The Roof, Monday Morning

[cracksmostly]

So. Merrill had discovered the roof, and more relevant to her interests, the rooftop garden. This had been entirely by accident, as she'd been trying to get from her dorm room to the preserve at the time, and don't ask how exactly point A led to point C by way of missing point B because she'd been a little too lost in her thoughts at the time and certainly wouldn't be able to tell you. It was fine, though, since tending the spiky little plants was a job that appealed to her. It'd worked out well as far as she was concerned.

Having finished with that, she settled down near the edge of the roof, not too far away from the garden. It wasn't the same as being out in the preserve, but still quieter up here than in the dorms.

Somehow, at some point in the last week or so and equally by accident, she had also managed to find the library -- that accounted for the small stack of books beside her. They were all supposed to pertain to elven history, but whether she'd find anything useful in them was entirely up in the air -- so far none of them seemed to be the elven history of her world. She was determined to go through all of them thoroughly, though, and then when she was done she'd turn them in and check out a few more, and so on.

Safe to say that, ever since she'd met that Witch of the Wilds at the party a few weekends back, she was just a little tiny bit obsessed with the idea of finding and restoring an eluvian. It was her duty to preserve and recover what she could of the elves' lost culture, and this? This would definitely count.

[OOC: Open? Definitely open.]

Comments

[good_for_six]

Isabela wasn't sure why she was on the roof when she could be sleeping in, except maybe enjoying the fact she could go almost anywhere on the island, but here she was drawn by the scent of bad decision making in the air.

"Oh my, there's a garden on the roof? Isn't that just the most precious thing?"

[cracksmostly]

"Isn't it? They're so pretty!" For a value of 'pretty' that entailed 'the tiniest angry plants,' anyway. Merrill set her book aside and beamed. "Isabela, hello. I didn't know this was here, did you?"

[good_for_six]

Oh, look, the garden just got even more precious.

"Merrill!" Isabela cheerfully called out as she made her way over to her. "It's the first time I've been up here. In any case, I'm not much of a gardener."

[cracksmostly]

"I've never heard of a gardener who was a pirate, too," Merrill said thoughtfully. "Can you even have a garden on a ship? Little flowerpots on the railing, maybe?"

No, Merrill.

"I only just found out you could even get up here," she went on, and waved an arm out at the island. "But you can see everything!"

[not_every_mage]

"No one much takes care of it, either," Anders informed her drawn to complete the trio of Hawke's Terrible Influences. "I pull out weeds when I'm bored enough, but that's not so often. Hello."

[good_for_six]

"Hello yourself," Isabela replied. "Someone must have planted it to begin with, though. Plants usually don't just grow on buildings, I know that much."

[not_every_mage]

"Not normally," Anders acknowledged, with the barest smile. "But you're right, it must have been years ago. Maybe someone was afraid to go all the way outside and thought this was a compromise."

[not_every_mage]

Anders had made a point of going up to the roof every so often since he'd run into Ringo there, so it was really not much out of the ordinary when he stopped by on his way back from class that day. He smiled a quick greeting at Merrill.

"Their plants are funny, did you notice?" he asked, by way of greeting. "No elfroot, or spindleweed or anything."

[cracksmostly]

"And there isn't any embrium, either." Merrill nodded, and offered him a little smile in return. "I went looking through the woods . . . was it yesterday? I think it might have been. Just to see what there was to find. Are healing herbs different here, then? They can't have nothing at all."

[not_every_mage]

"Right, they have different plants," Anders confirmed, with all the authority of a year spent figuring these things out. "I can't say how good they are, but we sell some at the shop where I work. Not many people make their own potions, either. Mostly they buy ready-made pills from drugstores."

[cracksmostly]

"I'd better learn about the plants here, then," Merrill decided; it had only just occurred to her that she didn't actually have any money. "You've had a longer time to get used to everything. Do you know a lot about healing, then?"

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra was attracted by the sudden appearance of an aggravation of Thedosians was still mildly annoyed at Garik. She felt it might be prudent to get some air and cope with her own grievances.

So she had wandered up to the roof to do just that.

She came to a stop when she reached the end of the stairs. "Elf."

[cracksmostly]

"Seeker," Merrill replied, with a slightly dubious nod, though it was still a comparatively cordial greeting. Hello to you too, Cassandra!

[seeks_truth]

"I see you have found the roof," Cassandra said.

It made for a rather terrible greeting, but she was not entirely sure what to do with a rogue elvish apostate.

[cracksmostly]

Well, who was, really.

"I meant to go to the preserve, but I got lost," Merrill explained, matter-of-factly. "But it isn't so bad up here, and I like the view. Is that why you're here?"

She could see it being an attraction, yes.

[good_for_six]

"Cassie!" Because they were totally at a place they could use nicknames. Yep. "What's this I hear about quality reading?"

Well, she had someone else to be annoyed at now?

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra let out an ugh before she as much as turned around to face Isabela. "None of your business," she said flatly.

[good_for_six]

"If there's decent smut to be read it's my business," Isabela cheerfully argued. "I'm a great connoisseur of the form."

Also philosophical texts, but there was no need to go spreading that around.

[not_every_mage]

"Well-spotted, Cassandra," Anders grinned. "Merrill is an elf. Your vision is flawless."

[seeks_truth]

"Mage," Cassandra said flatly.

Whether it was a greeting, or a way to spite him within the context of the conversation-- the answer was yes.

[not_every_mage]

Anders nodded, biting back a smile. "Seeker," he informed Cassandra calmly, then began pointing at various things around the roof. "Bird. Tree. Pebbles. Spiky plant. Isabela's cleavage. Any other objects we should name today?"

... he liked spiting her far too much, really.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo didn't come up to the roof every day, but she was a pretty frequent roof-goer. It was one of the highest places on the island, and standing on the edge of it let her feel the wind in her hair.

It wasn't the same as being on top of a proper building. Or jumping off of one. But she'd take what she could get.

Of course, sometimes other people were already there when she got there, so Ringo hesitated for a moment before shrugging to herself and slowly walking along the very edge, finding herself sort of fascinated by the stack of books Merrill had beside her.

"I hope I'm not intruding," she said softly as she drew close.

[cracksmostly]

It would be a lie to say Merrill didn't startle a bit at that, but it wasn't hard to startle her when she got engrossed in something.

"Oh! Not at all," she said quickly. "I'm not in the way of anything you were going to do, am I?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo laughed and shook her head. "No. I mean, I'm just looking for some fresh air and a view, and," she waved as if to take in the whole roof, "there's plenty of that up here."

[cracksmostly]

"It's nice, isn't it?" Merrill asked, enthusiastically. "I can't stop looking at the ocean, either. I've never lived somewhere surrounded by water before."