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WHO: Chloe Price, Prompto, Anders, aaaaand YOU.
WHAT: Catch all for March
WHEN: Various times in the month - one specifically for today (11th) though!
WHERE: Around the Gallows/Kirkwall in genera
NOTES: I don't think there's anything....????

i. [ closed to prompto ]

When you find out someone has a camera in a world where trying to explain to people what a picture is could take hours, you're gonna wanna take a look. Chloe's the curious sort by nature, always has been, and while there's a lot of things she's gotten particularly interested in in Thedas, having something that is futuristic for here but probably old school compared to what she's used to seeing is gonna make it to the top of the list of shit she wants to see.

So she may or may not be bouncing slightly with energy when she's waiting for Prompto, because she's never been able to sit still when she's excited, not since she was a kid, and who takes this long (never mind it's probably not even a minute past when they said they'd meet).

ii. [ closed to anders ]

One of these days, living in a world with magic would become sort of par for the course, and she'd stop being surprised by things she'd only ever heard about in her fantasy games being. Well. Not fantasy.

Today's not that day. She'd been bugging Anders, not for the first time this month, but he'd said something that more than stuck out. "Like a real griffon?" That was a stupid question. "I wanna see."

iii. [ open for the 11th ]

It was her birthday.

At least, if every bit of comparison she'd done to the calendar back home, it was. She thought about comforting herself with the idea that whole keeping track of how the planet rotated was probably drastically different (not to mention that I'm in a different universe thing coming into play) that it meant it could very well not be her birthday, but it hadn't lasted long. She wasn't sure how to process it; it wasn't like she'd celebrated much back home in years, but not even having her mom (or David, she guessed) there to try and get her in the mood to try was... weird.

So she had decided to make her way to some of the shops in Kirkwall, window shopping more than anything else, because it wasn't like she was good at saving money to be able to get herself something particularly nice. She could easily be found look at particularly nice papers wondering if they were worth the splurge or looking for something sweet to satisfy that birthday cake craving.

iv. [ open throughout march ]

Outside of realizing she was suddenly twenty, meeting griffons, watch Fern's anchor do crazy shit, and bothering her friends, Chloe was having an otherwise mostly uneventful time. Which was fine by her. Her life had had too much excitement for her tastes and she was glad to just be a little bored doing regular things. Regular... ish. Maybe some things were still weird, but they at least weren't resulting in anyone being sick or dying, and that was better than what it had been.

Sometimes she was in the library doing research like she was actually supposed to be. Other times she was working on designing a game board for the story she had in her head for her first campaign she had planned for all those who'd said they wanted to play. Sometimes she was outside tinkering with a broken cart, taking it apart and trying to figure out if there was anything she could do with it in order to improve it.

Or, and the most likely of the options, she was enjoying drinking, because what rebellious now-not-teenager didn't, really?

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Birthdays are close enough to namedays in Thedas for Fern to know that they are a Big Deal. Or, at the very least, that they can be a big deal, and knowing that is enough to make her slow to a stop, her eyes widening in surprise. After a solid second or two of shocked silence, she smiles and reaches out to give Chloe's arm a gentle touch. "Chloe, you should have said something..!" After a moment of private deliberation (in which her eyes rest on Chloe's bashful expression, seeing that look without quite knowing what to make of it), she summons her courage and offers, "Well--let this be my treat, then. For your birthday."

"You don't have to." It came out a little faster than she meant for it to, biting on the inside of her cheek after to reground herself. "I mean, don't ... feel obligated or whatever." She went to take her hand, though, tugging her towards the bakery so that they could at least get back towards getting some of those delicious smelling pastries regardless. "I wasn't really planning on celebrating or anything."

Chloe's got hold of her hand and is tugging her along towards the bakery again before Fern has the opportunity to do much more than blush, wide-eyed with surprise. Trotting a few paces behind her, it takes her a moment to recall her words of protest, but when she does, she gives a gentle enough pull on Chloe's hand to stop her.

"I don't," she tells her, lifting her chin a bit stubbornly, before darting her eyes down to their hands again. This time she doesn't make to pull her hand away. "Feel obligated, I mean," she adds quietly. "What I mean is, I'd like to. If--if that's all right."

(A human and an elf holding hands in the middle of the street would probably draw a bit more attention if one of them was a man; thankfully, whatever curious looks they get seem mostly directed at Chloe's hair.)

She was a little surprised at being stopped, turning on her heal so she could face her more fully again, keeping her hand clasped on Fern's as she listens. She isn't sure why her wanting to get her something for her birthday means so much to her, or why it makes a lump form in her throat that she has to swallow back rather roughly to ignore. Maybe it's because the day is strange enough already (being away from her mom, not knowing if she'd ever see her again even if she went back, if she'd even reach twenty anywhere other than Thedas), but it's enough to leave a visible impact.

If she noticed anyone staring, she wouldn't have cared - she was getting used to it, even, and always assumed it was because of her obvious status as a rifter rather than anything else (she really needed to find a way to strip the color, it was starting to fade anyway). As far as she was concerned, the only two people standing in Lowtown right now were her and the elf girl who had been nothing but kind to her since the day they'd met during that stupid flu.

So she wasn't really thinking when she pulled on her hand a bit to get her closer, letting go last second only to wrap her arms around her in a hug. She ... should have asked first and she knows she could pull away before she even gets a chance to do it, but it felt right anyway.

...oh.

Holding Chloe's hand like this, saying words like that, maybe Fern should have expected something along these lines to happen. But she doesn't; aside from Finch, no one near her own age (who wasn't a relative of some kind) has ever hugged her before, and so she's startled enough at first that she almost stumbles when she's pulled forward into Chloe's arms.

She experiences one momentary flash of worry--what will people think?--but it is quickly subsumed by other feelings; namely, that being held this way is wonderful. The stiffness goes out of her almost immediately, and without letting herself worry over it further, Fern curls her arms around Chloe's back and tucks her face into her shirt. Dimly, she wonders whether or not she ought to say something.

It's the first hug that Chloe's allowed herself since arriving. Even after everything she'd been through, everything it had brought up, all that she had waiting for her back home that stressed her out, there hadn't been a single person she'd let close enough to actually want to hug them or be hugged by them. It made her hold on just slightly tighter, burying her face in her hair for a moment and taking a deep breath.

Damn, she smelled nice.

"I'm sorry," she said after a second, not pulling back right away. "I can let go if you want me to."

Be glad Fern's first stop this morning had been the baths, and not mucking out Rooster's stall, before her visit to the marketplace, Chloe.

"...I can let go if you want me to."

"No," Fern replies hastily and curls her fingers a little in the back of Chloe's shirt, before realizing how childish she must sound, and then adds sheepishly, "I mean--I don't mind it. Unless you mind it."

She draws back just enough to peer up at Chloe's face questioningly, and seems to realize in that moment just how near to each other they are now--a silly realization, given they've got their arms around each other, of course they're close--and promptly grows red across her cheeks and the freckled bridge of her nose. She looks to the side rather shyly... or at least, she's shy until she spots some cheeky-looking street urchin loitering nearby, ogling the pair of them like he's found a racy picture book or something lying on the street. She stares at him. He grins back.

Then he whistles at them.

He probably shouldn't have.

Fern bristles like a vexed cat. "Oh, you rude little--!" she snaps and starts after him like someone well accustomed to chasing away obnoxious younger siblings, and her quick approach seems to have the desired effect. The boy doesn't look truly afraid, exactly, but he does adopt an 'oh shit' sort of expression, and promptly books it down the street away from them. Fern stops just short of actually chasing him, standing in the middle of the street with her hands on her hips and a royally cheesed off look on her face.

She'd shaking her head to make it clear she didn't mind at all. She probably wouldn't even have cared if she had been cleaning out Rooster's stall before she'd seen her, not with the way she can count almost every freckle on her face with how close she is when she's looking at her. She was about to comment, just forming a thought on the tip of her tongue, when she'd heard the whistle from the boy and her head had turned quickly to look around.

And then she was going after him, not anywhere near as close as she'd been seconds ago, and whatever she'd had in her head was gone just as quickly. She let her arms drop as she watched the kid ran off, trying to fight down the red that's creeped into her own face in the process. She didn't care about the boy's reaction to it all - Blackwell had made her immune to this kind of attitude, after all - but she can't say she's not embarrassed by how nice that had all felt until they were interrupted.

Shit.

She lets her arms swing awkwardly at her sides, glancing towards the bakery, wondering if she should have just kept her hands to herself from the start so they could've been inside eating cake instead of standing awkwardly in the street. "Too bad he ran, I'd've loved to see what happened if you caught him."

"Too bad he ran, I'd've loved to see what happened if you caught him."

"Likely would've set his shoes on fire," Fern declares, still frowning crossly after the boy as he disappears around a corner. She huffs out a sigh and turns around to walk back over to Chloe, spots her face, and oh yes, they were in the middle of something before they were interrupted, weren't they?

She hovers awkwardly in front of Chloe for only a few more moments, chewing at the corner of her mouth, before reaching out rather cautiously to take her hand again. "The shop's just right here," she points out, nodding to the homely little door to the bakery. "We can go in, if you like." Looking up to her eyes, she quirks a small, hopeful little smile.

Chloe laughs at the image; not her usual sarcastic chuckle, but an actual warm-hearted laugh. It might've been short, but it felt nice. The kind of laughter she used to have when Max was around. (A comparison that ties a knot in her stomach, her last words briefly echoing in her head; You made me smile and laugh, like I haven't done in years...) The hand that's placed in hers pulls her out of her thoughts and she gives it a quick squeeze to steady herself.

"Yeah. I'd like that." She goes to start to head towards the shop, only letting go of her hand when she finally reaches the door so that she can pull it open and hold it for her, giving a slight flourish of After you with her free hand. There's even the smallest (probably silliest) bow for emphasis with it. Making fun of chivalry? She'd never.

It's a mockery of chivalry that Fern can appreciate, because who doesn't enjoy having a laugh at the things weird rich people do for each other? She giggles at Chloe's antics, then clears her throat, lifts her chin, and manages a half-decent curtsy. She's trying visibly to keep the cheeky grin off her face once she straightens up and starts through the door. "Come on then," she chides, takes hold of Chloe's hand again, and tugs her along, "before the dock workers show up and buy up the caramel ones."

Edited (weird typo) 2018-03-24 03:50 (UTC)

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