[Iam mitesce, and after all the hours of semi-successful training with the pups, it's a wonder to watch how obedient Ataashi still is. With a low wuff (and a few extra wiggles) she slumps heavily against her father, tail whacking him over and over as she wiggles her way down to lie in his lap. Hello. Hello, hello, favorite father, beloved father who doesn't reek of pups and is now her favorite, and Leto pretends not to notice the way she pointedly glances over at him, checking to see if he's jealous.]
She missed you.
[She did. Jealous ploys or not, she does so love her father. Ataashi happily sighs as she turns her attention back to Astarion, cold nose intent on shoving against his stomach in joyful nuzzling.]
Obedient thing . . . learn from her, [he adds to the wriggling pups in his lap, who take absolutely no heed of that command. Sedere is obeyed a solid eight out of ten times, but it's a journey. Besides, Leto thinks fondly, their wolf is so much smarter than the two little sausages currently intent on getting as many scritches as possible.]
We did, though. And we will do it again if it pleases us— or sell it if it does not. I cannot imagine some wealthy patriar wouldn't want to buy such property just to say he had it— and we could afford something more manageable with the money we get from it.
[Real Estate Simulator 1494 . . . and of course, that's ignoring the fact that the master of that palace is still very much alive (in a sense, anyway). But today is a good day. A bright day, a miraculous day, and Leto will not spoil it with dour talk of all the things they've yet to face. Better to find bitter mirth in the thought of flipping their masters' property and benefiting from their death.
But ah . . . he cannot keep his mind from wandering utterly. And yet he does not want to ruin this day— so, a compromise. A gentle question, and one they might answer without getting into the larger implications.]
. . . would you go back, if you could?
[To that dank old mansion. To Thedas. To a thousand struggles and fears and joys and hopes; to a way of life that seems as appealing as it does repulsive.]
no subject
She missed you.
[She did. Jealous ploys or not, she does so love her father. Ataashi happily sighs as she turns her attention back to Astarion, cold nose intent on shoving against his stomach in joyful nuzzling.]
Obedient thing . . . learn from her, [he adds to the wriggling pups in his lap, who take absolutely no heed of that command. Sedere is obeyed a solid eight out of ten times, but it's a journey. Besides, Leto thinks fondly, their wolf is so much smarter than the two little sausages currently intent on getting as many scritches as possible.]
We did, though. And we will do it again if it pleases us— or sell it if it does not. I cannot imagine some wealthy patriar wouldn't want to buy such property just to say he had it— and we could afford something more manageable with the money we get from it.
[Real Estate Simulator 1494 . . . and of course, that's ignoring the fact that the master of that palace is still very much alive (in a sense, anyway). But today is a good day. A bright day, a miraculous day, and Leto will not spoil it with dour talk of all the things they've yet to face. Better to find bitter mirth in the thought of flipping their masters' property and benefiting from their death.
But ah . . . he cannot keep his mind from wandering utterly. And yet he does not want to ruin this day— so, a compromise. A gentle question, and one they might answer without getting into the larger implications.]
. . . would you go back, if you could?
[To that dank old mansion. To Thedas. To a thousand struggles and fears and joys and hopes; to a way of life that seems as appealing as it does repulsive.]