[Closed] I've got the magic in me

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Five billion mages.
WHAT: The mages Anders has invited mingle
WHEN: The tenth of Wintermarch
WHERE: A warehouse in the docks
NOTES: None atm.

The warehouse is set up pretty sparsely. Part of the warehouse is taken up by a table of food next to a table of drinks next to a table of plates and cups that don't match, near a lot of scattered chairs. A short space away is a deliberate oval of chairs because he, at least, is amused in making sure no circle shapes occur here. Finally, there's a table with a stack of scraps of parchment.

When everyone's gathered and is starting to mingle, Anders stands up and clears his throat.

"Thank you for coming." It takes work to look calm and confident. This feels so important to him and he doesn't want to make a mess of it. "Obviously the food and drink is self-explanatory," he says with a faint smile before gesturing at the oval, "As far as the rest, I figured we could have a small area set up for serious discussion, any heavy matters that people want to talk about, easily joined and left or ignored completely."

He jerks a thumb in the direction of the last table. "Finally, the parchment is for writing down anything you particularly want to teach or learn. Put your name on it, and people can page through them and be in contact. And I think that's enough from me."

Comments

[wheretheferngrows]

She doesn't punch him again, only giving him an arch look before folding her arms smartly over her chest.

"Yes, I sorted that one out on my own, too," she informs him, but her irritation is short-lived. "Why'd you keep it a secret? I mean, I understand keeping it a secret when you're an apostate out there--" this said with a wide gesture that means 'beyond the Inquisition,' probably, "--but why here?"

[keenly]

An edged smile. "Because if I'm not a mage, then all those years in the Circle must have happened to someone else. And I like that idea."

[justice_is_blond]

He comes over, catching the last exchange which leads to him resting a hand on Colin's unpunched shoulder.

"And the fewer that knew, the lower the chance of a slip-up, I take it. Though perhaps it should have occurred to him that sometimes magic happens when you're half-asleep and his roommate should know." Anders' expression and voice are gentle, not scolding. "If it's any consolation, my guess is that only two people here knew, and I only knew because I recognized him from our former Circle."

[wheretheferngrows]

There's something in Colin's expression that gives Fern pause, makes her frown with something like sympathy in her eyes, but then Anders arrives before she can ask any awkward, prying questions.

Instead, her curiosity piqued, she asks instead, "You were both at the same Circle?" If there's something like disappointment in her face, just for a moment, she tries not to let it show too much. (Though it would have been nice to befriend another mage who had never set foot in a Circle tower... one that wasn't also Dalish, that is.)

[keenly]

Colin tenses a little at the touch. "Yes," he sighs. "I also knew Inessa, and Enchanter Julius, and...Audra. Gareth knows. He's the only one I told-told. I almost told you, that day in the garden. I just...nothing good ever came of this. Not one thing. Well. Except I wasn't in Denerim for the Blight, that kept me marginally less dead than I would have been."

[justice_is_blond]

At the tension, Anders removes his hand. Sometimes he forgets that not everyone finds physical contact comforting the way he does.

"Kinloch Hold," he clarifies. "An island on a lake in Ferelden. A very cold lake, I'd like to note, and a very cold tower." And very cold Templars. Audra's a new name on the list and he glances around, trying to see if she'd come after all. He'd not recognized her which didn't have to mean anything, really. There'd been a lot of time spent outside of the general population.

"And maybe good can come of your having magic still. You're young yet."

[keenly]

"And he'd know it's cold," Colin says with some amusement. "He swam the bloody thing."

[wheretheferngrows]

There's so very much to follow in this exchange that Fern isn't sure where to fix her attention; she looks wonderingly from Colin back to Anders, her eyes widening some. "You swam Lake Calenhad?" she exclaims incredulously, then shoots another look back at Colin. Surely they're both joking.

[justice_is_blond]

He grins and nods.

"We were outside for a little exercise and sunlight, and the Templars wear heavy armor. Jumping in and swimming for freedom seemed a perfect idea." There'd been some heavy punishment, but it had been fun at the time.

[keenly]

"He was a legend," Colin confirms in an admiring tone. "Not just for that, either. So far the seventh escape attempt seems to be going pretty well."