There’s a softening in his expression, a warmth in his smile that few people get to see: “She is remarkable, isn’t she?”
Which isn’t only about how hot his girlfriend is. He drums his fingers against the edge of his wineglass, glass in turn propped against his knee, boot bouncing restlessly against the box it’s resting on. Casual, a friend, not a colleague.
“I’m not… good at opening up, but I did want to tell you. You’re the first person I’ve outright told. Not just because you’re Provost, but— as a friend, and I thought you might be able to relate, a rifter choosing to still try to make it work with someone from here. Despite the culture-shock, the risks, the complications. Sometimes I can’t shake the feeling that this is making her care for a ghost, and I don’t want to put her through my evaporating into the ether one day without warning, but she rather wisely reminded me that we can lose anyone unexpectedly at any time, not just rifters, so.”
So, carpe diem.
Stephen tilts his glass of wine, examining it rather than meet Cosima’s eye just yet. How did they get to know each other? It had been a slow tectonic shift underfoot, a year and a half in the making; he hadn’t noted the change until he’d eventually looked up one day and realised he was standing on another continent. He’s quiet for a moment, sorting through his words before he tries to put them into order:
“We spoke, a lot. She’s blunt, which I like, but she’s also helpful. She showed me around Hightown when I was brand-new and trying to get my bearings in Kirkwall’s various neighbourhoods. She let me take a look at her magic bow, because I’m always interested in arcane artifacts. She let me read through eight years’ worth of notes on her anchor, because of course I want to know about anchors. She started coming by the infirmary. I’m incorrigibly curious about Thedas, and she answered every question I ever asked her without bullshitting me, and then I think that just— led to being curious about the woman, herself, and I eventually wanted to know everything about her, and, well, it turns out that sort of meant something.”
And then, because at the end of the day the doctor is still a little allergic to sincerity, he adds, “And the enchanted bathtub on the houseboat is a perk.“
no subject
Which isn’t only about how hot his girlfriend is. He drums his fingers against the edge of his wineglass, glass in turn propped against his knee, boot bouncing restlessly against the box it’s resting on. Casual, a friend, not a colleague.
“I’m not… good at opening up, but I did want to tell you. You’re the first person I’ve outright told. Not just because you’re Provost, but— as a friend, and I thought you might be able to relate, a rifter choosing to still try to make it work with someone from here. Despite the culture-shock, the risks, the complications. Sometimes I can’t shake the feeling that this is making her care for a ghost, and I don’t want to put her through my evaporating into the ether one day without warning, but she rather wisely reminded me that we can lose anyone unexpectedly at any time, not just rifters, so.”
So, carpe diem.
Stephen tilts his glass of wine, examining it rather than meet Cosima’s eye just yet. How did they get to know each other? It had been a slow tectonic shift underfoot, a year and a half in the making; he hadn’t noted the change until he’d eventually looked up one day and realised he was standing on another continent. He’s quiet for a moment, sorting through his words before he tries to put them into order:
“We spoke, a lot. She’s blunt, which I like, but she’s also helpful. She showed me around Hightown when I was brand-new and trying to get my bearings in Kirkwall’s various neighbourhoods. She let me take a look at her magic bow, because I’m always interested in arcane artifacts. She let me read through eight years’ worth of notes on her anchor, because of course I want to know about anchors. She started coming by the infirmary. I’m incorrigibly curious about Thedas, and she answered every question I ever asked her without bullshitting me, and then I think that just— led to being curious about the woman, herself, and I eventually wanted to know everything about her, and, well, it turns out that sort of meant something.”
And then, because at the end of the day the doctor is still a little allergic to sincerity, he adds, “And the enchanted bathtub on the houseboat is a perk.“