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

[existency]

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!

Comments

[existency]

[ Cole nods, though his eyes turn down again, hiding under the brim of his hat. He's glad that he was right, because if nothing else, his talent here was getting a feeling for just what people were looking for, but it was actually offering it that was the difficult part. He preferred his gestures to remain unseen and unacknowledged, since that was simply his way. ]

...Good.

[ It's awkward and stilted, but as he draws back to cross his arms, his speech becomes a bit smoother. ]

They're lively, growing only when the sun is brightest, when things feel most alive. So I thought it was what you wanted.

[manolia]

[Why's the kid embarrassed? Chibi's not sure; clearly he has an eye for living things, both sapient and not! He wonders briefly whether he comes from a civilization as attuned to Wakfu as the Eliatropes... Maybe. Certainly, it's a place with great hats.]

[He takes the flower and holds her carefully, swaying from foot to foot, almost restless in his constant movement.]

You're getting a few people looking for things like this, I imagine? [A much more logical conclusion than 'he read my mind.'] Life is all around us, I know, but my people were much more attuned to its energy than this world seems to be. It just feels strange, not to have growing things everywhere. Is it the same for you? Since you're working here and all, it seems like a lovely place--

[It occurs to Chibi that he's babbling; he scratches the back of his hat in embarrassment.] --Ah, sorry. Should I let you get back to work?

[existency]

[ He looks up in interest, blue eyes peering from underneath the large brim of the hat, since it's the first time he's heard someone describe at least something similar to what he feels. It's not the same, naturally, but he's never heard anyone speak of being attuned to the unseen forces, save for maybe Solas, though Solas seemed to listen in a different way than most mages. ]

I work here because it helps.

[ The answer to the question is simple, but he doesn't respond to the request to leave, instead picking up on something Chibi's said. That should make it clear enough that he doesn't want him to. ]

What do you mean? Your people are attuned to energy?

[manolia]

A kind soul, I see. [He smiles brightly. This kid's like a flower, himself!]

[Now, does Chibi see an opportunity to preach chat about wakfu as a way of life?? Oh, boy! One of his tanned, callused hands lights a bright turquoise with some sort of energy.]

We call it wakfu - the ever-flowing energy of life, the great blue Veil in which all living creatures are enveloped. It - wakfu, that is, and life - is a gift joyously given to us by our Goddess, its embodiment. [He uses the trail of blue from his hand to conjure a few images, a woman with fantastic hair being the one he settles on.] Wakfu is in and around all life, even if we cannot see it. Well, we train our people in it, so we can - I mean, my dragon brother is so attuned to wakfu-sight that he can tell the contents of a person's soul. [At least, Grougal is able to tell how strong someone is... The wakfu dissipates.] But I'm not he, by any means.

[existency]

[ Cole listens silently but attentively as Chibi explains, just as he does when Solas explains things, since Solas tends to understand matters of spirits better than anyone else. But there are familiar things here, though it's in a different context than he's used to. He perks up at the word "Veil" especially, since that's something familiar, but everything else is a little different. ]

I have never heard of wakfu.

[ But it makes sense, and that idea is carried in his tone. Cole doesn't really understand magic well, since he's no scholar, but he wonders if that's just a word for the whispers that slip across the Veil to be turned into magic by mages. When he watches the figure be formed, he's more sure of that idea, though not completely. It's strange, to hear things familiar but explained differently. But when that light appears, it does feel like magic, an old song of the Fade. Different too, but familiar enough. ]

What is a dragon brother?

[manolia]

That's the good thing about it - even if you can't see it, it's all around us, and always flowing. Wakfu, to us, is not just a force, but the concept of life itself, and the raw material from which all different sorts of energy are made. That is, at least as we understand it - people of different worlds may see something entirely different, and I am sure your world has another way of explaining it.

[No explanation, though, will be quite so intuitive as wakfu is to an Eliatrope. Wakfu is a way of life to them, an inalienable flow, a warm, healing embrace... It would take a whole sheaf of poems to truly convey its essence, and this fellow is still on the clock, after all.]

[Chibi tugs at the tail of his hat again, trying to figure out how to answer Cole's other question. What is a dragon brother? Grougal was always there, a presence in his mind, if not always physically. His absence feels a bit like a limb's been severed. But, then, how do you explain that to someone who might not share that connection?]

What is a dragon brother? Ah... It's pretty self-explanatory - he's a dragon, and my brother. Well, twin, really; we hatched from the same egg. [A little laugh.] Not in the sense that we are all hatched from the great egg that is the universe, of course, but a more literal egg.

[existency]

[ 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.

[manolia]

[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!]

[existency]

[ 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.

[manolia]

You hear the hurt... [Chibi is caught off-guard for a second; that feels all too familiar. He doesn't bring up his personal philosophy, that all souls can feel distress, down to the smallest flower. Instead, he just listens and furrows his brows in concern. How awful...] That must be terribly lonely, being tasked with that.

But I suppose you are a little like me, huh? Except the piece of the puzzle I see isn't a feeling, but points in time - the future, in specific. [Blessed, or maybe cursed? At least, he sleeps better when he doesn't dream. Every duty has to come with some pain...] So, at least we are not alone in that. It can't be coincidence, that we should meet in a place where life is all around us.

[There's something about flowers, after all, that calms the soul. Perhaps it's the presence of life in color, or perhaps it's the way they never outwardly judge, yet still live and have a soul. Maybe it's that Eliatropes suck the wakfu from them regularly. Whatever it is, people like him seem to be content around flowers.]

[Still, Chibi has it in him to laugh at the Iron Bull story. Goddess, he knows some people like that...] Someone who fights against dragons for sport must have some dragon blood in them, I reckon. A noble fellow, then, or is the epithet for nothing?