[OPEN] Heaven bend to take my hand

[bookish_lioness]

WHO: Hermione Granger and YOU
WHAT: Hermione's seen some shit and is trying to get over it.
WHEN: Mid-Kingsway through the end of the month.
WHERE: In and around Skyhold.
NOTES: Takes place after this plot, so some threads will likely have mentions of child death and/or signs of depression. Please let me know if you'd like me to avoid any triggery topics.

Library

Though the curly-haired rifter has become a staple in the library over the past six months, Hermione has been relatively scarce there lately. She has no real heart for research anymore, not after the things she'd uncovered in those journals in that cave in Fromage, and there's so much more to Thedas than what can be found in books. She'd learned that the hard way, and now instead of reading and taking notes, she finds her thoughts wandering as they rarely do. For once, she can use a distraction from her failed attempts at studying.


Stables

Avoiding people isn't always as easy as she'd like it to be. But if she can preoccupy herself with animals, Hermione can withstand a bit of small talk. There's usually a kitten or two playing around the stables, and if not, at least helping to feed some of the horses will make her feel productive as well as distracted. And if that doesn't work, there's a certain dracolisk that she'd been slowly learning to get friendly with, assuming it won't sense her dour mood and become agitated.


Battlements

The battlements are actually quite pretty. She'd never really come up here before - if she wasn't in the library then that usually means she wanted to be social, and so the courtyards were where she'd spent more of her time - but now that she's looking for a change of scenery... well, there are worse places to get some quiet with a beautiful view. She's not always alone, since there are always people passing back and forth, but most people don't seem all that keen on hassling the young woman perched in between two turrets, staring out into the mountains. Indeed, unless someone happens to recognize her or just manages to catch her as she wipes at a stray tear, most probably wouldn't even know she's there.


Healing Tents

Returning from Emprise had been difficult, for more reasons than one. Beyond the obvious, Hermione still had a few physical injuries that she'd intended to ask the healers in her group to help with on their way back, but had clearly never gotten around to it due to the extenuating circumstances. Of course, she can't indefinitely deal with waking up with a sharp pain in her back and some of the bruises had begun to look particularly gruesome, so there's nothing wrong with making the occasional visit to the healing tents. If she takes care of one thing at a time and sees a different healer each time, it minimizes the chance of any awkward questions being asked, which is all the better; she's not ready to talk about that dreadful day and is in no rush to change that.


Wildcard!

She probably won't be quite so cheery until later on in the month, but Hermione still needs to eat, drink, bathe, and presumably sleep. She may be a little awkward around those that had gone to Emprise du Lion with her, but she isn't about to actively ignore anyone or send them off. Her nerves might be a bit frayed, but there's still such a thing as etiquette, after all.

Comments

[conqueredhearts]

"And I wish you the best in all your endeavors." He reached over to actually give her hair a ruffle. A fond gesture that spoke of how he felt about her despite the fact that they'd only just met. Perhaps this meeting had been brief but she was now a precious friend to him. He would treasure her for a long while and then some after that. Such was his nature really.

"I've distracted you a good while now, haven't I. I suppose I should actually allow you to work on whatever it is you are up to."

[bookish_lioness]

While Hermione was no stranger to physical contact, that was usually between close friends, and so she was surprised when he actually moved to give her hair a ruffle. It made an embarrassed sort of blush begin to rise to her face, an instinctive response to the possibility that she was being regarded as a child, even if she wasn't entirely sure that that was the case here.

"Th- thank you," she replied, managing not to sound too flustered. "I appreciate the, um-... the distraction, but I suppose we can talk more some other time?" Preferably during a time when she was better suited to believe him when he claimed to be the sort-of ghost of a famous historical figure.

[conqueredhearts]

"Of course. I would welcome your company anytime." He gave her another warm smile then rose up so that way he could let her be. He could always go and find his own books to read and let her get back to her studies. Already he was sure that he would see her again and that satisfied him completely as he moved off to another part of the library to continue to read things.

There was still so much of this world to learn about, after all.