[open] together we can see what we will find

[onlyhymns]

WHO: Cade, his smarmy brother Callum, you!!
WHAT: Cade's life has been turned inside out and upside down. His brother has chosen a terrible time to visit, but has resolved to make the most of it. Come be part of the trainwreck.
WHEN: late Solace
WHERE: mostly around Lowtown
NOTES: There's gonna be a lot of drunken debauchery, and both brothers are going to do things likely both stupid and offensive, so if that's not your bag then you might want to steer clear.

It all began when a blond man strode into the barracks in the Gallows, whistling to himself as he perused the numbers on the doors and finally knocked on one. There, Simon was treated to the sight of someone very familiar and yet not: he resembled Cade, but taller, healthier, and significantly more charming. His name was Callum, and he had come to find his little brother, whom he knew to have just returned to Kirkwall.

Thus they went from the Gallows to Lowtown, where the little brother in question was found in the inn where he'd begun to take up residence not a full day previous. An exceedingly awkward greeting was had, a brotherly razzing that might have been less menacing if they had seen each other at any point over the last twenty-seven years, and the decision to celebrate Callum's visit with a night on the town.

Cade, being who he is, was unable to say no-- and, in his current state, thought a sustained poisoning via alcohol might just be what the doctor ordered.
And the rest... is not yet history, but it's about to be.

I. The First Night

The brothers Harimann and Simon have begun their night of carousing with a visit to the Hanged Man, where Callum diligently ensures that no one wants for a drink or a laugh. They're at a table towards the front, the older brother chatting effusively to Simon and the younger staring into his mug. Callum is quick enough to smile and greet anyone who should come their way, with an offer to join them.

Anyone remaining in the tavern long enough to see them leave might note that Cade can barely stand on his own, but at least it can be inferred that he gets home safely.

II. The Second Night

a. Back in the Hanged Man for another session, tonight is all about catching up. Callum, however, quickly grows bored with Cade's reticence and total unwillingness to pick up girls, and not-so-subtly ditches him at their table in favor of chatting up any locals pretty enough to catch his eye.

b. This ultimately resolves in Callum disappearing into one of the upstairs room with a few ladies, where he remains indefinitely. Cade remains at their table, idly spinning a coin with his head resting on his hand. Either he has total faith that his brother is coming back, or he's too drunk to stand.

III. The Third Night

It starts the same as the others, then Callum starts talking some shit. Any Fereldans in the pub are the subject of his mockery, and it isn't long before things escalate. [I would like this to be one thread, even if multiple people join!]

IV. The Following Morning

A badly-bruised and aching Cade awakens in a cell with no sign of Callum or memory of how he got there. He is, at least, relieved to find that this is not the dungeon of the Gallows, but the drunk tank of the City Guard.

a. Perhaps someone comes to collect him and pay his bail, either in a timely fashion or ...not. [one thread only please, first come first serve]

b. The rest of the day is spent nursing a hangover and trying to come to terms with what's been going on. Callum is nowhere to be found, which is cause for some concern.

V. Special prompts

If you'd like a character-specific scene that isn't covered above, hit me up!

Comments

II, b

[ragweed]

The drinks are pretty garbage and on a good night the city guard is still called in once or twice to split up a brawl, but even so, the ambiance is kind of growing on Kit. (And there's another dwarf who hangs around sometimes who always seems down to play a hand or two of Wicked Grace.)

This evening, Kit's been sitting at a corner table playing cards with a few of the tavern's usual suspects, but he's been keeping an eye on the shenanigans on the other side of the room, too. He'd witnessed the tail end of yesterday's misadventure and had noted with private concern how unsteady the grave-looking blonde guy had been when he'd been ushered out by his fellows. Now that one of his company has gone upstairs, and ostensibly won't be back for quite some time, Kit decides to intervene.

He waits until he's finished up his latest round of cards, says his goodbyes to the other guys at his table, then picks up his drink. Walking over to stranger's table, he pauses next to him and tries to catch his eye, greeting him with a friendly, open smile. "Hey, salroka--mind if I sit?"

[onlyhymns]

Cade doesn't know what salroka means, but is at least too far gone to take any offense by it. He looks to the man who addressed him, shrugs one shoulder, and goes back to spinning his coin. What's the point?

[ragweed]

...well it's not a no.

He sets his drink down on the table and pulls out one of the chairs to sit, then fishes out his deck of cards again. He shuffles them in plain sight of Cade. "You play?" he asks, raising his eyebrows. In what he hopes will be a hook to get the guy to perk up a little, he does a fancy card trick between two fingers, turning what looks like one card into three.

[onlyhymns]

Spinnn rattle. Spinnnnn rattle. Spinnnn rattle.
When he's addressed, Cade looks up again, eyes focusing on the cards and then Kit's face. He shakes his head solemnly, with a look of genuine regret that he doesn't know how.

[ragweed]

Kit waves off the regret. There's no room for regret in cards, Cade--not until you've lost your room and board money for the next week, and you're not there yet!

He shuffles the deck again and gets comfortable. "I'll teach you," he says, seeming content enough to do all the talking for the next little while. "We can start with something easy. You heard of spades before?" Regardless of Cade's answer, he spells out the rules, pretty straight forward.

"So, what do you say?" he asks afterwards, smiling a little. "Want to play?"

[onlyhymns]

Cade has heard of spades but never played it, so this is an experiment in how well he's able to retain knowledge while coming down from being fairly wasted. He watches carefully all the while, head on his hand, and gives a small, uncertain nod to the question. He'll try, but he'll fail. It's what he does.

iv, a

[limier]

She makes him wait.

This isn't entirely deliberate. Wren has resources to draw upon, but converting them into cash takes time and a degree of maneuvering. It wouldn't do to use the Inquisition's reserves for this.

The pad of heavy steps precedes her, hands folded behind her back as the guardsman rattles the door open. There's no uniform now, save the dark circles beneath her eyes.

"Harriman," Evenly, though she doesn't precisely bother to lower her volume — "It's time to go."

Cade always looks like shit, but this is a different breed to that she's come to expect. She'd never really thought to see the man hungover; it's not an improvement.

[onlyhymns]

Though he doesn't look up at her for long, Cade glances at Wren just long enough to know exactly how bad this is. Which is to say.... pretty bad, but at least it isn't Seeker Reed. Not that he'd be caught dead here.
For a moment Cade hesitates, deliberating over whether it's safer to go with her or to just stay here where she can't reach him. But he recognizes that the longer he dallies, the more time Wren will have to loudly discuss what a failure he is, so he slowly and achingly slinks to his feet.
He proceeds to stare at them as he comes to the door and is released. The floor looks nice today, though it might be nicer if he didn't want to vomit all over it.

[limier]

A nod to the bailiff, and they're on their way. A rail-thin man grips the bars of another cell as they pass, presses his sunken features between and hisses a string of garbled verses at Cade.

Wren ignores him, and the others at they pass: Men and women, mostly human, wearing expressions of sorrow, and nausea, and anger — and almost uniformly, boredom.

Her pace is slow and steady. She doesn't look back to watch him, but pauses if his steps falter. It's not until they're outside, in the piercing summer sunlight, that she turns to ask,

"Are you alright?"

Her eyes linger.

[onlyhymns]

Cade flinches at the flung abuse, but continue to keep his eyes down until they're outside. Then he makes the mistake of looking up, and has to shield his gaze from the deadly laser that is the sun, grimacing from the abrupt pain in his head.
With his eyes squinted shut, he nods yes to Wren. Yeah, never better.

[limier]

"Good." He’s not catatonic, it’s something. "Then you may tell me what happened."

Cade's going to have to open his eyes at some point. Better to have the story before that particular ordeal; it’s going to take more concentration than she expects he can spare to multitasking.

[onlyhymns]

Maker, he's so not in the mood for this. They don't even work together anymore, what is she even doing here?
At the very least it's he who's covered in bruises, not whatever unsuspecting elf or mage he beat up. In fact, he realizes, he doesn't actually know who he beat up, or who beat him up-- at least his own knuckles are split, which means he didn't just lie down and take it. Combine his usual nonsense with being drunk, and... well, the whole thing's a blur.
"Callum was baiting the Fereldans," he mumbles, with a dismissive shrug. She can probably guess what happened from there, and know well enough not to expect a much clearer story from him.

II

[justice_is_blond]

He'd almost left when he'd seen Cade in the Hanged Man. The former Templar is unstable at the best of times, and these were not good times for him. But after a moment's consideration, Anders decides he can stick to his side of the bar and hopefully nothing happens.

For once.

He turns his back to Cade and sips his drink privately, reading over a few notes he'd made earlier.

[onlyhymns]

Cade caught a glimpse of Anders, but has similarly opted to leave him alone; only bad things come from interacting with the mage, and he's had enough bad to last a lifetime.
Callum, however, is not so savvy, and in one of his glances about the room for new meat, he catches sight of longish, sandy hair.
"Got a nice arse on that one," he cheerily points out.

[justice_is_blond]

He hears the comment and meets the eye of the server near him, raising an eyebrow and getting what he assumes is confirmation that the voice is speaking about him. A little amused, he turnesaround to look at the speaker.

"Thank you. I'm rather fond of it myself." He isn't the least bit interested, but it could be fun to flirt a little, he thinks. And then he realizes where the server is. Right next to Cade. He may have just flirted with a Templar. That is not a pleasant thought.

[onlyhymns]

Neither is dressed like a Templar, at least, and being that both are already fairly drunk, it's safe to assume nobody is going to be the morality police anytime soon. Cade goes pale when Anders turns around, and he lowers his head, hiding his face in his hands. If he could vanish into tiny particles and be swept away, this would be ideal.
"Oh." Callum gives a small start when he sees that the person he addressed is not in fact female, and even looks a little annoyed by it. He looks Anders up and down with an expression that fights between a placating smile and a sneer, clearly wishing to extricate himself from the situation as quickly as possible. "Yeah, uh... good."

[justice_is_blond]

He's nervous about Cade being right there. This could be getting into provoking territory, but he doesn't see anger in the paleness. Anders will stay aware, but for now, at least, he thinks he's not behaving too riskily.

Anders' own expression turns very, very smug as he's looked over. "What, intimidated by another man being pretty? Or are you embarrassed? You don't have to be either. My ass is rather fantastic; it's simply a fact. Did you want to turn around for an assessment of yours?" The answer is likely to be no, and Anders is more than ready to be amused by that.

[onlyhymns]

Cade looks like he'd rather be as far away as possible for the exchange, and has actually covered half his face with his hand, only leaving enough room to watch his brother in quiet horror and pray he doesn't do anything that will get them both thrown in prison or murdered. Hey, at least he can't be double-fired.

"None of that, mate," Callum replies, somewhat more amiably but still guarded, "you're not my type." You don't grow up wealthy with an entourage of fuckboys without seeing some of them lean toward a certain persuasion, but that doesn't make him any more comfortable with it in his personal space.

i

[paladingus]

The unexpected appearance of Cade's brother had been, at first, a tentative relief. Not that Simon quite remembers how fraternal relationships are supposed to go any more than Cade does, but--surely Callum is better-equipped than most to help him make the transition to life outside the confines of the Order, right?

Right?

As Callum plies Cade with another mug of ale, Simon begins to wonder. He nudges Cade discreetly under the table while Callum is distracted by a barmaid.

"Maybe hold off on finishing that until you've had some water," he murmurs.

[onlyhymns]

Cade has gone from not drinking at all to binge drinking, which means he's already well in the sauce by the time this occurs. He looks at Simon, shrugs one shoulder, and lazily shakes his head. "I'm fine."
He still hates it, of course. Ale tastes terrible and there's nothing he can do about that. But it's providing him with a blessed confusion, oblivion, and that's a feeling he's happy to chase. He takes another gulp, making a face after.

[paladingus]

If drunkenness seemed to be really agreeing with Cade, distracting him or making him laugh or anything else of the sort, Simon might be willing to set his misgivings aside--but at the moment, he's not sure that temporary oblivion is going to help much, nor is he certain anymore that Callum's the guy to trust with Cade's ultimate well-being.

"It'll make it hurt less in the morning. And it's going to hurt, trust me." Belatedly, he remembers who he's talking to, and realizes that perhaps that's not the deterrent it might otherwise be. He sighs.

[onlyhymns]

"So what," Cade mutters, tossing back the last of his mug and wiping his mouth, "it's none of your business." He wavers as he sets the mug down, a little more roughly than he intended, but luckily Callum is distracted by hitting on someone and can't immediately call for another.
"I haven't seen him for twenny..." Cade has to think about it, staring at the table, "...twenny... seven years." He stares hard, despondently, at the back of his brother's head, "an' even he doesn't give a shit."

[paladingus]

"Yeah, yeah. None of my business, what do I care, et cetera, et cetera. I know the story." Simon rubs his eyes and prods at the congealing snacks, debating whether he's hungry or bored enough to eat them.

He gets the resentment. He's long since forgotten what his own brother's face looks like, but one might have thought this would be a more joyful reunion, as long as Callum was here. It doesn't seem to be much of one at all. He's got to raise his eyebrows at anything that drives Cade to actual profanity, but the sentiment itself is one he can't fault.

"I don't think that's on you, mate," he says. "He might as well be a stranger. S'just the lot of a templar, really. They take everything you've got and they don't replace it once you've gone."

Where that sudden bitterness came from, he doesn't even know. He looks honestly surprised at himself.

III

[byblow]

Alistair wouldn't have survived ten years in Orlais if he couldn't handle jokes about Ferelden—if he didn't make jokes about Ferelden, cheerfully demonstrating that Fereldan Jokes weren't actually very clever, if even a Fereldan could make them. So whatever he hears from his table doesn't bother him. He's busy. He's talking to someone else, about important things. He's not going to defend Ferelden's honor. Ferelden exiled him.

It isn't until his conversation is wrapping up and his contact is preparing to leave that whatever is happening over on Cade and Callum's side of the tavern gets noisy enough to get his attention—and he hadn't seen Cade at all, until now, so instead of heading straight for the door he wanders over, warily curious.

[onlyhymns]

There's some shouting and cursing, drunk men getting in one another's faces, and Cade has blessedly stayed out of it thus far, but is visibly becoming agitated in a way familiar to certain people among the Inquisition. He's got his back pressed against the wall as he contemplates squeezing out from behind the fracas, but seems reluctant to leave the very similar-looking blond man, who bears a haughty smile and a cruel glint in his eye, clearly enjoying what he's begun.
Cade notices Alistair right around when Alistair does him, and he looks helplessly from the arguing inebriates to his friend. In over my head, please advise.