[open] well we could be friends, we could shake hands

[lumelume]

WHO: Mado and you
WHAT: he's back
WHEN: early Kingsway
WHERE: the Gallows
NOTES: man dog dog man bird

I. I keep 'em close (for Ellie)

Maker only knows how long he's been flying, or if he spent the whole time as a pigeon, but when Mado returns to the Gallows it's in this form, late at night, and he makes a beeline for a familiar window of the tower.
Fluttering onto the sill, he nudges the glass open with his beak, and, seeing that (I'm taking a liberty here) she's still awake, pecks lightly on the windowframe to alert her of his presence.

II. I keep 'em real close (OTA)

After a two-month absence, it feels strange to simply come strolling back into work and wave hello to everyone who may or may not have missed or even noticed he was gone, so Mado opts to ease back into his presence in the Gallows by spending most of his time in canine form. Those who greet him are bound to see a quick transformation and receive a hug (or a handshake, or simply a hello, whatever they prefer), but to all other parties there simply is a little brown and white dog where there wasn't before, trotting about the courtyard, sleeping by fireplaces and under carts, and occasionally sitting perfectly still to watch the passersby with an uncanny awareness in his canine face.

III. So no one can take them from me (OTA)

There's still one realm where his human senses outperform his canine ones, and that's up in the Scouting office, where Mado sits placid and cross-legged as he leans over what, at first glance, might appear to be paperwork: and on a closer look, one might identify it as the Trade alphabet, dutifully written over and over, with each iteration finding new clarity.

There is a separate parchment with very simple words copied from a book, and also his name in both its forms, Amador and Mado, written in careful columns to practice the shape of the words.

He seems quite serene as he works, but is never one to turn away an interruption.

Comments

[foolsmakeitcolder]

"More animal forms," he corrects himself, because Charlie forgot to write a wholeass word.

I'm just gonna tag it because the rules are made up and the points don't matter

[lumelume]

"Perhaps! It takes a while to learn a new one. And I am very fond of being the dog, although I don't regret being able to fly."

He relaxes slightly, slowing his bone-tapping as he looks over Jude's face.

"I'm very glad to have met you, Jude Adjei."

the real mvp

[foolsmakeitcolder]

"Are there really so few shifters in Thedas?" he asks softly. It still humbles him to have been greeted like an old friend, welcomed like family.

It makes him desperately homesick.

[lumelume]

"Few that I've met," Mado admits, softening his tone slightly-- perhaps it's the amount of time he spends as a canine, or just naturally honed intuition, but he's quite canny at perceiving the changes in others' emotions.

"It's more common than ever now, to see mages living about with the regular folk," he reasons, "with the way things were run before the war, it was more difficult for us to find each other. To know who else was a mage, unless they were in a tower or secreted away in the forest. Perhaps there are more than we imagine."

[foolsmakeitcolder]

Jude had known that shifting was considered magic and magecraft, but it's the first time he's seen evidence of shifting being a part of someone's magic rather than a part of them- even if the second he thinks that, he has to suppose that someone's magic is also a part of them, the same way being a shifter is.

Should it really be so confusing, when it's so simple?

"So you're a mage and a shifter?"