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

Hermione would have never thought that she'd be one who would rather be tangled up with a boy than a book, and really, she still can't rightfully say as much. But the books in question are particularly headache-inducing, and the boy in question isn't. Especially not when he wraps an arm around her, allowing her to pretty much curl up against him, letting their proximity hide the pleased smile that spreads across her lips.

"Well, we could always talk about your implication that you have experience with being trapped in books," Hermione points out lightly. "Or, if it's really not all that pleasant, we can just enjoy one another's company. But I think we're doing that already; at least, I am."

"Aye, well, it was just the one book, but that was plenty."

More than plenty, if you ask him. It'd been decidedly odd - but then again, the Land of Fiction'd been a decidedly odd place, and he was just as glad that they'd gotten away from there. If they'd not, then he'd not have fallen through the rift, and he'd not have met Hermione, and they'd not be snuggled cuddled up and enjoying each other's company right now. So maybe that made the whole thing worth it in the end, and he angled his head in order to rest his chin on her shoulder.

"Think that all things considered I'd much rather be enjoying your company rather than being back in the Land of Fiction, anyway. Especially since I am enjoying it."

It's amazing, really, just how easy it is for Hermione to be affectionate when she's actually comfortable with someone. It's been so long since that small circle included anyone outside of Harry or Ron that she's almost surprised by the fact that her hand comes up to lightly stroke Jamie's cheek when he settles against her shoulder, though really, it feels fairly natural. So long as she doesn't think about it, that is. Or over-think it, as she has a tendency to do.

"Land of Fiction? That hardly sounds like it can be so terrible, but I'll take your word for it. But then, you're enjoying the company of someone who's been called an 'insufferable know-it-all' more than once, so I don't really know how reliable your judgment can be."

"Oh, never you fear, I'll let you know if you're being too insufferable."

It's said lightly, a hint of the smile that's appeared on his face when Hermione strokes his cheek showing through in his tone. Still, there's a part of him that's knows that chances are that if she's anything like Zoe was at times then it's entirely possible that she's telling the truth - and he hopes that if it does happen, he'll be able to see her point at that time, rather than being somewhat irritated by it, like he occasionally had been when Zoe'd been particularly smug in the past.

Right now, though, he doesn't want to worry about that sort of thing. He'd much rather enjoy this chance he's been given, and he turns his head just enough to allow him to plant a kiss on her shoulder.

"Although you're no completely wrong. Some of the Land of Fiction was nice enough. The people, mostly, like Rapunzel. She was quite understanding about letting me use her hair when I needed to. Other things...aye, well, it was a place where things from books would come to life, you know."

Hermione smiles cheekily at Jamie when he assures her she'll be informed if he can no longer suffer her know-it-all tendencies, nudging him lightly but otherwise not bothered by the joke in the least. She wouldn't have gotten very far in life at all if she couldn't take the occasional ribbing, after all, especially not when her two best friends had been typical teenage boys.

Besides... Jamie is no teenager, and she's reminded of that when her heart uncharacteristically flutters in her chest at the kiss to her shoulder. He's a man, a brave, sweet man with his own brand of charm, and for whatever reason, they've fallen in with one another and she can't be gladder about it.

Even if he does seem to have led a life almost as strange as her own.

"Rapunzel? From the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm? You mean it was a world where fictional characters come to life, or where they were never fictional in the first place?"

The fact that he's somehow managed to fall in with someone who's not only pretty and clever but willing to put up with him is something he's still surprised by on some levels. Still, he's just as glad as Hermione is...if maybe somewhat distracted by tempting thoughts, at the moment. After all, she's right there, quite close to him - and there's the tiniest part of him that is considering kissing her on her shoulder again just to see what happens.

At her questions, however, he makes himself refocus. She's asked, and as tempting as the thought of doing other things is, he should at least try to answer her before he gets completely distracted. He doesn't quite pull away, however, opting instead to shift just enough that he can rest his chin back on her shoulder again while he explains.

"Ah, the first one, mostly, although it wasn't so much that they came to life. More like they were brought to life. But aye, it was that Rapunzel. Gulliver was there too, even if thought there were all those yahoo-things around, and quite a few other folk."

[Open] I can't take the distance

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