faderift | (no subject)

WHO: Cyril and OPEN (starters for Pel, Sam, Iskandar, Anders, and Kirk - let me know if you want your own)
WHAT: In an effort to take his mind off certain people he's missing, Cyril sets up shop to sell his traps and puzzles again.
WHEN: Throughout the day
WHERE: The stall is in the Gallows, otherwise out and about.
NOTES: None yet

Taas was gone, reassigned to another place, and Merrick was spending more and more time away from him in the shadows of this city. Cyril wasn't lonely, but he missed them both. He had other people around him - friends, lovers, and family - but he was coming to realize that the spots where those people had been couldn't be filled with anyone else.

He still had Taas's dragon tooth, and that helped. He never took it off now and had put the silver ring he had stolen from Sam so long ago on the same rope around his neck. He still saw Merrick from time to time too, but the visits were becoming fewer and fewer.

Rather than dwell, he wanted to sell the items he once had in Skyhold's courtyard. The stall he has is small, but it shows a collection of puzzle boxes and traps that someone can buy for reasonable pricing. As people walk by he's playing with one of the boxes now, twisting them to show how they work.

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It's been some time, and Beleth has been busy, but she still thinks often of her former clanmates. And with Cyril--well, she understood how he felt, to some extent. He was closer to Merrick, had been closer to Taas, but she still felt the losses. Particularly for Merrick, who (much like he did for Cyril) occupied a place in her life that could not simply be replaced. As always, at least Cyril and she had that much in common.

These thoughts float to her head when she sees Cyril's little stall in the Gallows, and him behind it. Keeping busy is an understandable desire, something that Beleth has certainly been using her new position to do. And there's always plenty to do. Even so, she wanders over to the stall, looking over the crafts, some familiar to her eye.

"You've always been so skilled at this," She murmurs, fingers running (carefully) over a trap. "But you've gotten even better." It's a polite, neutral compliment. Testing the ground to see where they stand, before she takes any steps.

When he seems her, he can't help but smile. He has a lot of very complicated feelings when it comes to Beleth but most of them weren't negative. Even as she could infuriate him, she was still a strong, beautiful, capable woman who had helped Merrick in ways that he couldn't. She still loved and cared for her people and for her twin brother. He could see were she was coming from, even as he felt anger at words she might say. He might not be Ashara anymore, but she still felt like family.

"Thank you. Becoming an Artificer helped a lot. Now I can even cause little explosions. It's pretty fun, if I'm honest." He grins at her in an impish sort of way. "My favorite are the elemental ones. Now more than mages can freeze a man where he stands."

"You can do that? That's amazing." But even as she admired the ability to make traps like that, she slowly pulled her hand away from the one that she'd been touching. Just in case. "I can see several useful applications for traps that can do that--though getting people into the proper place might be a bit tricky."

Having decided against testing her luck with the traps, she idly looks over a puzzlebox instead, which is probably less likely to explode. Hopefully.

Though an exploding puzzlebox would be a pretty neat way to kill someone. She'll mention it as a possibility later.

"Who taught you how to do this? I hope they taught you how to be careful while you're doing it, as well." She glances at Cyril, frowning slightly in concern. Even if he wasn't her clanmate any longer, she couldn't quite stop herself from engaging in her usual fussing. "The last thing you need to have one of these explode in your face while you're working on it."

Edited 2017-07-23 19:27 (UTC)

Cyril manages to look a little amused at the idea of an exploding puzzle box. Because she's considering them now, he answers the question about them first. He can tell her who helped him with the explosions after, if that was what she meant instead.

"I used to make little toys that you could twist the pieces together or lock in and lock out for Merrick," he admits. "They helped him focus. You know, during his fits..." He's never really been clear on how much Beleth knows about Merrick's darkest moments. Most of the time, Pel and Cyril would take him away from the Clan for the duration and help him focus and calm down. They were never frequent enough to be a huge concern for safety, but the fact that they happened at all probably gave Beleth's mother more reason to consider banishing Merrick even before they had all left for the Inquisition.

"These puzzles are the same principle, only more complex. I took some of the training I had as an Artificer and applied it to the simple concept but added more layers to the device." After a moment, he adds, "I gave one to Cade. I thought, if it could help Merrick maybe it could help him too. I'm not sure how much he's used it."

Beleth gives a short nod--she is, indeed, not exactly clear on what was going on with Merrick during those times. She knew that there was something going on, and that her mother refused to elaborate on it. It was enough for her to decide to stay clear. She stares at the puzzlebox, lost in thought until Cyril mentions Cade.

Mentions helping Cade, which surprises her.

"Really? That's very kind of you, Cyril. Thank you. I'll ask him about it the next time I see him," She puts the puzzlebox down, shrugging a little. Trying to sound casual about it. "I'm sure that even if he hasn't used it, he appreciates the gesture."

Or, more likely, he thinks it's a trap, and that Cyril has indeed mastered exploding puzzleboxes and Cade is the first test subject. But. That isn't a very helpful thing to say.

There is something in Cyril's face, just for a moment, which hints that he has some understanding of Cade's motives if he didn't want to use the box or not. He doesn't seem to take it personally, though. He also doesn't comment on it. Beleth probably saw more of it than someone who hadn't grown up so close to him would.

"How are you?" he asks after a moment, changing the subject on purpose but with sincere interest in her well being.

If she does see something there, she doesn't comment on it, either. Sometimes, things are better left unsaid. And both Beleth and Cyril, for all their differences, excel at leaving things unsaid--whether or not they really should.

The change of subject is happily accepted, Beleth shooting him a polite smile. "Busy, mostly. There's a lot more paperwork than I would have expected a scoutmaster to have to deal with. Maybe that's why Leliana spends so much time in the rookery." She gives a small shrug, rubbing her shoulder. "Mostly, I'm just trying to get things organized how I want, set up everything for a good scouting network. The trickiest part is getting people to take me seriously."

There's a small, annoyed look at that. "And trying to do it with minimal threats. Makes me wish Merrick were around more." No one underestimated her while she had him glaring over her shoulder.

"But what about you?"

"Oh dear, could you imagine his reaction the first time someone disrespected you in front of him?" Cyril asked, with a mock-alarmed expression on his face. They really didn't have to imagine it, honestly. There were reasons that Merrick had thought it would be better to have some time in the shadows.

He honestly thought that Beleth had a handle on it without the threat of disembowelment.

"I've been... well. I think." He had to get used to Merrick not being around himself and on top of that Taas had been reassigned outside of Kirkwall.

"It would be the last time someone disrespected me." Beleth points out mildly, without any real seriousness behind it. She's well aware of what Merrick would be likely to do, and what the repercussions of those actions would be--upon both herself and Merrick.

But it's still cathartic to imagine.

She shoots Cyril a sympathetic glance at the way he words it, and reaches to give his arm a little pat. "Sometimes, Cyril, that's the best that we can do. Just take it one day at a time. It'll get better."

"It helps to not be alone," Cyril pointed out. Then, after a moment, "Considering all of the stresses of your new role I hope you have a good support group built up. Or at least something squishy you can punch."