[ OPEN ] I'm Floating in a Most Peculiar Way

[universal_charm]

WHO: Jim Kirk & Anyone
WHAT: Catch-all for the month
WHEN: June/Justinian (after the Justice Ritual #4)
WHERE: Around Skyhold
NOTES: Possible language, probably kittens, wounds, probably demon-talk, shenanigans, maybe some other heavy subjects, possibly some amorous action, everything goes here

[ Class Is In Session - Math + Self-Defense ]
Hearing of a school going up, Kirk naturally offered himself up as a teacher - not least because it gave him something to do here other than be a pretty helper to Sam's forge and a jack-of-all trades laborer.

He taught all levels of math, and any new students who came to the class would be asked to complete an exam that had problems ranging from simple addition and subtraction all the way up to the higher maths such as Calculus to gauge their skill. From that, he did his best to improve upon their skills and further their understanding. A little hard with a range of people, but he did his best, and he was more than willing to answer questions both related to math and to other subjects as well.

When he was not teaching maths, he taught Self-Defense with hand-to-hand combat - or at least he started to once he was physically well enough given that the Ritual had done a number on him. He took to the training area for this class though, and new students were told to fight him as their practical exam. It's not meant to be a hard fight, more like just a quick assessment of their current skill. He welcomed everyone from children to adults, but as a fair notice - expect to walk away with some bruises.

[ Stables ]
If the Western Approach and going after Servis had taught him anything, it was that he really needed to learn to ride something. Being able to hike and run was all well and good, but travel would be much, much easier if he could ride astride something with a longer stride and a touch faster than himself. Motorcycles were a long way off in this world.

So Kirk was being taught to ride, mostly by Sam and on a horse used with permission, though if someone else offered correction to his form as he practiced he would accept it. At this point, everyone was more the expert than himself. At least, so far, he'd avoided falling - for which his ribs were grateful.

Sometimes, though, he could be found around there just enjoying some time with the animals, petting and murmuring to them (and maybe sneaking a carrot to a tiny pony named Bill).

[ The Tavern ]
Most nights Kirk can be found here - work is done, and where else is there to hang out at night in Skyhold (that doesn't make you look incredibly suspicious)? But he liked the crowds and the warmth and the music and the laughter. He could usually be found with a pint of beer in front of him, slowly acclimating to the stuff, and sometimes he would hang out at a table with a chess set in front of him, waiting for a challenger. Other times he had a deck of cards, willing to play Wicked Grace or teach the good folk of Thedas some poker.

And maybe, just maybe, if he'd had enough to drink and laughed enough - he could be convinced to sing a song from a far away land or tell a tale of the same.

[ The Gardens - Specifically at Night/Very Early Morning ]
Even having found a steady place to sleep and steady companion, Kirk's nights were not always quiet and dreamless. He tried his best not to bother Sam on those nights, when sleep would not come, or more accurately he did not wish to close his eyes and see what his mind might twist together when he was not paying attention.

So on those particular nights he would slip out of bed and head to the gardens, sometimes late and sometimes in the early gray before dawn. He walked the paths, breathing in the scent of flowers and the earth. Sometimes he would find a space to sit and fold his legs and rest the back of his hands atop his knees, attempt to meditate in the ways Spock had initially taught him - though more often than not he simply created a numbing tingle in his legs and frustration.

Company, no matter the hour, was always welcome.

[ Around Skyhold - Usually Morning + The Hot Springs ]
Part of Kirk's daily routine was to run and run a lot. He could easily be seen jogging around the perimeter of Skyhold, sometimes with a shirt and sometimes without. Afterwards he usually went to the hot springs to rinse himself off, and in the early days after the Fourth Ritual to clean his wounds as well.

[ The Library ]
Kirk could be found here on and off, mostly coming to return books he had taken for comfortable reading back in the loft with Sam, but now and then he could be seen sitting at a table, taking notes on papers or in a journal he had secured. He was taking more or less everything he read in historical accounts with a grain of salt, but it was still important, he thought, to read such accounts even as he asked others about them.

[ Wild card me! ]
Because there's probably tons of stuff I didn't cover.

Comments

The Tavern and maybe the Hot Springs later

[el_tybs]

After a long day of work and practice, it wasn't unusual for Sam to end up at the tavern. In the past he was here practically daily, but since the beginning of the year he's been less frequent. Every once in a while though he doesn't head straight for his room and instead nurses a drink until he feels ready for bed.

Today had just been one of those days where you needed something to unwind.

Almost immediately after walking in the mage is quick to spot the blue eyed Rifter. He makes sure to go and buy himself a drink first before he approaches though, since he knows that once he's sat down with Kirk, he would be rather distracted.

"Is this spot taken?"

[universal_charm]

Had Kirk known that, he would have tried harder to get Sam to come and socialize. If nothing else, he would get to spend more time laughing and getting to know Sam, and there was nothing that could go wrong with that as far as he was concerned.

Which is why he grins so widely when he sees the mage come to him in the tavern, kicking out the seat for him. "It is now," he smirked. "Where've you been all day?"

[el_tybs]

It wasn't like he didn't socialize, it was just less frequent of himself to do so in the tavern. There was just a lot of memories in the place, and he wasn't the biggest drinker.

Seeing the chair pop out from some unknown force - he knows it was your foot Kirk - Sam raises a brow at the man as he grabs the back of the chair to right it a bit. Flopping down in his seat, and taking a small sip of his drink, he mulls over where he's been all day. "Where aren't I?" he says with a bit of a snort, leaning back to stretch his back against the back of the chair.

"Been in the forge mostly. After a big mission there's always need of new supplies and repairs to be made. I'm done for the night and needed a break of the place." After all he also slept there.

The Hot Springs (mostly so I can use this icon)

[gatheringstorm]

Ever since returning from the Western Approach, Korrin has redoubled her training efforts. She's seen Kirk running but doesn't usually join in, sticking to the strict training regimen Vivienne has set for her. Between that and rift magic training, she doesn't have a lot of time or energy for more. It's after a morning of such a workout that she ends up neck-deep in the hot springs, blissfully stretching out and glad to have it to herself...or mostly to herself. She doesn't open her eyes to see who it is, though speaks up. "If I'm not giving enough room, tell me. Contrary to appearances, I can move...a little."

always happy to provide an excuse

[universal_charm]

He honestly never expects people to join him. He does it mostly for himself, though partners are welcome if they ever appear. More often than not he ended up seeing people around the springs after the work outs, cleaning themselves up and such. Today wasn't different, though he had to grin at seeing Korrin so relaxed in the waters.

"I'd ask you to demonstrate, but I think your girlfriend wouldn't find that as funny as I would."

He moves around to the other side and starts slipping in, wincing slightly, but the tingle of heat begins to spread and he sighs as he sinks all the way up to his chin.

[gatheringstorm]

Upon hearing that, Korrin chuckles and opens her eyes a little. "You'll survive, I'm sure. Perfect, isn't it? All that soreness seems to seep away in these waters. If only we could have this everywhere we go." Alas, any places Korrin remembers as having hotsprings aren't where the Inquisition has tread, nor does it seem likely. But she can dream.

Gardens

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss didn't sleep much, anymore.

Her experiences in the Fade, what she had seen in the Western Approach, had twisted all her dreams into nightmare. She took the potions that her friends had given her to help her sleep deep enough, but that did not lessen the nightmares that slipped in. So early in the morning, around two am, she would walk all of Skyhold, working on her 'parkour' that Araceli had taught her.

Tonight, she came off the roof and landed in the garden, rolling to her feet, slightly out of breath, her gaze flickering around in the near darkness to make sure she hadn't awoken any of the young mages that sometimes liked to sleep out in the open.

[universal_charm]

Oh. Surprise. There's suddenly a woman crouching in front of him - a woman he actually knows. His gaze flickers briefly to where she had dropped down from and he has to feel impressed. Not an easy jump to take and take correctly.

"Good morning, Katniss," Kirk said to her, knowing they were alone in the garden from his previous circuits. "Getting some exercise, or are we expecting more visitors?"

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss jerks her chin towards the greeting, but her hand leaves her blade the moment she recognizes the figure in the dim light. She nods her head, just so

"Morning, Jim." She arched an eyebrow, "Trust me, if we were getting more visitors - you'd hear it a lot sooner than from me. Just ... trying to exhaust myself."

Garden

[ancarrow]

Eirlys has been trying to avoid sleep as much as she can, since returning from the Fade. It's not just the nightmares, though they're bad enough, but having physically experienced the horrors there first hand she's very reluctant to return there even in dreams, despite Korrin's reassurances.

The garden is her favourite place in Skyhold, the sort of place she'd dreamed of tending to back in the alienage when she'd had only a couple of window boxes to grow herbs in. In these rare quiet hours, she has time to tend to the flowers as well as the medicinal plants she uses day to day in her healing, and it's as she's kneeling down to prune a bed of roses that she spots Kirk sat in the grass.

"I didn't see you there, you made me jump a little." She offers a friendly smile, placing her shears on the ground. "I thought I was the only one up and about at this hour."

[universal_charm]

Kirk was no stranger to trouble sleeping. Even before the Fade, sleeping through the night had not always been possible for him. Being with his current roommate had helped, providing him certain things he needed to calm his mind in the quiet hours of the night. But after the Fade it had become harder, and he suspected it would be awhile yet before he found that good place again.

He gave the lady a sheepish smile in apology for spooking her. "That's usually my line," he chuckled. He nodded towards the little patch she was tending. "What are those you're tending?" he inquired.

[ancarrow]

"Roses." She drags one of the flowers across slightly so the red bloom is more clearly visible in the moonlight. "This is the only time I really get to tend to the flowers instead of just the more useful herbs."

Gardens!

[fightorfright]

Even after trekking across the Free Marches after the collapse of the Circles, the novelty of freedom still hasn't worn off. It is equal parts terrifying and exhilarating, but since Amélie has never been one for grand emotive gestures, she mostly takes quiet comfort in her newfound capacity to be alone. No templars or tiny, scared children, no friends, no family. No responsibility for others, and for the first time in her life, no-one to take care of.

Too bad caring was the only thing she'd ever been good at.

It's during a stark moment of loneliness that she comes across the man, sitting in the gardens all comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. Before she can talk herself out of it, Amélie stalks over until she's standing behind him. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

[universal_charm]

Kirk heard her coming, so he didn't jump when she spoke. Instead he slowly tilted his head back, corn-flower blue eyes looking up at her upside down. His lips pulled into a little grin at the statement and he gave a shrug, righting his head before the blood flow could make him to dizzy.

"Got it in one," he shifted to push himself to his feet, kicking one leg to get the circulation back. "I thought I would try and meditate - but I forgot I'm very bad at sitting still."

[fightorfright]

Amélie cocks her head to one side at that statement, brows furrowed in slight confusion. "What's so hard about it? Doesn't take much doing--" She frowns a little, wishing her words were less thickly layered with sleep. Scuffing a boot against the ground, she continues. "Just not doing. I guess it's always come easily to me."

tavern

[serannas]

"You've gotten your chess set, I see!" Ellana says, standing beside his table. The last they spoke, he'd been looking for someone who could make him one. She's glad he has it. Life for a rifter here isn't easy. They have to take their joy where they can find it.

"Are you looking for someone to play with, or waiting for someone else?" Ellana doesn't want to barge in if it's the latter.

[universal_charm]

"Yes, I finally did!" he beamed. It had bee na nicer surprise upon returning from the Western Approach, and they had all, he thought, been in need of good surprises at the end of that nightmare, no pun intended.

Kirk motioned to the chair across from himself. "By all means, my lady."

hot springs;

[hlif]

Contrary to popular belief (or scurrilous rumour put about mainly by one Mal Reynolds), Asher Hardie actually does bathe. It's just that generally, since Asher's whole life is on the road where you sluice yourself off in an icy river, and when you paint yourself in kaddis on account of your dog? Said dog is stationed outside the hotsprings at the moment with the bulk of Asher's weapons. (There's one dagger though. Asher hasn't lived this life for this long by being stupid even in a bath.)

The hot springs are damn good for easing up the aches and pains that come from throwing himself back into training after a good month of being weak as a kitten, and it doesn't bother the burn scars the way snowmelt in the valley camp does but he's not hiking all the way up here every single day like some soft lowlander.

"So if I pass out," he says to whoever else is here because he's only cracked one eye open a little since the water is hot and even the old scars are aching these days, "Can you just give me a kick? I won't be offended but some friends might be if I drown. And that's not how I plan on my funeral going."

[universal_charm]

Kirk fully enjoyed the springs. Water showers on the Enterprise were uncommon, as water was regulated, and they kept mostly to sans showers. So the springs were a blessing, especially for his 23rd century sensibilities on hygiene. They seemed to be helping with his healing too, working to keep his wounds clean and free of infection as they soaked up water through this bandages.

"Better hope we don't both pass out then," Kirk laughed as he relaxed back himself, cracking his eyes open to look at Lief. "Don't know about you, but I had higher hopes for the way I go out than drowning in a hot spring."

tavern;

[foxsays]

When Skyhold's tavern has the option of entering from above, Araceli tends to do just that. It lets her see just where everyone is because even if she came in the first group of rifters to arrive in Thedas, it isn't home, and her bard studies only make her sharper and more alert for those who might take offense.

It's easiest to spot where people are actually gambling from a height too and she makes her way downstairs, ordering quickly at the bar; pretty girls with big smiles get good service, pretty girls with big smiles and a history of tipping well get speedy service, and she seats herself in the nearest available chair.

"Is it just Wicked Grace tonight?" She asks, and she won't be disappointed if it is but well, Thedas is a bit mad on just one game after all, and it's a little sad. "Or are you up for a challenge?"

[universal_charm]

"Depends," he shrugged, taking the cards and shuffling them idly. "The suits are a touch different, but I think they correlate well enough for a game of poker, if that's to your liking. Or you can teach me one you know." He cast her a lopsided grin. "I always like learning new games, especially from lovely ladies."

Garden

[dreadinquisitor]

He had a room - if one dared to call it that (somewhere his mother was wrinkling her nose at nothing) - off the gardens. And he was, by nature, a fairly early riser, especially these days. He liked the quiet of the early morning. The stillness.

Just him, and his thoughts. Maybe some tea (and on especially good mornings, some Gavin).

In the cool morning light, he leaned against the archway and sipped from the rough cup, running through a silent list of things he hoped to tackle that day... until he spotted a familiar face, scrunched awkwardly, across the way.

He approached slowly, so as not to startle Kirk, and joked, "Is that meant to look so unpleasant?"

[universal_charm]

Did it have four walls, a bed, and a roof? Then it counted in Kirk's book, especially here. He had dealt with smaller 'rooms' in his time in the Fleet, so the one he shared with Sam counted to him as a luxury, and anyone who had one to themselves (or willingly shared) was equally luxurious.

(Looks like they liked similar things with their morning tea, Maxwell, except his went by the name of Sam).

He let his shoulders sag when Maxwell spoke, opening his eyes to look up at him and giving a sheepish sort of smile, as if he had caught him cheating. "It's supposed to be a practice to calm the mind, but I don't think it works for me when I'm having to sit still."

Gardens - Early Morning

[youwonscience]

Cosima finds it a little ironic that she can't sleep, when it seems to have been dreaming that got her here in the first place. She's been in Skyhold few enough days that she can still count them on her fingers, and she knows she could get some rest, but her brain has been racing overtime to try to work out how she's going to get home (and what she's meant to do if she ultimately can't). She knows that imagining how Sarah and Alison will react won't do her any good - thinking of what Delphine will think. But it's all... a lot.

She wanders out into the gardens in search of someplace she'll be out of the way while most normal people are still asleep. Someone was kind enough to lend her a light cloak, but no one is going to mistake her for a native at a glance, between her glasses and her hair.

When she ran across the man clearly meditating, she resolved not to disturb him, but her coughing fit is both ill-timed and involuntary, for all she muffles it with her hand.

[universal_charm]

Of course he hears the coughing, but he doesn't jump at the sound. Other people were in the garden at these hours sometimes, he knew that, and to be truthful he wasn't having much success at meditating anyway. His eyes were closed and he had the posture, but his mind was running a mile a minute and far from quiet. He had heard Cosima walking before he heard her, but hadn't said anything since some people came here not to be bothered.

"You should take a dip in the springs. It'll clear that right up," he told her, opening his eyes to consider her in the early morning light.