open

[bouchonne]

WHO: Byerly and Kitty and thou or even you
WHAT: Open post!! open post
WHEN: The month of KINGSWAY
WHERE: EVERYWHERE but mostly in Kirkwall and in the Gallows
NOTES: Warning: chatterboxes

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[bouchonne]

"My dear father married an Orlesian," By says mildly. "A match that was neither for love nor social advantage. I suppose it was simply that they knew it was one another, or no one at all. But it did win him a fair amount of scorn. So that's something."

He strokes his moustache, and then finally relents.

"But as you are quite resolved...What, dear Sonia, do you want to know about this place? I live to serve your curiosity."

[vorbratta]

Sonia doesn't comment on Byerly's family beyond a murmur of acknowledgment. It's always felt like a dicey subject to her, however flippant Byerly may be. Perhaps it's only because she knew him before he'd left home, before all those nasty rumors she's always chosen not to believe.

"Do you now? I thought you hated work." Her smile seems somewhat more comfortable now, settled in. "Well, you could tell me where the good drinks are at, for a start. But mostly I want to know about people. Who to talk to, where to go -- the people you talk to to get involved."

She is really, really all in on this.

[bouchonne]

"Well," he says, "if you are to become a diplomat, best to become acquainted with the other diplomats. That is, of course, a rather complicated proposition. You see, the head of the diplomacy corps is one Knight-Enchanter Herian - it's true; a mage as a diplomat. But it seems she took over from a lady - a Rifter - named Petrana du Cedoux. The circumstances of this change seem...hm. As though they were a bit fraught."

He smiles over at her, eyebrow arched.

"If you could find out how they were fraught, dear Sonia, I would be ever so obliged. I don't know how anyone could resist telling truths to your honest face."

[vorbratta]

"You would consider a mage diplomat more scandalous than a Rifter leading the diplomatic corps of the Inquisition?" Sonia arches an eyebrow in return, still smiling slightly. "I suppose shall have to make my introductions, then."

Then her smile curves a little more and she leans forward, her eyes glittering.

"Byerly Rutyer," she says, hovering on the edge of feigned shock, "are you asking me to spy for you?"

[bouchonne]

"To exchange gossip," he responds innocently, "as we have done so many times before. Surely after I've shared all this with you, you won't deny me."

And he smiles, perfectly innocuous.

[vorbratta]

"Ah, a cruel trap," Sonia declares dramatically, a hand to her heart. "How could I not have seen it coming! Truly, I deserve my fate."

She grins at him. "But of course, dear Byerly. You know I never could deny you. Besides, it sounds intriguing."

[bouchonne]

"See? Never say I don't treat you well." He reaches out to caress her wrist - and, not coincidentally, to snag the bottle of wine from her. He winks as he lifts it to his lips, taking a slug directly from it.

"Other people to know...Oh, Old King Maric's bastard is here. Alistair. The one who became a Gray Warden." A shrug. "They'll really allow all types. He's rather good looking, though, if you like that Theirin nose."

[vorbratta]

"I'll keep my distance from any royals, thank you," Sonia says primly with a little wave of her hand. "However handsome they may be -- though it's a type that doesn't do anything in particular for me."

She leans forward with a wicked smile, holding a hand out patiently for him to return the bottle. "I would, however, like to know who else you find good-looking around here."

[bouchonne]

For that, he retains his hold on the bottle. "Dearest Sonia," he says, "are you implying I would do something untoward? You know I keep chaste as a mountain templar. Never a lascivious glance at any living creature."

[vorbratta]

"Everyone looks," Sonia says with smug conviction, casting a look at him through her lashes, and then she pouts at him outrageously. "You're a horrible tease, Byerly. Come on, I want to know."

[bouchonne]

"Never - " And he reaches out and grasps her hand, pulling it up to plant a gallant kiss on her knuckles. "Can I do so after having seen you, dear Sonia. No one compares. And so there is never any point in looking, because none have your beauty or grace."

[vorbratta]

She scrunches her nose at him, permitting the kiss and acknowledging the flattery, but the look she gives him is impatient.

"Are you afraid I'm going to start poaching on your territory? Byerly, please."

[bouchonne]

"How scheming you think me," he says, pressing his hand to his chest, brow furrowed in an expression of mock-woundedness. Then he drops his hand and says, more matter-of-factly, "But I'm being quite serious. This is not a place for me to have an affair of the heart, my radiant delight. Of the body, perhaps. But - "

He flips his hand. "This is a place of some last resort for me, after what happened back home. I would sooner not be driven from it by the hatred of a heartbroken ex-lover."

[vorbratta]

Sonia's lips purse, but she relents, her eyes going a little softer as she looks at him. She always looks at Byerly with such soft eyes.

"Of course," she says on a sigh, reaching for his hand to give it a gentle squeeze. "I wouldn't wish it on you, Byerly." She smiles a little, scrunching up her nose. "Besides, then you'd leave me lonely. Absolutely not permitted."

[bouchonne]

And he always looks away, his smile taking on an odd cant as she gazes at him. It's hard to meet anyone's eyes when they look at you so gently. Harder still when it's...her.

"An absurd sentiment." He strokes her knuckles with his thumb. "You'll always make friends wherever you go. It's your very particular talent. You'll never be lonely."