#<...ethereal and almost ghostly. karl...>

[onlyinthedas]

@alitlantern sent: [KISS]: sender cups the receivers face in their hands before drawing them closer for a kiss.

(so evil, yet so good, it’s about time they SMOOCH)

They were meant to be asleep, tucked into their beds with the lanterns dimmed and deafening silence permeating the dorm, yet here they were instead practically buried under linens and spare pillows. Karl was a fool, hopeless and drunk on emotions he had fought against for so long but for as much as he tried to chastise himself for it, he’d let himself be led to the back where spare laundry and linens were kept by an impeccably wilful, horrifically charming apprentice. Anders. It always came down to him. Every. Single. Time. 

Why was it so difficult to put the man from his mind? Why could Karl do anything else except follow Anders with his eyes anytime he walked past, while assured the man wasn’t aware? No, if he’d been aware Karl wouldn’t hear the end of it. He’d been lured in with a genuine-sounding need for assistance and the trap was sprung. “I should have known it was a farce,” Karl sighed but his voice was quiet and there was no edge of annoyance. Was there something else there? A sign of his relenting? Not that he’d admit it, but-

With his feet practically stolen from under him, he stumbled, scrambling to find purchase on something as Anders grabbed him, hands splayed across his cheeks, and pressed their lips together. Despite the unexpected action, Karl committed, molding right into him almost as if on instinct. He pulled back, more out of surprise than anything else and exhaled sharply, wide-eyed and bewildered. Karl frowned but his mouth betrayed his eyes which looked on at his fellow apprentice with uncertainty. “Anders…” the words floated away and felt too far to grasp for a few passing moments while his lips still tingled with the buzz of the fade and his tongue remembered how the other mage had tasted. “I’m not here for games, nor am I going to be just another conquest or notch on your proverbial belt.” Fingers gingerly brushed strands of hair from Anders’ face and carried on further to trace the angles of his jaw. “This is a terrible idea, dangerous and foolish but I would be the fool if I continued to pretend I didn’t feel anything. But those are my terms.”

[onlyinthedas]

Karl had never met anyone who spoke with such a fervor, so rapidly, letting the words just fly from their lips at a startling pace. It wasn't so simply that Anders spoke quickly when excited, but he came alive and launched into a whirlwind of conversation that threatened to sweep Karl right up into it... and a part of him - a large part admittedly - wanted to let it happen. Though he went silent while the other apprentice went on about the flowers, Karl smiled, beamed even. How could he not? There was such elation in Anders' voice as he spoke of the sights on his jaunts outside the tower. Much as Karl worried for the man and his numerous daring escapes, well he'd be hard pressed to ignore just how he lit up like the sun itself shone through him whenever he talked about things on the outside. Truly, it was no wonder he always fought so hard to be free of this place...

a beautiful bloom only withers in darkness

He cut off the thought before it could fully form and lead down dangerous paths. It didn't matter what Karl thought, or felt, or anything. Even if hearing the way Anders' father so flagrantly discarded the flowers in favor of the more practical crops. Practical was the key word, naturally, Karl understood that flowers were really only good for looking at if they didn't possess any medicinal or edible properties. Still, it was a harsh lesson for a child and it brought the ghost of a scowl to his face, one he dismissed as swiftly as it formed, replacing it with more of a curious expression.

"Before the Circle? You mean at home, with my parents? Hm." Contemplation gave him pause before he smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid my life was, well, rather uneventful. There was no grand spectacle which landed me here, I'm afraid. Just accidentally setting alight a book...it had to be my favorite one of all things." A huff slipped out and Karl wrinkled his nose, as if annoyed with himself but there was no true admonishment to it. "If could believe it, my father was a cobbler and my mother sold her pies at the market to pull in more coin. It was simple living, but we had everything we needed..." There was another pause, a more reluctant, tentative one. "If... if I promise to tell you more, to share more, will you promise not to make any more escapes. At least for a month?"

          ━━━ ANDERS' FACE LIT as though the sun itself had shifted its gravity just to shine on him. An eager energy budded in his chest at Karl's question, manifesting in animated hands; the interested cant of Karl's spine leaning forward just enough to goad him on rushing the words to his lips like a burst dam.

          ❝ Oh, all sorts! Dandelions, to be sure, yellow and fluffed up between the jewel-toned Bluebells and a rainbow of Pansies, ❞ he feels ten years old again; face covered in gravy at the dining table, recounting his day of adventures to his grinning mother.

          ❝ All underneath the bushiest Mulberry tree! You'd swear it was a Willow the way its leaves hang, but the fruit is unmistakably Mulberry. Just the juiciest and sweetest things you've ever tasted. ❞ His mouth waters at the memory and he curses himself for not grabbing extras before the Templars had found him.

          Though they probably would've gotten smushed in the dungeon...

          Anders reins himself in, once again feeling self conscious under Karl's perception. He laughs a breathy little sound and forces himself to sit back against his chair, as though his father's voice in his head held true threat.

          ❝ We grew mostly food on the farm, ❞ Anders said, shaking his head. ❝ Nothing pretty, just a bunch of squash. Father tore up any of the flowers that dared encroach on his soil. ❞

          He thinks over Karl's words and realizes in the beat of silence how strange and rare they were. His head tilts in curiosity, a renewed gleam in his eyes.

          ❝ You don't talk about before the Circle much. ❞ It wasn't the question he wanted to ask, but there were too many of those to choose from; so he settled on the observation instead, hoping his tone was enough prompting for the man to indulge him.

[onlyinthedas]

@alitlantern sent: ✂ karl!!! this is so cute, the mages probably cut their own hair

There were few occurrences where the mages could be left to their own devices without much or any interference by the Templars. Personal grooming seemed to have largely been put on their own shoulders. Karl never considered himself to be a whiz with scissors, but could typically manage his own short mane. Once he'd gotten it to the length he preferred it hadn't been very difficult to maintain. Yet here he was sat on a stool with a very cheeky blonde in charge of the clippers this time. Intimacy came in many forms, and putting one's grooming in the hands of another was something Karl considered to be on the higher levels of deep closeness, of complete trust...

"Anders if you don't stop giggling you're going to knick my ear." Ah, but the sound was a delight to his ears, a golden chime that rang with innocent amusement. What little amusement could be forged in their environs. "What exactly are you snickering about anyway?"

[onlyinthedas]

@alitlantern asked: PINNED FOR KAAARRRRRRLLLLLL

(AShgAHSGa I should have known, but I have no complaints hehehe)

He was growing bolder and Karl was growing - what? Weaker? Wary? Dare he say fonder of the mischievous mage? All of them would be true at once, not that Karl was likely to admit it beyond the coy smile he leveled on Anders. After his initial shock and bewilderment.

They were in a dimly lit corner on the ground floor - not a seldom visited floor either - deep inside in one of the baths. Karl had made a trip down to bathe after a spell mishap in their afternoon lessons when he'd been ambushed. "Anders," Karl warned with a subtle, amused warmth to his tone. "I'd invite you to join me, but I believe that would be frowned upon."

[onlyinthedas]

@alitlantern ❝ wait are you jealous? ❞ //for wyatt or karl heheheh

(KARL TIME AHOY)

"Jealous?" Karl parroted back at him, avoiding answering the question directly by focusing on his supper. "Jealous of what exactly?" He was also avoiding Anders' gaze, quite poorly but deliberately nonetheless. He tore into a biscuit on his plate, lost in the recollection of something he'd heard earlier.

Anders had one of those unmistakable voices, even at his age, something Karl truly had no business paying so close attention to, yet he'd committed it to memory. To heart.

"Are you sure? Once we start, I won't be able to stop."

"Did you just …!"

"Don't be so rough; there can't be any marks-"

Karl had been on his return to the apprentice dormitories to redress in clean robes after a magical mishap. The halls of the tower were typically sparse at that hour, as most of their fellow mages were in the midst of afternoon lessons, so voices drifting from one of the rooms could be heard that much easier. Yet despite the overwhelming urge to investigate further, Karl had swallowed his pride and left, feigning ignorance well after the mage joined him in the mess hall.

He had no reason to be jealous. None. At all. It was all the better that he had no distractions, or a need to take risks. It was fine.

[onlyinthedas]

There truly was no room for middle ground, not for people like him or those he was perceived to be a part of. Tranquil. How significantly, no vastly his whole perspective shifted. Always they had still been his brothers and sisters of the Circle, never receiving scorn or indifference from Karl, but perhaps some part of him had always been unsettled, perturbed, uncertain of how to engage or proceed with those who had been cut off from the very Fade. Now, here, walking as one of them was akin to tearing a (purely metaphorical) veil from his eyes. He saw them now in a way he could never come close to before. Anyone whose path he crossed either gave him a wide berth, their tense shoulders and hitched breaths speaking of their discomfort louder than words - or they saw a broken, toothless thing that couldn't hurt a fly. Relief was usually plain in their eyes, or pity. He wanted neither, but maintained the ruse just the same.

Skyhold was an impressive fortress, however and one could find many ways to move through the stronghold without crossing another soul and Karl had thought the route clear on his way up from the garden but he'd not been listening hard enough for footsteps. None so light as the Inquisitor's herself. He righted himself, forcing his posture to stiffen awkwardly. Was it foolish to still pretend, in front of a mage? A Dalish mage, no less. The People were always so connected after all- "Yes." His voice was light as he struggled to find the same lifeless tone as before. "You are the Inquisitor? Lady Lavellan?"

@onlyinthedas || Dragon Age Starter (for Karl!)

There was always new faces joining to help the Inquisition everyday it seemed. Ellana tried to keep track of it the best she could when she wasn't already entangled in something else, thinking it was important to personally meet and get to know everyone as much as she could. It was just the type of person she was. However, she couldn't be around all the time and meet everyone.

That was why when she came across a new face in Skyhold, the eleven Inquisitor was taken back. "Hello? Have we met before? Are you new here?" She was sure she'd never seen him before.

[onlyinthedas]

Stepping into the library proper, Karl made a point to put weight into his steps and cleared his throat quite loudly, “This is the fourth fight I’ve broken up this week. Something tells me the Inquisitor wouldn’t be very pleased to hear that.” The group dispersed with a sense of urgency before he even really finished his sentence and Karl just shook his head, sadly, before approaching the one who’d been at the heart of the altercation. “Are you alright?”

[onlyinthedas]

Ease seeped into his shoulders, his rigid form, and gently forced him to release the tension he had been holding and exhale. He still kept his voice low, even but not flat like before, not the mockery it had been. Relief flooded his body in its entirety, but Karl refrained from expressing too much emotion, for there still lingered a fear of being overheard.

“Maker's Mercy, I don't know how much longer I can keep that up. Please, say nothing to anyone. What you see is real. The brand. And yet, my mind is my own. I've come here to try and understand what's happened.”

[onlyinthedas]

@alitlantern “Why do you have that look on your face?” //kaaaaarl

He had a look? If he had a look it was only because of the question. Anders had a certain penchant for poking at him, and others let's face it, to garner reactions. From him, from Karl it was always a specific kind of attention and once the other mage finally got what he'd been angling at there'd been no stopping him.

And yet, now at least, Karl had little mind to do so. He would still play at resistance, for the fun of it, for amusement sake if nothing else. Like right now where he maintained a cooly neutral facade and tucked another text under his arm before moving to the next stack of shelves. There was some difficulty in not smiling at the ridiculous man beside him, following him from stack to stack. "Don't you have study materials to find? They certainly aren't on my face." Maybe, just maybe, there was the hint of laughter in his tone.

[onlyinthedas]

[onlyinthedas]

[SACRIFICE]: the sender cups the receiver's face tenderly to distract them, right before shoving them out of the way (to safety) and facing an attack alone in order to buy the receiver enough time to escape.

(Hi I'm here to ruin your night ahsjkahs I picked KARL cause I had a crazy idea lmao)

One thousand four hundred sixty one…One thousand four hundred sixty two….One thousand four hundred sixty three….One thousand….five…no four hundred…seventy? Sixty? Shit… Karl rarely dipped into profanity, but this was as appropriate an occasion as any, he would argue. He'd been murmuring to himself, taking deep breaths to try to concentrate and keep the count. The count of steps, or screams, shouts, pleas...

His heart threatened to beat straight out of his chest with how hard it hammered against his ribcage. This hadn't- none of this was on his agenda for the evening, or had been on his list of possibilities. The skin of his hands still buzzed with Anders' warmth, his very touch after an escape into some dusty storage closet on a scarcely watched floor of the tower. There in the dimness, Anders had sparked a wisp for light, given him one of his winning smiles, slipped his fingers so stealthily into the waist of his robe's trousers and lured Karl in with such ease-

Most of what took place after that was little more than a blur in the back of his mind now whilst the chaos happening within Kinloch Hold took priority. No one blinked or batted an eye now with their hands tightly entwined as they were while each held their staves in the other unoccupied hand. Whatever madness overtook the tower was distraction enough to grant them this small thing. "Getting closer," Karl murmured, tightening his hold on Anders' hand. "We should- I don't know." he might have said, find Wynne, but she'd gone to aid the Grey Wardens at Ostagar and Karl trusted no one else not to take this opportunity to throw them to the wolves.

A heavy thud reverberated through the library, then another, and another- they'd barred the doors with the shelves but whatever was on the other side did not seem terribly deterred- Karl turned his head, mouth agape for a moment to speak when Anders grabbed his face, gingerly, tender, his touch practically electrifying. Karl's face swelled with pink flush, bracing himself for the kiss to come, only for his hear to sink like a stone when the mage pushed away and sprinted off toward the door. "Anders- ANDERS!? Whatever you're planning- ANDERS!"

[onlyinthedas]

Tag Drop

Wyatt Hawke Posts - <…chaos is a friend of mine. wyatt…> HC <…i dont rise from the ashes i make them. wyatt hc…> Playlist/Songs <…sounds like wishful thinking. it’s called hope. Wyatt pl…> Aesthetics/Visage <…hope is the only thing stronger than fear. Wyatt aes…> Ship tags TBD Main verse <…we’re gonna be legends. v…> Inqy verse <…i’ve come to burn your kingdom down. v…>

Bethany Hawke Posts <…i am my father’s daughter. and I am not afraid of anything. bethany…> HC <…you are the sun. you heal you burn. Bethy hc…> Playlist/Songs TBD Aesthetics/Visage <…good as gold. bethany aes…> Ship tags TBD Main Verse <…fly high; fly free. v…> Circle Verse <…caged birds. v…> Other <…twin griffons. v…>

Anders Posts <…you don’t make history by being liked. Anders…> HC <…i have done bad things for good reason. and I will again. Anders hc…> Playlist/songs <…martyr me. I dare you. Anders pl…> Aesthetics/Visage <…it’s hard to forget the past when it’s written all over your body. Anders aes…> Ship tags TBD Main verse <…not of mortal men. v…> Inqy Verse <…crisis of faith. Inq anders v…> Others TBD

Karl Thekla Posts <…ethereal and almost ghostly. karl…> HC <…this isn’t who i am. but i can’t remember who i should be. Karl hc…> Playlist/Songs <…all are worthy of light. Karl pl…> Aesthetics/Visage <...i know my place. we're all just pieces in their game. karl aes...> Ship tags <…how did the universe bottle so much wonder into your soul. kanders…> Main Verse <…year of rebirth. v…> Secondary Verse <…as above so below. v…> Other Verses - <…i hope that if alternate universes exist it will still be you and me in the end. AU Verse…>

Nathaniel Howe Posts <…who was i trying to be. nathaniel howe…> HC <…my bloodline is irrelevant to my value. nate hc…> Playlist/Songs TBD Aesthetics/Visage <…it's not my fault i have my father's eyes…aesthetic. nate…> Ship Tags TBD Main verse <…the boy who carried his last name like a burden…nate v…> Others TBD

Jonas Amell Posts <…i’ve been the prey screaming who could ever leave me? jonas…> HC <…which of my important nothings shall i tell you first? Jonas hc…> Playlist/SongsAesthetics/Visage <…what survived may not be kind but it’s me. Jonas aes…> Ship Tags TBD Main Verse <…game of survival. v…> Other <…through narrow windows. kinloch v…>

Clara Posts <…the silence after rain. how quickly the sky pulls itself together. clara…> HC <…there are parts of me that will always remain untameable. messy. and reckless. Clara hc…> Playlists/Songs <...she cleared out all of her old ideas until she could hear her own joy. clara pl...> Aesthetics/visage <…honey and wildfire are both the color of gold. Clara aes…> Ship Tags TBD Main Verse <…free as the wildflowers. v…> Others <…herald of my own making. Clara inq v…> / <…starcrossed somedays. modern v…>

Raelynn AmellPosts <...she doesn't need a hero she is the hero. raelynn...> HC <…become the most interesting woman in the room. rae hc…> Playlist/Songs tbd Aesthetics/Visage <...she wears a smile made for war. rae aes...> Ship Tags <…tell me i'm your midnight muse. raexzev…> & others tbd Main Verse <...silver and blue. rae v...> Other <...witnessing history. rae v2...>

Laerke Cousland Posts <...nothing is so soft as gentleness. laerke...> HC <…sweet naive girl. trust is for children you are a soldier. laerke hc…> Playlist/Songs tbd Aesthetics/Visage <…everything is more beautiful because we are doomed. laerke aes…> Ship Tags tbd Main Verse <...a little loss of innocence. laerke v...> Other <...in the bleak midwinter. laerke v2...>

Genevieve Trevelyan Posts <...she will be the light refracted. splintered divinity. genevieve...> HC <...to the divine mischievous spark in you. gen hc...> Playlist/Songs tbd Aesthetics/Visage <...storm in a bottle. gen aes...> Ship Tags tbd Main Verse tbd Other tbd

Devyn Hawke Posts <...these violent delights have violent ends. devyn hawke...> HC <...i’m in your veins like pretty poison. dev hc…> Playlist/Songs <...i can't explain what I feel but i'll find a song that can. dev pl...> Aesthetics/Visage <...clever as the devil and twice as pretty. devyn aes…> Ship Tags tbd Main Verse <...i am the designer of my own catastrophe. v...> Other tbd

Alistair Theirin Posts <...what can one grey warden do. alistair...> HC <...for the ones who fight their way forward. alistair hc...> Playlist/Songs tbd Aesthetics/Visage <...i will be your soldier. alistair aes...> Ship Tags <...i love you the most. the end. i win. alixellie...> Main Verse <...no prince needed. v...> Other tbd

Malcolm Hawke Posts tbd HC tbd Playlist/Songs tbd Aesthetics/Visage tbd Ship Tags tbd Main Verse tbd Other tbd

Nell Surana Posts tbd HC tbd Playlist/Songs tbd Aesthetics/Visage tbd Ship Tags tbd Main Verse tbd Other tbd

[onlyinthedas]

Perhaps that was Karl's own brand of power, what made him special for lack of a better word. Anders was a budding Spirit Healer to rival even Wynne, Amell was a talented girl and retained information like a sponge, Surana was a ball of mischief yet had a way of making anyone's day a little brighter in spite of it... he, Karl, saw and knew far too much. His penchant for calm, silent observation had some benefit, if nothing else.

It was the only reason why he knew Anders to be quite honestly the worst liar he'd ever known.

It was no more than a subtle displacement of air but there was a snort of indigence, of bold-faced doubt towards the apprentice's claims. Attention was precisely what Anders desired, maybe not specifically from the Templars, but attention, stimulation, some acknowledgment to feed into a deep desire to feel -

What?

Relevant? Worthwhile? Interesting?

That was where Karl found his perception ended. He couldn't peer into the young mage's mind and know his heart necessarily, know what truly plagued him but maybe if he asked- or was that inviting trouble? "Mhm," he mused, not sold but not quite entertaining Anders fully. Not yet. Not until he started talking about the meadow he'd stumbled upon, colorful and vivid, alive and awe inspiring just hearing about it. The way Anders lit up, became more animated. It was something genuine. That right there. It hit Karl square in the chest, leaving an ache, a yearning he'd never dared to feel before.

"What sort of flowers?" Karl turned to him, fully resigned to giving upon on his book with body posture indicating interesting. His face softened and his head canted just a hair. "There was a patch of grass behind my childhood home, and every spring it would be overrun with dandelions. Most people regard them as weeds, but I never did..." He didn't reminisce on his boyhood often, but there were fond memories to be unearthed here and there.

          ━━━ KARL HAD A way of looking at him that sent his heart flopping about like a mis-summoned familiar. For all his over the top flirting, the moment Karl deigned to meet his eyes, all the over-confidence seeped from his blood, leeching out like mana.

          Karl was not an obvious man. He was subdued, quiet, thoughtful, and perhaps that was what drew Anders to him. To elicit reactions from such a stalwart example of Circle training was a feat worthy of any mantle ━ but it was also the type of reaction Karl graced him with that pulled him in, as though he were nothing more than a feather caught up in the gravity of Force magic.

          What was the word for the look in Karl's eyes there? The man stared at him through the sparing and fair light that poured through the thin, unglazed windows and a million needles pricked at his stomach, urging him both to look away and to inch closer. Yet he could do neither, caught there, frozen like a deer under Karl's all-too perceptive gaze.

          A hundred lifetimes passed in the moment Karl's hand suddenly formed around Anders' cheek ━ their skin was hardly touching, it could only barely be called intimate, and yet more desires than Anders had thought himself capable of flitted through his mind; unformed, intangible, incomplete and yet burning, white-hot, and velvety soft all at once. To lean into that hand, to turn his head and press his face against it, to take it in his own and hold it there forever, to slip the digits into his mouth, to suckle, suck, meeting eyes beneath lashes, moaning a name between the lengths, to hold and hold and entwine and never release ━

          Gone; as quickly as the impulse had come.

          The commotion drew his eyes for only a moment, yet when he looked back to Karl, the man was composed, hands drawn back to his book as though he had never heard of desire outside of a textbook's definition.

          Anders felt like he would implode, very simply.

          Karl's words fall on nothing but the pained thrumming in his ears for a moment. Dizzy, unsteady, he wondered if this was what giving in to a Demon felt like. Surely it wasn't healthy for any man to hold such consuming thoughts in his mind with no release. If he became an abomination, he'd blame the mage in front of him with little guilt.

          ❝ It isn't the Templars' attention I want, ❞ he laughed, the sound thready and high in his throat. He drew upon a breath of mana to calm himself, then shook his ━ much clearer ━ head.

          ❝ The end result, ❞ he parroted with thick, amused sarcasm, ❝ is quite worth it. ❞ He sighed and sat back in his chair, folded arms over his chest and smiled into the middle distance. ❝ There's a river east of here and after a day of running from Silences and Spell Purges, taking my boots off and stepping into it is... better than sex, really. ❞ He laughed again, shifted in his seat and met Karl's eyes again with renewed fervor.

          ❝ And there's this field some ways south that feels straight out of a Canticle. Flowers, all the colors you could think of, just sprawled there at your ankles for the taking. It's magnificent. ❞

[onlyinthedas]

Quietly, at his side, Karl's hand tapped his thigh though his face was a mask of neutrality straining to remain in place. This thing Anders did was nothing so unusual, nothing he hadn't coined onto long ago as his particular brand of attention-seeking. He was no scholar of the mind's inner workings but Karl felt he had a good read on other people, especially when one resided in such close quarters, and how could he not given the amount of time he spent with these individuals. It was not his place to saddle the mage with some affliction, but there was something there that drove him to act out. Something that plucked at invisible strings connected to his heart that ought not to exist, yet did.

If it pained Karl to think about the intricacies of his peer's behavior, he did not let it show. For rigid self-control was the only method of survival here in this place. He tore his gaze away again, a fight greater than that of any trained warrior if any were to peer inside his thoughts, and exhaled. Focus. Focus on the-

You're not about to slam me against the table and cage my hands

Maker sake how did he accomplish so much with so little effort expended? The absurdity of the statement drew Karl's eyes again and this time they fixated on Anders' youthful, gleeful face. What scant light slipped through the narrow windows of the tower oh so conveniently cast upon him like he were heralded as the second coming of Andraste and called it down himself.

Anders practically glittered in the light, the bright rays highlighting the color of his eyes and giving them the appearance of fresh honey. His hair had since come loose in places from its tie and framed his youthful, charming face. Just there across his cheeks and the bridge of his long nose was the presence of new freckles, ones that were often dull and faint while stuck inside the dim and dingy tower-

Why could his mind call up so many tiny details no matter what he did?

Karl realized quickly that he was staring and his heart had started to race. It wasn’t like he hadn’t observed his fellow mage before but this was too much. He couldn't - they couldn't. His own expression finally softened and Karl relented, giving into the fact he wasn't going to get any further studying done. Like it were possessed of its own mind, his hand reached for Anders and while they were mercifully alone in the library with not a soul looking their way, he tsked quietly and brushed a thumb over the discolored splotch blooming under the mage's eye. "It should fade fairly quickly if you don't do anything to exacerbate it. Or earn a follow up."

Somewhere behind them, a commotion erupted - some apprentices had broken out into a physical altercation and the Templars hurried to intervene. Karl let his hand fall away with a suddenness and righted his back to appear as though they were merely conversing. "Why do you insist on these daring escapes, when you know what the end result is? How they ... treat you. Are you such a masochist that any attention, even physical punishment, is desirable?"

          ━━━ FROM THE MOMENT Anders sat, he could feel the older mage's annoyance. It was a thrill, to see the effects of his mere presence so viscerally. Sure, others reacted to him similarly, though few suffered him longer than a few fleeting moments. Karl was special; a man of pure willpower, forged in the fires of far more boring debates than Anders had to offer.

          It was funny, how much a mere a sigh and a pinched bridge could enchant him. He had to swallow down a giggle with each minute shift Karl made. Yet the man refused to look up for longer than a quick-lived glance. The fact frustrated him; his hand itched with the urge to place against the dusty pages of the too-thick tome, rip it out of Karl's hold, force the man to look up at him, only him ━

          Anders,

          He sighed, the wistful sound swift and chastised immediately with teeth buried against the swell of his bottom lip. Maker, what are you? A love-struck boy?

          ❝ Sorry, I didn't catch that, ❞ Anders murmured, voice smooth and quiet, falling under the library's hum. He looked up from under his lashes with a smirk twitching into existence. ❝ Mind saying that again? Maybe a bit slower? A little deeper? ❞

          The saccharine flirt was dismissed as quickly as it came on with a chuckle and wave of his hand.

          ❝ The Templars ask me that too, you know. That's kinda the whole point of dragging me down there. Not to compare you to them, obviously. You're not about to slam me against the table and cage my hands ━ oh, or maybe you are. ❞

          Waggling his brow, that same coquettish smirk tugged at his lips; though the flirtations were too obvious, too hard, too fast. They were nothing new, but that was simply Anders. Always quick with a joke at his own expense.

[onlyinthedas]

Karl had no desire to squander the frightfully rare opportunity to leave the (stifling even to someone like him) lecture hall and adjacent classrooms. Enchanter Percival had given an invitation to some presentation he had been planning, and for all that Karl should have agreed to attend, it was the furthest thing he desired in that moment. Whispers left lips in between giggles and somewhat more elevated murmurs. Gossip was perhaps the one true freedom afforded in this place, and the apprentices were the ones who took full advantage. The already limited scope of their outdoor activities had been narrowed further and further with each daring escape made by one of the more ambitious apprentices until even that was no longer permitted. Now that had been the talk of the tower for weeks, the first time it happened, and every subsequent attempt only seemed to fan the flames of infamy for the young mage and earned him a reputation.

Speaking of said young mage, Karl was a quiet man, yes, but certainly neither deaf nor blind.

His eyes lingered what felt like over long on the rotten splotch of color that was all wrong on the apprentices’ fair skinned face. It contrasted sharply to the shades of peach and gold, which made him up, things Karl knew he shouldn’t have paid so close attention to, but when someone was touched so fondly by the sun itself -

Wrinkling his nose and pinching the bridge, he quietly sucked in a breath as Anders took the seat beside him.

Stop. Don’t. Focus.

Too late. His eyes crossed and closed, and Karl struggled to keep them upon the pages of the text under his nose. They slipped in and out of focus and drifted more and more to his left until the mage lifted his chin entirely when Anders began speaking. Black? Pink nose? Cat, yes, he’d said as much. Yet the words may as well have been Old Tevene for as much as he understood anything, transfixed by the ugly mark on a pretty face bruise and carefully hidden welts decorating the mage’s wrists. By Anders’ posture, it was safe for Karl to assume what other punishments he’d endured and his lips twisted into a small frown beneath a steadily growing beard. “Anders-” Karl began, drawing a breath then exhaling. “Why do you keep doing this? Why do you keep putting yourself through this?”

Starter for; @onlyinthedas

          ━━━ A FRESH BRUISE wells, red as a kiss and blossoming just as fervidly against the ridge of his temple. The gradually darkening color eclipses into the mottled purples encircling his eye ━ like spilled mulberry wine beneath his thin skin.

          No one need ask where Anders acquired the injury. They had all heard the commotion as the Templars wrangled the unruly apprentice through the Circle doors, then down into the holding cells. The sounds of his resist had echoed off the stone walls ━ humorous in literal make yet desperate and frightened in tone ━ until they had descended far enough for the Void to absorb his wretched pleas.

          Days had passed in the dark; metal clanging of armor and the Templar's vicious interrogation his only company.

          Eyes follow him now as he limps through the vast library ━ sympathy and contempt equal in frequency. Yet he pays them no mind, meeting each with a sarcastic grin or wink as he makes his way to the mostly empty study table in the corner. (More annoying than the looks is the little flip his heart does at the unoccupied chair directly next to Karl.)

          He bites down a groan as he sits, inching at the edge of the seat lest his shredded back meet the unforgiving wooden pressure.

          ❝ I saw the cutest cat while I was out, uh━ , ❞ Anders begins unprompted, folding his hands on the table (very careful to keep the sleeves of his robe covering the dark welts around his wrists) but then pauses. Gears turn in his head as he attempts to reconstruct how much time had passed in the dungeon hold. He gives up after a brief moment and a half shrug. ❝ She was all black, but her nose! Maker, it was the most delightful shade of pink. ❞