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

[wolfehawke]

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."

Comments

[ladybro]

That's a novel plan: be boring.

[ kate dumps the box's contents into heaps of little cardboard pieces on the table.

with a crooked smile and a wink: ] Not sure I know how to be boring.

[wolfehawke]

Then we're doomed because I have no idea either.

[He chuckles at their plan, failed before it had ever begun, and reaches over to spread the pieces out a bit more visibly.]

What are these made from? It's like paper but stronger.

[ladybro]

It is paper, but stronger. [ she starts sorting through the pieces -- as though she's looking for something in particular. ] It's called cardboard, and it bears many gifts. Puzzles. Pizzas. Prada purses wrapped up in tissue paper.

[ aha! she picks up a piece with two smooth edges. ] Let's start with the corners. And the edge pieces.

[wolfehawke]

[Since his attention should be otherwise occupied, Adalwolfe lets the bottlecaps gently float to the corner of the table and rest there, letting go of the spell.]

I still want to try this pizza everyone's been talking about. It's like... bread with melted things on it, isn't it?

[He picks up a piece of the puzzle and examines the striations of cardboard at the edges before putting it down and starting to look for the corners as edges as Kate suggested.]

It must be popular on Earth if both you and Wrath are so enamored.

[ladybro]

[ she watches the bottle caps float easily into place with a distracted smile -- hawke, and his magic, reminds her (at times) of billy kaplan. it's a distinction she won't make out loud, but it certainly colours and warms the way she interacts with him. ]

It's popular. [ her attention glides easily back to hawke himself. ] And definitely worth trying, but anything you find in the Fleet pales in comparison to a real New York slice.

[wolfehawke]

I wonder why they do that, deprive us of real food and relegate everything to weird pastes. Maybe for it to keep at long stretches, but I thought that's why ice boxes were invented.

[He huffs a bit, but his complaint has no real force behind it and he starts plucking pieces with flat edges out of the pile and into a separate smaller pile.]

Maybe a sponsor will send some. If there's technology to pull people from different times and places, I don't see why it wouldn't work on food.

[ladybro]

Fair point. [ she takes a long drink from her bottle. ] I don't know -- it'd be better than some of the other sponsor gifts I keep seeing. Not that I've had anything of my own, yet.

[ lopsided smile. ] I must not be popular enough with the audience.

[wolfehawke]

Me either, apparently. I haven't gotten a thing. Though if it's all make-up and communicator cases, I'm not sure I care.

[It never seems to be anything useful. With a snort, he sets down a puzzle piece and reaches for the snacks. Mmm, cheese crackers.]

Unless it was five stone of these. They're completely addictive.

[ladybro]

Careful what you wish for. [ she teases. ] They'll go straight to your thighs.

[wolfehawke]

[He puts on a simpering falsetto and brings one hand dramatically to his chest.]

Maker forbid! How will I ever be seen at the Satinalia dance this year with thick thighs?

[ladybro]

[ bahaha, you sound like her sister. bless you. ]

Satinalia, huh? Is that a big deal? Like the Met Gala?

[wolfehawke]

No idea what a Met Gala is, but Satinalia is a holiday. There's big parties and everyone wears masks and eats as much as they want. They even name whoever would be silliest as king or queen for a day, like the village idiot or drunk. My uncle was named that in Kirkwall once. He wasn't very happy until everyone started shoving beer in his face.

[He looks amused but also somewhat disgusted as he finishes off his own beer.]

[ladybro]

Sounds like a party. [ ... ] Or maybe that's just me. Somehow, I end up at a lot of parties where masks are almost compulsory.

[ almost. ]

[wolfehawke]

I'm not usually a huge fan of masks, but when I was a boy we got to make our own and I always made the fiercest dragon I could muster. One year my mother even made me a cape shaped like wings.

[He grins fondly.]

Of course those things are so much more fun when you're an adult. I still did a dragon mask though.

[ladybro]

Maybe it's a bit like Halloween. [ ... ] How's the candy situation during these balls?

[wolfehawke]

Sweets for the kids, but that's most holidays.

[He munches a handful of crackers.]

What's Halloween?

[ladybro]

It's a holiday dreamed up mostly to sell chocolate bars, I think. [ ... ] It's all about cheap scares and even cheaper costumes. Kids go door-to-door, getting treats.

[wolfehawke]

I think that sounds wonderful. I love costumes.

[He starts moving the puzzle pieces around again.]

You don't sound too impressed though.

[ladybro]

In my usual line of work? Everyone wears costumes. 365 days a year. So the Halloween thing kinda starts to get boring -- especially when you start to see little girls dressing up as you for the night.

Makes you really take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror.

[wolfehawke]

Why would you wear a costume all that long? And I don't know, I think it would be flattering to be the subject of admiration for children.

[ladybro]

Costume might be the wrong word. Where I come from, a lot of the good guys where disguises.

[wolfehawke]

Why would they do that?

[Disguises aren't really a thing unless you're trying to sneak into somewhere you don't belong. Sometimes the good guys have to do that, in his experience, but not all the time.]

[ladybro]

To protect your loved ones. Your civilian life. Many don't like the limelight. [ kate leans back. ] I'm pretty open about who I am, back home -- but all the same I fought for the rights of others to keep their identities secret. It's a contentious topic, back home.

[wolfehawke]

Hm... maybe it would make things easier.

[The more he thinks about it, the more he wishes he'd thought of it back in Kirkwall. He and Anders could have been some sort of... masked avengers, saving mages and thwarting Templars. Maybe Anders could have even avoided the horrible fallout of what he'd done. But that feels too far. He still wishes he could have stopped Anders in the first place. if he'd only told him...

Adalwolfe sighs and reaches for another beer.]

Or maybe not.

[ladybro]

It does make it easier. For some people. And for others, I think it just muddies the waters even more. [ ... ] After all, it legitimizes lying. And while a lie isn't always the worst thing...

[ kate shrugs. the conversation might be a little too heavy for the moment. ]

Like me. I'm Kate. But I'm also Hawkeye. A few years back, it made sense to hide who I really was. And even though I don't anymore, I'm still Hawkeye. Probably half of why I don't mind you so much.

[ hawke. hawkeye. ]