wheretheferngrows (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wheretheferngrows) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
faderift2018-01-03 01:49 pm
wheretheferngrows) wrote in faderift2018-01-03 01:49 pm
Entry tags:
[OPEN] i will be your true companion
WHO: Fern + various starters, and OPEN
WHAT: Life keeps going, even when you lose someone you care about.
WHEN: Early through mid-January.
WHERE: The Gallows, Kirkwall
NOTES: None currently, will update as necessary.
WHAT: Life keeps going, even when you lose someone you care about.
WHEN: Early through mid-January.
WHERE: The Gallows, Kirkwall
NOTES: None currently, will update as necessary.
I. HERB GARDEN (OPEN)
This was not how Fern had ever hoped to take on the mantle of Head Gardener--but with Sina gone and no one else in the base operations project possessing the same skill set, she steps into the role without complaint. Besides, some part of her cherishes the opportunity to familiarize herself with what would have been Sina's old routine.
She's bundled up against the cold one early morning, eyes still a little heavy from recent sleep and her expression tired and neutral, and is at work clearing out some of the remaining bits of dead brush that weren't gathered before the snow and ice storm arrived. Some of the brush is set aside to be used for kindling or mulch later.
It's simple work, tedious, but it helps to keep the lingering grief at bay.
II. BELETH & SORREL
Fern is cautious to approach them at first, even with Sina's promise in the back of her mind. The burial and funeral are over, and it would of course make sense for the two of them to put their own families and the needs of their clan ahead of some silly farm girl who may not realize she's overstepping their boundaries.
Eventually, she summons up her courage and seeks them out in the garden... waiting for the right time, of course, so as to not interrupt them in the middle of a private conversation.
She clears her throat and peers into their peripheral vision, hoping to catch Beleth's eye, or Sorrel's. "Um," she starts gracefully, "hello. I don't... know if you remember me--"
Sorrel surely does. Beleth may not.
III. MESS HALL (NELL)
It has been a bit easier for Fern to focus on her spellcasting since returning from the Plains--a bit, at any rate. Gaining closure in one respect doesn't mean she has a solution to her other most recent problem, namely Finch's arrival and all that that entails. Still, she's desperately afraid of disappointing Nell, and so perhaps tries too hard to focus on the lessons as they are described to her. Too much concentration means burnout, which means more mistakes.
She's trying not to dwell on them while they sit in the mess hall together eating lunch, but it's difficult not to get discouraged. And in the back of her mind, she's toying with another thought, one that Anders brought up to her when he reached out to her with a message the other evening.
In spite of whatever else it is they're discussing, when there's a pause, Fern looks across the table at Nell and asks, "Do you know Anders very well?"
IV. ELVEN ARTIFACTS OFFICE (PEL)
It's a bit of an adventure for Fern to find her way to the Elven Artifacts research offices, just because she spends very little of her day in this part of the Gallows--but find it she does. After a moment spent straightening out her shirt and tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ears, she knocks on the door and waits.
no subject
"...dried reeds?"
"Oh, yes," she starts, holding up a finger as though to mark that yes, this is her job, she knows her way around these things, and gets to her feet, dusting dirt and burrs from her pants as she does so. She gives Fifi a little smile and then waves her over. "This way," she says, already leading the way towards a little building towards one end of the garden. "I don't think we have much left at the moment, not 'til the next shipment arrives. I think all the ice and snow delayed it."
Reaching the door, she fetches out her keys and unlocks it, then steps inside and reaches out to touch her fingertip to a candle's wick, lighting it.
no subject
"That happens," she says with a sigh, stepping in behind Fern, though she catches something out of the corner of her eye and finds herself staring at the candle.
"Did you just," she begins, in a low, careful tone.
no subject
Fern turns around to face Fifi with a worried look on her face, fidgeting her fingers together nervously. "I'm--" she starts, realizes she's about to apologize for something that Nell would never approve of her apologizing for, and tries to redirect her words in a different direction. "...yes, I'm a mage--is that a problem?" This, said a little stiffly, but she can't keep the anxiety out of her expressive blue eyes.
no subject
no subject
"You are from a Circle?"
"Mm, no," she answers, shaking her head, and recalling her errand goes over to the box of reads to unfasten the clasps keeping it closed. "My family kept me hidden from the Templars, so I never had to go through that awful Harrowing or anything like that. But the only other mage I ever met was my aunt, up until now, which is a bit rubbish." Her Fereldan accent could not be more pronounced, though she doesn't think to mask it even in front of an Orlesian.
"I'm Fern," she adds and smiles back at Fifi, then gestures at the open crate. "Are these all right? I don't think any damp got into them, but it's so hard to tell without digging down to the bottom sometimes."
no subject
"Josephine," she greets with a smirk, "though to some I'm called by Fifi. Whichever you prefer." She steps over to peer into the crates and pulls out a few reeds, feeling them. "Yes, they will do."
no subject
Pleased that her storage of the reeds hasn't resulted in them mouldering during the colder months, Fern steps back some to let Fifi do whatever it is that she needs to do, but can't contain some of her curiosity. "I don't meet many other elves here who aren't Dalish," she admits. "You're the only other one who's really spoken to me. Well besides--" A sudden pause, and an uncomfortable look. "...besides my fiancé, I mean."
She doesn't sound too thrilled about that arrangement.
no subject
no subject
"His name is Finch. Have you met him?"
no subject
"I... yes, I believe so," Fifi replies, with a smile that comes a bit too easily. "He seems a kind boy." Better to start off neutral.
no subject
"He is," Fern ends up answering automatically out of some instinct to protect Finch from... something. She's not sure what, exactly. Uncomfortably, she rubs at the back of her neck. "He's all right."
A bit damning, as far as compliments go.
"A-anyway," she starts again, searching for a way to dig herself out of this awkward hole, but seems at a loss.
no subject
"Don't worry, cherie," she replies, flashing a smile as she begins to turn and take her leave with the reeds, "sometimes it's like that." No judgment here; if anything, empathy.
no subject
no subject