Room 322, Wednesday Morning

[not_every_mage]

It had been more than a day since the children left, and Anders wasn't sure his head was entirely back to normal yet. It was funny how deeply you could miss someone you'd known for such a short time, and who quite likely wouldn't ever exist at all.

At least it seemed like Leo was headed back someplace where he was safe and loved. Carys, though ... that was another story. He still wasn't entirely certain he and Kathy had done the right thing by making her go home. Her parents had lots of friends, sure, and he liked the idea of palling around with a Champion (whatever that meant exactly) but ... he didn't want to raise a child in a world where her father was an apostate. It seemed likely to lead only to heartbreak for everyone.

He tried to set aside his worry for the girl as he scrounged through his books until he found one on the history of Thedas. Maybe it would at least give him some background on Kirkwall to put a bit of what Carys had said in context.

[OOC: Cracked door, open post.]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

To be fair, neither Zevran nor Isabela was exactly known for having high standards. Just saying.

"That's cold," Anders accused. "Bad enough to knock me over, and now you're threatening to take my food? What kind of friend are you?"

He was ignoring the part where he had started it.

[spin_kick_snap]

Not their fun sexual tricks! God, Anders.

"The kind of friend who gets all the tasty pizzas because she's not rolling around on the bed like a giant drama-queen," Kathy said smugly. "The kind of friend who was right."

And because she was Kathy and, therefore, a soft-touch by nature, she added, "You are really okay, right? Just bruised? Do you need to heal or anything?"

[not_every_mage]

"Oh, fine, rub it in," Anders groused, sitting up at last. "And I'll be okay. You didn't hit that hard."

He was just being a drama queen, as she'd said.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I tried not to," Kathy said, back to smirking now that she knew he was okay. "But force equals mass times velocity squared and I was going really fast so sometimes I literally can't calculate my own strength."

Beat.

"You big baby."

[not_every_mage]

"Don't mock my misery," Anders said, tossing a pillow in her general direction. "Though we should spar sometime. When I stop getting beaten to a pulp I'll know I'm getting good."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oooh, can we?" Kathy asked. "And if you give me one of those barrier things, you can fling fireballs and ice spells at me, too!"

No, those weren't things she'd be facing in a regular fight in LA, but hey. If she could dodge a fireball, she could probably dodge a guy with a knife, too.

"I'm up for whenever you are." She eyed him, amused. "You know, after you recover from your grievous injury."

[not_every_mage]

"I might have stopped bleeding internally by next Monday," Anders suggested. "Or Wednesday, if Monday's too soon."

He considered what she'd said, and an apologetic look crossed his face. "I wish. If I'm holding a barrier I'm not much use for anything else because canon is stupid. Something about split magical energies. Could you work with a physical shield of some kind, maybe?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Next Monday, I'll be blissfully free of all my stupid SAT worries, at least for a week or so. It'll be fine."

Sure, it was also finals week, but Kathy wasn't too concerned about most of her Fandom classes.

"...I'm not sure about a physical shield, though. I need to be mobile and I'd probably get caught up if I was trying to heft a big tower shield around or something. I guess we'll just have to agree to stop immediately for healing if I catch a fireball to the face?"

[not_every_mage]

"We can figure out something better than that," Anders said, and squinted in concentration. "You'll be pulling your punches, won't you? I can pull mine too. Make it more like sparks than like true fireballs, at least until we've felt each other out."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That works," Kathy said, looking instantly relieved. One shot of Anders' ice had been plenty for her, thanks. "Enough to startle, but enough to really burn."

[not_every_mage]

"And if I ever really burn you, we give it up until we find a way to shield you," Anders added. "You're sure? You are actually playing with fire, you know. I feel obligated to warn you."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Last time I was in LA, Gorgon got shot in the shoulder," Kathy said quietly. "I had to sew him up in a hotel room because he couldn't go to a hospital. I'd rather learn to dodge fireballs with you than end up catching a bullet like him."

[not_every_mage]

"Maker's breath," Anders muttered, eyes widening. "You can't be doing that. You need -- something. A nurse you can trust to do the actual sewing people up, at least."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Mr. Spencer walked me through it," Kathy said, shrugging. "And later, we found another hero, Regenerator, who was able to heal him pretty much like magic. But until then, I was all he had."

She gave him a wry smile. "That was how I spent my spring break, rather than being on the cruise ship with the rest of you."

[not_every_mage]

"You missed a cruise but got to fondle your crush," Anders pointed out, trying to lighten things. "Was he at least shirtless or pantsless or something?"

He didn't think it was at all something Kathy should have had to do, with or without someone to talk her through it. But he couldn't make it not have happened.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy rolled her eyes at him again, but couldn't help smiling. "Shirtless, yeah. I didn't get a chance to ogle him much while I was still sewing him up, but afterwards--yeah, he's hot and it wasn't fair. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be that good looking with a bullet lodged in my shoulder."

[not_every_mage]

"Strangely enough I'm not willing to shoot you to see," Anders told her. "And I wish you many more happy and blood-free occasions for ogling him later."

[spin_kick_snap]

"This is why you're a good friend," Kathy decided. "I can't tell you how good I am with both of those things. Possibly fireballing, I'm willing to risk. Gunshot wound chic, I am not."