Deck, Wednesday Morning

[not_every_mage]

The truth was, it wasn't the best day to be outside; the sky was gray and looked like rain. But even after most of a year outside the Circle, Anders still sometimes got an itch to be in the fresh air just to prove that he could, that no one was going to stop him from doing whatever hit his fancy.

He took his tea and a nice fat novel with lots of fighting bits in it to the dorm deck and settled in. It wasn't the most exciting start to the day, but he wasn't really looking for excitement.

[OOC: Open like a deck!]

Comments

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"You're out early," Nathan remarked, climbing onto the deck and smiling slightly. He, of course, had been out all night and was just making his way back to the dorms now.

[not_every_mage]

"I was bored," Anders said, setting his book to the side with a quick smile. "At least if I'm bored out here I can watch the birds."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"And are the birds typically interesting?" he wondered, sliding into a chair and stretching out his long legs. "Talkative?"

[not_every_mage]

"Talkative but a little boring," Anders informed him, managing to almost look serious. "I keep telling them I don't need to build a nest, but they still want to tell me about all the benefits of building with different kinds of grass."

He turned to see Nathan a little better. "Were you in the Preserve?"

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "It's gotten better since all that business with that shopkeeper. Things seem to have come back to life and I like it at night when it's warm but not hot. I sleep better."

And sleeping inside had been difficult lately. He had a feeling he knew why.

[not_every_mage]

"Good," Anders decided. "I feel better when you aren't going to freeze to death, and what Gaunt did was bad enough without having ruined the woods on top of it."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan snickered quietly. "I never froze out there when it was cold. That's what blankets are for. I only once woke up with icicles in my hair."

Only once!

[not_every_mage]

"Only once?" Anders grinned in return. "What, did you start wearing a hat to bed after that?"

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I did," he said, nodding. "One of those knit caps that you pull down over your head. And then I just slept underneath the blankets. I still miss my sheepskins though. They were so much warmer."

[not_every_mage]

"I'd get you some if I knew where to find them here," Anders mused. "It shouldn't be that hard. They still have sheep."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"It's okay," Nathan told him, shaking his head. "If I ever get back home, I might be able to find a few. Bigger cities don't tend to sell them in stores, I've noticed. I've managed to use the internet to look."

[not_every_mage]

Anders was nodding along until Nathan mentioned the internet, when he glanced off to the side.

"Have you been using the phone lately, too?"

He still held a faint hope the message Kathy had played for him somehow either wasn't from Nathan, or hadn't been intended for him. Not that he minded Nathan knowing he wanted to sleep with him, but a voicemail intended for someone else had not been exactly how he wanted to get the message across.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"A little," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Only because messages ended up on the phone last week. It took me hours to figure out how to get to them."

And his head had hurt the whole time.

[doesnotkneel]

Edward was just on his way out for his morning roam about the island, so he caught Anders as he wandered on outside. "Morning!" he called.

He hadn't seen the man since that whole mess. Felt like a terrible waste not to take the opportunity to say hi.

[not_every_mage]

"G'morning!" Anders returned easily. "It's been an age. How are you?"

[doesnotkneel]

Edward made his way to the deck proper, something of a spring in his step. "I'm all right," he said, grinning. (Of course he was.) "Finally settling back into life here after our quick break in the woods last weekend. How about you? Heard some worrying matters on the radio a fortnight ago."

[not_every_mage]

"I skipped the camping trip," Anders shrugged. "And I'm fine now. Wasn't much fun for a while, but everything seems back to normal. Hanna mentioned you helped her with the same problem I had, so you have a little idea what it was like."

[doesnotkneel]

"They said she needed help," Edward said, shrugging lightly. "Quite an enchantment this thing had over her."

[not_every_mage]

"It was bloody insane," Anders nodded. "It was like the thing I got from the store was the only thing that mattered in the whole world. Looking back I don't know how I got so deep so fast."

[doesnotkneel]

"You've never heard of this kind of magic before?" Edward asked.

[not_every_mage]

"I've heard of possession, but I wasn't supposed to be dumb enough to fall for it," Anders said. "Gaunt -- the shopkeeper -- he tricks you into thinking he's harmless, and then he gets your head all muddled up. Nasty bit of magic. I'd be just as happy to never see it again."

[doesnotkneel]

"Glad I didn't bother going in, then," Edward said, settling into a nearby chair. "Seemed like too expensive of a place for me. You're not feeling any left-over trouble or anything, then?"

[not_every_mage]

"My pride stings, but that's about it," Anders told him. "And you were right. For someone who took payment in rocks and hair, he was running a damned expensive operation."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward winced a little. "Going by what I've heard," he agreed. "Oh-- She was worried you were mad at her after that whole spat with the telephones last week. Hanna, that is."

[not_every_mage]

Anders gave Edward a puzzled wince of his own. "Why would she think that?" he wondered. "I like Hanna, as far as I know her."