The National Mall- Washington DC- Saturday daytime

[throughaphase]

Welcome to the National Mall! The students were dropped off near the Washington Monument in the morning, and from there they would be able to wander around at their leisure. It was a beautiful fall day and there was plenty to do. There were free museums, monuments, great architecture, places to grab a meal or just a quick bite from a vendor, or you could could hang out and people watch.

It was even possible to do everything in a single day if you were quick about it. And hopefully everyone wore comfortable shoes because seriously your feet will be filing to divorce you by the time you leave if you didn't.


[Open to all students and any teachers who would like to chaperone! You'll handwavily get back to Fandom in the evening.
Also I maybe put the OCD in order of the path around the mall in case anyone actually does want to try pinging into several things, so you know what order you probably went in. La.]

Comments

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan liked the clothes. That didn't mean he didn't like the other clothes Anders wore but he liked the new look too. He smiled.

"Huh." He chewed on the end of one of his fingers. "I've never really understood a lot about religion. Any of them. They just seemed very complicated."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

"They are," Anders agreed. "I know the Chantry stuff because it was shoved down my throat for 15 years, but the faiths here are just ridiculous. It all seems like different ways of getting at the same thing to me, anyhow."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I've gathered that they're important to a lot of people," he remarked, glancing around at some of the art. "And some people don't really care about them at all. I think I fall in that second category just because I don't know enough about any of them."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

"Do you wish you did?" Anders asked, honestly curious as he picked a painting -- something Japanese, according to the sign on the wall -- and walked toward it. "There's always someone mucking them up with selfishness, from what I can tell. Besides, Edward was telling me about that Christianity thing once and it didn't sound like much fun."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," Nathan said, following behind Anders and looking up at the same painting that Anders had focused on. "I don't know if I'd like to believe in anything but what I can see and know right now. Trying to believe in more sounds like it'll cause more problems. More questions."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

"Ah," Anders nodded. "It's easier for me because -- well ---" he raised his fingers and wiggled them, letting the blue glow of magic roll over them for the slightest second. "I know that there's a Fade, and it makes sense there's a Maker too. I don't know what I'd believe if I didn't have that. Even as it is, I don't think everything the Chantry tells me about it is true."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"How do you feel about other religions that don't match up with yours?" Nathan asked curiously. "Are they wrong?"

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

Anders shook his head. "Not wrong exactly. Or not about the big things." He still thought Edward's church was wrong, absurdly so, about same-sex relationships. "Just looking at it all from a different angle, is all. Or they're from a different world with different spirits."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"It's just all so strange and complicated," Nathan replied with a shake of his head. "I guess it's a comfort thing for some people, though. Something to believe in when nothing else is there. I don't know if I could believe that."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

"So you think there's nothing beyond us?" Anders asked. "To me that would get lonely."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I think I don't know," Nathan clarified. "I can't even begin to imagine something bigger, though. Everything's already big enough for me."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

Anders quirked a wry half-smile at that. "It's true, your life isn't exactly lacking in big questions as it is."

And there he was willing to leave it, at least for the moment -- and not only because he'd gotten absorbed in a set of fantastically detailed Japanese nature paintings.

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Do you like the art?" Nathan asked after a moment of quiet. "I do."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

"I do, but it's totally new," Anders said. "We don't have art museums at home. Or if we do I never saw one."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I know there's a few in London but I never went into any of them," Nathan shared. "Wasn't really the type to be let into places like that. Bad for business."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

Anders grimaced at that. "Good thing this place has lower standards."

A joke. But right then he was clean, fed, and not in desperate need of coin to stay that way. A different place, another time, where none of those things were true -- and Anders suspected the museum security guard wouldn't be ignoring them quite so benignly.

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Sorry," Nathan said quietly, reaching out to put a hand on Anders' shoulder. "I have a...talent for bringing the mood down. I'm thinking about going pro, in fact."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

Anders eyes flickered with amusement. "Go to weddings," he advised. "You could tell everyone the groom drinks too much and the bride wanted his brother and is settling. I'm sure someone somewhere would pay for that."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Or they'd punch me in the nose," Nathan pointed out. He rubbed said nose. "Ow."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

"You could heal it," Anders reminded him brightly, reaching out to tap his finger against the bridge of Nathan's nose. "I'd even help so it didn't wind up crooked."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I could heal it but it would still hurt," Nathan reminded him with a quick laugh. "My poor nose. Punched because I'm a downer."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

"Mmm," Anders acknowledged. "So possibly not the best career plan, unless you like having a sore nose."

He reached down and tried to squeeze Nathan's hand."it's fine. I just sometimes make it a joke because that's better than ranting at you for half an hour about things you already know are horrible."

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I like the jokes," Nathan assured him, giving his hand a return squeeze. "It helps me learn how to make light of things too. To joke in return."

He hadn't done a lot of that in the past.

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[not_every_mage]

"The joke about becoming a professional mood-ruiner wasn't bad," Anders told him, beginning to amble toward the next bit of art without dropping Nathan's hand. "You have promise. Anyhow, it just means you need to spend more time around people with senses of humor. I have a feeling your life hasn't exactly been overflowing with them."

He felt a fleeting sense of something like gratitude for the circle. Awful as it had been, at least there'd been plenty of people to share the misery -- and get through it by making each other laugh.

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Not unless having a cruel and unkind sense of humor counts," Nathan replied, walking along with Anders. "I have known some of those people. They usually made those type of jokes at my expense. I never really laughed."