[open] gay baby jail 2: son of gay baby jail

[altusimperius]

WHO: Benedict and Approved Visitors
WHAT: Treacherous Vint in a dungeon and he's just happy to be here y'all
WHEN: Kingsway
WHERE: below the mage tower (I think??)
NOTES: will update as needed

It might be at any hour of the day, though likely in the daytime, when one comes to find the dungeon's current occupant.
It's bizarrely nostalgic, that he should be in the same cell, on the same magebane, as he was several years ago when he first arrived in Kirkwall, kicking and fighting and shouting to anyone who would listen that he wasn't Venatori, dragged in and abandoned by his not-Not-Venatori mentor. He'd worked his way out from that, fought tooth and nail for two years to be someone worthy of freedom, of influence.

And now he's back. There's no kicking or shouting this time, and the young man seems a decade older. When he isn't sleeping, Benedict sits quietly on the bed, back straight, staring into space; he eats what he's given, magebane and all, without complaint. He doesn't speak unless spoken to, asks for nothing, and is on the whole so utterly unlike himself that it would likely be less surprising to learn he had been swapped out with a double, the real Benedict still in Minrathous making the same mistakes and never coming back.

But he's here, it's him, and he's at the mercy of any visitors-- good-standing members of Riftwatch only, of course-- who choose to make the trip downstairs.

Comments

[altusimperius]

Benedict nods.

"Every way out of the city is guarded heavily. No one goes in or out without them knowing." His shoulders hunch again, and he looks a little queasily at the bowl.
"I... I tried, actually. Once." Taking a spoonful, he pauses a moment before putting it in his mouth, chewing slowly.

[saam]

That lights interest in her eyes, genuine, and she lets it shine through. "How'd that go? You got rounded up, I take it."

[altusimperius]

He doesn't like the look in her eyes, but perhaps only because the response is about as admirable as the rest of his story. He nods.

"Dragged back home. They recognized me." He scowls. "I... wasn't allowed to leave the house alone afterwards."

Self-consciously, Benedict tucks a strand of hair behind his ear. There are few people in Riftwatch who fully understand his relationship to his family, most of all his mother; he's kept it that way intentionally, as being away from her for several years has made it clear to him how humiliating it actually is when he's back in her orbit, moving only at her beck and call.

He's mumbling when he adds, "...she has private guards, it was easy to enforce."

[saam]

"So it's hard for-" She gestures to him- "people like you to leave. Magisters."

She rocks back a bit, staring upward, thinking. "Wonder how we could make it easier..."

[altusimperius]

"Easier if your business aligns with what they want," he points out. "I'm..." He breathes in and out, thinking back to the conversation with Yseult, "...not a good liar."

[saam]

"Me neither," Eshal lies. Well. It's half a lie. Those are the lies she's best at.

"I'm only wondering... you can't be the only one who wasn't happy there. Gotta be a way out. People don't like curfews, being told where to go, they never do."

[altusimperius]

Gazing at the far wall, Benedict thinks on it. "I was isolated," he admits, "everyone around me was invested, or at least good at pretending they were. And because..."

He fights with his words for a moment, then sighs, scraping up the last of the rice. "...because they knew I wasn't entirely willing to be there, people weren't exactly forthcoming about their thoughts or plans when I was in the room." He takes the last bite and chews it morosely.

"There was mention of small rebellions, mostly among the Soporati. People against the Magisterium to begin with, commoners who resent the city falling under Corypheus' control, who don't like the way things are going. But I couldn't have got near them if I tried."

[saam]

"Of course not," she says with a shrug. "I'm not asking you to do anything, don't worry. Whatever you're going to be after this, it won't be in my division."

Does he know she's head of-? Eh, why tell him.

"You've already done me a favor. That's all I need." She stands up with a grunt, and walks back to the cell bars, hand out for the bowl.

[altusimperius]

He hands her the bowl, warily optimistic.

"...you think there's going to be an 'after this?'"

[saam]

"You're not dead," she says, "which automatically makes you more valuable alive." The logic of that is... fraught. It sounds better in Qunlat. "I dunno what'll be after this, mind. Don't let it go to your head." She takes the bowl.

[altusimperius]

Feeling somewhat humbled by the response, Benedict just nods and doesn't push it. He looks like he's doing a bit better after their conversation, food included, and wears an expression that's almost pleasant.

"Thank you," he says quietly, "for the food."

[saam]

Eshal is already walking away, up the stairs and out. "Don't let it go to your head!"

[altusimperius]

he does anyway