sixfeetofdirt | TLV: IC Contact

All right.

[He lets a silence draw out.]

...I was about to kill my master. It was the first chance I'd had in two centuries.

And he just...crushed me like an insect.

[Rosita is comfortable with silence. She lets it draw too, and when he continues, there's a soft sniff of a sound before she answers, solemn.]

I'm sorry.

Hope that's closest is hardest to lose.

Yes. It is. Thank you.

Does -

[She hesitates, trying to pick her way through the unfamiliar concept.]

Does it hurt, then? Being here without him, because you couldn't kill him?

Gods, what a horrible thought. No, nothing like that.

Cazador used to have complete, compulsive control over me. I couldn't not follow his orders. He could summon me to his side no matter how far I got from him.

That link between us was...interrupted, temporarily. He lost his power over me. I tried to make the most of that, to make my freedom absolute, and...failed.

That sounds...

Horrible. And terrifying.

It was!

If I'd been able to read the small print of his offer to 'save' me while I was bleeding to death, well, I'm not sure what I would have chosen.

Save you.

The... first time?

When he made me a vampire. I'd been set on by some gang of thugs, and maybe he'd had a hand in that or maybe he was just drawn to the scent of blood. I'll never know.

'Death or immortality' didn't feel like much of a dilemma at the time. I thought he was helping an influential member of the judiciary, not acquiring a slave.

No. People will do a lot worse than that, faced with death before they're ready.

What disrupted the connection?

[Well, she's probably not going to love the full 'brain worm' explanation soooo]

It's a long story. The short version is that I and a handful of others were recruited by a powerful, mysterious benefactor to save the world. We were afforded certain protections while getting the job done.

Did you get a chance to read the small print this time?

[That twist of bitterness might be a surprise in the moment, along with the soft snort.]

[Astarion laughs.]

Darling, I didn't even get a chance to sign the proverbial contract this time. 'Chosen Ones' aren't granted many choices of their own, you know?

See, that's not fair, because you never told me you were a Chosen One.

I...didn't think you'd want to know? It's not as if it was my fault.

There's a lot of things people are that aren't their fault.

[The rustle of movement on her side, her chair creaking, breathing out.]

It's hard to know, isn't it? Where the line is. How much to say, how much matters.

Well, I apologise if you felt misinformed.

In my defence, I barely contributed to the cause. Gale and Karlach were much more enthusiastic.

That's more than you had to do. Unless I still don't understand.

Don't apologize. I was just messing with you.

Edited 2024-05-27 14:03 (UTC)

I know, darling, don't worry.

I could theoretically have wandered off on my own whenever I pleased, but not long into our venture we crossed paths with a monster hunter searching for me - me, specifically, not just 'some vampire killing the local wildlife'. He knew my name. Working on Cazador's orders, I believe.

After that, safety in numbers seemed the wiser option, so I earned my keep.

...did they know?

Gale and Karlach. And whoever else.

Yes. Not at first, but...over time, we all became very familiar with each other's tragic backstories.

How long were you with them?

...Do you know, I wasn't really counting the days? At least a month. There was a lot of excitingly hectic bloodshed and magic nonsense, interspersed with long bouts of trudging through the countryside.

A month.

[It relaxes something in her voice, something subtle but definitive, like a finger on a trigger.]

You like having them here?

I...I don't mind it.

Karlach's deal is idiotic and that's extremely annoying, but she's got time to rethink it.

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