[OPEN] I have never known peace

[ragweed]

WHO: Kit + you??
WHAT: Kit does what he can to help out the Inquisition during blue flu season, and reconnects with some friends (and lovers) along the way.
WHEN: Throughout February.
WHERE: Gallows + Kirkwall
NOTES:This will be Kit's last log before he goes out in a blaze of glory at the end of the month, so if you'd like one last thread with him, ping me @ ragweed on plurk or on discord and we can make it happen. Starters will be in the comments as I write them up. CW for death and violence in Kit's thread w/ the Medicine Seller.

I have never known hunger
Like these insects that feast on me

Comments

[ragweed]

"What's going on in the Gallows? Everyone's whispering and running around like frightened chickens."

"You haven't noticed?" Kit asks, and lights two cigarettes, one for himself and one for Benedict, which he passes over to him once he's done dealing the cards. He juts out his chin towards the door once. "Next time you're out there, take a look at the rifters." They're blue, after all.

[altusimperius]

"Oh, I've noticed," Bene reassures him, taking the cigarette to inhale on it, "but I don't know why. What's wrong with them?" At least... aside from their being from a different universe.

[ragweed]

A shrug is Kit's only real response to that. "Couldn't tell you, salroka," he says heavily. "That's a question a level or two above my paygrade. And skillset." This added with a little smirk, and he picks up his hand of cards to consider what's in front of him. "Got darkspawn that need killing? I'm your man. Anything else?" A dismissive shrug, and he plays his first hand--not bad, but probably beatable.

[altusimperius]

Benedict exhales while Kit talks, the smoke curling around his face in a well-cultivated stream, something he no doubt learned to do trying to impress other partygoers around a hookah back in Minrathous. There's a consciousness to it, a visible enjoyment.

"Well what good are you," he teases, slapping a card down that beats Kit's, the corner of his mouth twitching into a proper smirk. "If I run into any darkspawn in the library, you'll be the first person I call."

[ragweed]

His hand beaten, Kit scoffs mildly, gathers the cards up, and shuffles them again for the next hand. "Well what good are you," Benedict teases him, and in response, Kit can only smile wistfully, eyes on his cards rather than on Benedict's face.

The boy looks better. He's settling in. Maybe he's going to be all right.

"No idea, salroka," he answers, meets Benedict's eyes very briefly, then plays his hand again--it's a more solid one this time. Then he reaches for his cigarette again and brings it up to his lips for a quick drag, exhaling the smoke; there's no artful display to it, just the rush of the nicotine, and clear distraction in his eyes. "All that shit aside, I'm glad you've found your feet here."

[altusimperius]

"If that's what you want to call it," Bene says with a roll of his eyes, never about to willingly concede that he's doing better or might have learned something. Idly scowling at Kit's new hand, he picks through his own for a moment, biding his time. "I've found something, anyway. It might not be mine." Puff. "...but I guess it's something."

[ragweed]

"That's life for all of us, salroka, one way or another." Kit tucks his cigarette into the corner of his lips and reviews his own hand while waiting for Benedict to play his. "Just going along dealing with the shit it throws at you. Most folks don't get a choice in how they muddle on through."

He thumbs one of the cards in his hand and smirks. "Maybe that's why I like cards so much."

[altusimperius]

In most cases, Benedict might continue to whine. But he likes the easy comfort he has with Kit, the inanity of what they do together that helps him forget his real circumstances.

"You don't have that much of a choice in cards either," he points out, laying down another triumph.

[ragweed]

It's a winning hand, and Kit scoffs, but he's still smiling lopsidedly. He drops down his own hand, content to be bested by his own student. Maybe there's a bit of pride in the look he sends Benedict's way.

"You don't have that much of a choice in cards either."

"I know," he replies, takes another drag of his cigarette, and blows the smoke off to the side. Then he juts his chin at his young friend's face, chuckling. "That's the point. Gives you time to work on your poker face, so you're ready when it really counts."

[altusimperius]

Benedict grins, waggling his eyebrows triumphantly as he leans back and folds his arms. He's not the most gracious winner, but at least he's not being a total piece of shit.
"Ready to lie, you mean," he replies with a smirk.

[ragweed]

Kit gives him a 'you watch it' kind of look in response to all that gloating, complete with pointing his cigarette-wielding fingers at him and everything. But he still smiles as he takes another drag off his smoke, then shrugs, exhaling. "Yeah, maybe," he says, then looks up again. "If you have to. It's a game you've gotta play." Life, that is. "So you just play your hand the best you're able, and hope for the best."