ataraxion | ii rune; text

Emily? [ She could make a great many guesses as to who Emily might be, but it's far easier this. ]

I can hear as long as the volume isn't too loud. I just think they wouldn't like that it's not part of the uniform.

The Empress's daughter. She is to take the throne when it is all... done.

[ Whatever 'done' meant, he was firmly avoiding it. But it was his fixing point, as his fingers curled around the cool glass. Somewhere else not quite here. ]

That, too. The Navy is unforgiving for that. Worse than the watch, but less than the Tower Guard.

How old is she?

[ Regents aren't usually there for older children, after all. She wants a clearer picture, wants to know what demons plague him.

Finishing her whiskey, she shakes her head. ]

Okay, I'm getting something that tastes less like acid.

[ She will return with something bright pink. ]

Ten years old.

[ He could speak for hours on Emily, she was how beautiful of a child she was -- and that it didn't matter, if she was or wasn't his, just that she deserved the world, like any little girl did. That she hadn't deserved anything of what she'd seen. Her nightmares, her hours spent alone, the way he came back to her an only smelt of blood.

But all that came from it, was another drink of whiskey and a smile at her retreating back. ]

Not to your liking?

[ and he'd stared at the pink thing so very confused. ]

[ Ten and meant to be an Empress. With Corvo there, she would be well looked after -- but that didn't mean people wouldn't try things, to harm or manipulate either of them either by removing or using the other. ]

A little too strong. This is more fruity; not always my kind of thing but then I realized you might not have ever seen one.

[ She takes a sip and grins at him. ]

Want a taste? It tastes like strawberries.

[ And all his worry, there lay in. What if it wasn't enough, what if it was never enough, even when the bodies piled high, the castle he would build her a top it might never be tall enough that the stench didn't reach her. ]

It is... [ he peered a little at it. It certainly smelt like them. ] If you have no objection...? [ He's curious, a little. ]

Not at all.

[ She even pushes the glass a little closer. ]

[ Like a dog being offered a new master, he was so very cautious to approach the ... drink. It glowed the strange way Whale Oil did, and he wasn't even sure it should be drunk.

But she hadn't come down with any sign of poison yet, and he did not wish to offend. So, he drank.

Sugar was rare in Gristol, even before the blockade. Now it was impossible to find. It needed warmer climates to grow. But this? This was like drinking it pure. It would have cost a fortune, in Dunwall. The nobility would have loved it. But Corvo frowned at the taste and stopped after a sip. ]

It's very sweet. [ and he reached for his whiskey again, prefer it's burning taste. ]

[ Rebecca laughs. ]

Yeah, it is. I don't drink a lot of things like this back home.

[ Simply because she can't, because when you're hiding from Templars you can only take the occassional break to go out on the town. The last time it hadn't been part of traveling had been with Shaun, back in Monteriggioni. ]

Is it very expensive?

[ which he could see why she might like it. Jessamine and Emily had both craved sweet things, and he'd never minded them. Though the drink was a little much.

That being said, he took another sip of his own. ]

This stuff? Nah. It's usually cheap vodka with flavoring mixed with something carbonated.

[ She shrugs, takes another sip of hers. ]

There are pretty expensive whiskeys, though.

... It is filled with sugar though, does that not make it expensive?

[ He looks at his own drink, thinking of whiskey. The distilleries. ]

Dunwall whiskey is some of the finest in the Empire, but I cannot call it expensive.

Sugar's in a lot of things where I'm from. Good whiskey is harder to come by, so it's more expensive.

[ Yet another difference. ]

I think I prefer it our way.

[ He still doesn't trust it. Alcohol shouldn't be that colour. ]

Whale oil, is as luminescent like that. Are you sure it's safe?

It's a dye. They test that sort of thing to make sure people can eat them without harmful effects.

[ Pause. ]

Of course, some people are allergic to red dyes and testing has been wrong before.

I'm not sure I -- [ he fumbled a little, and if it was alcohol getting to him, he wasn't admitting it. ] -- understand what you mean.

[ Food either killed you, or it didn't. The nuances of that escaped him. ]

[ Aw, tipsy. ]

You know how some people get itchy eyes or sneeze a lot during certain times of year?

[ he seems to be holding at well. He just seems for one a little more open. ]

Only amongst the wealthy. But only because they can afford to complain of such things.

Well, those are allergies. Mild ones. More severe ones can make you have a rash or stop breathing.

[ as she sips her drink -- clearly she does not have a red dye allergy ]

I think I may of seen something like it. But it might of been poisoning.

[ It's hard to say in Dunwall, most of the time. ]

And people have reactions, to what turns food different colours? [ Which were spices, to the best of his knowledge. Unless she meant cloth dyes? It was confusing, but he did his best to muddle through an understanding. ]

If you give someone enough of something they're allergic to, it's basically the same.

Some people do, yeah. [ It's okay, Rebecca isn't entirely sure what they use to make food different colors either. ]

[ He thought on this, a long time. ] If you should ever meet the nobles of Dunwall, tell them nothing of this. They will delight in such new ways to kill each other.

[ So very serious insisting, frowning and everything. ]

Is there a way that you may check without harm, what someone is allergic to? Emily's food will have to be checked more often now.

I won't, don't worry.

[ She couldn't say the same for the medical staff, though. ]

A doctor can do a skin test -- they prick your skin with a little bit of some common things people are allergic to and see if it gets red and bumpy. Peanuts are a really common food allergy, if you want to start there.

Could you do it? Should it ever be a concern.

[ Maybe it was the drink talking, but in this moment he trusted her -- and he didn't trust anyone with Emily. Maybe it was safer, because this was all in the hypothetical, but he felt comfortable in that. ]

I'm not a doctor, but if I can find the allergens, I think so. It's not really painful, but it is uncomfortable, though.

[ She understands wanting to live in hypotheticals. God knows she wants to almost all the time back home, thinking of what the future might bring. ]

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