001; Video

[iwannabeadragon]

I knew I’d get this thing on eventually. All it it needed was a few swift kicks to help it along.

[Hawke looks rather smug with himself right now. Despite the crash course given to him, of which he may have zoned out of once or twice, he understands this console about as much as he does magic. The fact he got it working on his own means a lot to him.]

Alright, from what I hear this place is in need of heroes and the like. So much so in fact that they’ve started kidnapping people right off the street. Now I don’t mean to criticize your emperor, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Generally it’s considered good manners to ask someone for help instead of just grabbing them by their short and curlies and just dragging them off somewhere.

[He wags his finger in a very ‘you should be ashamed of yourself’ manner.]

Maker, at least people in Kirkwall gave me the illusion of choice before asking me to do something stupid and dangerous. They usually pay me too.

[When he sighs it’s utterly exaggerated.]

Oh well, no use in complaining I suppose.

[Of course that doesn’t mean he’s actually going to stop anytime soon.]

Since I’m here I may as well play along. Chances are this is all some kind of Fade...dream...thing, so what’s the worst that can happen? Besides the possibility of demonic possession.

Comments

[iwannabeadragon]

I agree. That would be best. Unless it causes a city wide riot, at which point I should be able to figure it out on my own.

[solo_patria]

Oh? [There's an eyebrow.] You have experience in those?

[How interesting. Considering....]

I have twice been involved in THOSE, though never here. I must confess to being intrigued. You do this often?

[iwannabeadragon]

Experience. That's a word for it.

[They were definitely an experience.]

All too often, and even more often in the center of it all. Somehow it always came down to me saving the day.

[solo_patria]

That must have been...something, certainly.

[Enjolras's experience leading, being at the center of something, well. That ended fairly awkwardly for everyone involved even if it did manage to bring him here.]

I must say I am impressed you managed that so often. My experiences were quite different.

[iwannabeadragon]

It was definitely something.

[A catastrophe maybe, or even a shitstorm, but whatever it was it was definitely something.]

Whenever there is a earth-shattering problem I seem to be the man for the job, or at least the one that gets dragged into it every time.

[solo_patria]

Well, that DOES explain your presence here, at that.

[And that is actually a smile.]

Another sort of dragging in, it seems.

[iwannabeadragon]

Thank the Maker for my prestigious qualifications then. They always take me to the nicest places.

[solo_patria]

[And there's a snort from Enjolras right there.]

You ARE a connoisseur of them by now I should expect.

[iwannabeadragon]

I've had my pick from towers full of monsters to Orlesian chateaus owned by murderous nobles, so I may know a thing or two.

[solo_patria]

Oh very nice indeed. [And much more than Enjolras has experienced for sure.]

My expertise falls a bit short of that, I fear. Attempts to overthrow regimes and one very persistent shadow demon only, I'm afraid. And the figments of my nightmares once.

[iwannabeadragon]

Trust me, it's not as glorious as it sounds. Sure the treasure is nice and people love you, but you can only be chewed on so many times.

[Seriously he has a whole mess of scars from when things decided to make him its chew toy.]

[solo_patria]

[Enjolras's nine bullet hole scars seem quite umimpressive compared to that, certainly.]

Being chewed on WOULD take its toll. One of my best friends here is a dragon and well, I do not relish the idea of being chewed upon by her, or my other dragon friend. It does seem particularly nasty.

[iwannabeadragon]

[If Hawke even knew what bullets or guns where he'd probably be impressed, or tell Enjolras to duck more.]

The good thing about being chewed on by a dragon is that you won't have to put up with it for long before it eats you.

I think I might have met one of those dragons already.

[solo_patria]

[It was the PRINCIPLE of the thing, Hawke. Also, everyone else was dead so it felt like time. And he was (still is) very stubborn about things like principles and his friends.]

I suppose that's true.

It's strange they're from the same place, they are so different. Iskierka, I'm a bit closer to, but Temeraire is a good friend as well. We've been to a literal abyss together, and that DOES add up, I find.

[iwannabeadragon]

[Now that's something that sounds familiar.]

I find when someone is willing stand by you through one catastrophe after another they're good people to keep around.

[solo_patria]

[Good then! Well, so long as Enjolras keeps to sounding like this, and not like he wants to blow up places of worship or anything...]

Oh yes. And the experience itself, having been through it. That does bring people together.

[iwannabeadragon]

[That would be wonderful. The less friends he has to worry about turning terrorist the better.]

Or at least keep them from killing each other.

[Hawke loves his friends but he can't say they feel that way about each other.]

[solo_patria]

[Not terrorist in Enjolras's case really. Marius is the one who tried to blow things up. Insurrectionist and Revolutionary, sure, but...those aren't SO bad, right?]

Anything to keep a group from killing each other seems like a decent outcome in the end. Something out of badness anyway.

[iwannabeadragon]

[Two things that also describe some of Hawke's friends. He knows the most interesting people.]

Sometimes it's the best way of showing that you care.

[solo_patria]

[He really really does. Oh Hawke.]

It is, at that. As much as the experiences can be terrible, gaining friends who definitely show they care, as you say, is a help.

[iwannabeadragon]

Now I can't argue with that.

[Sometimes they're all that keeps him going.]

[solo_patria]

Really, God only knows where I might be without friends like mine. I hate to think of those possibilities in any depth.

[He knows the feeling entirely too well.]

[iwannabeadragon]

If you're anything like me then you'd probably be somewhere under the dirt I imagine.

[solo_patria]

Well, yes, actually. And technically I AM dead as such, at home. Not because of that. My friends kept me alive enough that it could lead to such a moment as we had. And they keep me alive here, against most odds. I have been lucky.

If I am so much like you, I think they would quite enjoy meeting you.

[iwannabeadragon]

You're...dead. Well, you've made an amazing recover. Congratulations.

[This doesn't sound good.]