driftfleet | [muffled spooky scary skeletons playing in the distance]

No, she was, um. Pretty receptive, when it was those two. A woman named Hawke, and a pirate whose name I never really caught? I didn't get along well with her team.

[Surely the prospect of a lady named Hawke isn't weird.]

... I think I remember that, actually. Lio- I mean, Hawke, and her, were from slightly different timelines or something. I guess... The most important question, then, if you're from her world and know her that well, is...

What the fuck is your world like that makes her think a life-or-death game is a good time to start discussing the properties of lube?!

[THIS HAS BEEN BOTHERING HER FOREVER.]

Ah. Another Hawke. I have a lot of brothers and sisters from other versions of Thedas, it seems. Weird how it always seems to be us, the Hero of Ferelden, and the Inquisitor that are different.

[He shakes his head.]

And the pirate would be Isabela, most likely. She's a rough sort so I'm not surprised you didn't get on with her very well. She's not a bad person though, and I know she fancied Merrill a bit before she left...

[He stops talking to let Nightingale finish and bursts out laughing at her question. That was definitely not what he was expecting.]

Ohhh Maker's balls, that's hilarious.

[He clutches his stomach, trying to stop laughing long enough to answer. Finally he manages, wiping a tear from his eye.]

Ahh... well, the amount of time we spent with people trying to kill us from all sides, you sort of just have to make time alongside that for silly conversation.

It would be a lot more hilarious if it wasn't another member of that "Isabela"'s team! Or in the middle of that game, and- Will someone please teach her what good timing is?!

[No. No one will ever teach Daisy that.]

... I don't know those other two names you mentioned, though.

She'll never learn that, I'm sorry to say. Though not too sorry, it sort of brightens the mood her talking about whatever crosses her mind as it does so.

[He grins, and waves away her not knowing the Hero and the Inquisitor.]

Just people of note from my worlds, it's not important here.

[She groans, slumping over, and dropping her face into her hands. Why is her life so hard?

... But after a moment, she sighs, and straightens up again, voice quiet, but face still in her hands.]

... Is she doing well there?

We split up a few years back, but from what I hear she's helping elves in the city where I met her. She used to send letters, sometimes. She'd stick dried flowers in them.

[He still has some, safely stowed away in the same pouch where he keeps his potions.]

... That sounds like her. I'm glad.

But... "used to"?

[The concern is obvious in her voice.]

Well she can't very well send me letters here in the fleet, can she?

[He wishes. He misses those so much.]

[She laughs a little, relieved. She is glad that's what he meant.]

I don't know. If anyone could figure out a way, through magic or just being too nice for the Atroma to deny, I bet it's her.

Hah, can you imagine? If there was television in Thedas I'm sure she'd watch this. She likes watching people be themselves. She would people watch in the Alienage or in the Hanged Man when we'd meet for Wicked Grace. Somehow, she's shrewd and sanguine at the same time.

[She groans again, before addressing the air.]

Daisy, if you're watching this somehow, either find a way to get us out of here, or at least find a way to get us some privacy, please. It is really hard to get a mood going with Opal with the fear of being watched.

[SIGHS.]

If she can see this, that should get her attention, and she'll be here soon.

[That little diatribe pulls another round of guffaws from Adalwolfe, who bends over double laughing until Nightingale is done.]

Ahh, yes, Daisy to the rescue with her ball of twine to bring us all home. Perfect.

[He smiles, laughter still pulling at the corners of his mouth.]

I know what you mean about getting in the mood, though. We make do but it's still such a weird thought knowing that however many viewers are going to see your ass and there's nothing you can do about it.

[He is perhaps not as upset about that as he could be, but then again Adalwolfe doesn't have as much shame as most people.]

[Nightingale kind of understands, she has literally zero body shame.

On the other hand, she has a lot of shame about showing feelings, and a romantic mood is about as full of feelings as you can get.]

Look, she was near-constantly walking in on us back at the castle, no matter where we were. Along with the rest of our teams. If anything's going to get her here, it's the chance to make my life even more unintentionally awkward.

Sound logic to me.

[He kicks the seed pod idly, suddenly homesick for all this talk, but he tries not to show it.]

You were going to try a spell with my staff, weren't you?

Yeah, that's right.

[... wait, but this guy's from Thedas, so....]

But mine doesn't involve blood, so I hope that won't affect your staff or anything?

[...Ah. Right. If she only knows Merrill's magic...]

Blood magic isn't actually the predominant form our magic takes. Actually it's taboo and frowned upon heavily. I don't practice it.

Oh. ... That's right, her memories were like that were like that... I thought it was just because she's an elf.

[She takes a deep breath, holds out the staff, and closes her eyes.

This magic is new to her. As far as she knows, it's new to anyone in her world. It's similar to others, but it's still totally unique. To channel mana, especially a completed spell, into an object? It's not that hard to make a one-use item if you're an incredible master- Teleport Stones or the like- But an infinitely reusable one? That can have its spell swapped out at will?

She honestly doesn't know how it works. But she knows how to do it. She doesn't know the theory, but she knows the steps. She doesn't know the why, but she knows what to do.

As she grips the staff, she lets out a slow breath. With her breath, fire curls down her arm, snaking in a spiral and leaving her arm behind, fire burning from and coiling around the staff, without consuming or touching it. The fire itself seems to bubble, with little explosions popping out of the coiled flames.]

[It's surprising to see how magic from another world works, to feel how the mana coalesces into a spell and interacts with his focus. Or... seem not to touch the staff at all but instead wind its way around it like a snake around a branch. He's never seen magic act quite like that. He's sure he could make it, though maybe not with fire as he's not as practiced with that, but the mana itself is easily enough manipulated into a helix, but it would take a different kind of coordination and mental acuity than Nightingale is showing here, and mostly he's surprised the fire doesn't blast from the dragon's mouth at the head of the staff instead of curling and popping around the shaft of wood in her hands.]

Is that normal for your magic?

I have no idea. I invented this entire branch of magic about a month ago, about ten seconds before I ended up on the hospital for a month.

[she sounds very blunt about it.]

I am figuring it out as I go, honestly.

Hm. Well it's definitely some sort of elemental magic, but it's... I can't explain it, it just feels different. How does it work?

It's... It's, sort of, um....

[oh, god, why this.]

Okay, let's start with this. Do you know what a Spellblade technique is?

Is that the thing Knight-Enchanters can do, where they summon a spirit blade, or do you mean giving elemental properties to weapons with magic?

The second one.

My grandfather was, as far as I know, the only Spellblade in the world. He gave his attacks the properties of some spells, He was a physical fighter who had none of the weaknesses of that way of fighting- Her power and versatility were unparalleled, and combined with my grandmother, they were probably some of the strongest in the world.

But there's a lot of reasons why Spellblade techniques shouldn't work. The metal's conductivity of mana, bypassing physical resistances, everything. So, I've been trying to recreate his techniques with my weapons, using something I encountered back in those 'calibrations' as a base. I've never gotten it to work until I was a hair away from dying.

Thanks to that moment of inspiration, I can do it, but... I'm still working out the 'how'.

That seems more dramatic than what my boyfriend knows how to do. He can give weapons an edge so the wounds they inflict will burn or freeze or various other elemental properties, but I've never seen anything that looks like that. It seems like a sustained fire spell that you can swing the weapon with and deal both sorts of damage, is that right?

Me, I'm only ever able to funnel my mana through my weapon to strengthen and direct a spell.

No, no, it's a little more, um...

... It might be easier to show you than to tell. We need to find a target to fight. Can you stop one of the animals around here without killing it?

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