faderift | [Open] I can't take the distance

WHO: Hermione and OPEN
WHAT: Catch-all for the month while Hermione gets used to Kirkwall
WHEN: Throughout Bloomingtide
WHERE: The docks, the Gallows, and exploring Kirkwall
NOTES: Will update with any warnings if necessary. If anyone wants to plan or would like a specific starter, feel free to either PM this journal or hit me up on plurk (

StarryOblivion).

Arrival

While Hermione had never had trouble with boats, she couldn't help feeling nauseated during the entire trip. She was still convinced that she'd left Harry behind in Skyhold, and that she could have done more to find him, and the concern and guilt weighed on her heavily.

By the time she'd disembarked, she was a little unsteady on her feet, and the sight of the Gallows wasn't really helping to foster a cheery disposition. She lingered by the docks for a time, often stopping to stare back across the water towards where they'd come from, but she knew that eventually she'd have to make her way into the Gallows proper.

The Gallows

Though it wasn't as dismal as it had been when she'd been kept a prisoner there in that horrible future world, the Gallows still wasn't the most inviting of places. Hermione didn't consider herself sensitive to that sort of thing, but she could swear she could feel the pain and anguish that lingered, soaked into the walls despite the Inquisition's best efforts to make the place livable. Though she sat in the library more than once and took a few meals in the dining hall and tried to settle into something resembling a day-to-day schedule, she didn't feel wholly comfortable anywhere. It wasn't until now that she realized just how much Skyhold had come to feel like home, and that posed a whole host of other problems in itself.

The city

Though Hermione hated the Gallows, she'd heard enough mixed tales about Kirkwall to be reluctant to travel there. But she knew that staying in the Gallows all day every day wasn't healthy, and so she eventually managed to borrow a set of clothes that wouldn't look too out of place among the locals, and so wouldn't attract any undue attention as she spent a few days familiarizing herself with her new surroundings.

[OOC- For the last option, anyone in her current CR circle is free to venture along with her, and anyone is welcome to encounter her throughout Kirkwall as she tries to get her bearings. She's curious enough that she'll at least pop her head in anywhere that doesn't look clearly dangerous, but feel free to contact me if you want to be sure or want something specific!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cosima smiles a little. "I've been doing what I can, yeah, but I'm mainly prioritizing research about the rifts and the anchor shards now. Especially after what we saw..." In the future sounds bleak, and in a future isn't much better. She assumes Hermione knows what she's getting at anyway.

"Back home, a cure would have been for my sisters too. Here, it's just for me -- even if I found a cure that incorporated magic, there's no guarantee I can get back, or I could duplicate it there if I tried. And my life's not in danger as long as I'm here, unless I'm somehow kept from spirit healing indefinitely. It makes more sense to focus on something that threatens a lot of people. I mean, I think so, anyway."

"That's very... noble of you," Hermione decides after a pause. Thinking over the best way to put it delicately, she adds, "But your life is just as valid as your sisters', or of anyone else here. It's good to have a back-up to the spirit healing; after all, what if we'd been in the Gallows for an extended period of time?"

Realizing that they are, technically, in the Gallows for an extended period of time, she corrects herself. "I mean... back then. Or... at that time. You know what I mean. Considering how long we've been in Thedas, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to think of things in the long-term, which means that your health is just as important as the next person's, especially given what an invaluable asset you are to the Inquisition."

"I know what you mean," Cosima says, with a shrug. "And like I said, it's not like I've stopped entirely. But I'm a geneticist, not a witch. Though," she adds, wry, "I wouldn't be shocked to discover Anders has been working on something on the sly without telling me."

Because Anders.

"I don't know, I'm not going to turn down help if it's offered, but I don't feel super indispensable most days. I'm just trying to keep up." People have been kind, and she's attached to other rifters; Kirk, Jamie, Church. Even Hermione, though they don't know each other as well yet. But Cosima feels there's a difference between doing extra research on her own time and rerouting Inquisition resources.

"...I should probably stop agreeing to field missions, though."

"Well," Hermione brings up, lips curling into a wry smile, "it is Anders."

Yes. Because Anders.

"You're a rifter, and as such, you're one of a very small percentage of people in this entire world that can close the rifts. You will only stop being indispensable once all the rifts in Thedas have been closed, and by then, I'm assuming that most scholars will have devoted at least a little bit of time to figuring out how to get us back to where we need to be."

Assuming it's possible at all, especially with all the rifts closed. But that's a catch-22, and one that Hermione would rather not focus on at the moment.

"As for field missions, if it's something you feel very strongly about, I'd suggest making sure there's a healer already on board for said mission. I wouldn't have been able to walk away from a few of them, had it not been for Anders or Bruce or some of the other mages."

Cosima's look is wry, but she nods. "That's a good point. The healers, but also the closing rifts thing. At least I've got one indispensable skill going for me."

She doesn't distrust the Inquisition, as such, and her desire to help is genuine. But she sometimes wonders, if she can't get home, what will happen to the rifters if they succeed in sealing all of them. Then what? But she suspects that's occurred to Hermione without prompting.

"Anyway. Thanks for listening; I know it's a lot. It's just ... it's kind of funny. I've told a person or two here, but without context, the whole clone thing sort of loses some oomph. And back home, I don't really have anyone to talk to about it except my sisters. My parents don't even know."

"I'm sure you have more skills at your disposal," Hermione brings up, smiling gently. "You can likely help introduce Thedas to modern scientific theory, though it will take quite some time before they advance towards anything you're more familiar with."

She's a little concerned when Cosima tells her that precious few people know of her true background, and the smile fades somewhat. "I suppose I can understand not telling your parents; I had to hide some things from mine as well, not too long ago. And I suppose most of the locals - and a few of the rifters - might think of it in terms of you being a twin, or some such thing. But if you ever need to talk, Cosima... I don't know how much I could help, but I'd be willing to listen and do what I can. We all need a support system."

"Hey, thanks." It's quiet, and sincere. "Really. Someone to listen, especially someone clever who knows either my world or one so close to it we can't know for sure it's different ... that's a lot. And it's mutual, OK? If you need to talk, I'm happy to listen too."

Hermione's a good listener, and they certainly have more of a chance to actually talk now than they did fighting for their lives in a possible future. Cosima won't be sorry to see a little more of her, if things work out that way.

Hermione nods slowly, affirming that she'd heard Cosima's offer, even if she's presently thinking more about her own offer to listen to her when she might need it. After all, while Hermione might not have had the easiest time of things, there are certainly plenty of people with greater weights to bear. She doesn't know if Cosima is one of them, but she's willing to help her make that weight a little lighter.

"I suppose that's what friends are for," she brings up after a moment, managing another small smile. "Heaven knows we could always use more of those, especially given how potentially hostile this place can be."

[Open] I can't take the distance

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject