Audience - Anders

[holyspirits]

Comments

[spiritbalm]

Despite rumors to the contrary, I can probably handle pouring liquid in a glass.

[ this isn't a dunk on bartending skills, it just means he wants a straight shot of something. which he can handle on his own.]

[holyspirits]

I believe you're fully competent enough to do that. I even trust you to use the really nice glasses and not the red solo cups.

[ they are apparently comfortable enough around anders to say these things, and they do nothing to move. but they look up from what they're reading to watch him. ] Help yourself.

[spiritbalm]

[ from where he's making a mess of the beautiful bar: ]

Do you want something?

[holyspirits]

[ don't fuck it up too badly, that's their bar. but it's fine. ]

Surprise me. I wanna see what you come up with.

[spiritbalm]

Oh. I have to mix something?

[ this far out of his area of expertise. what if he just gives them a shot of malort.

actually-- he does a find a bottle. ]

In the Wardens we used to call this The Joining. Because it might just kill you.

[ enjoy your SHOT OF MALORT. ]

[holyspirits]

You don't have to if you're not up for the challenge. [ teasing. but they shut their book and they look at what anders is doing before accepting the shot. ]

Good thing I've got nothing pressing to live for. [ another joke, on account of them being here. but they take the glass and lift it in a little "cheers" motion before tossing it back

and making a vague choking sound. ]

Jesus. I'm not against bitter but that is bitter.

[spiritbalm]

[ ehehehe. coming over to sit on the other side of the table, leaning over to look at the book. what is it. ]

Not as bad as Darkspawn blood,though. [ ... ] Don't tell people that, though. That's a Warden secret.

[holyspirits]

[ horrible!! but it's fine, they deserve this. anders comes to sit on the other side of the table, and he can see that gabriel appears to be reading... a bible? and very clearly marking it up in pen, circling some things and scratching out others. ]

Secret's safe in the Confessional. [ wry. but... ] It's not actually blood, right?

[spiritbalm]

For the Wardens? It most certainly is. A bit of blood, lyrium, and some herbs thrown in for good measure.

It did kill a girl at my joining, but I went first, so I didn't see it. Luckily. Or I probably would have bolted.

[holyspirits]

You know, I feel like every time we talk you say something so concerning in the most casual way possible and I can't tell if you're underreacting, I'm overreacting, or we're both just... reacting. [ ... ] I probably would've bolted, too.

[spiritbalm]

It's probably the last one.

[ just ... reacting. ]

They kill you if you bolt, though, just as a fair warning.

[holyspirits]

[ there's a shrug. an underline in the bible. ]

Hence why you didn't ever before either? I don't know. I think... [ ...no, never mind, the mood from gabriel is already slightly rancid and they're very much trying to fix that. ] There are so many rules you're stuck abiding to, it's kinda insane.

[spiritbalm]

[ he certainly does live in a society, yeah. nosily looking over at the bible. ]

I don't know that there's anywhere with less rules.

[holyspirits]

[ it really is just gabriel rewriting passages and crossing out certain things. studying. ]

You mean in your own world, right? Like I'm pretty sure there are other places with less rules.

[spiritbalm]

I mean everywhere. If there are less rules about mages, there are more rules about other things. Even in Antiva, they control the price of leather.

[ so a metaphor that gabriel wont understand, but. you know. the point. ]

Or here, in Heaven, where we are supposed to be entirely free, still we are bound by the rules of our redemption and of whatever it is that is trying to destroy us.

[holyspirits]

[ they don't reply for a bit. which is bad, because it means their emotions are a lot easier to parse and it's just a lot of low-level anxiety and depression with a tiny bit of anger tied to it. their pen taps on a page of the bible before they just rip it out and move to the next page. ]

Freedom always has a price, but that's not... [ ugh. ] God would have to be a major dick to hold all of this against everybody. And whatever this thing is... it wants to keep coming back for some reason. So maybe the answer is baiting it and trapping it somehow.