she planned ahead for a year, he said let's play it by ear

[elegiaque]

WHO: Gwenaëlle Vauquelin, Benevenuta Thevenet, and YOU.
WHAT: A catch-all.
WHEN: This month.
WHERE: Skyhold, Orlais.
NOTES: Hit me up on plurk (matriarchal) or discord (demis#8828) if you want a starter! Or feel free to pop something in yourself, ~wild cards~ I'll roll with it. This is just the ~ladies~ because I want to hold off on new Martel stuff until plot progresses. Also, starters in the comments because #aesthetic.

Comments

cosima ; i thought i saw the devil this morning

[elegiaque]

( GENTLY BACKDATED to shortly after cosima contacted her. )

For all Gwenaëlle's not terribly subtle dubiousness of rifters in general and being pestered by one in particular - Cosima's efforts to engage politely and thoughtfully does bear some fruit, or at least it does result in the young lady herself making herself known in the library in due course. She's hard to miss for all that she's a small thing, finely dressed in dark hues and her very accurate depiction on her pamphlets making her promptly recognisable.

Which is for the best, because she doesn't really know who on earth it is she's meeting and when she sits down it's with some exasperation on that count. Why did she agree to this.

[youwonscience]

Cosima smiles - small, brief - with pleasure that Gwenaëlle deigned to actually show up. She knows that she has very little to offer, in her current situation, and has been trying to avoid actively pestering anyone, much less the nobility. That said... she likes to know things, and the pamphlets are very well-written.

(And, perhaps a little vainly, Cosima is glad that it's been a good week, health-wise. She may be slightly pale, but Gwen is distractingly pretty in person, and looking like death warmed over might have made her more self-conscious.)

The smile doesn't linger, though, given Gwen's attitude. Instead, she says, frankly, "Lady Vauquelin." She either asked or got lucky pronouncing it like French. "Thank you for talking with me. I know it was presumptuous to just write you the way I did, but I really did find your pamphlets helpful."

[elegiaque]

"Cosima," she guesses, by way of greeting - she does manage to pull together something that looks a bit more receptive than the heavy way she'd dropped into her seat as if in anticipation of lessons she isn't interested in, so there's that. (And she's a bit prettier when she's a bit less sullen, so there's that, as well.)

Not butchering her name is another tick in the 'pro' column.

"I'm happy to discuss my work," which might be a slight exaggeration, but - maybe not that much, really. She is passionate about what she does, for all that she sort of sidled into it out of slight despair for what on earth to do with herself. "I hadn't really intended it for a Skyhold audience, but I suppose it might be useful."

To foreigners. Really, really foreigners.

[youwonscience]

Cosima is totally capable of dealing with pretty, demonstrably smart women of vastly elevated social standing who are no longer frowning. That's. It's fine. This is all going to be fine.

"I mean, there's nothing that's really aimed at Rifters so far, and I know some people who came the way I did are pretty much not interested in anything besides 'can I get home' and 'if so how.' But for those of us trying to actually catch up to a whole world's worth of current events at once..." Cosima shrugs, with a half smile, a little rueful. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to start them?"

[elegiaque]

Despite the lack of commentary on the rifters trying to 'get home' - Gwenaëlle's expression speaks volumes, the involuntary roll of her eyes at the mere idea. Things come out of rifts. Things do not go back into rifts anywhere anybody wants to go, as far as she can tell, and they might as well all get used to being in Thedas because on the list of things that are important to get done, 'rifters getting home' isn't. It isn't on the list at all, look at all this pressing 'preventing the world from ending' business they're about -

No one really wants to hear her opinions on a lot of subjects, frankly.

"It seemed like something to do," she says, thoughtfully. "Morrigan put the idea in my head, and - well, I wasn't doing anything else."

[youwonscience]

"I have noticed there's not a ton of idleness at Skyhold overall," Cosima says, considering what to make of that answer. "It's not much like any place I've had prior experience with, to be honest, but if I can't have a lab, at least I've got library access."

She considers, then adds, "Can I ask why you weren't doing anything else? I'm curious, but without context I know I can stumble into rude without looking."

[elegiaque]

"I'm not a member of the Inquisition," Gwenaëlle says, matter of fact. "I was sent here because of my shard," with a gesture of the hand that bears it; she wears no rings, now, nor bracelets. She finds they leave her altogether too conscious of her hands, if not discomforted in truth, and the reminder is both unnecessary and unwelcome.

She can almost pretend it's just a style choice.

"But I don't have a job to do. And I'm hardly suited for any of the ones they need, so I had to invent my own occupation."

[youwonscience]

At the mention of the shard, she grimaces and nods."Pain in the ass, isn't it? Uh, pardon my language." The sentiment stands. "I didn't know until recently people were stuck with them without being rifters. That sucks."

[elegiaque]

"Yes," after a slight pause and with a bit less enthusiasm. It isn't that she's incapable of being a bit more informal - or even of warming to it around her - but rifters are suspicious things (even Thranduil; especially Thranduil, who has his own agenda) and too many of them, in her opinion, are entirely too comfortable in Skyhold.

A little too cavalier and insufficiently grateful.

"I understand most rifters are under the impression they're the only ones who have them."

It sounds remarkably like a criticism for something she'd demur politely is only an observation.

[youwonscience]

"I won't speak for anyone but me, but there's not a lot of systematically organized information out there. I guess obviously." Given that she knows she's not Gwen's intended audience but reached out anyway. "I've been trying to figure out what I can and making notes. Some people are really willing to talk, but it's mostly about what they feel is most important. I mean, that's natural, but it leaves major gaps."