A Clearing in the Preserve, Wednesday Afternoon

[not_every_mage]

The different calendars made it hard to track exact dates, but Anders reckoned it was right about a year since the last time he got dragged back to the Circle -- and almost a year since what he hoped was his final escape had taken him to Fandom.

It was a victory. As far as he knew, no runaway his age had ever lasted anything like that long.

The thought of all that kept him cheerful as he set up for a picnic in the preserve with Nathan. He spread out a blanket, laid out the pasta salad, cheese, and fruit -- and then, out of restless energy, started picking violets. He wasn't sure what he'd do with them, but they were pretty.

[OOC: For the boy, please.]

Comments

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Maybe." He shrugged again. "I'm not sure but it'd be my guess. But again, not sure. For all I know, I could get a potions Gift."

[not_every_mage]

"But potions are dull," Anders groused. "I hope you get ... I don't know, something you can use in a fight. Turning into an animal or lighting things on fire with your thoughts. Something like that."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan snickered. "Lighting things on fire with my thoughts? I don't know if I've ever heard of anyone with that Gift. It'd be handy. And also dangerous if you don't know how to control it."

[not_every_mage]

"It'd be exciting!" Anders offered. "... and dangerous. I think about half of us in the tower lit something on fire before we got send off."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Ever set yourself on fire accidentally?" Nathan wondered curiously.

[not_every_mage]

"Myself, no," Anders told him, glancing away. "A couple things I didn't mean to set fire to, yes. I managed to burn down my family's barn first thing."

That memory still hurt, and all he could do was try to make it a joke. "I never did like the color they had it painted."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Ah." Nathan didn't try and press for anything more than that. "A barn? Did you guys have animals?"

[not_every_mage]

Anders gave him a grateful look.

"Yeah. Mostly druffalo," he said, then remembered druffalo were another animal nobody had heard of. "Shaggy cows. My parents raised them for the fur and meat. But it was a farming town. Everyone had a barn."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"No horses?" he wondered. "I've always wanted to ride one of those. They look fast."

[not_every_mage]

"One or two, and they can be," Anders said, smiling at the memories. It had been years since he'd been on a horse. "It's one of the best feelings in the world, when you have a good horse and you can convince it to run with you. Very free."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"It seems like it'd be fun and fast," Nathan said, nodding thoughtfully. "I've only really used my feet. And cars. But, I imagine being outside and going fast would be even better for me."

[not_every_mage]

"There's stables on the island," Anders said, waving vaguely in the direction he believed them to be in. "We should go sometime. And -- can you drive a car? Those look fun."

He certainly could not. But he'd been in a motor vehicle perhaps five times since he got to the island.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

He shook his head.

"I mean, I could probably muddle through but my experience with vehicles...hasn't been all that good." He shrugged. "I was never driving."

[not_every_mage]

"Ah, too bad," Anders said, though he didn't sound too bothered about it. Cars seemed fairly unnecessary to him, and even though he was curious what Nathan meant about bad experiences, he wasn't certain enough he wanted the answer to ask directly.

He reached over for an orange and started to peel one.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I'd probably get carsick," he joked, making a face. "Wouldn't make car rides very much fun."

[not_every_mage]

"Especially not if you were driving," Anders agreed with a little laugh. He broke off part of the orange and offered Nathan a segment. "I don't think I'd get carsick, but I'd need someone with a lot of patience to teach me to drive."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan took the offered orange and nodded. But, he had a question. "This might be a stupid question so sorry if it is but do you guys have magic that can make you fly? Levitate?"

[not_every_mage]

"No, but I wish we did," Anders said. "It'd make things much more interesting. Why, is that a Gift you've heard of?"

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan scratched his chin. "I think maybe? But, I'm not sure if it's true or not since I've never witnessed it myself. Be pretty handy wouldn't it?"

[not_every_mage]

"I'd say so," Anders agreed, and leaned back again to stare at the sky. "Where would you go, if you could do that?"

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Wales."

That was automatic. "Near the mountains. But after that?" He shrugged. "Maybe Australia?"

[not_every_mage]

"I don't know which one that is," Anders said, matter-of-fact. It was another thing among many that he should really look up some day."I want to see Wales, though. It sounds like it's not too far off from home."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Australia is...kind of like this place," Nathan said, trying to describe it. "It's an island. Lots of beaches. Might be a little too hot to stay there permanently but a visit would be fun."

[not_every_mage]

"I think I could get used to the heat," Anders said, angling to feel more sun on his skin. "It'd be fun to try, anyhow."

He added idly, "If we were in Thedas I'd go to Rivain. It's warm there, too. And there are pirates."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Wouldn't you get sunburned?" Nathan teased. "Your skin would turn all red and painful."