[open & closed] and when that day comes

[thereneverwas]

WHO: Barrow & friends
WHAT: ye olde lyrium detox in its various stages
WHEN: vaguely Wintermarch
WHERE: the infirmary
NOTES: I'll be adding a few starters at a time since I want later developments to feel organic and make sense. please feel free to request something if you don't see it here!

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[thereneverwas]

Hearing his name, Barrow looks up-- and narrows his eyes slightly as he smiles at Bastien, not about to let go of their recent rivalry just because he's about to be in the shit. But his smile warms as he beckons the two over, shuffling his cards all together in one sweep.

"Haven't you lads caused enough trouble?" he asks affectionately, resting his chin on his palm.

[bouchonne]

"Us?" Even when Byerly tries to look angelic, there's something decidedly devilish about him. Blame the facial hair - or maybe the face.

"We're never anything but good. Just the other day, we helped some orphans."

[cozen]

In contrast, no amount of unabashed devilry can stop Bastien from looking a little angelic. He answers Barrow's narrowing eyes with smile and an upward twitch of his eyebrows, together meaning I'm not afraid of you, you should be afraid of me, but there's still a warmth in his eyes that's let many a city guard let him walk away from crime scenes because he couldn't have possibly —

"They were having some trouble with a lock," he agrees.

They're very helpful. And gentlemen, too! Bastien pulls out Byerly's chair for him — it's his day to be gallant — and contemplates the empty space left behind by the one-player game Barrow has already swept away.

"What are we playing?"

[thereneverwas]

"Paragons of the community," Barrow remarks, "'d'y'let 'em keep the haul, at least?"

He smiles as the pair join him, and, pausing before he puts the cards away, glances between them. "Wicked Grace? Or something else you like better?"

[bouchonne]

"Virtuous Grace," says Byerly, sitting. "The rules are the same. It's just that it's us playing. So."

[cozen]

Bastien tips his head toward Byerly: what he said.

Maybe they won't even cheat.

[thereneverwas]

"Hmm."

Barrow runs a hand over his chin, considering: "but if all of us are playing, it won't be completely virtuous, either," he points out. "So... Flawed But Doing Its Best Grace?"

[cozen]

"Barrow," Bastien says, leaning forward and placing his hand on the table. He'd be placing it on top of Barrow's hand if he could; the vibe is the same. "You are the best of us. You have never done anything wrong in your life."

[bouchonne]

Byerly nods in solemn, silent, earnest agreement.

[thereneverwas]

Barrow's skeptical squint flickers between them, but he doesn't argue; it's bad enough with just one of them, but when they're united, chances of success plummet.

"All right," he concedes dubiously, with a sip from his mug, "what're we wagering?"

[cozen]

The capitulation is much nicer than Barrow pointing out best of us is a low bar — at least while they're joking around and Bastien doesn't really need to defend Byerly's honor and ethics and bleeding heart — so Bastien gives him a grin.

"Bragging rights? Money? Dares?"

[bouchonne]

"I like dares," Byerly says, scratching his chin. "Or clothing. It's been too long since I've mooned the public."

[thereneverwas]

"Dares it is," Barrow decides, the nervous energy of the moment bubbling into something a little rash, a little vindictive. He hasn't forgotten Bastien's japery in particular, and if he's about to die, he's going to make them work for it.