Who: Balthier, Calum, Ellie When: This was about a week ago, before Ellie had a cast. Where: Craigcrook Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland What: Balthier sits and chats with Ellie. Rating/Warnings: Discussion of trauma Status: Complete
Balthier was freshly showered, and had a backpack full of things. "Mistress Ellie? Are you in?" He brought along some things for hot chocolate and some biscuits to dip in it.
“Through here.” There’s Calum, giving him a smile. “In the library. It’s nice of you to come. I don’t pretend I know what happened but it’s something to do with magic and unpleasant people and she’s not exactly looking so much worse for wear but it’ll cheer her up. She’s always liked you.”
He’s leading Balthier around to the lift, because of how much he’s carrying. “How are all of YOU? OH and while you’re here, Basch is going to be off in a few hours time if you’re still around and haven’t anywhere to rush off towards.”
"Courfeyrac's with my siblings? So I'm free. Told the theater it better be on fire if they called me." Balthier smiles. "I brought hot chocolate mix and some biscuits for it, if you think that's okay? Sorry for the bulkiness. Little beads are nice quiet work, but bulky."
“I think that’s going to work out well.” Calum says. “And no worries about that. I can at least... “ He’s moving to grab something now that his hands are free. “I can imagine where they would be. It adds up completely.”
"Oh aye. Are you doing all right?" Balthier eyes him. "We could spar a little, if it'd help you vent, another day?"
“I’m good, considering.” Calum says, “But that’d be good as well. There’s not too much to bother me going on just now. This whole...situation. I think it’s better left to my brother to handle so beyond being supportive…”
"It sounds like something magical went wrong, but -" Balthier made a face. "If you do something foolish and are hurt, you're still a victim. My sister hissed that at me enough times."
“Aye, it did.” Calum winces. “Not anyone’s fault but the one who did it. We’re definitely not pushing anything beyond that. How could we when we don’t believe it?” he nods. “It’s no more the fault of a victim than it’s the fault of…well, I suppose of whatever weapons were used to do it.”
He’s stepping out as the elevator doors open.
"Mistress Ellie?" Balthier calls. "I'm with Master Calum." It's habit, and he is calling on her, so back to politeness rules for another world. "Is that bag too heavy? That's all my spools of thread. The wheeled thing is all the various fittings."
“Ah hello.” Ellie’s coming around, and smiling. She’s currently wearing a tank top with a shawl to keep too much from touching her arm, but looks okay, considering. “Please come on in. It’s nice to see you.”
Calum smiles over at Balthier. “I’ve got it. Your stuff’s impressive.”
Balthier waves at her. "Do you want me to talk about nothing serious, or be serious? I've brought hot chocolate, and biscuits to go with it. Some beading to work on."
“I could use a break from the serious.” Ellie smiles. “And you are fantastic, seriously. What sort of project is this for then?”
"Some simple stuff for a tv production, and some Ren Faire things. Yvette asked if I could do a bit of design ideas for the house she's remodelling. Stuff for good luck." Balthier headed on in. "Fluffy blanket? Or are you warm enough?"
“I’m good for now.” Ellie grins. “I do have one here though, in case.” She’s nodding toward one draped over the couch, admittedly not one of the usual library throws. This one’s a bit more in the pastel family with multicolored llamas. Very trendy, admittedly, but it’s soft. “And nice. You do work in charms, don’t you?”
"For bracelets or that kind of thing? I've done those. Apron clasps. Necklaces. There's a Regency place that buys about a hundred garnet and coral bits and pieces every year." Balthier starts setting up his stuff. "Interested in watching?" He paused and blinked. "Or wait - I'm a fool. You mean the - good luck stuff. I guess it's kind of - at home it'd do a lot more, but there's patterns that mean good luck?"
“Aye, I would like to see but that is what I’m referring to. It’s odd. We did have those at home a bit. But it seems like they were less than the actual work you do. Or there was less involved at least. You’d usually get a tranquil doing it, though we were running out of most of the older trained ones by the time that I was old enough to notice much about them...about magic.” Ellie frowns a little. “It always felt so creepy, even before, knowing what they’d lost.”
"I was basically an engineer, I suppose for -" Balthier dug around for a sketchpad. "Let me see if I've got one of the puzzle lock sketches in here. That might explain it better."
“That’d be amazing.” Ellie smiles. “If I”m not disturbing you from work, too much.”
"I brought the work to fill the space, not to fill a deadline." Balthier stretches his back. "Here, there's some sketches and a few paper based things in here. Want to take a look, and I'll heat us up two cups of hot chocolate? Do you want a straw so you don't have to heft up a mug?"
He's guessing it might be interesting for her to just see the sketches of the patterns and well - puzzles, right? Think about how they might work? "I should warn you," he says, "I think the rest of that book are people but there might be some bad dream stuff. So if it looks weird, flip past the page."
Ellie leans in a bit closer. “That’d be lovely. After the weekend’s over, it ought to be less fragile which will help with getting back to some things. She’s a bit worried about the fact that she’s not certain about casting with one hand out of balance. It’s less that she’ll need it for every spell and more about the fact that most of them are going to be dangerous where plaster and glass and bandaging are concerned. And she’s not certain that if she stops using it altogther it won’t seep out all at once, the way it did before she was trained, but that’s a question for another time. Perhaps for Stephen if he comes back. ...She’s not going to focus on that thought yet, thanks.
“Ah people like the ones you’ve mentioned in regards to your counterpart? That’s an interesting thought, but must have been disturbing.”
"From the past lives? Yeah. Some of it's from this life. Some of it's from here?" Balthier snags the kettle and gets to work. "The idea with the patterns is that you'd make something where you'd put a little bit of magic and it'd do more or persist. And the locks use that to try to trick you for how to find the path to unlock them. It's sort of - think of something a teacher might give you to keep you busy."
Ellie’s nodding slowly. “Or those puzzle booklets that they have here. You design them?” That’s actually really fascinating.
"I sort of did the practical application of them. Fixed military locks and made matching keys or matched them to keys. Not exciting work, but it needed to be done. Dad wanted me doing weapons." Balthier delivered the cocoa with a straw. "So this here -" He fished a ring off his finger. "This is actually magical, by home standards."
It's an old well worn gold ring with a small chip of something greenish. There's engravings along the inside, and a faint whisper of magic to it.
Ellie’s accepting the cocoa gratefully, taking a sip before returning to study the ring. “I feel it.” She says, nodding slowly. The signature is different but…”An antedote to poison? Or to types of magic?”
"Little of both. Almost worn out. You'd give stuff like this as good luck." Balthier fished off a slightly thicker band and slid it over. "If the stone hadn't cracked on this, the patterns are designed to take magic and make it glow when you junction with it."
“And that does something, with the junctioning. The same thing always, or different, depending? It’s all more interesting than the sort of things we had at home. At least that were studied, even within the circles. No one’s really taught that sort of thing in many cases.”
"I'm not sure what junctioning translates to." Balthier leans to pick up the bigger ring and turns it before clenching his hand on it a bit. The engravings light up a bit before fading. "Does that - do anything that you can tell? All these are very old rings, so they're almost broken. Or are broken."
Ellie’s touching that one with the finger on her good hand still. “Ah so that DOES. It’d amplify it, I’m guessing. Whatever you were trying to do. I forget you can use magic, sometimes, yours being so different. The rest of you as well.”
"There's sort of the idea that there's a place that has magic, and we - carry magic? I don't carry that much, and magic's considered to also be - life, I suppose? No scholar in the sort of thing." Balthier smiles. "But you see why I make people jewelry, if they'd take it. These were all gifts from my siblings."
“I do see now.” Ellie nods. “More than just for the sentiment then. Which would be reason enough I’d say. And well, the way it goes, carrying it...I wonder sometimes, considering how many here have something if there’s not a way they’re versions of the same thing somehow. The mechanics are quite different, mind, you, in some places but...yours sounds a bit more like…” She frowns. “Did you watch any Star Wars? Like the Force. Aside the frankly mad social structure the jedi have going on.”
"I've seen the original ones? I think Noah talked about watching the newer ones." Balthier took off his other rings and his earrings for her to check out. "Some of those are magical, others are like the light ring. Or just metal. My sister took the ones I didn't have with me before she got here, which is why I've got them. And I suppose the Force isn't a bad analog to the Mist. The Mist is deadly, if it's thick enough, and it's considered to come from another place."
“Aye we did watch most of those. Not the latest set, with Hux and everything.” Ellie’s not sure what to make of her father’s newest ‘brother’, frankly. She knows that she feels sorry for him and that his life’s clearly been hard, but…
“That does sound about the way they present it, aye. It’s different with us, but it does come from the Fade. It’s why you cut a tranquill off from it.”
"I know I'm not from the place, but the tranquil thing sounds - pretty horrifying to me." Balthier leaned to demonstrate how a lock worked. "So these here - they're kind of either artificially complex, or power building, or - things where a clue helped you find the solution to the right path." He took a sip of his hot chocolate and leaned to pull up his sketch. "We were talking a carved wood panel, with good luck, or stone for Miss Moore. Have you met Hux yet? I've heard a bit about him. It sounded like he's . . . not a nice person, but grew up in circumstances where you couldn't be."
“I wanted it.” Ellie confesses, leaning forward a little. “When I started manifesting. It was...terrible. I didn’t tell anyone for, well, a few months of little things, but just before I turned thirteen, I couldn’t keep it back much longer and the study that I worked in ended up on fire, so I ran. I wanted them to stop me from being able to hurt someone, but instead they sent a few templars to find me. That was what they used to do, when they did that sort of thing more often, but it was rare enough by the time that it was me. And that’s when I met...someone and got talked into coming back, that it wasn’t so bad as that. I was begging first though, for it to just happen then and there, but she was just a squire then, and wouldn’t have done it anyway. I’m glad of that now, honestly. It really is like being the walking dead. Moreso than zombies, somehow.”
And she’s nodding at that. “That’d look pretty, in whatever matches best, I think. And I have a bit. He’s been over a few times. It’s awkward for him, but he’s trying. He’s afraid, but doesn’t ken that, I don’t think. Like Aedan didn’t.”
"You know - I think sometimes it's a bit like Noah." Balthier sighed. "Noah'd do this thing where he'd tell you something devastatingly honest, and just no sell the yelling that he'd got. But give him half a chance, and he'll talk up people he likes. He's . . . scared for the people he cares about and not aware that he assumes he's not at home. He's better, here, but I know he'd do that back at home. Blind spots."
Ellie nods at that. “He seems to be, with that. I think that’s why he and Uncle Hari manage to get on so well. Well, the first part. The second’s more Noah himself. It did take Aedan years to work it out though, but, he’s also spent more time here than when we were in America. He was gone so long with that, and I didn’t even live with him properly for...quite a few months. They let him go on visits home, but it wasn’t for him, then. And is he, Noah? I’m glad of it.”
"He is. I suspect his brother being safe and not being stuck blaming himself as much helps." Balthier starts threading some matte glass beads on some string. "Miss Moore seems not entirely certain if Hux'll stay on the side of not going back to what he used to do, but - he deserves a chance to make his bed to lie in."
“That he does.” Ellie agrees. “And well, such influences...they’re not here. Grandmaster Kenway’s snatched him up, so really, he ought to be FINE. He’s a good man, despite the fact he’s...prickly.”
"Noah's not too fond of him, but that's more protective toward you and Aedan and his own sense of ethics." Balthier shrugs slightly. "I'm not fond of the Templar's ideals, but that's more - I don't trust shepherds when I've seen people who are very bad at being good to their flock."
“I’m not enamored of the man, but I do trust him, if that makes sense.” Ellie looks thoughtful. “The thing is, you learn pretty early on, that your life, as a leader, is likely to be filled with having to risk people, no matter what they have at home, a life, a family, a little dog.”
Nova, curled up on the floor, looks up at that, ears cocked. “It’s not pleasant, but in those cases where you can’t afford to be idealistic, it’s what is. The Grandmaster is...he knows that putting Da out on the main stage of their fight risks something of our safety if he can’t come back, But he also only does that when he HAS to, when there’s something greater going on. When Sherr and Aedan were both kidnapped, that sort of a thing. I think it’s not so frequently dangerous as Noah thinks, because he’s been so upfront with the danger and the fact that we’d be risking it. But well. It’s no different from what I might have had to do, if I were home still, and becoming ready to take on some sort of ruling duty. “
She looks thoughtful.
“It wouldn’t have been so extreme as all of that, but in Antiva, one of our neighboring countries, the eldest children of the noble houses manage all the family, including their siblings’ affairs. I would have hated it, in any sense, but it’s that same idea, I guess, that sometimes there are ways you have to push and use people, and can only do your best to minimize a danger that’s...it’s all too real. But the Abstergo type of them, no, absolutely not. I think it does depend on...individually, looking at every case, not rushing in to seize control. There’s time’s protection’s needed if it doesn’t limit too much freedom, but there’s time’s it’s absolutely wrong. The Templars at home teach their job is there to protect mages, but too many carried that too far for centuries and we see what it did. My knight, at home, that is, my guard, she said she had wanted to do the same but saw too many taking it too far. You do have to be careful.”
"The thing is that -" Balthier sighed. "I'm not the guy to think about it. I grew up rich and pretty lucky. But - I think the people who say that stuff's going well or not shouldn't be the ones in charge. Sort of the - if you want to hear about stuff, you shut up and let the minorities talk."
“I’d suppose it’s all about whether the idea of minorities applies across everywhere isn’t it? In the wide world, aye, and Scotland...That’d be why there was such a mess with England pulling out on its own, when so many didn’t want it. When so many HERE didn’t want it...Leave A Light On For Scotland, they’re calling that, but in places like the smaller circles of assassins and templars...do they have anything like it yet, or should they think carefully about what they’d do when it came?”
"I'm not sure? But it feels like the Templars sort of are doing the - our way is just and right, and hard men make hard decisions, and pointing fingers at other people who made worse ones." Balthier shrugged. "As I say, from the outside, from someone who's been burned by people in power. I can't say assassins make perfect choices, but there's an emphasis on being aware that your choices can hurt that - seems safer to me, I guess."
Ellie nods slowly. “I think they are intending that, aye. And well, I’d argue the templars have those who do the same thing, keeping that awareness. I mean, consider who we have here. It’s different in the most classical sense, but the group here, they’re not a bad one. I’m not saying I’d go off with them. I can’t see myself doing it, but it’s more of a…” She shrugs. “I think that here at least it’s rather more of a neutral thing than in their world if it makes sense. At any rate, I’d go to both if there was a problem, I can say that much. I do see what you mean with some of them. I suppose it’s a bit different here, considering I’ve got one of each around the place. It makes for some interesting conversations.” She laughs a little. “Of course until someone interrupts them when it ventures too far into the territory of over everyone’s head philosophy. Da forgets not everyone was affirmed in a chantry.”
"I don't mind philosophy but well - discussing hypotheticals was safer at times, and a way to pass the time." Balthier ties a careful not and leans to work on adding a clasp. "How is Meghan doing? Last I heard she was furious that school was a thing and wanted to go off to work. Is she talking to someone about the problems with school?"
“She’s not, much.” Ellie frowns. “I’ve not been here much, but I know she’s checked in on that a bit with Aedan. Apparently she’s just going to get out as soon as she’s allowed, but...there’s likely something better. Might be that school itself just doesn’t work. Maker knows it was a personal hell for me, but finishing the rest alone...that worked.”
Balthier sighed. "Has she asked about doing it alone?"
“She hasn’t.” Ellie’s frown deepens, but… “It may be that she hasn’t thought much about that idea. It seems so either or sometimes. I don’t know, everyone going through school here and now, at least as far as the UK goes...seems to be sort of fixated and insane. It’s worth dropping the idea now that I’ll be around a while. It’d probably help. I think everyone wanted, well, for things to be as close to normal as she can get, being younger, but if that’s not working...I don’t know, Courfeyrac seems happy. Perhaps if she saw it could be different elsewhere.”
"I'm not sure that'd make her happy. She seems pretty - it's like she wants things to be like Starkhaven and she's angry that it's not the same. Which isn't fair, but I haven't met her that much. It's just hard to feel - I guess comfortable not being exactly the best when I'm not even sure if I can hit that." Balthier knots off the necklace and leans to start another one. "But maybe the option would be interesting to her?"
“I think less angry.” Ellie says, “And more...it’s like she made a life up, in her head, the one she would have had, and there’s so much that’s different from it now the bits and pieces are back. There’s the things she missed, but there’s the ones that she’s still not sure are all right, and I suppose it’s hard, to realize what you wanted to come back to...even when it’s got the trappings...that it isn’t there. Another of those things my da kens all too well. Of course right now, between work and trying to make sure my idiot brother’s not doing something stupid. I understand loving someone, I think. Not the way of my parents but, there’s someone I left behind me too. We couldn’t have yet, it’d all stayed honorable, until I would have been old enough, but letting someone walking out after they’ve ruined your life, and still being upset with them not there…” she frowns.
“I think more than the rest, I would be angry, which he has been, but it’s the other bits that I don’t get now. How you care for someone who does that to you. There’s the chance it may be different with family and circumstances out of your control but…”
Which is the moment Basch is poking his head in, and catching the end of that, he laughs. “I feel as if my ears should begin burning. “ He steps around and bends to brush a kiss on Balthier’s cheek, then turns to Ellie.
“Your friends are interesting. Morgan’s coming around soon with a laptop and said something about Baby Yoda. Balthier, have you seen that creature? He needs to be real and here. And we need to raise him.”
"He looked very cute in the pictures people were waving around at the school?" Balthier uncurled. "I think he eats frogs though, which might be an issue. Hello, love. Are you here to sweep me off once I say farewells?"
“Courfeyrac eats frogs.” Basch points out, smirking. Then holds up a hand. “No, really, he described it to me once. I won’t pretend I’m not insanely curious. And so I am, if you’ve not got something you can’t leave behind.”
“They’re not so bad. Well, cooked.” Ellie allows. “They don’t exactly swallow them whole in Val Royeux. There is no guarantee as to the rest of Orlais, but…” She laughs. “Please. Don’t let me keep you. It was nice to see you again.”
"And you. Shall I leave the biscuits and the hot chocolate mix?" Balthier moves to put his things back away again. "I'm fairly certain frogs are eaten a couple of places? You'd get them farmed in Archades. And eel. It was a lot of work to farm frogs though, that I know of."
“That’d be lovely of you.” Ellie nods. “Aye, they are. And I can imagine that would be quite...something, that sort of an attempt. There’s a lovely place down in the village near the sanctuary. They farm everything they serve, Fish and all sorts of meats.” They haven’t all been OFTEN, but Stephen tends to drag them there to celebrate occasions. If ‘drag’ is really the right word for it. She does hope he’s okay.
Basch leans over to help Balthier, going for the bits he knows are safe to touch.
"If you need to talk, just message me, okay?" Balthier snaps the last of his bead containers shut, and regathers up his jewelry. "Would you like a ring for luck?"
“I think…” Ellie smiles at that. “I could certainly use luck now. I’d love that.”
Balthier passed her one. "You can unlock the stone that's in there, but you'll have to figure out how it works. Or I can tell you the trick. Take care." He picked up his bags. "Ready, Basch?" There's also some protective engravings, but well - the lock bits might entertain her.
“All set.” Basch slips an arm around him as they’re heading on their way out. “How goes it with you, love?”
He’s pretty sure he hears a few more voices carrying along the way as they go. There’s Calum and Evan, clearly debating something and enjoying the fact as they go past an office, and he thinks he’s got a hint of Meghan and some of Ellie’s magic friends too. “It’s busy here today, isn’t it? Want to get some quiet in the gatehouse?”
"Sounds good to me. I'm all right. Worried about her. I don't like it when things seem to be unsettled, and it makes me itch to be a hermit. Which I know is a bad reaction." Balthier tucks an arm around him. "How was work?"
“Noah is too.” Basch says and winces. “It’d help her to know what’s going on with Strange, I think. But I suspect a lot of that...he may still be fighting. He manipulates time and space to such a point...it may be quite a while that he goes on. I’ve no doubt he’ll come out of it, but I wish someone could make that clear to her.” He shakes his head. “It’s horrible, things manipulating the person least equipped to deal with that. And that’s not quite a BAD option. Unhealthy, but I see the urge. And you can have it a little.”
"I can go burrow in your blankets and be ridiculously in love with you?" Balthier smiles over at him. "And I - yeah. I can see that. There's just - childish cruel things with power, that just hurt because they don't understand that there's other things that think. It's something I've been hurt by. This life. Other lives."
“Of course you can.” Basch gives Balthier a smile back, and slips an arm around his waist as they’re walking. “Just you and me. And those childish cruel things...they do seem to be everywhere.”
Almost as if to punctuate that point, as they turn another corner, nearer to the office that’s below Sebastian’s private study, he can hear Aedan’s voice, not quite a word, but he sounds dully defeated, and then Sebastian’s answering, tones even and calm and, well.
“Proof of the fact, I’d guess.” Basch notes, cranning his head upward. “And I know that you have, yes. But they won’t be allowed to hurt you without me being involved. I’d say they never will, but I can hardly promise that. Still, I will do my best to keep you from being hurt by it, and anyone else here, how’s that?”
"Loyal knight and all that?" Balthier leans a little. "It's an amazing thing." He glances toward the conversation. "I don't know what's going on with Aedan. I know this time of year is bad."