Author's Note: Thank you so much for your patience.
Chapter 14: Veritas
The three Exalt siblings had gathered to help Lissa prepare alphabet cookies for her class of grade threes. It was a treat she had promised them on a class-wide improvement in spelling. The kitchen in her house was too small, so she asked Emmeryn if they could all gather at the main house—the house they all grew up in. Emmeryn had decided to remain in the house after their parents passed away, while Chrom and Lissa lived closer to their work in downtown.
"Hey, Emm, why does it he keep smiling like that?" Lissa leaned over to Emmeryn and whispered. They watched their brother sit on the stool and tapped a light rhythm with his hands against the kitchen counter.
"Well, he is on his vacation," Emmeryn answered.
"It's not even nice out." Lissa gestured out the kitchen window.
The two Exalt sisters took a peek outside the window. The sky was a dreary, grey backdrop with curdled clouds dragging their miserable bodies across the sky. The budding trees bent and yielded to the commanding strong wind. Occasionally, a tree branch would claw at the window. And the usually luscious backyard lawn was dabbled by brown, muddy patches, framed with an empty garden.
"Isn't it a great day?" Chrom asked his two sisters cheerfully.
Emmeryn offered him a sympathetic smile. Perhaps being away from work has made his head go a little fuzzy. "Is everything alright?"
He grinned. "Everything is dapper."
"Emm, he just used the word 'dapper', something's wrong with him. Who uses 'dapper'?" Lissa asked in a hushed voice.
The older Exalt rationalized that perhaps his behaviour wasn't the result of something negative. "Did something good happen?" asked Emmeryn.
"I have a date with Robin this upcoming Friday," Chrom announced excitedly.
"Wait, so 'Chrobin' is a thing?" Lissa gasped. "I did it, Emm! I'm the ultimate matchmaker!" She giggled while bouncing on her feet.
"I'm happy to hear that, Chrom." Emmeryn gave him a kind smile.
"I can't wait to meet her," Lissa exclaimed.
"Give them a bit of space and time, Lissa." Emmeryn patted Lissa on the hand.
"Oh, you're right. First, he needs to make her fall madly in love with him to overlook that he's actually a dork who can't dress himself. You're lucky that police officers have to wear uniforms." Lissa grinned, resting her hands on her hips. "Oh, wait...you can't go on dates in a police uniform. We have a problem here."
"I'm really excited." Chrom gave his two sisters the widest smile, oblivious to Lissa's remarks. "Do you guys need any help with that?" He pointed to the floury mess his sisters had their hands being sucked into.
"We're good," said Lissa. "It may not look like I know what I'm doing. But I know what I'm doing." Lissa scurried about in the kitchen and pulled out a couple baking sheets.
"Did you buy cookie cutters?" asked Emmeryn, pulling out a rolling pin from a drawer.
"Yup, just for Chrom, since his artistic ability border artistic disability," said Lissa. "Can't have him ruining my cookies for my little grade threes!"
"Hey!" protested Chrom. "Stop sassing your older brother. And I'm not that bad."
Emmeryn laughed lightly at the two. She began to roll out the dough as the two continued to banter.
"Remember that drawing of a chicken you made when you were helping me out on a project in elementary school?" asked Lissa. She placed the box of alphabet cookie cutters onto the counter.
"No?" said Chrom, frowning at her.
"Well, I do. Everyone laughed. How in Naga's name does a chicken have four legs?" she asked.
"Oh, that," said Chrom, vaguely remembering little Lissa returning from school with her school project with quite the angry scrunched up face at the verge of tears. "It had two legs, and two of the other things were its wings."
Lissa burst out laughing and Emmeryn giggled beside her. The memory of Chrom's terrible drawing was too vivid. "It looked like a donkey!"
"Fine, Lissa. I suck at art. And I suck at music," said Chrom. "But I try."
"That's all that matters," said Emmeryn. She had stamped her way through most of the dough while Lissa teased Chrom.
Chrom got up from the stool and went around to help his sisters finish the cutting the cookies out. He grabbed a small 'C' stencil and pressed it into the soft dough, making a clean imprint.
"When you bring Robin home, I'm going to have so much fun showing her all your awkward baby photos." Lissa giggled.
"You wouldn't," said Chrom. There were too many awkward baby photos. Too many.
"Oh, I would," said Lissa. "They're too adorable to not share with her."
Before Chrom could think of a comeback, his attention was brought to the vibrating phone in his pants. He washed his hands in the sink and dried his hands on his shirt. He pulled out the phone and a smile spread on his face when he looked at the screen. He texted something back on the phone while slowly making his way back to the stool he was sitting on.
"Chrom?" Emmeryn called out to him. "Chrom?"
"Yeah?" he responded, but he wasn't paying attention to them anymore.
"And we lost him," said Lissa. She turned to Emmeryn. "So how are you and Frederick?" She elbowed her sister in the side.
The eldest Exalt blushed. "Lissa…"
Lissa would pull pranks on them when she was younger, but now that she grew up a bit, she usually resorted to getting her fun from teasing them.
No one was safe from Lissa endless teasing. No one.
"Please, can we do this another night? It's Monday," protested Robin in the elevator. She was pressed up against the mirrored wall because Priam had brought so much with him from Plegia.
"Nope. I call the shots, little Grima." He was really pulling the superiority card today. "Clear your schedule. Both of you. Because you might not be able to stand up tomorrow."
Lon'qu shifted uncomfortably against his side of the elevator, trying to alleviate the pressure of one of Priam's suitcases starting to dig into his thigh.
"You stupid sex addict, why'd you bring so much crap with you? You're worse than Avie!" Robin began to take out her frustration on Priam.
Priam smirked. "Well, if you really want to know, little Grima. One suitcase is condoms. For you know." Priam winked and made a ring with his thumb and index finger with one hand and then inserted his other index finger in and out. Robin rolled her eyes at him. Lon'qu decided to examine the fascinating pattern of Gold Digger's carrier bag. Priam continued. "The large one right beside you. That one is full of sex toys. Oh, and that one is just booze."
"You're all the seven sins rolled up into one person, you know that?" snapped Robin. "Didn't you bring any clothes, you idiot."
Lon'qu found it difficult to believe half of what Priam said. He knew Priam was a lot more practical and logical than he let on. However, Lon'qu chose to remain quiet around Priam most of the time. A part of him was nervous that if he got sucked into Priam's endless trolling, he'd end up in a similar situation to Robin.
When the elevator finally opened on their floor, Robin let out a sigh of relief. "Hurry up. I can't handle this any longer."
"That's what she said." Priam teased with that awful smirk of his. He watched Robin blush and then curse at him. Priam pointed his thumb at Robin and shook his head at Lon'qu. "Seriously, Lon'qu, how do you deal with her? She doesn't have a sense of humour."
Lon'qu was stretched out with his finger pressing the 'open door' button while wearing a terribly unamused face. "Priam, you're at the front of the elevator, can you start moving your stuff out?" asked Lon'qu gruffly.
"Fine, fine." Priam stepped out and pulled out one suitcase at a time, eventually freeing Lon'qu and Robin from his trap. Robin helped Lon'qu drag some of the suitcases closer to the door.
Lon'qu stood in front of the door and slid the key pad open. Priam tilted his head a bit to figure out the password as Lon'qu pressed it in. The gears turned and it sang a little happy tune. Lon'qu opened the door and propped it open with the attached door stop.
"Really, Robin? Zero, three, two, three?" scoffed Priam. "You depressing brat."
Robin didn't volley back a sassy remark. Quietly, she stepped in and slipped off her shoes, leaving the work to Priam and Lon'qu.
"Hey, come grab Gold Digger," Priam yelled into the house. To his surprise, Robin came back and took the dog carrier from him. As Lon'qu and Priam brought in each suitcase, from the corner of his eye, Priam saw Robin unzip the carrier and let Gold Digger out.
"I'm sorry you have such an awful owner." Robin cooed at the awkward pug who wagged its tail happily at her. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you." She held out a cautious hand to pet the dog. Once she realized that Gold Digger was a very amicable dog, she scratched his ear.
Priam snorted out of ear-shot. "Tch, and she said she hated him."
"I think that's the last of them," said Lon'qu, closing the door behind him.
Priam let out a whistle once he got a good look around the condominium. "This is one hell of a place. That's a nice view." He walked over to the large windows that composed one side of the entire condominium.
"Don't make a mess." Robin warned.
"Why would I do such a thing?" Priam feigned being offended.
"Is Gold Digger toilet-trained?" Robin asked while giving the dog a belly rub with her foot.
"I think so," said Priam.
"What do you mean, 'I think so'?" demanded Robin.
"I'm not the one who usually takes care of him. The men take turns, since I have more important things to do," said Priam. He rolled two of the suitcases to the side of the couches.
"I guess I'm not the only one you neglect, huh? Poor dog," said Robin. She gave him a judgmental stare as she watched him drag two more suitcases over to the couches.
"He gets fed and loved," said Priam. "You're really not going to help are you?"
"Hmm, let me remember…oh, right. You didn't help me at all when I was moving my stuff to Ylisse from Plegia for med school, did you now? Oh, right. You were flirting with anything that had boobs and legs," Robin retorted. "Including some of the mothers."
"No one likes grudge-y bitches," said Priam. "Past is the past. Get over it."
Robin rolled her eyes. "Hurry up. You're so slow," said Robin. She watched Gold Digger who was barking excitedly as he ran around his new home. "I want to get Veritas over with. Lon'qu, do you think we should order out?"
"What were you thinking?" Lon'qu asked, sitting down on his couch.
"Ribs!" shouted Priam.
"Ignore him," said Robin, waving her hand at Priam. "I don't think I want to eat pizza…are you craving anything?"
"Ribs!" Priam shouted again.
"I'm not really hungry right now." Lon'qu admitted to Robin.
Robin's stomach growled, a reminder that she missed lunch because they were picking up Priam and now it was almost dinner time.
"Chicken wings and ribs!" Priam continued to be an irritating fly to Robin. In his corner, he began to unpack one of his suitcase.
Robin heard clinking sounds, so she decided to look over to see what Priam was doing now. Around him were glass bottles of alcohol. The bottles all differed in shape and size. The contents inside the bottles were varying colours as well. But Robin knew that they all had one thing in common: a high alcohol content. And she also knew another fact all too well—they were going to have to finish all of it tonight.
Robin sighed. "I'm going to throw up tonight."
Lon'qu grimaced at the collection of booze that Priam had brought over. He wasn't lying about one of the suitcases being full of alcohol. It had been a while since he had drunk copious amounts of alcohol. It worried him a little that he might not last. He hoped deep inside that all that training and trying to keep up with the both Director Khans in Regna Ferox will steel his will to get through Veritas.
"We're going to have so much fun tonight," Priam roared. "Did you order the ribs and chicken wings yet?"
"How are you still alive when you do that to your body?" asked Robin.
Lon'qu set down the shot glasses on the coffee table. Beside him, Robin grumbled miserably under her breath as she unwrapped the delivered food. She gave Priam a dirty look, for he was lounging on the couch, watching the two do all the work.
"Would it kill you to help?" demanded Robin.
"Probably," said Priam, reaching over for a chicken wing while lying on the couch. Gold Digger wagged his tails expectantly at Priam as he bit into the meaty chunk.
"I don't get the point of this," said Robin, looking around at the food and bottles of alcohol they were expected to clear tonight.
"I didn't even bring that much. We can get through five bottles, easily," said Priam, waving a hand.
"Not when it's Feroxi vodka and Plegian tequila, we can't," snapped Robin, picking up a bottle and studying it luxurious brand label.
Priam shrugged and grabbed a rib this time. "Not my fault you're a lightweight. Too bad magic doesn't exist anymore. Did you know Veritas has been around for centuries, Lon'qu?"
"You've mentioned it," said Lon'qu.
"It was originally a truth-telling spell that would be cast amongst the royals or criminals. Hah! Sometimes the royals were criminals back then. The irony. Anyway, the point was to ensure that there were no secrets between the royal members to prevent the upheaval of the king within their inner circle. But there was a drawback, or so they say. Apparently, if you had a strong enough will power, you could withstand answering the questions truthfully," said Priam.
"And now it's just a stupid excuse to drink yourself to death," Robin grumbled.
"Nah, little Grima," said Priam as he tossed the clean rib bone to Gold Digger. Rib sauce splattered on the ground on its impact. Lon'qu and Robin both frowned at the location where the bone landed on the ground. "Gods, chill out, you two. Gold Digger's a food vacuum cleaner. He'll lick it clean."
"Aren't you not supposed to feed dogs human food?" asked Robin.
Priam waved his hand. "Whatever. Gold Digger's like me, he's fine. Anyway, back to how we do Veritas in the modern day!"
"No one cares about your lecture." Robin rolled her eyes, leaving the two men behind.
"Brat. Anyway, finishing my story," said Priam, turning to the last victim.
"I don't understand how drinking to the point of alcohol poisoning is anything like the historical Veritas," said Lon'qu.
"That's where you're wrong!" Priam said excitedly, abruptly sitting up on the couch. Gold Digger jumped in surprise and barked with the same level of excitement as his owner. Priam pushed the pug aside with his foot. "Drunk people tend to tell the truth more. Usually. And whoever doesn't get smashed the most ends up taking all the secrets everyone else spills. Or whoever remembers the most."
"Priam, I don't see the point of getting Robin black-out drunk," said Lon'qu with a frown. He knew this wasn't going to go anywhere. Plegia was a country with a huge emphasis on social structure and hierarchy, particularly being respectful to your elders and superiors—as in, you do what they ask and want. It was considered very rude to deny a request or order from someone who was your superior.
However, the dynamic between the three was odd. Technically, Robin outranked them all, seeing how her father employed both Lon'qu and Priam. But by age, Robin was the youngest, then Lon'qu was next with a couple years on Robin, and Priam was quite older than both of them. The establishment of social order was especially peculiar because Robin had known Priam for years and he had essentially taken care of her as an older figure for most of their relationship. So in the end, he had more authority over Robin than she did over him because of the position her father put Priam in.
At the end of the day, Robin understood her home country's customs very well. Lon'qu also knew that even if it was something she disagreed with, Robin would still do what she was asked to do. It was the Plegian way—blood, loyalty, and respect.
Robin returned in a casual tank and shorts. "Let's get this over with."
"It's been a while since I've drunk." Priam rubbed his hands excitedly.
"Wow, what? Has it been five hours?" asked Robin sarcastically.
"I need to maintain this body somehow," said Priam. She didn't want to admit it, but Priam was built. She could almost see why some women were attracted to him. But definitely not his personality. "I'm not like you, fatty." Robin gave an exasperated sigh and sat on the floor. She organized the shot glasses. "Yup, that's a roll right there." Priam pointed at her.
Robin glared at him. "You try pulling a graveyard shift and living off of the vending machine and shitty coffee."
"Lon'qu, you have to stop feeding her so much. I know you feel bad for her because she's small compared to us, but seriously, man, look at her. No one's going to want to marry her," said Priam. He began to snicker to himself as he watched Robin lose her composure bit by bit. "Are you going to take responsibility for her if she's a spinster?"
Lon'qu sighed at the two. Priam enjoyed teasing Robin way too much. He thought that Priam would…grow out of it (despite being an adult), but he never did.
"I plan to be a spinster and die alone with my textbooks," said Robin. "I'm more worried about you. You're dick might fall off before you even get hitched." Robin tossed a shot glass over to Priam. He caught singlehandedly. "Actually, that might be a good thing for the world, so you don't pass on your corrupt, sinful genes."
Priam chuckled. "Your comebacks have gotten better."
"Your insults have just gotten weak." Robin smirked.
"We'll see who's smiling by the end of this," said Priam nonchalantly, putting his glass down. "Let's start with the Feroxi vodka, in Lon'qu's honour." The bottle lid made a cracking sound as Priam twisted it open.
Truthfully, Lon'qu wasn't sure how long he would last tonight. Priam was a monster when it came to alcohol tolerance. He made Basilio and Flavia look like lightweights. Lon'qu, himself, had a fairly high tolerance (thanks to the Khans), but he hadn't drank in a while.
"Why don't you sit on the couch?" asked Robin.
"I'm fine here," he answered.
"You might not want to sit there. Robin gets handsy when she's drunk. She might grab your junk and try to rip it off," said Priam. "She did that once. Remember that time you got drunk underaged?"
Robin's mouth dropped open. Her blush made a tomato look pale in comparison. Beside her, Lon'qu flushed and awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Lon'qu, I promise you I will not try to…grab you," said Robin diplomatically.
"I know," said Lon'qu quietly.
"Stop telling people lies, trash! I don't remember what happened, but I'm pretty sure you deserved it. And me getting drunk then wasn't my fault. You know that," hissed Robin.
Priam cackled. "I don't know, little Grima. Anyway, let's play Veritas."
"Throw it back," ordered Priam. He bit into another juicy rib.
"Go fuck yourself," swore Robin. She sipped her shot. Her cheeks were rosy from all the alcohol and she felt her heart pounding in her chest. It was only her fifth shot and they were pacing themselves, but she knew she was the one who was fucked tonight.
"Lon'qu's doing fine." Priam gestured to the Chon'sinese man. "What's wrong? Can't keep up?" Priam taunted Robin in a babying voice. Robin glared at him and then threw her head back with the shot. She made a strained face of absolute disgust and then put down her glass. Robin could feel that she was at her tipping point.
The alcohol hadn't quite hit him yet, but Lon'qu felt his sharp senses dull after the fifth shot. He was buzzed. Lon'qu looked at Priam who remained unfazed and composed.
Priam chuckled. "We still have a long night ahead of us, little ones. Oh, we're done this bottle. On to the tequila!"
"Eugh, not the tequila," Robin cried dramatically, crashing her head on top of the coffee table. Gingerly, she lifted her head and murmured, "Owie. That hurt. Lon'qu, the table hurt me." Lon'qu gave Robin a strained look. "Make it apologize."
Priam laughed at Robin and turned to Lon'qu. "You haven't said much. Are you already ready to pass out?"
"No," Lon'qu answered.
"Good. You're in for a treat. Robin's hilarious when she's smashed," said Priam. He poured the three more shots. "This is also how you get her to spill all her secrets. She sucks at Veritas."
"I'm still here, Penis," Robin spat.
"See?" said Priam, chuckling as he pushed the new glass towards her. "Absolutely adorably hilarious."
"I'm going to fight you the entire way, Penis," said Robin. Her words were starting to slur. "I can play Veritas too." Robin paused and stared at her shot of tequila. "Eugh, I hate this stuff. It's like black-out, truth serum."
"I know. Isn't it great?" Priam pushed Lon'qu his glass.
"I hate Veritas," muttered Robin. She stuck her finger into the shot glass of tequila. Priam had filled it to the rim and some of it overflowed and dribbled down the sides. Robin withdrew her fingers and sucked it. "Eugh."
"Hurry. We haven't even started the real fun yet." Priam drank his shot in one gulp.
Lon'qu followed Priam's example and grabbed his own glass and downed the shot. He felt really bad for Robin. He sensed that this was the shot to tip the scales.
"I'm not going to spill anything." Robin shook her head. "I'm just going to tell you lies." She grinned to herself. Then she glared at the shot and sighed. "Okay, I can do this." Robin drank her tequila in three painful gulps. "No more. Can't do anymore," she announced to everyone with her hands in the air. She gasped. "Gold Digger! C'mere boy! C'mere!" The pug panted and wagged its tail at Robin and padded over to her. She scooped Gold Digger up and snuggled him. The pug struggled a bit in her arms and then soon realized that he wasn't going to escape.
"Why don't we start?" asked Priam. "Robin, why don't you explain what happens now."
"We all know the rules," Robin slurred her words. "If you," Robin said while jabbing a finger at Priam, "ask us a question and think we're lying, we drink."
"Right you are, little Grima. Right you are." Priam pointed a finger at Robin and laughed.
"Hurry up. Ask away, asshole," she said. She was struggling to keep her vision straight.
"Robin, take it easy," said Lon'qu while catching Robin from falling down and pushing her back up.
"Fun thing with Robin, is that once she's hammered, she tells you just about everything." Priam crossed his arms and leaned into the back of the couch with a smirk.
"Fuck…you," said Robin.
"Have you slept with Lon'qu? You used to follow him around all the time," Priam asked nonchalantly.
Lon'qu shot a glare at Priam. "That's unprofessional." Priam ignored him and instead, focused on Robin.
Robin blushed, but then she snorted at his question. "Objection! This. This is a trick question!" Robin accused Priam with a finger. "Heh. I know all your tricks now." Gold Digger still struggled in one of Robin's arm. She held him tighter against her side.
Priam chuckled. "Yeah? How so?"
Robin explained her reasoning carefully. "If I say 'no', you'll say that I'm lying. If I say 'yes', you'll still say I'm lying and Lon'qu will get in shit for it. So in the end. I drink." Robin sloppily poured herself a shot. She slammed down the bottle of tequila and picked up the shot glass. She lifted it up and gestured to Priam. "Cheers." Before she could take her eighth shot, Lon'qu snatched it from her and drank it himself.
"That's enough, Priam," said Lon'qu.
"Priam, how are you not drunk?" Robin asked. "Eugh, head's spinning." Priam simply watched Robin with amusement. Robin rolled her head to Lon'qu. "You didn't have to do that."
"Robin, you've had enough," he said.
"Question." Robin snapped her head back at Priam.
"Shoot, brat," he said.
"Did you actually sleep with them all?" she asked. "I mean, you kinda suck."
"Nope," he said.
"Huh?" demanded Robin. "You didn't?" In her brief moment of surprise, Gold Digger made his escape and scampered off.
"Nope." Priam gave her a rotten smile.
"Damn it. Don't believe you. You're lying! Drink!" Robin exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.
"Whatever you say, little Grima." He drank his poison. "But I told you."
"Wanna know a secret?" Robin giggled.
"I'm pretty sure I know most of your secrets," said Priam. "And none of them are good."
Robin pouted and shook her head. "You don't know that. Lon'qu doesn't know all my secrets."
"Brat, you sure you wanna tell Lon'qu all your secrets? You trust him?" Priam raised an eyebrow.
"I trust Lon'qu! Why wouldn't I?" Robin huffed. She slapped a hand on his thigh and rubbed it. Lon'qu froze. "I like Lon'qu. I like him a lot more than you."
"Whatever, little Grima," said Priam. "Watch out, Lon'qu. Next thing she'll go after your family jewels." Lon'qu brought up a hand to the lower half of his face.
"Shit, I forgot what I was going to say," said Robin. "Sorry, Lon'qu. No secrets today."
"Hey Robin, you seeing anyone?" asked Priam.
Robin angled her head so she could stare at Priam. Then she burst out into a fit of giggles and with a silly grin she said, "No?" It wasn't necessarily a lie. Chrom and her weren't even really seeing each other yet. They hadn't even been on their first date. She didn't constitute as 'seeing someone'.
Priam stared back at her with an indecipherable smile. Lon'qu's eyes darted back and forth between the two. Priam had a terrifying ability to pin point Robin's lies. He sank back into his seat. "Sure, little Grima. Sure. I'll take your word."
"Do you want me to…?" She brought up a hand and pretended up take a shot, while tipping her head back.
"Nah, you're pretty close to passing out," admitted Priam. "And if I wanted to know anything, I'd find out myself anyway."
"Whatever, brah," said Robin and then burst out into another uncontrollable giggling fit. Her head spun and her body urged her to lie down. "I'm going to lie down," she announced to everyone. Robin lowered herself down onto ground and rested her head on something. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was suitable to be a comfortable pillow. "Oh, I remember." Robin shifted to her back and stared up. Above her was Lon'qu's flustered face. "Oh. Hey there, Lon-Lon." She tapped him on the nose with a finger.
Lon'qu couldn't shove Robin off because she was too drunk to realize what she was doing. Instead, he turned his head away from Robin before she decided to pinch his cheeks next. Priam snickered at the two.
"I was held hostage once," she whispered to Lon'qu. Priam's laughter died down. Lon'qu frowned at Robin, who yawned, not realizing the mood shift. "That's why I was in the hospital."
"Robin, that's enough. Don't say anything you'll regret tomorrow morning," said Priam. "Do you have a question you wanna ask me?"
"Oh, I do!" Robin raised her hand up, accidentally smacking Lon'qu in the face for the second time that day. Lon'qu glowered at her, but Robin was too intoxicated to notice. "Why do you work for my father? You could've worked at any law firm. Hell, you could've opened your own law firm. I may hate you, but you're a damned good lawyer."
"Your mom," said Priam in a sassy tone.
"Priam. Your mom jokes don't count as answers. And that's disrespectful to my mother, who's dead," said Robin.
"Alright, I'll drink. Stop nagging," said Priam. "To March twenty-third, right?"
"Leave my mom out of this," said Robin, with her eyes closed. "What's the real reason?"
Priam shrugged. "It's more exciting and challenging. And there's the perk of trolling you."
"Lon-Lon," said Robin, turning her attention to him.
"Yes?" he stuttered. Robin was too close for comfort.
"Why do you work for my father?" she asked. "Too bad I won't remember anything tomorrow…"
Priam appeared to be invested in the question as well, because he leaned in, waiting for Lon'qu's answer. Lon'qu blinked at Robin who watched him with her flushed face. Gold Digger decided to join the question period and settled down beside Robin. She reached down a hand scratched the pug's ear.
"The Chon'sin Triad murdered my parents," said Lon'qu.
"Oh," said Robin quietly. She averted her gaze guiltily. "I'm sorry I asked."
"And during that time, someone who worked in the Grima Syndicate took me in telling me I could get revenge," said Lon'qu. He poured himself a drink and drank it.
"Well, that was stupid," said Robin. "You picked the wrong side of the law."
"Oh, little Grima. The world isn't black and white. It's different shades of grey," said Priam with a heavy sigh. "Even in law, nothing's black and white. Perhaps some view the law itself as black and white, but it's a rather flawed institution for an ugly, chaotic world."
Robin yawned, scrunching up her face. "I think that's the most insightful thing you've ever said, Priam."
Author's Note: Who guessed that Veritas is essentially a drinking game? :P