[open] watching paint dry

[altusimperius]

WHO: Benedict and you
WHAT: Working on the dining hall mural, smoking elfroot, making himself useful one small task at a time
WHEN: Kingsway
WHERE: mostly the dining hall, sometimes other places
NOTES: ART

I. Style Taste Class

Already something of a serious person by nature, Benedict has never been more invested in a project than he is in his newly-appointed task of livening up the dining hall-- even his work as a chamberlain was more detached than this, what with him making stylistic decisions but not personally implementing any of them.

He's requested a little scaffold be set up so he can get above the large tower doorframes, and he can be found there at all hours that he isn't in Byerly's office, which is to say, in the mornings and late at night. When he sleeps is unclear, but based on the bags under his eyes, that doesn't come often.

But he seems cheerful enough, for who he is, and is usually open to conversation with diners and passersby as his painstaking design begins to take shape*.

*it's an approximation obviously

II. Recreation Station

When not at work either for Byerly or on his Masterpiece, Bene can be found lounging with his semi-erstwhile hookah in a spare room of the mage tower, having amassed a small number of battered and disused pillows and blankets to make the place homier.
His presence there is usually indicated by the smell of scented smoke, much like his former neighbors would be used to when he still had a room of his own, but fortunately he keeps the window open to let things vent properly.

III. Wildcard

The usual stuff is happening! Make your own prompt or hit me up for one.

Comments

[bouchonne]

"Absolutely not," he responds to that wordless challenge. "I'll stick to this and this, thank you - " The two indicating items being a hookah pipe and a glass of wine. Sometimes, one might be led to wonder if Byerly gets all his nutrition in liquid form.

To Athessa, he says languidly, "Can't you tell by looking at him? Fancy little toy dogs aren't sent outdoors to meet with dangerous beasties." One hand goes out to scratch Whiskey's rugged little hound belly. "I'll bet he's never seen a bee in the flesh."

[sulahnan]

"I just figured there's plenty of opportunity to get stung in a garden, and the sorts of folks that have toy dogs have gardens. Generally."

She puffs on the pipe, blowing a few smoke rings straight up into the air. She's sat with her back to the hookah so she might lay her head on a pillow and stretch her legs out, plate on her lap. It's a very silly way to sit when eating, or when smoking, but she is a very silly person sometimes, too.

"But Ben's not a toy dog," she says, and reaches over to poke said not-dog in the side, amicably. "He's more cat-like, I think. Climbed a tree quite admirably for such a softie." (And she may be teasing him, but her smile is fond. Athessa herself can be a softie, which they all know about well enough to tease her back, even if she doesn't remember showing that side to Benedict.)

[altusimperius]

Byerly receives a wrinkle-nosed scowl which smooths out when Athessa corrects him, and Benedict sets his plate aside to pick up the second hose and draw from it. His gaze and bearing as he seats himself is, to be fair, rather more feline in its poise and caution.

"Dogs are dirty," he agrees, tossing his head with a smirk as she pokes him in the side, "and they usually smell. Present company excluded, of course." This spoken to Whiskey, who almost certainly care.

[keenly]

"Thank you, that means a lot," Colin says, deadpan, to Bene.

[bouchonne]

"Counterpoint," By says, "your arse is also dirty and smells, but you've spent a fair amount of time nestled up there."

[sulahnan]

Athessa nearly chokes on her food due to her sudden fit of laughter at that counterpoint and has to clap her hand over her mouth to stop herself from spitting.

Fucking hilarious.

[altusimperius]

"Ew," spoken with a quiet sneer, accompanied by a stream of smoke.
He's certainly not rising to that.

[keenly]

Colin chuckles around a hose before putting it back, holding his breath for a moment.

"Shows how much you've seen of his arse," he says, puffing smoke. The spicy food causes him to sniffle.

[bouchonne]

Um. "What," By says, "are you implying that it's squeaky-clean and rose-scented?" He wrinkles his nose, because one, how would Colin know, and two, that's so much worse than a stinky butt.

[altusimperius]

"I have an idea," Bene chimes in with a hard glance to Colin-- he knows Byerly's useless-- "let's stop talking about it, forever."

[sulahnan]

Wheeze. Athessa has to sit up, still laughing but preferring not to die in the process.

"I thought you liked talking about this stuff," she cackles. "You were the one so interested in Qunari dicks that one time."

If nothing else, this seems like an easy topic for staying away from the awkwardness between herself and Byerly.

[keenly]

More chuckling, but he sets his food down long enough to raise both hands to Bene in surrender.

[altusimperius]

Primly, "I do not recall."

[bouchonne]

Very earnestly, By replies, "My dearest assistant, is that why you're keeping your ass scrubbed so clean? Waiting for an infusion of the Qun?" Then, meditatively - "I would believe that the Qunari insist on non-smelly parts."

[sulahnan]

"They are a very clean people," she confirms, as the only one among them who has fucked a Qunari.

...She assumes.

[keenly]

Colin squints at Byerly. "If they smell that badly and are that dirty, why would you do it in the first place?"

[altusimperius]

Blowing out a stream of smoke, Benedict considers. Then, "wouldn't say no."

To an infusion of the Qun, that is.

[bouchonne]

"You shouldn't," Byerly tells Benedict cheerfully. (Athessa is not the only one who has fucked a Qunari. Or, well, a Tal-Vashoth, in any case.) Then, to Colin - "Sorry, dear fellow, are you asking why someone would have sex, given that people are smelly and dirty?"

[sulahnan]

"I think the question is why you'd wanna fuck a filthy arsehole rather than a clean one."

[keenly]

Colin gestures to Athessa to indicate she's phrased it correctly.

"I mean you can't always, but basic diet and hygiene take care of most of it."

[bouchonne]

An amused snort as he takes a swig of wine. "Dirty," he says, "clean - these things are just illusions. States of mind. No arse is going to be clean; they're all going to give off foul odors. Better to embrace filth rather than try to deny its existence." Then, philosophically -

"Why, doing so would make you a sort of cousin to Corypheus, no? Pretending that there's some glorious, shining ideal, rather than acknowledging that the world is always going to be imperfect and messy. So really, if you think about it, dirty, messy sex is an act of rebellion. Embrace a stinky arse like you embrace freedom, that's what I say."

[altusimperius]

Finding very little appeal in this conversation, Benedict continues to smoke, pick at his plate, and watch Byerly with haughty detachment.

He'll leave this to the philosophers. There are worse things to have a reputation for than a clean arsehole.

[sulahnan]

Athessa squints at Byerly.

"The fuck are you talking about, By? Even you wash your arse when you bathe."

[keenly]

When for an instant Colin wants to point out the hypocrisy of Byerly claiming imperfection should be embraced, he decides it's time to tap out of the conversation. And reach for a hose.

[bouchonne]

Grand.

Byerly sighs, and rolls onto his back so that he can look at the sky rather than any of them. "It was," he says, "a joke."