[Open] Save tonight, fight the break of dawn

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders and OPEN
WHAT: The last open log with J!Anders before Justice is gone
WHEN: Mid-Justinian, from around the 8th to the 15th
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Anders, as usual. Prose or brackets work, I've just started everything in prose because that's less html I can screw up.

Healing Tents

Anders (and kitten) are constant sights in the healing tents in Skyhold from morning until evening. One of them works. One of them prefers to play, and is currently most fascinated by a slowly-unraveling string from a scrap of cloth that the larger of the two made sure was dangling down to draw attention.

"Watch the cat," is the warning someone coming in gets first, before being nodded toward the nearest table right away whether they've got a visible injury or not. That they're here for medical reasons is the safest assumption.

Library

He can be found here an early evening, paging through older books with a few pieces of parchment next to him where he's taking notes. Or hoping to. The top page is mostly blank, though, and Anders is frowning as he closes one book and pulls another off one of the few stacks he's made around himself.

People walking past don't even get glances, he's busy and he doesn't care if there are glares shot in his direction right now. People who stop get a glance up with a raised eyebrow and neutral-as-he-can-make-it expression.

Training Circle

It's early. Ridiculously early, early enough to be considered late the next day and that's why he's here now, working with his staff against a dummy. An opponent would be better, but few are here at this hour, and no one who was there when he arrived is someone he'd trust to work instead of actually attack. That being said, for once he's not seemingly radiating irritation and aggravation and he's even looking over as other people start to show up. He could use a hand and he knows it.

Hot Springs

He enters a little hastily, freezing after sweating in the cold and needing to get ready to head into the healing tents. There's not a lot of time to linger. ...but that thought fades away once he's fully in the water. It's so warm that he's sinking in to his chin almost right away, and really only leaving his face above water so he can keep an eye on Purrelden as the kitten chases a beetle.

Courtyard

Not since his Detlef days has he actually sat out here for a time. Dinner tonight is a simple affair, a few strips of meat washed down with a weak excuse for ale along with some a handful of fruit and nuts, but it seems better out here in the open air. People passing by get a nod whether they look at him with a smile or a scowl; he's actually not in a mood to fight right now. In a week's time he might be dead, he might be entirely without hope of having his head to himself again, or he might be alone in his head. It's an odd feeling, and the chill breeze and stars seem perfectly suited for it. There's room on the bench to join him, a cat on his shoulder, and he's... at peace.

[For Cole]

Since River and Simon's disappearance, Anders has been looking out for glances of Cole more often, just... checking on the boy. He's worried about River, and while she and Cole aren't exactly the same, thinking of one brings the other to mind often. Popping up to the third floor of the tavern one evening bears fruit and Anders smiles as he heads over to join Cole.

"Hello. I... I realize I've not actually thought of what to say when I do run into you. You're doing well?"

[For Zevran]

This speech, however, he's practiced repeatedly, and as Anders knocks on Zevran's door with a package in hand, there's a whole lot of amusement in his voice.

"Zevran? I know you said not to bring back a cow, but..."

[For Nate]

It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous, and potentially useless, and there's not a chance that Nate will hate the wriggling animal in Anders' arms because Nate is Fereldan. In fact, he'll probably love it. Anders is counting on that. He hadn't exactly been counting on Purrelden being confused, though, so the cat on his head digging small claws in as she struggles to stay perched and far away from the tiny confusing barking thing is not something he'd been prepared for. Anders ducks into their tent awkwardly, hoping Nate's in there and talking without even looking.

"A little help, please?"


Wildcard me!

[Want something with Anders? Come on in! Start a header, or poke me on Plurk at Nadat for one. He's easily found around the healing tents in Skyhold and around Camp Shady Fucker/the Warden camp.]

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

Anders looks down, feeling guilty. There's no way he could have known she was a wolf, especially when isn't an elf, but the whole feeling of isolation is one he knows well. And he hadn't helped the other day. Though at the last she gets a glance up and a look of wry amusement.

"That's why we have so many healers. Mysterious item? Stick it on. Or hit it. Or chant at it. Mysterious creature? Attack it. The floor might be littered with traps? Charge in." And then the amusement fades. "I'm sorry, by the way. When you called yourself an outsider I wasn't... I wasn't as considerate as I should have been. I don't understand how you're a wolf," and he needs to stop being an asshole and feeling twinges of jealousy over Adelaide, "but if you'd like more friends and less isolation, I could be one. Granted, I'm not exactly a prize friend to have. At all. But at least I've never found something and stuck it on my finger right away."

[eviscerates]

She laughs a little at that, giving him a faux-harsh look. "Wow, you make one bad fashion choice and suddenly everyone's a critic." Everyone being Anders, evidently.

"And, honestly? Anyone calling themself an outsider can be pretty melodramatic. Don't sweat it." Her smile stays in place, out of practice at looking happy when maybe she's not really. It's the smile of customer service and also trying not to let anyone worry when there's enough going on.

"With the Wolf, uh, I can explain but I can also spare you, it's... a little weird to explain and there's different layers of how confusing it can be. Either way, I wouldn't say no to a friend. Friends are good."

[justice_is_blond]

"Mm. Well. I certainly can't be having with anyone who is melodramatic." His voice is utterly sarcastic. Melodrama is a sin he commits often, and well he knows it.

"If you don't mind explaining, I'd like to know. It'll keep me from making more comments about your fashion choices, at least." He's still probing at the ring with care, trying to see any opening, any lull in the flow of magic he can't feel, but it might be a lost cause. She may need a Dalish mage for that.

[eviscerates]

"Yeah, those melodramatic people. They suck."

Ruby idly nudges the ring, rolling it with her thumb; for a moment the shift in the grain almost looms like a full moon in the starless sky, before it contorts into something else.

"In my world people like me are sometimes called werewolves, but in stories back there 'werewolves'" - with one-handed airquotes - "are all sorts of different things, and I heard werewolves are something else here, too... it's a mess. The idea is that a person is human most of the time, and then around the full moon they change."

She pauses, then, trying to figure how to make it make sense. "The things is, I'm not human most of the time and the Wolf other times. I'm a Wolf and I'm human, all the time. I was born this way, and so was my mother, but my Granny was turned by my grandfather. I'm just... I'm a Wolf because I was born that way. Sort of like how mages were born the way they are, or how some people have green eyes or, you know, whatever, except green eyes aren't generally evil and dangerous just for being what they are."

Says the woman with green eyes, and she glances to the side in an exaggerated or are they? sort of way, before looking back to Anders. "Did... that actually help explain it at all, or just make it more confusing?"

[justice_is_blond]

The show gets a small smile as he continues to relax. Her ring is fascinating, the way it keeps changing, and it has to be Dalish or ancient Tevinter. It's a shame it's stuck on her finger.

"Um. A little. How do you, I don't mean to be rude, but how do you define wolf, then? I know what wolves are, I've heard of the curse that turned a tribe into werewolves, but I'm not following how you're human and wolf at the same time. You don't... It's obvious, but you don't look like a wolf. Is it an instinct thing?"

[eviscerates]

"Instinct... I guess. When I tried to deny what I was and fight it then I was never in control. The Wolf part was some separate monster. When I embraced it, though, when I accepted that I am the Wolf? Then when I change I'm still Ruby. But the Wolf is always there, too. It's just another part of my nature. Like... like when someone gets cranky or when they laugh. The possibility is always there?" A shake of her head. "I'm not so good at this. I can let the Wolf out any time, and I'm still me when I do. The Wolf part of me is... I wouldn't be me if I hadn't realised we're the same thing."

But she makes a face, still unsatisfied with her explanation. "I think I'm making this worse."

[justice_is_blond]

He presses his lips together, starting to look a bit more lost.

"I'm sorry. Maybe in time I'll understand better." Honestly, it just sounds like she has a temper and she's named it. Anders isn't sure he should suggest that, though. "I appreciate you trying. And I'm certain that there are some things that make absolute sense to me that if I tried to explain them would simply confuse anyone not familiar with the concepts." Maybe that would be a comfort.

What is likely not a comfort is him sitting back in his chair. "And I'm not familiar with what made this ring. I'm sorry. I think you'll have to speak with one of the Dalish firsts, if not more. Pel may be your best bet, but Velanna may know something as well."

[eviscerates]

"There's really no need to apologise. Words aren't really my thing." Making drinks and large teeth all the better to eat you with? That's her wheelhouse.

"Well, maybe sometime you can confuse me with rambling explanations, too. Deal?" Sometime when he's not working, she's guessing.

Ruby makes a little face - not unhappy, just a face - and looks at her ring. "Pel and Velanna, got it. I'll try and make tome. In the meanwhile I guess I'll go stand next to the elfroot in the garden, or something, see if I can make it grow extra fast." An eyeroll, self-deprecating. "I appreciate you looking anyway."

[justice_is_blond]

"I'm good at confusing with rambling explanations. This sounds like an excellent deal." His expression, and voice, are so very wry. "Imagine if we teamed up to try to explain something. We could leave everyone in the vicinity absolutely befuddled. But until then..."

He stands and gives her a nod. "We could always use more elfroot. Or, if you don't mind the Warden Camp, we've a small garden of herbs we could use you walking by too. Be careful not to walk into any poison ivy, though, if you don't mind. There's a few cats that nibble on it and don't learn."