OPEN

[pinprick]

WHO: Nathaniel Howe and YOU
WHAT: Meandering open post
WHEN: Month of Kingsway/September
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Will edit with any warnings that come up.

I. CLOSED - Loghain

In the Gallows training yard, Nathaniel sinks another arrow deep into a target--an inevitability of a bow of its draw weight, not a result of his skill. The accuracy is good, but he would like it to be better. He can't even blame his rheumatism today--it's his pride that demands perfection.

While retrieving his arrows, he spots Loghain with his sword and shield. He considers the man for a moment. Loghain is no longer in his prime, but he could still knock over a golem if he had a good running start. Nathaniel isn't in his prime either, but he could be better, and Loghain is one of the best. If he challenges Loghain and is beaten, he could learn from one of the best. If he challenges Loghain and wins, he could have beaten one of the best. And if that person happens to have a face he wants to punch, all the better.

He chooses a sword from the rack and approaches. He practices with the sword often these days, for he can wield it on days when his rheumatism keeps him from drawing a longbow. And it was what his old master taught him. He gestures to get Loghain's attention and sinks into a fighting stance with only the sword and no shield.

"Are you fighting the air because it's easy on your joints, old man?"

II. OFFICE

Nathaniel is tired of writing letters. He's tired of sending news and tired of follow-up questions. The Hero of Ferelden has been dead for months. It shouldn't feel like he's been dying all this time. And he has a headache.

After some time, he glances surreptitiously down the hall, closes his door, sits back down, and pulls out a pair of reading spectacles to finish up this batch. They have always been a last resort, and he is out of resorts. Anyone bursting in without knocking is likely to see him with them for the first time in their lives.

III. HIGHTOWN/DOCKS/GALLOWS

The grizzled, broad-shouldered ranger emerges grimly from the new Hightown forest, scowling in a manly fashion and carrying a basket piled high with fresh fruit and wildflowers. He's heading for the docks to catch the ferry back to the Gallows.

Dare you to say anything.

IV. BETHANY

The grim warrior halts upon seeing Bethany Hawke Darton in the courtyard. He picks up one bunch of the flowers and approaches her with dark purpose. By the time he arrives in front of her, he has smiled and is holding out the flowers wordlessly.

V. PETRANA

Seeing Petra, the dark shadow and pinprick who carries the poison stops and gives her a bunch of late summer wildflowers and a beaming smile.

VI. CLOSED - Anders

By the time Anders returns from work, Nathaniel has lit the fire. He bought fresh, as in 'was swimming in the sea a few hours ago', mackerels and grilled them over the fire, toasted some day-old bread, and baked a bubbling berry pie. The last of the wildflowers are on the table when the door opens, and Nathaniel moves to collect dinner from where it has been kept warm near the fire.

"We are," he declares in a tone that will brook no argument, "eating dinner together tonight. I don't care what you have left to do, you have time to sit down and eat a meal with your husband."

Comments

Flowers Lol

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Bethany is sitting in the Gallows courtyard with her knitting, and a bunch of burlap sacks. Some of them already have knitted blankets within, and some of them are empty, but she's got a look on her face that says she's determined to make sure they all end up with a blanket in them in the near future. It's getting cold again, after all.

The intense look on her face fades into a confused frown and headtilt as Nate comes towards her with such a serious look on his face that everyone has parted before him nervously. She tips her head quizzically to the side - and then the flowers are brought out and she lets out a delighted laugh.

"Oh Nathaniel, you shouldn't have!" She beams, putting down her knitting to take the blossoms, kissing his grizzled cheek fondly.

And ...everyone around them breaths out a confused sigh of relief. Wardens. So damned strange.

That Anders one

[justice_is_blond]

He has several sheets of parchment in his hand and a slightly harried look when he comes in, which may or may not be related to Purrelden holding a loud one-sided conversation on his shoulder as she digs her claws in to the extra padding he's sewn there. The scent of fresh food hits him, bread and fish and pie?, and Nate's words make him take a breath in and out and smile faintly.

"Let me feed this ravenous beast before she tries eating me, and then yes." The papers get set down on their desk before he's pulling a carefully wrapped package of meat out of his pouch and portioning it for both of the ravenous beasts. Then, immediate chores done, he comes over to kiss Nate on the cheek.

"I've been a little too absent of late again, haven't I. I'm sorry, love. I'm glad to spend time with you."

[pinprick]

Nathaniel beams and kisses her cheek back, his stubbly cheek against her smooth.

"I couldn't resist. How are you?"

[pinprick]

Nathaniel kisses back. "We're both busy. And we do make some time, it just feels like the time we have is always stolen. Like when you turned up in my office naked."

A beat as his fork hovers over his mackerel.

"Not that I'm complaining about you turning up in my office naked," he says emphatically. He pulls an immaculate fish flake off with his fork. He has overcooked it a touch, but it will still be fresh mackerel.

[justice_is_blond]

He looks a little sheepish until Nate adds the second part, and then Anders' smile turns proud.

"I'll remember that," he says with a chuckle. Anders pulls the chairs out from their small table and leans in to smell the fresh flowers Nate's brought. This is nice. It's so close to what he's dreamed of, some days. Now if they weren't in Kirkwall... But that's a thought for another time.

He sets out plates and silverware and napkins. "I'll take it as encouragement, too. Do you need a hand bringing the food over?"

[sunshinethroughgrey]

"I am quite well and quite busy, as you can see." She gestured to her operation. "Beyond that, I am nose-deep in research and elbow-deep in physical training, if you can believe it. Pel is teaching me how to become an Arcane Warrior."

She wraps her arm through his and tugs him back near her so they can sit together, still breathing in her flowers. "This is so sweet. What made you think of them?"

[pinprick]

"No, love, I have it." He sets the testing fork aside and pulls the food away from the fire. The toast goes on the plates first, then the fish, over which is spooned some of the gravy and juices from the cooking. It's simple fare, but simple is what Nathaniel is best at. Anything he tries to make complicated turns out stewish and sloppy and all tasting the same.

"How was your day?"

[justice_is_blond]

It's nice when Nate cooks simply. He's had Fereldan 'stew' before and is never a fan of grey sludge, but Nate is talented when it comes to these meals. ...And it's not really like Anders is used to fancy fare.

He takes his plate and settles in, savoring the scent for a moment before starting to get a forkful.

"You remember I mentioned Kasun the other day? The little mage? She slipped up with ice and the whole floor froze over, but thankfully after a few tense seconds people started laughing rather than panicking. I never know what's going to happen when a student makes an error. Yours?" There's a reason he's not teaching any fire or force magic inside the building itself; they've an area outside the building for that.

The first bite gets a noise of approval - everything turned out tasty.

[pinprick]

The toast crunches as Nathaniel cuts out a bite with everything. The oils of the mackerel are soaking the bread nicely.

"Griffon's Wing Keep having issues with varghests again. I keep telling them they should just cook the damn things."

[justice_is_blond]

"Or they could let the griffons loose in there. They'd surely enjoy a chance to catch their own meals. ...granted, that could lead to other issues."

Nowhere really has places made for griffons anymore, so they're often at a lack of space no matter how they work with the buildings they have.

"But if there are extra varghest corpses that people aren't eating, there are always people who would be thankful for the extra meat in Darktown. Meat alternatives to rats are very welcome." His expression brightens after he takes another bite. "There may be someone donating chickens to the clinic soon. We'll have some learning ahead of us for proper chicken care, but then we can provide eggs." And possibly more from there, if some people in Darktown wanted to learn chicken care as well there's a rooster on loan offering too.

[pinprick]

"Varghest jerky?" Nathaniel wonders aloud. The mackerel is so tender and oily that preserved rations are hard to bring to mind at the moment. "It's good about the chickens. How are you going to keep people from killing them for meat, though?"

[justice_is_blond]

"That's... definitely something I don't quite have an answer for yet," he says with a shake of his head. "I'm hoping that people will realize the long-term gain of eggs and a steady increase in chicken numbers is better than the short-term, but there's a risk of losing them."

Guards are a thought he's had, but asking people to guard chickens might push their pride to the point of breaking.

[pinprick]

"Or you might build them a coop. Won't stop the really determined foxes, but it'll make it harder to accomplish without them being caught."

[mactears]

All things considered, Loghain can't find much to complain about regarding the shape he's in, given his age and what he's experienced. His joints bother him on especially cold mornings, or if a storm is on the horizon; reading by candlelight is certainly more of a chore than it ever was during his younger years. But his shield arm is still strong, and he's more than capable of hacking his way through a training dummy without winding himself.

He's worked up a bit of a sweat by the time he notices Nathaniel in his peripheral vision, and pauses to watch Rendon Howe's boy with an inscrutable look on his face.

"Possibly," he answers the biting query without giving any indication that it's ruffled his feathers. He carries his shield over to the wall and sets it down, switches out his blade for a practice one, and comes back onto the training grounds. Lifting the weapon, he adopts a ready stance.

He'll trust that this fight is meant in good faith. He doesn't have any other options. "On your mark," he says.

[justice_is_blond]

"Mm." Another bite of dinner, delicious, filling dinner, gets chewed as he considers that before nodding. "I'll find someone who knows how to make one. I'm certain there will be a refugee who would like to do that as a day job. And it's not like the Clinic goes unguarded at night as I've so many herbs and potions there, as well as what furniture we've gathered and are using for it."

Nate gets a smile. "The coop's a good idea. Thank you. I'm sorry that I don't have any suggestion for the varghests, unless you want me to see if a few kids would like to chase them. The griffons might not approve."

[pinprick]

"I was in the...blood magic forest, gathering fruit. Evidently it's quite safe in there. Those flowers were there, and I thought of my little sister, of course."

[sunshinethroughgrey]

The look she gave him was wry. "You know, it would get a lot more good public feeling if we stop calling it the 'blood magic forest'." She breathed in the flowers again, her tone going soft with amazement. "My, what a mage that Sina is."

[pinprick]

It has been quite some time since Nathaniel faced off against an opponent with a sword. The last time he fought at close quarters at all was...well, against a Vengeance demon who almost killed him, better not to bring that up.

But what shows as he circles Loghain is the posture, the footwork used by the chevaliers. Nathaniel does not use the shield because he has his own troubles with rheumatism, so he grips the sword with both hands. The moment he sees an opening, he goes for it, swinging toward Loghain's shins and hoping to throw off his balance. Men Loghain's age often have knee trouble, don't they? Of course it leaves Nathaniel's upper body exposed. He pivots to try to make any blow glancing at best.

[pinprick]

Nathaniel considers. "Kain, Inessa, and Ciri? Might be a good exercise for them. Varghests are at least as intelligent as your average recruit. They'd have to come up with a plan and follow each other."

[pinprick]

"...The baby?"

Because there's only one Sina Anders can't shut up about that Nathaniel can bring to mind.

[justice_is_blond]

Anders snickers before grabbing a sip of water.

"I might even pay to watch that. But yes, I think they'd be good choices, and the griffons are used to them. It gives them something to do that's a little more like regular work, which is something we're often short of here. Warden work, I mean."

He's never short of work as a healer.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

"Uhm, no. Different Sina."

She gave Nathaniel a little smile, and a laugh. "I would like to see the baby Sina do this kind of magic, though."

[pinprick]

"You're right. It would be exciting for them, but not very dangerous. A perfect learning opportunity. And they'd get to ride their griffons to 'battle.'"

[pinprick]

It does seem like there are a lot of Sinas around here, come to think of it. And yet only one Nathaniel. Must be a popular name.

"I wouldn't," Nathaniel says with a faint wince. "Creepy. Well, that's good. Why are you praising someone's blood magic?"

[justice_is_blond]

"There we go. Problems solved over dinner, and the world is better for it."

There's a little joking in his voice, but this is something new and something he likes, being able to share a meal with his partner and work things out as they do so. Though that does bring one thing to mind.

"It's not a big deal, but a former fling of mine had joined the Inquisition. It was a one-night stand, no feelings on either of our parts, but he's something of a friend. Or was. We're... He's always been for the Circles, so we're feeling things out there. I just wanted you to know that he was here and he's no threat to you."

It's definitely something that as a surprise could go poorly.