Comme ci comme ça

[coeurdulyon]

WHO: Lucien and YOU!!
WHAT: Catch-all
WHEN: Justinian/Solace, post-jungle
WHERE: Kirkwall/Gallows
NOTES: There will be shirtlessness.

i. blessed be

Once the needs are seen to, the comforts are addressed. Lucien disembarks, reports whatever it is he has to report, and when there is no more need for his assistance anywhere, he tends to himself. Namely, a bath. After that, he can be found meditating in the prayer garden.

ii. menial labor

[ Purely for MJ and Cait's thirsty benefits, Lucien will be doing a bunch of chores shirtless because the weather is hot and so is he.

He'll chop firewood, mend things, carry heaving things this way and that, he's at your bidding you monsters. ]

iii. wildcard

[ hmu on plurk or disco to plot things or just gimme ur best shot ]

Comments

[coeurdulyon]

Nor I. What is your name?

[untiltheyarent]

Josephine Mariette.

[Those accustomed to the slummier corners of the city would recognize her, but not necessarily so a straight-laced man from Emprise du Lion.]

Et toi?

[coeurdulyon]

[ Rather than announce his lengthy title, he offers: ]

You may call me Lucien. A relatively recent addition to the ranks here.

[untiltheyarent]

A pleasure, Lucien. [A balletic little curtsy accompanies the words.]

You may call me Fifi, if you like.

[coeurdulyon]

[ And he offers a slight bow, careful not to drop the sack of sand. ]

The pleasure is mine, Mlle Josephine. Pardon my formality; it is a difficult habit to break.

[untiltheyarent]

It's no trouble at all.

[She keeps just ahead of him, so he knows where to go.]

Have you been in the Marches long?

[coeurdulyon]

No, not long. It has only been a few months since Riftwatch agents happened upon me.

[untiltheyarent]

I see.

[She tilts her head to one side.]

And what were you doing when they did so?

[There's no suspicion behind the question, only curiosity.]

[coeurdulyon]

[ As if it's mildly embarrassing to recount, he chuckles softly. ]

I was the unwilling guest of the Venatori. I dare say if Warden Ellis had not liberated me, I may have been killed within the week.

[untiltheyarent]

Maker.

[It sounds more like makeur when she says it, lightly pressing her fingertips to her heart.]

How lucky for you!

[coeurdulyon]

Just so. Fortunate that my luck had not decided to run out after all. What of yourself? How long have you been with Riftwatch? Were you with the Inquisition before they departed?

[untiltheyarent]

I wish I could say so. A friend and I were tangled up with the Freemen of the Dales, and Riftwatch agents caught us moving contraband.

[She smiles fondly.]

It was by their grace that I have been here for so long. This sort of work suits me better.

[coeurdulyon]

[ Eyebrows lift in polite surprise. ]

I am glad to hear it. The Freemen...I have been told they are little more than savage brigands. Dishonorable deserters and anarchists. I cannot imagine being 'tangled up' with them was a pleasurable experience.

[untiltheyarent]

[For the first time, something in Fifi's face tenses. She nods.]

It... was not.

[Absently, she fiddles with the ends of her hair.]

Elves are largely encouraged to know their place in Orlais, and the Freemen were no different in that regard. I was treated as a servant, not a peer.

[She sighs through her nose.]

Here, I have chosen to serve, but I am an equal, not a servant. There is a marked difference in how I, and those like me, are treated.

[coeurdulyon]

[ He has by now learned that the best thing he can do to help anyone is to listen. So when Josephine speaks of the treatment of her kind, Lucien falls silent and attentive, as if committing her words to memory. ]

I would hear you speak more on the matter, if you've a mind to, [ Lucien chooses his words carefully, with perhaps less confidence than he spoke with previously. Humility is a new experience for him. ]

Until the Venatori held me captive I had been woefully ignorant of...alors, not ignorant of the treatment but of their perspective. I am sorry to have ever been complicit.

[untiltheyarent]

[Fifi pauses, glancing back to him with a look of mild surprise that becomes a smile, her eyes becoming half-moons with amusement.]

I hold few grudges.

[She continues forward, beckoning him gently.]

I can speak of it if you like, but I find the subject boring of late. Your guilt is of no use to anyone, but your assistance will be, if your heart is in it.

[coeurdulyon]

[ He continues to follow, perhaps with a tiny bit more pep and a teensy bit less rigid propriety after seeing such a winning smile. ]

I won't insist, but should you ever wish to speak at length, I will listen most wholeheartedly.

[untiltheyarent]

Perhaps on a bad day, when I'm feeling ill-used.

[There aren't many of them, but people do get snippy sometimes-- it's just not specific to elves.]

You can leave it here. [Back in Trade. She opens a supply cabinet in the hall, and gestures inside.]

Thank you for your assistance, my friend.

[coeurdulyon]

All you need do is call and I shall come running.

[ He deposits the bag where bidden and brushes off his palms. She thanks him and he smiles warmly, and takes up Josephine's hand the way he would any noblewoman's in parting. ]

Thank you for the conversation, Josephine. I look forward to seeing you again. [ Lucien bows over her hand and kisses it, then straightens to take his leave. His own work is waiting. ]

[untiltheyarent]

[Fifi is not a person who gets her hand kissed often; perhaps it's that she's a maid, or that her life before Riftwatch was hardly grand enough to expect such a thing. But it makes her blush.]

Au... au revoir.

[She watches him go, then turns back toward the cabinet to continue her work, shaking her head with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.
Such a shameless fool for the debonair type, even now.]