[Open]

[rebelhealer]

WHO: Anders and YOU!
WHERE: Various locations, such as the park or his place of work
WHEN: Month of June
WHAT: Anders gets settled in. Come bother him.
WARNINGS: None for now


Work Hours
Anders has never really had a job before. The clinic was volunteer work, since he never once asked anybody to compensate him for healing them, and he mainly got by on donations. The people in Darktown and Lowtown needed their coin more than he did. And the Circle certainly doesn't let mages hold a job, since any coin they make with their talents goes right to the Chantry.

But getting to save and take care of cats and make some coin doing so? Delightful.

Perhaps one comes into the shelter to look at or adopt a cat? He'll be glad to help.

Library
The librarian gave him a weird look when he asked where the spell books are. Apparently this library doesn't have them. So he makes due with just looking around for now to see what this place does have. This world is more accepting of magic, and yet it still has its setbacks.

Anders looks around in the nonfiction section for now, picking up a book about Botany. He flips through it, glancing at the pages. He then flips to the table of contents. "Nothing about elfroot? What kind of botany book is this?"

Park
Kirkwall lacked anyplace this nice. Even the Wounded Coast's beauty was marred by the occasional corpse. And the mere fact that he can walk around here freely, enjoy the fresh air and not have to hide who he is, it's like he died and went to the Golden City.

He can be found wandering around the lake, looking at the geese and ducks, or sitting on a bench as he reads.

[If you have another idea for a prompt, hit me up, or find me on plurk at arwingyoshi]

Comments

Work Hours

[am_i_a_monster]

It was nice to be able to use the porters and explore from time to time. Abigail hadn't been to Nonah often, so she decided to spend some time there, walking around.  The Itty Bitty Kitty committee sign caught her attention, amusing her slightly. What was it with this place and pun names?    She decided to step inside and see what they did.  Maybe they'd even have a few cats she could visit and play with.   Give them a chance to be active and a little attention.   She did love cats, having three of her own, and she had a lot in common with rescue animals.   Kaneki and D33 had rescuded her in a way when they took her in.

She smiled to the man who looked like he worked there.  "Hello."

[rebelhealer]

Getting to play with the cats, so they could be socialized, was probably Anders' favorite part of the job. They even had an orange tabby that reminded him of Ser Pounce-a-lot.

Anders was petting a little Siamese kitten when he heard the young lady address him. He smiled at her pleasantly, kitten still in hand.

"Hello. Come to adopt or just look?"

He'd only been on the job one day, and already three cats had gotten adopted. The government officials did say that he now had the power to make cats lucky.

[am_i_a_monster]

"And hello to you too."   Abigail cooed at the kitten, taking a closer look.   "He's adorable.  Or she?"   She asked the man.   

"Just to look." She answered.  "And maybe pet or play with one of them if that's alright?"    She looked at him with her hope shining in her wide, blue eyes- sometimes she simply couldn't help playing the part of the manipulator.  It did come naturally to her.

[rebelhealer]

"His name's Snickers," Anders replied, confirming the kitten's gender.

"I'll take you back to the kitten play room," He'd seen that look on his own face in the mirror whenever he was around a cat, so he knew how she felt. Anders led her down the hall and into a room the size of a bedroom, where various kittens were playing with each other or various toys. They also had a room for people who wanted to play with adult cats, of course.

Anders set Snickers down for now. A few of the kittens in the room immediately ran over to him.

[am_i_a_monster]

"And an adorable name."    Abigail thought that a Siamese did have colours similar to a chocolate bar.   

She followed him into the play room and crouched down close to the playing kittens.    She observed one little kitty further away from the others, taking tiny steps forward then stopping - as if he wanted to play, but was shy or scared.  Abigail picked up one of the toys, a small rod with a string and feathers at the end of the string.   It reminded her of a tiny fishing pole; Will might have liked it.    She dangled the feathers near the shy kitten, then smiled as he came out and began to play.

"Do you find homes for many of them?"   She asked curiously, still looking at the kittens.

[rebelhealer]

Anders merely assumed it was just a cute name, since he was unfamiliar with candy bars.

He sat down so he could pet the kittens closet to him. Some of them climbed into his lap, while another nibbled on his shoelaces. Anders took a catnip fish toy and dangled it above a gray tabby, watching her stand on her hind legs for it.

"We do. In fact, the people who run the shelter say that since I came to work here, they've had much more luck with adoptions. We even had a nice couple come in and adopt a blind cat."

[am_i_a_monster]

Abigail reached out and very gently petted the back of the shy kitten when he came closer.   She received a purr in response and petted him again.   "That's really great."     She dangled the feather toy again and a few more kittens came over.  She gave them attention as well, but always kept an eye on the shy one.  "All cats should have a place to live.  I've got three at home."   Home.  That's what it was now. 

"You're new to working here then?"   She asked.   "It must be a very rewarding job.  How did you get into it?"

[rebelhealer]

"I plan to take one of these little ones home. It's just hard to choose." Anders let the kitten have the fish toy finally, which she proceeded to clutch and nuzzle. A few more kittens climbed into his lap, and he began to pet the lot of them, even making little cooing noises at them. Two kittens began to play fight with each other, rolling out of his lap.

"I've only been working here for a couple of days. When I was ported in, the government just told me that this was my new job."

[am_i_a_monster]

"I can understand that.  They're all so precious."  Abigail smiled at one that was crawling onto her lap.   "Yes, you are."   She gently rubbed the kitten's chin and was reward with more purring. 

"You're a new import, then?  I'm an import too."  He seemed to be doing so well.  She had to remind herself that not every import is brought in after the moment of their death.  "I've been here a while now.  It's a good place."   Anything would be better than the circumstances she had been living in.  And here, surrounded by kittens, it seemed just about perfect.

library

[curiosityvoyage]

"What's an elfroot?" Dustin says behind this strange new person. He's got his own stack of books, mostly history stuff and a couple things written by imPorts, but there's a few titles inclined towards the sciences: chemistry, technology, and even another book on botany. It's hard to see Dustin himself over the stack of books he's carrying.

Not hard to see the slimy baby monster taking a nap on top of his hat, though.

"It's not poisonous, is it?" says Dustin.

[rebelhealer]

Anders turns and looks down at the stack of books. Or rather, the boy carrying the stack of books. At least, he would look him in the face if he could actually see it.

"On the contrary," Anders says, his tone informal. "It's used to make healing potions and poultices. Deathroot on the other hand, that's poisonous."

He hasn't seen a hint of either since he got taken to this world.

[curiosityvoyage]

"With a name like deathroot, duh." The stack of books shifts to the side, so Anders can now better see Dustin's curious expression. A new curiosity door has just been unlocked. "Healing potions—this might sound weird, but do you have magic in your world? 'Cause mine doesn't, and neither does this one."

The creature on top of his hat just snores a little.

"But there's a couple other plants you could probably use for medicine, if you need healing potions," Dustin adds, unmindful of the snoring. "It just won't be that effective, I think."

[rebelhealer]

"The people at the Porter might have mentioned that was the case," The idea of a world without magic is a little disturbing for Anders. He can't imagine a world without magic. He and Justice had also wondered if they were lied to, since they're used to living in a world where the people who rule his homeland spreads lies. It seems they were mistaken on that front, at least. "My world does have magic, in fact."

That this boy sounds eager at the idea of meeting someone with magic, and not scared, does raise Anders' spirits. He's also looking down at the strange creature with interest.

"What sort of plants?"

[curiosityvoyage]

"Cool." If Anders had any doubt about Dustin's eagerness, the sheer delight on his face at the idea of magic, despite having been a part of magic kindergarten for a while now, is most definitely proving it wrong. It's like someone just told him there's an extra gift just for him under the Christmas tree. "I know someone else whose world has magic—he's a wizard, I bet you'll like him. He let me ride his magical construct once, it was great, and he's teaching me and a few others to use magic."

At the question, Dustin's face shifts from bright and eager to learn to deeply pensive, like he's sifting through his memory for any medicinal plants. Then he huffs out a breath. "If you help me carry these to a table I could look through one of them and tell you," he says.

[rebelhealer]

Anders can't help but smile a little at Dustin's glee. He grew up in a society that fears magic and those who are born with the power to wield it, so seeing this boy express actual delight at the idea of knowing someone with magic warms Anders up.

"Well, now you know another mage," Anders holds up his hand and summons a small light show into his hand, which vanishes after a few seconds.

Anders picks up most of the books and carries them to a nearby table.

[curiosityvoyage]

Dustin is so enraptured by that tiny little light show that he leans forward a little, a couple books teetering precariously. "I can do something like that, kinda!" he says, excitedly, as Anders picks up most of his books. "I dunno how different your world's magic is from what I'm learning, but I could do something like that now."

Like a real bard!

Anyway, once the books are settled on the table, Dustin snatches his botany book back and flips to the index. Then he flips to the chapter on herbalism, spending a couple minutes scanning over the words before looking up and saying, "There's stuff like willow bark. It's used in treating fevers, and it's good if you want a break from pain for a little while. There's chamomile, you put that in tea so your stomach stops hurting or so you can sleep better. And you could get morphine out of poppy seeds. And..."

Oh, boy, he's going to keep rattling off plants and their medicinal uses if someone doesn't stop him.

[rebelhealer]

It's really true then. Mages are allowed to be free in this world, and Anders isn't just a special case. Were Dustin in his world, he would be arrested and imprisoned for the rest of his life, just because he has magic. It almost brings a tear to his eye. Almost.

Anders sits down to read along with the kid, looking at the various herbs and plants on the pages. "Back in my world, I ran a free clinic. I would heal people with magic, or prescribe them potions or salves, depending on their needs. Though, admittedly, the healing potions mostly came in handy when my friend dragged me on yet another adventure."

Park

[marr]

Marr was at the park, also at the lake. He wasn't wearing his armor, though his helmet was still in place. Instead he wore a jacket that managed to approximate this planet's idea of business wear and a pair of pants that wouldn't rip and give way if he had to move suddenly.

Summoning his armor ruined the clothing he was wearing, but few conflicts in this place required such defense. For now he was merely enjoying some time to contemplate serious matters off on his own. Occasionally his helmet turned to watch a duck landing or taking off.

So far, ducks were the only species of animal he recognized in this place.

[rebelhealer]

Anders did a double take when he saw the man in the helmet. Immediately he thought templar, but quickly realized that the helmet was the wrong style. If anything, he looked like he might have come from Tevinter.

Something about him was also putting Justice on edge, for reasons he couldn't describe.

"You uh... how do you see out of that?" Where were its eyeholes?

[marr]

The question had Marr turning his full attention to the man. That was a question he had heard people direct at Jadus, but it was the first time someone had posed it to him. Instead of saying something right away, he lifted one armor-gloved hand and gently tapped right beside the dark, reflective section section of one-way transparisteel.

"I see quite well." Marr wasn't interested in giving any kind of drawn-out explanation about the mechanics of how, just that he could. Though, really, having a completely opaque helmet would have hindered him very little.

[rebelhealer]

"I'll take your word for it." The more Anders was around this man, the more creeped out he got. He gave off a weird vibe.

He turned back to the lake and watched the ducks some more. Some swans came swimming in, bopping for food in the water. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

Even more beautiful because he could enjoy it without fear for his freedom and life.

[marr]

Marr could sense the discomfort he caused in the other man. It wasn't unusual, but not many people had that reaction here. He was either more cautious than most or possessed some kind of extra sense that allowed him to perceive the darkness in him.

"I'll take your word for it," Marr said, a vague hint of amusement in his voice. "You're new here, what do you think of this place?"

[rebelhealer]

Contrast to the other man, Anders wore something more casual. A green sports jacket over a t-shirt, jeans, and his old boots. The outfit he came in was hanging in his closet, though he couldn't part with the boots.

Anders got the feeling that he was being mocked. "It's different. There's things here that we don't have back home. Cars, television, air conditioning, that sort of thing."

[marr]

"It's very different from my own home as well, though in the other direction." Another person from a home with an even lower level of technology than this one. But some of them seemed to have other things going for them. Usually an over-abundance of people with some manner of unusual powers.

"You will find much of this place to be more convenient, once you adjust."

[rebelhealer]

Anders hadn't thought of worlds even more advanced than this. The thought just didn't occur to him. To him, the peak of advanced tech was that computer thing sitting in his room back at the house. That and the e-reader.

"Well, with some of the technology I've seen here, I can't help but think we might have had them in my world years ago if the Chantry didn't demonize magic."

A fridge, for example, could have possibly been made by enchanting a metal box with frost runes.