Title: Conversations
Fandom: High Rollers (Aerois campaign)
Rating: G
Length: 1499 words
Content notes: Spoilers for episode #44, The Elenasto Fiasco.
Author notes: This came from my own need for someone to talk to Lucius please...They had two days with nothing to do but talk things over, some sort of conversation must have happened!
Summary: After discovering Moonstar's identity, there's a lot to talk about.

As the brief discussion over how much they could trust Moonstar died down, there was a long silence in the cells, all of them processing what had just happened.

"Lucius? How are you?" Sentry asked at last.

As one, they all turned to look at the high elf. It wasn’t a reassuring sight; he had dropped to the floor at the back of his cell and was sitting curled up into a ball, face buried in his knees.

"Lucius?" Nova repeated, as he didn't respond. "Are you... okay?"

"I..." there was a long moment of silence, then he finally said, face still hidden, "I need some time. Please."

At that point, as if in response, Smeek’s ghostly form reappeared in front of Lucius's cell, babbling something in which the only understandable word was "Luci".

"He wants to know what's wrong, with Lucius," Nova translated quietly.

Lucius snorted, mumbling something. Most of them couldn't make it out, but Quill was fairly sure it had been "What isn't?"

"Lucius, I..." Quill began, and Lucius cut him off.

"Please, Quill." He wasn’t quite snapping, but it was close.

Quill ducked his head, even though Lucius wasn't looking at him. "I'm sorry." Ironic, he thought, that was the main thing he'd wanted to say anyway. He looked over at Sentry and Aila. "Someone should probably keep watch? If she could get in here, someone who wants to hurt us might be able to as well?"

The two women nodded. "I'll take the first watch," Aila offered. "I'll try and keep Smeek quiet, too."

Awkwardly, with many glances at the huddled ball that was Lucius and then back at each other, the rest of them lay down. Privately, Quill used his messenger ring to speak to Aila.

"Aila? Will you keep an eye on Lucius too? I'll ask Sentry as well."

"Yeah, I figured that's what you meant really?” Aila replied, sounding a little surprised at the question. “It sounds like if anyone wants to get rid of us they just need to convince the Sky Prince to execute us, they wouldn't need to mess around with trying to get in here."

"I - I really hadn't thought of it like that - "

"Well, you should!" Aila retorted, then - perhaps feeling guilty at the panicked look Quill was now giving her - continued, "Don't worry, if they do throw anyone off it'll probably be me."

"That - that's really not reassuring - we won't let them pin this on you. We'll have your back."

Truthfully, Quill wasn't entirely sure how much they'd be able to do if the Sky Prince did decide to pin it on her, but Aila seemed to appreciate it, nodding at him. "Thanks, Quill. Don't worry, I'll keep watch."

"Thanks, Aila."

Focusing on his ring again, Quill reached out to Sentry. "Sentry? When you take your watch, will you keep an eye on Lucius?"

"Of course," her voice came back inside his head. "I'm worried about him too, this was a big shock."

"Did I do the right thing? Finding out who she was, and saying it?"

Sentry was quiet for a moment. "Yes, I think so. We had to know who she was, we've been betrayed too many times... And it's good news, he just needs time to come to terms with it." Hearing no reply from Quill, she insisted, "You did the right thing, don't worry. We should get some rest."

"Yes, I suppose so... sleep well."

Quill curled up on his pallet, the vision he'd received from H’Esper still running through his mind. Fragmentary moments of Edea leaving the Elenasto estate, donning her Moonstar disguise in her workshop, standing frozen in horror before the smoking ruin of her home... at least he hadn't blurted out the description of that, like he had when he saw Virion's death. As it was, he'd still given both her and Lucius a terrible shock.

Eyes closed, he listened intently. He didn't think anyone was sleeping, except perhaps Sentry who could choose to power down. Certainly Nova wasn't snoring yet, and of course Aila was awake - he could hear her hissing at Smeek to sit down and be quiet. He couldn't hear anything at all from Lucius's cell, though... Perhaps that was good? At least he wasn't sobbing? But that utter silence wasn't reassuring, either. As he had so often since they arrived in Gusthaven, Quill wished he knew how to comfort his friend. But other than give him the time he'd asked for, he didn't know what else to do, especially locked in a cell... He lay awake for a long time, before finally drifting off to an uneasy sleep.


Quill blinked rapidly, coming awake. The sunlight was bright through the slit windows; he must have slept in, after staring at the ceiling for what had felt like hours. Sitting up, he looked across to Sentry’s cell, and her glowing purple eyes met his.

"Morning, Quill."

"Hey, Sentry. Is everyone awake?"

“Mostly,” Sentry replied, amusement in her voice.

“Five more minutes,” Nova groaned from her own cell, on the other side of Lucius’s.

“No rush, we’re not going anywhere,” Aila retorted.

As they talked, Quill stood up and walked to the front of his cell, from where he could see into Lucius’s. The high elf was no longer curled up on the floor, but sitting on his bed; as Quill stepped into view, he looked up.

“Lucius, I’m sorry - ”
“Thank you - ”

They both started speaking at the same time, then stopped. Lucius tilted his head, confusion in his eyes.

“Sorry? Whatever for?”

“Last night - the vision - I - ” Quill hesitated, stumbling over his words as he tried to explain.

“Birdie.” Lucius looked at him, shaking his head. “You discovered my sister’s alive. Why are you apologizing for that? I don’t know how to thank you for it!”

“I - I just feel like I should have… warned you, told you before I said it out loud, so it wasn’t so much of a shock, I wasn’t thinking, I was caught up in what I’d seen…”

“I think it would have been a shock either way,” Lucius replied. “You did the right thing, she wouldn’t have admitted it if you hadn’t pushed her.” Then, curiously, “What did you see?”

“It was a bit disjointed,” Quill said, thinking fast. Could he avoid mentioning the explosion? “I saw her leaving the estate first, and of course I realised who she was, she looks just like you - ”

“I’m better-looking,” Lucius grumbled instantly, pulling a face, and then looked embarrassed at what was obviously an ingrained reaction to being compared to his twin. “Sorry, keep going.”

Quill smiled at him, keeping his agreement to himself. “Anyway, after that I saw her in a workshop of some sort? It wasn’t a big room, but it was full of tools and vials and gadgets, and she was putting on the mask.”

He stopped there, and Lucius looked at him thoughtfully. “You asked how she knew to leave the estate that night…” It wasn’t quite a question, but the implication that he’d realised what else Quill must have seen was there.

“At the end of the vision she was standing in front of the estate, after… after the explosion,” Quill said softly, hoping Lucius wouldn’t ask for any more details. The memory was all too vivid in his mind, Edea’s distress all too clear despite the mask hiding her face.

Lucius sighed. “Poor Edea… Our parents, and everyone who worked there, and she already thought I was dead… And her girlfriend was in there too?”

He looked up at Quill for confirmation, and Quill nodded.

“Did you know her? Edea’s girlfriend?” Nova asked quietly from her own cell.

Lucius snorted and shook his head. “I didn’t even know she… We’ve never been close, you know. Even as children, we never had the same interests, we hardly ever played together unless we were made to. She was always the smart one, the one who was going to follow Daddy into the business, who understood aetherium… I was more interested in Nanny’s stories and sky-jousting.”

“Oh, I see… She said you used to paint?” Nova said, clearly trying to lead them to less painful topics, away from Daddy and the business and the explosion.

“Oh yes, you didn’t think my airship design came out of nowhere, did you? I always liked drawing and painting, I used to be quite good… I suppose that was all blown up too,” he finished quietly, his gaze dropping to the floor.

His friends looked at each other awkwardly, unsure what to say. Before anyone could find words, he looked back up. “It doesn’t matter, does it? I have my sister back, that’s what really matters.” Then, looking at Quill directly, “Thank you for telling me. Thank you for looking.”

Quill hunched his shoulders, embarrassed. “It’s what H’Esper gave me this for, to ask the right questions.”

Lucius’s blue and orange eyes were very bright with unshed tears, but he was smiling. “Well, thank you for asking this one.”