faderift | [ Open ] You are a Giant Redwood, Falling on a Family of Deer

WHO: Avery and OPEN
WHAT: Another post-shardbearer-plot (this one) post! This one a slightly wider spread catch-all
WHEN: Late September/early October
WHERE: Around Skyhold
NOTES: Warning for grouchy, injured baker! Also, potential references to violence and torture and gore from said shardbearer plot

Kitchens

Anyone coming in for a visit or just down here passing by over these few weeks is probably going to be hearing a lot more banging and clattering and cursing than usual before they even reach the doors. Sounds which further investigation will reveal to be the sweet music of a very frustrated Avery trying to navigate the narrow spaces between counters in here sporting a sling on one arm and a crutch under the other. What with her junked-up shoulder and still heavily bandaged leg, y'know?

If they're lucky, they might even get the pleasure of seeing her fumble at doing simple tasks one-handed or knock over a tray of breadrolls with her crutch and transcend anger into a quantum state of silent fuming. The kitchen has never betrayed her like this before.

Healing Tents

Hopefully it won't be like that for too much longer though. And it's this hope that has Avery diligently visiting the healing tents at the appropriate intervals to have the progress of her wounds checked on. The shoulder, thankfully, is not so bad, as long as she makes sure to keep from moving it around too much for a while, but the leg... Well, it turns out giant, magical wolf bites don't really give a damn about magical healing. They're stubborn like that and refuse to go away on anyone's schedule but their own!

Stables

During those moments when Avery doesn't have reason to visit the healing tents but has been shooed out of the kitchen to do this thing called... relaxing? (She thinks she might have heard of it once, but she really has no idea what such a strange and foreign concept could truly be. It sounds like a trap.) She usually wanders down to the stables to check in with some of her favorite horses and maybe have a go at brushing out their manes and tails while she's at it. Hopefully without being disturbed by anyone, but everyone knows how likely that is to work out for her.

Training Grounds

Though lately she's been spending a little time watching the soldiers train as well. She's not a terrible fighter herself, but most of what she knows is about how to make your average bully or mugger eat their own teeth. If she'd had real battle training like these people, would things have gone differently on that last mission? She can't help but wonder about it as she silently observes.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The potatoes are easy enough to take care of that Avery has been able to keep an eye on Josephine's work, for the last little bit of it at least, so she's quick to respond to the question, "Oh, yeah, it's not too complicated."

She steps in close and demonstrates as she explains, "Just run your fingers across, maybe add some pressure. Most of it should feel pretty much the same, but a few bits are going to be a little tougher, especially near where the branches led off. Like here." She pokes one spot in particular she's found and nods for Josephine to touch it as well. "If you miss a little, it should still be fine, especially with the way we're about to cook this, but it's good to take care of what you can, yeah? I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of tree bark in my soup."

She wrinkles her nose ever-so-slightly at Avery's suggestion. "That does sound most unappetising," Josephine agrees, following the instruction to touch the rough part of the broccoli, her hand brushing Avery's as she gets her fingers into position. She runs her thumb over the spot in question. "I think I see what you mean," she says, even though she's honestly now more confused.

"I'll do my best," she reaffirms, taking a step back towards her pile of vegetables so she can busy herself with cutting once more.

Wow. Rude.

There is a slight pause, in which Avery looks at their hands and then sidelong at Josephine for a moment, before she pulls away and clears her throat. "Good," she says quietly and... maybe slightly awkwardly, trusting that she has this under control for now. "Once you've peeled off those bits, you can just cut the stems into rough pieces, about the size of the potato ones? I'll just grab some butter and make sure the stove is ready for the pot."

Josephine catches the glance and the following odd qualify in Avery's voice, and makes a mental note to give the woman more space next time. Looking over at the potatoes to determine what size to cut her stems, Josephine nods absently, running her fingers down the broccoli like Avery had shown her to check for any rough spots. "Anything else?"

Yes, excellent. Miscommunication. The most important ingredient to any good developing... whatever this is.

Over her shoulder, Avery says, "Just cutting up that little bit of celery and garlic that's on the counter. Then it all just goes in the pot once the butter's melted. Except the florets. Those we'll worry about in a few minutes."

Josephine takes a moment to look in the direction of the vegetables Avery's mentioned, before returning her attention to the broccoli to ensure the removal of any rough spots she can find. "Will you show me how to cut those as well?" she murmurs.

You know, she thought maybe stepping away from the table would give her a second to just take a breath and be chill again after that moment of clear un-chillness? But all it's really doing is giving her a new perspective on how surreal this moment is. One of the most powerful people in one of the most powerful organizations in Thedas is asking Avery to show her how to cut garlic... "Um," she mumbles distractedly, and then shakes herself back to reality. "Yeah, of course. I'll be right there."

She finishes up making sure the stove will be ready for them as soon as they finish with the vegetables and returns to the table with some butter, giving Josephine a small smile. "How's it coming?"

There is definitely something that seems to be bothering Avery, but Josephine is set upon her task determinedly enough to not push (for now). After attending to the broccoli, probably removing more of the stems than had been truly necessary, she laughs somewhat shakily as she surveys her work. "I've done all I can. I hope it is enough."

At that Avery can't help but chuckle a little as well, especially at Josephine's seeming concern over whether she's done well. As strange as this situation may be, she's still just another person trying something new deep down.

"It looks good to me. Don't worry," Avery assures her with a light touch to her arm, before moving the broccoli aside and pulling the single, small celery stalk needed in front of them. "This'll be a bit simpler. This is leftover from something earlier, so the leaves have already been removed and everything. All you need to do is slice it, but we will need it a lot thinner than the other two, so don't feel like you have to rush.

"For now, just hold it and the knife how you think you ought to."

Josephine does her best to calm herself, which is surprisingly difficult with Avery's proximity, but nonetheless she perseveres and focuses on the task at hand, which happens to be celery. Ah, celery. She twists the knife in her hand so the blade is facing directly down, and so her forefinger is on the top of the handle rather than her thumb. Looking back at her instructor, she asks, "Like this?"

"You've got the right idea," she answers but then reaches over over to adjust her grip a little as she explains, "You'll have better control though if you choke up on it a bit. Have your hand a little further up so you can pinch the blade between your thumb and forefinger."

See? So long as she keeps it well within the bounds of being instructional, the contact is... well, still awkward and distracting, but less so! Sort of.

Anyway, once she has Josephine's grip on the knife sorted, Avery pulls away slightly and drops her hand onto the table, curling her fingers up partially under it. "Once you start cutting the celery, this is the way you'll want to keep your other hand on it so there's no chance your fingertips ever end up under the knife as well. Plus, you can just lightly touch the side of the blade to your knuckles to keep it steady the whole time, yeah?"

[ Open ] You are a Giant Redwood, Falling on a Family of Deer

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look herian's just jealous

idk she IS the one currently making out with an evil npc or something right??

something like that i think she needs higher standards

...ok thats fair

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