faderift | (Open) They'll steal your patents for the sun

WHO: Cosima and YOU
WHAT: Open post/catchall
WHEN: Kingsway
WHERE: Gallows and environs
NOTES: Prose or brackets are fine. If you want to talk about another scenario/your wildcard ideas before diving in, DM me or hit me up on plurk/discord. All comers welcome!

I. Infirmary

It's almost easy to forget that she's not in good health, sometimes, which Cosima supposes does credit to spirit healing. But she also never misses her twice-monthly appointments, too conscious of the potential consequences. Since she's here anyway, she brings a few goodies from the kitchen for people well enough to have them but not well enough to fetch them on their own. She's conscious of people who seem to want to be left alone and people who could use a friendly word. And of course, by now she knows the regulars, staff and otherwise.

II. Cosima's lab, the Gallows

Damn, Cosima, back at it again with the microscope. Ever since the phylactery negotiations -- and arguably, since Tevinter, though Cosima wasn't even there herself -- she's thrown herself into her work, harder than ever. They still have so much to learn, and it feels like the conflict is multiplying faster than they can keep up sometimes. She's doing her best, and frustrated she can't do more, though she keeps the latter sentiment to herself.

III. Docks

There's nearly always activity at the docks, so it takes some doing to find a spot that isn't in anyone's way. But Cosima has managed it, and is using her find to watch the water. She's alert enough to her surroundings, since it never pays to let your guard down out and about in Kirkwall, especially as a rifter. But the water makes her feel better. Not like home. It demonstrably isn't home. But as if it's a place that at least makes sense to her.

IV. Wildcard

[Choose your own adventure.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Being part of the forces division means a whole lot of different things. And one of the many things it could mean is general labor. Which sounds like it'd be tiring and boring, but Church definitely prefers that to standing around guarding, for example. And maybe he would rather not be out there in the world on any non-rifter missions at the moment, seeing as how, great googly moogly, it's all going to shit.

He sets down a wooden crate from one of the docked ships, spies Cosima. Trying to be out of the way, and she's managing it, but it's...kind of weird? Is she okay? He goes back to the ship, carries and deposits a couple more supplies, and she's still there, so you know what? It's time for a break.

"I think you need more to catch fish than just a hard stare and some willpower."

She laughs, glancing up. "The fish are totally safe from me, both by intention and practical limitations. Am I in your way?" He looks like he's actually here for a compelling reason, which is more than she can say.

"Nah. You just looked very...somewhere else. Like you need someone to stand around and make sure you don't get shoved in by some ne'er-do-well." He elbows her playfully. "I'm taking a smoke break without the smoking. You good, little lady?"

"Man, I was until you mentioned smoking. When's a box of high-quality weed going to fall out of one of the rifts?" She's teasing. Mostly.

"I'm OK. Maybe a little homesick, but mainly I just like watching the water."

"Dude. If it ever does, you have to share it with a bro." Though, now that he thinks about it: "Don't they have a plant here that basically works the same way? No matter the universe and no matter the time, you always have people figuring out how to smoke plants and get high. I've never actually tried it? The one here or legit-ass weed. I'm a giant square." Also he hadn't had a mouth in a long time before falling out of a rift and even when he did have a mouth, he was in the middle of a hot fucking gulch in the middle of nowhere subsisting on military supplies.

"Wow, never? I wouldn't have guessed that." She rubs her wrist, absently. "People say elfroot has a similar effect, but I don't know. I've got a disease that affects my respiratory system, maybe actual smoke isn't the best idea. God, that sounds pretentious now that I say it out loud," she adds with a little laugh. "'Sorry, gotta pause my research on the Veil to figure out if I can reverse-engineer vaping, it'll just take a few months.'"

"Brownies. Pot brownies. ...Elfroot must not taste good. There's no way people haven't baked that into things before. Could you imagine? Bring some food into a meeting of all the leaders and watch them slowly get stoned and hungry? Some of those people really need to chill."

"Oh god, edibles, that's such an obvious solution. You're a genius." She leans back on her hands. "I wonder if I could get Herian to take them to a meeting. On the one hand, she's very into rules but on the other hand I think she's secretly into the idea of pranks."

Possibly no one but Cosima will buy this, but Cosima stands by her opinion.

"I..........will take your word on that one. But, let me run this one by you--what if every stick in the mud is actually secretly into pranks? Could you imagine being that serious all the time?" Church sure can't. That's why he seems to take pride in avoiding seriousness most of the time.

"Should I add elfroot brownies to the list of foody goodies to experiment with? Since it's not fried, it should go a lot better. ...And I'll get Chris to help. She'll have a much better idea of, uh, amounts to use."

"Yeah, why not? Also, one of you should definitely write down the amounts you try. Nothing worse than getting it just right and suddenly realizing you have no idea how to recreate your results."

Very serious business, brownies.

"I think most people have the capacity to enjoy making other people look dumb. It's like... Edgar Allan Poe called it the imp of the perverse. Also, it explains America's Funniest Home Videos and a solid quarter of YouTube." She glances back. "Did either of those cultural artifacts make it to you, out of curiosity?"

"Listen, videos of people wiping out and doing dumb shit and getting hurt for the schadenfreude enjoyment of the masses will never get old. God I wish I had a camera. Prompto's got one! Like an actual camera for photos, not for video, but still. Imagine introducing moving pictures to these people. They'd call it blood magic."

"Okay, right, maybe at first, but also I feel like there are a lot of people in the Inquisition who would be deeply into a video, of like... Thranduil tripping on stairs. Is he capable of tripping? I'm not sure. But in principle."

"...Okay. Until we figure out amounts of high-plant to stuff into edibles, let's put a pin in that, and try to convince Herian to trip Thrandy. There's gotta be a way. Have you seen the way he dresses? He's gotta trip on himself from time to time, right?"

Cosima grins. "I'll work on her. I mean, if nothing else, now I'm curious. Like, he's graceful, but all of that fabric?"

A thought: "Hey, if you drew a little doodle in the corner of the magic books, you could send a flip book to the Inquisition as a whole. Not as good as a video, but still fun."

(Open) They'll steal your patents for the sun

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