faderift | [open] nothing can break

WHO: Benedict and yoooou
WHAT: The princess is dealing with a lot right now. Help him (or make it worse)
WHEN: Kingsway
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: will add warnings as needed

I. Around and About

Things are strange these days, but at least Benedict has a job. Being the chamberlain means it's his responsibility to see that guests are comfortable, which means suddenly a goodly portion of the rooms in the Gallows towers are under his care.
As few expected, he takes the job seriously. With his board and his quill he moves from room to room on a daily basis, glancing over those unoccupied and ringing for service in those that have borne guests, making sure their sheets are turned down and their curtains arranged at the most pleasing angle for their return.

He can be found pacing the halls at these times, his step brisk and his brow furrowed in concentration.

II. The Library

And then there are the times he sets aside each day to do research alone; what he's studying isn't obvious, and he's not especially forthcoming about it, but it's a fair number of medical and magical texts that he seems to pull from the stacks.
When not actively reading, sometimes he's just sitting by one of the big windows, cup of tea in hand and gaze distant.

III. Sloppy Bitch O'Clock

Perhaps the reason Bene is keeping so busy, or at least one of them, is that there have been a lot of recent events giving him feelings and problems he doesn't know how to handle. Being aloof means there isn't a lot of opportunity to work things out with friends he doesn't have, and one night something just crumbles.

He's in the Hanged Man (if you're going to do it, why not do it right), already several drinks in and draped over a chair by the fireplace, waxing poetic about how important he is in Tevinter, how he'll be a Magister someday, maybe once all this madness is worked out.
It's frankly a miracle he hasn't been shivved yet.

For Kitty

It's time to pick out new curtains for some of the guest rooms, and Benedict is in Hightown Market wearing his fancy important person clothes while inspecting the goods at a textile stand. He looks up for a moment and, catching sight of Kitty, gives a smirk and a roll of his eyes. Oh hey.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Benedict was engrossed, and the sudden voice makes him sit up straight and slam the book closed on his hand. With a gasp of pain, he extracts it and shakes it out, looking at Anders like he just called him an asshole.

"Maybe," he says, with an ornery edge, "who wants to know?"

He raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"A healer, in case you'd forgotten. Someone who's interested in the topic themselves." His voice is dry. Benedict's hand gets a jerk of Anders' chin, then. "Someone who can see to that if you injured it just now."

Anders receives a smirk as Benedict withdraws his perfectly uninjured hand, giving it a little shake. It'll be sore, but the book was heavy.
"Research project," he answers coyly, "erm..." He'd be remiss not to ask Anders, who will probably know more than most. "How would you heal a burn after it's already scarred over?"

asking 4 a friend

A second eyebrow joins the first. Is Benedict pretending to be secretive and elusive while... explaining exactly what he's researching? He's making Anders' skills of eluding seem good, and that's enough of an ego boost for the healer to grab a chair and pull it over.

"Scarred over means it's old. The skin can't be healed itself, there's nothing left in it. A new wound would have to be caused."

There's a beat as he studies the younger mage. "A new wound would have to be carefully caused. Benedict... this isn't something to casually do. It's going to be painful, exceedingly so, and there's a risk of more damage to the sensations from the area. If they wish to be rid of the burn because it's disfiguring, there's no guarantee that the cure would be better than the wound itself."

Perhaps not pretending as hard as he could be-- Benedict isn't sure who knows of what happened in Minrathous, and sees no reason to let anyone in who didn't already. As far as Anders is concerned, he's just trying to heal burn scars. No big deal.

He goes a little pale at Anders' cautioning, but after a pause, bends his head to take note of it. It's not a pleasant undertaking in any way, and it seems this will make it even less so.

"How would... so if you were curing it," he taps his quill against his cheek, looking at Anders almost sheepishly for not knowing, "you wouldn't burn it again, would you?"

He studies Benedict before shaking his head.

"No. I'd cut. A burn..." Anders trails off, trying to find an easy comparison. He fails. "Burned skin is dead. There is nothing there to respond to healing. Burning more kills more. Cut skin, however, wants to re-attach. It wants to be whole again."

As much as skin can want anything. He watches Benedict to see if the young man is following. "If you cut the flesh in the right places, deep enough, you can make it join over the burn. Slowly, though. With multiple treatments. If I was curing a burn, I'd see the patient several times. ...And make sure that there are witnesses who can attest that I'm not in there doing blood magic, as there's plenty of blood involved. Would you like me to take a look at the burn?"

It sounds complicated, far more complicated than anything Bene could do on his own. He knows trace amounts of healing magic, enough to staunch a small wound or stop a bruise hurting; this seems like serious, painstaking and skilled work.

"...maybe," he admits, "but let me talk to them first." Whoever 'them' is, he's not revealing just yet.

After a moment, Anders inclines his head.

"Of course. A patient is a patient, and deserves confidentiality." He'd suspect 'they' didn't exist if not for the fact that Benedict isn't blanching or glancing at his body. There really is a 'they' out there. And Benedict... may actually care about someone that's not himself. That's an interesting development.

"You know how and where to find me if you need me."

An interesting development indeed! Good thing Anders doesn't know the truth behind it and definitely never will, at least if Bene has any say in the matter (he often doesn't).
"...thanks," he says, a bit reluctantly, the word forming strangely in his mouth. He means it, it's just not something he's used to saying.

"You're welcome." Thanks have been rare from Benedict. Anders couldn't say with any confidence that the young man is perhaps starting to treat people decently and letting the stuck-up-noble go a little... but it's a good sign.

Anders gets up and returns to his rather hopeless search of the shelves. One day the library will prove useful.

[open] nothing can break

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