therookery | Crystal

Entry tags:

Crystal

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Cosima
RECIPIENT: Riftwatch generally
NOTES: Nothing specific, but the vibes are bad

Hi, everyone. I'm sorry to have to do this again so soon, but I've been pretty thorough about checking and it seems like Provost Stark has vanished. [Clearly in the way Rifters do; if he'd just gone into Kirkwall and never come back, her tone would certainly be different.]

As his assistant, I'll be filling in as best I can until the organization has picked a new head of Research. I was still kind of getting a handle on his system, but, you know. We'll work it out.

I know we don't have a like ... formal process for this, as we just discussed. [Too recently.] But if anyone wants to have a drink and talk about it. Or not talk about it. I'm around for that too. Standing offer, even if you and I don't know each other as well as we knew him.

You can find me in the Research office for now. If I'm not there, I'll have my crystal on me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh.

Shit.

I mean, never good news, but yeah.

[Logistically as well as emotionally, not great, bob]

[It takes her a few moments to fight past her own panic, but she does it. Her own problems need to take a backseat.

Karlach can't say she fully understands the vanishing bit- but the way Cosima says it makes it very clear that he can't actually be found. Her voice lowers to something far gentler.]

Sounds like he'll be missed, and badly. I'm sorry.

Thanks.

[After a moment, she switches the sending crystal to private to say:]

We don't really know each other yet, so you can tell me to get lost, but. Was there something more specific about the "oh, shit" that I could help with?

Oh, plenty.

[Obviously relieved to have been asked.]

But dropping a problem this big on you right after you've lost a friend, when you've already been saddled with a whole division-

[Karlach exhales.]

I can wait a bit.

I'm Karlach, by the way. Hi.

Cosima. Sorry about the circumstances.

For what it's worth, it's been a rough few months even before this, so it's not like you're bringing the mood down or anything.

Everything is circumstances, soldier. [Gently.] But rough few months is underselling it, from what I've heard.

I owe you and yours a thank-you for what you managed at Granitefell.

[There's a small pause.]

I don't know how much you've heard already, but I never made it to Granitefell personally. [In this timeline. Unlike the one in which she died there.] But I'm glad we got people out. Were you there?

Yes. In another life, I would've died there.

I was a Tevinter slave. They had me joining up with the Venatori forces. When I saw what we were meant to do at Granitefell-

[A grinding anger rises in the back of Karlach's throat. It's just her voice, she's not visible over the crystals, but it has a deep rumble that hints at something more than human.]

Anyway. When we showed up, the people were gone. Gave me the cover I needed to slip the noose.

Oh.

[It's a lot, but also:]

I would have too. Died there. I mean, different reasons presumably, but. I'm glad you got away. Sorry, that feels ... it's kind of insufficient, isn't it.

Words always seem to feel that way, don't they? Best say them anyway.

[Karlach's tone has gone thoughtful again, gentle.]

I'm glad things shook out. And that you didn't die.

[A small laugh that only shakes the smallest amount.]

Um ... yeah. Me too. I mean... thanks.

[A brief pause.]

A lot of people died there who didn't deserve to, the first time.

[Karlach makes a low sound at that break in her voice. There's the sound of shuffling boots, a creak.]

Like you said, we don't know each other yet, so you can tell me to fuck off. But can I do anything?

Busy work, maybe? I can move things. Bring you a plate. Or a pint. Or an ear, if talking helps.

That's nice of you. Um. Don't walk up any stairs you wouldn't be going up anyway, but if you're heading by the Division offices for other reasons, I wouldn't say no to some tea.

Stairs!

[Someone who playfully scoffs at the idea of stairs getting the better of her. Who has not fully grasped the shittery that is the Gallows stairs.]

[It takes about a quarter hour for Karlach to learn.

Cosima might hear heavy footfalls outside the office, where they come to a stop beside the Division office doorways. The sound of a few heavy breaths followed by a self-satisfied laugh as Karlach catches her breath.]

Oooough. Hoo. Whewf. That's a good burn.

[Followed by a quick knock, and the sound of faint clattering.]

[When she answers the door, she takes in the breath returning to normal and the person she hasn't met yet, and puts two and two together. It's somewhere between amused and exasperated when she says,] I wasn't kidding about the stairs.

Teach me to underestimate-

[Still breathless, but heeled with a laugh. Cosima opens the door and is greeted with the sight of a... very tall, very muscular tattooed woman with horns, though one of them is broken off close to her skull.

Qunari.

Her chest is glowing like there's a hearth behind her ribs, backlighting them. And she's holding a teapot by the handle in one bare hand, mugs in the other.]

Hot, hot. Got a place to set these down? Thought you were likely to have cups, but it felt damned idiotic to come without.

[Cosima's been in Thedas long enough that Qunari don't throw her, though there's always a moment with someone she's met first by sending crystal, a oh, that's what you look like that reminds her, in her own world, of the sometimes odd sensation of first seeing a photo of a podcast's hosts many episodes in. (She may be down to Strange, for people who'd get that one.)]

Come on, I'm set up in the main office, we can find a clear space on a horizontal surface. Probably. Thank you, by the way, is your hand OK?

[The hot was more a warning so Cosima wouldn't reach for the pot itself, but Karlach smiles anyway as she sets the teapot down where Cosima indicates. She sweeps her eyes over the research room, struck by a sense of tingling familiarity, and then over the woman who may make all the difference in the days to come.

She wasn't sure what she pictured- by her accent Karlach was expecting a dwarf, but Cosima's definitely human once she gets past the spectacles. She's never seen anything quite like them.

Moreover, she's far kinder than any other mage with a lab she's run across.

Karlach holds up her hand, spreading her fingers so Cosima can see the fire that licks between them. She takes a deep breath and it dies down marginally.]

Lyrium heart. Comes with a few perks.

So. [Brisk, cheerful.] How do you take your tea?

[Her eyes widen a bit at 'lyrium heart,' in a way that suggests she'll have a few questions about that later, but it feels rude to jump right in on a first meeting. Instead:]

With honey or sugar, whatever we're not out of these days. No milk. Thanks.

[The office is full but organized (more or less), evidence of her work sifting through Tony's papers on the main desk. Cosima herself also looks more or less organized; Thedosian clothing contrasted with the glasses and boots she brought with her through a rift. In the Gallows, she doesn't bother with the fingerless gloves she often uses to disguise her anchor shard in Kirkwall proper, instead showing off her favored collection of rings.]

It's probably good for me to take a break anyway, I've been at this for a while and could use a drink and an excuse to stretch.

Honey, then. Sugar tends to go all brown and goopy-like on me. Tastes lovely though.

[Karlach's not exactly the definition of domestic by the look of her, but she hums to herself while she gets the tea fixed up, carefully passing over the cup and making sure she doesn't touch the handle.]

Piping hot, [is a cheerful warning as much as a promise. Karlach turns back and make a cup of her own, sighing before she sits down with it. The wooden stool creaks, and she goes very still for a moment before deciding that it'll bear her weight.]

And before you get to feeling awkward about it, my heart's what I wanted to ask you about. No hurry, though.

[Karlach pauses, a touch of worry streaking obviously across her face and eyes.]

Well. Yes, hurry. But not right now immediately.

Thanks again, [as she carefully takes the tea and resumes her seat.]

I mean, look, it doesn't have to be this conversation. But him going means more work, not less, I expect I'll have my hands full so you don't need to wait for me. Did you talk to him about it at all, before he vanished?

[Karlach nods in understanding. The worst possible time to be dumping something else on Research's plate, and on Cosima's plate specifically. She feels like a complete ass for the asking, but she doesn't have a lot of options.]

Never got to meet him, actually. Patently shitty timing all round.

[Grief and administrative hell.]

That does suck. He'd have been a help in a way I can't. But, that said, I've been working on lyrium and its interactions with living things for a long time, so maybe I'll have something? Or at least an idea of where to look for something.

Are you ... do you know if you're working on a time clock? [It's sympathetically asked, but fairly straightforward. The information is relevant, and Karlach doesn't give the impression of someone easily offended.]

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