faderift | The Days That Bind Us 2: Still Bound

Entry tags:

The Days That Bind Us 2: Still Bound

WHO: Mages, anyone else who cares
WHAT: Give us liberty or give us potatoes, or: a most noble strike for a most noble purpose, or: pissy mage babies throw a tantrum
WHEN: 14-19 Cloudreach 9:44
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: This is for consolidating RP regarding the strike. Your character doesn't have to be striking themselves to top-level or tag around, as long as it's tangentially related.

The morning of Cloudreach 14, with minimal fanfare, a significant fraction of the Circle mages working with the Inquisition across Thedas stops showing up for work. On the other hand, a significant fraction doesn't stop. But the not-working fraction is significant enough to cause problems, and for the Inquisition to not delay or prolong the discussions already set to take place at Skyhold with a few representatives of the aggrieved mages and a number of Templar and Chantry representatives.

In the Gallows, most of the mages who are refusing to work relocate—voluntarily, unless being scowled at by Kostos Averesch qualifies as being forced against one's will—to the dusty recruits' quarters in the former Templar tower for an indefinite, politicized slumber party, featuring uncomfortable bunk beds and a lot of unseasoned starches. For a cause.

ooc | Remember that striking characters are generally losing access to confidential information, Inquisition equipment or materials, and any amenities, comforts, or privileges beyond the "plain potatoes for dinner" and "not thrown out into the streets" level.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Just because the shop is closed and they only have potatoes doesn't mean Colin has stopped cooking, and he is determined to get by without borrowing resources from anyone within the Inquisition who is not on strike. He taps into his own store of spices and even leaves the Gallows to buy fresh eggs and gather spring onions. He has his own flour, of course. His mother could make different meals out of a single ingredient like it was nothing. One time they ate on the same sack of turnips for over a week. They weren't fond of turnips by the end, but they felt like they had variety anyway.

The first day features an egg-and-potato omelet, spicy pan-fried potatoes, and gnocchi carbonara. The next day has potato cakes, creamy potato soup, potato dumplings, et cetera. He feels like he has to make a point--they can all do without and are serious about this, but they're also not beggars starving without the Inquisition.

When not cooking, he might be sitting in the quietest spot he can find, eyes closed and breath deep. He might also be reading from a tome entitled Kiss It and Make It Better, an unfortunately-titled book about spirit healing. Colin likes its unpretentious tone.

Edited ( punctuation) 2018-04-18 15:34 (UTC)

Ignis has figured out by now it's not his place to ask Colin if he wants help with this. He can understand the desire to stake your own claim and want to do things on your own - especially when others think you incapable. Colin would have to basically pay more attention that Ignis didn't accidentally ruin the dish given the unfamiliar surroundings anyway.

He came by the strike mostly to see if there was something he could do but as the mages seem to have everything under control he was about to leave and give them their space when he smelled Colin's meal of the day.

Despite his desire to give them room to make their point, he does need to come over and compliment the chief. "Is that gnocchi carbonara I smell?" he asks, a note of approval in his tone. "Once again your talent for making the most of the resources you have shines through." He at least hopes he's guessing right that the man behind the meal is Colin. It feels like something Colin would make.

It's more that Colin is, first of all, chronically incapable of asking for help, and second of all, determined to show that the Inquisition needs the mages more than the mages need the Inquisition. Still, he feels a bit of pride when Ignis arrives and compliments his resourcefulness. After a moment's hesitation, he scoops some pasta into a bowl and offers it.

"Here, take some." It's not like he's charging for it. "I grew up in a poor family. We had to be resourceful. Mamma was better at it than I am, but I'm still practicing."

"Oh no," he starts to protest, wanting to say that the food should be reserved for the mages, but then Colin puts it in his hands anyway and he knows all too well the pride one can feel when others enjoy a meal you crafted so he accepts.

"Thank you," he says instead.

He knows he comes from a place of privilege never having had dealt with poverty. His work with a royal family means he's never wanted for his primary needs.

"You are a credit to her, then," he says gently because parents are always a difficult topic to wade into.

Somehow, parents have never been a difficult topic for Colin just because his have died. Most mages speak about their families in the past tense anyway, whether alive or not.

"I hope so," he says fondly. "We all need something to aspire to. Who'd you learn cooking from?"

"Why, I taught myself," Ignis admits after a moment of thought. His fingers move around the bowl that was handled to him, gauging how big it is. He finds the spoon and gets used to how it feels in his fingers. He mostly seems to be doing this absentmindedly, as if trying to distract himself from thinking of the past too hard.

"For ... political reasons," he had to pause to figure out how to frame the way he spoke of this. "Our country was cut off from Tenebrae, another nation. Before that, the royal family had had close ties with Tenebrae for generations. The prince under my care enjoyed a certain type of dessert found there during his visit. Once Lucis and Tenebrae were isolated from one another he could no longer taste it. I began baking in an effort to re-create its flavor and found a talent for it. After that, it made sense to continue to make other meals for him. He'd likely survive on junk food otherwise." A beat. "Barely survive at that."

A grin Ignis can probably hear in his voice. "What is it? The dessert?"

"A type of cake. I'm afraid I was never able to re-create it perfectly." He offers Colin as smile as well. Then he tries some of the meal and hums gratefully.

"This is lovely. You should be proud."

"It's just a carbonara." Colin says with a faint blush, unconvinced there is anything to be impressed by. "I couldn't even get quite the right kind of meat for it. But, um, could you describe the cake? How it's made?"

"Are you plotting to help me take up the mission of perfecting the recipe, Colin?" Ignis asks, sounding vaguely amused at that idea.

"Should I not?"

(no subject)

extraverse - 2018-05-13 06:08 (UTC) - Expand

Cyril is stuck between desperately wanting to help and not wanting to overstep. He's not a mage, but he cares about people who are. He wants to support their cause, but not seem overbearing. So he asks what they want or need from them and provides that.

He's in the middle of doing that when he sees Colin enjoying a funnily named tome. He can't help but feel a bit of pride at seeing Colin here. When he first met Colin, he had been hiding the status of his magic ability, and now he's here. He knows he personally didn't have anything to do with that, so it's the sort of pride you feel when you see friends coming into their own.

He comes over to Colin and tilts his head a bit. "That title is something else, isn't it?" he asks. It seems like the kind of book he'd want Sam to read.

Colin immediately pretends to be reading aloud from the book. "Step one: kiss it. Step two: make it better." He looks up at Cy and lifts his eyebrows slightly. "It's a short book."

He marks his place and sets the book aside, patting the floor beside him in invitation.

Cyril settles next to Colin easily. "Sounds like my kind of book. I should make sure Sam is made aware of it immediately."

"It's not about sex," Colin clarifies, hopefully letting him down gently. "Sorry."

Cyril can't help but chuckle at that. "I like non-sexual kisses too," he offers, as if that will somehow make it so he wasn't thinking it in a sexual way two minutes before.

Colin smiles at him. "That doesn't apply here, either, it's about, um. A very specialized sort of magical healing, and bedside manner. Making sure non-mages can be comfortable with this sort of healing."

Cyril considers that. "Then it would be a good book for Sam, if he hasn't read it already. Though his bedside manner is spot on." Then, after a moment. "Are you a healer Colin? I never asked what sort of magic you specialize in." Mainly because the one time they had talked about Colin's magic it had been when Colin had admitted to being a mage.

"Well, I--" Colin looks slightly uncomfortable, but it's not because of Cyril. Cyril doesn't know about the weird Circle politics that made life terrifying for ten years of Colin's life. "I never learned...specializing, really. I mean sort of, the stuff I've always been good at is telek--um, moving things. What's called the spirit school of magic, which doesn't have very much to do with spirits, it's more the idea that there are magic energies all around us, everywhere, and mages are just able to give those energies a tug--anyway, I can move things with my mind, that's what it mostly means."

And then he rounds back to the original question because he started babbling for fear that Cyril would get freaked out by the talk of spirits, which even mages often do.

"But I'm learning from, um, a friend--" mentioning Anders' name isn't always the smartest move "--how to do that sort of specialized healing, since I wasn't Harrowed till late and never could learn it before."

Cyril doesn't seem freaked out at all. In fact, he seems rather impressed. He turns a bit to give Colin more of his focus and seems to be hanging on his every word. "Is that true? That there are spirit energies all around us? Is that the Veil or something else?"

(no subject)

keenly - 2018-04-18 22:34 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

samahl - 2018-04-23 20:27 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

keenly - 2018-05-12 23:07 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

samahl - 2018-05-13 05:59 (UTC) - Expand

"That is... certainly a colorful title," Alacruun comments on Colin's book. He's passing through, chatting with a few strikers and seeing what they're up to. He's notably one of the mages who hasn't gone on strike, but he still wanders down to see how they're getting on. And to see if there's any interesting information he can find out.

"What's it on? Romance? Healing? A little of both?"

If there is one thing that Alacruun likes, it's reading.

"Healing." Colin thinks he will never not be alarmed by qunari, but he has a good poker face, looking up at this tower-sized creature. "A sort of specialized healing. And bedside manner."

If Alacruun notices the alarm, he doesn't really show it. Not that it would change anything he does. He doesn't seem to put too much stock in other peoples feelings most of the time.

"How specialized are we speaking of? Something for physicians? Or another matter entirely?"

He's going to keep asking questions. Don't mind him.

Most emotions are hard to notice on Colin. He supposes the...guy? Girl? How to tell with a qunari? Knows he's wandered into a mage strike, and therefore won't be surprised Colin is reading about magical healing, but one can never be sure.

"Physicians," he answers flatly. "Mage physicians."

"That makes sense, considering..." Alacruun gestures at their surroundings, "We didn't... exactly have mage physicians where I was from. Clerics, yes, and other healers, but mages and sorcerers tended to stick to non-healing forms of magic. Left that up to the divine magic users or something..."

Interesting idea, honestly. Here the divide between the two seems very, very thin - if not non-existent.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only