[GP/EP] Check-In Day

[st_oriedqueen]

Why Caroline had needed her to help with Check-In Day she hadn't bothered to say. Just, "you said you'd help," and when Regina protested she wasn't good with people, "aren't you a Queen or a Mayor or something?" complete with shooing gestures. While Regina found Caroline more exasperating the terrifying, she did have a point.

So Regina suited up--literally, gathered her files and folders, coffee mug, pens and pocketed the wooden carving of Henry/Roland Robin had made for her, then headed for the cafe. If, polished and politic and patently Busy, she didn't offer newcomers the brightest or warmest smile when they arrived, it was nevertheless confident and quite possibly reassuring.

Caroline did friendly. Regina...did knowledgeable and polite. Dot and Ignis had been asked to provide finger food on catering trays. The still-grieving Miss Pryde had been tasked with samovars of tea and coffee and ice chest of soda and beer. Caroline's welcome baskets sat on the table beside Regina's for easy access. And though she didn't when she was alone in the office, Regina spent the magic to fix her eyesight so she didn't put glasses between her and new arrivals.

Madame Mayor was in.

Comments

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

Madam Fluffy purred and arched under Merrill's hand. Hawke had a talent for bringing people together, and it also seemed that she was very good at doing the same with cats. "Something happened but he never spoke of it to me. I asked him once, before he left, he just said magic was involved." He couldn't help but hope he would have the same magical luck the Hero of Ferelden had if he was ever in a position to kill an archdemon.

"I haven't seen it yet though I was given a key. I thought I needed to get her tended to first." He rubbed his cat's chin. "Poor thing hasn't had a thing to drink in a while."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

"There's glasses and running water in your room, or at least there was in mine. Would you like to have a look? At yours, I mean. The door's- Well, the key's like nothing I've ever seen before. Everything's just very strange about this place." She smiled at the cat. No matter how mean Anders could be to her from time to time, he was always very kind to his animals.

"If you'd like, of course."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"The little card that is made from that strange material? Yes, I've not seen anything like it either, even in the circle." He'd always been happy to leave but he did occasionally miss some of the inventions he'd found there. He remembered one of the senior enchanters had put a spell on his mirror to never fog while using it in the bath, he kicked himself often for not writing that spell down.

He made a kissing noise at his cat before he picked her up and held her in his arms, "That would be nice, I think she and I could use a proper rest. I don't really recognize the writing around here though, do you understand it?"

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

Merrill shook her head. "No, not yet, but I think if I can learn elvhen, I can learn this too. Everyone seems to speak the same as us well enough. Do you think maybe they can't read what's here either?"

She moved away from the bar and then paused, looking around before she stole a bottle of something. If anyone had earned some time drinking, it was the pair of them. Celebration and mourning all in one.

"Did they say what room you were in? The man at the desk. Do you think he's tranquil? He certainly acts like it, poor dear."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"It's something worth investigating." He agreed. Hopefully someone could read the language or at the least figure out the numbers, that would have been helpful. It probably would have been very helpful when it came to Merrill stealing a bottle. It could have been full of window cleaner for all they knew, not that Anders cared. He would have taken anything she offered.

"One four two." He shook his head. "He didn't have the brand and he didn't seem as emotionless as he did... Disinterested? I don't know. He didn't feel tranquil." He was sure he would know a tranquil when he met them, they were relatively easy to spot."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

"Oh! Oh my new friend is in one four three!" Merrill said, glad she could be helpful even it was only a very little bit. "I think I can remember where her room is and probably yours is close by." If they just kept trying doors until they got it, that seemed like a plan. She thought. It was better than nothing.

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"Merrill, are you going to get us lost?" This was the same girl who had to carry string with her to find her way though hightown and lowtown. He might have trusted her more in the forest, he'd spent enough time with Velanna to know that the Dalish could track and find paths through the wilderness better than any other. In a building or city though he was sure it was better to trust Hawke's mabari, at least he had an excellent sense of smell.

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

"This is all much less complicated than Kirkwall. Kirkwall's meant to get you lost and confused and murdered." Probably. "I didn't have to use that string Varric got me forever...just...alright, a long time, that's not the point."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"Right, I should have left Hawke a note. I may end up in a strange inn being led around by Merrill. Please come and rescue me before the gray bits in my beard start to take over." He shook his head and followed her, sure they would be walking for a while.

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

"And she'd laugh at you and tell you the grey bits in your beard are handsome and it's all get very lovey dovey and inappropriate in the presence of kittens," Merrill chided back, walking around the outside of the building and stealing glances into rooms when she could, just to see if she could figure things out.

"There. This one's my friend's. So yours should be somewhere close by, right?"

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"She'd demand to know why I didn't have sandwiches ready for her when she came to save us." He muttered. If she showed he would give her more than just sandwiches. She would come eventually though, Hawke always came for him when he was in a tight spot. The fact that Merrill was there too just meant she would come looking sooner. He had to believe that. "If it's anything like back home then it should be across the hall, right?"

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

"It should be," she said, frowning a little as she looked at the curvature of the building just there. "Anders...I had an awful thought." She walked across the way to the other matching sort of circular bump out. "Rey said that sometimes people hate their rooms and it kind of seemed like maybe they weren't just chosen at random. What if...what if the Inn decided to put you in a circle?"

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"Maker, what-" Anders stopped, frowning. "Do you think the Circle is a circle? You imagine I'm afraid round or circular buildings?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course she would think that, he was only surprised she hadn't said something like that before. Thankfully Kirkwall had been rather square. "Oh Merril."

He pulled the key from where he'd hidden it in his coat and he offered it to her. "Just try the door. If I run screaming you may just have to deal with me sleeping at the foot of your bed for a while."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

"Well the tower in Ferelden was rather circular," Merrill said, sticking her tongue out at him. She took the key and tried it in the lock. It flashed red and beeped angrily at her. Just in case, she tried it again and got the same result.

"I didn't say you'd be afraid, just that you wouldn't like it very much. No need to be cranky about it." She walked back over to Rey's room and the door next to hers.

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"Right. Of course. I'm being absurd. What as I thinking?" He sighed, watching her trying to work it out. Surprisingly he didn't roll his eyes at her. He briefly wondered if the staff would tolerate him just laying down and napping in the hall. He did need to water and probably feed his cat though. He would have to go searching for something.

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

She slid the key into the next lock and it chirped happily and she pushed the handle down to open it just enough for him to take over. "Everyone has something they're touchy about, honestly, Anders. Come see your room."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"I've pretty much outlined every subject I am touchy about several times now, I know the others were fond of using my manifesto as loo paper but I had hoped at least one of you had read it first." Anders muttered more to himself then to her before he moved to open the door and went inside, holding it open for her.

For a moment or two he was quiet as he looked over the colors and the bed and the rock. Eventually he burst out laughing. "By the Maker. Justice lived in the fade, saw all the weird and terrible colors there and yet he hates this. Absolutely hates the look of this room."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

And one of those subjects over and over again was the circles. Merrill had read it. It wasn't particularly well written, but she'd read it because he was her friend and important to her.

"You know, for once I agree with Justice," she said, following him in and letting the door shut behind her.

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"Don't be like that, it's lovely. Colorful. Do you know how drab the Circle, the Wardens and Darktown can be? It's not nearly as green and brown as the wilds were, let me tell you." He put his cat down, letting her explore while he did the same. "I think I like it, and so would Hawke, I think. She does have terrible taste."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

"I like how green and brown the wilds are," Merrill said, going to go get a glass to give the cat some water now that she knew how to work the water in the rooms. "There's color there too. It's just...not on the ceiling."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

At the sound of water Anders went to peek over her shoulder, watching her work the taps. Those would be very useful and his kitten would forever have water, he wondered if the larger ones were for bathing. He could get behind that. "A bit more cave-like in here though, not that I'm complaining."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

"You should see mine. It's very lovely." Though also a tower, but she wasn't going to get into that if he was going to be touchy about her trying to be considerate.

"I'm told you can't actually change anything and it'll just revert back to what it is now if you do."

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

"So, just for instance, if I wrote all over the walls or tied to repaint it would return to this?" He motioned around himself. That would be handy as well, if he had a resurgence of his hypergraphia and wrote on the walls it wouldn't be up long enough for him to be ashamed of later. Perhaps this place wasn't so terrible after all.

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_illsabrae]

Ah. Right. That. She'd tried to forget about that. "I think so," she said, going to sit on the edge of the bed. If Anders could be comfortable here, she wouldn't judge it. He was much nicer when he was happy or as close to it as he ever got without being too much again.

Re: Merrill - OTA

[st_opthetemplars]

Once she left he started fiddling with the sink, amused by how it worked. He knew the dwarves had something similar but they didn't often share their secrets. Or rather the interesting secrets. He knew far too much about Oghren's boils and how much Varric hated the deep roads.

"This is all very handy." He called, "We might convince Hawke to check the place out before she takes us home." Because she would, she always did even if she screwed it up. Something would be on fire and and a dragon would suddenly appear but so would Hawke and she would make it right eventually.