We're Back! A Gallows Tale

[sulahnan]

WHO: Athessa and YOU!
WHAT: Oh, you know. Getting back from the jungle and getting way too into her work.
WHEN: Now, Post-Jungle
WHERE: The Gallows & Kirkwall in general
NOTES: shrug.

I. Back on her Bullshit...or...not.

Athessa is quite possibly the best rested of the whole group that returns from the jungle, having found sleeping rough a lot easier than sleeping in a bed here. Weird. But in the few days that follow, she once again gets back to her habit of not sleeping well and prowling around in a cloud of root-smoke. She also has a small dagger strapped to her hip instead of going unarmed or strapping on her dual-wield blades, and an unusually heightened work ethic during daylight hours. Minimal antics, maximum...something else. Something like responsibility? Weird.

II. Can I Raas you a Question? (Closed to Raas, if that wasn't clear)

They don't know each other. They've never even interacted, at least as far as Athessa can recall. But where else is Athessa supposed to turn, when she doesn't know anyone else who speaks qunlat and doesn't want to snoop around unnecessarily before handing over what she found to the boss?

"'Scuse me..." She isn't timid, just a little awkward. It's not typical for her to introduce herself to someone just to ask a favor. "Do you have a minute?"

III. A New Kind of Office Visit (closed to Yseult)

Athessa knocks before entering, same as usual. But this isn't one of their scheduled check-ins or typical scout work that either of them expect from one another. They're barely settled after getting back from the jungle when Athessa is reporting to Yseult with a missive in one hand, and a qunari dagger in the other. Both are set on Yseult's desk.

"I...figured I should report this to you. I dunno if it even really matters, but I found these in De--in Sten's room."

IV. Wildcard

[ you know the drill ]

Comments

ii. love a pun

[raas]

Raas takes a moment to process being approached, and then nods, all economy of action and movement. No, they haven't met, but that's not usual; she keeps to herself by design.

"I am not occupied."

She is not free, precisely, as her time is not assigned to any particular tasks. She has no tasks.

[sulahnan]

"Cool, thanks," Athessa nods and takes a step closer. Somehow she expected that the height difference between Raas and Deimos might make her less intimidating, but the elf can already feel her face warming. Maybe it's the horns. It's probably the horns.

"I was wondering if you could translate this for me. I wanna know if it's anything weird or whatever." She produces a missive from her trouser pocket, neatly folded exactly the way she found it. Not that Raas would know, but every time Athessa looks at it, it's immediately noticeable how tidy it is.

The exterior of the parchment has no markings, but the interior bears an insignia and a concise message in qunlat.

"Brother,

Your absence these months has been missed. None shall ever question your efficacy. Your skill is needed, North and East. Once your blade has been quenched in the blood of our enemies, report to Chrysis directly.

Remember that nothing escapes her notice.

- K."

[raas]

Raas' loyalties were an odd beast, a bird with clipped wings. She was here because she had a shard, and it was to be used. That, she could understand. But to weigh Riftwatch against the Qun produces nothing but a horribly sensation of tearing.

If only she were a saarebas. That would have given her an easy path.

She read the letter, read it again, noted Athessa's reaction with the easy, off-hand observational skills trained into the tamassrans, and held it still unfolded between her fingers.

"Where did you find this?" Blunt. The answer will place many things into appropriate context.

[sulahnan]

"In uh, in Sten's room. I also found this dagger but that's just a dagger, innit?" She pulls the dagger, in its scabbard, off of her belt and lifts it. See? Just a dagger. A Qunari one, sure, but still just a blade with a handle and a smooth round pommel. Immaculately cared for.

Athessa's eyebrows lift and she glances from Raas' very attractive face to the letter and back again. "Why? Is it bad?"

[raas]

"He should not have left that," important, but the smaller issue. The sten had not struck her as particularly odd, perhaps off-balance, but in a way that she had ascribed to separation from his kind for too long.

"This is not Qunari," she said, and hoped the girl was intelligent enough to grasp the notion without needing Raas to spell it out for her. "He was not Tal Vashoth, but this is not Qunari."

She did not flatter herself by assuming she was privy to all the necessary quiet workings of the tamassrans, but this could not be a quiet secret thing. The defilement of the house of tides alone. She chewed at her lip, an unbecoming nervous habit.

Something Like Dance Lessons (Closed to Sonia)

[sulahnan]

Perhaps a week after their triumphant return, Athessa calls up Sonia on her crystal.

"Hey Soni, you free to break a sweat?" She's just finished up with a light sparring session with Bastien, trying to get back into their old routine, but she's far from tired.

slides in here finally

[vorbratta]

Sonia is significantly less athletically inclined, instead rehabilitating herself by lounging for long hours on her bed in between what more or less passes as work. Athessa's call catches her during one such lounge, her bare feet up on the wall as her head hangs off the bed, like she's in an episode of Clarissa Explains It All or something, a glaring anachronism that nonetheless completely applies.

"Athessa," she chirps back almost musically, and if this were indeed a 90s teen sitcom she would be twirling the phone cord around one finger, because Sonia at 29 is still essentially a teenager. "Is that a proposition? Because if so, I am as free as you want me to be."

writes in faux fur covered pink diary

[sulahnan]

“Probably not the kind of proposition you’re thinkin’ about, but that’s isn’t off the table for after. I’ve been thinking, you said you weren’t really doing great with sword lessons, so I figured I could give you a different tack.”

Athessa sits on a low wall, leaning back on the heel of her hand. “Meet me in the training yard? I promise it won’t suck.”

these two are ripe for a 90s teen sitcom au

[vorbratta]

Sonia's stomach clenches just a little as the implication settles in, and then immediately feels silly for it. She's an adult. A real effort toward self-defense shouldn't be anything so scary; at this point, it's her responsibility, isn't it? To go out into the field again with no way of defending herself would only make her a liability. She rolls over on her bed onto her stomach, and the pause before her answer is full of hesitation, but there's no reluctance in her voice.

"I'm sure you'd make it up to me if it did." She rolls off her bed with a little whoosh. "What do I wear?"

Toucan Sam Says Follow Your Nose (Closed to Laura for now?)

[sulahnan]

For some reason, Athessa has decided to track down Laura in person instead of just messaging her via crystal. When she does, she falls in stride beside the younger woman and glances around, cloak-and-dagger-like, before speaking.

"I got a job for that super-sniffer of yours if you wanna solve a crime."

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/spongebob/images/4/45/SB-129_059.png/revision/latest/scale-to-wi

[justashotaway]

Laura glances over at Athessa, raising a brow. This is decidedly not her usual demeanor; she can't quite decide if it's a joke she doesn't understand or something genuinely serious. "What crime?"

[sulahnan]

It's partly a joke, in the way that a lot of things with Athessa are, but it's mostly serious.

"Theft. While we were gone someone made off with stuff from people's rooms, like Bastien's cello. But they also took my bath oils, so I'm thinkin' if they used 'em..."

[justashotaway]

"Then they will smell like bath oils." Laura's brows come together. This is an excellent point, and an excellent idea--and she will be useful for it. "They took something from me as well."

III. Previously on Dragon Ball Z...

[sulahnan]

Athessa stands before Yseult, conflicted.

How does she say what needs to be said? Deimos should be here, but she didn't even let Bastien's cautioning sit long enough for her to give the Qunari benefit of the doubt. She decided that she'd tell Yseult herself. Why? Because it's the right thing to do? Because she's personally responsible despite her ignorance? Or because she wants to prove that she's trustworthy to her superior, perhaps.

"I'm...guessing you already know that Devigny's dead?"

Is there anything the Scoutmaster doesn't know?

[hassaran]

Plenty, but it's not something she advertises.

This she knows, of course. Her nod is shallow in acknowledgment of the fact that they both know the answer's an obvious one. She lifts a brow at Athessa, hands folding atop her desk, the blotter neatly cleared before her.

"Would you care to tell me how that happened?"

[sulahnan]

"Deimos--I mean Sten. He killed him," She shuffles a little, guessing at the follow-up question Yseult might have and opting to answer unprompted. "And I'm pretty sure he did it for me, 'cos it happened after I told him about what kinda shit Devigny did."

[hassaran]

Yseult gestures to the chairs before her desk, inviting Athessa to sit.

"The papers you and Bastien delivered from Devigny's house suggest he may have had some connection to the qunari. Could that have been a factor?"

Ha-Hookah Matata (closed to Bene and Colin)

[sulahnan]

It's been a while since Athessa's been to the group barracks. Not that it's anything special, or like her room is all that different other than having a door and nobody else sleeping in it. But rather than making a beeline for her old bunk, which is an instinct she has to curb, she seeks out Benedict.

"Hey," she announces herself quietly with a tap on his shoulder. "Can you show me how that hookah works?"

In other words: wanna get high?

I hate you

[altusimperius]

Benedict's new hobby tends to weird out the people around him in the barracks-- well it's not new, per se, but staring blankly at a wall for hours on end is a lot more socially acceptable in a dungeon cell than it is in a public space, so he hasn't exactly been quick to make friends here.

Which is why it's nice that Athessa shows up, though she breaks him out of his trance and he blinks at her a few times in genuine bewilderment.

"What?" he asks, still in the process of snapping out of it.

makes kissy noises at u

[sulahnan]

"Do you want. To get high. With me. And Colin?"

Yeah so speaking at a plodding pace isn't necessary and she should be able to wholly relate with being snapped out of a good wall-staring session and needing a sec to recalibrate with reality but here they are. Her eyebrows do an impressive job of trying to incorporate with her hairline as she nods encouragingly at Benedict.

[altusimperius]

He considers this for a good thirty seconds, staring at her like she's a teacher who just asked him a question, before he nods.

"...yes?" he decides.

yes it's a black books reference (closed to Sylvester)

[sulahnan]

It's a nice day, by Kirkwall standards. Partly cloudy, warm but not muggy, a cool breeze bringing the smell of salt in off the sea and making the shade too cold to stand without layers.

But who gives a shit about the weather, Athessa marches herself into the training yard and stops in front of a small smattering of recruits.

"Alright, I'm in a fighting mood so which one of you bitches wants to dance?" She plants her hands firmly on her hips and looks around at them all, disappointed that most of them aren't taking the bait. "How 'bout you, big guy?"

Sylvester is the big guy in question. Come fight a girl two feet shorter than you, dude.

[bignasty]

Among the recruits, Sylvester “Big Guy” Dumas stands a full head taller than the majority of them, scraps of training plate stapled to a careworn arming jacket that might be older than most of them as well. He’s half-assed refereeing two sparring matches when Athessa stalls them (and everything else) to a halt, forcing him to turn, blunted sword in hand, to face her.

"Sorry?"

Looming, sweaty, he contorts his brows into a clear mix of do you mind and who the fuck do you think you are?

[sulahnan]

Truth is, if there are any recruits here that haven't already sparred with Athessa, they've at least seen her fight and that's likely keeping them mum right about now. That, and the prospect of seeing such an unlikely match-up.

"I said," she says, projecting as if he can't hear from so high off the ground. "I wanna fight. Also I called all these guys bitches and they didn't even bat an eye."

[bignasty]

“Well it’s not very nice interrupting people to call them names now is it, little elf girl?”

Sylvester scrunches his nose, voice shrilled up towards the end, high and tight, as if he’s speaking to a child. For all the teeth he shows, long and white, it’s incredible he’s never had a single one knocked down his throat.

But it’s not just the two of them here, and a glance aside to measure the younger men around him with their eyes on the ground is its own kind of warning. He sobers.

“What do you want to fight me for? Can’t you go spit on someone in a tavern?”

You know, like a normal person.