like that. Fortune's Favor.

You and I would make a rather unstoppable team, I think.

[Breaks the game with immense luck.]

You spent a great deal of time betting?

[ He cracks a bigger smile at that, recognizing Essek's efforts for one thing, but also really liking the idea in the first place. ]

Think of everything we could accomplish if we weren't constantly at each other's throats.

[ All in good fun, of course. ]

But I did. I do. Maybe not as much as before, but back when I had nothing to lose, it made sense to gamble.

That's because of you.

[This is just teasing. It's both of them. It's because they are pretty similar aside from the yin and yang of personalities.]

I guess I also gambled in my own way, too. [AS HE SAW. Annoying.] Except I had a great deal to lose. And have.

But the only good gambles are those with the highest stakes.

[ They are similar in this way, and Aventurine hums his amusement as he turns his gaze to the ceiling. ]

It's the highest risks that pay out the highest rewards, after all.

[ And he's got no interest in the small change. ]

You're either braver or stupider than I am. Now that I have more to lose, I'm less likely to gamble.

[He turns his head back to once more sort of peer distantly into the middle distance of the room.]

So am I.

[Sometimes fucking other people complicate your desires and wishes!!!!!!!!]

Everything I've always done has been dangerous. But now...

You've found yourself some cherished friends. And Caleb.

[ hehehehe ]

[He rolls his eyes a bit and cuts a Look over his shoulder at Aventurine.]

Stop that. There isn't anything between us.

[Yet. That comes after the whole tabletop campaign is over.]

Weren't you the one trying to get me to talk to Wriothesley?

[ THROWS HIS HANDS UP... and then drops them down on the bed. ]

That was before I knew about your pending love interest back home!

[ He refuses to believe there is nothing there after That Memory. ]

[Idiot. He shakes his head slowly, though maybe ever so slightly amused.]

I don't know if anything will come of it. As I've said, we have to both survive whatever happens when we finally run into Lucien. If we do, if Laudna is anything to go by - timelines are so fragile...

[A small shrug. He glances away.]

There are other things: I'm likely going to be a fugitive, always on the run; Caleb has his own goals... Our lifespans are also not congruent. I live for a very long time, and Caleb lives for so short a time.

[ :PENSIVE:

He's quiet as he listens, and the silence stretches on even after Essek has finished speaking. He doesn't like thinking about incompatible lifespans, and he shoves the thought aside by dragging a hand down his face. ]

You know, you're what the kids would call 'a bummer' in this day and age.

[No, no. Let's think about incompatible lifespans. Let's think about them... (This is why they break up with each other later when Caleb gets older, by the way.)]

For what, thinking about the logistics of things before running head first into them?

[IT'S SAID KIND OF POINTEDLY.]

[ WHAT?????? DON'T JUST FUCKING TELL ME THAT ]

You need to read the atmosphere of the room. Here I am trying to talk about boys with you, and you keep bringing up how you might die.

[ That's such a bummer move. ]

[hehe

Oh my god. CAN'T A MAN WHO NEVER FEELS AS IF HE CAN TALK ABOUT HIS INSECURITIES TALK ABOUT HIS FUCKING INSECURITIES WITH HIS FRIEND? WHAT GOOD ARE YOU?! Sorry we can't all plug our ears and close our eyes and pretend like everything is fine!

Finally, he rolls his eyes heavily and drops dramatically back onto the other side of the bed, unbothered if he has to force Aventurine to make room for him. He lies like the dead, though, not sprawled out like an Aventurine starfish. Hands on stomach, looking grave.]

I think Anders is flirting with me.

[He just says this.]

[ ..................

ROLLS OVER SO THAT HE IS ON HIS STOMACH AND CAN STARE DOWN AT ESSEK PROPERLY ]

... Seriously?

[A wry glance at Aventurine.]

Yes. He said that I was "a catch" after we had talked about... romance. He has had a messy love life.

[ Aeons, he wishes he had some popcorn right now. ]

Okay, not to gossip about the guy, but he told me he had a reputation too. What did he tell you?

[AVENTURINE IS SO STUPID.]

...A reputation?

Yeah. Heavens, what was it that he said again...? Something about how he's had plenty of lovers and that he used to take girls out into the tavern.

[ THERE IS A WHORE IN THEIR MIDST ]

[He stares into the middle distance over Aventurine's shoulder, exasperated.]

Yes, he made a firm show of his enjoyment of a little smut in his romantic reads.

[There's a WHORE.]

His whole life has been an entanglement of quickly falling in love and mage rights... but I suppose that happens when you are persecuted as a religious captive.

Is that fondness I hear in your voice?

[ Fishing.............. ]

[Smacks Aventurine across the arm.]

I hate you. I don't even know him that well outside of a couple of hours into the insanity of this week's set-up.

[ JUST LAUGHS as he's smacked. ]

It's not like we're short on time here. We've still got, what? Four more weeks? To get to know everyone.

[THE WAY CALEB HAS EQUALLY AS MESSY A LIFE IN TERMS OF DESTRUCTION AND ALSO LOVE. Anyway, Anders is a bottom. They would just be Francy's two bottoms meme picture.]

Please stop talking. What, are you going to abandon me and Anders in the hotel now like you did me and Wriothesley?

[Giving Aventurine a glare, but like with no heat whatsoever. Just exasperation. Then sort of drops back into corpse-like place while looking at the ceiling.]

He has his own plans within Faerûn with Kaworu and Shadowheart.

[ Smiles at the mention of the hotel like he's thinking about how it was good times.

And then he's focusing back up. ]

I guess you've got a lot riding on your return, too. But hey, that doesn't mean you can't have a bit of fun while you're in this place.

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