Take me to the water's edge [open]

[provenforce]

WHO: Rey and YOU
WHAT: Stuff Rey is doing for the month of Harvestmere
WHEN: ~whenever~
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: if you'd like a closed starter hit me up on plurk, or pm!

i. riverside

Rey can be found often standing on the river bank, a little ways away from the camp, where she thinks no one will see her. Even after her lessons have concluded for the day with Obi-Wan she'll come here to keep practising, picking rocks up from the riverbank using nothing but the Force, then throwing them out into the water.

Sometimes she sees if she can find the same rock and pull it back, other times she'll try to angle a smooth stone, perfect for skipping, just to see if she can skip it with her will alone. And sometimes she'll get frustrated with that and just actually physically skip stones, something she learned to do in the water troughs at the edge of Niima outpost when she was young.


ii. tower

Sleeping in the barracks was something that Rey wasn't quite comfortable with, too many bodies, too many people she doesn't know well enough to trust letting her guard down around. So for a while she'd taken to sleeping in nooks and crannies around the castle, wherever she could tuck herself to avoid getting trampled on or spotted. Finally she found herself a room that looked unoccupied, possibly due to the massive hole in the wall facing the valley. Rey is however something of an expert in patching up sad hovels into something liveable. She hung a heavy wool blanket across the hole, and added some nails she acquired to pin it into place when night fell and the wind blew.

Anyone who happens into the tower her room is located in, whether looking for her or not, may find her with tools spread out on the floor as she attempts to install a locking mechanism into the door. She doesn't own much, certainly nothing anyone would want to steal, but a lock will make her feel more at ease at night.


iii. hot springs

Rey can count on one hand the number of times she's used a bath with actual water. On Jakku every drop was precious and needed more for hydration than the luxury of cleaning oneself. Sonic showers were the norm, and even those had been fairly infrequent. She'd had a real shower before leaving to try and track Luke Skywalker down, it had felt bizarre to waste water in such a way.

Standing looking at the hot springs now, she still feels that way. All the same she needs to get clean, and she knows this is the best option, the other being the freezing river. She's getting better at tolerating the cold, but she does still have her limits. This isn't her first time here, but she's still unaccustomed to the concept, so it's late at night when she's less likely to run into someone else. With a little puttering she puts her things aside, before making her way into the water, letting out a sigh as the heat seeps into her skin. It's the closest she's gotten to the Jakku heat since arriving in Thedas, and strange as it is, it's not unwelcome.

After soaking it in for a few moments she sets to the task of letting her hair down, wanting to be in and out in as short amount of time as absolutely possible.

Comments

[provenforce]

A lot of that goes over Rey's head. Orzammar, surface dwarves, it's all stuff she's fairly uneducated in. Yngvi is the first dwarf she's actually run into. Still, at least some of it she clues into and she smirks a little as he explains why he named them, crouching down so she can put the nug in her arms down with his companions, but remaining in that position, greeting the other nugs with light touches.

"Do they understand you, or is that just wishful thinking on your part that the names will motivate them?" It sounds like something that would happen on Jakku. Likely did, for all she knew. There were fights of some kind or another, those who managed to avoid being scavengers pitted animals against each-other. She'd never had the money or the interest to look into it further than hearing it mentioned from time to time.

[inagutterson]

So that his favourite (he's gone so soft but okay, he's still pretty much in mourning, you can't lose one of your best friends and not need things to fill up that space) doesn't miss out, he puts him down too, hopping back so they've got room to move about. At least everyone he bought nugs from reared them right, but you never take a nug with a bad temper, what good does that do anyone? The happy noises are relaxing though, it's why he's kept this lot around instead of unleashing them.

(Skyhold he's not sorry about your feral nug problem, he doesn't know he can't read suddenly.)

"Oh they know. There's a nug king down in the Deep Roads." Shockingly that isn't the part Yngvi's making up. "They didn't understand anything else I said to them to get them moving, not one thing. It was sad. But then I started calling that one," he indicates the chunkiest of the nugs, "Rump Roast and suddenly he started thundering along like there was a bear after him. To be fair there was a drunk Orlesian man firing a crossbow at me."

[aceso]

"There are usually at least two in every country in the south, but it varies depending on size of the country and mage population." Luckily Christine was in Montsimmard instead of the White Spire. Unluckily she was one of the mages who came with Fiona for the vote and found herself driven across the country into Ferelden by crazed Templars.

"The Inquisition helps us in return. Many are scared as to our place in the world now, and the Inquisition offers us sanctuary. But I am sure you can relate, as a rifter."

[conqueredhearts]

"Amazing. And you are able to control it? Or are learning to at least?" Such a grand power! It must take quite the heart to be able to wield something like that. Iskandar was sure that it would be tempting to use it for terrible things too and wondered what happened when that occurred. Could the darkness that was power turn someone away from using such a power for others? It was possible. Power was one of the greatest temptations.

[stabsbooks]

"If you are certain," Cassandra says, but it's more a formality than anything. She doesn't really expect the young woman to change her mind now.

She relaxes deeper into the water, content to let the silent stretch out for a moment as she reaches up to begin undoing the braid wrapped around her head.

[obi_wanmanshow]

He smiles at her, warm acknowledgement, and reaches out to pat her shoulder, gently reassuring. A visionary talent is never an easy burden, but even if he himself is no expert, he's helped guide Anakin through enough that-- well, it's not as if Rey has another choice, here. Given the option, he'd be willing to bet the Thedosians would call her a blood mage, if her vision became well known.

Obi-Wan isn't worried, of course. Rey is nothing if not discreet.

"In the temple, we had isolation chambers, and comfortable chairs, to help easily-distracted younglings find their focus. Somehow, I think that isn't going to be your problem" He says, folding gracefully down onto a relatively dry spot by the riverbank. Sitting cross-legged, Obi-Wan seems as relaxed on hard stone as if he were sitting on a cushioned chair; he's serene, completely at ease, "Before we begin, if you have a moment, I'd like to ask how you've been fitting in, around Skyhold, and with the Inquisition. It can't have be an easy transition, but-- what's your impression, of the people here? Is there anyone specific, who stands out to you?"

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione blinks in surprise at the mention of the staff being used for "hitting things". While she's certainly heard of them being used in that manner before, she's also pretty sure that most mages would consider that a gross misuse of what appears to be their primary weapon. She's also heard of plenty of people lying about being mages before, and given the fairly secluded spot in which she'd found the other woman, she's about to accept her words as little more than that before dropping the subject entirely.

But then she sees Rey's hand, and her face goes from nervously avoidant to something resembling genuine pleasure. "Oh! A rifter!" She holds out her own hand, then; she tends to wear longer sleeves than she really needs to in an effort to keep from being bothered by anyone specifically because they can see a green glow from her palm, but the sleeve shifts just enough when she stretches out her arm. "I'm a rifter, too. Not very many of us can do magic. There used to be a good number of us, but...."

Well. She'd assumed that she simply hadn't seen them around, but after Kain's death, she has to wonder how many of the other magically-inclined rifters have suffered similar fates. Instead of saying as much, she waves her hand dismissively and adds, "I'm Hermione Granger. Are you new?"

[lettersfromhome]

"Well that's very kind of you."

And she's grateful, that tired smile says as much, before she carefully steps her way over to the far edge of the spring. She takes her time in unfastening the clasp of her cloak and lying it beside the edge of the water...mostly so Rey has time to avert her eyes, before the older woman settles herself shoulder-deep in the water.

"Oh, Maker." There's a content sigh as she settles back against the warm rock. "Now that is heavenly."

[provenforce]

"Um," Rey pauses for a moment, both considering the question and shifting her position slightly so she can secure the next screw. "Rathtars. Massive creature with tentacles and a giant mouth filled with teeth." She makes a bit of a face at the screw as she works.

"Didn't really fight them though, just ran from them. A friend was shipping them for some reason, no idea why." Though Han hadn't been a friend at the time, he'd quickly become one. Calling him that doesn't feel quite right either, but it'll suffice, for the moment.

[provenforce]

"Well, we aren't really given much of a choice on that," she replies, though it's not bitterness. She knows the Inquisition are the only group helping Rifters right now. Still it's not an ideal situation, and she recognizes that.

"Not that it isn't good of them to put us up. They could have easily decided we were a threat and started killing us right out of the rifts. Might be easier, really."

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin wrinkles her nose and shakes her head at that, having seen enough massive creatures that she can venture a mental image. "Sounds lovely. And some people will do anything if the money's right, though shipping something likely to eat you sounds like a recipe for disaster. Even if it was sedated...well, a lot can still go wrong with that."

[provenforce]

Rey is comfortable with letting the conversation drop and returns to picking at the knots that have formed in her hair, working them loose in the water. After a minute the silence starts feeling a little weird to her, so she speaks up.

"Do you come down here late often?"

[aceso]

"Mmm," Christine agrees. "Though if you do not seem dangerous the Inquisition allows you some leeway. Rifters have traveled as far as Rivain, to my knowledge. Perhaps to the Anderfels too. We have had missions there but I know little about them." Grey Warden business, pretty much.

"Easier, but thankfully the Inquisition is better than that."

[stabsbooks]

"Occasionally," Cassandra answers, combing her long hair into the water. Her eyes flick over to Rey's face. "More often, I prefer to bathe early in the morning. But I was...otherwise occupied today."

[provenforce]

Rey's head tilts a little at the drop off at the mention of other magic-inclined rifters, but she doesn't press it for the moment, lowering her hand and absently picking at the hem of her arm warmer.

"I've been here a few months. My name's Rey," she gives Hermione a brief smile, her face turning a little more thoughtful. "I haven't met too many other rifters. I know they're around, of course, but... Obi-Wan and James Kirk, I think are the only two I've met. It's nice to see someone around my age."

[bookish_lioness]

That explains why Hermione had subconsciously been that much more relieved to discover Rey is a rifter. Her age. There are so few rifters - so few people, really, at least in the Inquisition - that are close to her age.

"Oh, I've met Obi-Wan. And I'm rather friendly with Kirk. There are plenty of others, though; Church used to arrange meetings for us, but he hasn't done that in a while. I should talk to him about that. It's always good for us to stick together and at least know who one another are. After all, you've been here months and I'd never known. I would have loved to talk to you about your magic."

[provenforce]

Rey is nothing if not capable of great focus. It might be a side-effect of living in such a sparse environment as Jakku, but regardless it's part of her personality now. Moving to sit by Obi-Wan she's careful to mimic the way he's sitting, not looking uncomfortable but alert. At his question she frowns a little, thinking of who she's met since arriving.

"I don't know. I'm still getting used to people who aren't being kind out of a desire to scam me or steal something, I haven't really made... friends." Which is a little sad, but it's how she is. Finn was the first person she'd considered a real friend in a long time who hadn't decided to stab her in the back. In fact he'd gotten himself seriously injured because of her.

[provenforce]

"Are there usually less people here early?" Rey's curious, she's leaned towards evening baths because if she gets dirty during the day then she doesn't need to bathe twice, but if she's trying to avoid people, this is valuable information.

"I'm not used to group bathing facilities. There were sonic showers where I'm from, but the stalls were individual. Not that I'm trying to avoid people, it's just... adapting to it."

[provenforce]

That Hermione has met Obi-Wan is good news to Rey. The idea of meetings also appeals to her, because she really doesn't know many of the other rifters, and if any group of people has a reason to stick together, it's them. Even if they're from different walks of life.

"Well, if you've met Obi-Wan you might have had this conversation already, but it's not exactly magic. I'm from the same place as him, only about sixty years down the road give or take." Which is still kind of weird.

[stabsbooks]

"Only very early," Cassandra warns her. "When the sun rises, the people rise with it, and then there is no privacy to be had. You must choose between the warmth and comfort of your bed and the luxury of near-solitude as you bathe." Most people are unable to make that choice...or at least, are unable to release the concrete temptation of bed for the hypothetical benefit of a hot, unhurried bath in the darkness before dawn.

She tilts her head, curiously. "What is a...sonic shower? I have never heard of it."

[bookish_lioness]

"... oh." It's not the bit about it not being magic that gives her pause. Obi-Wan had told her a little about the Force, and while Hermione still views it as magic, she can understand well enough that that concept doesn't have to exist in other worlds, especially since they regard it much differently where he and Rey are from than they do where she's from.

It's the bit about Rey being much further down the timeline from someone from her own world that she finds striking. "So you've confirmed that the two of you are from the same place, then? I've met some people from Earth, but the history doesn't always line up or a few basic laws of physics seem to be awry. I suppose if you both call what you do the 'Force,' that might be proof enough that you're from a similar place, if perhaps not the exactly same one."

[obi_wanmanshow]

"Really?" He's surprised. A lovely, kind-hearted young woman, with a strong work ethic and an indiscriminately honest disposition? He couldn't imagine her friendless, "Have you considered, giving it a try? I know it must be very different here, than Jakku."

Obi-Wan pauses at that, considering his words. Well, obviously it could hardly be any less similar. And the people! The Inquisition was good people.

"...Very different."