faderift | [OPEN] Running with my roots pulled up

WHO: Bruce ~~Banner~~ and whoever else
WHAT: Rumors abound. Bruce is good at pretending he can't hear anything. A dracolisk makes everyone's life hell.
WHEN: Across Justinian
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Belated open log thing for the remainder of June; prompts and such are under the cut. Starting in brackets but feel free to switch to prose and I will follow. If you want specific prompts/starters, let me know @

knightblazer or PM this journal!

one. trouble on four hooves. (stables)

[It's not exactly the first time the horsemaster is on his case and it probably won't be the last as well, if the current situation is to go by it.

Horsemaster Dennet wasn't exactly thrilled with the dracolisk that had decided to trail all the way back here with him (muttering along the lines of 'as if one of them wasn't enough'), but the one that Bruce... was stuck with had a tendency for more collateral damage. Nothing major, at least, but after breaking three gates and four fences in its apparent nightly ritual of getting out of the stables there were some lines that needed to be drawn. Thus, this current situation.

The hammer in his hand pounds loudly against the nails as Bruce does his best fixing up the damage the dracolisk had caused in the last few nights. The sleeves of his threadbare shirts are rolled up, for even with the chill here pounding away like this still made him sweat quite a bit, especially as he continued to toil away the hours.

Beside him the dracolisk chewed delicately on some hay, clearly much calmer and less prone to violence now that its human was around.]

two. not quite back to business (healing tents, courtyard)

[It was impossible to ignore the rumors, even if they weren't that hotly circulated, for better or for worse. But still the damage had been done and it would be a lie if he said that things were the same as before.

Nothing was the same as it used to be. After the fallout with Adelaide things didn't really quite look up. Patients who once came to him for help now avoided his gaze entirely and went to others, and the new ones who came in now looked at him with wariness, with all the suspicion that frustrated Bruce more than anything else. This was one of the reasons why he hid his magic away, why he stuck to herbs and what he could do with nothing but his head and his own two hands. He was here to help and he didn't need his magic to do it. It wasn't worth any of this.

(But of course, he deserved it. He knows that. He deserves every bit of this.)

Still, regardless of everything, he came here to do a job and despite all that had happened, there were always going to be people who needed help. So Bruce does the best he can, going around the courtyard to treat whoever was willing to accept his help and aiding anybody who came to his tent while he was in there.]

three. midnight mulling (battlements)

[The battlements had, in a way, become something of a sanctuary to him now. When the night gets this dark and most of Skyhold is asleep, the biting chill of the cold and the silence of the night comforts him well.

On most other nights he'd have the excuse of potion brewing to be up here but tonight that desire isn't there. He sits on the floor, back against one of the walls as he glances out to the mountains that surround them, the sky above that twinkle with countless stars. When everything feels so vast and overwhelming its easy enough to lose himself into the sight, to let them take him away from the chaos of his mind and his soul. To find that momentary peace within himself again, when every part of him rages for something else otherwise.]

wildcard.

[Feel free to throw in your own prompt or PM/contact me to plot out stuff!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[To be fair that moment had been... it was an intense moment for Bruce, and one that comes by very rarely. He's clamped down much more on his emotions since then - and after what had happened in the Approach. The reminder of what the Nightmare gave to him had done well to keep himself in check.]

I don't need to use magic just because I'm a mage. [His jaw sets as he says that; this is one thing Bruce isn't going to budge. He's built the little he had of himself around that and he isn't going to turn on one of the few things that he can still hold onto.] If people ask then yes, I will provide. But if they don't, I'm not going to force it on them, either.

So hold out unless people know who you are and aren't struggling too much to ask for far more efficient help, continuing to not help as much as you could... why? Are you just that selfish? What's wrong with you beyond the obvious? You are what you are. You've magic for a reason, and that reason is not hoarding .

[He'd known Bruce was an asshole from the attack. He just hadn't realized how much of one the man is. Despite trying to remain calm, Anders is glaring as Justice rants.]

[Anders doesn't understand. As much as perhaps Bruce can't understand Anders in turn either, in some ways. Anders may have Justice and his problems with it but it will never be anything like the problems that he faces everyday. They may in the same boat but they are also worlds apart at the same time.]

I have my reasons for the life I choose. [Depending on magic, relying on it - those are the things that makes mages what they are and a mage is what Bruce doesn't want to be, despite nature telling him to. He doesn't want to be what nature dictates, refuses to be as such, and he'll do anything to go against it. A proof to himself that he can be more than what others believe him to be.] I'm not going to compromise my morals.

Which include assaulting someone, and not stepping up to help at the level you could.

[Bruce's morals are worse than Justice's, in Anders' opinion. They're callous and will only hurt.]

How could I possibly expect you to deviate from those? You're right. You've... morals, I should let you get on with that.

[He doesn't expect Anders to understand. How could he, with what he had done? And it is perhaps callous to think that but honestly its not like Anders has many points on his end, just as it is likewise. Bruce isn't here to make friends in the end - he came here to do a job.]

Maybe you should. [There's no point trying to argue otherwise. Bruce has his own reasons and Anders will never need to know. Bruce doesn't need to explain himself.]

This subject won't be dropped. Simply postponed.

[They need another spirit healer. They're at war, and there's no room for cowardice. Neither Anders nor Justice can wrap their minds around this stance, but right now they don't need a fight. With one more glare, Anders heads off to get back to work.]

[OPEN] Running with my roots pulled up

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so many more rivalry points

IT KEEPS HAPPENING