"I had a couple of questions for you if you have a moment." He comes in properly to sit across from Benedict properly, not on edge but with the air of one too many irons in the fire he often has these days. "I suppose, first, I was wondering if there was anything you were hurting for in particular, supply-wise. We're all dealing with the same shortages, paper and so on, but I'm stepping in for the few duties I can wrest away from the Quartermaster while she's in the infirmary. At the very least, I could save her some legwork on prioritizing resupplies if she insists on working from bed."
He's more quietly concerned than critical. For one thing, he's no better as a patient and he knows it. Still, if he can keep Ness's work lighter at present, he's inclined to do so.
There is, of course, the obvious request: "paper?" Suggested with a hopeful, endearing smile-- hasn't he been ever so good and doesn't he deserve it more than anyone else who asks-- but there's a humor in his eyes as well, as he already knows what the likely answer will be.
Rueful but not without a hint of a smile, he says, "Ever and always doing what I can on that front. Maybe some will fall out of a rift, it sounds like other worlds also have paper. One can always hope." Even if futilely. On which note: "Provost Niehaus mentioned something about a surface that can be written on and cleaned, like a chalkboard but less dusty. Maybe we'll get one of those and save ourselves some trouble."
"Couldn't hurt to try," Benedict muses, relaxing out of his begging stance to look down at what he was working on before Julius entered-- and something occurs to him, causing him to sit straight back up again.
"I do need your counsel on something," he realizes, "or-- perhaps everyone's-- I'm not sure. Manfred, the ah. The professor's assistant. ...skeleton."
"Maker, what a question to have to deal with." Not, clearly, Benedict's fault. "I suppose with Volkarin present, there's not much to do unless he," it? deeply unclear, "misbehaves. I can't say I'm thrilled with an ambulatory spirit running around the Gallows on principle. Then again, we've had other situations I wasn't enthusiastic about in the past."
A brief shake of the head, but then an increased focus. "I didn't ask and I should: Has anyone complained? Or is it just the broader situation that you're asking about?" The latter still makes sense, but the former could mean the need for a different approach.
His smile broadening slightly at Julius' reaction, Benedict is pleased to commiserate on the matter.
"Not directly," he replies-- has anyone complained-- "but if startled reactions and looks askance in the Gallows are any indication, it's going to be an interesting time if the Professor tries to take him out into greater Kirkwall."
"I'll raise the point at the next Diplomacy meeting," Julius says, a tacit agreement. "I think it can be done; it's hardly the first time Riftwatch has leaned into its status as a novelty. But given the difference between Nevarra's approach to spirits and Kirkwall's, it is worth a quiet word about expectations and adjustments before an incident arises. At the same time, I don't want to single out Volkarin. We've had more potentially problematic agents before."
"He does," Julius agrees. "I don't think he'd purposely make someone uncomfortable without reason. And we've both been here long enough, perhaps we don't always remember what a culture shock Kirkwall can be."
Even if the particulars were different, given their backgrounds, Julius doesn't feel it's presumptuous to make the point.
"On the bright side, Kirkwall's had us here long enough that some amount of oddness can probably just be chalked up to ah, you know, Riftwatch, if it's handled well." Most people had gotten used to rifters, and that has taken years.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-03-28 05:07 am (UTC)“What can I do for you, Seneschal?”
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Date: 2025-03-31 11:43 pm (UTC)He's more quietly concerned than critical. For one thing, he's no better as a patient and he knows it. Still, if he can keep Ness's work lighter at present, he's inclined to do so.
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Date: 2025-04-01 02:47 am (UTC)There is, of course, the obvious request: "paper?" Suggested with a hopeful, endearing smile-- hasn't he been ever so good and doesn't he deserve it more than anyone else who asks-- but there's a humor in his eyes as well, as he already knows what the likely answer will be.
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Date: 2025-04-07 12:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-04-07 06:31 pm (UTC)"I do need your counsel on something," he realizes, "or-- perhaps everyone's-- I'm not sure. Manfred, the ah. The professor's assistant. ...skeleton."
His smile is something more like a grimace.
"How do we... what do we do with Manfred."
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Date: 2025-04-27 04:22 pm (UTC)A brief shake of the head, but then an increased focus. "I didn't ask and I should: Has anyone complained? Or is it just the broader situation that you're asking about?" The latter still makes sense, but the former could mean the need for a different approach.
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Date: 2025-04-28 06:44 pm (UTC)"Not directly," he replies-- has anyone complained-- "but if startled reactions and looks askance in the Gallows are any indication, it's going to be an interesting time if the Professor tries to take him out into greater Kirkwall."
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Date: 2025-05-02 12:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-05-05 03:47 am (UTC)A fair number of descriptors for Volkarin pass through his mind before he lands on, "kind."
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Date: 2025-05-09 11:30 pm (UTC)Even if the particulars were different, given their backgrounds, Julius doesn't feel it's presumptuous to make the point.
"On the bright side, Kirkwall's had us here long enough that some amount of oddness can probably just be chalked up to ah, you know, Riftwatch, if it's handled well." Most people had gotten used to rifters, and that has taken years.