some grumpy grump hates kids

[trulyfree]

[No formal introductions here since Fenris is preoccupied with the noise coming from down the hall.]

I returned to my quarters to find the others rooming with me to be missing and shrieks echoing down the hallway.

Perhaps it should be of no concern, but it seems some of the younger ones among us are murdering each other collectively in some strange ritual. I am uncertain of if it would be wise to intrude, though advice would be appreciated as to whether or not I should bolt the door and bar them from returning as punishment for their unruly behavior.

[Not that he hasn't already done just that.]

Comments

[trulyfree]

Varric? [Well, color him surprised. Yes, feel that nice, pleasant surprise.]

Perhaps. But intruding is typically more Aveline or Hawke's concern than mine. If I had chosen to interrupt all the unholy murder rituals occurring in Tevinter, I never would have managed to leave the Imperium.

[pseudologist]

Usually. But they're otherwise occupied.

[He's assuming. There's a whole city out there for Aveline to attempt to keep Hawke out of trouble in, after all.]

...Before we decide on anything drastic, just how much have you had to drink tonight?

[Because they ran into each other in the hallway just the other day.

...Except not. He just has yet to realize that he needs to start figuring out how to pluralize 'Fenris'.

[trulyfree]

What? [Yeah, you're the first person he's recognized here since his capture, so...]

Not hardly enough to deal with children, if that's why you're asking.

[pseudologist]

Not exactly. I'm a little more concerned with the fact that you seemed surprised to hear from me.

[trulyfree]

Erm. [...okay?]

And...why is that so strange, exactly?

[pseudologist]

...Maybe I should be asking how much you had to drink the other morning, instead.

You, me, discussing the relative lack of metal in the local fashions. Is any of this ringing a bell?

[He sounds...kind of concerned, actually.]

[trulyfree]

...

[None of that rings a bell, of course.]

I think I should be asking you how much you've drunk. We've not spoken since we parted in Kirkwall.

[pseudologist]

Give me some credit. My drunken delusions are a lot more surreal.

[Also nonexistant, but that's beside the point.]

What do you remember since arriving here?

[trulyfree]

Says the man who prides himself in his stories.

[Fenris sighs.] Not that it is really any of your business, but exploring this city is all I've done since arriving. That and nearly being arrested by the local authority due to an...err in judgement on my part.

[pseudologist]

And this will all make a very good one, some day.

[There's a brief pause.]

We met, the first morning we all woke up here. We spoke a little. I haven't seen you since. Unless there are two of you running around, people are forgetting more than just how we arrived here.

[trulyfree]

I assure you that I did not meet you. Even a little. I take it as a matter of pride to not forget anything else that happens to me, so perhaps there are two of me. Or perhaps you simply dreamed up the entire ordeal because you missed me too much.

[He says this all very dryly.]

[pseudologist]

Now there's a story. Your company's so essential that its lack inspired a dwarf to dream for...oh, the second or third time in known history.

[trulyfree]

[Huh...]

You do not dream?

[Fenris thought everyone else did. And especially for someone who creates stories for a living, it seems surprising that Varric doesn't.]

[pseudologist]

Not in the literal sense. None of us do - it comes with having no connection to the Fade. We can handle lyrium, we don't have to worry about possession...and we don't dream the way elves and humans do.

[There's the telepathic equivalent of a shrug. He might think it would be interesting to dream - to see stories behind his eyes, every time he goes to sleep - but it's hard to miss what not a one of your species has ever experienced.]

[trulyfree]

[Well, you certainly learn something new every day, he thinks. He hadn't realized that dwarves never dreamed, the topic never having really come up before. But even as much as it is interesting...]

I don't either. Dream, that is. Or, rather, I can, but I can't—

They disappear. And supposedly I should still see glimpses of them for at least a little while after I awaken, but all I remember is seeing blackness even if right after I open my eyes I remember something else.

[His tone is more unsure than his usual, having never really told this to anyone before. Much like Varric's little bit of trivia, it simply never came up.]

Courtesy of my former Master, I suppose. But dreams may as well be just as beyond my grasp as they are for you.

[pseudologist]

Then you're in good company.

[It's jovial, even if the information Fenris has imparted is troubling - as everything he's ever heard of Tevinter and Danarius has been troubling.]

The way I hear it, dreams are just the stories your sleeping mind tells you, given form by the Fade.

[trulyfree]

[He hums inquisitively through the telepathic link.]

I'm not certain I wish to know what stories my mind hopes to tell. Yes, perhaps it is for then best.

I much prefer hearing your stories anyway. [There's a distinct, content note to the words, almost as if he is making a joke at Varric's expense.]