( #003 )

[brainiest]

Who: Hermione Granger and you!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: On the Vanquish
When: 30/11 onwards

I think it might be time for me to ask for a little bit of advice.

I've been here a while, now, and I'm normally very good at not missing people. I used to give people tips on how to feel better about it, and it used to work for me, too, back when I was in the Drabwurld and there was a war to focus on. I would go and look in the library, but I can't imagine there's much of a help section there - dreadful, honestly - so.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to cheer yourself up, I'd be glad to hear it.

(Also: I have potions for all the ships on the fleet, now. If you'd like a set for your Lab, please let me know and I can bring them over!)

Comments

[wolfehawke]

No, I understand.

[He responds quietly, looking a little distant for a moment.]

I have a... friend. Sort of. I don't know anymore. I'm trying to be friends, anyway, but he's got some-

[Adalwolfe screws up his face for a moment, like he's tasted something sour.]

He has issues about near everything, and he's a glaring hypocrite about it. I try to be understanding but there are some days I just want to take him by the neck and shake him until he sees sense.

[He makes fists, then releases them along with a sigh.]

I've been told he's not worth my time, or that he'll never understand, but I can also see why he is how he is. It's hard not to want to try even when I know he probably doesn't even want me to. He's not a good person, but it doesn't mean he couldn't be. You can see it, sometimes, around the edges and it makes you think you can help. Was it like that?

[brainiest]

[ Hermione blinks, looking up at him for a moment before her mouth drops open in a small 'o'. When she speaks, it's with a soft nod. ]

That's... That's what it was like, really. He was there for some of the worst points in my time in the Drabwurld, and comforted me through a lot of pain - and I was there for him as well. He's not a good person, but he had the strength and the poetential to be someone amazing, far beyond any of his dreams or expectations. He just... Didn't have the heart to do it.

[ Her hand rubs absently at the red markings decorating her left hand. ]

I know I saw a side of him that he wanted me to see, but... I thought that, maybe, if I encouraged that side he might start to accept it. Accept that he could be good, or a hero. Maybe I was just blind.

[wolfehawke]

Who knows, but it's better to try, I think. At least if you're wrong, you did try, instead of writing someone off who could have been helped.

[He shrugs helplessly, leaving off the part where in the meantime with that philosophy, you end up becoming something of an emotional punching bag. He doesn't mind, personally, or so he tells himself.]

But now there's Cisco, right? And it's better? Just because I understand all that with Gilgamesh doesn't mean I'll stand for you being mistreated here in the fleet.

[He grins, nudging her shoulder. It's an effort to bring their minds off of the upsetting and the convoluted, especially before she asks anything about his friend. He's here for her, not to air his dirty laundry.]

[brainiest]

That's how I like to see it. I think I might have put my trust in the wrong people once or twice, but... At least I've tried and done my best.

[ Most of the time. Sometimes she just gets herself into all kinds of trouble and that's more of a nightmare than anything else she can even think of. ]

And - yes. It's better. [ Her cheeks are far darker red than they had been before. ] He's nothing like Gilgamesh, I promise. He actually likes me.

[wolfehawke]

[Oh he knows that, but all the good has to outweigh the bad.]

Well good, that's all I wanted to know. But if he ever treats you poorly, I have a blade on the end of my staff. That's all I'm saying.

[He jokes and offers her another chocolate. Of course he wouldn't actually harm Cisco. He'd talked to him at the Halloween party briefly, but he's fairly certain that the only harm he would do would be accidental.]

[brainiest]

[ Hermione lifts her head up and gives him a smile. ]

I've been trained in magic, hand to hand combat, swordfighting and duelling.

[ But she takes the chocolate and leans up to kiss his cheek all the same - because she understands. She'd do the same thing in return if her love for Anders didn't match her love for Hawke. ]

[wolfehawke]

Swordfighting?

[That's a new one. Most mages aren't proficient with swords.]

Were you studying to be a Knight Enchanter?

[He grins just a bit when she kisses his cheek, quite pleased to have his familial affections returned.]

[brainiest]

With a rapier, and an actual sword a friend made me.

[ She just smiles softly. ]

It was necessary for the war. I needed to be able to defend myself if my magic failed me.

[wolfehawke]

Prudent of you, especially since you all use wands instead of staffswords.

[Yes his staff with a blade on the end is called a staffsword. Or maybe he just calls it that because he's a giant goober.]

Mages who learn to wield swords in Thedas are called Knight Enchanters. They use their magic along with their swordplay. It's pretty impressive, but I've only ever seen loyalist mages use it. I don't know much about it but I bet if you already know how to wield a sword, you could learn to be a Knight Enchanter pretty easily.

[brainiest]

It all came about after my duel. I wasn't allowed to use magic then and I would've died, so it seemed... Prudent.

[ That's a word for it, at least, and Hermione tilts her head up to listen as Wolfe speaks. ]

Knight Enchanters... [ Tilting her head, she considers for a moment before she breathes out. ] It sounds fascinating. I'd love to learn.

[wolfehawke]

I wish I could teach you but I was never Chantry schooled so I have no idea what the training entails. Anders might, since he learned in the Circle.

[He shrugs, having no qualms about volunteering his boyfriend for information he may or may not know.]

I've thought about it too, but I think I prefer the range of the staff's blade end to a sword, even if a Knight Enchanter's blade is... made of spirits? Or just spirit magic. It was something like that.

[brainiest]

I'm sure Anders would love to see me using my magic in action.

[ She'd enjoyed seeing Wolfe's, after all. ]

I got used to the chance of not having magic at all in the Drabwurld. There was this granite that negated all magical effects, so it seemed prudent.

[wolfehawke]

What, a rock?

[He shouldn't be so surprised honestly, considering lyrium, but granite isn't magical or antimagical. It's just rock. He shakes his head and shrugs it off.]

Anyway, I'll let him know. Your magic is quite a bit more subtle than ours with your conjuring, so it's interesting to watch. Though Anders in general is more subtle than I am anyway so who knows, maybe you two have more in common with your casting.

[brainiest]

A special kind of rock. It was called Blood Granite and when I was kidnapped it's what stopped me from being able to escape.

[ She says, casually. ]

That might be the case! I know that my world and my magic are wildly different to yours already, so it's going to be interesting no matter what.

[wolfehawke]

Absolutely. I'll talk to him as soon as I get back, or you can shoot him a message.

[Oh great, now he knows there's a world where even the rocks know blood magic. Thanks for that. He puffs a little breath, then grins and tugs her into a half hug with the one arm he has across her shoulders.]

Feeling better, little sister?

[brainiest]

Both works.

[ Hermione... Doesn't bring up her own foray into blood magic and focusses on cuddling up to her brother instead. ]

Much better. Thank you... For coming here, and listening.

wrap?

[wolfehawke]

Any time.

[He kisses the side of her head affectionately to where she can feel more than see his little, pleased smile.]