fantachetic | ic inbox;; drift fleet

Maker, you're right about that. I certainly hope it's nothing of the sort, I haven't imbibed enough alcohol for that.

I know, right? [ He shakes his head. ] The masks the...weird interpretive dance. But hey, dinner's first, so we can prepare.

There's no subtlety in Orlesian theater, not with whatever it is they're trying to get across.

So where is dinner, exactly? [ Should he have brought his emergency spices? ]

A place that does a lot of fish, it's just next door to the theater.

[ He shrugs. ]

It smelled good when I went by.

I'm certainly willing to give it a try.

[ He is all dressed up, after all. ]

...you don't hate fish, do you?

Bull. I grew up on the coast, of course I like fish.

Right. [ He nods, easily covering up his momentary uncertainty with a laugh. ]

Well, there were a couple options with the tickets, but I haven't had good fish in a long time.

Oh, neither have I. I believe it's been about four or five months? Possibly more. There was a passable restaurant on the beach of one of the previous planets.

Sometimes the fishers in northern Ferelden get lucky out on the Waking Sea, catch something in the wrong waters, but it's usually too rough for much fishing. An in got lucky once, but...

[ He shrugs. ]

That was a couple years ago.

The fish are typically much too smart to bother with the Waking Sea. I certainly hope they can live up to that this time.

[ It would be such a disappointment to have something you could find in a pond. ]

Hey, if not, we'll grab something after the show.

[ That being said, he was hoping so, too. He wanted this evening to go well. ]

That sounds wonderful.

[ He's having a good time already, with how put together this outing is. How could he not in such good company? ]

[ Thankfully the shuttles moved pretty quickly, which he guessed they had to in order to get through the atmosphere or whatever, but there was still silence to fill. ]

So, how are things over on the Blue Fish?

Things are good now that I'm properly settled in. [ He does wrinkle his nose, though. ] There are far too many animals, it feels like a zoo sometimes.

Riona has her mabari, Leilani hasher dog, and Alistair has some sort of cat.

[ At least Da'Fen has the decency to be fashionable thanks to Dorian. ]

Yeah?

[ He chuckles at that. ]

We've got some lizards, but I'm pretty sure that's about it.

I may be biased, but I've never been a dog person. My family had peacocks.

[ Which were mean as hell most of the time. ]

Peacocks? Those aren't pets. Those are...you know what? I'm not even surprised.

[ But he rolls his shoulder in an easy shrug. ]

I've never really had a pet...unless you count Grim...which you don't, really. I can't imagine peacocks smell much better than any other bird, though.

Very pretty to look at, but territorial at best. Mother adored them.

[ Which..explains a lot. ]

I wouldn't count Grim personally, he looks like a biter.

Funny. You sort of strike me as more of a cat guy.

[ And there's a reason, Dorian. Go on. Ask him. ]

Hey, he could be. He could also be real good at juggling fire sticks. Who knows?

[ But it's clear from the expression and the tone, not only does he miss that guy, he just misses all of them. ]

Why do you think that? [ Fine, he'll bite. ]

With Grim? It's terribly difficult to say. Isn't he the one that's supposedly an Arl?

[ He chuckles before he looks over fondly. ] Because you really like attention, but you hate when people notice, and you'll do just about anything for anyone who pets you just right.

[ And he shrugs. ]

Maybe he is, or an emperor somewhere. He doesn't talk much.

[ Bull, why do you have to call him out like this? He huffs and ducks his head, but doesn't deny it. How can he? ]

I couldn't be surprised at this point.