OPEN

[pinprick]

WHO: Nathaniel Howe and YOU
WHAT: Open post for August
WHEN: Present, with one backdated thread
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Take a peek, see if you're someone he sent a message to about Jonas Cousland.

I. Alistair | backdated to immediately after the mission to find Jonas Cousland

Nathaniel returns to Kirkwall on a cloud of exhaustion and numbness, and the first place he goes is Alistair's office.

He knocks. He rarely ever knocks when it's just the two of them, but he feels he has to give the audible warning of bad news. If it's not the knock, it's the wearied expression on his face as he slithers into the room.

"We're back," he announces unnecessarily, and pauses to make sure Alistair knows he's bringing bad news.

II. Letters to Morrigan, Velanna, and Oghren

I am sorry.

Jonas Cousland was found in the Deep Roads, barely alive and badly mauled by darkspawn. He passed away a few minutes after he was found. He was among friends, in as little pain as possible, and held in the arms of someone who knew him since he was a baby.

You traveled with him and knew him. You were friend to him. So was I. He was a man of great talent and charisma. He will be remembered for uniting a country at war with itself and leading it against the Blight. He carries no shame with him to the grave.

Queen Anora has been written of his passing, as has his brother, Teyrn Fergus. I leave you with no obligation except to deal with your own grief.

Your obedient servant,
Nathaniel Howe

III. Hightown Shops

Nathaniel needs a new pair of boots. Which is a pain.

Shoes are easier to buy than boots. Shoes are less expensive and have less material that has to be fitted correctly. But after this last excursion in the Deep Roads, he needs a new pair entirely. Too much wear, too much Blight, which comes in big black patches in those parts of the Deep Roads. Too many porous surfaces for Blight to seep into. A uniform is standard, but boots don't have to be standard-issue for Wardens. Boots can be purchased at Hightown, and Hightown is where a discerning individual like Nathaniel Howe would go for them.

Once he has found a pair, however, he finds himself browsing other wares at other shops. Fabrics, accessories, pretty little knick-knacks for the home. He can be found waffling about a purchase at whatever shop you happen to be near.

IV. Wildcard

Comments

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Nathaniel doesn't nag him about that. He knows that it would only make the guilt worse. So he places a kiss on his temple and hands him his glass.

"I was only ever in Kirkwall for special occasions, really. And most of the time I was working for Ser Rodolphe. So I had to make the times I had to myself really count. I wanted to experience everything I could in the little time I had. And it's not so bad, patronizing some very worthy and very lower-middle-class vendors who would otherwise have nothing. Cheers, darling."

He raises his glass to Anders' before drinking.

[justice_is_blond]

He clinks the glass back, grateful for the lack of judgement.

"Cheers, my love." His smile takes on a slightly mischievous edge. "Special occasions like getting lost in the Deep Roads?" He'd helped save Nate, and later Nate had helped save him. Having a balance makes him happy.

"I'll have to try fresh crab sometime. We'll be here for some time, more likely than not. And I'm glad you're keeping company with Petra. I like her. ...I like a lot of the Rifters, actually. Just don't go thinking you can trade your blond mage in for a younger one." There is no seriousness in his tone. "You're mine, my handsome husband, and I'll not lend you out."

[pinprick]

Nathaniel hadn't realized Petra was a mage. He hadn't really known rifters came in the mage variety. Well, now he can't mention without it sounding weird and awkward, so he plows on.

"I like having a friend who isn't a Warden," Nathaniel admits after sipping sherry. "I've not been very good at making those. Everything has always been about work, so this is nice. I mean before Petra there was...Zevran, sort of, though not in the same way. And there was that hazy part where you weren't exactly a Warden and we were only friends. I forgot it's good to have people on the outside. It helps with perspective. And it's just refreshing to get a whiff of untainted blood."

[justice_is_blond]

He nearly chokes on his sherry at the last, laughter in his throat as he manages to swallow the liquid after all. "A whiff of untainted blood. Things you can safely say and I cannot, Maker."

Anders reaches over and squeezes Nate's hand, shaking his head. Talk of blood from a mage, even a mage healer, is dangerous territory even at the best of times.

"But I'll be the first to admit having friends helps with perspective. She's offered to... advise me, more or less, the next time I feel the need to speak with most people with crystals. She's training in diplomacy and such, and I'm lacking in it."