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[thirsted]

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ASTARION

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[thirsted]

[ It's not a message that Astarion is expecting. Werewolf is not, historically, an experience that has lent itself to much common sense, and yet— ]

I appreciate the apology.

I can't honestly say I wouldn't have done the same thing, if not worse, were I in your shoes and were Gale in Hawk's.

I'm sorry for what they did to him.

[holyposition]

I hope the two of you wouldn't be as naive as me, if it were reversed.

Thank you. I keep wondering what the point was, if they were doomed to die whether we caught them or not.

[thirsted]

[ What he thinks is this: it is an impossible thing, to not be naive about love when you've never had it before. But the words never even make it through the keyboard on his phone. It takes a moment for his return message to blink to life on Tim's screen, offering up, however reluctantly, a different sliver of vulnerability. ]

In my experience, to those who craft games such as that, the cruelty is the point. The winners and losers are already fixed — the gamemaker wins. The rest of us lose. And therein lies the pleasure.

[holyposition]

[ And isn’t that the truth? Tim has had to learn it the hard way, over and over again. No matter how many times he says that this time is the last, it never is. He can’t help but keep that spark of hope, that faith in a bigger plan, a better outcome. ]

You’re right. I guess I thought...you know, last year, the violence ended when the round was done. Even though we hadn’t caught Eddie. Despite how many unbelievable and awful things happen here, there’s always a rhythm to it that makes sense. But that didn’t happen this time.

Even if I had been right about you, and even if you had been voted for, it wouldn’t have protected a single person.

[thirsted]

At least he's dead.

[ The Shepherd, unnamed. ]

I don't want to say it's safer here than it was out there, but you're right, about the rhythm of it.

[holyposition]

[ Tim wishes death on no one, but it's hard to fault him, or Ani, or anyone else for their relief. ]

It isn't always safer. When I died, it was here. But the suffering isn't so constant and concentrated. There are times when we can almost pretend this is normal.

[thirsted]

I've weathered more than a year, here, I know the gilding doesn't remove the cage. Yet I still prefer having the license to pretend.

[holyposition]

I've been here from the beginning. Believe me, I know the feeling.

Are you starting the movie night back up? I'd like to join you, if you're not upset with me.

[thirsted]

You've apologized, which is a great deal more than most others have done, in my lifetime.
You're invited, though Gale may still be a little cross.

[holyposition]

I'll bring him a peace offering. Does he like sweets?

[thirsted]

Hmm! Yes, but suited to a refined palate. Sweet, but not too sweet.

[holyposition]

[ It's sweet of him, to assure Tim that his boyfriend is perfectly refined, thank you, despite him never expressing any doubt. They seem happy. Encouraging, to know such a thing is actually possible here. ]

I'll remember that. Thank you, Astarion.

[thirsted]

Thank you, Tim.
I shan't forget this.