faderift | [Open] But when we are apart I feel it too

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[Open] But when we are apart I feel it too

WHO: Anders and open
WHAT: General stuff around Kirkwall
WHEN: Through Bloomingtide
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Nothing as of yet!.

1. Making the Band

The crowd is the new mix of normals, people Anders is starting to learn by face though he's avoiding names. Most here do, which he's thankful for. What's not normal is that Juke Bachs has dropped by, and has been singing a new song about two or three times an hour. On top of that, he's been getting some of the more drunk patrons involved in some... Anders can only call it a dance because they're trying to move in time to the music. It involved weird patterns and flailing limbs, and he's deliberately sticking around to keep watching this.

He leans over when someone sits next to him, not quite looking at the person. "A copper on the blond one falling over in the next minute." It seems a safe bet. That guy's more coordinated than the really beardy guy, but he's already tripped over his feet enough that his palms are scraped and nose is bleeding.

Juke starts in on another round of what's apparently called Tearin' Up My Heart, and Anders takes a sip of his drink, very well pleased.

2. CSI: Thedas

He's taken a larger, unclaimed room for this, coating it in ice, using runes to make sure the ice doesn't melt, and he's also gathered as many tables as he can, lining them up together and creating a rather large, cold surface. On that surface is most of a corpse of a high dragon, many parts already cut open so he can get at the heart of the matter. So to speak.

There's a sign on the door warning about what he's working on, doing more research into the taint and the Blight, but that's all - the last thing he's going to do is barricade a door. He doesn't need to invite suspicion or fear any more than his breathing already does.

Those who might be scientifically inclined and he trusts to not take too many risks of exposure have been invited to join him in trying to see what they can learn from how High Dragons deal with the Blight.

3. Call the Anders

Most days, his hours in the medical rooms in the Gallows are regular. There's always more work that needs doing, after all, herbs to be chopped, processed, and mixed into potions, bandages to prepare, healing to do, and even housecalls to make from time to time. Purrelden knows not to be on the table while he works, which is exactly why she's on the table the moment he's turning to greet whatever patient or person has walked in the door.

[ooc: if you take this option and your character is injured/ill, please drop me an ooc note about what he'll find when going to heal them.]

4. Dr. Anders, Medicine Man

There are whispers in Darktown, spreading slowly, that their healer is back. Follow the lit lanterns, they say. Not every day are they lit, and there's no particular order to the days that they are, which is as deliberate as the moving of the clinic down there every time. ...Until today. Today, he's found a small building that two of the Darktown gangs have been fighting over for months. For equal healing for both of them, they're letting him use it. It's win-win for both. Neither is losing territory, and both gain a healer. It's a double win for him too, because it means that he has protection.

Today a new whisper joins the others - there are some tables and chairs, and between healing, he's offering reading and writing lessons. For free, no questions asked. He's also looking for assistants, if there's anyone out there willing to instruct down here or help heal or do prep work around the Clinic. There's a lot to do when setting up something that's going to stand for a while.

5. Anders Howe, Pet Detective.

Dogs and leashes are natural combinations. They take to it well and quickly. Cats and leashes... not so much. Purrelden's legs have apparently stopped working in the middle of the market and she's limp, giving him the saddest expression.

"You're fine," he tells her. "You can walk. This is to keep you safer, and to protect Merrill's twine. Please get up."

Pleading with a cat doesn't seem to ever work, and more than a few are staring at him, but at least they're staring at him for this and not other reasons. He looks up, meeting gazes and giving a slightly sheepish smile and shrug to anyone familiar.

"Cats," Anders says as explanation.

6. Wildcard me!

[ooc: Got something you want with Anders but it's not here? Toss up a header. If you're not sure about it, go ahead and poke me on Plurk at Nadat or on Discord at Nadat#4647 and we can chat!]

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It's on the second round of Juke Bach's song that he really starts to catch the words and a smile starts spreading on his face. The third time around he's actually certain. This is an opportunity he's not about to waste, and indeed he wastes no time in pulling out his crystal.

"Teren, could you come down to the Hanged Man? It's not an emergency, but I'd appreciate it if you were able to come down here without too much delay. ...And tell me what you'd like to drink, I'll have it ready."

Bribery is the only way this is going to go down without him getting stabbed.

He doesn't often have to wait for Nate to get home. Normally, Anders brings his reading and their dinners to their room to find Nate there already, and he cuddles up as they close out their evening.

Today Nate isn't back yet. For a moment Anders worries about all the things that could have happened, from a Darkspawn attack to dragons swooping down to Templars deciding to attack him sideways yet again, before he pushes it back. Things are fine. He would have heard, otherwise. Nate's likely busy with something official, and so Anders gets busy. He feeds the animals, puffs up the pillows, starts the fire, sets the food on the table where he can see it and keep it warmed, and settles down on the couch with the current notes on the Blight he's going through. Soon enough Nate will come in, and Anders is proud of himself for not panicking like he might have just a few months ago.

It's taken some time to get all the needed ingredients, but get them he has at last. A couple of days later he sends a crystal message to Kattrin telling her he has it all and asking her here, to one of the old teaching rooms in the Gallows, whenever she had a day free.

That day's arrived, and he busies himself checking to make sure all of the protections from the past were in place. The magic they're doing will be entirely familiar to Kattrin, of course, but it's unfamiliar to him. If he slips up, if the casting goes wrong, he wants things to be intact.

When the door opens, Nathaniel is tired.

He is so tired.

So tired, he doesn't notice how puffy the pillows are or how content the animals are or how lit the fire is. He sheds the outer layers of his clothing and his shoes, then sits beside Anders for a cuddle.

"We heard from Ansburg today," he mutters into Anders' hair. "So it was a lot of arranging and preparing and moving money around so some of us can travel there for a meeting."

Ansburg. Anders reaches up to brush his fingers through Nate's hair as he talks, wondering what this is going to mean. It could be... complicated. Then again, when aren't Warden politics complicated?

"It sounds like there was a lot to work out. Do you know who all is going?" That's another complicated thing, he figures. Nate will likely go, which will mean Anders wants to go to stay with him, but there's the issue of who he is. "And I've got dinner still warm over to your side, if you're hungry."

"Anyone who can, or who wants to go." Dinner? Sweet Maker, Nathaniel hasn't eaten, has he? He reluctantly peels away from Anders and turns away to start scarfing food. "They want to see us," he says impolitely, with his mouth half-full. "Whoever we can spare."

He is utterly unconcerned with Nate talking with his mouth full. They don't need to have manners in their rooms. Instead, Anders shifts so he can still be in easy leaning range while Nate eats.

"Then I'm going if you are. And I'm assuming you're going. I want to have your back if they get... shifty." How well he knows how shifty Warden leadership can be.

She wasn't familiar with the Gallows since she hadn't been there yet but she found her way easily enough. Though, she wasn't sure she liked it there. Even cleansed it felt as if she could still see the pain that had happened in these walls. Still, she ignored it and made her way to the teaching room, the little fennec at her ankles.

"Good day, Anders," she greeted politely as she took her pack off and looked around the room with curiosity.

"Good day, to you and the fennec as well. I don't recall if you told me what his name was?" He stepped away from the rune he was reinforcing, coming over to near her.

Anders indicates the walls with his thumb. "This was a teaching room. The walls have protective measures in them so students could practice in safety, which means this is a good setting for working with magic that's new to me."

Cyril can't help but think that Purrelden's protests at trying to be tied down are hilarious. He isn't actually laughing though, instead he just smiles as he comes closer. He reaches out to see if Purrelden is up for some pats before looking up at Anders with that smile still on his face.

"You'd think that you stole all of her milk, the way she's acting. It's all very dramatic."

"Especially considering how I spoil her." He shakes his head, amused despite himself. "I think she thinks that if she stays there, she'll get her way and I'll take the leash off. But being stubborn hasn't worked for her before. I've no idea why she thinks it will now."

Purrelden gets a sigh as she pushes into Cyril's hand for attention, forgetting that her legs were all broken and entirely useless moments ago.

"Look at her. Absolutely spoiled." But it's clear from his voice that he loves her. Which is why he's trying to leash-train her. Sooner or later people are going to be recognizing him, and having his cat be loose could invite cruelty.

"You've not got a pet at all, do you. I'm not sure if that's wise or if you're lacking."

Cyril thought about that for a moment. "Sam can turn into a dog. Does that count?" he asked. He was grinning though, knowing that it didn't really, not in the way that Anders was meaning.

He snickers as he picks up his cat, sparing her from her horrible and traumatic suffering. She starts purring right away. The faker. She'll get used to the leash eventually, at least.

"Considering he can take himself out and feed himself, no. Sam does not count. Unless you make a game of tending to him as if he was one." There are plenty of games one can get up to in private. Or two, or more, really.

While Hermione had agreed that she'd like to hear more about high dragons and the Blight, the sign hanging outside the door Anders had directed her to gives her pause. It's clearly a warning, and since she knows precious little about what the Taint really is aside from the fact that it's what makes Darkspawn what they are, she hesitates for a few moments. But she's braved worse in the name of knowledge and research, and so she pokes her head into the room, entering with a knock when she satisfies herself that Anders is inside and she's in the correct place.

She takes a few steps inside before she makes out what the massive object on the table is. She'd never seen any of Thedas' dragons, though she's heard enough stories to decide that they aren't too dissimilar from the ones she's more familiar with. Even so, her experience with dragons has been relatively small, and she comes to a stop a considerable distance away, gaping at the creature in Anders' new workspace.

"Is that a-...?" It's a ridiculous question, as she knows very well what it is. "Is it de-...?" It's dead, clearly, or else Anders wouldn't have risked bringing it indoors. But there are so many questions flitting about in her mind, and one of them has to be viable, so she asks one that should also be obvious but never too obvious to ask to be sure. "Anders, is this safe?"

One of Cyril's brows raises a bit as he considers that thought. "That might be fun to do when he's in his beautiful human shape, honestly," he shares. He might be oversharing in fact, but he's comfortable enough with Anders to not worry about it.

"He has some kittens too, but those really belong to him and Kirk. I just get to play with them every once and a while."

"He has whatever name his heart knows. I have not given one to him for he is not a pet but rather a guide." That was what she believed with all of her heart. Kattrin smiled down at the little creature then looked to Anders who was now explaining this room to her. The reason that he'd picked it.

"Unless one of us is to be injured there is no need to cast magic. Do you have what I asked for?"

He turns to see who it is every time someone comes in. This is something he's got serious stakes in, and every person gets noted. Hermione, though, gets a smile as well.

"It is a, and it is dead." There's amusement behind those answers as he sets down the knife he's using.

"This isn't entirely safe, no. I needed a High Dragon because I'd found some notes that suggested they deal with the Blight differently, and I wanted to know how. Apparently," Anders gestures at a strange, sack-looking growth inside the chest cavity, "that's how."

He steps over to a wash basin and cleans his hands, gesturing for Hermione to come over. "The way we make sure you're on the safer side of things is one, making sure you've no cuts, two, you stepping back any time you want to talk so you're further away, and three, being very careful with how we cut into things. I want to remove that as intact as possible. ...But if there's some other system of the dragon you're curious about, we can work on that to be even more safe."

"Those cats may be due to me," he says with a grin. "And I'll take your opinion for what's the most fun." Sam's nice enough, but he's never sparked an interest in that way.

"That's likely not a game I'll be playing myself, no matter the partner." It edges a little close to things he has issues with, but he's not about to judge someone for enjoying it. "Though if you'd like a real pet, a cat, I could help you out there."

"I'll consider it..." Cyril said thoughtfully. "Though, honestly, and I hope it won't tarnish your opinion of me, I'm not sure I'm really a 'pet' sort of person."

He enjoyed animals and loved spending time with the pets that his friends and lovers had, but he wasn't in a place where he could be responsible for more than himself.

"Of course," he says, gesturing to the table off to the side while giving her a slightly confused look. How is he going to learn how she works with spirits without magic? This should be interesting. As interesting as calling a fennec a guide.

Truth be told, he'd always been curious about the Avvar. That the only one he'd known before had been a mess didn't change that.

"So how do we start?"

She frowns a little at his amused response, though she recognizes it as simple teasing. Though Hermione wants to peer into the creature's chest when Anders points it out, she also doesn't want to go anywhere near it, and actually arches back a little bit.

Dead dragons don't bother her, not really. But the size of the thing, along with knowing that Anders was using it to research the Blight, is daunting to say the least.

She does come to him when he beckons, though, as though afraid that not doing exactly as he asks from here on out is a surefire way to end up contracting something she'd rather not. "What exactly is 'that?'" she asks even as she looks down at her hands to make sure she doesn't have any paper cuts or other wounds. "The thing you want to remove, I mean. I confess, I don't know a great deal about dragon physiology, and I've never seen any of your High Dragons in anything but illustrations, so I don't really know what to expect."

"It's..." He trails off, trying to figure out an explanation in his head before he puts it into words, because even he isn't completely sure what the dragon is doing there just yet.

"You know how Grey Wardens can sense the Blight and Darkspawn? I'm not certain what the dragon's body did with it, but I can sense blight in it. It's like the dragon can... seal it away. Contain it, somehow. I need to know how it does that, and see if it's something can be replicated. And done more permanently. Maybe something that can form and be removed from the body, if there's no other way of dealing with it."

It's complicated. And theoretical.

"The rest of its body, aside from this and one other nodule, is completely free of Blight. I've not seen that in any other species."

"Some people aren't. It doesn't lower you in my opinion," he assures. "I prefer someone who knows that they and says so over someone is awful with pets thinking that they're great and harming the animal."

Yes, he thinks that pets make peoples' lives more full and better, but at least Cyril knows himself.

"If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me. And I know where to find a cat."

Purrelden mews and Anders rubs underneath her chin with a shake of his head. "No, not you. You're not going anywhere. That's why we have a leash now."

"You know, I am planning on setting up my cart again, once everything is settled. If you need someone to cat sit, I can do that. I spend the entire day sitting around waiting for people to buy something and looking extremely pretty. I could keep an eye on her and protect her." He offered it casually, even after declaring himself not a 'pet' person. It was different when it was only for a few hours.

Moving to a space on the floor, she sat down and crossed her legs. Waving him over, she offered the space across from her as she began to speak to him.

"Set the items I asked you for here before me and I will explain why I asked for them. It is the best place to begin for why the Avvar interact with the spirits so differently than your own people."

It would help him to understand how her people felt about them. And how they interacted with the spirits when it came to using magic as well.

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Page 1 of 9

[Open] But when we are apart I feel it too

For Teren

For Nate

For Kattrin

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5.

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Flying in here for dragony shenanigans o/

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