crystal;

[foxsays]

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Araceli Bonaventura
RECIPIENT: Everyone
WHAT: Offering advanced parkour lessons and trying to organise a shindig
WHEN: Now
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Threadjacking encouraged. A few notices have been left around the Gallows to sign-up for lessons.

Inquisition, now that we're settled in Kirkwall I come to you with two very exciting propositions. As some of you know, I taught how to climb and run the walls and battlements of Skyhold, how to fall from such heights safely but alas this was not as it was at home when Skyhold was so contained. But here we are in Kirkwall! I can truly teach you how to leap from building to building if your desire and to dive into the waters from buildings and from the rigging of a ship. Of course, we start small so as not to injure your good self but if that prospect sounds intriguing, please come find me. I am Araceli Bonaventura, at your service. I'm either working at the Gallows or by the docks or you might happen to look up.

The second is a thing to celebrate and I could say that I do it as leader of the naval projects but truly? I do it as someone who loves cooking and seafood, to finally be back by the water after so long removed from it. Tell me, Inquisition, what are your favourite seafood dishes? Your favourite meals from Antiva or Rivain or places such as that? Because I thought it might be an idea to have a cookout by the waves towards the end of the month, say, the twenty-second? Everyone is welcome if they are a fan of good food and good times among friends.

[Also it's her birthday but since they don't really do birthdays that way back home, what better thing to do than have a fun time with people that have all certainly earned it?]

Comments

[kartereo]

Then please consider this an application for falling lessons.

[foxsays]

Do you have a time that works best for you? My evenings and nights are more free than my days but I can move things around.

[kartereo]

Evenings should be perfectly fine. Set a time, and I'll be there.

[foxsays]

About seven? There's a secluded spot at the back of the Gallows for this part, you won't want the audience you'd get at the docks and the audience at Skyhold was enough at times for new starts. Don't dress in anything too tight or too loose. Absolutely no gloves.

[kartereo]

I fully anticipate making myself look like an ass and sporting a few bruises. I'll see you then.

[foxsays]

Señor Waver, if you go into it thinking of failure, then that is what you get out of it, and anticipating pain is living it twice. [There's a short pause and she laughs quietly.] Ah if my parents and duelling master could hear me now, how they'd laugh.

[[ooc: do you want to go directly to actionspam for this?]]

[kartereo]

Maybe they'd be proud of your new position as an instructor. [Probably both reactions? Either way.] I'll see you there.

--

[Regardless, Waver does show up at the designated meeting spot, and he looks prepared. He has long trousers of thick fabric, all the better to prevent bad scrapes, and seems to have tied leather around his knees and elbows to make lightly bullshitted knee and elbow pads. Most importantly though, he has his hair tied back and then swept up entirely, so that no stray strands can blind him. That last part is usually the biggest problem after endurance.]

[foxsays]

[Oh her parents are always proud, but parents still find a way to laugh at their words coming out of the mouth of a girl who frequently chafed under much instruction.

Araceli has to come down from the rooftop to meet Waver, her own curls wilder than they would be in the working day because this is her free time after all and she's used to this, dark trousers tucked into her boots, a plainer working short than she'd usually be in tucked into the trousers. The rapiers hang at her waist as usual but Kirkwall calls for a little more discretion she feels than Skyhold did.]

Good evening. [Down she scrambles, dropping the last few feet and rolling to take the impact before she gets to her feet.] Bueno, bueno, dressed for it; so I managed to get something suitable to land on around the corner out of the way, same as Skyhold, learn how to fall and the rest takes care of itself.

[kartereo]

[The only thing Waver didn't think to bring was something to drink, which in retrospect is pretty foolish of him. It'll come up at some point and will be a longer break than needed, which works fine as well.

He waves a lazy hand as Araceli lands, and then looks at her with a mix of some eagerness and nerves etched on his face.]

Well, I'm ready to start if you are. I hope you don't mind the extra improved precautions. It occurred to me that the could limit some movement.

[foxsays]

Some of us do this in corsets and full skirts, breathing and relaxing are the more important concerns. [Not that Araceli does any of this often in her good dresses because that's how you ruin them, and it's an easy way to damage your ribs because corsets aren't fans of letting you move or breathe the way you should be needs must. She leads the way round to where there's a good sized pile of hay.

'Borrowed' from the stables.]

Nearly all of this is going to come from your thighs and from here. [Stopping in front of him, Araceli turns and makes a fist to indicate her core but there isn't that term for it where she's from so this demonstration is going to have to do.] Once you get up it's pushing up not pulling yourself.

[kartereo]

Point taken.

[Anyone doing athletics in a corset alone had Waver's respect. He follows after Araceli, and he isn't surprised that the hay is the landing pad. Hopefully no one will miss it.]

Okay. I follow the logic of it, at least. What's the first step of execution?

[foxsays]

Usually I approach the wall from a run, it gives you momentum and you can use the forward to help you go up. Do as much as you can with your legs; push with them, catch yourself with your hands then push again with the legs because our legs, they carry us all day, so the legs are used to holding us up. Hands and arms tired must faster than you think no matter how much muscle a person has because it still has to hold up your whole body and whatever you're carrying. Once you're halfway up anything? The ground and the top can look so very far away.

[Further than they are, she doesn't feel the need to say that because it's like so many things in life where you reach a terrible point in the middle where you're stuck and going on or going back seem just as horribly far from where you are, both fraught.]

Normally? I run to the wall, push up and start the climb but that's a bit advanced maybe to begin for everyone so there's some decorative work here cut in that's a good foothold, put your toes or the balls of your feet on it. [Araceli does just that, settling herself comfortably even if teaching it feels unnatural the way it always does when it's been a while.] The middle of the foot and the heel tire too fast so never put your weight there.

[kartereo]

[Through all of this, Waver watched and listened carefully. The explanations made sense to him, but there was always the gulf between understanding something and actually executing it. He knew that going in though.

He tries to mimic the foothold, cringing a few moments as Waver tries to get the balance right.]

Is this about what it should look like?

[foxsays]

[Araceli nods encouragingly with a smile, correcting where she must but most of it? It's what works for that person unless it's bad technique that's going to get them hurt.]

Once we get moving it feels less unnatural, this bit? It feels strange, even for me. So. Onwards and upwards! Arms straight, hips at a right angle-- [let her just get a bit further up to demonstrate what she actually means, hanging quite comfortably as if she could do it all day (she mostly could)] because this is vertical? It's balance, that means push with the legs as I said, pull with the arms when you must but think about where the hands and feet are going but fortunately these buildings have the stonework that favours this sort of thing, not like Skyhold where I had to do many tests to make sure nothing would crumble from under me.

[And with that, Araceli pushes up in a slight exaggeration since she doesn't want to teach bad technique, catching herself with her hands in the motion then up again, exhaling on the push, inhaling on the pull.]

[kartereo]

[Constant movement makes everything temporary anyway. Waver watches very, very carefully first, not only the movements but where all of the limbs go and when. Understanding not only the movement but the best placement helps Waver understand and hopefully not overthink when he needs to do so himself.]

I can absolutely see Skyhold being a dangerous place to do this.

[He wouldn't have tried to learn there, that much he knows. A mild fear of falling and bringing chunks of building with him would have prevented it. Now, well. Now he feels better being bolder.]

Should I follow now?

[The last thing he wants to do is start and then get to a place where help can't reach him.]

[foxsays]

Not dangerous exactly [a huff as she climbs further then back down to stay in sight and so she won't need to raise her voice more than she wants to] since this is the sort of thing where you should have caution. Sometimes it's stonework, a loose tile, sometimes it's a hand in the dark grabbing you or a person shooting.

[Carefully not specifying what they'd be shooting, she can't remember what she's talked about with everyone after a long day so best to just shade it careful and let it fall where it may.]

Yes, yes, up you come, if you need it I can help. Just remember to breathe, to allow yourself a moment to think but don't overthink. Listen to your body most of all as you move, I'm here to help and teach you something new and fun and exciting.

[kartereo]

God willing, there will be absolutely no shooting at any point when I deploy this skill.

[But causes of death later, learning now. Waver takes a long, deep breath, looks at where he needs to begin, and gets ready.

Then he begins. Waver moves slowly, tracing Araceli's path precisely. Foothold, handhold, everything he could remember. He tries to ignore the fact that his limbs are shaking, be it from nerves or else from the muscles not being used to moving in this particular way - both, most likely. He manages to get a few feet up and off the ground, then frowns.]

Shit. Do I move left or right?

[foxsays]

No one has said anything about returning to the Winter Palace but they haven't said that we aren't returning either.

[The Winter Palace was a marvellous night enjoyed by all and Araceli absolutely loved leading civilians around and having to parkour in a ballgown to kill a Red Templar archer before she could get shot at.

Glancing down as she goes, moving out of Waver's path but never so far as to be out of reach, Araceli pauses to assess where Waver is, one hand outstretched to point.] If you move left, do you see that little ledge there? Move towards that, it's wider, better for your feet and fingers and you might feel more secure moving up that way. You can feel with your fingers too, don't be afraid to move down and then back up if you need to or to keep moving to the side before you move up.

[kartereo]

I never went--

[He had lingered back, still trying to get comfortable with the reality of well, everything. And spending time with Iskandar, which was much more important in Waver's book than anything related to the Inquisition. In truth, Waver hadn't felt any true sense of duty until coming to Kirkwall.

Neither here nor there. He listened, looking left. That ledge was good, and waver began to move towards it. Confident when he got there, Waver continued to move upward at his slow and steady pace.]

I got it!

[foxsays]

[Duty is--

Araceli follows her heart, a thing that's easy to do when your queen is easy to love after all but she knows where she stands and how to live her life here. The idea of rifters together might have worked but it was a foolish girl's idea and she can't afford that.

So she has this instead, living and breathing the Inquisition and when she has her free time still doing things to help it in some way.]

Que bueno, this is taller than Skyhold was but not so cold. Or broken. You'll need to push a little harder when you get to the part where stonework sticks out more but it's not much, just to keep it in mind.

[kartereo]

Okay.

[Waver manages until he gets to the stonework. He pauses when he gets there, trying to map out the best route before moving through it. There are a few false starts and back tracks, but he manages.

With that though is a shorter breath, which he prays can't be heard too easily.]

[foxsays]

[Araceli keeps climbing up until she reaches the top because if she needs to, she knows she can get back down and realistically there's only so much she'd be able to do if he lost his grip now. It's not too far, this isn't the highest section but higher than Skyhold's walls.

Life is different, the challenges ahead are greater, thus the training has to reflect that and she scaled just as tall (if not taller) when she was younger. Pulling herself up and over the edge, she remains on her knees to peer down with a smile.]

You're doing well, not long, keep breathing and think how good it will feel to see it all from up here.

[kartereo]

Breathing! [pant] Right!

[Waver takes his time getting to the top, and he swings his leg up and over once he gets there. It isn't very charming to more or less collapse after getting to the top, but Waver isn't the most in-shape man in Kirkwall.]

Made...it....

[foxsays]

[Style can come after getting a hang of the basics when there's still a very vital step to come after all this.]

Isn't the view something? [Other people might sound more awed but appreciating parts of Kirkwall doesn't mean losing sight of where they stand now or that no one would ever have been allowed to do what they're doing here before.] If you sit and lean forward, head between your knees? It helps getting your breath back. We can run a little up here if you want or go straight to the fall.

[Falling is the most important lesson after all.]

[kartereo]

[Waver takes in the view for about two seconds before shifting so he's sitting with his head between his knees. Frankly, he'd like to appreciate the view, but air? Way, way more important.

A few minutes pass before he's gotten everything back to normal, and when Waver does pick his head up, there's a soft little damn that affirms that yes, this is one hell of a view.

He then pauses to redo his hair. Too much of it has come loose, and so the ponytail is re-done.]

I think that, based on past performance, running might prevent me from having the wherewithall to fall properly and safely.