driftfleet | Don’t care if he’s guilty, don’t care if he’s not

Who: Adalwolfe Hawke and you
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Yes (Three Twins med bay)
When: Now

[Video]

[Some may know and some may not, but even with the little communications crisis going on right now, Adalwolfe is not on the ship he's assigned to. Currently, he's been haunting the medical bay of the Three Twins instead, which is what's vaguely in the background of the video as it winks into broadcast.]

Hey everyone, Hawke here. The male one, obviously.

[He takes an awkward breath, looking a little dark and strained around the eyes, mostly from lack of sleep.]

I know there are other things going on, and these comas are perhaps old hat to some of you especially with how frequently they've been going around right now, but is it... is it normal to age so quickly in one of these mysterious comas?

[He rolls his chair out of the way of the device he has sitting on the counter, giving a side view of Anders laying prone in one of the hospital style cots, eyes closed and Ser Pounce-a-lot the orange tabby curled on his chest with no intention of moving. Anders has grown far more gaunt than when he was up and around last week, and has more than his carefully groomed five-o-clock shadow in stubble about the chin. The beard would be worse if Adalwolfe hadn't taken the time to carefully shave his fellow mage, but he's not about to announce that on the network.]

I hope it is. Otherwise I'm worried he'll waste away like this.

[Adalwolfe rolls back into view, blocking all but the swishing of Ser Pounce's tail.]

Also, to the First Breath crew, I'm sorry I'm not there to take care of the device. I'll be back--

[A glance back at Anders and Hawke shakes his head.]

I'll be back when I'm back. Until then, help yourselves to the bread and things I have stored in the galley from the last planet as an apology. There should be enough to last weeks. Just leave enough of the frozen meat to last Ser Drools until the next planet.

[With an uncharacteristically grim expression, Hawke pauses, then decides he's said his piece until someone answers, and shuts off the feed rather abruptly.]

[Action]

After shutting off the feed, Hawke leans back in his chair, flopping his forearm over his eyes for a moment as if that will somehow block out his worry. He's not sure what he's more anxious over - the thought that Anders won't wake up by himself and he'll have to try and desperately wake him in a panic before he turns to nothing but a husk, or the thought that Anders will wake up with memories of his future, memories of Kirkwall, and Adalwolfe won't be in them. It's a distinct possibility, either way. They both remember Riona, which bodes well, but so does Leliana and yet Leliana doesn't know him at all, which puts him back to square one on what to expect.

Ser Drools whines from under the console at Hawke's feet, responding to his master's turmoil. Or responding to his own turmoil at not being able to get close to Anders' bed for the cat keeping stalwart vigil on Blondie's chest.

Hawke lowers his arm and leans down to pet his dog instead, trying to stop moping and fretting for Ser Drools' sake as much as his own. He's just resolving to do that when the door opens and Adalwolfe's attention spins to that, hand poised over his puppy to see who's come in and for what.

"If you need medical attention, I'm afraid the doctor is out just now."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He's not going to address that, not when he knows good came of it, and that he believes it's the best place for Feynriel with the Circles being what they are. They would have made him Tranquil, and with his choice in wanting to leave the Elves, it's not as if Marethari could have made him stay. He would have ended up there anyway, with nowhere he'd have been able to return to if things went poorly. It's an ideological argument though, and not one he's willing to have with Fenris. At least, not yet.]

Something like that ritual, a way to get into Anders' head, might work. Anders said after Kirkwall that he and Vengeance are one, that he can't tell the difference anymore, but I don't believe that. If there's a way to separate them, it's going to either be in the Fade - which we can't get to directly as far as I'm aware - or in his mind.

[Hawke drums his fingers on the table in front of him, thinking.]

You've been here quite a bit longer than I have. Do you know of anyone trustworthy with the ability to mindwalk?

Edited 2016-08-17 00:09 (UTC)

[Fenris would much rather go the tranquil route with Feynriel. It would have been safer for everyone. But any Hawke he's spoken to of such things tends to be rather touchy about the subject, and he really isn't in the mood to, once again, explain his reasoning's. None of them have lived in Tevinter. None of them know truly how bad it can be.]

I do not think so. But I do not really make it my business to grow close enough to people with magical abilities to learn of such things. The few I was aware of have gone.

You would have to ask around.

I will. Discreetly, if I can manage.

[One would think, knowing the man, that discretion isn't really in his repertoire but there's something to be said for his ability to hide certain important things in his adult life. He was never arrested for apostacy, which is a miracle in the later years of Kirkwall, considering, but his time in Ferelden had been tempered by his father's words in order to keep their family safe. This, too, is to keep his family safe. Anders has suffered enough, Adalwolfe won't be the cause for furthering it if he can help it, eve if this has to be done.]

I understand if asking you to do the same is too much.

I will see what I can do, but understand I am doing this neither for his sake, nor yours. I'm doing it to protect the people in this Fleet, the people on my ship. It's my job to do so.

[He may not want Anders to die, but they aren't exactly on good terms, either. And he and Adalwolfe...well, maybe in time he will learn to tolerate the man, but the trust will never be there. These are two people plans to exercise caution with for the rest of his time here. He isn't planning on doing them any favours.

But his crew, and the few friends he's made elsewhere in the Fleet...they deserve to be safe. ]

I understand that perfectly.

[It leaves a bad taste in his mouth and the thought comes unbidden that maybe there's little point in him actually trying with Fenris. He pushes it aside as leftover aftermath of that terrible night in Kirkwall, that he won't know until he tries. Continues to try, at any rate, but Fenris' open disregard for him is a frustrating thing to someone used to being heeded by those around him whether he's aware of it or not.]

I'm not going to let anything happen to jeopardize innocent people.

[He considers making a jab at whatever Hawke Fenris knew, that he must have been terrible at keeping those in his care safe if Fenris believes of Adalwolfe that he would willingly put others in danger, but ultimately it's too petty and too much like holding up a mirror to his own idiotic face. Garrett is Marian is Adalwolfe and while there are differences, there are painful similarities too.

Father dead. Mother dead. At least one sibling always dead. He always fails at something. And apparently, by all evidence, he himself is the worst offender just due to the cranky elf on the other end of the line.

Damn it all to the Void.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.]

Whoever it's for, just don't do anything without talking to me first. That's all I ask.

I'm glad to hear that, on both counts.

[He would happily give Adalwolfe a really long list of reasons why his Hawke is an absolute dickhead. The man couldn't go anywhere without starting a fight with someone, and seemed to delight into goading his companions into arguments with him on a nigh constant basis. Still, he'd earned all their loyalties, despite his abrasive attitude. They all knew however much they wanted to punch him, he would still have their corner. ]

Believe me, I have no intention of doing otherwise.

[He'd kind of like to hear it. Or maybe not. He wouldn't be sure, if it were actually on the table. Maybe it will be at some point but right now he feels he's pushing his luck on this conversation not somehow morphing into an argument despite being on the same page about the issue at hand. He's not going to start off on a tangent that in all likelihood will make him intensely uncomfortable.]

Thank you. I'll let you know if I find anything.

[He's not sure if Fenris would have an opinion on it so long as it ostensibly does what they're after, or if Fenris not being a mage would even understand whatever undoubtedly complex spell Hawke locates, but the deference to his opinion has to count for something, right?]

[Wise move on his part. After all, dealing with Fenris is trying to coax an angry cat out of a room filled with rocking chairs. ]

I appreciate that.

[It counts for more than he can truly realise, even if Fenris isn't of the mind to show it just yet. It's something to think about.]

[It's a funny thing how Adalwolfe works. He's actually quite diplomatic when needed, even if he doesn't feel as if he is at all. It's because he always sees how things could have gone better instead of feeling relief that they didn't go much worse. At least in this instance he feels a modicum of success in ending the call amicably instead of one of them abruptly cutting it off angrily.]

Until then.

[He smiles a bit, maybe a little awkwardly but there's still hopefulness there, even if its intermingled with relief, and then he turns hits the end key on his device.

Now to wait and see if any of this had any point. If Anders never actually wakes up, then...

He doesn't want to think about it.]

Don’t care if he’s guilty, don’t care if he’s not

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