![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
[OPEN] I can't get by pretending it's okay
WHO: Bruce Banner and Anybody Else
WHAT: Everything Is Fine And Nothing Is Wrong: a premier by Bruce
WHEN: Haring 16 onwards
WHERE: All over Skyhold
NOTES: Mostly open post through the rest of December - prompts and such are under the cut. I'm starting in brackets, but feel free to switch to prose and I will follow accordingly! Also warning for angst and Bruce being Bruce.
WHAT: Everything Is Fine And Nothing Is Wrong: a premier by Bruce
WHEN: Haring 16 onwards
WHERE: All over Skyhold
NOTES: Mostly open post through the rest of December - prompts and such are under the cut. I'm starting in brackets, but feel free to switch to prose and I will follow accordingly! Also warning for angst and Bruce being Bruce.
one. making the rounds. (courtyards, most of skyhold)
[Almost one week later, Bruce still can't quite shake off the entire incident from his mind. Or rather, he can't shake off the image of the dead mage in his head when he finally made it out of the garden, the poor soul gone for good after what Adelaide and the others had done.
He couldn't blame them, of course - they were only doing what was necessary, what was right - but all the same it still reminded Bruce of the reality of what he was and how people would perceive him if they ever knew the truth. The moment they knew... nothing would ever be quite the same, that he was certain of.
He tries not to dwell on it too much, but it continues to haunt him through the day as he does his daily rounds. Having denied himself the use of his magic save for that one time with Cole, Bruce is still healing from the injuries he suffered from the abomination. There're bandages around his head and arms and chest (although the last is hidden underneath his clothing) but Bruce doesn't let those get in his way, just as he doesn't let the occasional throb or ache of pain from his still healing ribs stop him from doing his work. Some of his more familiar patients do ask him about it, but Bruce is quick to brush them off and turn the attention back to themselves. They are all far more important than he will ever be, after all.]
two. fixing the garden. (the garden)
[With how things had been that night the abomination had more or less left a good part of the garden damaged. That, of course, included the herbs that had been growing, which was most likely going to cause some issues in the near future.
Still, at least its not like they're gone forever. Bruce drops by the garden whenever he can, helping to get the earth ready once more so that a new batch of herbs can be planted with the hope that they'll grow properly and without interruption this time around. It hard labor, yes, but at least the work helps Bruce to temporarily keep his mind off the more dangerous lines of thoughts that he knows he shouldn't dwell on. How long that works, though, is another thing entirely.]
three. midnight wanderings. (battlements and library)
[The thoughts never leave him, not really, and Bruce knows full well that he's going to have to deal with a good while of not being able to sleep properly. Sleepless nights are practically an old friend to him now.
That doesn't mean he will let himself waste his time - since he is awake he might as well make full use of what he has. On some nights he can be found on the battlements, brewing potions up there in the quiet that's only broken by the footsteps of the night patrol. On other nights he might in the library instead, perusing several books and if one manages to catch him at the right time, will see that it pertains to abominations and other such things related to them.]
wildcard.
[Feel free to throw in your own prompt or PM/contact me to plot out stuff!]
no subject
no subject
I, ah, take care of people who get sick or injured. [Brief pause.] Usually it involves treating their illness or whatever injuries they have gotten.
no subject
A healer. [ He looks up at Bruce with sudden interest, peering, inexplicably, at his ears. After a moment his expression falls, though only briefly. ] ...You're not an Elf, though.
no subject
...last I checked, no. [Sadly 100% human here. Or well, almost 100% anyway.] Are all healers supposed to be elves?
no subject
[ There's a beat. And then Sam's eyes open wide in alarm and near-panic as he realizes what he'd said, and the words fairly trip over each other as he rushes to explain and climb out of the hole he's dug himself. ]
That - that is, the best ones that I've ever met. But I'm sure there are wonderful healers among Men, too, sir; I'm sure you're one of the best. I ain't never heard of no surgeon but you must be a fine healer indeed, to have such a name for it. I - I didn't mean no offense, sir, honest I didn't.
[ He looks beseechingly up at the Man, all but begging him to understand, not to become angry or hurt. ]
no subject
I, ah-- [Trying not to make a face here now. He really didn't mean to cause such a misunderstanding.] --there was no offence taken. I was merely curious because of your question.
[He attempts a smile then, hoping that would calm the poor dwarf(?) down.]
A surgeon is something like, a healer except that there's no magic involved. Or at least, that's how it is in Thedas.
no subject
That's how it is with hobbits. We haven't got magic either, but old Mrs. Weatherwax down the Hill fixes up everyone in Hobbiton and Bywater, too, whenever anyone has a need. She fixed me up, when I fell in a patch of stinging nettles in the wood.
no subject
But being how he is, Bruce of course doesn't make a comment about that, since he figures it'd be rather rude. He figures it'd be like asking why a human is called a human.]
That's pretty much what I do too. [His smile becomes a bit more relaxed now that there's something to establish his work. Explaining it otherwise might be rather awkward.] Some people here aren't entirely comfortable with magic, so I do my best to help them with potions, poultices and other such things.
no subject
[ He glances at the man's hand, but there's no green glow. ] Are you from around here, then? From Thedas?
no subject
At the question he gives a small nod, confirming the other's question.] I've only known Thedas up until now. [And it certainly is a boggling concept, the fact of other places existing.]
no subject
I'm not. I'm from Middle-earth; the Shire, though you wouldn't have heard of it. I fell out of a rift right into a swamp. Things have gotten a bit drier since then, but no less dull! [ He leans close, pitching his voice low so that no one else might hear. ] Did you see it? The...thing that trampled the garden so?
no subject
He turns his gaze back as the Rifter speaks once more, nodding at his words as well as responding to his question.]
The abomination, yes. [His voice is soft as well, because... well. Its hard to forget it. It's always hard to forget such sights.] I was in the area when it first happened.
no subject
no subject
They are... [He trails off, finding the best word to describe them.] Mutated. Contorted. Twisted beyond recognition, and ultimately pitiful. I don't fear them for what they are, but rather sorrow for what they had to go through to become such.
[He pauses for a bit then, trying his best not to dwell too much on it, but its always hard. He doubts he'll forget about that night for a while.]
But yes, I was close. [The injuries he has on him now are from because he was that close.]
no subject
[ The doubt is clear on Sam's face. He shakes his head slowly, his expression hardening. ]
I - I don't know about that, begging your pardon. I don't know what might have happened to twist it as you say, but - why just look at you! [ He gestures to Bruce, and his still-visible injuries. ] People were hurt, hurt badly perhaps, and it could have gone far worse. No, there's no room for pity, not for monsters like that that put innocent people in such danger!
no subject
[People now lost because of one single mistake, without any second chances. It isn't fair that they have to die while he still lives, especially when he has done so much worse.
This isn't the time and place for this argument, though, and Bruce shakes his head after a pause.] But that's in the past now. What's more important is that there wasn't too much damage.
no subject
Well - I suppose. [ But he looks around himself at the ruins of the garden sadly. ] There's damage enough, whether or no. Though better plants squashed than people.
no subject
[Both of which many people are more than happy to contribute, at least. That's one thing they have on their side.]
maybe wrap it up with them working?
So they will! But the effort's what's needed, and no amount of talk will make any sprout take root, pleasant though the company may be. [ He smiles shyly at Bruce, and gestures to a nearby wheelbarrow full of crushed and ripped-up plants. ] I was just clearing the ground a bit, and salvaging what seeds and cuttings there are to be salvaged.
works for me!
Let me give you a hand with that, then. [Two pairs of hands makes work faster, and the sooner they can get the land cleared, the sooner they can start to grow again.]