"Your father - was he always thus?"
Balthier hummed, eyes closed as he leaned into the rub of Basch's fingers against his scalp. When he remained silent, Basch chuckled and discarded the topic, only to be surprised a moment later when Balthier spoke.
"Insane, you mean? Very nearly, though I'm told he once had been a good man. I never met him." Balthier sighed, dropping his head forward to urge Basch's fingers down his neck. "What of you, Captain Ronsenburg?"
Basch didn't bother to argue the dodge. "My father was a brewer, my mother kept house. They- I lost my family when Landis fell."
"The fault of my father." Balthier's head tipped back now until he could meet Basch's gaze. "Just as well we are both here; a bird must be able to fly free."
Basch grimaced. "Even a free bird needs a nest."
"Ah, my dear Captain - that is a point on which we agree." Balthier rose from the floor on which he'd been seated, instead settling beside Basch on the bed. "A free bird may make its nest wherever - with whomever - it wishes. Does not the idea find merit with you?"
"A bird may have many nests," Basch conceded even as he allowed Balthier to press him down onto the mattress, to steal first one kiss, then another.