When my time comes around [OPEN]

[apostafuckyou]

WHO: Raylan Gibbs and YOU!
WHAT: open/catch-all for August and whatever the hell september is called
WHEN: mid-August through mid-Kingsway
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: see subject lines for warnings and closed starters, feel free to PM or PP if you want something closed. also feel free to be like I DO WHAT I WANT and just tag me with something random.

1.no grave can hold my body down
Raylan had borrowed a staff, while his was being repaired, and headed to the training grounds. It had occurred to him that it had been nearly a year since anyone had been making him practice, and given the current state of the world, he could grudgingly admit that he should probably not get too rusty on the ability to fight. He also had a plain staff, a nonmagical one, that he could use to practice the movements if the magical staff was too heavy or he couldn't control it. He had no idea where his strength was at, at the moment.

He could be found near the edge of things with the plain staff, magical staff leaned against a wall nearby. He wore a shirt and pants as usual, instead of announcing to all who passed by that he was a mage by his clothing. He spent awhile just flipping the staff around, casually and sloppily running himself through the movements to warm up and remind his muscles what they were doing. After some time of that he started hitting a dummy with it, and when he felt confident, started trying to burn up one of the fireproof dummies. He was still sloppy and obviously weak, but he was well-trained and the movements came naturally. He was pleased to note that his aim was as good as ever. He'd be sore for a couple of days, but once that went away, he'd be back again, so there was plenty of opportunity to catch him.

2.i'll crawl home to her
There was only so long a person, even a mage of twenty-five years' education, could read incredibly dull academic tomes on the Fade before one's eyes started to bleed. Thus, Raylan would be found up on a wall of Skyhold, visible from the courtyard, facing out to look at the camp. He didn't seem nervous about falling, perched on the edge of a wall in the middle of a windy mountain range. He was just sitting there and watching the various movements of people, letting the cold air wake him up. The incredible views of the mountains around them were clearing his head.

3.when my baby found me
Raylan's laboratory, such as it was, existed in the Skyhold dungeon. It had been a small storage room full of ruined lumber, and he'd cleared it out in exchange for getting to claim it. Fire had been involved. It was big enough for a desk, a chair, a bed, and Raylan, and that was just about it. The quartermaster kept him in candles and he borrowed books from the library (and mostly he even returned them). He holed up and kept to himself, except for late morning to mid afternoon every day. He was actually working, even though the door didn't necessarily give that impression.

Three pieces of parchment were stuck to it with paste, and each had been written on with ink and a finger, so the words could be read from far away:

INQUISITION RESEARCH
VERY IMPORTANT
GO AWAY

The first knock someone gave was likely to be met with a distracted shout along these lines, but at a second attempt, he might open the door, heaving a put-upon sigh as he did.

Comments

1, some vague time in between all her missions

[circleprodigy]

Near the training grounds, Inessa is enjoying some downtime now that she's back at Skyhold. (Well, as much as someone can be said to do so while still in full Grey Warden armor.) Said downtime is taking the form of reading outside in between moments throwing the ball for Garahel to fetch, returning to her tome when he runs off again. All in all, it's a very relaxed moment in time for her, a nice chance of pace from the hectic pace of Halamshiral.

One of her throws has the ball land by the training dummies and mabari darts off to seek it. Said ball is just past Raylan and Garahel watches the fire blast with interest, obviously not afraid of magic in general. He lets out a friendly bark, wagging his tail at the human. The ball is temporarily forgotten, as happens sometimes during these games if there's people who get his interest.

[apostafuckyou]

The dog seemed friendly, so Raylan paused. He could use a chance to catch his breath, anyway.

"Hey, buddy," he said, taking a knee to rub the dog's head affectionately. He was sweaty and slightly winded, but he was in better shape than he'd expected to be, so it wasn't bad. He looked around and spotted Inessa. "He belong to you?"

[circleprodigy]

Startled out of further reading by a familiar voice, Inessa looks up Garahel responding to the head-rubbing with some nuzzling in turn and happy tail-wags. Lowering her book, she closes it almost immediately, eyebrows raising. Now there's a face she hasn't seen since Ferelden's Circle fell, as afterward she had immediately departed to find the Grey Wardens. "Raylan? By the Maker, it really is you!"

Smiling, she stands and brushes the grass off herself. "And yes, he's mine. Garahel, show your manners." Garahel lifts his paw. Shake?

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan did a double-take when he heard the voice -- with her face in a book, he hadn't recognized Inessa. He'd know that voice, though, and he looked up at her with an expression of happy surprise as she approached. "Well, fancy meeting you here," he said, face splitting into a broad grin.

He laughed at the pup's manners and shook the paw. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Garahel," he said, then stood up. "And good to see you, I didn't know you were around," he added to Inessa, reaching out to grip her shoulder.

[circleprodigy]

Inessa beams back at him, her more restrained polite smiles set aside for the time being. As Raylan approaches, Garahel remembers his ball and turns around to fetch it, hoping that having two people will mean twice the fetching. Trusting the mabari to behave himself, Inessa keeps her attention on her fellow tower alumni. "I arrived last month, from the Western Approach. I was sent there after the Inquisition came to Weisshaupt, but wanted to see Skyhold for myself. Have you been here the entire time?"

3...

[amygdalae]

Being a recluse himself, its not hard for Bruce to be keenly aware of the other reclusive people around Skyhold. Thus he knew of Gibbs' existence, though its not like he had a reason to really talk to him. Not that it was something that Bruce actively tried to make that happen anyway.

But tonight he had picked up his dinner late and one of the cooks pushed onto him the task of bring down the food to Gibbs as well, who was apparently so busy he hadn't come up at all to take his meal. And since Bruce was already one of the latest the task had fallen to him.

So here he was now, standing in front of the door and trying his best to ignore the crudely made sign stuck to the door. Bruce stares at it for several moments before he reaches up and knocks on the door, getting his attention first before speaking. "Gibbs? I'm here with your dinner." --well, supper now by this time, but it doesn't really matter at this point.

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan yelled something vague and distracted, but the smell of the food got through the beaten-down old door, and he perked up. He opened the door, blinking at Bruce a couple of times.

"What time is it?" he asked, then shook his head. "Sorry, I mean, thanks," he said, taking the plate. "What time is it?" He'd been certain he still had an hour or two to go get food, and he just wanted to finish this one quick thing. He was chasing an idea, but he was in an obscure corner of the theory now, having to search in ten different chapters of ten different books to see if he was right.

[amygdalae]

"Late enough for me to be bringing this down." He passes the plate over to Gibbs once the other made a move to take it, watching to make sure that nothing was spilled when he brought it in. "But its not a problem. Just be sure to bring the dishes back up so that they can get cleaned." Especially when he's certain that the cooks wouldn't be too happy to have to come down here just to pick up some dirty dishes and the like.

He takes a quick note of the way Gibbs looked right now, the way he sounded distracted earlier and the fact that he asked the same question twice. "Have you been sleeping at all?" He could easily be wrong, but... well, he just needed to make sure.

[apostafuckyou]

"I will," he said, nodding.

"Of course I've been sleeping," Raylan said, looking mildly affronted. "I slept an hour about..." He trailed off, thinking about it. "Well I can't very well be expected to know how much time has passed down here, I don't have any sun to see, do I?" An artful deflection, as he'd realized he had no idea how long ago that nap had been. He hadn't had to go teach any kids today, another teacher had had them, so he'd been down here since breakfast. He'd definitely slept at least an hour at some point after breakfast.

[amygdalae]

It's not as if Bruce is entirely innocent himself in the whole 'being so busy until not realizing what time it is' shtick, so he doesn't have much of a space to speak. But still even with that said...

"It is getting pretty late, so it might be a good time to get some rest after you're done with the food," he remarked with an arched eyebrow. "Whatever you're doing can probably wait until tomorrow." He wouldn't force the issue or anything if Gibbs wanted to keep up and do his thing, but as a surgeon he should at least say something. Last thing he wanted was to have another patient to deal with just because he was too busy to take care of himself.

3

[thecookery]

"If you mean to starve yourself, just say so," Avery responds to the shouting as she knocks a second time.

Despite what some may believe, she does not actually live in the kitchens. But she's still down there enough of the time to be vaguely aware when certain people aren't showing up for the typical mealtimes on a regular basis. Especially when they're faces she'd once seen down there begging for treats often enough to leave an impression.

"If not, would you just open up already?"

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan had the grace to look slightly abashed when he realized who it was and what she was holding. He cleared his throat.

"Sorry. Work. You know how it is." He gave her his best charming smile, knowing already, from his previous interactions with her, that it was almost certainly a lost cause. "Is that for me?" he asked.

[thecookery]

"Wouldn't have to be if you just came to the dining hall like everybody else," she grumbles (because she can't just say, 'Yes it is,' like everybody else). Sorry, pal. Even if she wasn't already immune to the charms of men, Avery's personal raincloud seems thick enough to ward off the effects of even the shiniest of smiles.

She looks around at the place he's decided to call home, dubiously. "Should I put this somewhere or...?"

[apostafuckyou]

"No no, I'll take it," he said, taking the plate from her. He didn't need her setting it down somewhere and ruining some nots, or worse, a borrowed book. "I appreciate it," he said, nodding to her respectfully. He'd spent his adult life in a circle, but Raylan wasn't one of those noble assholes, he tried to keep on good terms with kitchen and other helpful staff.

[thecookery]

I'm sure there's some level where that's appreciated, even if it's not super obvious at the moment? Avery isn't overly fond of nobles or mages, really, but not being an asshole when he easily could probably wins some points.

"Sure," is her simple response as she crosses her now-unburdened arms. "Just try not to make it a habit. If I was you, I'd be looking for any excuse I could find to get out of here for a bit. It's like another cell."

One with books in, so even greater torture. Sure, Avery learned her letters well enough to do her job, but tomes that size? It's giving her a headache just thinking about trying to work her way through that mess one syllable at a time.

2

[doneisdone]

Teren didn't spend a lot of time within the keep, preferring instead to remain down in the Warden camp, but she did make the occasional errand up the hill to requisition more supplies or talk to somebody important. She was huffing slightly as she finally trudged up to the gate's threshold, and just happened to catch a glance of someone sitting atop the wall.

"Hello the battlements," she called hoarsely, "is there something we should know about?" Not that people didn't sit up there all the time, but she was a cautious sort.

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan blinked down at her a moment, still a little slow on the uptake as he rested his brain. Probably he needed to be sleeping a little more than he was, but he shook his head, managing to bring it around.

"All good here," he hollered down. "No worries."

[doneisdone]

She met his eyes, and promptly rolled hers at his delay. Just sitting there, then. "Well what good are you," she muttered, and proceeded forward.

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan was in too light of a mood to be feel ashamed or be brought down by her grump. He could only just catch her words. "Maybe I'm here to look pretty, like the view!" he called down, then looked back out at them with a smile on his face.

[doneisdone]

Despite how much of a hurry she was or wasn't in, Teren couldn't resist banter. Even if she looked grumpy doing it. After all, it took a bit of time to walk through the portcullis.

"You're quite a bit louder," she observed.

1.

[el_tybs]

Maybe practicing with a staff and wearing plain clothes didn't announce that you were a mage, but once dummies started getting hit with fire it was easy to tell that the man was. It wasn't unusual to see several mages practicing their moves and skills in the training area, but it has been perhaps a few days since Sam hasn't used them himself and he didn't recognize the new face.

Finishing with his own reps with a wooden sword, using a towel to dry the sweat on the back of his neck, he watches for a time. It's only when he sees the mage take the time to take a break that he approaches. "Do you need some water?"

Re: 1.

[apostafuckyou]

"Nah, I'm all right." The staff had a blade at one end, so he stuck it in the ground to be held while he stretched his arms back, sticking out his chest. He'd be sore anyway, but stretching helped. "Thanks, though." He relaxed his stretch and squinted at Sam, trying to place him. "We been introduced?" he asked.

[el_tybs]

"Don't believe so. I might not remember everyone's name, but I'm pretty good with faces." Setting his own practice weapon down, Sam stretches out a hand in greeting. "Name's Samouel Gareth. Course most just call me Sam. Yourself?"

[apostafuckyou]

"Raylan Gibbs," he said, giving a firm handshake. "Good to meet ya. I been here a couple months, just haven't felt strong enough to train," he said, gesturing with the practice staff. "Showed up skinny and half-starved," he said with a self-deprecating smile.

[el_tybs]

"I could imagine training wasn't quite on your mind then. Were you taken to the healers when you came in?" A couple months Raylan said. Sam's been busy and all over the place that he can't keep straight what days he had been Skyhold, but he's sure they haven't run into each other. "I take it you're doing better now then."