faderift | the dull sound of sharp math when you were alive

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the dull sound of sharp math when you were alive

WHO: Malcolm Reed OR Rachette Dakal OR Leonard Church AND you
WHAT: Belated August catch-all
WHEN: Alllllll through August
WHERE: Places! Mostly in and around Skyhold, none of them went to do fun Orlais things this month like losers
NOTES: Putting up some general locales and info in the post but it's pretty much a 'do you think you can find them in [insert location]? go hit them'

Malcolm is always a busy body who does his best to lend a hand. He's in noticeably better spirits than last month and, to those that know him, seems to have had his enthusiasm dial nudged up just a hair. Through the days, he can usually be found hanging around Cassandra's office since he is her 'Left Hand'--heading people off before they can get to her, doing some paperwork, in deep discussion with her, etc; sparring and training out with dummies, with people, or with bow targets, showing off his variety of skills with and without weapons, and also training/hanging out with his poodle Milady; nosing around the kitchens where he actually lends a hand with the actual cooking when the mood strikes him; lending a hand on various construction projects through Skyhold and in the valley below; and thumbing through a few less than strictly academic texts in the library. But he's always around somewhere.

Rachette is a little more unpredictable. Sure, she's part of the Inquisition, but she mostly does her own thing, so long as it helps herself out or seems like it's doing something for the group. She can be found honing her skills with some dummies or on various walls and surfaces for flipping around like a true rogue, or helping Zevran's rogue school with their trapping and lockpicking skills, or out in the valley and Hinterlands doing some resource gathering. During the later half of the month, she, too, is noticeably more chipper, making herself stop being a sad and angry lump about Herc, or at least pretending. Has anything gotten lost or stolen lately? She might have it...or know where to look for it.

Church is the same old asshole he always is. Are you a Rifter? He's interested in talking to you. The kitchens are a haunt of his because holy shit food is so great, he'll taste test anything they whip up, and likes trying to snag extra rolls before his knuckles get rapped with a wooden spoon. He's been working on training with his sword and actually making progress. He's hardly a front line soldier, but he's better than completely useless. Any attempts to keep training on the crossbow are...discouraged, since he keeps making no improvements at all. He likes being a nerd in the library, always doing some kind of research or another to try and understand Thedas better. Y'all are fucking wackos, man. Or maybe you've caught him sleeping somewhere. Anywhere. Maybe the stables? He's made friends with plenty of the more horse-like mounts just for napping in hay a lot.

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It's been a trying month for Christine. While many in the Inquistion are currently in her home country trying to establish positive relations, Christine stayed at Skyhold to watch over Asher in his final days. Then she traveled to the Avvar hold for his funeral rites, finding herself in a world wholly different from the one she's always known. She expected life to carry on as normal back at Skyhold when she returned, but instead she found a letter waiting for her from her mother. It's the first she's heard from the woman in almost fifteen years, and the news is not good.

The letter feels like a heavy weight in her pocket as she enters the stables, looking for one of the stableboys. When Christine finds him, she checks on his rash, hands him a small jar of ointment, and is set to leave when she spies two legs sticking out from a stall. Worried, she goes to investigate, but what she finds makes her sigh, crossing her arms and shifting her weight.

"Come to nap with your people, have you?"

"mmmmfivemoremnnts...wha?"

#letchurchnap2k16

He sits up and rubs some hay out of (or further into) his hair, grinning dopily up at her. "I'll have you know that some horses make better people than people do. Sorry, it's just...nice and cozy in here. Sometimes the body demands a rest, and who am I to argue with my body's natural rhythms?"

His smile is infectious and she finds herself giving him a slight smile in return, uncrossing her arms and moving into the stall with him. She does, of course, look out for any horse droppings that might be there amidst the hay.

"I suppose I cannot argue with that. I am not a skilled horse rider, but they are good creatures." Her gaze settles on him after checking the ground. "What has you in need of a rest, hmm? Have you been training hard?"

She is so pretty when she smiles. "I haven't ridden one ever. Not ever. But they haven't minded me finding room in here for a quick nap since I got here, so clearly I'm a horse person. Or they just like chewing on my hair. Ew."

As for why he's resting, saying 'because idk, night is for losers and the weak' doesn't really cut it. "So hard." Snerk. "I'm starting to try and put some finesse into my moves. I'll be a master of the sword in no time." She'll see through him, and he won't mind.

"I have only a few times. I need to ride behind an experienced rider, or I would fall straight off." It's a little frustrating to admit that, but better she admit to it than pretend she can and end up dead when thrown off.

"Is that so?" she continues, and against her better judgment she comes to sit beside him in the hay. She will be picking this hay off of her all night; she just knows it. "I see you at least hold it the right way around." Her hand reaches for one of his, to better examine his palm, but perhaps because she wishes to hold his hand too. The loss of Asher is still fresh, and it makes her want to be close to those she... well, those she cares for. Even if Church is a buffoon at times.

"We've got more technologically advanced modes of transportation where I'm from. But maybe if I'm gonna go marching out and around, I should learn to ride something?" Now there's a thought. It might not really be a good thought, though.

Church is not at all going to say no to Christine holding his hand. He's happy to be the buffoon to make her smile, even if he doesn't intend to be half the time. His hands are really starting to develop in the way hands get when they've been at work, because it's been more than just standing around sometimes swinging a sword. He might not really care that much about the Inquisition technically, and he'd never admit to caring about the people, but he does what he can because this is where he's staying and really needs to not get kicked out thanks.

"Yeah, I figured out pretty quickly that you don't hold a sword by the sharp and pointy end. That's the end that goes into the bad guys."

"It does help, when one cannot walk or they would be left behind." Christine thinks maybe she should learn too. It's a bit embarrassing to have to clutch tightly around someone's middle for fear of falling off. "Perhaps we could learn together? It should be something I should know how to do."

Her fingers brush over his palm, taking note of the new rough spots that are forming. If not for the shard (and opening his mouth and talking the way he does), he could maybe pass for someone who has always lived here. Of course, Thedosians are ending up with shards too. Okay, so maybe it's just the way he talks that sets him apart.

"That it does. And there are plenty of those left to face." Her expression turns a bit forlorn, and she looks away out of the stall. "At least being in Orlais hasn't caused the Inquisition to be drawn into the civil war. We have enough foes to fight without being told to pick a side."

"Yeah? You think we should try horseback riding together?" He's down for it. He'll even refrain from making any crude jokes about barebacking. (If he was Tucker, that'd be the first thing he'd say. Thank god Tucker isn't here.) Look how nice he is.

Nice enough that he's not a dumbass not to notice that Christine isn't all here today. And maybe he should keep up with the people he cares about more, but things, as always, keep happening. And Rifters keep coming, and he's starting to feel just this side of obligated to them. Obligations suck. But it makes him feel like he's doing something important.

He takes his hand away only so he can fit his arm around her shoulders and pull her in against him. "Hopefully it'll stay that way." Given this place, he really doubts it. And now that the Inquisition's dicking around in Orlais, it's really only a matter of time, right? "I'm sorry home's not really a good place for you right now."

She simply nods her head to his question. It's not something she thinks will be fun, but it's a good life skill to have.

Their friendship goes both ways, and she should have been keeping up with him better too. She doesn't know too much about his organization of the Rifters, and hearing about him moving on from the crossbow to the sword was new to her. His arm around her causes her to look back and lean her weight into him.

"It is all right. I have... no great pride for Orlais when it comes to politics or the Game, but its people are suffering, and I have pride in our people. The hardworking ones, instead of the liars or the cruel." She nearly says more, but hesitates. A frown crosses her face as she look up at him, but then she finds her voice.

"I have received word from my mother. She says my father was drafted into the war, and he has not written to her in some time. She fears he is dead. And I want so desperately to do something."

"It could be he's just busy. Y'know. Training, fighting, being moved from place to place." It could be, but he could also be dead in a ditch somewhere. It's even harder to get information about this sort of thing out and around and it's all taking place on the same continent, much less across space, just because of the technological level. Even if he's gone somewhere, or if he's dead, who's to say anyone's really going to be able to know?

He rubs her arm, not knowing what he can say. Realizing there really isn't anything for him to say. Nothing can fix the fact that he's out there somewhere, Schrödinger's dad. "Do you know where he's been? Any COs you can ask after for an update? Someone's gotta know something."

"Perhaps." But it's said in a way that makes it clear she's made up her mind that something dreadful has happened.

She nods and takes out the letter, unfolding it carefully. "The front from where he last sent her word is in eastern Orlais, not far from the Imperial Highway. But I do not know if just anyone can request information from the army. I wish I could ask Ambassador Montilyet, but she cannot use Inquisition resources just to find one man."

"Why not?" Because it's personal and not Inquisition business, yeah, no, he gets that part. "Maybe she can use her own resources. Just a letter, that's all it has to be, asking for any information. I mean...I dunno, or the next time there's some people going around Orlais, ask someone to ask around?"

"Oh, but she must be so swamped with people asking her for personal favors..." She does look like she wants to consider it though, despite her words.

"People do move around Orlais often. Maybe when the next group leaves for Halamshiral? I could ask them to listen for any strange happenings with the war."

"It's not gonna hurt to ask, and if you get turned down, eh, you were prepared for it."

As for the war: "You've been paying attention to the world, right? Strange happenings are kind of par for the course. I fell out of a ripped open hole between universes through your guys' version of, like, heaven, kind of, or limbo I guess? That's pretty weird."

Christine gives him a slightly confused look because she has no idea what "par for the course" means, but she gets the main point. It seems the world is hardly normal anymore.

"All right, I will have to be more specific in my questions. Such as: have you noticed the disappearance of a whole swath of soldiers lately? I do not know if that will yield results, but someone must know something."

"Someone's going to know something somewhere." He's been in the not knowing limbo, and it sucks. Church nuzzles her hair--not entirely unlike a curious and affectionate horse. "And then you can let your mom know. Get the whole thing settled. Do you have any siblings? Like, anyone you're close to family-wise, who needs to know? Maybe you could have like a family reunion. Get-together, meeting, thing."

Christine swats at him lightly in that way that suggests Oh, don't be silly; stop nuzzling me at once but no, actually don't. This protest is all for show.

"No, I have no siblings. I thought perhaps after I was sent away that they might have, but she's informed me I am their only child still. I do have aunts, uncles, and cousins."

"Delacroix family reunion," he says with a nod, still in her hair, and she can probably feel his smile pressed to her head. "I'm sure they miss you. You could carve out some time while trying to find out about your dad, probably, to let them know you're alive. Other than letters, I mean."

Her smile lessens a little because she isn't sure if the rest miss her. A mage in the family? It's always hard to know what people think.

"It is something to consider. I would not wish to leave my duties here for long, and I am unsure my extended family would wish to see me." A pause. "I could, however, visit my mother."

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the dull sound of sharp math when you were alive

That asshole, Church { late August }

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