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[thecookery]

(sending crystal, notes and letters, surprise visits, etc. etc.)

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crystal, slightly backdated to end of harvestmere

[ichaer]

[ It's not the middle of the night when Ciri's voice appears over the crystal. She sounds like it might as well be the middle of the night considering how utterly exhausted she sounds but that's what riding back from the Dales after a rough battle does to a person. ]

Hey, you done with your work for the day?

[thecookery]

[There's a fairly lengthy pause before she gets a response.]

More or less. Why?

[ichaer]

[ Which gives her time to slip out of the medical tents, stretching tiredly and yawning. ]

Because after riding all the way from the Dales, I'm going to baths to soak and drink. Interested?

[thecookery]

[Another pause, though smaller than the last one.]

Are you buying? [And then before she has a chance to answer:] Give me a tick to finish up.

[ichaer]

Already bought or rather gifted. Some locals passed them off in thanks for getting rid of their pests.

[ If one could call Red Templars just pests. ] Right, I'll see you down there.

Action!

[thecookery]

[Avery doesn't bother responding further. The plans have been set. What more is there to say? She just finishes up the last of her work for the day and tries not to think about whether or not this is going to be weird somehow. Or why she would need to try not think about whether or not this is going to be weird somehow.

Thankfully, she was right about being just about finished with her work, so it's not TOO long before she finally arrives at the baths, grimacing with effort of trying to work out a kink in her neck.]

[ichaer]

[ The baths truly are a miracle, Ciri decides once she is undressed and in the water. It's her first chance to relax since leaving for the Dales. The fight against Samson had been tiring in more than one way with her body still showing harsh reminders in the form of cuts and bruises.

They are being very much ignored in favor on soaking and drinking. There's a wooden box near the water's edge, dark bottle and smelling heavy of honeyed spices. She's humming, relaxing back against the pool's edge before the sound of someone arriving gets her to crack her eye open. ]

Took you long enough!

[thecookery]

Aye, well, some of us actually have duties when we're inside the walls as well.

[Avery finishes wandering over as she talks, looking to the bottle and then to Ciri, a twinge of- of something at the base of her neck, which she reaches up and rubs at once more. She also frowns a little and raises an eyebrow at Ciri's new wounds, however minor.]

You look a mess.

[ichaer]

Quite true. I wouldn't know about that since that usually requires trust which we Wardens are quite short on these days.

[ She takes another big gulp, sighing and sinking into the water a little deeper as she fully opens her eyes to look at Avery. Her own brows are raised in return and she ultimately shrugs. ]

But considerable nicer than I looked before but enough about me. I'd say hurry up before the drinks got hot but I got someone to chill them with that fancy magic and they'll be cold awhile.

[thecookery]

Yeah, yeah...

[Whatever worry she might have had about this being awkward somehow, one thing that Avery has never been accused of being is shy or worried about her body. She carelessly begins stripping off her clothing without a thought, revealing a number of scars of her own. Including a familiar set on one of her legs... as well as a large burn scar that covers most of the left side of her abdomen and hip, probably a year old at most.]

[ichaer]

[ There's a chuckle from Ciri but it is mostly hidden behind another sip of her drink. She has enough decency not to outright stare but the scars and burns are hard to miss. It remind her of her own scarring on her back, her gift from the fires at Weisshaupt and shakes her head.

The very last thing she wanted to think about was scar, burns or anything of the sort. Instead she turns, grabbing for another bottle and holding it out for Avery to take. ]

Damn good stuff from Antiva.

[thecookery]

[Avery pauses just a moment before taking the bottle and entering the water.]

You sure? I've seen a lot of bottles that "came from Antiva."

[ichaer]

[ She laughs and slips back into the water, leaning back into a needed relaxed position. ]

Swear it! Nothing like the piss water they pass off to the pretty Orlesian nobles.

[thecookery]

You've been drinking with a lot of pretty Orlesian nobles, have you?

[Avery sinks down to her shoulders and sighs as she starts rolling her neck again. Maybe THIS will finally get that stiffness out.]

[ichaer]

I've just stolen wine from a lot of pretty Orlesian nobles.

[ Not that she certainly hasn't flirted her way into several of those wine cellars. ]

[thecookery]

[Okay, that earns her another cocked eyebrow.]

You make a habit of that?

[ichaer]

Something like that. I suppose a lot of things become habit when its your way of life.

[ She really can't remember too well the ideas she had for herself after leaving Ferelden but it certainly hadn't been joining a band of teen outlaws. Never mind it had easily been some of the happier times of her life. ]

[thecookery]

[Avery doesn't say anything, just grunts a small, curious "huh" and eyes Ciri like she's trying to take the measure of her again, giving her a chance to either expand on her last thought or not as she chooses.]

[ichaer]

[ She hums thoughtfully, rolling over onto her stomach and allowing herself to float for a moment with arms folded atop the side of the bath. Taking ano ]

After I got out of Ferelden but before I ended up a Warden, I ran around with this group of other kids stealing shit from whatever place we could break in. Most of the stuff we fenced off, gave it to folks that needed it but we also kept what we wanted or just liked best.

[thecookery]

[Good. Great. Sounds like they're both taking their time with this conversation, because Avery seems to mull that over for a while as well.]

Not the easiest or smartest life, that. How long were you at it?

[ichaer]

[ The silence is a nice change of pace to the noisiness of the last few days. Floating, she idly sips from the bottle thinking back on those times with a frown. It definitely wasn't smart even if they thought definitely at the time.

Now she's trapped in this life with tainted blood that'll kill one day if this war doesn't kill them all before then. ]

Around four years from right around the time before I turned fourteen. Though it wasn't so bad until the when we ran the wrong carriage off the road, threatened the wrong noble girl.

[thecookery]

Maybe you ought to've drank with her instead.

[The line isn't delivered mockingly. Just quiet and matter-of-fact.]

[ichaer]

Maybe in another life. Maybe if I hadn't watched her mockingly hit a boy, smaller than her and laugh when he spit up a tooth.

[ It is said quietly and even a little tiredly. ]

[thecookery]

[She lifts her drink like a toast.]

Fair enough.

[ichaer]

Mm. I thought that too.

[ She raises her own drink, finishing off what little remains before lifting herself from the water in order to set the empty bottle aside and grab another. ]

What about you? Any sort of shady past brought you here into the arms of the Inquisition?