faderift | In the turning of the seasons, in life and death

Entry tags:

In the turning of the seasons, in life and death

WHO: Church, Malcolm, Rachette, YOU
WHAT: Present timeline catch-all
WHEN: Guardian /wiggly hand
WHERE: Up down all around Skyhold
NOTES: Nab me on plurk if you want a specific starter

Church is starting to spend a lot more time in the tavern than he ever did before. Sometimes he's just hanging around, taking some notes. Sometimes he's cleaning up tables with a rag. Sometimes you can actually see him in the back doing what may or may not be actual work. Crazy! He's also spending quite a bit of time around the stables, trying really hard not to look intimidated by the steeds, learning to put on saddles, and you may even see him up on one. This is madness. This is Skyhold.

Rachette does a lot of training, whether it's with her blades, doing her best to cut up a dummy, or doing sick backflips off walls or generally trying to get her parkour on, or at a table with a bunch of scrap fiddling with traps. She's also fond of going out hunting. You can perhaps find her debating with a merchant about the price of turning a rabbit pelt into a pair of gloves or a nice hat. She sometimes hangs nearby classes without trying to look like she's actually sitting in. Learning but not like...being a nerd okay shut up who likes learning not her.

Malcolm hovers around the healer tents more than he ever usually does, either visiting those injured or getting injuries checked up on. He also seems to be making a point of starting to see if there's anything he can do to help despite not being a healer. His training has more to do with keeping the skills he does have sharp, whether through archery (where he has an interesting new bow that hasn't made an appearance yet), or working out, or sparring. He's willing to give advice to people that seek it. And as ever, there's always some point where he can be seen around the kennels or otherwise being with is poodle companion Milady, playing, training, being at least mildly adorable.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Christine started out much like Church -- staring dubiously at the horses and wondering which would be least likely to throw her from the saddle. But she is nothing if not determined, and after many months of lessons, she finds herself at ease around horses. Yes, they can spook easily, or have willful personalities, but she's found several that she enjoys riding and it's made the experience a pleasant one.

Coming into the stables, she's pleased to see Church already there. In fact, whenever she sees him now, there's a quickening to the beat of her heart, and a fluttering in her stomach. She's tried dismissing it as girlish nonsense, but the feeling always returns. It doesn't help when he always smiles at her in that way of his. Part of her wonders if this means that they might be... well, a couple. It's not something she planned, and certainly something she didn't want in the middle of a war, but it seems being a practical person doesn't always lead to practical thoughts. Perhaps this is something the two of them should discuss.

"Church," she greets, wearing her blue cloak with the gray fur lining again. It's her standard outdoors dress for winter, but she does like showing off how she favors blue. Blue team rules, right? "You are going for a ride? Could we go together?"

Sorry, did she mention the smile at her? Yeah. This smile? Is it this smile she's thinking about, the one he's giving her right now on her approach? Probably that's the smile.

He's patting the neck of a horse that he's been working with a couple weeks-ish, in that getting-to-know-you phase of not being skittish around a mount that will hopefully not throw his ass. And smiles at her. "I was gonna take Hay Fever here out for a trot if he'll let me." The horse snort-sneezes. "He does that." Sneeze. "A lot. I mean his name's actually Hayden, but I think my name's more fitting. Um...did you wanna ride, like, together, or on...two different horses?"

There's together and there's together okay.

That would be the smile. How dare he! And right on cue her stomach gets that fluttering feeling again. It's tempting to just grab his hand and drag him to her bed immediately, but she'll show some restraint ~~for now~~.

"Poor thing," she says, slowly raising her hand to see if the horse will accept a petting. When he doesn't seem fazed, she strokes fingers over his mane. "We could do either. Do you feel confident on a horse yet? I feel I have come along rather well, so I do not mind taking the reins if you wish to ride behind me." She gives the row of horses a quick look. "But if you feel able to ride alone, we could each take out a horse."

"I am incredibly into the idea of riding behind you, you have no idea." She probably has quite a bit of idea, actually. "And I can't promise I won't make cowgirl jokes, but I'll try to be a gentleman. You can even give me a few pointers. Could always use a few of those. From you. Am I rambling yet? What are we standing around here waiting for, we should definitely saddle up and go."

"A cowgirl?" she asks with a confused smile, but then she flags down a stablehand nearby and asks for help with the saddle, being assured that two can sit if they are tight together. She gives Church a slight smile at that while they're helped with the saddle. The stirrups are adjusted and Christine swings herself on with practiced ease. At first it was very difficult to get on since the muscles in her legs weren't strong enough, and she required the aid of a step to get up so high, but now she can do it without. Once on, she moves her cloak to one side so Church doesn't sit on it when he gets on too, before she looks down at him and removes her foot from the stirrup so he can use it to get on.

"Ready?"

Damn, girl. Just...damn. She's so practiced. He's only been at this a little while because, look, a guy gets sidetracked from these things, and because shut up. For all his man muscles, he could still use the help of her hand up for balance. Settles in nice and tight. And gets his hands in a good position.

For holding on while riding. Not for...anything else, or anything.

"Cowgirl," he says with a grin. "I'm double entendre-ing here." God, no, he doesn't need Donut to rub off on him now, no. "So in our history, we had this group of people, this profession, cowboys. Rode horseback, made sure cattle got moved where they needed to, roped animals up, whatever. So, cowgirl. You just need spurs on boots and a ten gallon hat." Don't...don't ask him to explain either of those.

He leans in a little closer, smirking into his hair. "It's also the name of one of those ways you really like to ride a certain other stallion."

That's Christine for you. She has to excel at everything she puts her mind to or she considers herself a failure. It's not the healthiest mindset to have, but nobody's perfect. Except Christine, obviously. (She isn't, but she tries to be.)

As he explains, she clicks her tongue and nudges the horse in the sides with her heels, steering him out of the stables. His hands are perfect right where they are, so he doesn't have to worry about moving them. The pace is kept slow because there are plenty of people milling around the lower courtyard today, but once they get down into the valley they can pick up the pace a little.

Her head turns to look over her shoulder at the second part of his explanation and she lets out a scandalized laugh.

"Church!" She swats at one of his hands and glances around as if he made an announcement to all of Skyhold instead of murmuring it into her hair. When she's sure no one is glaring up at her like she's a woman of ill-repute, she looks back again, matching his smirk.

"Are you saying you are my stallion? If so, you are my favorite one to ride." See? She can play this game too.

More like a woman of illest repute, amirite?

His grin only gets bigger, laughing into her hair before pulling back enough that he doesn't, y'know, smother himself in it. Not that that would be the worst way to go. He can think of worse ways. All of which are ways he's gone. "Does this mean I get to say I'm hung like a horse?" Sorry, Church, but Hay Fever's is bigger.

"Maybe when we're a little bit more alone, I can teach you a few more names of a few more...riding styles." Yeah, let's call it that.

No, Church. Just no.

"I would not go that far," she says, nudging the horse to go faster across the bridge leading out of Skyhold. "But your ego is certainly large enough to qualify." Not that it's a complete turn off. A man who has confidence in himself tends to draw her in, even if she rolls her eyes and denies he's as great as he thinks he is.

"Go right ahead. I am sure you have some interesting names for them." And if she wasn't such a sheltered former Circle mage, she could tell him the names they have in return. Literally all she knows are "face to face," "from behind," and "straddling," which he's already called cowgirl. And here she thought she was the more experienced one, since, you know, he didn't even have a body more than a year ago.

Her hand rubs back and forth across one of his own. It's still a strange concept to come to terms with, but he's here and he's real, breathing warm breath against her hair and feeling strong and solid behind her. Like he said when they reconciled: there's this extra information about him that she now knows, but that doesn't change who he's always been to her.

She should absolutely roll her eyes and deny his greatness, because his greatness is a front, and he digs ladies that can put him down and see through him and call him out.

"So my ego is hung like a horse. I'll take it." Church no. "Mmm so. This would be easier if I had a book. There's a book in my world where someone from another country detailed out like...all these wild positions. I'm pretty sure half of them would actually hurt. But you got your basic one, like, y'know, me on top of you, that's missionary. You know cowgirl well, but when you turn around, that's reverse cowgirl. If you get up on your hands and knees and I get behind you, that's doggy style. I promise you won't get Ferelden cooties for that. I don't think there's a specific name for going standing up against a wall except for wallsex... If I'm eating you out and you're blowing me, that's 69." Nice. "...I feel like Thedas must have names for positions. That's gotta be a thing somewhere..."

Christine's lips twitch with a smile as she listens. Ferelden cooties, honestly. At least she's open to a lot of things when it comes to sex.

"I suppose in the Circle, wallsex was called 'broom closet,' because that was where mages would meet to have a liaison, and there was not enough room to have sex any way but against the wall." She found herself spending time in the broom closet too; that's how she knows for sure.

"Out of curiosity," she begins, trying to sound casual about it, "Have you done any of these positions with anyone else?"

Orlesians vs Fereldans is always gonna confuse him. It's just...silly. It's silly! Y'all stop being silly and shake hands.

"Sneaky little liaisons in the broom closet, I like it." He only means it to joke. Obviously having to sneak around because maybe half the people around you maybe are afraid of you or maybe want to kill you and definitely don't want you populating the world with more magical babies isn't in itself hot.

"Oh, tch, I mean, pff, what, yeah, um, of course I have." Isn't he super convincing? Suuuper convincing. "Loads of times with loads of people. Just, like, I'm an expert, and you're not buying this at all, are you?"

Church you literally feuded with another group in a canyon because of their armor color. Now who's silly?

She takes it as a joke, because Church is always lightening the mood and rarely means to be insensitive. And whenever she explains that he is being insensitive, he tends to listen, so even if she were upset by what he's said, it wouldn't last long.

His answer has her smirking to herself, and if anyone looks up from the camps they're passing in the valley, they're probably wondering what she has to be so smug about. And probably wondering why the man behind her is making such strange sounds. Church wouldn't be Church is he wasn't a.) trying to be smooth, and b.) the worst liar imaginable. And knowing that he hasn't been with anyone but her? Well, now it's her ego being stroked.

"Mmm, you are -- what is that phrase -- laying it on rather thick." But she chuckles and leans her weight back into him a little. "You always could have, you know. I never wished to hold you back from such opportunities... but now... now I wonder if we aren't..." Oh, this is becoming hard to get out. This is why she prepares speeches in advance! "Would you be interested in... not being intimate with other people, and only with me? And of course I would do the same and it would only be you?" Christine, why are you allergic to the word 'couple?'

Yeah well they were told to! Then they just fought because they thought each other to be assholes. And they're all assholes.

"I mean, back home I kind of had someone, but here, it's, y'know. Different." No longer laying it on thick. Sounds like she kind of is trying to ask in earnest. Deserves more seriousness. "Here it's just you. I mean, some of the ladies I like best are kind of more into other ladies more than dudes, so that's always a downer, but uh. Hold on. You're asking to be exclusive, right? Is...that..." something you're already doing, sleeping with other people than me "something you want? To be? Exclusive?"

It's been far easier to dance around things and not say what they really mean, because that would make this feel more serious; like a legitimate thing. And honestly? Christine is a bit frightened of the whole prospect. Yes, she wants an ordinary life where her being a mage isn't at the forefront of everything, but that doesn't mean she'd been planning to get serious with someone so soon after leaving the Circle. And that's what exclusive means, doesn't it? That things are suddenly more serious.

"I-- I suppose so. Yes." She bites down on the inside of her cheek in a flash of worry. What if this change in turn changes everything? "I can understand if the idea does not appeal. Just because there are no other ladies, ah, into you now does not mean that will always be the case, and then you might feel regrets... over missed opportunities." She releases a worried sigh. Could she do more to make this idea sound unappealing?

"I think neither of us have much experience with this sort of thing." Though he did mention someone from home, but he didn't have this body there, right? "If you do not wish to, please be honest with me. I will not be upset." Much.

"I don't...think I'd have regrets about that, honestly, but um. That usually means...something." Are they having this conversation? Is this an actual conversation that is actually happening right now? Is this the real life? "Uh. Something. semi-permanent? At least as uh. Like a trial? And."

Or is it just weird mage and weird Orlesian and weird Thedosian sensibilities? "Are you asking if we wanna be a thing? A thing. A...couple."

And there's that dreaded word: couple. She nearly winces because, yes, the word couple suggests this is serious, and semi-permanent, and why wasn't she satisfied enough in what they had to keep her mouth shut?

Church is a Rifter. He could get sucked back through a rift at any moment. Having a thing with him was never her plan. It suddenly feels like she can't breath and she lifts her head up, staring at the birds flying overhead as she tries to breath normally. Christine has thought about the future she wishes she could have. It involves a husband, children, and a nice little home in a nice little village where she can be the healer for the populace. And she knows it won't happen. No one will suddenly trust mages overnight, or in her lifetime. It's why she's seriously considered joining the Avvar someday. They're the exception to the rule. They'll treat her as one of their own, and she can raise a family. But Church? Church doesn't exactly scream 'responsible adult.' When Christine thinks of her future children, she can't picture who the father is beside her.

So why is she doing this? Why does she care so much about Church and her being exclusive? Is she just being possessive? Trying to waylay any feelings of jealousy that might spring up should he be with someone else? And it doesn't help that he's not really giving her any clues as to whether or not he wants to do this. He keeps turning the question back to her, like he wants her to admit it first. She guides Hay Fever closer to the river that cuts through the valley. Maybe they should dismount and walk awhile. It would help for conversation.

"I honestly do not know. Here; could we get down a moment? This conversation is hard to have while facing away from you."

Well. At the end of the day, he's a dude who doesn't know how to deal with strong emotions that aren't anger. If he were back home, a game of Feels Chicken would be considered extremely normal and hella expected. Here it's...different. But he refuses to act any differently. When she stays silent and distant, he wraps his arms more around her middle, resting against her back.

He doesn't remember he and Tex really talking about it rather than just simply falling into it. And even then, were those memories even his own?

"Yeah. Sure." Important Serious Conversations should take place face to face. Or not at all facing each other and over vast distances so nobody has to see you emote. Ha...ha.

Getting down off a horse is a lot easier than getting up onto one, and he offers a hand to help her down. "It's okay not to know. It's, uh...it's not an easy thing. To talk about. Or understand."

After dismounting with a hand from Church, she takes the reins and moves them over Hay Fever's head to lead him. He sneezes a few times, but seems content to walk along slowly, periodically stopping to nibble at a plant growing by the water.

"Right," she says, releasing a sigh. At least they seem to be in the same situation here. Neither one is rushing into this or backing away like it's the worst idea either. They're both... cautious. "I know that I enjoy what we have, and I want it to continue. What I asked you... I suppose I have come to find that I want no one but you, and if you did not feel the same, then I had to know. Everything else... being serious? I had not thought of it like that."

It hadn't ever really occurred to him that she could be sleeping around with other people, but at the same time, it'd be okay if she did. They'd never said they were exclusive before. And sometimes that's just a thing adults do. It's cool. Whatever.

That she seems to want only him is somehow a surprise, though. "Just me? Out of all the guys who would trip over themselves to be with you, and all you want is me?" Hell yeah it's flattering, but if he's honest with himself, he can't see why she'd feel that way. "You're sure about that?"

She gives him a slightly surprised look, before reminding herself that as a Rifter, he doesn't think like a native might. Another reason she likes him.

"I think you overestimate the number who would want to be with a mage," she points out. "There might be some, yes. Since we started, I have been with another too, but not for many months. I have found that I lack the desire to have a different man in my bed every week." All that work getting to know them and what they like, plus teaching them what she likes. She prefers getting to know Church more and more everyday.

"I am sure." She reaches out to slip her hand into his. "After what you told me about your origins, I feel closer to you than ever before." You know, once she got over her initial shock.

"I think you'd be surprised how much a good looking woman can make a guy forget anything else they find unattractive about her. That sounded better in my head." He's trying to compliment her and hopes that comes across instead of sounding Kind Of Weird.

"I mean, if you're sure...like, if you're really, really sure... I just, I mean, it's not like I'm, uh, seeing anyone on the side or anything. Right now. Or at all. Honestly."

"You mean that is you thinking about it before saying it?" she asks, a hint of humor to her voice. And here she'd thought he had no internal monologue at all.

It feels natural to immediately say she's really, really sure, but for both their sakes, she should actually take a moment to think about this. He doesn't really fit in with her future plans, but then again, is there any sense in making future plans with all these terrible things happening in the world? Doesn't it make more sense to latch on to whatever happiness she can while she can? Before it's gone forever? Briefly, she thinks of her father and how the war forced him away from her mother, and prevented Christine from ever getting to meet with him again. She's sure her parents had plans too that can never be fulfilled now.

"No one can know what the future holds," she finally says. "But I know that right now, I am very sure I want this with you. We do not need to act any differently than before. We would just have this understanding between us." They don't have to label themselves, right? They don't need to make some announcement like 'hello, yes, this is a thing now everyone.' She and Church can just keep doing what they've been doing.

"Good. I mean. The not having to act differently. Because I like what we have. I really, really like what we have. What we have is awesome."

So they don't have to put a name to it. If they don't want to. Or if they're not ready for it. It's...girlfriend-in-all-but-name. Friend with a hell of a lot of benefits. He's okay with that. It's fine.

Better than fine, really. He grins at her, stoops to kiss her cheek. "I don't plan on hopping into bed with anyone else anytime soon, so I think we're good."

His enthusiasm has her smiling widely, and she tilts up her face to receive the kiss. This seems like the perfect way to go about things. No labels or increased expectations, except the being exclusive part.

"Good," she echoes, holding his hand a little bit tighter. "I am glad we talked about this." Because now she feels a lightness to her body, like she could go off skipping or something ridiculous like that. (She won't.)

"And, you know, we can talk about important things like this whenever." There's a pause as she exhales a short laugh. "I am sure we will be quite awkward about it, but I trust you, and I value your opinion. I like having talks with you."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In the turning of the seasons, in life and death

{ church | stables }

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject