Blood from Stone [AU]

[Bethany]

"I didn't-" Bethany rubs her face. "It should have been fine. I was within the window and- My last d-draught was wearing off but it was still-" She swallows thickly. "It should have been fine. I just... didn't want to... have to take another dose for no-" She stops, winces. "What I thought was no reason. I'm sorry I... I didn't mean for..." She swallows again. "I'm not even... I just wanted to talk it over with you, I'm not even sure..." That I'm ready to be a mother. I'm not even twenty, I have plenty of time for it and there's still more I want to do and learn and now...

[GamesMaster]

Don takes a deep breath, still not looking at her. "Whatever you decide to do is fine. I won't contest." 

Perhaps the worst thing about it is how calm and even he sounds. This isn't Don, her boyfriend -- this is Adonis zi'Goldclaw, a mantle he's become adept at pulling on when need be. 

[Bethany]

Bethany offers a wan smile. "Thank you for... saying that. But I want to know what you... what your opinion is," she says softly. "To be clear, I want my boyfriend Don' opinion."

[GamesMaster]

"Then perhaps you should have considered him--" he begins, but cuts off. "No. I-- I need time, Beth. Do what you please about the pregnancy. I need to go downtown." 

With that, he stalks toward the front door. 

[Bethany]

Bethany goes still, eyes wide as she stares after him. "...Don?" she whispers in a lost voice. Why- what did- does he- does her really not want children with me so much that- But he's never- I don't understand what... 

The young woman remains in the chair for a long time, silent and weeping.

[Nikolaos "Niko" Kingfisher]

At that very moment, unbeknownst to Bethany, Nikolaos Kingfisher was bored out of his skull. 

Granted, it's not as if she cares much. Niko hasn't been trustworthy in her eyes since he vanished, leaving his friends in the lurch, and then came back only to steal from her family on his way out of Nyra. Thankfully, he'd been acquitted of the murder of his mentor, Ailures zi'Huntinghawk, after she was resurrected and the culprit discovered to be none other than Anders the healer. He'd done some adventuring after that, but always seemed to find himself back in Nyra, working for his mentor and her successor light zi'Tethras.

Cattown wasn't the slum it once was. And apparently, cats could be Lights now, too. This seemed like a tie worth mending to Niko... too bad Adonis held a bit of a grudge. So here he was, yet again press-ganged into serving as a butler, as though he weren't a grown man, as though he weren't an alchemist in his own right, as though he didn't have hopes and dreams and a quest of his own. 

"More tea?" he asks, his voice as droll and sarcastic as he can make it. 

"Yes, please, and be quick about it." If Huntinghawk had ever understood or deployed sarcasm in her life, Niko had yet to catch her at it. He sighs, turning to go fetch the teacart, muttering to himself under his breath.

"Hire a damn servant already," he mutters, rolling his eyes as the two resume speaking.

"I presume you are abreast of the latest news from the Robijin Enclave?" asks Huntinghawk, cool and smooth as a cucumber. 

"Who hasn't heard the latest news from the ass-end of nowhere?" Niko mutters, his tail twitching.

[Varric]

"That ass-end of nowhere has the highest concentration and quality of corundum for ten thousand miles," Varric says blandly. "Oh, and also has sapphires, aluminum and, can't forget, the only source for drow knowledge, crafts or magic on the surface." He smirks slightly. "I try to keep abreast but perhaps I've missed something?"

[GamesMaster]

"Nothing too exciting," replies Huntinghawk. "Tentative gestures outward to Glaley, which were rebuffed soundly -- too many old ties to Orzimmar. The rumor is that they will try here next."

[Nikolaos "Niko" Kingfisher]

"No, really? I figured everyone crazy enough to live in a hole in the ground would get along great," Niko mutters, more quietly this time, as he sets the tea steeping. 

[Varric]

"Bit surprised they did in the first place. Though I suppose the rigid class system looks a bit like a drow caste system, which would be comforting in a sense. Familiar." Varric clicks his tongue twice. "Yeah, geographically, we're the more reasonable bet. Plus we'd be more compatible aside from the caste thing. More open to other cultures." Orzammar. That's a place I don't think of often. 

[GamesMaster]

"Indeed. One wonders if they will find us as amenable as they would like," murmurs Huntinghawk, glancing at Niko out of the corner of her eye. "We are not always as tolerant of non-humans as we ought to be. Nothing compared to Glaley, but neither are we Draslina."

[Varric]

"I don't know," Varric muses. "Draslina is less 'open to exotic' than 'patrolled by legions of outsiders.' We're as progressive as we are- or aren't- on our own."

[GamesMaster]

"Perhaps," she allows. "Perhaps hatred of the other is inevitable in any city of size."

[Nikolaos "Niko" Kingfisher]

"I wonder why," mutters Niko, laying out cups on the tray.

[Varric]

"Lack of politeness could be a factor," Varric says pointedly. "Personally thought, I peg most of it as coming from ignorance."