[ open?? closed? schrödinger's log?? ] heroes always get remembered

[goodforsaken]

WHO: Lex Luthor, assorted guest stars, and YOU??
WHAT: General intro purposes? Get you some arms and armor made, Inquisition! Geek out in the library! Be confused by the incongruous noble all up in the Undercroft!
WHEN: Approximately now - the end of August.
WHERE: Skyhold: the Undercroft + Library + the buffet option
NOTES: Starters in comments. As it stands no warnings are required; I'll edit here a/o subject lines if that changes. Here is Lex's info post for anyone who'd like to run with the idea that they've heard of him/had contact before!

Being possessed of the incredibly informed opinion most not!Orlesians have of Orlais when they've only ever visited and spoken mostly to people wearing silly hats, Lex is more than comfortable with his first forays into the Inquisition taking place in Skyhold and not Halamshiral. That's where he's ultimately most useful anyway; he suffers no illusions regarding any diplomatic capabilities that don't involve ensnaring largeish globs of money.

The day side ....globbage occurs, however, is not this day or, nor is it whatever other days this log ends up involving. No, instead here we are in Skyhold, where Lex's general occupancy encompasses the following:

Comments

[demonicbeauty]

Of all the menial tasks that Ariadne performed to better endear herself to the natives, returning books to the library for them was one of her favorites. She wasn't much for books. It was a point of pride that she could read and write at all. But there was something utterly magical about libraries. Maybe because they hadn't really existed in Deleo. But just the idea of having so many stories all in one place.

She wondered that there weren't more people around all of the time.

As she dropped the latest stack off, she caught an unfamiliar scent in the building. There would be no harm in investigating. She wasn't obligated to be anywhere at the moment, so she curiously crept into the stacks, following the new scent.

yikes, sorry this took so long!

[goodforsaken]

Depending on a person's interpretation of 'smell,' Lex smells like ...soot, maybe, fire and sweat and a general incongruity of hard work; metaphorically money or amorality or something, who is to say!!

Besides Ariadne, obviously. The point is: Lex has found a volume on making explosives, which while certainly nothing as impressive as the Qunari have come up with, catches his attention partially because it might be useful, partially out of sheer curiosity. He possesses no preternatural senses, but he is very, very good at knowing when he's being observed, because he is uh, paranoid as shit. So the book in front of his face lowers, eyeline scanning the surrounding stacks warily.

No worries!

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne found him right off. She had a particular sensitivity to the smell of anything fiery. And soot reminded her terribly much of her ten-year-old self.

...which this man certainly was not.

She smiled as she saw him lowering the book, offering him a curtsy that was really more of a bounce. Everything Ariadne did had a certain bouncy quality to it. As if she lived up to her nickname and was truly a thing of 'air' itself.

"Hello," she said cheerfully, in a voice that was incongruously young when compared to the rest of her. "Am I interrupting?"

[goodforsaken]

Well, he's similar in size to a ten year old...--no, anyway. The point is, he collects himself and offers back the absolute minimal version of a bow, apparently having yet to have shaken off the last vestiges of the good manners his upbringing had attempted to foist on him.

"No more than anyone else would be," he shrugs a shoulder; it's not the most like, welcoming of greeting, but it's not purposefully hostile either. Just honest. And. Weirdly socialized, haha. "Although that is to say if you're looking for company there are a probable hundred better options available to you."

Like soooo many other members of the Inquisition. Or a tree. Or reasonably people-friendly Hart.

[demonicbeauty]

She tilted her head to one side, canted like a cat. "I don't know," she said. "I'm not sure if the library is a good place to go looking for company."

On the surface, it seemed ideal. Here was where she could find like-minded individuals. People who were as interested in stories as she was herself.

And yet...

And yet so many Humans went to books to be alone. As if books weren't worth sharing. And she wondered if alone was the same as lonely in such a context.

[goodforsaken]

... well, to be fair, that is novel enough an approach to get his attention. Lex doesn't distinguish between alone and lonely inasmuch as alone is his default state, so he no more feels loneliness than, say, a person standing at the center of Val Rouyeax sees Orlais.

He tilts his head right back; it's not intentional mimicry, he's just like, a twitchy owl-cat person. "As long as you don't intend for it to be very loud company, one assumes."

[demonicbeauty]

"I'm not sure I understand the point of a quiet library," she replied. "The purpose of a library is to share knowledge and information. It seems like noise would be a part of that." She smiled, ducking her head a little bit. "But I come from a culture with an oral history," she added. "I suppose my ideas must seem a bit backward. In a library."

She breathed deeply, trying to parse out every little bit of his scent.

This was not the typical Human. She knew that right away. But what it meant was another matter in entirely.

"Forgive me," she continued. "I've never seen you before. I'm always curious about newcomers."

[goodforsaken]

"You're comparing two incomparable things," Lex contended, leaning by one shoulder on the closest shelf, "noise is part of the sharing of ideas, yes, but for facts of the bloodless, immutable sort--those benefit from silence."

Inasmuch as, say, an oral history changed every time it was given. But since he was so blithely sharing his opinions ten seconds after they'd met, it was probably unsurprising he wasn't offended by curiosity, waving away the need for forgiveness like clearing smoke from his eyes. "I'm sure there are many more interesting things in the library than little old me."

Ha, ha. He was probably right, but also kind of just entertaining himself with ridiculous pseudo-modesty.

[demonicbeauty]

"Not many that can talk back," she replied, giving a slight upturn of the corner of her mouth that was possibly a smile.

Ariadne could read and write. Better than almost any Alastrian. And she did enjoy stories. But it was always better to get them from a person.

It was the way she'd been socialized and it wasn't about to change.

Besides, this odd stranger seemed worth getting to know. There was something quirky in his nature. Like he was a puzzle that was meant to be solved. And Ariadne always solved them eventually.

"What's your name, my lord?"