....I....always told myself it was nothing but a bad dream.
[It in context being damningly self explanatory. Add to it: his tone. Add to it: his evasion. Add to it: the fact that this whole time they've been discussing Ilithid-borne kidnappings, and now all he's mentioning are dreams. Old, old displacements.]
Part and parcel when it comes to traversing the Fade, or— something like that, anyway. [Simple enough theory, really:] Fall asleep, have a nightmare or two, wake up on the other side of all the Realms themselves just like any other misplaced Rifter. It made a great deal of sense.
Coincidentally, I also don't think I ever really believed it. [Lying to oneself is an art; Astarion's only ever been half-good at it.]
Looking back, I suppose I probably just preferred the story that way. It felt better. Cleaner overall— not to mention so much easier to explain: Thedas was the one who stole me from my master. Thedas decided to imprison me. And it was Thedas that gave me a home, a life— you.
[A tepid beat, like bartering for breath he doesn't need.]
2/2
[It in context being damningly self explanatory. Add to it: his tone. Add to it: his evasion. Add to it: the fact that this whole time they've been discussing Ilithid-borne kidnappings, and now all he's mentioning are dreams. Old, old displacements.]
Part and parcel when it comes to traversing the Fade, or— something like that, anyway. [Simple enough theory, really:] Fall asleep, have a nightmare or two, wake up on the other side of all the Realms themselves just like any other misplaced Rifter. It made a great deal of sense.
Coincidentally, I also don't think I ever really believed it. [Lying to oneself is an art; Astarion's only ever been half-good at it.]
Looking back, I suppose I probably just preferred the story that way. It felt better. Cleaner overall— not to mention so much easier to explain: Thedas was the one who stole me from my master. Thedas decided to imprison me. And it was Thedas that gave me a home, a life— you.
[A tepid beat, like bartering for breath he doesn't need.]
That part in particular, I always liked.