[Open]

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders and You*! (*unless you are someone who will turn him in. ONE DAY THERE WILL BE CR. /reaches sadly)
WHAT: Detlef going about his days, helping out, being argumentative, everything
WHEN: Mid-Wintermarch
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Probably nothing? I'll edit if that changes

Healing tents

Anders is found in these most often during the day. Everything's easier when he works, really, when he and Justice can both be on the same page. They're doing good. They're furthering the cause of mage freedom. And more importantly, no one is being hurt. Are you a patient? He's probably checking you over before getting to work. Co-worker? Hand him the elfroot salve, please? Or just drop by and find him where he's most willing to be chatty as he works.

Garden

There's nothing like seeing a mage seemingly talking to a tree. Considering previous events, it's probably a little worrying. But upon closer approach one can see that there's a terrified cat clinging to a very small branch that's just barely supporting its weight, and they can hear the mage trying to talk the cat down as if the cat can understand anything that's being said.

"You can do it. Just step... Come on. A little lower. Please?"

Just outside Skyhold

There's a garden inside the walls. It has plenty of things growing in it, including basically everything Anders is looking for. It's hard for him to stay inside the walls for too long, though. He needs to be outside, to wander some, to remind himself that the walls aren't keeping him in. While it isn't the healthiest method of coping, there are certainly worse ways to go about it.

Anyone running into him out here gets a look that's a mix of surprised and bashful - the latter due to him not really having any way to explain why he's out here with a handful of easy-to-get herbs in hand.

Library

He's seated in the Library, head buried in a book the way it never was when he was at the Circle, with a pair of large tomes next to him. They're probably not that surprising for a spirit healer, treatises on spirits and their nature, but he doesn't look pleased. And he isn't. He's not finding anything that will help with his situation, and Anders is aware that he might not have a lot of time left for the looking.

Approaches from strangers get a glance up and a nod, before he'll ask if they need to get to something past him. Known people get asked a little absently how their day is going before he turns another page.

[Or] Alternately, he's curled up off to the side, on the ground, paging through a book on obscure magic that talks about various rumored spells that the author doubts really exist. His attention is primarily on the shapeshifting portion, and he looks a little wistful. Anyone approaching who glances at the book get a half-smile and asked if it wouldn't be fun, being able to transform into animals.

Wildcard

[Hit him up wherever? He grabs food in the kitchens on the go, sometimes is at the tavern in a corner near the back, sits on the walls and looks out sometimes, surreptitiously feeds the stray cats around skyhold (and scolds any dogs that try to take the food,) and may, every now and then, see if he can zap armor in just the right way so straw and fabric and all sorts of things stick to it.]

Comments

[apostasia]

If only Martel's history weren't such a shrouded question mark, or else Anders could comfort himself with the knowledge that he actually isn't the worst of all possible suitors. Or wouldn't be, if Martel were at all inclined to court her - a terrible idea on so many levels he'd probably have to reel in his first response to the accusation lest it sound insulting.

But that's a conversation for another day, or possibly never. He spares a smile, wintry more because of the pain than his mood, at the notion of speaking to Adelaide on rifts. She's forever curious; he doesn't always share the things that interests her, but he appreciates that she's interested in things.

"Whatever the Inquisition requires of me," he says, a verbal shrug that isn't dismissive so much as - accurate. "I teach combat to some of your mages. Go where I might be useful. Run errands," a little wryly. He isn't unaware that he doesn't exactly come across as the most suitable (or cooperative) with menial labour, but that's the benefit of being precisely as self-assured as he seems. Carrying packages doesn't threaten his pride.

[justice_is_blond]

"Mm. What sort of combat?" He'll never be suited for swords and shields, for heavy armor or bows, but there have been times when Anders wished he knew a little more about fighting without magic. Especially whenever Templars have been around and involved.

The rest makes sense. He'd done as much as a Warden, and even sometimes for Hawke. Organizations needed errands run and people to simply make themselves useful, even if they had clear specialties like a Spirit Healer did. It isn't always a spirit healer that's needed.

Finishing the work, Anders moves to wipe his hands off on a towel before closing the jar. "That should be making a difference. If it isn't, we've got a couple that are stronger, but I'd like to give this a couple of minutes first."

[apostasia]

"Well, you do all have those bloody great staves," he observes, a little wry. "It makes for an excellent place to start, as well as handling swords, hand to hand..." A small gesture. "I wouldn't have them left helpless without the thing."

Or without their magic, well aware of what a finite resource one's own energy can be. There are a lot of reasons why Martel doesn't rely on magic in combat; that's one of them. (It isn't the most pressing, but it does form a compelling counterargument when he considers altering his style more. Granted, Thedas may force some adaptation.)

"I'm a swordsman, myself. Among other things."

[justice_is_blond]

"I had an acquaintance try to teach me how to work with a sword once. I wasn't exactly receptive at the time, unfortunately. But if you're instructing..."

Half the time he hadn't been sure if Aveline wanted to help him or stab him. Now, after all he's done, he's fairly sure she's come down firmly on the side of stabbing. But back then? It was hard to tell.

"Would you mind another student? I'd prefer to learn how to use a staff against a sword, though, not sword-to-sword. I've no need to be weighed down by metal when everything I do is about being on the move."

He relies on magic for a great many things. Than again, he's also somewhat safe when it comes to being skewered. There are very, very few perks to being an abomination; that safety is one of them.

[apostasia]

Martel is fleetingly surprised, although he doesn't know why he is; a moment later and he makes another small gesture of his hand, acquiescing. For someone who makes a study of being difficult to read, he is a remarkably physical man in his communication - conscious of his space and what he does in it.

"Not at all. But I'd urge you to consider that the element of surprise means more than just sneaking in the back way. You should never rely entirely on having your weapon of choice to hand - focus on it, certainly, hone that skill to the sharpest edge, but the ability to pick up something you shouldn't know how to use and carry on protecting yourself with it is more than just flexibility. Every single instant is the difference to survival, and you gain more than you think when you shock an opponent who's already assessed you. You force them to throw out their expectations and they may falter. It can be enough to take back space and regain the advantage you'd lost. The weapon you'd not been able to use."

...yes, if there were any doubts about Martel's willingness to teach him, a spontaneous lecture on how to be the worst kind of problem presumably puts paid to it.

[justice_is_blond]

It's clear Martel is willing to teach him, now. Anders gives him a flash of a smile before making mental notes of what's being said. His weapon of choice has been taken away many times, by Templars using Silence, and quite frankly it would have served him well if he'd known how to use anything else. Sure, he knows how to not stab himself with a dagger, but his boot knife is generally used for skinning small animals he's caught for dinner, not finding gaps in armor.

"So would you say a mage should carry a couple of physical weapons?" That would get heavy. Anders doesn't really care for heavy... but he does care for survival. "Because anyone who sees someone in robes with a staff knows what weapon they'll go for. And if it's a Templar attack, they'll nullify that right away. Or would a bladed staff and, say, a dagger suffice?"

[apostasia]

"A bladed stuff and a dagger would suffice magnificently," he agrees, "as they are not only more manageable than a staff and a sword, for example, but rather more discreet." The element of surprise is lost if you've got a dirty great broadsword strapped on already.

A tilt of his hand - "But it isn't merely a matter of what you carry, but what you are prepared to be able to pick up, given the opportunity." A dropped sword on a battlefield - lift if not knowing what to do with it and it might be a death sentence.

[justice_is_blond]

Next thing to buy, clearly, will be a bladed staff. Depending. Maker, it's hard to set priorities on purchases when he's not sure how much longer he'll be alive. But as he doesn't want to die, a bladed staff might be a good buy as well as a decent dagger that's not just his ordinary boot knife. Something that's not likely to snap.

"I'm willing to pick up anything that doesn't bite. So no snakes or spiders." The smile's back, though faint, as he puts the jar and towel away. "Otherwise, stick, dwarf, I'm prepared to pick up and throw anything. ...And have, though not the Dwarf. Yet. They're a little too wiggly when annoyed, and hauling a drunk one up to his room tells me I'd have to be fairly desperate to use one in combat."