[Matthias scoffs, casts his eyes down and scuffs the heel of his boot against the dirty floor of the warehouse. His incredulity doesn't wash out how pleased he is to hear her say that. Embarrassment suffuses all of what he's feeling and shows most obviously, especially in the red that tints his ears.]
I dunno about that. I'd need a surname for starters. [He glances up at her with a shy grin, an acknowledgement of how stupid the pseudo joke is.] Thanks, though. Means a great deal hearing that from you. Think you're saying that 'cause you're fond of me, but--
[He gives the doorknob another toss, catches it--then winds up for the throw. Overhand, a good even throw that comes in straight for her. A good easy hit.]
[ A satisfying hit, too. The club-end of the chair leg smacks hard against the porcelain, disintegrating the flaking paint into a fine powder and the knob itself into a million tiny pieces. Athessa grins and taps the dust off of her makeshift bat. Tap tap. ]
Sure I'm fond of ya, but more than that I trust you, [ Why else would she have turned to him to help save Mhavos and Vanadi in the dream? That much was her own doing. As she looks about for something else to throw, she starts to tie her hair into a little makeshift mustache, just under her nose. ]
If it was just fondness, I'd be tryin' to keep you away from the war stuff so you could just be a kid a while longer. [ Ooh, perfect, she's found a doll. Body of cloth, head of clay, face once painted but faded due to the weather that manages to get in through the roof of the warehouse.
She holds it up, and drops her voice a little, pretending to be an old man. ] Enchanter Squarebrush, what say you? Just the head on this one?
[ The body would be fun to hit, but wouldn't break. ]
[The explosion of porcelain makes Matthias cheer, a genuinely pleased little yeah! and a fist pump. He grabs up his bat, readying himself for whatever she finds to chuck back at him.
Okay but being a kid?]
Eurgh, [with feeling,] and I wouldn't thank you for that. I was a kid fifteen years ago.
[Still kid enough to grin at her moustache and put on voice. He pitches his own into posh territory, nose in the air--puts one finger under his nose in place of a moustache of his own--]
I quite agree, Milady Athessa, the head and only the head. Anything more t'wouldn't be sporting! [--And before she can try to surprise him, he grabs firm hold of his plank and readies himself.]
[ His claim at being a kid when he was all of two years old gets a dismissive wave of her hand, limp-wristed enough to suggest: 'tis neither here nor there. ] You were a baby fifteen years ago.
[ Her attention then turns to the doll, and she tries to wrest the little clay ball off of the cloth body with only a little more effort than she thinks it should require. It's a sturdy doll. ]
I was a kid fifteen years ago — [ Oof. Erg. C'mon, you stupid doll— ] — not that — what the hell, this is the strongest doll in the world — not that you'd be able to tell by — grab its feet, yeah? Teamwork —
A kid's a baby that can walk and talk — [ Is her opinion, but she yanks and twists on the doll's head at the same moment that Matty does and with a quiet little pop! off comes the top.
Athessa manages to catch herself before she falls, but it's a close enough thing that she can't help but crack up a bit, laughing with one hand braced on a big seat-less settee and the other gripping a doll's head. ]
[Matthias isn't so lucky, or so coordinated. The latter of these is of little surprise. He falls backwards, right on his arse. His free hand slaps the floor and stops him from cracking his head. The doll's lower half is still clutched in his other hand. Surprised, he laughs.]
Tell you what, mate, no kid could've pulled it apart. Nearly indestructible. Ow--
[He shifts, rubs at his arse with a wince.]
Can't believe I took more damage than the bloody doll.
Ah! Do you hear that, my dear? [ Back in her deeper voice, waggling a stern finger at the doll's head. Is she even holding it the right way? With all the paint faded it's hard to tell which side is the face. Maybe she's talking into its ear. ] You're to be revenged on for your foul misdeeds against the Marches!
[ Athessa jogs back to where she'd been pitching, tossing the clay sphere into the air and catching it again. ]
And you have the honor of being whacked to bits by none other than Senior Enchanter Matthias Dollsmasher!
[ In a higher pitched, and equally silly voice: ] Oh, he's very good, I hear.
[Pleased, but embarrassed, but pleased, Matthias laughs. She's joking, clearly she's joking. His ears have gone a little pink all the same.]
Yeah, yeah, yeah-- You're a numpty. Dollsmasher, honestly--
[He's grinning as he taps the plank of wood against the floor, readying himself. It gives him a good reason to look down at the floor so she might overlook his flushed face and gooney smile.]
Right, let's have it, Dolltosser Athessa--fastest and best throw in the Marches, that's you--between us, we'll slaughter her!
The best! The fastest! The whacked-to-bits-est! [ She winds up and throws, a good ol' fastball headed straight for where Matthias will swing. As soon as it's exploded into ceramic powder, Athessa throws her arms up in triumph. ]
That's what you get when you fuck with us! The Marcher Doll Slaughter Duo! Yeah! You mess with the best, you die like the rest!
[ Sure, she's joking about the names, but the joy and affection is genuine. And the exhilaration! Silly to get so pumped over simply hitting a ball with a stick, but sometimes they need a little silliness, ya know?
When her victorious laughing and whooping subsides, she turns a grin on Matthias. ]
Have you thought about it? Giving yourself a name? I don't remember you ever mentioning whether or not it was something that actually matters to you.
[Her exhilaration is contagious, and when she throws her arms up, Matthias does as well. The plank of wood clatters to the floor. Marcher Doll Slaughter Duo makes him laugh aloud, chasing away the lingering feelings--at least for now.]
Dunno what I would do with a name. Or where I would get one.
[He turns to the little pile of junk adjacent to him, and toes at it, trying to see what he might throw next without touching any of it.]
I didn't come from people with a surname. That's where you get 'em, right? And choosing my own, I dunno how I would.
[ She shrugs. ] Make one up, I guess? I dunno. They gotta come from somewhere don't they? My clan name means Land of Song, which kinda means we only got that name once we'd got a reputation for singing, right?
[ She taps the club-end of the chair leg on the toe of her boot, idly. In the dream, had her daughter been of clan Sulahnan, or Atish'an? Or Cora di Vadarta, perhaps? Athessa shakes her head. No point thinking about it, because it didn't happen. ]
I bet Bastien'd help you come up with one. Or you could use mine, if you wanted. Matthias Sulahnan? [ It's an easy thing to offer, since the name should go to the people she cares most about. Her family, as it is now. ]
Or maybe you could take Laura's, if she didn't mind.
Only thing I've got a reputation for is fire and cocking things up, sometimes. 'Matthias Fire Cock-Up'.
[Matthias Sulahnan. Matthias Kint. He crouches down and gets more involved in sorting through the rubbish, pulling at it with his hands.]
I haven't seen Laura in a bit. Not since we all woke up. [And that's all right, maybe, is what he should say--or more honestly, and I don't know about that. He bites at the inside of his cheek.] I don't mind not having a surname. I don't come from anything. I reckon that's all right, and it's true, so. I dunno. I'd have to think about it.
[ The initial dubious look that she delivers in response to "Matthias Fire Cock-Up" doesn't stick around long enough for him to see it, as invested as he is in that pile of junk. It changes from that, to quiet consideration, trying to read what he's not saying in his body language, in what she can see in his face from this angle. ]
Alright, [ It's not a tough concession to make; if he doesn't mind, he doesn't mind, and neither does she. ] No way in hell I'm calling you Fire Cock-Up, in any case.
[ Tap tap, the chair leg against her boot again. ]
Did something happen with you two? When I saw her in the dream, she said you were getting married.
[And it was good, which he doesn't say, but squinches up his eyes as he roots determinedly through the pile of rubbish. Bottles and broken tea saucers. No more dolls.
[ Yeah, that was a dream. Half a shrug is all it's worth, perhaps.
But blood magic? That's not a dream, good or otherwise. Her mind doesn't go to Calpurnia drawing on the life leeched from Byerly, the horrible sight of Isaac's malformed face in that Venatori stronghold. Her mind goes back to Orlais, before even the first winter of shared dreaming; the tug of magic on her veins that even now makes her skin crawl to think of it, makes her fingers twitch, curl into a fist, then release.
[The words stand on there own for a moment, and then Matthias bursts back in to the conversation to fill the space.]
It was only for a moment. It was at the end, or I think it was the end. We were climbing the mountain and I could do anything, and there was this Vint, and I stopped him. I could do anything, seriously, it was magic like I've never had before. I didn't think about it, it only happened.
[ Athessa stays where she is, but her idle boot-tapping has stopped. Shes very un-idle, despite her overall stillness. Watchful, but not wary.
She trusts Matthias, and as they've both said, it was a dream. She was able to completely shrug off the effects of Isacc's spells there, at the end. Maybe this is just an extension of that? ]
[ She doesn't know what to say. He knows it was a dream, there's no point in repeating it again just to... what? Hammer that nail further into the coffin lid? She could press for more details, try to prove that even in the dream, it wasn't blood magic. Insist that he'd never.
It feels like she stands there for an age before her feet start moving. Slow steps that carry her over to Matthias and his little pile of rubble. Athessa crouches beside him, folding her arms on her knees and looking down at the pile. ]
What do you think would've happened if you didn't?
[Matthias' shoulders hunch as Athessa crouches down beside him. He keeps his eyes fixed on the pile of rubbish, on his fingers, on finding something that could be thrown. He ignores the knot in his chest. It feels like a brand, like someone has pressed something very hot to the inside of his skin.]
I thought she'd be killed.
[His hand scrapes through the rubbish. Crumpled parchment whispers rough against the floor; bottles clink quietly together.]
But she wouldn't have been. It was a dream. And even if it wasn't, she's-- she's strong, she's better'n I am. But I still went for it.
I thought I knew. I don't know. I don't remember, I only remember doing it, and she was-- I'd made these walls of ice, she was climbing them, and the Vint, he was dead, and-- And it seemed real.
[He shoves the rubbish back again and sinks back on his heels, wraps his arms around his legs and pulls them close so he can stare with furious concentration over the tops of his knees.]
I think I'd do it. If I had to. I never thought I would, there was-- We were fighting and we got used for things, we were in danger, it was a war, right? So of course we were. But we didn't do blood magic. I knew mages what did and I understand, why, but I didn't think I would. But I would. I know that now.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-02-16 08:11 pm (UTC)I dunno about that. I'd need a surname for starters. [He glances up at her with a shy grin, an acknowledgement of how stupid the pseudo joke is.] Thanks, though. Means a great deal hearing that from you. Think you're saying that 'cause you're fond of me, but--
[He gives the doorknob another toss, catches it--then winds up for the throw. Overhand, a good even throw that comes in straight for her. A good easy hit.]
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Date: 2021-02-16 09:24 pm (UTC)Sure I'm fond of ya, but more than that I trust you, [
Why else would she have turned to him to help save Mhavos and Vanadi in the dream? That much was her own doing. As she looks about for something else to throw, she starts to tie her hair into a little makeshift mustache, just under her nose. ]
If it was just fondness, I'd be tryin' to keep you away from the war stuff so you could just be a kid a while longer. [ Ooh, perfect, she's found a doll. Body of cloth, head of clay, face once painted but faded due to the weather that manages to get in through the roof of the warehouse.
She holds it up, and drops her voice a little, pretending to be an old man. ] Enchanter Squarebrush, what say you? Just the head on this one?
[ The body would be fun to hit, but wouldn't break. ]
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Date: 2021-02-16 10:49 pm (UTC)Okay but being a kid?]
Eurgh, [with feeling,] and I wouldn't thank you for that. I was a kid fifteen years ago.
[Still kid enough to grin at her moustache and put on voice. He pitches his own into posh territory, nose in the air--puts one finger under his nose in place of a moustache of his own--]
I quite agree, Milady Athessa, the head and only the head. Anything more t'wouldn't be sporting! [--And before she can try to surprise him, he grabs firm hold of his plank and readies himself.]
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Date: 2021-02-16 11:29 pm (UTC)[ Her attention then turns to the doll, and she tries to wrest the little clay ball off of the cloth body with only a little more effort than she thinks it should require. It's a sturdy doll. ]
I was a kid fifteen years ago — [ Oof. Erg. C'mon, you stupid doll— ] — not that — what the hell, this is the strongest doll in the world — not that you'd be able to tell by — grab its feet, yeah? Teamwork —
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Date: 2021-02-17 03:53 am (UTC)[--But of course he drops his plank of wood and closes the distance between them, and grabs for the doll's feet as requested.]
Twist it, see if that does it. And I'll pull from this end. Three, two, one-- [A word he says with effort as he tugs sharply.]
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Date: 2021-02-17 04:11 am (UTC)Athessa manages to catch herself before she falls, but it's a close enough thing that she can't help but crack up a bit, laughing with one hand braced on a big seat-less settee and the other gripping a doll's head. ]
Damn, what's this thing made of?!
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Date: 2021-02-17 11:01 pm (UTC)Tell you what, mate, no kid could've pulled it apart. Nearly indestructible. Ow--
[He shifts, rubs at his arse with a wince.]
Can't believe I took more damage than the bloody doll.
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Date: 2021-02-17 11:30 pm (UTC)You alright? No fatal wounds?
[ Athessa moves over to offer Matthias a hand up, still softly chuckling at the both of them being trounced by a fucking doll. ]
Good ol' Free Marcher construction, eh?
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Date: 2021-02-18 02:10 am (UTC)[He accepts her hand up and hoists himself to his feet, brushing dust off of his cloak and trousers.]
You throw it at me and I'll get revenge for us both. Break it into bits and pieces. I'll show it fatal.
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Date: 2021-02-18 07:00 am (UTC)[ Athessa jogs back to where she'd been pitching, tossing the clay sphere into the air and catching it again. ]
And you have the honor of being whacked to bits by none other than Senior Enchanter Matthias Dollsmasher!
[ In a higher pitched, and equally silly voice: ] Oh, he's very good, I hear.
[ Deep voice again: ] The best, of course!
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Date: 2021-02-20 10:30 pm (UTC)Yeah, yeah, yeah-- You're a numpty. Dollsmasher, honestly--
[He's grinning as he taps the plank of wood against the floor, readying himself. It gives him a good reason to look down at the floor so she might overlook his flushed face and gooney smile.]
Right, let's have it, Dolltosser Athessa--fastest and best throw in the Marches, that's you--between us, we'll slaughter her!
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Date: 2021-02-21 03:41 am (UTC)That's what you get when you fuck with us! The Marcher Doll Slaughter Duo! Yeah! You mess with the best, you die like the rest!
[ Sure, she's joking about the names, but the joy and affection is genuine. And the exhilaration! Silly to get so pumped over simply hitting a ball with a stick, but sometimes they need a little silliness, ya know?
When her victorious laughing and whooping subsides, she turns a grin on Matthias. ]
Have you thought about it? Giving yourself a name? I don't remember you ever mentioning whether or not it was something that actually matters to you.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-21 07:39 pm (UTC)Dunno what I would do with a name. Or where I would get one.
[He turns to the little pile of junk adjacent to him, and toes at it, trying to see what he might throw next without touching any of it.]
I didn't come from people with a surname. That's where you get 'em, right? And choosing my own, I dunno how I would.
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Date: 2021-02-21 08:15 pm (UTC)[ She taps the club-end of the chair leg on the toe of her boot, idly. In the dream, had her daughter been of clan Sulahnan, or Atish'an? Or Cora di Vadarta, perhaps? Athessa shakes her head. No point thinking about it, because it didn't happen. ]
I bet Bastien'd help you come up with one. Or you could use mine, if you wanted. Matthias Sulahnan? [ It's an easy thing to offer, since the name should go to the people she cares most about. Her family, as it is now. ]
Or maybe you could take Laura's, if she didn't mind.
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Date: 2021-02-21 10:43 pm (UTC)[Matthias Sulahnan. Matthias Kint. He crouches down and gets more involved in sorting through the rubbish, pulling at it with his hands.]
I haven't seen Laura in a bit. Not since we all woke up. [And that's all right, maybe, is what he should say--or more honestly, and I don't know about that. He bites at the inside of his cheek.] I don't mind not having a surname. I don't come from anything. I reckon that's all right, and it's true, so. I dunno. I'd have to think about it.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-21 10:54 pm (UTC)Alright, [ It's not a tough concession to make; if he doesn't mind, he doesn't mind, and neither does she. ] No way in hell I'm calling you Fire Cock-Up, in any case.
[ Tap tap, the chair leg against her boot again. ]
Did something happen with you two? When I saw her in the dream, she said you were getting married.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-21 11:11 pm (UTC)[And it was good, which he doesn't say, but squinches up his eyes as he roots determinedly through the pile of rubbish. Bottles and broken tea saucers. No more dolls.
After a beat, he decides, simply, to say it.]
Have you seen someone do blood magic before?
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Date: 2021-02-21 11:21 pm (UTC)But blood magic? That's not a dream, good or otherwise. Her mind doesn't go to Calpurnia drawing on the life leeched from Byerly, the horrible sight of Isaac's malformed face in that Venatori stronghold. Her mind goes back to Orlais, before even the first winter of shared dreaming; the tug of magic on her veins that even now makes her skin crawl to think of it, makes her fingers twitch, curl into a fist, then release.
She nods once, slightly. ]
I have.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 06:14 am (UTC)Right. So. I did it.
[The words stand on there own for a moment, and then Matthias bursts back in to the conversation to fill the space.]
It was only for a moment. It was at the end, or I think it was the end. We were climbing the mountain and I could do anything, and there was this Vint, and I stopped him. I could do anything, seriously, it was magic like I've never had before. I didn't think about it, it only happened.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 04:47 pm (UTC)[ Athessa stays where she is, but her idle boot-tapping has stopped. Shes very un-idle, despite her overall stillness. Watchful, but not wary.
She trusts Matthias, and as they've both said, it was a dream. She was able to completely shrug off the effects of Isacc's spells there, at the end. Maybe this is just an extension of that? ]
Like, when you say you could do anything...
no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 11:19 pm (UTC)[He pushes the rubbish back into place, one sweep. Methodically, he begins picking through it again.]
With his hand. He was strangling himself and Laura told me to stop and then she cut out his throat. And he died. It was a dream, I know, but I did it.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-23 07:18 am (UTC)It feels like she stands there for an age before her feet start moving. Slow steps that carry her over to Matthias and his little pile of rubble. Athessa crouches beside him, folding her arms on her knees and looking down at the pile. ]
What do you think would've happened if you didn't?
no subject
Date: 2021-02-23 05:38 pm (UTC)I thought she'd be killed.
[His hand scrapes through the rubbish. Crumpled parchment whispers rough against the floor; bottles clink quietly together.]
But she wouldn't have been. It was a dream. And even if it wasn't, she's-- she's strong, she's better'n I am. But I still went for it.
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Date: 2021-02-23 06:21 pm (UTC)[ He hasn't said as much, that he knew it was a dream by that point, but... she thinks not. ]
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Date: 2021-02-24 01:16 am (UTC)[He shoves the rubbish back again and sinks back on his heels, wraps his arms around his legs and pulls them close so he can stare with furious concentration over the tops of his knees.]
I think I'd do it. If I had to. I never thought I would, there was-- We were fighting and we got used for things, we were in danger, it was a war, right? So of course we were. But we didn't do blood magic. I knew mages what did and I understand, why, but I didn't think I would. But I would. I know that now.
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