driftfleet | I've done my sentence but committed no crime

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I've done my sentence but committed no crime

Who: Adalwolfe Hawke and you!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: On the Iskaulit
When: Nowish

Broadcast

[The video pops up with Adalwolfe's face centered in the camera, but with the background moving behind him, clearly showing the familiar corridors of the Iskaulit. He's making his way to his new job at Málum as bartender.]

So I noticed on the list of scheduled lectures posted a bit ago that there are several on magic, not to mention several people I've spoken with having positive or relaxed reactions to its use. It's incredibly strange to me that everyone is so open and accepting of this, considering the doctrine regarding magic in my home of Thedas, so it begs the following question and I hope at least someone from outside of Thedas will indulge me:

What is magic like on your world? Is it regulated? Does everyone have the ability to use it, or only a small number of people? Are there prejudices that go along with that.

Ah, well, I suppose that's more than one question. Still, if you're willing to talk about it, please feel free to respond to this post and I'll get back to you when I'm finished with work. Thank you!

[The video clicks off.]

Action

It's only a short walk from the hanger to the bar, but Adalwolfe takes his time since he can't watch where he's going very well as he's recording on his device. Which could lead to all kinds of problems. He seems to be avoiding walls okay, but if a person, say, came out of a corridor nearby or happened to step in front of him at just the right time before he put down the little screen, he might just bowl right into them, or walk right past without noticing a mischievous foot out for him to trip over. Honestly, he's an open target. Or at least seems like it...

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[Dezel likes to be nosy, and the bug ship is pretty good for that. He's been working on a home for the rats. But when he's not taping together cardboard tubes, he likes to see just who hangs out here... and that includes silver fox mages.

He doesn't approach him openly, but he does lean on the wall nearby. If Hawke has no sensitivity to seraphim-- up to you-- then at the very least, he will feel watched.]

[ Bowling right into someone seems about right, because even if Jihwan's mildly paying attention to where he's going, the last thing he expects it so be hit by the wall of muscle that is Hawke. He jsut just enough time to look up before he's knocked clean off his feet and winds up sprawled on his back with a sound of surprise. ]

--Hey! Watch it!

[Adalwolfe pockets his device and raises his hands to adjust the collar of his shirt as he strides right by Dezel, seemingly not noticing him at all and humming tunelessly under his breath as he heads for Málum.

He stops mid-note half a step later, going very still with his hands still at his shirt. He barely even breathes, instead listening hard for whatever it is that's making the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up, but all he perceives so far is the movement of recycled air through the ship's life support systems.

But there is something here. He knows it.]

Hello?

[Adalwolfe, for all his aforementioned wall of muscle, gets pushed sideways from the impact instead of knocked over, but he's quick to shove his device in his pocket and whip to look at who he might have hurt.]

Jihwan!

[He leans down to offer a hand up.]

Are you hurt? I should have been paying more attention.

[A lot of humans have some amount of resonance, they just have to learn to use it. He isn't as surprised as he could be that Hawke can sense him, but it's still worth investigating. And he did say hello.]

Hey.

[He's not sure if Adalwolfe can hear him, though usually he's audible before he's visible. Just in case, he switches on his communicator so that it can echo what he's saying.]

Don't worry. I'm not a monster.

[He doesn't jump so much as stay completely still, even as he hears his communicator pop on in his pocket. It's a strange echo effect, hearing the voice through transmission and vaguely through the air at once in dissonant concert.]

Are you a spirit?

[Of course opening with 'I'm not a monster' makes Adalwolfe consider that he might be speaking with a demon, but who even knows. He's not going to count anything out in a place as strange as space.]

[And here he was expecting 'SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING A MONSTER WOULD SAY' because he hangs out with a bunch of sarcastic jerks. Just like himself. Still, Adalwolfe's reaction gets some amusement: a low hmph.]

Sort of. I'm a wind seraph.

Well that explains why I can't see you.

[He smirks as if that's some kind of joke.]

I've never heard of a spirit having to do with a particular natural element, just embodiments of concepts. Were you pulled here the same as everyone else or did you come through the Fade?

[An important question for Hawke's curiosity. He hasn't dreamed since he arrived. Slept, yes, but even if he's no Fade walker he does tend to remember dreaming and have them regularly and yet in the Fleet he hasn't had any. It's made him wonder if the Fade is even connected to this place, or if it's a strictly Thedosian area. Or even another, separate world that Thedas just happens to touch. It's all very confusing.]

[A joke that is true is often the best kind of joke.]

Seraphim have lived alongside humans for ages. We live and die, just like you do. Some even have families.

[Not Dezel, though.]

I woke up here just like you did. What's the Fade?

Something unique to Thedas, apparently. It's where everyone but Dwarves go when they dream, at least in their minds, but also the realm of the spirits and where people go when they die. I'd thought it was connected to everywhere in that if there are Humans from other worlds they go there to dream as well, but that doesn't seem to be the case, especially if you're a spirit - or something like a spirit - and didn't come from there.

[At least that's his understanding of the Fade.]

[Riona is making the same mistake as Hawke: not looking where she's going while she's on the communicator. In her case, she's simply checking messages and taking a look at some of the files others in the fleet have uploaded during their time. She smiles a little when she comes across something she likes, and it drags her attention away from her surroundings-

-and that's how she runs smack dab into Hawke.

What she lets loose is a bit of an undignified yelp as she stumbles back and into the wall. But she quickly laughs and starts to apologize.]

Maker, I am so sorry! This thing had-

[She cuts off when she sees just who it is she ran into. And immediately the laughter - and her smile - fade. Of all the fucking luck, she bumps into the one person she really didn't want to see.

Sigh. And she promised Leliana she would avoid him...]

[He yelps just as she does, shifting to the side in a sort of lithe dance move that someone of his size probably shouldn't rightly be able to pull off. He keeps his feet and immediately starts to apologize at the same time she does.]

Andraste's knickers I'm sorry, I-

[And realizes who he's talking to at the same time she does.

Maker's balls, and he'd done such a good job of avoiding her so far.]

...are you alright? I should have been watching where I was going.

[He finally ventures, glad she didn't fall over and he'd need to risk offering her a hand up that she might otherwise snap off. Even for all his wariness, he does look earnest about her well being.]

I can do alchemy- I think of it as a science, but from what I've gathered it's closer to what other people call "magic" and can perform some of the same functions. It's the deconstruction and reconstruction of matter into new forms.

Magic in my world is regulated, but it's used freely. There are laws in place to stop people hurting each other or abusing their power, and we do our best to make sure people without magic have no idea that it's real at all.

[ Hesitating, she huffs a little noise. ]

It was different in the world I was in before this one. Anyone could use magic as long as they knew the right runes, and it wasn't a secret, even if certain types of magic were frowned upon.

Anyone might use magic, if they do their best to learn and acquire the proper teacher.

[ She tilts her head up, expression stoney and serious. ]

There are ideas on what types of magic are right and wrong. Some are taboo, others are not.

[Her lips press firmly together as she straightens up.]

I am fine.

[Ah, but she can all but hear her mother scolding her now for not returning the question, even given their... circumstances. Yet that concerns maintaining appearances, and the only one she wants to maintain is one of stone cold anger. Seeing him standing there, it brings back that conversation and the emotions that came with it. Anger bubbles up again in her chest. Luckily, at least the shock of the news has long since passed. She can think more clearly.

Of course, whether or not she chooses to will remain to be seen.

But now they're left at an awkward impasse. The smart thing to do would be to just leave, lest more words be spoken and a fight ensues. She looks away from him, debating what to do. Leave. Just leave.

Her mouth opens, harsh words wanting to come out and lash out at him again. She promptly shuts it and exhales hard through her nose. She begins to take tentative steps to leave, even as her fists curl up at her sides.]

[He should let he go. There's no law here that says he has to show her deference, and he's hardly Ferelden anymore anyway despite what he told her.

But he is honestly sorry for what happened, and scarred by that event besides. She acts as if he meant for it all to happen, as if he'd wrestled Alistair to the ground and murdered him in cold blood. He'd never do such a thing, as irritating as the King could be at times, extolling the virtues of the very same order that tried to have him hunted down. He actually liked Alistair to a point. He was a noble man and an apt warrior.

His choice in women could have been better, if Riona is adamant on persecuting those who's fault things aren't, of course...

Annoyed at the brush off, and against his better judgement, Adalwolfe speaks up.]

My lady, don't you think it would be better if we had it out now instead of attempting to avoid each other forever?

[...She wants it on the record that she tried to do the smart thing and walk away. Noted and notarized, quite frankly.

Her eyes dart back over to him, narrowing slightly in trepidation. There's truth to his words, even though it may not mean the best outcome. Though quite frankly, she is getting sick of stewing on it. His offer is pretty damn tempting; the roiling anger doesn't help things, either.

Sorry, Leliana.]

And how exactly do you propose we have it out? I can scream at you until I'm blue in the face, but it won't accomplish much. You're not the primary responsible party. Though you are sadly the closest thing to it in this place.

[She never laid the majority of the blame on Hawke. That's reserved for this Inquisitor Lavellan of his. What she does blame him for is what he didn't do.]

Is that actually what you think? Because it seems like you're blaming me all the same.

[He folds his arms, knowing he's being petulant, but he can't quite shake the chip on his shoulder. The chip that she's no more guilty of than he is of the situation with Alistair. It's not her fault that Anders remembers her and not him, but it sticks in his craw regardless.]

What would you have me have done? There was no time for a lengthy debate or a game of Wicked Grace to determine who would cover our escape.

[ For once there is no image of the hotter Hawke with a sly grin or half-assed comment about the content matter. Only a few words that most definitely came from one 'Marian Hawke'. ]

we need to talk

[It was... strange how they left their first meeting. Friendly but awkward, not knowing exactly where to step but knowing where not to. Because of that, Adalwolfe isn't certain where this is going to go but he does know that 'we need to talk' isn't usually followed by rainbows and puppies.

He encrypts the text channel and ducks into a supply closet at the back of the bar, the few minutes it took to fuss with the settings giving him ample time to get to work and then proceed to tuck himself away instead of actually, y'know, start work.]

Something the matter? :/

I blame your inaction.

[She turns back around to fully face him. Inhaling, she straightens and draws herself to her full height, with her chin tipped up. Which isn't much at 5'5".]

A debate? No, perhaps not. But I would have had you stop him. Run ahead of him. Tackle him if you needed to. Turn him into a damn icicle. I hardly care what exactly so long as it didn't kill him and it stopped him from dying.

[ Maker's ass she wants to laugh but she doesn't, can't, too wound up in knots that she can't smooth out. ]

not over the network

Would you have done? In the middle of a battle? Maker, I thought you had quite a list of experience considering you stopped the Blight and whatever that business in Amaranthine was, but you're telling me that my first thought in the middle of a battle with hordes of demons controlled by the fattest demon of all in the middle of the Fade should not have been escape but instead to protect someone who by all rights should be bloody able to protect himself after having training as both a Warden and a Templar.

[He drops his arms to his hips instead, fingers perched on them as he unintentionally looms at least six inches over her.]

I will take partial responsibility for Corypheus, fine, but I will not be held accountable for your husband's fool choices. If he had been so concerned with surviving, why didn't he stay in Denerim in the first place?

[Which is exactly the wrong thing to say and he regrets it the second it falls out of his mouth, but it's already there, hanging between them like an ugly moth.]

[Look he really enjoys the fact that you can make faces in text. It's so much nicer than having to decipher tone through the slant of letters or vocabulary used, half of which isn't even possible in typed text.]

I'm at work, at Malum.

[Which could either be an invitation or an excuse so he adds another bit.]

It's empty right now.

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I've done my sentence but committed no crime

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