character dialogue scenes: Rook (Hakim) and Illario
takes place after Bloodbath. while Lucanis prepares to interrogate Zara's corpse with Emmrich, Illario requests a private meeting in Treviso with Rook. against his (and Neve's) better judgement, he goes, without telling Lucanis.
(this kinda jumps halfway into the conversation though. i was struggling with the intro part so i just. didn't. lmao)
Illario: You.... chose him, over me. [Sighs, then laughs]
Illario: I don't know why I ever expected anything different.
Hakim: Oh, fuck you, Illario.
Illario: What, am I wrong? He, his demon, nearly killed me, Rook. And you still side with him.
Hakim: Yes, you're fucking wrong. You act like I didn't choose you first. Back in Llomerryn, I chose you.
Illario: You didn't even know who Lucanis was, then. But now that you do...
Hakim: No, you don't get to do that. You and I both know this all happened by circumstance. But if I had known him back then, I would've made the same choice, because things were different. I didn't care about the Crows, Illario. I gave you an out, but you dug your heels in. It's not my fault things turned out this way.
Illario: [Laughs bitterly] An out... Do you know how naive you sound?
Hakim: [Scoffs] Do you know how much like an asshole you sound?
Illario: Please, it was never going to play out that way.
Hakim: Maybe! Shit, maybe it would've gone horribly for us both, but you didn't even try! Instead you ran home to Treviso, a heartbroken coward with your tail between your legs--!
Illario: [Interjecting, raising his voice over Rook's] What was I meant to do--?!
Hakim: [Raising his voice even louder, all but yelling over Illario, cutting him off] You'd rather betray everyone that's ever mattered to you than take the risk to better yourself! To fucking free yourself! You can get tangled in your own gods-damned head about what never was, because you chose for it not to, all you fucking want. But you made this happen, Illario!
Hakim: [Back down to a normal volume] I might not have even met Lucanis, if you didn't have Zara imprison him. You realize that, right? Maybe that would've been you on the team with me, instead of him. Maybe you wouldn't have ever been First Talon, but maybe you would be the Crow that killed a god. Maybe you would've been both.
Illario: I didn't have Zara imprison my cousin, Rook. What kind of monster do you think I am?
Hakim: Oh, come on, Illario, spare me. I'm not as stupid as people seem to think I am. I'd think you should know that.
Illario: I do. I wouldn't have asked you here if I thought you were, Rook. You're one of the only people in this with their head on straight enough to trust.
Hakim: [Laughs] She called you amatus, Illario! Maybe you don't remember much of... back then. But you should still remember where I came from.
Illario: Ah... mierda.
Hakim: Yeah. And Neve was there, he'd hear it from her if not from me.
Illario: Still, Rook, you have to know I'm being honest when I say I didn't mean for this to happen, not exactly. Not like that. If I knew she was doing that to him, that she was going to do that to him, make him...
Hakim: An abomination?
Illario: ...That's not what I wanted, Rook.
Hakim: ...Right. But even then, the Venatori, Illario? Really?
Illario: [Bitter laugh] And you're so much better? You might play the hero now, but--
Hakim: [scoffs, interrupting him] I'd never voluntarily swap spit with a slaver, Illario. There's a fucking line. Even most of the Raiders knew that.
Illario: I'll be the first to admit, that was... a miscalculation on my part. I thought I was playing Zara, but the street ran both ways, it seems. Almost all of Lucanis's contracts by then had to do with Venatori, so... it was a means to an end. Seduction is a useful tool in a Crow's arsenal, as they say.
Hakim: [Narrows eyes] Right. That's all it is.
Illario: ...Hakim, you know I didn't mean--
Hakim: It's fine, Illario.
Illario: [Sighs]
[Long Pause]
Hakim: So... Where does that leave us?
Illario: ...Have you told Lucanis?
Hakim: No. But Emmrich and he were preparing her body when I left. It's only a matter of time.
Illario: That's not what I was asking.
Hakim: What, about Llomerryn?? Why would I?
Illario: I think he deserves to know.
Hakim: I think he deserves to know who his cousin is, Illario. So... maybe everything will come to light, soon enough.
Illario: [Sighs, resigned] I... You know I can't let you do that, Rook.
Hakim: You're going to let me walk out of here, Illario.
Illario: Why would I do that, given what's at stake?
Hakim: The world's at stake you fucking-- Look. Your brother's much, much kinder than I am. He could barely kill you even with a demon of pure Spite at the wheel. But if you come at me, at us, I will put you in the ground. And if I don't manage to finish the job, someone else will.
Illario: Please.
Hakim: Try me.
Illario: ... [Laughs] I always liked that about you, Hakim. Beneath all the sunshine, all the quips and foolishness, you're as sharp as a knife.
Hakim: ...It's how I survived.
Illario: It's how we both did.
Hakim: [Groans, frustrated] How did things get so fucked up with us, Illario?
Illario: Please, Rook. This is just what Crow politics looks like. Last year more than half the Talons died in a meeting about the Antaam, because of one man's theatrical bid for power, and Antiva pays the price. My entire family was killed by men I had seen at my sister's quince only months beforehand. It doesn't matter if I'm the one doing it, betrayal was always part of the job.
Hakim: ...Lucanis is still going to find out soon. Whether I tell him about the amatus thing or not, whether Neve does.
Illario: I know.
Hakim: You sold him out. You sold out Treviso to the Venatori.
Illario: ...I know.
Hakim: You killed your First Talon, Illario. Your own grandmother.
Illario: ...Mm.
Hakim: I don't know how you come back from this, Crow.
Illario: ...Maybe I don't.
Hakim: ...Look. Help the other Crows with the Antaam for now, it's still your city, and we all need the Butcher dealt with. We can find a way to deal with the Venatori. Without Zara, they'll flounder in Treviso. It won't be hard. But when Lucanis figures out what happened, the part you played in it all? He's the one who gets to decide what to do with you in the end, not me.
Illario: Of course he does.
Hakim: You made made choices, Illario. Really shitty and stupid fucked up choices, but you have to live with them. With the consequences.
Illario: Right, is that what you've done, then? With the gods, with Weisshaupt? ....With Minrathous?
Hakim: ...You weren't there.
Illario: From what I hear, neither were you. Not when it counted.
Hakim: [Stands up abruptly] I'm leaving, Illario. Don't try to stop me.
[Illario watches him move from their table. Reluctantly, he waves off the archer he had waiting from a rooftop above, cursing under his breath as Hakim walks away.]
