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[justice_is_blond]

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[justice_is_blond]

There's no change of lighting that can change how quick he was to play with them and start smiling at them. I'm very certain.

[A beat]

Not to mention that if it was a delusion, he wouldn't have brought two cats home, would he have?

[universal_charm]

_{[ Anders, stop using logic, it's hurting his righteous rage argument here. ]}

I don't know. You sound like you can sweet talk a cat into taking on a pet fish.

[justice_is_blond]

[Anders uses logic! It's super effective!]

Anyone could do that. The difficult part would be convincing the cat to not eat that pet fish. Varric's the only one I know who may be able to manage that. Perhaps Zevran.

[universal_charm]

_{[ Curses, it's like fighting with Spock all over again! And hey! He's met both those people! ]}

I can see Zevran managing it, not sure about Varric.

[justice_is_blond]

[At least he can't do any Vulcan nerve pinches.]

Go to Varric and ask him to tell you a story. At the end, try to figure out what parts are true and what ones are not, and I can guarantee a great deal of the time you'll be wrong. Varric is exceedingly good at talking his way into and out of things.

It's a good thing for most people in power that they do not team up often.

[universal_charm]

_{[ Kirk is considering using it on you Anders if ever sees you in person. Hopefully so you land face down in a meat pie. ]}

Is he where you learned the skill of pawning cats?

[justice_is_blond]

As I said, I had nearly no work to do there at all. I merely needed to point out that anyone could take them home and he did.

...And, perhaps, after he was done with his lovely nap, I put them back on him so that he wouldn't be too disoriented. But any friend would do that.

[universal_charm]

_{[ A pause. A thinking one. ]}

What "nap"?

[justice_is_blond]

[...Oops. Answer a question with a question, that's the way to distract, right?]

You didn't notice that we didn't return right away?

[universal_charm]

From what? And don't side step.

[justice_is_blond]

[Sam why.]

He, and a few others, attempted to assist me with a project that turned out to be exhausting. Where did you think I gave him the cats? In Skyhold itself? He probably would have wound up with five, then.

[universal_charm]

_{[ There's a low growl on his end. ]}

How "exhausting" exactly?

[justice_is_blond]

Exhausting enough that we needed to rest after, there.

[This is why partners need to communicate, for Maker's sake.]

[universal_charm]

_{[ Yeah, not buying it. ]}

He had a long enoug nap that you had to give the kittens back "after" he woke up from it? As in you took them back - probably to care for them? Sounds like one hell of a nap.

_{[ AKA - I don't believe you. ]}

[justice_is_blond]

I put them on him because they'd climbed off, as kittens do. I didn't have to take care of them.

[universal_charm]

You're not telling me the whole story.

[justice_is_blond]

The day dawned, as days often do here, in a chilly fashion. Very chilly. I'm not a fan of seeing my breath, but the day and I didn't see eye-to-eye on that so I had to start packing up the tent we were to use with fingers that were already threatening to go numb. Thankfully there was a fire nearby that I could use to take short breaks at for thawing. Of course, once I was warmer, I realized I should eat breakfast and at the same moment realized I didn't have time to, because someone was already approaching to help out. I knew Adelaide would likely scold me if she found out later, but there was nothing for it, I needed to continue working. We packed up the tent, and others came by to help with the other things we'd need: pillows to sit on, wood for another fire, various things in case of other things. All told, it was nearly lunchtime before we were done and my stomach was betraying my lack of earlier meal. Loudly.

...Shall I continue?

[universal_charm]

Yes, to the part about where Sam took a "nap" for what sounded like an abnormally long time.

_{[ You can practically see the air quotes in his tone, Anders. He will either get the story from you or Sam, but he's currently irritated at you, so you're the easy target for his frustrations. Sorry. Don't hold it against him when he comes to help you out on the fourth try. ]}

[justice_is_blond]

That is most definitely not telling you the whole story. You're going to need to make up your mind.

[universal_charm]

_{[ Fine. He's a hard worker. He can do this. He sighs audibly. You're a jerk, Anders. He should slap you with a cat. ]}

Then please, do continue, by all means.

[justice_is_blond]

[...dammit. You weren't supposed to call his bluff, Kirk. A game of outlast this shall be, then.]

So lunch was an acceptable affair, once we dealt with the fact that one of the cooks who resents me because of a missing dog in a city where dogs were often eaten was on shift. She didn't want to provide lunch to the whole group, but then it was pointed out that really, that would just be shorting someone else. I believe we had... bread, cheese, and pears. I think it was pears. I'm not certain on that detail. Whatever it was, it was simple but tasty. Then we needed to get going.

We gathered everyone up, got the wagon moving, and started walking. It wasn't a bad walk. Half an hour, or roundabouts. Decent terrain. For snow-covered mountains. Really cold snow-covered mountains. I'm glad I'm a mage, I could help warm myself and others, but I don't know how non-mages manage down here most of the time. It's cold, and some days it's the sort of cold that sinks into your bones.

As we're getting close, I start to hear little noises. Meows. I peek into the wagon, and sure enough, there's a mother cat and her kittens tucked away in there. She must have moved them in while we were eating lunch. They're all adorable, but then again, cats are adorable by definition.

Are you still with me?

[universal_charm]

_{[ Game on. ]}

You pissed off a cook probably because you stole her dog, ate some pears, walked through some snow, and you picked a wagon that came with kittens. So, yeah, still with you.

_{[ Your move, Anders. ]}

[justice_is_blond]

[...sidetrack time as he sounds a little surprised.]

Do you... Are you a rifter?

[universal_charm]

Yes. Is that a problem?

[justice_is_blond]

No. It's not a problem. I'm simply unused to people not knowing the root cause of why someone would have an issue with me.

[There's another pause as he gets his mind back on track.]

Mm. Right. We were at... Oh, whatever. It didn't work right. The ritual had a side-effect we didn't see coming and several of us were out for a time.