Less about dishonesty and more about how some of the things we've had to explain to people before gets a remarkable amount of disbelief. Especially considering where we are.
In what way? Certainly we've fallen into some very domestic habits here, but in the month or so John and I knew each other before we arrived here, it was markedly unusual for us both.
Well, he hasn't sat me down and explained the entire affair, but. The
sharing of minds, the horrors of unspeakable power summoned from distant
planes, the murderous cultists and so on?
Those were an unusual few months for me as well, but it's shocking how
quickly one adjusts to a new normal.
It's hardly sharing minds. [With the tone of this being a familiar gripe he has, not anything that Astarion's set off.] Just because he doesn't pay rent for having lived in my fucking head doesn't mean he can hear my thoughts.
...and frankly I was dealing with cultists before I met John, you can't lift a fucking rock without a mob of them scurrying away, but- that was my first personally motivated dealing with them, at any rate.
Apologies. The cohabitation of heads, then, which I also have experience
in. What I'm driving at is that whatever John has to tell me about his life
to date, it's unlikely to warrant validation.
...you know, I actually couldn't say. You're rarely the subject of gossip as much as you think you ought to be - John only tells me things when he thinks he's doing something that's horribly failing you as a warden.
[His tone is light, an easy aside.] I suppose I was just... curious, how you might react.
Let's say I wanted to see your reaction, then. To see if you'd jump at the chance to find a way to try and undermine your warden for your own advantage, or if you thought so little of him as to consider it.
Blackmail, perhaps, to put the final nail in the coffin and drive him away from you completely. Or something to prove that he's as bad as you think he might be, that your gut tells you he must be.
Or, just maybe, something that proves he isn't.
Oh- but we can't be having that of course. If we start believing people who say they want the best for us, who knows what sort of dangerous slopes that might lead to? God forbid, you might even start to want him in your life.
I should also clarify - for you, and for him, since I assume he'll be privy to this exchange at some point - that I don't have any gut feelings that he's secretly some terrible monster who cares nothing for me. That would be absurd.
Only that John hates him with a passion I've rarely seen him express otherwise. I was assuming he was the one who turned you -
[The sheer fact that John hates him, that he's worth fucking up enough to burn a deal over, that Astarion apparently has a life so bad it was potentially even worth resetting, that he's a vampire spawn and thus almost definitely required someone to turn him...]
- but I'll admit that's a bold assumption. I only heard the name for the first time just before during your conversation with John.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-02-08 11:53 pm (UTC)...Not that I would ever need that, if he's as incapable of dishonesty as you claim.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:05 am (UTC)...Really?
Your lives seem, well, there's nothing hugely unfamiliar in what I've heard.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:13 am (UTC)Well, he hasn't sat me down and explained the entire affair, but. The sharing of minds, the horrors of unspeakable power summoned from distant planes, the murderous cultists and so on?
Those were an unusual few months for me as well, but it's shocking how quickly one adjusts to a new normal.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:19 am (UTC)...and frankly I was dealing with cultists before I met John, you can't lift a fucking rock without a mob of them scurrying away, but- that was my first personally motivated dealing with them, at any rate.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:23 am (UTC)Apologies. The cohabitation of heads, then, which I also have experience in. What I'm driving at is that whatever John has to tell me about his life to date, it's unlikely to warrant validation.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 10:58 am (UTC)Well, either way, I don't really care. His history is his business and I have no interest in making it mine.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 11:28 am (UTC)I suppose we'll see what next flood brings. But- no, you're right. I've said my piece - thank you for your patience with me, still.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 11:36 am (UTC)This isn't patience, darling, it's boredom.
...what exactly was your preferred outcome for this conversation?
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Date: 2024-02-09 11:40 am (UTC)[His tone is light, an easy aside.] I suppose I was just... curious, how you might react.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 11:47 am (UTC)[you know how often he wants to be gossiped about?? fucking never!! do not perceive him!!]
...I see. Try to actually want something from a conversation, darling, it might waste less of your time.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 11:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 11:56 am (UTC)Ha. According to you, he already believes he's doing a terrible job. Why would I need to do anything?
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:24 pm (UTC)Or, just maybe, something that proves he isn't.
Oh- but we can't be having that of course. If we start believing people who say they want the best for us, who knows what sort of dangerous slopes that might lead to? God forbid, you might even start to want him in your life.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 12:45 pm (UTC)Gods, are you trying to bait me? That's adorable.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 01:07 pm (UTC)I didn't think I was being subtle.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 01:12 pm (UTC)That would have been difficult, yes.
I should also clarify - for you, and for him, since I assume he'll be privy to this exchange at some point - that I don't have any gut feelings that he's secretly some terrible monster who cares nothing for me. That would be absurd.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 01:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 01:23 pm (UTC)Firstly: no, I'm not, and using his name to get a rise out of me is clumsy.
Secondly: what do you know about him, exactly?
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 01:36 pm (UTC)[The sheer fact that John hates him, that he's worth fucking up enough to burn a deal over, that Astarion apparently has a life so bad it was potentially even worth resetting, that he's a vampire spawn and thus almost definitely required someone to turn him...]
- but I'll admit that's a bold assumption. I only heard the name for the first time just before during your conversation with John.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 01:46 pm (UTC)Hm.
Well, your ignorance does explain why you'd suggest something so wildly off the mark, so, yes. Your mistake.