[ OPEN ] You'd Think I'd Know Where I'm Going

[universal_charm]

WHO: Jim Kirk & You
WHAT: Late catch-all for late August
WHEN: Roughly August 15 - August 31 (feel free to backdate for timey-wimey necessitiy)
WHERE: Around Skyhold
NOTES: Flirting, charmingness, possible bad language, possible head-butting, possible fights, general shenanigans

After the emotional trek to Asher's home and back, Kirk found that he was rather glad to be back within the walls of Skyhold. It was familiar and comforting and he knew what he could do here to keep his mind off things. To keep his mind off the passing of a friend that could have been, keep his mind off injustices in Orelais, keep his mind off his own situation. Funny, how death brought those things to surface with startling clarity.

He can be found in the early mornings running around Skyhold's perimeter, followed quickly by moving to working on his horsemanship at the barn (which in variably also means that he will spend some quality time around the bog unicorn, which in his mind he has unofficially adopted). More often than not he is also accompanied by a small black and white cat who has something suspiciously like a mustache on its upper lip. Don't tell Anders.

From there things are a bit more difficult when it came to finding ways to fill his time, except on the days when he was teaching lessons in math, science, and hand-to-hand self-defense. That latter of which he can now join in on since he has fully recovered from his previous injuries. It meant that more people were hitting the dirt, but that's how it was supposed to be. You didn't learn if you didn't come out with a bruise or two.

Of course he usually finds his way around to the library, usually in search of another story to read since he's not much of one for the historical texts anymore, biased as they tend to be in his view. Maybe he's napping. What? It's comfortable there. But why just ready about places in the library when he can out and explore in the woods outside Skyhold? Granted, he never goes far, but it's something and for just a bit he can pretend he's Captain Kirk exploring a new and exciting planet again. Let the Rifter have his tiny fantasy. (Invariably, Leonard the Cat tends to join him on this too, complete with fashioned harness and leash to keep him from wandering to far.)

And if all else fails he makes his way to the tavern, where he can easily be convinced to share a drink, sing a song, or maybe turn the tables and convince you to play some chess.

Comments

Library

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Bethany eyes the boots in front of her, propped up in front of the shelf that she needs to get to for her studies, and then at the man napping in the chair there. One corner of her mouth lifts in amusement, as she looks around. If Dorian catches him, this man is all but done for. So she gently puts down the other books she's been gathering, and lifts his feet up slowly.

Both to wake him up - and yes, to get her book. "Rise and shine, serah. If you're that tired you might want to think about heading back to your rooms."

Re: Library

[universal_charm]

He would like to think he has a bit more charm and a dazzling enough smile to talk his way out of most trouble. He usually can, though there are those rare occasions, he can't deny that.

Gravity suddenly shifting did its job and he came awake quickly, muscles tense, listening for an alert that wouldn't come. Right. Skyhold. Not the Enterprise.

It took him a beat to properly focus on Bethany and sort the string of words. Which naturally brought a crooked grin to his face mixed with an appropriate amount of sheepishness.

"I couldn't decide what to read next. All that decision making wears a man out."

Re: Library

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Bethany chuckled softly as she shifted around behind him, going to search the shelf for the volume she was looking for. She glanced over her shoulder at him, her mouth dimpling.

"You know, for all the complaints I hear about there not being enough books here -- it's a pleasure to meet someone so overwhelmed by the amount of them that it puts him to sleep like a baby."

Tavern

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne loved evenings in the tavern. It was more than just a reminder of Marcel. More than the fact that it was the Rifters' meeting place. There was an energy and excitement to the place. Oh, sure. Some people came to drown their sorrows. But more came to celebrate, to tell stories, to dance, to share songs.

More often than not, Ariadne could be found perched on the railing running along the second floor. But tonight was a different story. Tonight, she'd been coaxed out into the middle of the tavern, where several natives were performing a folk dance.

It was easy enough for her to follow along, but she giggled and threw her head back and pretended not to know all the steps. That encouraged them to show her again and again and it left everyone in the tavern laughing.

She was pleased.

As the hysteria swelled to euphoria, though, she caught sight of Jim. What sort of dances did they do among the stars? It was a curious question.

With a pleasant smile, she waved him over.

[universal_charm]

Kirk was comfortable in his chair, drinking slowly from his tankard, watching the people smile and dance and sing. He wasn't really part of it, how could he be? He was a Rifter, out of place by his very nature, but he was used to that. He never really belonged in any of the planets he went to. He was alien. He wasn't really meant to belong, and he was okay with that.

The song and danced ended, he caught the flash of movement of someone coming closer to him. He turned, seeing Ariadne, and he gave her a soft smile in welcome.

"Fancy meeting you here," he greeted her, raising his drink in welcome.

[demonicbeauty]

She gave him one of her bouncy, little curtsies, then reached over to grab his wrist. Ariadne tried to avoid touching other people's hands as much as possible--especially when it was a man's hand. But the wrist was safe enough.

"Come and show us a dance from the stars," she said, giving a gentle tug that betrayed none of her actual strength.

Behind her, several customers cheered in approval.

She had thoroughly won them over. Or perhaps they only liked her because they were quite drunk. Either way, Ariadne was pleased for the time being.

Woods outside Skyhold

[justice_is_blond]

There's another cat watching Leonard the cat. She climbs onto a nearby rock to get a better view, though Anders keeps an eye on her as she does.

"You should know you're about to be pounced by an attack cat who is very dangerous in her own mind." He can't see who it is she's watching while wiggling her butt, looking about to pounce, but he can at least tell them there's about to be a flying kitten. "Don't flinch, she knows better than to bite though if you hold out a thumb she may gnaw on it."

There's herbs here that have his attention, and he feels not quite safe, but safe-ish, this close to Skyhold.

Re: Woods outside Skyhold

[universal_charm]

Kirk turned his head up, spying the little cat in her attempt at stalking. Leonard saw her too, tail twitching before he bounded up to Kirk's shoulder for a better view. Kirk just rolled his eyes at his eternal roll as Leonard's crow's nest.

"I'm pretty sure I taste like bog unicorn, so that's really worse for her than me," he called back, recognizing the cat as having been the same as the one when he shared a bath with Anders.

[justice_is_blond]

He straightens at the voice, dusting his hands off on his robe.

"Why do you-- Never mind. I'm not certain I want to ask that. There's a mental image in my head I truly regret already." Shapeshifting and Sam and Anders definitely regrets everything. "What brings you out here?" Gently he retrieves Purrelden just before she leaps, bringing the wriggling kitten close.

"...And is that the leash Sam was talking about that you made?"

Tavern

[samahl]

Cyril comes to the tavern at night when he isn't other occupied. When he sees Kirk there he approaches with a grin on his face.

"Hello there handsome," he says, clearly comfortable flirting with Jim.

[universal_charm]

"Why hello, pretty boy," he greeted in return, teeth flashing in a warm grin as the elf came over. He nudged the chair across from him in silent invitation.

"What brings you out tonight?"

[samahl]

Cyril took the seat, moving into it rather gracefully. He smiles at the question. "I was looking for good company, and I seem to have found some."

Woods Outside Skyhold

[el_tybs]

He had already been outside the hold practicing, working on his tracking, and seeing what other animals lived by. Today he was tracking down a rabbit, picking up its trail each time he lost sight of it - damn they were fast. Course it was in the middle of this that he heard someone coming through the woods. Not too long after a familiar scent wafted his way, immediately drawing his attention away.

Finding Kirk was an easy task, but he doesn't make himself known just yet, keeping to the areas right out of sight and low enough that he blended easily into the snow. He'd follow for a moment to see where the man was going before he did anything.

[universal_charm]

Kirk didn't have senses for the wood. Oh, if something was actively trying to hunt him, meant to kill him, he probably could pick up on that. That latent animal instinct inside of all humans that helped them survive (sort of, Kirk was quite good at ignoring it). Leonard, however, was not so unobservant.

The mustached feline meowed, angling towards Sam's position, tail flicking as he considered the forests. Which Kirk simply took as Leonard finding something interesting in the low brush to stalk.

"Don't terrorize whatever it is to badly. It might bite back out here," he cautioned the cat with a chuckle.

Nikita must be lonely

[el_tybs]

It would figure that Leonard would notice, but then again cats were predators and excellent hunters. Knowing that has Sam's tail wagging slowly, he's proud of the cat, but honestly it was making it difficult to sneak up on Kirk.

For a few more moments he just watches, crawling ever closer forward everyone once in a while when neither of them were looking in his direction. Once he felt he was ready Sam is dashing across the snow, quietly as possible, so that when Kirk does notice he's already getting tackled by a large pile of fluff.

(He'll have to give Leonard a lot of treats after this.)

woods!

[fightorfright]

Sometimes, Amélie likes to get away from the hustle and bustle of Skyhold proper. Especially now, with more people returning from Halamshiral, it can be difficult to just hear herself think.

Instead of her staff, which she usually only carries with her at the healing tents, she has a bow strapped to her back. Its presence there makes her smile, even if she's not very skilled at using it. She likes being incognito.

She's in the process of finding a clearing where she might practice her aim when she comes across the man. Ah, but she remembers him, doesn't she? They'd talked one night when she couldn't sleep.

Before she can even ask him how he's been, her gaze drops to the cat on the leash, and her smile grows slightly more wry. "Now that's a sight I've never seen before."

[universal_charm]

Kirk only noticed her because Leonard did. Something about the snow muffling everything was making it hard to be wary, or maybe he was just losing his touch. He wasn't sure who was coming, but at least he didn't jump ten feet in the air when Amelie spoke. He looked towards her, flashing a grin between misting breaths, adjusting his pack and staff across his back.

"He's got a bit to much wanderlust for me to trust him on his own, so we had to compromise."

[fightorfright]

She grins back, rubbing her gloved hands together. "I'm surprised he let you. Every cat I've ever known would've clawed your face off before making such a compromise. Have you had him long?"

tavern

[theproperglove]

Josephine's visits to the tavern have turned infrequent over time, but on this particular day she is on her way back to her office after attending to a matter regarding the Inquisition's wise stores when she spots the man and his chessboard sitting at a nearby table.

She can't help but make her way over, her eyebrows lifted in amusement. "Do you get much competition here in the tavern?" she asks.

[universal_charm]

"A few takers here and there," he gave a shrug with one arm, the board a jumble of pieces as he had more or less being playing a game against himself for the exercise.

He looked more fully up at Josephine and smiled that charming grin of his. "Want to try a game?"

[theproperglove]

She eyes the board for several moments, clearly considering his request. Slowly, she answers, "I do believe I have the time."

the bog unicorn

[inuko]

He'd seen some strange looking animals in his life, and had a fairly grotesque demon-spirit bird rip its way out of his right arm on a near daily basis, and Shino still didn't know what to make of the bog unicorn when he spent time around the stables. Or, more honestly, made his first foray into the stables, half expecting to see Genpachi in uniform with his gelding come walking out the front entrance.

It didn't happen, and he pushed off the strange sense of ongoing disappointment that wasn't reasonable in the first place by concentrating on what was around. Such as the bog unicorn.

"What is that?" He felt much the same way about the dracolisks if he was being entirely honest, but for all this world wasn't exactly on a leading technology edge, it had his own beat when it came to variety in what people tamed to ride. He wasn't sure the tradeoff was anywhere near worth it. "Is that metal?!" Is that animal okay?

Ooooh, is Shino for Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East?

[universal_charm]

Honestly, that was exactly how Kirk had reacted the first time he saw Boggy. It seemed the natural sort of the reaction to. After all, Boggy did not look warm and cuddly and very much like it should, by all rights, be dead. The human mind naturally declared that Boggy went against all that was good and right with nature and revolted.

Kirk sent a wry, understanding grin Shino's way, continuing to stroke the leather jaw of the bog unicorn.

"It's called a bog unicorn," he explained. "It died - via obvious causes - and got possessed." Not that he believed he possession part quite like the natives did, but why argue at this point? "He followed one of the Inquisition back here and..." He motioned with his other hand, because Shino could see the set up, the lonely little coral Boggy called home.

"He's friendly."

Because that made the sight of the creature less disturbing, surely.

Running

[doneisdone]

Teren almost always serves the Night Watch, which means she's most often up and about in the wee hours while the other Wardens are still fast asleep in their tents. The early morning is quiet and dull nine times out of ten, so it stands to reason that one person moving is enough to capture her attention. Especially since he is... apparently running in circles around the Keep.

Teren leans against a tree and sips her coffee, watching Kirk pass by every fifteen minutes or so. She makes no comment, but doesn't hide that she's watching him. She has no idea what would compel a person to do this, but it is kinda funny. Must be a rifter thing.

[universal_charm]

At first Kirk didn't give much thought to Teren as he ran his laps, the familiar ache building in his muscles, the familiar burn tickling his lungs. He let himself float in that meditative state that running took him too, the place he had to seek out to ward off darker things even as the sun rose shallow in the Eastern sky.

Finally, though, his body sent the warning signals that it was coming up on its limits and he pulled up, hands on his hips as he sucked in air, drenched in sweat. He looked over to Teren, nodding his head to her.

"Morning," he panted, or more like gasped, but he would say panted.