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WHO: Fenris and YOU!
WHAT: Fenris is back around Skyhold, catch-all prompts for the month!
WHEN: March/Drakonis
WHERE: Around Skyhold
NOTES: No warnings likely, just the occasional grumping from a certain elf here.

Herald's Rest

Not long after he returns to Skyhold, Fenris inevitably ends up in the tavern. He's been exhaustively busy over the time that he's been away… so of course some drinks are in order. His own stash is largely depleted, and who knows when he’ll next get a chance to replenish it? He orders a bottle of wine, but refrains from using the glass that he’s given. Nope, this is one of those times. Fenris simply grabs the bottle and starts drinking it down…

Stables

At the moment, Fenris isn’t really planning to get a mount. It’s something he may consider if he does stay longer at Skyhold, however, because it could come in handy for getting around the expanse of Ferelden or Orlais, for that matter. Who knows where the Inquisition may take him? Not that he's planning to be anything more than loosely affiliated with it. It's his choice to be here and it'll be his choice if he wants to leave again. That's essential for him to keep in mind. He'll always make sure to have an escape route, when it comes to this sort of thing.

So he’s wandering through the stables, glancing curiously at what’s there. The nuggalopes get particular attention, since they’re totally new to him. "Imagine that… Giant nug-beasts."

Gardens

“I still don’t trust that demons or spirits cannot listen in on this thing…”

He mutters to himself as he’s settled in the garden, staring intently at his Crystal as he looks through the most recent messages. He’d rather not speak into it, at least for now, so instead, he’s just getting himself caught up. Sure, nothing bad has come of it so far, and it didn’t before… but he still doesn’t entirely like it.

Wandering: Wildcard Location!

At some point, Fenris decides to get a look around, mostly to see if anything has changed. But he’s actually quietly trying to see who's still around that he recognizes, too. There are people he’d like to see if possible… and also people he’d like to avoid if he can. He’s not one for formally announcing his presence, preferring to remain down low about being around. Like a ghost or a stray, he’s kind of just slipped back into life here without making a big deal of it.

So he’s on the prowl, so to speak, looking for familiar faces all over Skyhold. He’ll drop by most anywhere, approaching those he knows, and eventually interrupting whatever they’re doing. “It’s been a while.”

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Ever since his return, the Doctor had taken to wearing a glove on his left hand - to hide the shard, at least for casual encounters. His accent can be hard to place even on Earth. If only because it's not quite as strong as some people's.

After the toast he takes a swig. He grimaces slightly before smirking.

"Right now? Missing my wife and... a dear friend."

Which he would never be able to properly explain his relationship to the TARDIS. Symbiotic, but that doesn't really do it justice.

"But I've been separated from them before. Like I said, it just feels worse this time."

Because he knows even if he gets back, he won't ever see River again. Today, that just hurts.

"You?"

It's definitely hard to say, and without seeing the shard, it's more of a random stab-in-the-dark guess. But around here, it's a safe enough assumption, when someone seems hard to place from anywhere in particular.

"An unfortunate predicament to be in... life has a way of separating people... but it also has a way of bringing them back together." He doesn't sound entirely convinced or happy about the latter part. Mostly because he's never had too many good 'reunions' with people from his past. Well. Anyway. He's had a bit to drink at this point, so he's a little more willing to talk than he might have been otherwise. "Me? I'm questioning what to do with myself... the path ahead was so much easier to see, years ago."

"A yes. 'Everything ends and it's always said. But everything begins again and that's always happy. I'm somewhere in between, myself."

Interesting, he seems to understand the natives more than he does the other Rifters. He would have thought it should be the other way around. Anyway, the other man was talking. And the Doctor was listening as much as he could. (It's hard for him, he doesn't normally listen. The wine slows his brain down just a touch, which helps.)

"Oh, the path ahead always seems easier to see when looking back. The future is no more malleable than the past."

He pauses for a moment. And realises they don't know each other.

"I'm the Doctor."

"I wonder when the 'somewhere in between' part ends, myself." It sure does feel like he's hit that point, after gaining his revenge he was left directionless, trying to find his next move. He's not sure the Inquisition is even the right answer, but for now it's An Answer, anyway.

He takes another swig of his drink. "And yet both future and past are shrouded in mystery." To him, they certainly are, for certain reasons. He looks at him curiously. Just 'The Doctor', hm? Odd for a name. "I'm Fenris."

"It's a difficult place to be."

He takes his own few swallows as Fenris talks about the past and the future. "Well they certainly are in this place."

It's hard to go from being able to see all that is, was, can be and must not be... To being here, where it's all a bit more muddled. He doesn't like that. He's used to seeing and understanding everything.

"It's all too limited here."

He somewhat wonders when it'll stop being difficult. It's not as if it was all that easy or pleasant when he did have some direction. It was harder in certain ways. But at least he had that goal to keep working toward. At the moment, he's just sort of drifting, one thing to another.

"Limited in what way?" That seems an odd way to put it, though maybe that's the case for rifters.

The Doctor swallows thickly. He has been thinking a lot about it recently. "I have an ability when it comes to past and future. I can see it. And here... I can't see it as clearly as I am used to."

That's... different. He glances at him curiously. It's not exactly bad in the way of some magic, but there's still something a bit unsettling about the notion of seeing so much beyond the present.

"Is this a magical ability? Perhaps it's connected to the world you were on before..." Or so he can only guess, he's no expert on magic, though he knows about quite a bit just from having spent so much time around magisters.

The Doctor shakes his head. "No more magical than seeing or hearing. It's a sense for me. For my race, it's one of the first senses we can use. Even before we're born, we show aptitude with it."

Well, 'born'. 'Loomed' for most Time Lords of his age. And first senses - along with telepathy, but baby steps, he doubts people here could really understand that.

"We call it Time Sense. We can see all that was, all that is, all that can be, and all that must not be." He shrugs. "It's like looking at all the timelines for everyone at once. But here...."

He breaks off. It's muted. Too many grey areas. Too much is left to chance. And he can't quite tell if that's just the timing for this planet, or if it's because of all the Rifters present, or some other case. But it's worrisome and almost hurts.

He does relax a little when he says it's not magical. Just an instinct by now, someone with strong powerful magic always gets a bit of uncertainty until he knows more about them. Not all mages are bad, but the worst people he's known were mages, on the other hand. Anyway.

"I've never heard of such an ability, but if that's so... it must be distracting, knowing all that's about to happen... troubling at times, even, if the future doesn't go as you'd like it to. As for why it's not working here... that could be an effect of that Breach, perhaps... and the smaller rifts from it. That mark it gives you, that could be part of it as well." Who knows how these things work, really?

"It's not distracting when you've lived with it your entire life."

It's more distract to not be able to do it at this point in his life. He listens to the list.

"Could be a lot of things, unfortunately. And without anyone else here who has the same ability, it will be hard to sort it out. I just go with it's a bit muted and do the best I can."

That's... a very strange perspective, he can't imagine what it would be like. But then again, the only life he remembers is having these lyrium brands of his, and if they were to suddenly vanish, he's sure he'd feel much the same. So he can understand, in some sense.

"When you say a bit muted... can you see anything about what's to come? Even if somehow faint?" Though he's a bit wary of trusting in such a power, he wonders anyway.

"Not in detail. It's all foggy. Too many questions, too many events need decisions made before the timelines align in a way I can interpret clearly."

He turns his gaze onto Feris. Trying to read as much as he can. It's not much.

"History is another matter. Things that have been established, but perhaps not healed. I can see the wounds that time has left in people's lives. Though, a bit easier with you, since you have visible scars."

Fenris definitely isn't the sort who's easily read by any means. Even his companions thought as much while they'd traveled together. He nods slowly, turning that whole idea around in his mind. It's a completely foreign concept, but not all difficult to grasp once he considers it.

He narrows his eyes, suddenly turning wary, suddenly putting up his walls defensively. "You can't possibly know anything of my past."

The reaction was instant and the Doctor picked up on it. So, he decided not to attempt anything that... weird. Fenris is more skittish than he let on. Fair enough. He is calm and explains the next part slowly. Simple statements of fact that should be easy to accept by anyone.

"Not anything? You have visible scars. And your reaction to what I've said tells me that your life was most likely under threat. I don't have to be able to see your timeline to understand that much. I just have to know how people react in given situations."

Which he might not be very good at relationships, but he's seen enough different species to know commonalities. And he knows enough to leave out the word 'torture' for now. But, of course, he is hinting at that. Again, no time reading ability needed for that. Just what he had seen in the future...

Scars which are his alone to talk about, though it's one of those things which is... well, it's all too obvious. So in many ways, he's used to it. No matter what he might wear, there's never any chance to cover them up completely. Not to mention whenever they start to glow.

"...You're not wrong." It's said rather reluctantly, and his wording is deliberate, rather than saying it more positively as him being right. Because he is right, and the whole process that gave him these markings was a terrible one. It's just that he doesn't know the other man quite well enough to divulge everything. Nor does he want any sort of pity. "Not entirely. But these are more than just scars. You've landed in a world that can be particularly harsh if you're the wrong sort of individual in the wrong place."

The Doctor offers a small and sympathetic smile. His voice is soft, nearly sad. There's a longing in his tone, because, well he's homesick.

"I'm from another universe. One that doesn't have magic, but everything is explained through science. I'm from a point in my universe that we have lights powered by electricity rather than fire. And I can control that power with a pair of glasses. Upon arriving here, I find this weird shard in my hand that makes everyone else skittish about me before I even open my mouth. I think I have a pretty good idea about being the wrong sort of person in the wrong place."

And that's without even talking about his normal life, or his ship, or anything else. That's just here...

Edited 2017-04-15 11:10 (UTC)

"Then there you are. Welcome to Thedas." He lifts his drink as if in a toast, before drinking the rest of it down. He really isn't in the mood to discuss scars or shards or the like, or get into reasons why one might just be far worse than the other. That's not something readily told at this moment. To be fair, though, he can't imagine being as displaced as the rifters are. "Your description of your science sounds suspiciously close to magic. Are you sure they're not related in some way?"

Because changing the subject to focus on something else he brought up is also totally worth it too.

The Doctor is actually grateful for the change and he raises his drink in a similar gesture before also drinking it down.

"Oh, I'm fairly certain they are. That's why I say magic doesn't exist in my universe. It all amounts to science people don't understand yet."

"And those who use this science... do they hold the power where you're from?" He's trying to figure out just how similar they really are to mages, if they have a magister-like role or something else entirely. Talking about some far removed world is definitely preferable to talking about his own.

The Doctor shakes his head. "Not really. In my universe, nature requires balance. So while there are very powerful scientists out there, there are worlds where Art dictates power. Others where politics dictate power."

He shrugs.

"I think some would call me powerful because I'm willing to stand between them and the monsters."

"I see. So in other worlds... magic really doesn't necessarily have a place at all. I wouldn't mind visiting them." Not that he's exactly fond of things that are so very unusual to him... the concept of traveling between worlds alone isn't a pleasant one. But a world without magic... what that must be like...

"You see yourself as a guardian of sorts?"

"Sort of. Actually, close enough. Though, you would probably notice things that are similar to magic in my universe."

Expect they know how it works and how to best to make things work for them.

"Well, not at first, it's more a role that has been thrust upon me. Though, I often find myself in situations where there are really terrible monsters going after defenceless people, and I can't just walk away and leave them."

Not until they're as safe as he can get them, anyway.

"Similar, but not entirely the same?" He wonders about the distinction, of course. Magic is at the heart of this world's troubles, as far as he's concerned, but he wonders if something different would have... well, a very different outcome overall.

"And here you are, in that same situation again... you've certainly come to the right place for dealing with monsters." One big one, of course, but the world in general is full of them.

"It is difficult to explain the differences, since my tools don't work here and I don't entirely understand your magic."

He's learned to temper his opinions on the magic here... a little.

"Yes. Except I don't have my tools or my ship, or anything else. I feel as defenceless as a snail without a shell."

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