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

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

[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).]

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[Gold's got his reasons for acting out the way he did, but it's not something he really wants to talk about; he will to Silver, of course, but that's different. It won't come out easily with him either, but it's still different.

They'll come in though! Polibo's going to hug Vanille's legs immediately, because from what Gold told him she needs it as much as he does it.]

If you've been gettin' plenty of visitors, I'm hopin' someone's gotten you to eat a little?

[behold, the start of his soft fuss]

[ Aw... Vanille kneels down and gathers the little guy into her arms. What a good frog. ]

Mm-hmm. Lusamine, Varric, and Sportacus all brought me food. Sportacus even made me some ice cream.

[He's a little damp from both being a frog and from his cooling off shower, but Polibo is here to be good and huggable!!]

Yeah? I thought he'd be all for the healthy stuff, didn't think he'd be into givin' people ice cream! But I guess that's a stable food for comfort and all, especially chicks. You see it in movies a lot too.

[ He's very huggable! A good and gentle frog. He does not deserve being here. ]

He said it was good for sore throats. [ ... since she's cried a lot. ] Chickens like ice cream?

[ explain, gold ]

[Chickens... the fuck's a chicken. Chicks are baby birds too the fuck is a chicken.]

No, chicks. Girls. But I guess they could like ice cream too, don't really know what a chicken is.

Oh. Why d'you call girls chicks?

[... why... do they....]

Because it's... cute? I dunno, I just picked it up from... movies and stuff.

[... huh.]

[ asking the hard-hitting questions... ]

Hm... works for me! [ It is pretty cute! Vanille pats Polibo's head before getting up. ] You're all worried about me... but you've gotten something to eat, right?

Even if Silver wasn't goin' around makin' sure every one there was eatin', I ended up gettin' something with Hanyuu too. Just to make sure she got to eat.

[... Because it was kind of rough for her, just like the first, and he knows she didn't vote for Alani like a lot of people did; it'd be hard not to notice, being beside her and all.]

You and her take stuff pretty hard, huh. I get her, but... what about you?

You've got a good friend there, Gold.

[ She nods. Vanille's been worried about Hanyuu, especially after Hanyuu had visited...

What about you? She hesitates. ]

What do you mean, what about me? [ It's not confrontational, but... she's a little reluctant to talk about it. ]

[Oh, he knows he does. Silver's the best best friend he's ever had, and Crys is the other best best friend he's ever had. They're his only best friends, admittedly, so that kind of defaults them to the best there, but they're definitely the best anyway.]

Just that. Hanyuu takes on a lot of blame because she's a god, [and a number of other things,] so I was wonderin' if it was something like that too.

[That she's taking blame on herself for some reason. His hand's itching to hold hers, just because it's the way he's comforted Hanyuu in the past, but he'll keep it at his side.]

Oh. [ She shakes her head. ] It's not that I'm a god or anything... I just don't like seeing people unhappy or hurting. Especially those I care about.

[not a god, huh, okay sure, your age says differently]

I don't like it either, but a killer's a killer, no matter who or why. [...] When stuff like this happens, they're still choosin' themselves or whatever they're goin' after over us, and even if they're good, even if they like us and we like them, you've gotta remember that. Keep it in mind, even if it's gonna make you or someone else unhappy, even if it's gonna hurt.

[It doesn't have the same impact here, maybe, because it's different when he's thinking about it with regards to Silver over other people-- each time there's been a kill to end this school term, they've basically attacked Silver on principle too, and Gold doesn't like the feeling he gets when he's thinking about that. It's angry and frustrated and a million other things that makes him feel heavy in a way he should take his own advice about, maybe, but--]

I mean, it... ain't easy. I like Alani a lot. Polibo does too. [The frog hums sadly.] But I can't stand for someone puttin' Silver in danger, no matter what. So if this happens again, even if it's someone I like, I can't do anything else but keep him safe, you know? That's just how it is.

[And it sucks, because Gold's not someone who can keep himself from getting attached.]

[ A killer's a killer, huh... How would he feel about her, if he knew what she'd done? ... Not what she'd done, but what she allowed to happen. Varric may have accepted her despite his knowing, but she knows not everyone will.

Her chest tightens a little, but she doesn't show any signs of what's going on in her head. Vanille folds her hands in front of her, though. ]

I... I get what you mean. [ She really does. She... she doesn't want anyone here to get hurt. They don't deserve that, none of them do. But at the same time... the Wordsmith plays his game well. In that way, he's like a Fal'Cie, and the people here are his pawns. Impossible choices--kill and get away with it, you get something nice and you get to go home. Do nothing, and you're trapped here forever.

Her head and her heart hurt. ]

It's just-- I don't know. This whole thing... I think no one is supposed to win in any way. [ She shakes her head. ] But... as long as you can keep that special person safe... I admire you for that. And I believe in you.

[... Hearing Silver be called his "special person" is ten shades of embarrassing and he's rubbing his face in a vague hope the warmth goes away, he hates being called out on his fondness for his friends.]

Yeah, you've got a point there. With the not supposed to win bit. I mean, what the hell, are we his experiment or something like that? What's there to gain from lettin' one of us win and killin' off the rest?

[... Maybe he oughta ask him that sometime.]

[ She's quiet for a while. Vanille doesn't understand it at all. How someone could watch people kill each other and not lift a finger to stop it... and instead encourage it is absolutely unfathomable. ]

I don't know... for someone who's got "humanity" listed as one of his likes... [ She shakes her head. ] You'd think he'd want to preserve life instead of convincing people to take it...

[...]

Maybe he's the shadow thing that keeps eatin' people and he lists "humanity" as one of his likes because we're delectable.

[ omg ]

That's awful...! Making people kill each other just so he can have a snack...!

[oh my god she

believes him?

oh my god!!!!]

Right? We oughta shame him, just like we did Kimbles.

[ with great power comes great responsibility, gold...... ]

You think so? Hmm... But if we make him too mad, he might decide to eat you...

Oh, don't worry! I'm as spoiled rotten as they come! You, on the other hand, a sweet girl like you'd be delicious to him, so don't tease him too much, alright?

[np np]

Aw, you've just got compliments for every occasion, don't you?

[ She nods. ]

You've got a promise there, Gold.

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

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