rogueinladysclothing | [Duplicity] IC Inbox

[ He's about to reply that she needs to calm down, it's just a holiday, when she does it herself. Tone is entirely lost in text and this is not the first time he's lamented it. He's relieved though, he doesn't want to have another discussion of boundaries. ]

I did. I've been learning a bit of magic outside what I would have been able at home and its fascinating. Enchanting isn't really considered magic in Thedas but in many other places its a core school.
I have to wonder if it does still work that way back home but we just don't know because we don't practice it in that way.

Sorry. Got a bit excited.
In any case, you don't have to get me anything but if you would like to, you have my permission so long as it's on your world's gift-giving holiday.
Apparently every world has at least one.
Earth has quite a few. One where practitioners get eight presents. Seems like quite a lot to me if you have a long list.

It's a possibility. Magic seems to have many names for the same thing, from what I've observed around Duplicity. I don't have any use of it myself, so take my word purely as an observer.

Why are you apologizing? I see nothing you've done that requires it. [She was the one who overstepped in this conversation. Hawke's excitement is normal and welcome in her mind.]

I imagine people who follow the holiday have ways of handling that, especially when there's so many other holidays to worry after for gifts.
Where I'm from, we give gifts as occasion calls for it. Natal days and anniversaries of important events are the main reasons, and holidays are... not quite the same. People celebrate a good harvest by spending time with those they love, having a bountiful table for a few nights, maybe a gift if it was especially good. But I'm not a farmer, nor did I ever have any reason to join people at their tables.

[Though, there is... one day... Amelia's hesitant to share it, but she knows she can hold parts of the story for it back when Hawke's not in front of her.]

My family had one occasion particular to them. The coming of Spring and opening of trade routes from regions covered over by the snows of Winter was a time for celebration for many merchants, and my family celebrated with an opening of our home to friends and family alike, offering from our table and sharing joys until it was too cold to stay outside around fires. It was something I used to look forward to, before I lost them.

[She'll neglect to offer that the celebration folded in with her birthday, and that she hasn't celebrated that since they died either. It's hard to keep traditions when you're the only one who remembers them, and when those you celebrated with were taken shortly after the last time said tradition was celebrated.]

That's a lovely tradition, one I think we would do well with here in the city.
I'm going to remember that, if it wouldn't hurt too much to celebrate in their absence.
We have something a little like it in Wintersend, but that's less about friends and more about everyone's mothers trying to set them up with each other. Or proposing to your sweetheart, if you're already so inclined.
But the spring part is the same spirit.

Does your lot do maypoles and cornhole too? I miss that from Ferelden in the spring.

[Dreams, why did she mention this? Why did she think this was a good idea? ~~Because she's the Queen of Bad Timing and Decisions, that's why.~~ He's giving her an out, but he wants to do this, so she can't really say no, can she?

It takes her a few minutes to gather herself for a response, and he's likely to notice a certain question isn't answered. Directly, at least.]

The beginning of Spring is often a time for proposals. New life brings with it a reach for many forms of new beginnings, including marriages. I don't recall mothers or matrons trying to set their children up, but I wouldn't be surprised if the nobles had taken that up.

Maypoles I know. The dancing with the ribbons around a tall pole or slim tree, yes? It was popular among younger people back home during the spring months after the weather was warm enough. You'll have to teach me about cornhole, though. It's not a thing I'm familiar with.

It would be good to have some amount of celebration in Spring.

Oh its a game popular where I grew up.
You have a propped up wooden board with various holes on it and each are worth different points when you toss a little bag of beans through it.
Used to have some ale and play it in the yard with my brother and father sometimes.
And Cullen when he was here. He's from my world, stuffy as anything. Used to run Haven, but he was from where I grew up, or in the same country at least.
Sometimes you just need to blow of steam with a countryman even if he's often a pain in the ass.

[ He can tell in how she's clipped that last sentence that this might be something that's a bit difficult for her, so he's letting the conversation meander to other things. Better that then feel poorly right now. ]

[She's grateful he doesn't ask more about the holiday. Focusing on anything else is far easier than that particular celebration.]

We would have to drink to make it fair between us. My aim is rarely off, and I've had plenty of practice here in Duplicity.

You'll have to tell me more of Cullen and the others of your world that you've known here. Even after everything you've told me, there's so much I don't know and could learn. I'm not asking so I can hold things over you - I truly want to know about your world, including you. It's my way to be curious and to understand before I try for anything more.

Should you need it to be an exchange, though... I am willing. There's little I feel important enough to share outside the large details, but I'd be glad to tell more to a friend who asked.

Oh really? Such confidence for a game you've never played! I'm a master of it so we should see if you measure up first before deciding who needs a handicap.

[ He grins at his phone, enjoying the friendly rivalry. He knows she's probably right; a successful rogue's accuracy should hardly be questioned, but where's the fun in that?

His grin fades into a more accommodating little smile at her talk of exchange and assurance that she's not trying to hold anything over him. Ah, Amelia...]

I didn't think you were and anything I share is freely given, not a commerce of information, though if you want to share in kind I'm certainly eager to hear anything you'd like me to know.

Cullen is a strange sort of story. I don't know if you have any in your life like this but we started out enemies. He was a ridiculous caricature of a man at first.
'Mages arent people like you and me'
Said that straight to my face, never realizing. Some templar he was, not recognizing an apostate right under his nose. And virginal to boot. Couldn't even say the word whore when referring to an actual brothel.
But for all his faults he still somehow kept in sight what is right. He spoke out against his commanding officer when she ordered him to kill my companions and me, even fought beside us against her. And he continued to try and be a better person even after.
Even here in Duplicity he ran Haven hospital and supported a magical healing wing of it for those that mundane medicine could not help, and he provided a cure for my love of an ailment that is heretofore incurable in Thedas.
We became friends
I think friends is the word but more importantly I respect him now, more than I ever thought possible.
I hope his life has gotten easier since he returned home.

[ Funny, he'd not really ever put all of that out into the world before. He's not sure he could, at least not to anyone from Thedas. He does wish a little now that he'd been able to tell Cullen of that respect. Hopefully he picked up on it, but Hawke has his doubts. Even if his heart is mostly in the right place, Hawke doesn't consider Cullen the brightest candle in the votive stand. ]

Best two of three? No need to place all our confidence into a single game.

[Hopefully it's not a game that runs too long. Otherwise they're in for a very long day when they get around to playing.

Hawke's story is a wonderful one, full of the kind of respect and appreciation one has for someone they care about as deeply as can be had between friends. She smiles as the messages roll in, taking them all in eagerly. She's glad he had a friend like this here, and she finds herself hoping he's found more of them as time has gone on. It doesn't need to be said for it to be true: Hawke deserves friends who care so well for him, even if what they truly need is someone to sit and play games with for a time.]

I hope the same for your friend. He sounds like a good person, and an even better friend to those around him. The world is too unkind to some of its best when they need it most, and Cullen sounds like one of them. He deserves some rest after what he's been through.

[As does Hawke, but... she won't say it again. That's a thought she can have, but not speak. Her smiles fades a little and she sighs.]

For this game, where is it best to play it? From how you describe it, we should be outside, but I don't have a yard for hosting such a thing.

He's alright. Certainly a good friend to those who he decides to be a friend to, though he can still be difficult to get along with for his rigidity.
He does deserve a rest though, you're not wrong.

[ The same can be said for everyone in Thedas, if he were honest. It's a frantic place with far too much going wrong. Everywhere. All at once. ]

Outside is right. We could bring it to the beach or something. There might be a board set up at one of the parks even.
If not, its easy enough to make. I'm handy enough with tools for that.

The beach or park sound wonderful. We can make an afternoon or day of it, invite any friends who might also need a game and a drink to get away from their thoughts for a time.

[Dreams know she could use it. She won't say it, but even she realizes it.]

Perhaps when spring comes again? Shaking off winter in the warmth of the spring sun would certainly be pleasant.

Perfect idea.
What about you? Any games from your home you miss?

[ Share and share alike, Shadow Mistress. ]

[Thinking about home, her real home, like this is painful. She's glad he can't see her face or hear her voice. She's even more glad she has an easy answer to this.]

Not particularly. I was head of the House - I didn't leave myself time for games. When I did play, it was usually while I was working. Cards and dice were the most common, though nobles and aristocrats always had a fancy for 'Never Have I Ever', especially when drunk.

Very easy to pick pockets or slip off jewellery while they're drunk and playing that game in particular. That was more sport than anything else for me.

You're a consummate professional

I've played that one, actually. It's so strange to me how nobility in particular are so afraid of anyone knowing things about them and then just go get drunk and spill it all at parties.
It makes them easy marks for more than just pick-pockets.

I have to be where I'm from. Someone has to make sure the House is always prepared and in order.

[The others need their freedom, not her.]

You're right about all that. Why they feel the need to hide compulsions or desires that are rarely cared about doesn't make sense to me, but it certainly made my life easier in many ways. Secrets are my trade, after all.

Seems nobles are all the same, no matter the world they're in.

[ He'd meant it as a tongue in cheek sort of joke but he's not really surprised tone is lost in text, especially with Amelia. She's not used to this sort of thing yet. ]

Absolutely true. Self interested pissants most of them.
You know one tried to feed me to his wyvern and then throw me off a cliff?

I'd ask what the occasion was that prompted this, but I suspect it doesn't matter. Nobles will find any excuse to have people fed to exotic pets or thrown off cliffs.

That said, if you want to tell me the story sometime over a drink, I'd like that. I can pull out a few of my own stories of crazy things nobles have done. None of them involve wyverns, but I do have one where a duchess barely half my size tried to throw me out a window.

I do absolutely have to hear that one
We can go for drinks later in the week? Exchange ales for stories.
For now I need to pack up and head across town for my other job.

Edited 2022-12-09 06:23 (UTC)

A sound plan. Choose a day this week and it's yours. I have nothing requiring my time yet this week.

Try not to overwork yourself, Hawke. I want you to be able to enjoy those ales.

Considering most of what I do at either job is watch people and walk around in circles, I don't think there's a danger of that.

I'll let you know when I'm free.

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