can one crow still be a murder?

[bloodredcrow]

WHO: Natasha and anyone brave enough to approach her
WHAT: getting the lay of the land
WHEN: from the 3rd when she gets to Skyhold through the end of the month
WHERE: mostly the tavern, but you can also catch her just wandering around watching people
NOTES: the details of her recruitment aren't fully settled, so don't expect her to confirm or deny any rumours, but she's definitely being brought in by Leliana and crew

She spends most of her time in the tavern. You see the best and worst of people when drink starts flowing. More of the worst than the best, which suits her just fine. She sees who's there first thing in the morning, who stays all night, who never seems to leave. She picks out anyone sitting on their own, looking uncertain, conflicted, like they could use someone to talk to. Anyone who looks at all vulnerable or accessible. "Buy you a drink?" she'll ask, inclining her head to ask if she can sit with them. Or, if you don't look like you're ripe for the plucking, you're still welcome to come sit next to her. Wherever she is, if she's not already engaged in a conversation, she makes sure there's an open seat next to her.

Most of her time might be spent in the tavern, but not all of it. She wanders the hold, though she doesn't dally. She watches people, watches routines, watches anything that looks out of the norm, and the longer she spends here, the more she realizes that 'normal' is a very tenuous and abstract thing with the Inquisition. She likes that.

[[OOC: If you want a custom starter, or to work something else out, feel free to hit me up on herophelia and we'll get something going.]]

Comments

[bloodredcrow]

Under normal circumstances, Natasha wouldn't waste her time on anyone with the closed off look Cassandra is wearing. This woman is an advisor, though. She must have been in on the conversations that centered around dealing with the trouble in Orlais. Dealing with Natasha, as it turned out. All that destruction and delay and mayhem, down to one woman.

So she decides to go for it, and leans her hip against Cassandra's table. "A drink. Liquid, probably alcoholic given our location, taken orally... one would hope. Usually to quench thirst. Sometimes just to get drunk. Perhaps even in an attempt to be social. Would you like one?"

[stabsbooks]

Cassandra presses her lips together, not at all amused by the woman's attempt at teasing. She narrows her eyes. "You have not answered my question. Have we met?"

[bloodredcrow]

"No. That's sort of the point of this," she says, sweeping the hand that's holding her cup to encompass the tavern. "Making friends. I'm new."

[stabsbooks]

Making friends. It's never been Cassandra's strong suit, nor - so she tells herself - one of her priorities. Still, even she has felt the lack of them in recent months.

Maybe it's not such a terrible idea, meeting someone new.

"All right," she says slowly, cautiously sitting back. "A drink, then."

[bloodredcrow]

"Fantastic. What are you having?" Natasha slides into the seat opposite Cassandra. Given that her body language hasn't gotten even a glimmer of a response, she's confidently crossing lust off of the list of possible means to get to
Cassandra. Which is fine. There are plenty of other options.

[stabsbooks]

She still looks wary as the woman sits down across from her, but she obligingly sets her stack of parchment aside. If her choices are this or actually writing her report...well, perhaps it will not be so bad.

"An ale, please." Nothing stronger - she knows enough to keep her wits about her, drinking with a stranger.

[bloodredcrow]

Natasha flags down a server. "An ale for my new friend, and another for me," she says, waving her cup slightly in the air. Not another ale. Another of what she's already drinking. Once the man is gone, she turns her full attention to Cassandra, elbows braced on the tabletop. "So, what are you working on? Looks heavy."

[stabsbooks]

"A report," Cassandra says shortly, her distaste more than evident in her voice, and in the way her lips turn down into a frown at the reminder of the work she had all too eagerly set aside. "On a mission I undertook last month. It is important that the Inquisition has an accurate record of what occurred."

[bloodredcrow]

"Is it the report writing that's so frustrating, or the mission?" Natasha drains what's left in her cup, and sets the empty on the edge of the table for the server to collect when he brings their fresh drinks. "There's so much activity going on here all the time, it seems. Very exciting."

[stabsbooks]

"Both," Cassandra says, with vehemence. She shakes her head. "Normally I would not mind the mission so much as the writing. But this one..." Her lips twist sourly. "It was...trying." Also, she hadn't gotten to so much as wear her sword, much less use it.