estoria | that's in the sky where the rain's from [OPEN]

Entry tags:

that's in the sky where the rain's from [OPEN]

Who: Cole (

existency) and YOU
When: Before Natalia's ball, but over a few days
Where: Various
What: Cole is getting used to his new home.
Rating/Warning: None unless someone rude tags in (probable)!!

option a — the basic arrival prompt

[ He doesn't belong here.

It's quiet, startlingly so, because there aren't the songs and shimmers of the Fade here like there were at home (wherever "home" was). It whispers, enough for him to be able to reach out and grasp it, use it like he does, but it's not the same. It's disorienting and startling, which is why he wanders. He's looking for the places where it's the loudest, since where it's louder, he's more comforted.

Of course, this process might seem quite strange to anyone nearby. Cole himself would seem to stick out enough, since a gaunt young man with a very large hat and wearing old, dusty leathers would be a contrast against the technology around. But it might catch you by surprise that you seem like you've seen him earlier today, but you can't place where. Unless you're a bit closer to spirits or magic yourself, in which case, it'll be a bit easier to remember seeing him earlier in the day, doing the same thing.

He's just wandering, as if he's lost something or looking for something, but he never makes eye contact with anyone, and most of the people walking by don't seem to see him at all. In fact, it's only you that sees him. ]

option b — memes never die

[ How's the weather today? Did you guess cold and rainy? It's definitely cold and rainy. ~~At least for the purposes of this prompt.~~

If you're braving this terrible weather to head towards the park, you might notice a strange pattern along the main path. Every so often, there's a small cardboard box underneath a tree, and if you're curious enough to go inspect it, the contents might be a bit confusing.

They're all cakes.

They're not quite left out in the rain, since the trees manage to cover most of the rain, but they're still getting soggy enough that no one in their right mind would really want to eat them. And it's clearly not an accident, since there are quite a few!

Continuing along the path, there's a young man braving the rain, though he doesn't seem to mind it. He's out without even an umbrella, though he doesn't really need one, considering the large brim of his hat... But he's also clearly the culprit of the cake-related mystery, since he has a few boxes in hand, and he's setting one down underneath a tree, opening it, then looking up into the branches like he's checking for something.

But all of the sudden, he seems to become aware that someone is watching, since he looks towards who's approaching, but he's quick to bow his head shyly. ]

...Sorry. Am I in the way?

[ More importantly, why is he leaving cakes out in the rain?? ]

option c — not quite as exciting as killing dragons

[ His Cerevice had told him he was a florist, and so a few days after arriving, Cole starts to work. It's definitely not the same as the Inquisition, but he quickly finds that he enjoys the work. It's quiet and solitary, since Cole's odd appearance and mannerisms tend to keep him from getting put at the front and scaring away customers, but he can tend to the flowers dutifully while still getting to be around other people and listen like he likes to.

It's not quite the tavern in Skyhold, where he can just stand for hours and watch the lives of the people there unseen, but it's close enough that he's content.

If you have reason to visit a florist today, other employees will probably greet you first, since Cole tends to stay towards the back. But it's not long before he starts to busy himself with something, then approaches to hold out a bouquet that's stunningly beautiful, and whatever you've come to a florist for, this seems to fit the bill perfectly. ]

...Are these what you were looking for?

[ His voice is soft and gentle, but not quite shy. It seems like he knows, for whatever reason. ]

(( ooc note ; if you choose this prompt, just make sure to include something in your brackets about why your character is getting flowers please! ))

option d — choose your own

[ Wildcard! If you have an idea of a prompt of your own that's different, go for it! You can run it by me or just run with it and we'll figure it out. ]

IMPORTANT NOTE—If you haven't filled it out already, please comment to Cole's permission post before replying!

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[Maybe it's just her, but it's a gut feeling... About this person? Sure he looked a little strange, but who doesn't in this place? She offers him a friendly smile, trying to answer the question with the best of her ability.]

Ah, you mean the explanation they gave us in the beginning? I'd say... Perhaps take what we've been told with a grain of salt. It's hard to say if it's verifiable, but I think there are people who are more knowledgeable than me about these matters.

Everyone's just doing their best to settle down for now before we're on our toes again.

[Oz certainly isn't going to press if Cole decides to leave his answer there, and almost opens his mouth to interject something else and shift the topic a little, but then he continues on his own. Listening intently, Oz still isn't entirely sure about the details, but...]

I see. [And this time, he does.] I'm glad for you! Even if it's hard or confusing or scary, I hope that you can hold onto that.

[Because being "just you" can still be very difficult. It's not like the hardest part ends once the truth comes out, and it's not even easier to understand in some cases. Sometimes, learning the truth can just make things more complicated and confusing. It'll be a long road, for sure.]

[ Cole listens with rapt attention if nothing else, because he always enjoys when people tell him stories. He listens to stories all the time, but they're all in bits in pieces, just moments of a larger story that he'll never know, so he appreciates when people take the time to weave something larger for him. Whether it's Cassandra reading her novels to him or The Iron Bull explaining stories past of adventures with the Chargers, he enjoys them every time.

This story, though, is also something different, something more like Solas's explanations where he has to try harder to understand and grasp it. It's not grounded in the physical, which would seem easier for the half-spirit Cole to pick up on, but his experiences and knowledge are limited, so it's more difficult. But he's still fascinated with both concepts told here, both the idea of wakfu and the dragon brothers. ]

It's different. But similar too. The windings of the Veil, it's not really life, but they're the songs that flow through people. It makes things, or it breaks things. But wakfu sounds like it sings beautifully too.

[ He nods, then moving on— ]

But I didn't know that dragons had people in their eggs too. Dragons are usually just very big.

[ He nods in understanding, but he still isn't sure how he feels about it. The idea of what they said wasn't difficult for Cole to want to take on. He wants to help, of course, but the idea that it might not be true is different. He had taken it at face vaue, he realizes. ]

...Do you think it's true?

[ So that is all he asks, at least to start. ]

[ It's the sort of acceptance that Cole has still yet to really get used to, since he's certainly not used to it being so open and immediate. It gets his tone to warm, earnest and full of a genuine thanks that's palpable in his tone. ]

Thank you. I hope so too.

[ And it seems like that kindness gets Cole to soften a little bit, since he looks up from under the brim of his hat to meet Oz's eyes, and really meets them for the first time in their conversation. ]

I hope you do too, Oz.

[ Cole nods, and his posture relaxes in a way that makes it seem like he's pleased that he caught on, though he doesn't actually say it. ]

Yes. The cake is stale, so people don't want it anymore. But the birds do. They don't like the sugar, but the cake part is nice.

[ Cole seems a bit stricken himself as Mary reacts so sharply to what he's said, and under the brim of his large hat, it's at least easy to see how his face twists a little as if pained. ]

I— I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pull the knot and tear it.

[ The metaphor is almost certainly lost on Mary, but he continues quite gently with an earnest warmth in his voice. ]

The songs sing through you differently. That's why I know.

[ He doesn't seem bothered by the question, since his answer comes easily enough (thanks to his time with the Inquisition—Had it been earlier, he would have been more frightened). ]

Something else.

[ Which is all he says, which makes it seem like he doesn't want to elaborate, but really, it's more that it's just difficult for him to do so. ]

[ Cole looks on curiously, and the brim of his hat tilts up enough to look at Stormfly, showing more of his face. It's a bit of a frightening face, since he's pale and gaunt, looking like he hasn't eaten or slept well in a very long time. But despite that, there's a curiosity and innocent kindness in his face. He certainly doesn't seem to be a threat, and as he thinks the same of Astrid, he sheathes the daggers onto his back. ]

She's very pretty.

[ He gives a compliment first, then after a bit of hesitation, he approaches carefully. He's uncertain, since he is used to dragons breathing giant fireballs at him, but if she feels comfortable, he feels marginally more secure himself. ]

[ There's a lot he says that Mary doesn't quite grasp, talks of knots (but she thinks of embroidery, of tugging too hard on the needle to yank a knot free and breaking the thread) and songs. It's only because he himself looks so apologetic that she doesn't just run off and put this whole thing behind her.

... After all, he's the first person to take a single look at her and know that she wasn't like the many humans here, even if she lacked the more obvious traits of the non-humans, animal ears included.

Tentatively, she shifts in place, the words escaping before she can truly think them through. Because if he can hear difference-- ]

Does it sound like a monster?

Edited 2015-05-01 19:47 (UTC)

[ Cole immediately shakes his head. ]

No. Even monsters don't sound like monsters. Their songs are twisted, but they're scared and confused. Even if they're hurting others.

[ He's thinking of demons when he says it, because in his experience, they come to the mortal world because they want to experience it, but it doesn't make sense to them. So they become something that hurts. It's not their fault, he thinks, because so many of them were a different kind of spirit that lost its way.

He thinks about how it could happen to him, if he's not careful. ]

But you're not. You don't want to hurt people.

[ Is this song he's hearing really telling him this much about her? Mary hasn't said a word about anything regarding herself, not to that extent, but he speaks as though he understands, and it's not condescending. He's not treating her like a child (because she's not, not really) or a freak, and it's... confusing.

But because he says it first, she can nod, fingers curling into the fabric over her chest. ]

I don't. Hurting someone... scares me, almost more than anything. [ But not as much as being alone again. ]

... I believe there is something we have to fight. I'm just not sure if the enemy is such a clear cut figure though.

Good. It's supposed to be scary.

[ There's a softness to his tone that's very gentle, almost sad. Cole has to hurt people to do what he does, after all, and even though he doesn't hesitate when he has to use his daggers, it's still frightening. Taking peoples' lives, even bad peoples', that should always be scary, he thinks.

But that aside, her question makes him curious, and though he's still clearly nervous, he asks carefully: ]

...Do think you're a monster?

[ This is not a conversation Mary's accustomed to having with someone whose name she still doesn't know. But once again, it's so bizarre and unusual that she has to answer him, and Mary's not the sort of person to offer dishonest replies.

She does find it unfair, however, that he knows and she doesn't, that she's left wondering about this person and why he speaks softly of the fear of hurting others. As if he really does understand.]

I'm... not like humans. [ Not completely. She knows this. ] And when I listened, when I read, it was always there. That what I am, what I come from... the monsters in those books, that's me.

But... [ Her voice trembles, and Mary lowers her head, shaking it. ] E-even someone like me-- all I wanted was to know more, to make friends! I never wanted to be the bad thing!

[ His question isn't one she can say yes or no to, not when it's too complicated in her own mind. ]

[That's not really the face of someone to be frightened of at all, is it? Oz can still feel residual anxieties brought on by the intrusiveness of his power, but it's not like he holds that against Cole himself. He's certainly not regretting that he decided to stop and ask where all those cakes had come from.]

I'm sure that things will work out in the end.

[Even if some things are lost in the process... Well, the world is a give-and-take kind of place, after all.

But that's about all he feels he has to say on that particular topic. After a second, his gaze drifts to the cake and to some of the birds nearby.]

Can I join you? Feeding the birds, I mean.

[Chibi's not normally a teacher; those things fall under the purview of his brothers Glip or Baltazar, normally. (Even Qilby, if Glip really can't stand the kid.) To have this kid - is he a kid? Chibi gets the sense of something much older, yet still naive - listen to him so raptly is strange. Writing down his thoughts on wakfu is easy; speaking them one-on-one, to someone who's not acquainted with his teachings, is a little more difficult.]

A song... That sounds beautiful, actually. Does the Veil's song flow only through people, as you understand it, or through other living beings as well? [Chibi is genuinely charmed by the idea. Then, what are songs but a flow of voice, or of sound?] Let us keep singing, regardless - to make, or to break.

[It's an honest, gentle wish of well-being, just as "may the Goddess be within you" might be to an Eliatrope.]

Sometimes a dragon egg will contain a person - well, an Eliatrope, like me - but sometimes it won't. It's a gift when it does. [A gift reserved, so far, for only twelve people - six Eliatropes, six dragons. Of course, they reincarnate endlessly, but details!!] Dragons are big indeed - in stature and power, but also in heart. If you get on the right side of a dragon, you'll never worry again, they say. My brother can be a bit gruff sometimes, but I'm blessed to be brother to someone so devoted.

[Take it from someone who's the son of a huge, possibly metaphorical dragon; he's not biased at all!]

[Yeah, Nice can follow most people's train of thoughts...even easier if they're a little bit weird. Because he's weird too.]

So the rain can wash off the sugar...not that it seems like you planned it that far, though.

[That's what it seems to be doing...]

[ He nods, though he doesn't say anything right away, since that's a little different from what he's used to, but at the same time, not at all. Corypheus was the figure causing the very literal end of the world, but he had overheard Leliana and Cullen talking about it before. Just getting rid of him wouldn't get rid of everyone else that had served him.

It's a longer battle than just getting rid of that person. He gets that impression from this too, but he's uncertain how to take that. ]

Have people fought it before?

[ He considers that question thoughtfully, since it's hard for him to answer. Cole is still trying to figure it out as well, because from when he became this "Cole," those songs were hard to understand. They were confusing, and though he understood them better now and wasn't pulled towards doing things he regretted now, it was still difficult for the human part of him to reconcile properly. ]

I don't know. I only hear one part of the song. I can hear the hurt, since I heal. Or I'm supposed to. Other living things don't hurt like people do.

[ But he does wonder about it, now that it's been posed, since animals were the ones that could see him much more easily than people. Horses would be startled by his presence, and cats would bat at his feet. He cants his head to the side, but before he sinks too deep into that thought, he looks back up. ]

I wonder if it's like that in Thedas. I wouldn't know. But I don't know much about dragons.

[ He shifts from one foot to another, since he wonders if it's rude, but then changes his mind to add: ] The Iron Bull thinks he has dragon blood though. The Qun tells him he might, and The Iron Bull wants to believe it, since it makes him feel stronger. He likes dragons. He likes fighting them.

[ He nods, and there's a twitch of something at the corner of his mouth, maybe a smile, though it's something difficult to discern. ]

Yes. They would like that.

[ He shifts, then offers a box to Oz. He probably recognizes the box from being from Ciel's favorite fattydingdongs bakery, but inside is a very plain cake without even frosting. ]

Birds remember when you're kind to them. [ and that's why all the birbs hate ciel ]

[ He nods slightly ]

It was hard to find ones without icing. And if you wash it off, then it's too soggy for them to eat.

[ He's thought about it quite a bit... ]

So break off the bottom and it's better.

[He has put...a lot of thought into this...it's kind of weird.]

I don't really think birds care about that sort of thing. Don't you think? They just eat whatever.

[ His expression turns sympathetic, since he does understand, more than he tends to understand anyone else's pain. It's a fear of being a monster, of not knowing whether it's true or not. The fear he had felt in the Spire still burns deeply in his chest, since Rhys had called him a monster, and so Cole had to accept that as a truth. He wanted to get better, which is why he had followed the Templars until he found the Inquisitor, but it was something he still had to accept as at least partially true.

But this is where Compassion takes over, so he steps forward gingerly to place a hand on her shoulder, a quiet comfort that he feels he can provide, though his touch is soft if she wants to pull away. ]

Then you aren't a monster.

[ His voice is certain and soft, full of a gentle warmth that only comes when Cole feels more certain that he's helping rather than hurting. ]

A monster is a monster because of what it does. And people are frightened, so they make people into monsters, since they're afraid of being hurt. But not everything different hurts. I understand.

[ There's some minor indecision there, to flinch from someone she barely knows, or to accept kindness from someone who doesn't want to judge her. Like Seto, but somehow even more knowing-- and still, the similarity helps Mary relax, so instead of ducking away, she ever so slowly moves her hand up to touch the one on her shoulder. A silent thank you, maybe. Or she's trying to show him that she's not afraid (she is, a little, but that's instinctive). ]

I'm... not a monster... [ She echoes Cole, sounding half-desperate, as though she's trying very hard to believe it (she is). She's been trying to believe it for so long, but having a reminder helps immensely. Even though she still doesn't know how he understands. Because he's also different, she knows that much, but still...

Well. She blinks back tears, more than a little overwhelmed by this unexpected first meeting, but she'll add: ]

I'm Mary.

[ Not a monster, but Mary. ]

Edited 2015-05-06 16:44 (UTC)

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that's in the sky where the rain's from [OPEN]

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