faderift | [open] tiptoe through the window

WHO: Benedict and yoooou
WHAT: though still very much under supervision, Bene is out of confinement and Ready To Party
WHEN: Wintermarch
WHERE: The Gallows mostly
NOTES: Always assume there's a Templar nearby. If you're the Templar, that should be easy

I. Out and About

If one didn't know Benedict is a prisoner, and if he weren't dressed in the plain garb of an Inquisition Nobody, one might think he's a visiting prince. Which... in a sense he is, though the visit is somewhat less on his terms and is still essentially captivity.
However, he is now allowed outside, able to walk around and do things and look at people, often with the kind of scrutinizing gaze one might expect from a duchess eyeing a lizard on the ground. He's not here to make friends, he's here to be Kirkwall's Next Top Model.
Or to just. ....wait things out. Whatever the case, he's in transit and acting very needlessly fancy about it.

II. The Library

He tried to continue his Boredom Strike within the quarters assigned to him by the Inquisition, but Benedict did, after some weeks, eventually cave. He's back to researching rifts and Old Gods and all that witch hunty rubbish that the south seems so keen on ascribing to Tevinter, half the time just making up nonsense to put in his notes in the off-chance anyone is actually paying attention. In these moments he looks less like a stuck-up princeling and more like a petulant schoolboy, doodling on his parchment and doing just about everything in his power to ensure nobody thinks they're the boss of him.

III. Wildcard

Dare ye visit his chambers in the old Templar tower? Catch him dining with the unwashed masses or encountering snow, which has become his newest mortal enemy? (Hit me up if you want a specific prompt.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bene's eyebrows raise when he hears someone addressing him, though he doesn't look up until he's finished with the current stroke. Then, when he sees who it is, he sits up a little straighter, clearly glad to see someone who doesn't suck (like Ser Gareth here).
"Bored out of my brain," he replies, almost cheerfully.

That makes the notes make sense. Anders shakes his head with a snort.

"I've always found research fascinating. All the information that's tucked away, some of it forgotten until you find it out and bring it up to the wrong person and get dragged in front of the Knight Commander again..." He trails off, shaking his head. "At least those days might be over. Is there nothing that interests you enough to actually dig into?"

Great, Anders is a nerd.
Which... isn't to say Bene isn't, but it's hard to be contrary and earnest at the same time. He slumps a little lower as the older mage talks, sighing drearily and staring at the parchment in front of him.
"Maybe," he grumbles, "but nothing this lot wants from me." He wrinkles his nose. "Ancient Tevinter this and that, dredging up all my most boring history lessons to wail and wring their hands over them."

"Because of Corypheus." It follows, logically. Of course, if Benedict doesn't really know anything that would help there and is just digging in books the Inquisition already has, this is something of a waste.

"Why not them what interests you, Benedict? Point out that they'd get so much more from a topic you found interesting, one that you could actually lend insight with. Anyone can page through a book. It's the connections and correlations that come from a passion about the subject that will prove useful." Anders frowns momentarily as he hears what he's saying. "I'm not meaning to lecture you. You just don't look happy, for many reasons I'm sure, but maybe one of them can be helped."

"Bore-ypheus," Benedict mumbles to himself, embellishing on a drawing that would be quite nice to look at if it weren't vandalism. He sighs when Anders proceeds, rolling his eyes in the universal expression of No One Understands Me.

"Because I don't want to help them," he says, raising his hands as if to say 'why am I explaining this again', "I don't want anything to do with this miserable place and I'm not their slave and I'm not one of their fucking Circle mages--" it's a first, but he actually casts a glance at Anders and mutters 'sorry' before continuing-- "so researching something I care about is just endorsing the notion that I'm a good little doggy who's here to do their bidding or go into isolation. And I'm not." Punctuating his last statement, he drops his quill and folds his arms.

His lips press together at the Circle mage jab, but he nods civilly at the apology. The problem is that he understands somewhat. Benedict is a prisoner after no trial, a captive for who knows how long, being used because... the Inquisition can. Much like the Circles could for a very long time, and the nearby Templar doesn't weaken Benedict's point.

"I know. It's not fair." He doesn't follow it up with the obvious that the young man has no doubt heard a thousand times before, that life isn't fair. For a moment he considers what to say before looking back at Benedict with a thoughtful look.

"What are the charges against you, exactly? What is their stated justification for holding you? Maybe we can 'research' the case."

In truth he's only heard that life isn't fair about... oh, fifteen times, and only since arriving here. Before that, Bene found it was exceedingly fair.
"Now they're afraid I'll go back and turn the Magisterium against them," he grumbles, "or something. Not that I wouldn't. It's obvious, isn't it?" There have been a lot of missteps, and he's not afraid to point them out. He does, however, seem intrigued by Anders' suggestion.
"How would we do that?"

"Maybe think about not trying that," Anders requests dryly. "Maybe think about how there are some good people here and we'd like to not have Tevinter on our doorstep as we sort out Corypheus and a future for mages that isn't the Circles we know."

He takes a breath, shaking his head. "There are laws. As mages are free now, we should get trials. And if we lay out the charges against you, we can find out what laws come into play and what defense you can have. So. Suspected Venatori agent, assault when you got Norrington, what else?"

If they're going to be equal, they need to be fully equal. They can't just be held for forever pending whatever the Inquisition wants without a formal sentencing.

"Good people," Bene repeats with a sigh, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure you were able to do that back in the Circle. It's all for the greater good, isn't it?" There's a sneer in his words, albeit perhaps not directed at Anders. "...not that I don't see your point. But I didn't assault Norrington, I haven't done a damn thing to him. The woman got caught in a spell meant for Atticus and they all acted as though I'd knifed her in the back."

He sits back in his chair, clearly starting to lose patience.

"I escaped my Circle. I ran. I joined the Wardens gladly to be free of it. I then smuggled mages out of this very fortress to freedom, among doing many other things. One more snipe about me being a Circle mage when I'd no choice in the matter and indeed worked to end my time there, and I'm leaving you to this, Benedict."

He lets the words hang in the air before taking another breath. "Templars are over-sensitive, and they will consider that assault on Coupe. Is there anything else?"

"I'm not trying to snipe you," Benedict replies, irritated, "my point is you had no choice. And that good people were likely as few and far between for you then as they are for me now. No one is that good." He sighs and rubs his temple.

"They are and they do. I don't think there's anything else. I'm hardly in a hurry to do that again."

[open] tiptoe through the window

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