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]

"Natasha," she offers in return. If nothing else, the word lady makes the corner of her mouth twitch up in a smile. Thoughts best kept to herself, but still amusing.

A server is flagged down, and she orders a bottle of wine. Once the girl is gone, she props her elbows on the table, interlocks her fingers, rests her chin on them. Interesting how this not only pitches her torso forward, but leaves her chest almost outlined in its own little forearm window. "Not having a good day?"

[hattergonnahat]

"You could say that, if you've got a fondness for vast understatements." There's a weary sound as he tugs whatever that was back in, flashing a toothy smile instead. "But no sense in letting it drag on, is there? From where I'm sitting, it seems to have already vastly improved."

Low bar to set, really, but he'd take it.

[bloodredcrow]

Ah, but low bars are her specialty. She thrives in that place of someone else's desperation, feeds off of the energy of a final stand or a death throe. It's not pleasant, but it's one of the few certainties she's got. So she just grins. "I have a fondness for a lot of things. Stories, for example. I bet you've got a couple worth sharing."

[hattergonnahat]

One eyebrow crooks higher. "And what makes you think that?"

Because stories are all well and good, but his last few attempts at telling them? Hadn't ended so well. Of course, he's being actively petitioned for some. That's a change.

Which is enough to merit a little caution, the way he sees it.

[bloodredcrow]

She just tips her head, pointing at his faintly glowing palm with her chin, and then raises an eyebrow. "That right there means that, at the very least, you have one experience I can't hope to understand. Or maybe I'm really lucky, and you have a whole world full of stories I've never heard."

The server returns, places the bottle and two cups on the table, and collects payment from Natasha before leaving. "Either way," she says, reaching slowly and lazily for the wine, "I've got the time if you do."

[hattergonnahat]

"Several worlds worth, in fact."

Of course. Rifters are bound to be of interest to those looking to learn what lies outside their own world, what they know. What they imagine is possible. Most don't think much past their own existence, refusing the idea of anything else outside their reality.

Her open-mindeness is refreshing enough to earn a conceding sigh.

"This isn't exactly my first trip to another land."

[bloodredcrow]

"Two worlds worth of stories?" she asks, uncorking the bottle and pouring generously into both cups. "Three? Four?" Her grin has been called infectious. Of course, her grin has also been called unsettling and dangerous. It really depends on what your idea of a good time is. "Where have you been all my life, Jefferson?" And yes, she's teasing him, and it's a terrible joke, but there's a serious question beneath it. Where has he been? What has he seen? What's put that haunted look deep in the shadows of his eyes?

[hattergonnahat]

"Careful. I'm susceptible to flattery."

He huffs, not quite a laugh, but offers her a smile all the same before reaching for that glass. Had to be careful, a beautiful women with a seemingly vested interest in your business never meant well.

"I suppose I could pick one or two. Have you ever heard of a land called Oz?"