Chapter Text
"...and anyway, you should tell me about these adventurers you are babysitting. Help me catch up to all the excitement I missed."
The Emperor glances over his shoulder at the other, his gaze lingering on the unfinished arm and the bottle the Captain has been sipping from. "Balduran."
"Yes?"
"The bottle is empty."
"I'm a figment of your imagination, if you recall. The wine is also imaginary." He tilts the bottle this way and that. It remains stubbornly empty at a glance, even if the Emperor can clearly hear the sound of sloshing liquid.
"And what does imaginary wine taste like?"
"Cheap, mostly. You don't remember tastes very well." Balduran takes another swig anyway. After all those years spent at sea, they were very familiar with cheap booze. "But it also taste a little bit like hope."
Hope. The Emperor huffs and returns to painstakingly embroidering a dragon onto the thick fabric. "Good enough, for now."
