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]

...It's not as though I'm particularly productive during the trials myself, though that's for different reasons altogether. Good to know, though.

[It does clear up some things, at the very least. Whether that's what he was getting at or not, he doesn't seem inclined to clarify, but still.

He doesn't seem inclined to complain about Gold sitting down with him either, though, so that much is good, too.]

I've spent a good long while with nothing but time, granted. But I've been to war, I've seen people die. I was first sent to the front lines when I was around your age, actually. So I get how important distractions can be.

[uncouthhatcher]

[People and their wars, man.]

That young? [...] I mean, my partners and I can hold our own, but I can't say I can imagine fightin' in a war. Just against crazy people tryin' to use legendary Pokémon for their own shit.

[There's documentaries about them, sometimes. The more notable ones are overseas... but there's still ones that mar Johto's history. Probably. The Pokémon battles were really fierce.]

What's war like?

[alchemicals]

[...You know, he didn't really expect that question and it shows, but he doesn't seem bothered by it at all or anything; he just tips his head a little and tries to work out what to...say to something like that.]

It depends on what kind of person you are, I guess. It didn't really upset me or anything, you get used to everyone dying and you find ways to pass the time for yourself. Kind of like here, only people are dying all the time around you. I thought it was fine? But I guess I'm kind of screwed up, just in general. Most people come out worse than they went in.

[uncouthhatcher]

[... Oh. There's no one that comes to mind who'd be good in a situation like that -- maybe Crys, if she was a killer instead of a catcher? -- and he shifts, settling more to lean on his legs.]

What kinda things did you do to pass time? And why, uh... why did you guys start fightin'?

[alchemicals]

There was a lot of tension between us and a nation of people we annexed a while back. Someone on our side accidentally shot a kid on their side in the face, and that's what set the actual fighting off. A combination of things followed by one incident that set off the powderkeg.

As for what we did to pass time...it was surprisingly normal, when we weren't actually on the battlefield. We'd talk about our girls back home, we'd play stupid games with each other. Sometimes we'd discuss the war, but most of the guys didn't like that. Sometimes we'd all talk alchemy, because it was one of the few things we all had in common. Some of us just tried to sleep everything off, that was an option too. That sort of thing.

[uncouthhatcher]

Sounds like normal, yeah, except... you know, killin' people and stuff.

[... So. Not normal.]

We, uh. We had wars too, I guess. Nothin' in my lifetime or even my mom's, probably? But they used to fight really hard with Pokémon, and not just against other Pokémon like we do now. There weren't any problems with attackin' trainers and people who couldn't fight.

[There's still that now, too, but it's not condoned.]

But seein' a Pokémon like Weavile, all claws and shit, I'll bet you can guess how bad it could get. Makes me pretty glad that we ain't got stuff like that now!

[alchemicals]

[...Holy shit, yeah, that's a good point - ]

I can imagine, yeah - we don't have Pokémon where we're from, but stuff like that on a battlefield would be...impressive, let's put it that way.

[Probably not the word one would normally use, but it's true enough.]

We've got alchemists, though. Not all of us are willing to share our power with the military, granted - it's actually really looked down upon by most people. Alchemists are all really big on the concept of "be thou for the people," we're supposed to use what we can do for the good of mankind or whatever, instead of using it for personal gain or political things or to fuck people up in any way.

So there's kind of an ongoing argument about the people who become State Alchemists and use our talents to benefit the military. State Alchemists are encouraged to weaponize their alchemy and use it to kill people, but it's in the interest of defending ourselves and our country. The general consensus right now is that we're allowed to register with the military if we want to, but the public's going to hate us pretty badly.

[uncouthhatcher]

[... Not the word to use, but it's true!]

Man, the more you keep talkin' the more questions I've got. Why'd you join up with the state? Can't imagine you did it for any reason that wasn't just because you felt like it.

[BECAUSE. KIMBLEY'S VERY MUCH HIS OWN PERSON WHO AGGRESSIVELY DOES HIS OWN THING.]

[alchemicals]

[He shrugs a bit.]

Our primary means of livelihood are coal, cows and conscription - I'm not here for mining, and I hate livestock.

[uncouthhatcher]

So war it is. [daaamn.] Man, that's a real sucky list of choices you've got. Wanna come back to my world and be a trainer instead?

[He's kind of joking.]

[alchemicals]

How much does your world really need that, though.

[...So is he. Kind of.]

[uncouthhatcher]

Let's just say you wouldn't get far if you started tryin' to use Pokémon in a familiar way.

[all crazies are welcome in the pokéworld

just don't try ending it and you'll be acceptable]

I'd think battlin' would keep you busy enough though, honestly, ain't... like your war and all, no one's dyin' over it, and it's still a good time. Dunno if your alchemy would work the same though.

[alchemicals]

Yeah, lack of alchemy is kind of a dealbreaker - it's the one thing I've always had, you know? It's how I connect to the world and all that.

[He isn't altogether sure that that makes sense to most people, but maybe Gold will get the idea, who knows.]

[uncouthhatcher]

[Oh, hitting hard there. It's unfortunate, but uh.]

Can't say I know the feeling. [...] I uh. I don't really have something like that.

[He's... got the lack of anything that really connects him to the world, not like Crys and her catching or Kimbley and his alchemy. It's actually kind of a Problem for him.]

... I don't have something that connects me to the world, but me and Silver get a lotta shit out by battlin' and stuff. I know if I can't say anything to him, a good fight with our fists or our Pokémon usually helps. Something like that?

[alchemicals]

[He's quiet for a moment. Thinking it over. ...Pausing a bit, even once he has.]

...It probably goes without saying that I don't really connect all that well with other people - I don't understand them, there's a lot of fundamental differences between me and them. It's nothing that really bothers me, I'm just fucked up and I know it. Alchemy and chemistry are good, though; they make everything make sense to me when nothing else does. They're constant like that.

So it's something like that, yeah. Even if you can't get something across or you don't understand something, you end up with a better understanding because of what you do have.

[uncouthhatcher]

Then yeah, I get it. Even if it's just to that guy.

[It's probably to a lot more people than he thinks, but Silver's just a difficult case and they're used to fighting, anyway, it's just what they do. Everyone else is pretty good about talking. Mostly.]

I'm glad you have the lab to keep you busy since you ain't got alchemy, though there ain't really a replacement for battlin' with Polibo and Weavile here. I'm hopin' no one minds us coming around covered in bruises.