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WHO: Edgard and YOU
WHAT: I'm doing the catch-all thing too
WHEN: Now-ish, post-Murderhaus and Satinalia
WHERE: Various places
NOTES: Open to all unless otherwise specified. Post-murderhaus stuff might have murdery discussions

All prompts in comments! Feel three to throw wildcards in here if you so desire. I love you.

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"No, no, no. The chicken." A tremendous gasp. "I almost killed..you?"

This is a lot to take in. Edgard puts a hand to his forehead. He then quickly tries to come back to the matter at hand.

"The dogs don't like you, so that's why you left. The dogs can tell?"

Finally, shaking his head: "Why did you tell me? The chicken!"

"The chicken!" Mado echoes, and gasps again. "Oh-- yes. Well."
He scratches the back of his head again, sheepishly. "...that happens sometimes. It's all right! Don't be upset."

He claps both of his hands on Edgard's shoulders, smiling sincerely.

"And yes. The dogs can tell. I've never gotten along with dogs, not for lack of trying."

"Does anyone else know? Is this a secret? Have you always been a dog? Are you only a dog?"

These are only a few of the many questions rocketing around the mind of a man who just learned a man could be a dog.

[man dog dog man dog man dog man man]

"Please don't tell anyone," Mado pleads gently, "Athessa knows, and so does the Scouting Master. It's... well it's one of the ways I've learned to be of some worth to the organization."

He smiles with uncertainty.

"If it got out to the wrong people, I'd be useless again."

Edgard's eyes widen and he holds out his hands in reassurance.

"I won't tell! You can trust me."

He grins.

"I bet it has come in useful a lot."

"It has," Mado admits with an air of relief and a grin, "it's often the only way I'd eat, on the road and back in Rialto. People like dogs."

He taps his fingertips together. "...and it's easier to find places to sleep, when you're smaller."

Edgard is still mulling all this over.

"So, do you think like a human when you're a dog?"

Mado nods, but then pauses, and has to think about it.

"...I mean, I think like me," he says, with the air of someone whose mind is expanding with possibilities, "but I'm not sure. Maybe I think like a dog when I'm a human."

Hrm. Edgard is very quiet for a moment.

He leans down and picks up a stick off the ground. He then throws it as far away as he can.

It's an experiment.

Though at first blithely unaware of what point Edgard is trying to prove, Mado watches him raise the stick-- and then lurches after it slightly when it's thrown, though he quickly catches himself with a self-conscious grin.

So there's that.

Edgard laughs uproariously.

"You do think like a dog when you're a human! Fascinating. You are a very interesting person and I like you."

He turns looking at the dogs milling around.

"Do you think we should do anything about these dogs?"

Though he looks like he's about to argue, Mado just smiles instead, pleased by the compliment.

"Oh, they'll sort it out," he replies with a flutter of his hand, "and besides, as soon as they catch on that I'm here, I'll have to run again. So you'll have to do it without me."

He scratches the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry."

"Maybe you should try to be more intimidating as a dog." He suggests, but he's kidding.

"They'll probably be fine, at least if no one catches them again. I only punched that man."

He shrugs. Maybe he should've done worse?

"Intimidation has never been my strong suit," Mado says a little sadly, looking down at himself in his too-large yellow coat and tattered clothes.

"I think I need a wash," he observes, "did you know that you can just do that here, with Riftwatch? Just take a bath whenever you want?"

Luxuries beyond imagining!

Edgard glowers.

"Why would you want to take a bath?" He states flatly.

What an alarming question. What an alarming way to ask it.

"They feel nice!" Mado enthuses, "the water's hot and everything smells good, especially you, when you get out of it! And then people don't avoid you on the streets."

That last bit is more or less the sticking point, at least for a busker.

"I used to have to wash with cold water in public cisterns, and people would get angry about it. I'm very lucky now, don't you see?"

"If you say so." He grumps. "I think it feels weird and makes everything smell bad."

He has a thought.

"But, dogs aren't particularly clean." He points his finger like he's making a point, but he's not sure what point he's making.

"Well," Mado replies, but then pauses, because Edgard is right. "...that's how they get fleas and mange."

He definitely has had (currently has??) the former, but it's an occupational hazard. Mange, however, is a different story.

"If it helps," he cheerfully continues, "your smell is very distinctive! One can learn all sorts of things just from breathing near you."

Edgard is fascinated.

"Really? Like what? Tell me everything!"

"If I knew the scents that match the dirt I could tell you where you've been in the last couple days, though I'm still not quite familiar enough with Kirkwall to do so accurately!" Mado chirps, "but it's been--" he snuffs the air with his human nose, as if it'll help him remember, "--months since you washed your clothes, if ever. You smoke elfroot often, and did so recently, and you have a bun and three apples in your coat."

Edgard listens rapt and then frowns when he concludes. He reaches into his coat in various places and then finally pulls out a bun. He takes a bite.

"Didn't even know that was in there. Amazing!" He speaks thickly around a full mouth. He offers it to Mado.
"Want some?"

Not about to turn down free food, Mado cheerfully takes the bun and bites from it himself.

"Thank you, amico!" He pauses a moment as he chews, looking back over his shoulder.

"...you didn't kill the man, did you?"

Edgard shakes his head.

"No, I just knocked him out."

He wrings his hands and scratches his neck.

"Should I have killed him? He might do this again."

He hadn't really thought it through, the man just seemed like he needed to be punched.

"No, no, I'd--" Mado realizes what he's about to say, and sighs, because he still means it.

"I'd hate for anyone to die." He sinks down onto a nearby crate. "Even someone so cruel."

Edgard lowers down onto a crate next to Mado. He puts a hand on his shoulder. He understands.

"I agree with you. I try not to kill people if I can help it."

He sighs.

"Sometimes, though, it has to be done."

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lumelume - 2020-12-21 06:05 (UTC) - Expand

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