ic contact

[inkindled]

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some point after the kissing party, w/e

[justashotaway]

[GOOD NEWS, MATTHIAS. At some point while you were sleeping, somebody sniffed out where you were, located your bed within the room, and left

• Two (2) oranges
• One (1) square of chocolate, wrapped up in thin paper and tied with a bit of string

on the mattress beside you. Hope you don't knock it off the bed before you wake. Sure is weird to leave stuff in somebody's bed while they're asleep in it, wonder who'd do that.]

[inkindled]

[Matthias wakes up when he rolls over and one of the oranges falls to the floor with a heavy soft sound. He grabs the other one before it falls, too. It won't taste any worse for falling but still.

When he opens the chocolate packet, he makes a pleased sound to the empty dormitory room, tears the paper off the rest of the way so he can eat it right away. They make a kind of sense together, enough that he can guess at who left them. There's no one around to ask, and certainly no one around to thank. He carries the thought of the gifts with him for the rest of the day, confused but heartened. Tries looking for Laura without trying too hard. Maybe he should work out where she sleeps. No, that would be weird. But he could leave her a present if he knew where she slept. He weighs these options and comes up with more questions.]

crystal

[rathercommon]

Hey - Matthias?

[inkindled]

Yeah?

[murderbaby]

[A gift with a note is left outside Matthias' door. Inside a small box, Matthias will find a smaller pie. The note reads:]

Matthias,

Share this with Laura Kint. Happy Satinalia.

-Mhavos Dalat.

[tender]

[ A little package is placed in the center of Matthias' bed in the Gallows. Wrapped in brown paper, Matthias will find—

a warm woolen scarf

a bag of assorted types of candy

a pair of daggers in fine leather sheaths

also included is a note: "you'll be a natural at every trick i can think to teach. — derrica"

crystal. or banter. same thing.

[exequy]

You are the only mage working in the division heads’ offices now.

good.

[inkindled]

Oh--

[--oh, shit, it's Enchanter Averesch--]

Oh, yeah? Er. That's... good?

crystal;

[wrecca]

Had to ask around for you.

[ Maybe her voice isn't familiar, she had been wailing last time they spoke. ]

You deserved a thanks though. You did your best while I was a fucking mess.

[inkindled]

[Not that he encounters fucking messes all that often, but, still: Matthias takes a moment to try to place the voice, and what it might be referring to.]

Did I? I mean-- well, yeah. Wasn't doing it to get thanks, of course.

[Stay vague, get details enough to suss out what this might be... He's not quite deft enough to pull it off, but he has to try.]

Are you... all right, then? Or better, anyways.

an unsigned note, placed in the center of matthias' desk

[heorte]

[ in scribbly writing— ]

Advise Commander Flint he should pay the new arrival from Nevarra, Poesia, some attention if he has not already taken notice of her.

[inkindled]

[Luckily Matthias takes his job seriously and does not assume what someone else might, that this is an attempt at defamation


in other words ummmmmmmmmm

yes, k.]

ALSO left in a little bag on his doorknob

[tender]

[ a bracelet made of brightly-colored woven threads of different sizes and fabrics. c: ]

C:

[inkindled]

[ c: Matthias puts it on straightaway and can be seen wearing it the same day that it is received, don't even worry about it.]

crystal.

[justashotaway]

Are all your possessions in the right place?

[inkindled]

Er--yeah. I think they are.

[Wait.]

This isn't like, a hint, is it?

after byerly's crystal post, post-dreaming

[sulahnan]

[ Athessa sounds tired, wry, and sympathetic when her voice comes through Matthias' crystal: ]

Y'awright, Matty? Need to wreck anything?

[ Because she's on Matthias' side over Byerly's, as far as dreams are concerned. She has the vague memory of Matthias helping to rescue Mhavos and Vanadi in the dream, and a memory of Laura telling Athessa they were going to be married, but as dreams do, they're fading. Soon they'll just be words without feelings or visuals attached. ]

I heard Byerly did as Byerly does and made a nuisance of himself.

[inkindled]

He's a prick.

[Sullen, sharp all over again--on his end, Matthias glares at the wall opposite of him.]

Saying things just to say things, just to wind everyone up. It's shit. And there's nothing to be done about it.

crystal.

[luaithre]

Come to the training grounds once you've attended your duties. I would speak with you.

[inkindled]

Yes, serrah. I'll be there.

[Enchanter. He almost corrects himself aloud, starts to say er, then swiftly stops himself. And then he can't think of anything else to say, because there isn't anything to say, and if he says anything he will risk embarrassing himself in front of Marcus Rowantree, so--

So. Instead, Matthias works quickly and admittedly somewhat sloppily to finish the tasks set to him. He finishes just after the noon hour, leaves his desk untidy and even forgoes lunch in order to get to the training yard quickly, looking eagerly for Enchanter Rowantree the moment he's near enough to do so.]

crystal.

[tender]

Matthias, will you come to the market in Lowtown with me this afternoon?

[inkindled]

Yeah, 'course. What for?

a note in the forces office;

[wythersake]

Matthias,

This is an official notice and so forth that I'm borrowing Warden Ellis for an errand in Edgehall. That's South — so if anyone takes a mind to tail us, please advise them to pack a warm jacket.

Should the Gallows be assaulted by hordes of ravening Darkspawn within the next week or so, Sister Sara is correct: You ought not lick one directly. Contact one of the remaining Wardens to lick one for you. I've not yet spoken with Mlle. Adrasteia, and certainly may not comment upon her tongue, but she is reported to be a capable mage in other respects. Will you let me know what you make of her?

Rowntree told me that he would speak with you. I confess to cowardice in not doing so myself; suffice to say that I trust him in this, and in his faith of you.

With extreme bureaucratic formality,

— Isaac

[inkindled]

[Matthias reads and notes the letter and rereads parts of it, sometimes during working hours, sometimes not--it's very something to be asked an opinion and to be known enough that people who you like and respect are conversing about you and would say things like trust in faith when it comes to you.

Thus does Matthias--very painstakingly, with great attention to his handwriting and several drafts scrapped for their inadequacy--composes a reply that (thanks to those pains taken) will be delivered too late to be read before Isaac departs for his Edgehall errand.]

Isaac,

Your errand and, your Location and, Warden Ellis, were noted in the Records of the Forces Division.

I will Learn about Mlle. Adrasteia. I know not to lick Dark Spawn. And, when you are returned, I can tell you what I have make of her.

I spoke with Enchanter Rowantree. He said he had talked to you first and I told him what I thought. I do not think you are a Coward. I said this to.

Thank You.

- Matthias.

[The letter will be waiting for Isaac whenever he returns. Matthias continually exerts his best efforts to not go and fetch it back and destroy it.]

[heorte]

A note on a folded piece of parchment, likely left on Matthias' desk the same day Isaac's arrived—

Please advise Commander Flint I have an errand to attend to in Ferelden, and will be traveling for some weeks.

— Warden Ellis

[inkindled]

[Ellis also gets a reply. The delay on his is half because Matthias has to copy most of it from the reply that he sends to Isaac (which takes a long time to compose as he is trying desperately hard to get it perfect), and half because after he's written it, Matthias spends a long time trying to decide if he's meant to reply to this to confirm that he received it. Do people do that? He hasn't done that. Who does he ask?

Eventually, though, he writes out a reply:]

Warden Ellis,

Your errand and, your Location, were noted in the Records of the Forces Division and, were Reported to Commander Flint. Travel Safeley.

- Matthias

[Well-wishes aren't professional. Are they? Doesn't every letter get closed with something polite? He's overthinking this. Matthias seals the letter, sends it away, and tries to forget that it exists.]

a letter!

[sulahnan]

[ The letter, neatly folded into a small rectangle and bearing Athessa's handwriting, arrives a week or two into the month of Cloudreach. ]

Dearest Matty,

I hope this letter finds you well. The voyage across the Waking Sea was like many of the others we took growing up; I'm sure I need not remind you of my easily unsettled stomach. Getting settled has taken more time than I expected, but I can finally say that the return address on this letter is where I shall be calling home for the foreseeable future.

The weather is cold in the mornings, but my flat has a balcony that faces a white-washed building that catches and reflects sunlight in the afternoon, which warms my bedroom quite nicely. I think perhaps I should decorate the balcony with plants, or pottery. Something to make it feel less bare.

How have things been since I left? Are mother and father well? I hope you are doing well in your studies, and I encourage you to ask Marcus to tutor you in your other teacher's absence. You may tell him I referred you.

Give the rest of the family my warmest regards. I will write again soon, hopefully with more interesting updates to relay. For now, I must see to clearing the flue and sweeping the chimney in my flat. It has not been done in quite some time, apparently. Hopefully I can manage it without getting soot absolutely everywhere.

With love and affection,
your sister, Margot

!!!!

[inkindled]

[Matthias is saved from his genuine confusion by the fact that he recognizes Athessa's handwriting. He keeps the letter folded up in a drawer in one of the cupboards in his office, so he can take it out and read it over again--which he does, nearly four times in the next few days.

Even knowing what this is, even thinking of Athessa, it is still strange to read your sister at the bottom of the letter. He rubs his thumb against the words once when his hand is wet from washing up, and the ink blurs and blots.

Eventually, he writes an answer.]

Dear Margot,

I am Gladde to have a place, to which letters can be sent. I have, already, missed you, Very Much. Mother and Father are well. They are getting along very well, theese days. They also miss you, Very Much.

I will think of M.-- [even in a letter he can't write Marcus, is she mad] --for a Teacher but, I am waiting for my other Teacher to return. I am Hope Full that I will see him soon. I am studying very hard and I think, that, any one would be Happy to teach me, if I but aske.

The weather here is growing to be very nice, I like being outside because, I do not have to wear as many laiers but, the Sun does make my skin burn. This is most in the Summer but, if I am not care full, the Sun will burn now as well.

I think that you should put Plants for decorations, on your balcony. When the flowers bloom and die, you can hang them inside, then. Your flat sounds very lovely. You have describe well, and, I feel that I can neerly see it myself. It helps to think of you in a place like you have described.

I Hope that you will write to me again, very soone. I know that you are busy. I Hope that cleaning the flue and sweeping was not difficult and, that you did not make too big of a Mess, in your flat.

I do miss you, and I hope you are Very Well, and Happy, and not in any trouble at all, except, the Good sort.

With love and affection,
Matthias (your brother)

[The parenthetical is because he adds the pronoun after thinking far too hard about it.]

crystal, after the siege.

[justashotaway]

Do you wish to live in the mage tower or the templar tower?

[inkindled]

Tough to say, isn't it? 'Cause if I say I want to live in the mage tower, it's like, well, yeah, 'course, but then it's strange thinking that mages did live there, before. And then it's the same for the templar tower but eurgh, templars--

[Somewhere in Kirkwall, Matthias is pulling a very disgusted face.]

That's what I thought when I first joined up. S'ppose I live in the templar tower now and I've not caught anything. What about you? D'you fancy one more than the other?

[justashotaway]

[ It's the sort of summer night that makes Kirkwall's streets fetid and every room a little too sweaty. They're up high, though, where the sea breeze can catch their hair, and they can look for constellations in the darkness above them. ]

Matthias. [ She's been putting it off all evening - but she can't any longer. Steadily, making herself observe his face in the light of the moons - ] I want to leave the Gallows.

[inkindled]

[The breeze is hot, when it comes from Kirkwall, and cool, when it comes from the sea. It makes for a peculiar feeling--though everything feels a little peculiar these days. Dreams have been strange for weeks, making the nights surreal and the days strangely distant.

Matthias looks over at Laura and waits just a moment. Breathes in, gets the whiff of damp stone and saltwater and that particular deep fishy smell the ocean always seems to have, the way Matthias thinks the underside of a wave must smell. So this isn't a dream.]

Oh, [he says. This isn't a dream.] And go where?

crystal

[incaenstrix]

Hi.

[ An uncertain voice - ]

Is this Matthias of Tantervale?

[inkindled]

[Cheerful,] S'ppose so. I'd say 'Matthias of Riftwatch', myself.

Why, who's this?

book, as pleasance's stay drags on.

[elegiaque]

Since this situation shows no signs of abating, I'd like to make available to you a guest room in the de Coucy residence if you'd like a reprieve. Please don't completely abandon de Fonce's house of horrors, I don't want her feelings hurt by an exodus, but if you need a break from either the house or the company, my grandfather's staff have been instructed to expect fluctuating additional bodies. I've arranged your room in the same hall as Enchanter Julius's old room, which I've offered to Captain Rowntree.

G.

P.S

Hardie won't be in the guest wing. How do you feel about cats?

book back

[inkindled]

[--because Matthias has gotten far too used to privacy, and now that he is in a house fairly full of other people and animals and a poltergeist besides, privacy is a thing again at a premium. Is he being spied on? No. But he can't have people overhear him talking, either. He would die of shame.

But he has got to answer because he's very pleased to have been asked (and to have been considered on such a level to have been offered a room in the same hall as Marcus Rowntree, an Honor).

So, in painstakingly neat handwriting:]

Thanks truly. I might do. The House is not very bad, only, a small bit bad. de Fonce has got far too many dogs.

[No offense to Hardie who is by himself too many dogs.]

Do you really think this Visit will be going on very much longer?

P.S.

I like cats much.