[OPEN] a dwarf making bad decisions

[ragweed]

WHO: Kit + you?? (starters for the Medicine Seller, Simon, Anders, and Cyril)
WHAT: The best way to deal with your problems is to act like you don't have any, right??
WHEN: The latter half of November.
WHERE: Kirkwall and the surrounding area.
NOTES: None immediately come to mind, will update as needed.

I. DARKTOWN (THE MEDICINE SELLER)


Killing demons is far from tedious work, but for Kit it’s frankly a nice respite from having to think about the low-key disaster the rest of his life is swiftly en route to becoming.

It also leaves him cagey; magic and magickery in general set his teeth on edge in a way he finds difficult to articulate, even to the peculiar elf (the “Painted Blade,” Melys, really?) who has become his friend. Perhaps especially because they are friends. Possibly this explains why, as they meander back down the poorly lit Darktown streets back to Kit’s house, he’s a little rougher than usual when he drags a couple of Coterie thugs back from hassling a pair of frightened dwarf kids.

The end of the encounter--the street fight, more like--leaves his knuckles bruised and bloody, but he wins, which is all that matters!! A bit roughed up, and keyed up, he’s in the middle of snapping, “--yeah, piss off back to your rat holes--” to the backs of their retreating figures, when he realizes that he’s frightened the children off, too.

That realization seems to take the wind from his sails. He stares at the spot under a bit of rotting lumber where they’d been hiding, rubs a hand along his jaw, then glances uncomfortably towards the Medicine Seller. He spits some blood out into the dirt. “..well.”


II. TRAINING GROUNDS (SIMON + OPEN)

(OOC: The thread with Simon is closed, but other characters should feel free to approach Kit after training/sparring on another day!)


He’s off his game.

It’s not the recruits’ fault that they’re still wet behind the ears and don’t know the difference between a parry and a riposte, and on a good day, their inexperience would trigger his patience, his understanding, the part of him that has always made him good with stubborn kids and loose cannons alike. Today it just makes him cold.

(The bruises on his knuckles and what looks like a split lip probably don’t help much.)

Once they’ve cleared out of the training grounds, Kit directs his attention towards putting up the last of the training weapons, then retreats to the pier to light himself a cigarette, squint at the early morning light coming across the water, and try not to feel anything.


III. NEAR THE DEEP ROADS (ANDERS)


The door sealing off a section of the Deep Roads from the surface isn’t that far below ground; sunlight still reaches the stone floor of the ancient roads from what time has turned into a ravine, far above. The worst that they’ve had to tangle with so far were a couple of ranging deepstalkers who tested their luck against a Legionnaire and a Grey Warden mage one too many times. Kit’s now wiping a bit of viscera off of one of his axes.

A Grey Warden and a Legionnaire down near the dark shouldn’t be unusual, but it is, given the two in question. Did Kit invite Anders on this trek seemingly out of nowhere? Probably. Has he been his normal chatty self for most of the trip? Nope.

“I’ll check the map, but I think we’re close,” he says at length, expression distant and neutral.


IV. THE OTHER POWERS OFFICE (CYRIL + OPEN)

(OOC: The thread with Cyril is closed, but other characters should feel free to pop by the office on another day!)


It’s taken about a month for Kit to wrangle the office into some semblance of control, or to sort out the previous project leader’s archaic filing system (translation, there was no filing system)--but he’s in the perfect mindset to perform mind-numbingly dull labour at present, and so cobbles together order out of chaos with remarkable speed.

This is where he spends his early mornings--and a handful of very late evenings--when he isn’t on the training ground with the recruits… or covertly killing demons in Darktown with the Medicine Seller.
 

Comments

The Other Powers Office

[gottakeeponejumpahead]

And in one of those times when Kit is actually around? His latest pupil sticks his head through the door, sharp ears wiggling a little as he grinned at the dwarf.

"Hello there, Master Kit. You ready for our lesson?" He looked around, "Or are you still battling the good fight against parchment and pen?"

[ragweed]

He'd be better with a keener of a pupil like Adasse on a good day, but it seems like he's run out of good days in his deck of cards. Seated behind his desk, Kit glances up at Adasse from whatever boring bit of paperwork he's reading through and does what he can to put on a friendly smile for the kid. (It's an expression that doesn't quite reach his eyes, but give him some credit for trying, all right?)

"Yeah, sure," he says, forcing some lightness into his voice, and pushes himself up from his desk. Coming around the other side, he fixes the young man with a careful look. "You been working on your footwork since last time?"

[gottakeeponejumpahead]

Adasse grinned and stepped into the doorway proper, resisting the urge to lean against the door frame. No posturing was done in front of Kit - the man just saw through most of it anyways.

"You bet - I think I can handle the slide backwards without getting my arse handed to me as I stumble over my own feet."

[ragweed]

Kit definitely has a sharp bullshit meter, but Adasse's lack of posturing and general good nature mean that he receives an affable-enough smile from the dwarf as he steps out of the office and locks the door behind them. (It's easy to pretend you're fine, that everything's fine, when there's work to be done.)

"You bet - I think I can handle the slide backwards without getting my arse handed to me as I stumble over my own feet."

"Well, if it happens, better on the training grounds than in the Deep Roads." Kit gives his pockets a pat, just to make sure he's got everything, then motions for Adasse to follow him.

Once they reach the training grounds, Kit easily navigates past all the others who are currently at their work with their weaponry, seeking out a spot a bit away from the rest so they can have adequate room to maneuver. "I forgot to ask," he says as he starts to stretch his arms, shaking out his wrists to limber them up, "what sort of work is it you want to do for the Scoutmaster? Once you've caught up on your training." He looks at Adasse curiously; young kid, he must have ambitions.

[gottakeeponejumpahead]

".... yeah, sort of thinking I'd want to get that down before wandering where the darkspawn are." He shudders, memories of the creatures still haunt his nightmares. Better enough to think of how this training will help him kill any of the bastards that cross his path.

Adasse follows Kit easily enough, even if he does pause to slap the hands and shoulders of a few of the other scouts he's befriended.

He too, begins to stretch, not wasting any time with pretending he can go right at it with no preparation. There's only a brief pause while he considers Kit's question. "Well ... been thinking about that. Not really sure what a former thief does with better thieving under his belt."

A shrug of the shoulder, "Might try being a spy, I suppose, if I get good enough."