Richard Dickerson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nonvenomous) wrote2034-10-19 09:51 am
nonvenomous) wrote2034-10-19 09:51 am
Inbox - Fade Rift
Book/crystal/correspondence/action/whatever you desire.
Book/crystal/correspondence/action/whatever you desire.
all right
but don't let me forget I have had some to drink
but don't let me forget I have had some to drink
It certainly is.
[ Penmanship: much improved. ]
I realise I harassed you with many messages the night before and I would like you to know
that I meant Every Word.
[ Penmanship: much improved. ]
I realise I harassed you with many messages the night before and I would like you to know
that I meant Every Word.
I'm leaving to assist with an assignment. I have faith your in your ability to seduce the help on your own while I'm away.
Yes. The Hinterlands, to the south. I'll be in capable hands.
[ Writing almost at the same time as Richard; ]
And if I were seducing "the help" I would not need yours, thank you!
Whose hands?
And if I were seducing "the help" I would not need yours, thank you!
Whose hands?
[ after a delay that may or may not be an effort to shake another rapid fire round of questions: ]
Ellis is a Warden. The other one looks more mercenary.
Ellis is a Warden. The other one looks more mercenary.
[The very last ferry back to the Gallows is always crowded for space. The one immediately before it however—]
You're familiar with the qunari Rifter, are you not? Loxley, I believe.
[It's just the two of them and the ferryman, rain pissing off the points of the woman's waxed cloak's hood. She is faintly green around the gills and pale everywhere else. The ferry plows down from the crest of one hacking harbor wave and into another, bouncing unpleasantly. She winces.]
Apologies. I find talking keeps the mind from the stomach.
You're familiar with the qunari Rifter, are you not? Loxley, I believe.
[It's just the two of them and the ferryman, rain pissing off the points of the woman's waxed cloak's hood. She is faintly green around the gills and pale everywhere else. The ferry plows down from the crest of one hacking harbor wave and into another, bouncing unpleasantly. She winces.]
Apologies. I find talking keeps the mind from the stomach.
[ Physically, Dick is here, jaw set grim against the wet and the cold and the harbor chop, bones stood out sharp beneath the backing of his gloves where he’s death gripped onto his bench. He’s in a hat under his hood, heavy with the rain.
Mentally -- he looks to her out of the middle distance as if he’s only just realized she’s there. Or that he is here, in the present, and available to be spoken to. Every ounce of sober concentration he can gather turns over into an effort to put a name to her face, or an intent behind the question. His struggle is real.
This is a man that does not like boats, or the cold, or the slam of the bottom of the boat at the butt of his spine at the end of every trough. ]
We’re from the same world, [ he answers, coherently, reasonably, helpfully, and after just a little bit too long of a delay. ]
Richard. [ He gives his name like an apology: the less dashing D&D. ]
Mentally -- he looks to her out of the middle distance as if he’s only just realized she’s there. Or that he is here, in the present, and available to be spoken to. Every ounce of sober concentration he can gather turns over into an effort to put a name to her face, or an intent behind the question. His struggle is real.
This is a man that does not like boats, or the cold, or the slam of the bottom of the boat at the butt of his spine at the end of every trough. ]
We’re from the same world, [ he answers, coherently, reasonably, helpfully, and after just a little bit too long of a delay. ]
Richard. [ He gives his name like an apology: the less dashing D&D. ]
Fitcher.
[The slap of a wave cracking across the bow sends a spray of water over the gunwale, spitting hard at her back. She flinches. How charming.]
With the scouting division. Have you and your friend decided which of our benevolent overlords to shackle yourselves to yet?
[The slap of a wave cracking across the bow sends a spray of water over the gunwale, spitting hard at her back. She flinches. How charming.]
With the scouting division. Have you and your friend decided which of our benevolent overlords to shackle yourselves to yet?
[ Sea spray stings across Fitcher’s back; Richard flinches and digs in where he’s sat, uneasy energy coiled at his core. ]
Scouting. [ Matter-of-fact, in spite of his discomfort, or because of it. ] Loxley -- made a pass at diplomacy. [ For lack of a more diplomatic description of recent events. His pause is deeply unimpressed.
He does not deny her use of the word ‘friend.’ ]
I expect him to pursue other avenues.
Scouting. [ Matter-of-fact, in spite of his discomfort, or because of it. ] Loxley -- made a pass at diplomacy. [ For lack of a more diplomatic description of recent events. His pause is deeply unimpressed.
He does not deny her use of the word ‘friend.’ ]
I expect him to pursue other avenues.
Funny, [her smile is almost crisp enough to be genuine, though it's hard to say for certain the jerk of the boat and the cut of the weather. Even the most sincere motions are bound to be stiffened in these conditions.] His other avenues of pursuit are those of most interest to me.
Would you say he is an honorable man? Within reason, I mean.
Would you say he is an honorable man? Within reason, I mean.
[ There’s a near gyroscopic focus to his study of her in light of this line of questioning; his bones rock with the pitch and roll of the boat, and the rain batters his hood, but his eyes stay steady on. ]
Within or without it.
[ He’s dead certain. Also, slower to answer than before. ]
Why do you ask? [ / What did he do? ]
Within or without it.
[ He’s dead certain. Also, slower to answer than before. ]
Why do you ask? [ / What did he do? ]
[Does the fixture of his attention make what he has to say more or less palatable?]
Forgive the interrogation, Richard. I'm making inquiries on behalf of the girl I share a room with. Never ask a man directly about his temperament if you care for an honest assessment.
Forgive the interrogation, Richard. I'm making inquiries on behalf of the girl I share a room with. Never ask a man directly about his temperament if you care for an honest assessment.
[ Relief and resignation constitute a complex mix of emotions to pass through the shadows of a snake man’s face. He takes in a long breath to sigh with -- interrogation excused. Hard to say if the prickle of irritation at his chops at the end of it is for himself or for Loxley.
Both.
The one thing he doesn’t seem is surprised. ]
He’s as chivalrous as he is handsome, [ he says. ] I’m sure his intentions are noble.
Both.
The one thing he doesn’t seem is surprised. ]
He’s as chivalrous as he is handsome, [ he says. ] I’m sure his intentions are noble.
What a—[she twists away from some splash of spray, the motion punctuated by a short bark of surprise as the boat drops with a sudden jerk into a wave trough]—relief. The girl in question will be most reassured.
[And that, by all appearances, seems to satisfy Fitcher as well. It does not however resolve her need for conversation.]
Do you play cards, serah?
[And that, by all appearances, seems to satisfy Fitcher as well. It does not however resolve her need for conversation.]
Do you play cards, serah?
[ Dick takes it with another flinch, less pronounced than the first. The hood of his brow is faintly miserable, in the rise before the next crest. There isn’t a thread left of him to keep dry.
Whose idea was it for him to go out in this weather, anyway? ]
I can.
[ Not the same as ‘I do.’ ]
I haven’t had cause to study the local tradition.
Whose idea was it for him to go out in this weather, anyway? ]
I can.
[ Not the same as ‘I do.’ ]
I haven’t had cause to study the local tradition.
Then you must come along to our games in the dining hall; we meet once weekly in the evening, barring any unforeseen tragedy. In which case we do our best to convene immediately.
—Tell me, would you say we're nearly to our destination. I'd prefer not to look myself.
[The hood of her cloak is very deep, and if she can avoid letting her attention stray to the swimming horizon line, all the better.]
—Tell me, would you say we're nearly to our destination. I'd prefer not to look myself.
[The hood of her cloak is very deep, and if she can avoid letting her attention stray to the swimming horizon line, all the better.]
I’ll make a point of it. [ He’d be lying in the moment, if not for a rogue streak of human loneliness or boredom or curiosity that will see him knuckling up to the table at the very next session.
A shiver rattles his breath. He stifles it before he turns to look over his shoulder, one hand unclawed from the bench to steady the bag at his side. ]
No. [ No, he would not say that they are nearly to their destination.
He looks back to Fitcher. Drumming up the energy he needs to find kindness anywhere in himself under these conditions is a process. It takes longer than it should, but he does get there. ]
Who was it you said that you’re sharing a room with?
A shiver rattles his breath. He stifles it before he turns to look over his shoulder, one hand unclawed from the bench to steady the bag at his side. ]
No. [ No, he would not say that they are nearly to their destination.
He looks back to Fitcher. Drumming up the energy he needs to find kindness anywhere in himself under these conditions is a process. It takes longer than it should, but he does get there. ]
Who was it you said that you’re sharing a room with?
A laundress. A young lady by the name of Pelt, [is her very prompt response; relief is not quite the sound, but certainly it is a motivating factor. Would that the ferryman would put his back into it.]
She's rather charmed by your friend, but prefers not to mislead him. Quite the honest little thing. [The occasional hint of suspiciously northern accents aside.] I trust Serah Loxley will be a good sport about it all.
She's rather charmed by your friend, but prefers not to mislead him. Quite the honest little thing. [The occasional hint of suspiciously northern accents aside.] I trust Serah Loxley will be a good sport about it all.
Ah, yes. [ Ashey Pelt. Richard’s field of focus shifts back through Fitcher, rather than at her. He can see forever. ] He asked me to find out what kinds of flowers she likes.
[ And now he is here with a roommate of hers. What providence. ]
What would she mislead him about?
[ And now he is here with a roommate of hers. What providence. ]
What would she mislead him about?
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