[OPEN] now that you're living on the hill

[paladingus]

WHO: Simon and OPEN.
WHAT: Getting reacquainted with Kirkwall.
WHEN: Justinian, just like whenever.
WHERE: All over the city.
NOTES: I'm always happy to write up another starter if you'd like!

I. Hanged Man

Simon's never been a big drinker. He doesn't mind letting people size him up and assume he could drink them under the table, but on the whole, he thinks he has enough vices to atone for without being a lush on top of it all.

But some boredom needs the big guns busted out to take care of it. The Hanged Man has mostly lost the aura of forbidden mystery and excitement it had held when he was a teenage recruit in the Gallows, but the aura of shame and insufficient sanitation that's since replaced it isn't enough to keep him away when it's the only place in town he can afford. He's at the bar, on his third pint, cheering on the brawl that's begun on the other side of the room.

II. Living Quarters

There's plenty about the city that seems unfamiliar now that he's returning to it in his thirties, after nearly a decade and an intervening war, and on the whole, the strangeness isn't a bad thing. He hadn't liked the place to begin with. But all the same, there's something to be said for a little bit of familiarity here and there, and sharing the old templar rooms with Cade again isn't the bad kind of deja vu. It's certainly an improvement on the group quarters. He's on his way to move what few possessions he has into the room, whistling as he carries the box.

III. Markets

The marks from being electrically charbroiled by a furious lightning mage are beginning to fade, but the excruciating stiffness of having all his muscles involuntarily locked up and the bruises from the resulting deadweight collapse aren't quite so quick to dissipate.

Or perhaps they would be, if he were a little more patient with them, but Simon is not a man who takes well to any kind of imposition on his physical fitness. An injury that thinks it's going to keep him off the training grounds is an injury that needs to be taught a lesson and slapped right back into its place, damn it. To that end, he's wandering the market in his civvies, in search of some kind of potion or poultice that can teach his ornery muscle strain who's boss.

IV. Wildcard

Go nuts!

Comments

[paladingus]

Simon hadn't expected a very warm welcome, nor would he have blamed Cade for the lack of one, but that's discouragingly even worse than he'd anticipated.

"I thought they would've told you," he says mildly. "I asked if there was any space free up here so I wouldn't have to stay in the common area, and they told me your room had a spot freed up. Sorry to intrude on your private quarters, but..."

He is not, incidentally, being sarcastic about this, but Cade could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

[onlyhymns]

Technically the quarters aren't private, since there is another bed. Cade just... thought he was lucky. He looks strained as Simon talks, but doesn't argue, instead spacing out as he contemplates his various strategies for coexisting long-term with another person.
"All right," he decides, nearly cutting Simon off, and glances only briefly to him before turning away again. "Just keep it clean." He can't overstep their higher-ups' authority, but he's not talented enough to pretend to be happy about it.

[paladingus]

Simon wouldn't have been in a hurry to have the empty space filled up either, were he in Cade's position, but on his end, it's a notably better deal to have a comfortable bed in a room with one acquaintance who doesn't like him than a bunk surrounded by a dozen strangers. Accustomed as he is to having to compromise with his living arrangements, it doesn't occur to him to assert himself in response to the order.

"I don't think I've got enough stuff to make a mess with it," he says, hefting the box. It's rather small. "I hope you don't expect me to polish the furniture, though."

[onlyhymns]

Cade is about to get defensive, but the thought does finally reach him that maybe he's being a little bit of a dick. Instead of retorting, he just sighs, allowing himself a small, vaguely apologetic smile as he shakes his head.
"Sorry," he murmurs, and trails off there, leaving them in awkward silence.

[paladingus]

"S'all right," he says, a little surprised by the apology. He ought to make an effort, after all, if he's upending Cade's routine. He's never been a really tidy person by nature, but he's also never had a room to call completely his own, and he's well-practiced at keeping his clutter contained and to a minimum.

He sets his spare clothes aside and unpacks his spartan personal effects, setting up his small prayer alcove first.

"How's your nose doing?" he asks, to break the silence.

I'm tagging this back bc idk when the other thread will be resolved HI

[onlyhymns]

Cade reaches up to touch his nose, which is still purple and sore, albeit no longer broken. His face! His beautiful and extremely easily-bruised face!
"...it's all right," he murmurs with a wince, and furrows his brow. He'd ask after Simon as well, but would prefer not to talk about it at all.

That said, he is unexpectedly and silently pleased by the addition of a prayer alcove. Perhaps this won't be as difficult, even if there are some things he'd rather not have to work around.

hiiiii

[paladingus]

Whatever else one might say about Simon (and there are so very many things one could say, ninety percent of which would probably send Cade into fits of righteous indignation) nobody can accuse him of lacking piety. He may end up hanging a sock on the doorknob and locking Cade out on a biweekly basis, but give him credit--the first woman he brought back to the room was Andraste.

"That's good. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that it didn't...look fine, or anything; it really does." Quit while you're ahead, Simon.

"I wonder who's in the room I used to live in," he muses. "I don't remember exactly which it was. Might even have been this one."

[onlyhymns]

Cade will be ever so pleased to deal with that. But it's a problem for another day, and another day it will undoubtedly be a problem.
"It's fine," he says, a bit confusedly, eyeing Simon as he fumbles through his sentence. Cade is not at all a confident person, but among the few things he is confident about is the fact that he's not a bad-looking guy.

He isn't sure how to react to Simon's next observation, and shrugs as he continues to look at the shrine. "I lived closer to the officers," he murmurs, frowning.