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

[alchemicals]

At least you believe me on it. I've been called a fraud before.

[GUESS HOW WELL THAT ENDED.]

[avoidcomplications]

[he can imagine this far more vividly than you think, kimbley]

How unfortunate for them. Given everything else, that seems entirely possible. Not to mention it explains the title.

[alchemicals]

...I really like creating nitroglycerin, let's put it that way.

[he actually told chiyuki how he does it last week, he just gave her the less-horrifying version]

[avoidcomplications]

Is that right? I can scarcely imagine.

[you know, like a liar.]

I'm afraid I had less than perfect grades in high school science--what makes up nitroglycerin?

[alchemicals]

Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen - three-five-three-nine. Respectively.

[C₃H₅N₃O₉, in other words. On the one hand, who the fuck notates it like that; on the other, he's entirely correct.]

[avoidcomplications]

Fascinating.

[Which wasn't sarcasm; apart from the occasional glance back to those arrays, Kira seemed to take an honest interest in what Kimbley was saying.]

And you can just do that to anything?

[alchemicals]

I have a few things I like doing it to, moreso than others.

[He pauses for a moment before continuing; you know what, Kira hasn't responded badly to anything he's said so far, so...]

Water and iron is ideal for getting the sort of explosions I want out of it. It leaves an excess of hydrogen in the container, so it builds up pressure instead of just sitting there. It's pretty volatile, just requires being kicked into something.

[...If you get his drift.]

[avoidcomplications]

[...yep this is officially the most interested kira has looked in anything since they got here]

I take it you've been doing this for quite some time, to have that kind of experience.

[alchemicals]

When I was seventeen I was a prodigy in my field, with more chemical knowledge at my disposal than I actually knew what to do with and orders that ensured I was sent to the front lines of a civil war where nobody cared about the number of casualties.

[let's put it that way.]

[avoidcomplications]

[hot]

No wonder you were liked by the military. I'm sure a one-man army would be more than useful.

[alchemicals]

They liked me until they really suddenly didn't. But it's not like it's my fault they're picky about things.

[avoidcomplications]

Did something happen?

[alchemicals]

They thought I played a little too fast and loose with my targets, so I resigned.

[...]

They didn't like how I handed in my resignation.

[avoidcomplications]

Don't tell me. You had an explosive temper?

[alchemicals]

[...........]

Holy shit, Kira, you made a joke. I'm proud of you.

[avoidcomplications]

Very funny. I do have a sense of humor from time to time, you know.

[alchemicals]

Can you really blame me for being surprised? You're really good at the whole dull normalcy thing.

[...]

Well, usually, anyway.

[avoidcomplications]

I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a perfectly ordinary person holding a casual conversation.

[...he's probably just fucking with you at this point.]