driftfleet | [Open Moons Mingle Log]

I suppose it's a little bit of both. The importance is to forget the despair that might be caused by being here instead of in Thedas. I can only hope time there stops until we return...

[Her drink isn't as strong as Maraas-lok, but she is an elf, it's not as though there's a lot of mass to her to keep her from getting very drunk rather quickly. With a frown, she realizes she had better dial the whole end of the world hints back. That won't do anyone any good.]

The despair is for the hangover I'll undoubtedly have tomorrow as well. [Now she grins at him.] Just in case you were wondering.

Chances are it will.

[Very wise, really. It wouldn't go down well. His lip curves, briefly, upward.]

I did not think the alcohol here was that strong. [Says the warrior who drinks enough to really up his tolerance level anyway. ]

[That catches her by surprise a little, that hint of a smile paired with what he's saying. She leans a little closer, unsure if she's seeing what she thinks she's seeing.]

Are you... Fenris, are you making fun of me?

[From her tone, this is entirely okay. In fact, he can do it more if he wants to.]

[He leans a little further away as she gets closer, re-establish his personal space bubble, but at least he doesn't scowl at her when he does so. He just makes a soft, amused noise. ]

Now, if you were to ask any of my friends, they would tell you I do not do such things.

[Cutest angry elf ever. Seemingly satisfied, she puts a little extra distance between them when she leans back again to reach for her drink.]

Ah, but I was asking you, and I think the answer was yes.

That would be your prerogative.

[At lease he seems amused. ]

How are you settling in? These other worlds can be a...difficult transition.

[Amused is good, she likes him looking amused.]

Before I came here, I was told such things could be possible. That there were pathways between worlds that we could never hope to imagine, worlds that had been forgotten by my people centuries ago. I had believed it, and then I saw it firsthand, and then when I landed here it... Well, it's not where I want to be, but I suppose it could be worse. I would definitely prefer a little more green, though.

Those chocolate cups though, I did enjoy those. This place does have those as a point in its favor.

Ah yes. I remember Merrill disliked all the metal. I suppose it is a Dalish thing.

[He doesn't get it. He's been a city elf all of his life, both remembered and forgotten. Outdoors is something he generally avoids unless he absolutely has to go to it. Give him civilisation any day. ]

Ah, I did not eat mine.

[Because he is not going to eat magic food. He's not. ]

[She could say it's an elf thing, but thanks to Sera Jove knows it absolutely is not. An elfy thing, yes, but not all elves feel at home in the forest, so she doesn't object.

Even if trees are totally great, get with it Fenris.]

You didn't? Do you not like chocolate?

[Its such a good job Sera exists, Fenrus would have been so very offended.

Trees are dumb. ]

More to the fact we do not know where it comes from. It just appears, I will not eat magical food.

[Such blasphemy wow.

And she considers that for a moment, then grins.]

What if some sort of very potent Qunari drink showed up, and everyone else who had some only suffered the effects expected of very potent Qunari drinks? Would you have some then?

[All the blasphemy. Dumb elven gods. Andraste all the way.]

No. It does not matter what it is, it is the fact it is magic.

[Hopefully you'll like Andraste's herald as much as you seem to like Andraste herself, Fenris. IMAGINE HOW AWKWARD. Speaking of awkward, there certainly is a theme making itself quite clear here.]

Do you like anything that happens to be magic? I had hoped we would be friends, in time, but I'm a mage. That won't be a problem, will it?

[That will be super awkward, and he'll just wonder how Sebastian would handle it (badly, probably). ]

I am capable of befriending mages, if they understand that their abilities are something they need to control. That there is an understanding that they can be very dangerous, if they misused their abilities. The Circles exist for a reason, if mages do not understand the risk they present to others, and learn to control themselves, then they are sewing the seeds of not only their own destruction, but those of all who get near them.

I have seen too much of the alternative to think otherwise.

[Times like this, Jove is very glad these are things she's heard before from Vivienne. She's had a conversation very much like this before, she knows how it goes. He'll expect her to argue with him vehemently about mage rights, most likely, but that has never been a topic she felt she had much say in.]

Magic was handled differently in my clan. We don't fear our magic manifesting, but the moment it does the Keeper steps in to teach us to control it, to let it become part of who we are but never to rely on only it to solve our problems.

[She pauses to take a drink, watching Fenris as she does. She hadn't really wanted to get into the politics side of things, but now she can't help being curious. He doesn't know how badly things have gone, will go in his future, and she's never had a chance like this to find out how people thought of mages and circles before everything blew up. Literally.]

Do you think that there are any problems with Circles as they are now? I've only heard stories, and they haven't always been good ones.

Something the Dalish are capable of doing. Going my Merrill's experiences, you all seemed to be ignorant fools, wallowing in your own blindness.

[He wins ALL the making friends prizes, can't you tell? ]

If you were to ask someone like Anders, he would tell you they are prisons. But the mages within the Circles have more freedom than they know. They can still be their own people, follow the pursuits their magic takes them. I know what it is to be truly trapped, and the circle is not that.

[The only thing that keeps her from finally losing patience with him is the simple fact that he isn't saying anything she hasn't heard from Solas now. Solas had tended to frame it with a little less hostility, but in the end it's the same thing.]

Some of us try to see things the way they are. It does no one any benefit to assume one thing is true of an entire people. My clan may have handled magic users that way, but they weren't all kind. I met a woman who had been cast out of her clan as a child, left to fend for herself because she was one mage too many for them. My clan was tolerant, but hers?

[But this is verging towards the obviously sensitive topic of his past, and it feels a little like navigating around ice mines. One wrong step and she has no doubt he'll freeze her out completely and she has absolutely no desire to see that happen. She likes Fenris, and she doesn't want to upset him by making light of what he had suffered.]

I believe that the Circles could do good, if they were managed in the same way across Thedas. Mages should be protected, from outside forces just as much as from themselves. In the same way one Dalish clan can treat mages well, another can leave them to die and from what I understand, some Circles behave in the same way with not many mages knowing it could even be different for them. There's just something about that that seems wrong, to me. Everyone has the right to live comfortably with themselves and who they are.

[And she is absolutely not drunk enough to be having this conversation.]

I have no doubt each clan deals with the issue differently.

[The fact she doesn't try to belittle his suffering works well for her. That was, ultimately, one of Anders' biggest mistakes.]

Hmm. They need not be badly treated. They simply need to be kept safe from everyone, including themselves. Magic is dangerous, and needs to be treated as such. If such precautions were taken, I would feel much more at ease with the way the Circles are currently run.

[Oh. Well, here she was gearing up for something more than that, but it's a nice surprise she doesn't have to worry about an argument.]

I'm glad we think similarly about that much, then. I'd hate to think you'd prefer to see me in chains.

I do not want to see anyone in chains. There is a vast difference, between complete freedom and that.

[He exhales, frowning at the floor.]

I just don't want to see the rest of Thedas follow Tevinter's example.

[She snorts, actually snorts, and drains the last of her drink.]

That's not something you have to worry about, I promise.

[With the world looking to her to set the new rules about how mages and templars interact, there's no doubt in Jove's mind she'll do everything in her power to keep Thedas from looking anything like Tevinter does, in every way that counts.]

Do you want another drink? I think we need more drinks.

[She'll just wave her hand to take care of that.]

I certainly hope so. Dorian seems adamant on change, but I am not convinced on how successful he will be.

[There's a ghost of a smile. ]

I would not refuse such an offer, thank you.

[Open Moons Mingle Log]

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