I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Open)

[youwonscience]

WHO: Cosima Niehaus, any Riftwatch personnel who have not been banished from the Gallows
WHAT: A chill birthday/dance party
WHEN: March Drakonis 9, evening
WHERE: Fourth floor of the former mage tower

If they weren't hosting company, there probably would have been a sign or two. Cosima is not, however, entirely clear what the Chantry thinks of dancing. As it is, Cosima makes a point to tell those she's friendly with, as well as the entirety of the Research Division; she also makes it clear they should feel free to spread the word, that any Riftwatch agents who want to stop in are more than welcome. That word is: A quiet party with dancing, Drakonis 9, a couple hours after dinner.



Arrival

As Cosima currently has the fourth floor to herself, she hasn't set up in her own room, but rather the one across the way. She's pushed the furniture toward the edges of the room to make a larger dance floor and requisitioned some plates and cups (that she has promised very seriously to return all of). She has placed her approximation of an iPod shuffle in a bowl to attempt to amplify its sound a bit, and it's jauntily playing whatever random song it has decided to play at the moment. There are no real decorations to speak of, but she's thrown some extra cushions on the beds to encourage their use as makeshift couches.

For refreshments, she encouraged people to bring anything they wanted, but she's provided a good quantity of wine and one unfancy but large lemon cake. These she's purchased with her own funds, rather than begged from the kitchen.

The party is late enough that anyone other than those on particular assignments (or guard duty) should be done with work. The music is unlikely to get especially loud under the circumstances, and Cosima isn't looking to throw a rager anyway. She mainly wants to rope some people into dancing with her, and she's not going to be put off by claims of being bad at it. Those who arrive early are especially vulnerable to being grabbed by the hand and given a good-natured tug.

Later

For those who stay late (or arrive late), things chill out in the early hours. In addition to the wine, there's some smoking, and Cosima is inclined to conversation, curled up on one of the beds pushed against the wall. The music is still playing, but someone needed the bowl for something else, so it's necessarily even softer; the candles have burned down, giving the room a warmer glow.

If someone seems hesitant to come join her, Cosima's quick to wave them over with a languid loop of her arm, unwilling to see anyone left out even as things get mellow.

Comments

[youwonscience]

"Wow, that's so nice of you, I love it." Cosima's enthusiasm is clearly genuine, especially as she immediately glances around, adding, "We should find them some water, so they stay nice, there should be some over by the wine..." She waves at someone nearer and manages to successful mime her way to some water passed their way by a few hands.

"Thanks for coming. I would have posted signs but I wasn't sure if that counted as good behavior, considering." Does the Chantry hate birthdays? Who knows, she's just a rifter. Better to ask forgiveness, etc.

[sprent]

Gela chuckles, tucking her hair back behind her ear, "Oh, true! But I've met her, you know, and she isn't all that bad."

Perhaps she thinks she's made a very good impression? The conversation they had together in the gardens was incredibly low-stakes, and probably didn't win or lose her any points for Riftwatch. It was about tea and weeding flower beds, how much damage could it have done. "Does that mean once the Chantry's gone we have a second party? A wilder one?"

[youwonscience]

She laughs, good-natured. "I mean, I'll never say no to a party, but we should find another occasion. Having two separate birthday parties for yourself in your 30s feels like a lot."

She arranges the flowers in the cup a little, but she really has no background in it, so it doesn't look much different than it did when Gela just dropped them in. Cosima gives up with a small shrug.

"But I do think it's important to like ... relax, now and then. We're all overworked, people gotta find a way to release tension. Well, I guess Forces division members hit each other in the training yard, maybe that counts." She's clearly teasing more than genuinely disparaging the division.

[sprent]

"I think the occasion would be that they left," she says shrewdly, and reaches past Cosima toward the table, plucking a handful of something from a bowl to munch on. She adds, once she's swallowed, "But there's nothin' wrong without being a little overzealous about your birthday either."

Because that's fun. And then she waves a snack around while she talks. "No, you're right. And after... everythin' that's been goin' on lately, we're a little overdue for a party. Not just after –" Starkhaven, a heavy word she doesn't want to say out loud even as she implies it, "but the nightmares too, and... well."

Maybe mostly the nightmares. "This is far more enjoyable."

[youwonscience]

"A 'no more nun' party, I like it." She gestures them toward one of the beds-set-up-as-couches so they can sit if Gela's so inclined.

"God, fuck the nightmares though. I had the thought that maybe we could trick the Venatori into sleeping in Kirkwall for like three months, see if they all break down. Logistically challenging, I grant you, but potentially very satisfying."

[sprent]

"No, I like this idea," Gela muses, allowing Cosima to carry them toward a place to sit. She immediately pulls her legs up underneath of herself, jamming one elbow into the back of the bed so she may turn toward Cosima conversationally, her palm-cup of snacks held between them, "I'm in Diplomacy, you know, so I'll pitch that at the next meetin'."

Who doesn't love a logistical challenge. She adds, "Did I ever introduce myself properly? I'm Gela."

[youwonscience]

"You totally should, let me know what Rutyer says." It's not quite a laugh. "I guess you figured out I'm Cosima, but it's nice to meet you. Properly. It feels like we should all know each other, an organization this size, but everyone's so busy. For good reason, but still." She settles into a nearby cushion, a glass of wine in hand. "I've been told I don't get out of my lab enough."

[sprent]

"I will," she promises, delighted, "I'll send you a message over your crystal; what have you been doin' in your lab?"

Honestly, this is more like it. Gela thinks she's had far too many serious conversations lately. All that work in Starkhaven... all the work after it. The sad faces, the bad dreams. It's so nice to curl up across from somebody else and chatter. She is genuinely looking forward to hearing about Cosima's work.

[youwonscience]

"I'm splitting my work, right now; half is trying to figure out more about red lyrium, and the other half is the way the Fade affects flora and fauna. And, kind of by default, rifters, though that's not been the main focus recently. More native stuff these days."

She smiles a little, and adds, "It's sort of slow, steady work most of the time. Like, a breakthrough now and then, but a lot of ... think of an idea, design an experiment, record a lot of observations, see if it fits the idea, repeat." She takes a drink, and adds, "I always feel like the reports I read from other divisions are way more exciting, but we are making progress." And, in fairness, when the Research division is exciting, it tends to be along the lines of oh god, magic gun, which is not Cosima's department.

[sprent]

Wow, the Research people sure do belong to the Research division, don't they. Gela finds herself tickled by it, fascinated by the ease with which Cosima tells her these things like they don't sound truly difficult; imagine your head of division telling you to 'figure out' more about red lyrium! Just like that!

Gela shakes her head, smile widening. "No, what you're doin' sounds a little unbelievable; I couldn't do it." Conversationally, curiously, "Does the Fade affect the flora and fauna? Does it affect us?"

[youwonscience]

"It definitely can, yeah, for sure." She tucks her legs up, shifting to sit a bit more comfortably. "So there seems to be some element of randomness to the effects, but we've observed a few. Sometimes they give plants or animals more durability; that's why Fade-touched materials are valuable for making armor or weapons, from what I understand. Sometimes they can make animals bigger than they'd normally be, sometimes more aggressive. We got a chance to study a few Fade-touched nugs here in the Gallows a couple years back, their behavior didn't seem to change at all as far as we could tell. Oh," clearly just thinking of it, "there's also this Antivan amateur zoologist who's, like, obsessed with the topic. I keep meaning to ask if I can write him, I know he was mainly a diplomatic contact, but it seems like he may have made some useful observations."

She smiles, ruefully, and adds, "Sorry, sidetracked for a minute there." She realizes she may have the tendency to ramble a bit.

dw cosima i was sidetracked for four weeks

[sprent]

"No, no." She's interested, it's interesting. Both because of the subject matter and the way Cosima talks about it, illustrating with her hands as she goes. That makes Gela like it all the more, really.

"If you need any help hedgin' your way with the diplomat, we could look at a collaboration. I could talk with Byerly, on your behalf, if you want to draft up something in the meantime."

Cross-divisional friendship: helpful, perhaps!

what is time even

[youwonscience]

"If you would, that'd be great," she says, smiling. "I don't know if the guy has any useful observations, but look, if he wants to collect all these Fade-touched animals, I assume he's at least looking at them a lot, what's the point otherwise?"

She seems pleased with the prospect, whether or not Gela secures Byerly's permission. On that note, she adds, "What do you do, mostly, for Diplomacy?"

fake

[sprent]

She jokes, "We could tell him we have our very own Fade-touched wolf," because Jude has been in the Fade of course, from that time they were all traversing the Crossroads. "Bet he'd love that."

Anyway, "I talk to people. I'm good at talkin' to people.

I think?" She smiles, suddenly. "You tell me."

[youwonscience]

"Look, I'm not a diplomat, but you're doing great talking to me." She takes a drink of her wine. "You know, it's ... I think people sometimes think I'll be good at that kind of stuff because I'm not randomly rude to people in real life. But being friendly and being diplomatic are different, you know? Related, but I admire the skill that goes into the latter. I say what I think too much, really."

She'd wondered, at home, if she'd ever get tenure, but she's not sure whether that joke will translate — do they have tenure at the university in Orlais? — so she skips it.

"Luckily for me, Provost Stark seems to like that."

[sprent]

Gela hums, finger coasting the edge of her own glass, "You can still say what you think! But you have to be careful about it. Sometimes you can be rude right to somebody's face without them realisin' it."

Which is always fun. She's grinning toothily now. "If you say anythin' with a big enough smile, you can confuse most people into thinkin' whatever you're sayin' is positive."

Is she doing that right now? Hmm.

"What's workin' with the Provost like?"

[youwonscience]

Gela's observation about smiling gets a warm one from Cosima, but she answers the question.

"Stark's a good guy. I mean, pretty full of himself, which is obnoxious sometimes, but it would be way more obnoxious if he didn't care about his work. And he's pretty brilliant, though he doesn't need to hear that from me. He wants to take good care of his people in Research, and I respect that." A small shrug, and she adds, "And even though we're from different worlds, we overlap a lot on culture, which can be nice, you know? Even after five years in Thedas, it feels like I'm still tripping over all the stuff I don't know, and it's nice to be able to make a joke about a story or a famous person and know he'll probably get it."