And it's the stars, the stars that lie to you.

[neverheardofhim]

[This week, Varric opted to take a page from Vanille’s book. Gathering everyone together after the roller-coaster that the first trial had been proved to be somewhat cathartic for himself. He hoped that it would prove to do the same for the others.]

[He wasn’t alone, of course, having found himself blessed with the most ragtag team of chefs and party-planners. He might have had words for and thoughts on Elda and Kimbley, Mikazuki was welcome company, and he wasn’t about to turn away potential allies, even in a fight as simple as cooking dinner.]

[Once everyone’s set to a task, baking a cake, brewing tea, or stirring stew (the only task Varric could think to assign Elda to), Varric excused himself to his room. His first task was writing up cards, each personally titled and signed by Varric.]

Food in the Library. 5 p.m. Don’t spend the night alone.

[Each note was slid under a door and accompanied by a single rap on the wood.]

[With his tasks completed, Varric returned to the kitchen to put out any potential fires and, with luck, set the food out. A table in the library would be adorned with plenty of tea, cake, pancakes courtesy of Viktor, and stew thanks mostly to Varric (sorry, Elda).]

Comments

[oyashiromama]

[She doesn't open her eyes.]

Her name was Alani. [She is firm but there's no bite to it, just a tone of...impatience?] She told me to keep her religion alive.

[matchbreaker]

[ Honestly, she knows she deserves the tone.

... That said, Elda also just walks right up to Hanyuu and the basins, shakes her head, and then says, quietly ]

Are you going to tell me you have to do this tonight?

[ Sincerely, she asks this. There's no judgment one way or the other ]

[oyashiromama]

I... [Eyes still closed, brows furrowed.] ...yes. I do want to honor her...in the best way I can.

[She has no idea how to do that, really, but-]

[matchbreaker]

[ For a long moment, Elda is silent.

... And then finally she steps into the basin next to Hanyuu. Unlike the other, she doesn't bother to roll up the sleeves of her school uniform pants. She'll just wash them later. And she exhales, beginning with, ]

I never liked religion, [ She said to god then then "dislikes: the church" ] But I don't want to see you get even more out of sorts. So let's do it, walk me through the ritual.

[oyashiromama]

[Okay, this is a genuine shock. Hanyuu's eyes pop open and she stares at Elda.]

I-I... I-it's very...specific to the Emulans- aah, the...people who worship the Bluemother.

[...give her a moment, this isn't where she thought this was going, Elda keeps surprising her]

[matchbreaker]

Who cares? If they're all dead, then the Bluemother can take what she can get.

[ ... Apparently, even when she's being kind, Elda isn't precisely considerate of abstract gods or their followers.

But all the same, she's pulled her hands together in a precise (Christian) payer pose, while a little more than knee deep (she is shorter than Hanyuu) in the water ]

[oyashiromama]

...

[Very carefully, she reaches down, gets her fingers wet, and then flings the droplets at Elda, all the while making eye contact.]

I mean you have to glow and steep yourself in tea.

[This means so much to her, honestly, really it does,]

[matchbreaker]

[ Tch, it better gurl!! ]

Oh yeah, like you can glow or breathe underwater any better than I can!

[ Elda says while...

Doing the same, to splash back ]

[oyashiromama]

[What??? Mouth opens and closes, like a- ......like something that opens and closes I'm not finishing that-]

Neither you nor I can breathe underwater, or glow!

[...little drips, she is not going to keep doing this back and forth but.]

[matchbreaker]

See, so we're not going to be great practitioners, are we?

[ With a haughty look, she brushes back her hair. And then she claps her hands together, closes her eyes... and then with a surprising amount of respect in her voice she says: ]

Deep Bluemother, I don't really know you. Or worship you. But one of your own's entered into your folds now. You don't have any more worshippers, which can't be good for a god I imagine, but we're going to keep the memory of you alive as long as we can. In the name of Hanyuu and Jesus,

Amen.

[oyashiromama]

[ELDA HOLY SHIT.....

Hanyuu can't help but gape at her for...a good thirty seconds, the whole time she's speaking and then some, just. Staring.]

.....I had a prayer. I'd memorized it, an actual prayer.

[BLUEMOTHER SHE'S SORRY]

[matchbreaker]

Oh please! You're a god supposedly. Would you be offered if people didn't get it exactly right? Besides, there's time for that tomorrow and the next day.

[ But if Hanyuu insists, she still will ]

[oyashiromama]

[Mostly she's just so taken aback]

A-aaah... N-no, as long as it's in the...right spirits.

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda leans forward, and she--

Brushes some of Hanyuu's hair, leaning over from within her own basin to touch at the other woman ]

Exactly. And I was sincere.

[ . . . about wanting Hanyuu to feel better, at least. ]

[oyashiromama]

A-aah-! [She keeps doing that, playing with her. How...so strange.]

Then...I suppose...the Bluemother will appreciate it. I hope.

[She...lets out a sigh, shoulders sinking.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda won't do something as stupid as ask Hanyuu if she's okay. And she knows she's hardly comforting at the best of times. That was always something James excelled at. But for Elda's part, remaining leaned in, keeping close(ish, there is still two basins between them and this water is kinda cold-ish) ]

I'm not about to pray to you though, unless you want me to.

[oyashiromama]

H- h-haaa...?!

[The...what, intimacy? Suddenness? Of the moment confuses her and she leans back abruptly, and- ...falls backwards, water and all, with a small shout. She is now a very soggy, very undignified god lying on the ground with her feet in an empty basin.]

Wh-what kind of thing to say is that?!

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda... smiles. In spite of everything else, how exhausted and haunted she is and how much she's allowing Hanyuu to ask for for them to talk about of what came up at the trial, she's instead just laughing at that fall, stepping gracefully, if wetly, out of her own basin and shaking off her (shoeless) feet. Her pants need to washed, but standing over her, a hand on her hip with one hand and the other held out of her ]

You're the goddess of this motley crew, right? Gods don't have equals, but a friend's just that - so unless you're into that praying thing, I'm not going to bother.

[oyashiromama]

[Ohhh...! She lets out a frustrated sigh and then...her face melts into something a little more relaxed. Still sad, but relaxed. She takes Elda's hand.]

I'd...actually much rather prefer being equals. [Is she allowed to admit that?]

[matchbreaker]

God, then we agree.

[ And she yanks up with the offered hand, getting the other woman to her feet and maybe even catching her??? or something. either way, she... ]

Do demons get colds, by the way? If they do, I should probably warm you up.

[oyashiromama]

[Whoa! Alright, Elda is stronger than anticipated, that's actually really appreciated, she doesn't have to like, slip and slide around on the floor.]

We... ...I don't know, I've never been in the position to. [She's always had some kind of technology to keep her healthy when she was physical??]

[matchbreaker]

[ Hmmm....

Hmmm.

She wanted to talk to her in private, and Hanyuu is a Japanese name, and she wears those weird scraps of fabric Japanese clothes, and Japanese people... ]

You're used to bathing with other people, right? Come on, I'll even wash your hair nice and properly.

[ LOGIC???? ]

[oyashiromama]

[ELDA HOLY SHIT-- Hanyuu goes red in the face and promptly, furiously, shakes her head.]

I- I only bathed with one other person b-besides Riku, only one, and I'd known her for months!

[matchbreaker]

Well I've never bathed with anyone besides...

[ James. (and her son, Henry, for what that counts) Her heart contracts.

... And she grabs Hanyuu's arm. ]

So there's a first time for everything, let's go.

[ to try and drag her off..... ]

[oyashiromama]

[It's hard to put your foot down when it's in a puddle of water but you know, she'll try it.]

Oh, no no no, I- besides, we have to clean this up, don't we?!