faderift | You're easier to love from afar (open)

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You're easier to love from afar (open)

WHO: Cosima and open
WHAT: Open post/catchall for Wintermarch
WHEN: Throughout the month; if you need to back or forward date due to Orlais plot, feel free
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: No warnings to start except for the potential of sad Cosima in some threads.

Tavern

Cosima's been moping long enough. She says this silently and firmly to herself several times a day, in fact. Enough moping. Get out, do some good, meet some people.

And while she's generally inclined to constructive action, Cosima isn't made of stone. After all, she's seen with her own eyes how possible it is she could be gone any moment without warning. (Home or ... wherever.) Carpe diem.

Which, loosely translated, means "have some wine at the tavern and flirt with ladies, because fuck it, you're in another world and you might as well." (Unless she sees a friend first, of course.)

Barracks (semi-closed; you know who you are)

While Avery is at work, Cosima has the room to herself. This makes it an excellent place to hold a meeting, and there's some unfinished business to attend to. She gathers Church and Jamie and does some digging to see if there's anyone else Ruby had roped into this idea before she left. Cosima is, by no means, a natural entrepreneur. But it felt like something she owed her friend.

"So. Who's ever run an eatery before?"

Points Around Skyhold (choose your own adventure)

As far as Cosima can determine, there's not just one place to declare: "Hi, I'd like to formally join the Inquisition" if you're not a fighter, a healer or a mage. She knows she can be useful, surely, but she doesn't know exactly where and she isn't entirely sure who to ask.

But she's seen a little of this world now - run up against Venatori and seen some of the effects of rifts that are much more destructive than spitting rifters into Thedas. She's determined to help.

So she'll keep trying to find a way in. There's a lot of research that goes on in Skyhold; surely someone can use an off-world research assistant.

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The tavern. It was a great place to find this giant of a man. He loved a good drink and the company of others. So of course when he saw the young woman, he immediately smiled and went over to her. With a cup of wine in offer and a smile in greeting, he really looked like something of a jolly giant at least. Hopefully that made up for any sort of intimidation his size might or might not cause.

"Hello! Will you have a drink with me, my friend? I always enjoy the company and wine always tastes best when consumed with others at your side."

Cosima blinks, mildly startled and briefly trying to place him. She's definitely seen him from afar at some point - he's hard to miss - but she's pretty sure they haven't met.

"Uh, sure. Free country." (Sort of.) She offers a small smile, though, and says, "I suppose I could use the company too."

"Free country? Is this a saying where you are from?" He wasn't sure so obviously that meant he had to ask. Besides, it was a decent way of starting a conversation and getting to know her better. Oh and he supposed he should probably introduce himself too.

"Ah. I am Iskandar, by the way. It is good to meet you, my friend."

"Yeah, sorry. Hard habit to break." She smiles a little, and flashes her hand, as if he needed confirmation that she's a rifter. "I'm Cosima. Been here long?"

Seeing the shard, he lifted his own hand to show that he was one as well. Something they had in common! Well, if it came to be they had nothing else in common at least they had this, right? That worked out for Iskandar who really wasn't that picky about things. "A few months now. Your name...is it Greek in origin?"

"It totally is. It means 'order,' so they tell me. Haven't learned ancient Greek just yet. So you come from a world with Greece, then?"

Not always a given.

"How about the United States, got one of those?"

"I do! It has this United States as well! And this world once had a man known as Alexander the Great!"

He grinned so brightly then as he pointed to his own silly face.

"That is me!"

"...wait a sec," Cosima says, tilting her head. "I've heard of you, but I was pretty sure you weren't around by the time our country existed. Or at least, not in my version of world history."

She squints a little, as if trying to determine whether he's a secret vampire or something.

"I wasn't! I was alive many years before the time of this United States."

He laughed, clearly not bothered by the suspicious look. Then again, was he really bothered by much of anything really? Probably not given how he handled most things in his life. "I was summoned by a mage after the time of my death to be a Heroic Spirit! So I was able to see your United States with the use of the television."

"Oh. Um, I guess that makes sense." As much sense as a lot of what she's been asked to accept in the last year. "What's involved in being a heroic spirit?"

"We are spirits of people who have accomplished great tasks in history and legend. As a result the Holy Grail will be able to allow a mage to summon one of us to fight with them to win this Grail. We will be given abilities based on what we accomplished in life as well as great durability and strength." He considered it a moment or so before adding. "We are very much like powerful beings save for the fact that in our world we must be bound to a mage for we cannot produce the mana we need to live."

She doesn't pinch the bridge of her nose, though part of her wants to. "Okay, that's ... a lot. But I guess so is the Fade, so fuck it. Do you have something here to substitute for the mana, or does it just seem not to be a problem, since you arrived?"

"It seems that I require food and rest again these days. Before that was simply a luxury. I rather like that it no longer is though since it brings me closer to being human once more." That was right. He was a man gifted with the power and strength of a being a Spirit yet he wanted to be human instead.

"Yeah, I think there'd be some psychological effects to not eating. And, like, knowing you'd died, while we're at it. But you seem, um, pretty good spirited about the whole thing?"

"Should I not be? It seems rather interesting to explore the differences my body is going through presently. Besides, I am not ill or anything like it so I thought it more productive to find it rather fascinating than anything else." He had such a love for academics even now. Even if it was just something simple like admiring how things had changed with his body.

"Nah, dude, you do you. I bet the healers would be interested too - have you talked to any of them?" She can certainly understand a joy in wanting to understand, at least.

Edited (typo) 2017-02-06 22:33 (UTC)

"I hadn't thought to! I was busy discovering the differences for myself it hadn't occurred to me to ask them. It's been so long since I've actually needed a healer for anything." No surprise there since it had been a couple thousand years since he'd last been alive. "Would you recommend anyone in particular?"

"I've had mostly good experiences over there, as long as you respect what they're doing and don't get in the way of patient care. Maybe Anders, though? He likes experimenting and working out new information, he'd probably be interested."

"Anders! You know of him? I had not thought to bring this to him!" Of course he knew Anders. And by the tone of his voice, he rather adored the man. Then again, given his nature, did he really hate anyone? Probably hard to tell for the time being anyway.

"Oh yeah," she says with a lopsided smile. "This sort of thing sounds totally like something he'd get obsessed with." She likes Anders personally well enough, though she's heard the events of Kirkwall described very differently from more than one source.

If he and Iskandar are already friendly, however, the suggestion was probably an even better one.

He laughed at her words. Yes, the man did have a leaning towards obsession. It was really not that hard to picture him that way or to even describe him in such a fashion. Especially with how he'd spoken to him about matters like what mages were going through.

"He is a friend of yours then? I should hope so since it seems he struggles with making those and could always use more."

"I wouldn't say we're close, but we're friendly. We've talked about some of his experiments before. I'm a scientist, back home, so it's interesting to me." Even if she didn't have the full context yet. She was working on it.

"A scientist! I like you more and more as we speak my friend! The arts and sciences were always what I enjoyed the most. What do you study? I would love to hear more about your work." He likely wouldn't understand most of it but he knew he'd be happy to learn about it all the same.

"Uh, well." She's not averse, but she's tried to explain it a few times in Thedas with mixed success. "I'm a biologist. I study the development of organisms - animals, generally. Have you heard of genetics?"

"I am not. Though if you provide me with a small idea then I can follow some of what you say. I am of an ancient time but I like to think I can pick up on matters quickly enough if one is willing to explain them to me." He was certainly willing to learn and he was plenty interested in what it meant to be a biologist that knew of these genetics.

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youwonscience - 2017-02-22 21:03 (UTC) - Expand

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conqueredhearts - 2017-02-25 13:38 (UTC) - Expand

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