Who: Anders and Leliana What: Leliana comes to check on the whole Justice situation. When: Recently. Where: Anders' house. Warnings/Ratings: None/low Status: Complete
It would have helped wonders if someone who’d witnessed the events of Kirkwall were here to help. Insight from someone else would be lovely, but all Leliana had to go by was what Isabela had relayed and what information she knew from the dreams. Justice was the embodiment spirit of the concept, Anders was his host, and things escalated to the point that separating them was near impossible - they were part of each other, and no one really knew what actually became of Justice after the events of Kirkwall, did they?
No agent necessary today; Leliana was his shadow for the time being, and she knew where his home resided - back with his lady, and she timed it to where it’d be a meeting of just the two of them. Always prepared for the worst, there was a concealed weapon in the confines of the lacy blazer worn over a satin cowl shirt and skinny jeans - accented with a tasteful set of heels, of course.
Knuckles knocked on the door. Already she could see a cat in the window, and she had to smirk.
Anders hadn’t been expecting anyone to disturb him tonight. He didn’t really have a lot of friends, and Tink wasn’t expected back for a while (and besides, she had her own key). He’d been doing some research into the Spanish Revolution - why it had been so successful of a revolution, and what had caused it to ultimately fail - when he’d heard a knock at the door. He made his way to the door, scooping up Lady Widget before he opened it so the grey tabby didn’t bolt outside, and he smiled when he saw who was on the other side of it.
“Leliana!” he said. “This is a surprise. What brings you here?” he asked, stepping aside as an invitation for her to come in.
Honestly, first impression would tell her that nothing was amiss - Anders seemed like himself, at first glance. “I was in the neighborhood,” smiled Nightingale, the subtle tilt of her mouth. “You’ve been quiet. I thought I would poke my head in and see if all is well. I mean no intrusion, if you are busy.”
Still, he allowed her entrance and she stepped inside, powder blue eyes surveying the walls before settling back to him. “The lady is not home?”
Leliana knew the answer, but she was instigating small talk. Something natural to slip in so he wouldn’t realize that she’d come here when Tink was out on purpose, which would mean she had someone play as his shadow. He probably wouldn’t appreciate being stalked, would he?
“I’m always busy,” Anders said. “It’s no intrusion though. I’ve just been doing some reading. Have a seat,” he gestured toward the couch. “Can I get you some coffee?” He closed the door behind Leliana and placed Lady Widget on the floor where she began to sniff Leliana’s shoes.
“Tink’s at the garage right now,” Anders said. “She’s a hard worker.”
Lady Widget gleaned some attention from the redhead - tentative pets, allowing the feline to familiarize with her scent before she gave her any bold strokes along her spine. “Oh, no, I’m fine,” she chuckled, comfortable on her spot on the couch, knees crossed. “Thank you, though. I caffeinated myself fairly well this morning; anymore and I won’t get a wink of sleep tonight.”
Lately, Leliana had taken a bit of a...step back, shall we say, when it came to her career path - too much blood, too many decisions that weighed down on her here and in Thedas. The Inquisition meant tough choices had to be made, and she was the one shouldering the darkest ones. Anders was a personal one. Not many of her agents would understand what was going on, and only one had been given a lick of information to know what to look out for.
Hands folded across her lap. “What have you been reading?”
"It does seem to hit us harder the older we get," Anders said with a bit of a smile. Not that he minded much. He hadn't been sleeping very much in the last little while - between working at the clinic and working at trying to improve the world, something had to be cut from his schedule and he had chosen some of those extra hours of sleep he didn't really need.
"The CNT in the Spanish Revolution, by José Peirats," Anders said. "It talks a lot about the collectivization process during the Spanish Revolution. It's really very enlightening." He took a seat on his couch, and a couple moments later Sir Pounce-A-Lot hopped up onto his lap. Anders really was glad that the cat seemed to have forgotten his behaviour from a few weeks ago when most people seemed to have been affected by whatever spell was going on.
"Though I'm sure you didn't come by just to hear about the books I've been reading. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Perhaps, perhaps not, but it only seemed fitting he was reading text of that particular calibre. Leliana had to stop that instinctive quirk of a brow. Though she supposed it was for Anders to detect that, yes, she wasn’t exactly here to form a Book Club with him revolving around social issues.
“I have not seen you since Justice has turned up,” she plainly said. It might have physically been the two of them alone in this very room, but in the Fade, linked to Anders, was a third presence. Likely watching, likely listening, and she had to select her words carefully. “I wanted to see you for myself and see how you were doing. And how he’s been doing.”
“I’ve been rather busy,” Anders said, just a touch of suspicion to his voice. He couldn’t fault Leliana for wanting to check up on him after everything he knew about Justice, but the further he dreamed, the less regret he felt for knowing how his dreams eventually ended up. Most people had, apparently, dreamed further along than he had, and there had been talk of a Mage-Templar war. Many people had seemed to think this was a bad thing, but was it really? Was the mages finally taking action and actually fighting for their freedom instead of fighting amongst themselves between the Loyalists, Libertarians, and Aequitarians really such a bad thing?
Blowing up the Chantry may have killed people, but they deserved justice. It sounded as though they would get it, with Anders being executed for his crimes. “But I’m fine. There is no ‘him’ and ‘me'. We’re the same.” For the most part. It was still a little disconcerting when Justice took over, and he still had to fight against him for some things - Tink and Sir Pounce-A-Lot in particular, but other than that, they were the same.
So there wasn’t even an attempt to differentiate himself from the spirit - how interesting. And positively dangerous. Leliana eased against the sofa cushions, delicate fingers tugging on the loose thread of her blazer. Magic and all things that resided in the Fade weren’t her specialty, that was clear. Her skills were of the clandestine variety, but despite the friction and attitudes towards mages, she respected them. They were all the Maker’s children; magic or no magic, human or not human.
Like Justice. “You feel safe, then,” she continued to nudge. “To be around Tink and everyone else. I know you were concerned at first. It is why you distance yourself, no? What has changed?”
Anders frowned. He perhaps should have expected the questions about Justice, but that didn’t mean that he welcomed them. “I may have overreacted when Justice first came, because of the things I had been told. It’s not the same as there,” he said. “I’m a stronger person, and I have more control here. I haven’t spent my whole life suffering under Templar abuses. Justice has been with me for almost two months, and aside from when everyone had a serious case of the grumps, he has shown no signs of harming anyone. I can’t live in constant fear over something someone else did in another world.” Especially not over something Anders was beginning to realize might not have been the wrong decision.
“I apologize if my questions rouse some annoyance,” she voiced, words caressed by that hint of Français, maybe a ghost trail of something Orlesian. Leliana had the vocals of a bard; she always sounded soft, soothing in a way, for all those songs of valor, to sing the Chant of Light. Sometimes it made what she was capable of all that much more unsettling. “But you must understand that my concern remains valid. You know all that happened because of his influence, but if you think you can keep him in check…”
No, something about that didn’t sit right with her - and even saying the next words were met with that nervous nibble of the inside of her cheek. “Then I trust you.” It was a lie. Though they couldn’t force him into ridding himself of Justice; Anders becoming an Abomination as a result would be high and her goal was to make sure he didn’t suffer the same fate. Ideally. “But know if something ever does arise, there are people that can separate the two of you.”
“Yes, I am aware of the influence I had in Thedas.” According to Cassandra on the Network, mages were even dressing as him. He still wasn’t exactly sure what his thoughts concerning that revelation were, but the rest of it, mages finally fighting for their freedom, finally breaking free of the chains that bound them… he had trouble finding fault in that. He’d do it different here - he’d find a way to do it without bloodshed, but Thedas was different. In Thedas, you either killed or were killed.
At the mention of someone separated them, Anders eyes flashed blue, and the skin surrounding them seemed to crack, looking almost as though there was a blue flame dancing just beneath the surface. It was gone nearly as quickly as it came, with Anders squeezing his eyes shut briefly in a forced blink. “I don’t believe that will be necessary.”
As if something like that would escape the keen azure eyes of Nightingale. Muscles tensed beneath that pale porcelain skin, and she damn well knew a compact pistol and a set of throwing knives would only stall Justice should he decide to come out and play. Things, however, didn’t escalate to that point, and when Anders quelled the spirit, Leliana let out a small exhale.
You say it is not necessary, that you two are the same, but clearly that reaction said otherwise. Internal dialogue she wanted to so fiercely make external, but she had to pick and choose her battles wisely. Political targets, people of interest when it came to gleaning intel, those were hers to handle.
A mage and the spirit he so willingly hosted, not so much.
“I apologize,” Leliana said. “I only came as a concerned friend. I want to be there for you, should you need anything. You may not have anyone from your travels with Hawke, but you do have people of the same world that can understand. We do not want to be strangers.”
Anders relaxed a little at Leliana’s words, mollified and also feeling a little guilty. He had always liked Leliana, and he probably shouldn’t have snapped at her like he had been. She really was only being a concerned friend, as anyone might be if faced with Anders circumstances, and there was no reason he should be so concerned with ulterior motives. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” Anders said, by way of apology. “You’re right, of course. I shouldn’t alienate the friends I have.” There weren’t many of them. “I do appreciate your concern, but Justice is under control. You needn’t worry yourself about him.”
Easier said than done. Everyone who dreamt the same world was rightfully cautious, but none would shun him for what happened - a different Anders in a different time, but she wasn’t quite so convinced that Justice was different. They were aware of the potential dangers and would all proceed. With caution. “We will have to find some time to all get together, then - I am sure there are a few you have not met, hm? So it’s not always business, but...genuine camaraderie.”
Most of those here were involved in the Inquisition. Alistair was the only one she knew from her journeys with the Warden. Zevran had, well…left, assuredly doing what he thinks he does best.
“I wouldn’t say no to a get together,” Anders said. “There’ve been a couple people I’ve talked to over the Network who I haven’t met in person yet.” The grumpy ugh lady for one. “I do miss the friends I’ve made in the dreams.” Perhaps he didn’t always get along with everyone in Hawke’s group of friends, but he still missed that sense of community sometimes.
Leliana’s own group had changed over the years - she missed the ones with the Warden, met a couple from Hawke’s circle when Justinia had sent her undercover in Kirkwall, and was more than fond of the Inquisition circle. Perhaps she kept them all at arm’s length for her own reasons, but there was still a bond forged she couldn’t shake, even if she wanted to.
She chuckled, the sound like wind chimes. Legs uncrossed, she stood from the couch. “We’ll have to make some sort of plan, then. But I won’t hold you up for much longer. Maybe next time I stop by I’ll even get to meet your lady - you seem very enamoured.”
There was a brief, paranoid thought when Leliana said that she should leave that she had come only to see if Anders was safe. She did work for the Chantry in the dreams, after all. But he had to remind himself that those allegiances weren’t exactly present in this world. Justice was purely a creature of the Fade and rarely distinguished between the two, but Anders knew better. Leliana had been nothing but a friend to him, and he shouldn’t be automatically suspicious of his friends just because of their dream worlds. “I’ll look forward to it,” he said with a smile. “I would love for you to meet Tink. I’m sure you would get along great.” He stood to see Leliana out. “Please feel free to stop by anytime.”