faderift | Jail Bird

Entry tags:

Jail Bird

WHO: Gavin, Open
WHAT: Gavin has finally been released from prison, and is out wandering about. With supervision.
WHEN: Catch all for bloomingtide.
WHERE: All over skyhold
NOTES: He was in jail before, now he's not.

There's something strange about Gavin, lately. He'd been released from jail, but he came out slightly different. Quieter. Smaller. Nervous. He tries to keep a brave face and he still grins, but the grins don't reach his eyes and the laughs sound a little more hollow and he's taken to avoiding people far more often than he once did.

He no longer even tries to be the life of the party.

He is always with another scout - his babysitter, or his guard, either way is misery. Often, it is Dax. Sometimes, it is just a random scout that happened to draw the short straw.

He has a room, now, that he's meant to sleep in, because it got annoying to watch him when he fell asleep in random places. But it is small, and cold, and he dislikes it. It doesn't have a window.

It reminds him of the dungeon.

He still offers a smile and a wave to his friends when he sees them. Most of the time. But no more treats, no stolen cookies or pieces of fabric or little wooden carvings. The gifts are gone.

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Ah, Gavin. Korrin knows more or less what's happened, of course. News like that gets around, though she noticed the lack of a friendly and silly presence in her life regardless. It's a relief to see him out and about again...or it would be, but the obvious change in his demeanor has her worried. She doesn't care about the lack of gifts, not when he seems almost fragile, worn. The contrast is marked, and she doesn't like it one bit.

But that's not going to keep her from him, not at all. Ignoring the scout (unless they get too close, upon which she'll loom over them until they back away), Korrin intercepts them in the courtyard. Maybe he isn't in the mood for smiling, but she can still try. "Tsk, you're losing your touch Gavin. I haven't almost impaled you in some time now. Next thing you know, I won't be afraid to look up."

When she sees him, she immediately goes to him to wrap her arms around him tightly, wordlessly.

Gavin may no longer have gifts to give to people, but that doesn't mean people can't give him things.

Case in point: Bruce coming over with two bowls of stew, one of which he passes to the guard who's currently watching over Gavin to thank him for his/her hard work. The other bowl is passed to the elf himself.

"Here, I got this from the kitchens. You could use a little perking up."

Kallian brightens a little to see Gavin out again--she's missed seeing him popping into the healing tents to visit. She herself still looks a little pale and drawn in the wake of the prior month, and where she was shy and skittish before, there are times now when she is very literally looking over her shoulder. But she smiles gently for Gavin.

"I'm glad to see you again," she says kindly. "How are you feeling? Might I offer you some tea?"

"Dalish," she calls out, when she sees him. And she whistles, to get his attention.

Sabine is one level up, leaning against stone edge, enjoying or, at least, experiencing a view of the courtyard, where Gavin had just happened to wander by. She hasn't changed, since he last saw her, although she had spent the first week after getting marked with a shard particularly tense-jawed and quiet, and now she is not. If she sees any changes in him, even from here and after only a second, she isn't inclined to call attention to to it immediately.

It's a nice day, tucked in the midst of all the rain that had been. Her hair is out, a cloud of red curls sitting on shoulders, dressed more like servant than rogue archer. She flicks a glance to the obvious escort trailing him, and flashes them a toothy smile.

Sina is once again on the mend, but that means she's able to do some of her quieter errands, and in this case that involves carrying some herbal packets to the healing tents. She's on her way across the courtyard when she spots Gavin, whom she's seen around but never actually spoken to; despite that, she spoke up for him, and is delighted to see him out again.

She makes her careful way over to him, grinning her sympathetic welcome. "Aneth ara," she says quietly, in a tone that his chaperone won't hear, "I know we haven't formally met. But I'm so glad to see you."

Anders had hoped the cat would adopt Gavin. She'd been chosen for her affection, after all, and had seemingly been looking for someone to take on. When he sees the elf again, and the cat trotting nearby, Anders smiles faintly.

For a short time, Anders stays off to the side. There's a guard present. Gavin having contact with Anders might not go well for him. But after a few sightings of Gavin with the scout not glaring, Anders joins him.

"She didn't have a name in the barn, so you'd be free to give her one. And she's been a favorite of the kitchens, which means you'll have them willing to give you meat scraps for her meals." It's the most casual admission of guilt ever, and likely the guard won't catch on. Hopefully won't.

Luckily for Anders, the guard has absolutely no notes in his book of 'Warnings about Gavin' that have anything to do with apostate mages. It's all elves. So when the man approaches him, Gavin looks up to the voice without the guard even breaking concentration. He just keeps chewing at his finger nails.

"You - You're the one who--" But he cuts off there, looking sheepish, when he notes the clandestine tone. Right. He didn't want to get Anders into trouble, either. "--- really likes cats," he finished lamely instead. "I - thank you. For the advice. I really - you have no idea how much I appreciated - appreciate it. It w- is incredibly, incredibly kind."

It's a relief when the guard doesn't narrow his eyes, and even more when Gavin catches on to how they should probably not talk about how the cat came to Gavin. Anders smiles a little more as he nods and steps close.

"I've been in a... similar situation before. In the dark... on the topic of cats." It's probably a very good thing he's a mage and he'd never tried to be a spy or bard. "Being introduced may have saved me. And I couldn't do anything for your other circumstances, but I could do that. I'm..."

He takes a breath as he trails off. The guard really does make talking difficult. "If you need to talk more about cats, I know a great many things. And if you need to talk about other matters, I've been a few places."

"I - thank you." He reaches out, clasping both of his hands around one of anders, squeezing it tight without asking. He doesn't even think of asking - the motion is complete and utter gratitude.

The guard, despite both of them being so circumspect, obviously does not give a rat's arse, and lets out a long, loud moan as he closes his eyes and rests back against the tree. Gavin glances back at him, his ears drooping a little, before returning his attention to Anders and letting go of his hand.

"Thank you very much. Though I - I'm afraid I don't - recall your name."

He places his free hand on top of their joined ones and adds a quick squeeze before his hand is released.

"Truth be told, I don't recall mine either." It's delivered as if it's a good, shared joke, and it also serves as protection in case Gavin recoils at what comes next. "But I'm known as Anders, and have been for a very long time. Would you like to see if we can get tea from the kitchens? Or are you busy?"

It's the most subtle offering of an out Anders can manage; he knows full well a great many people want nothing to do with him.

Anders. He did recognize the name, but not the same way most would, probably.

He'd heard the name from both sides, and even if he'd only heard bad things... He wasn't the kind of person to assume they were true.

He'd met a lot of people that he'd been told were evil, heartless, two-faced - only to find they made good friends. And Anders had gone out of his way, had risked himself, to help someone he didn't even know.

That meant more than any rumour.

"Anders. I would - I would love some tea, yes."

He sighs in relief, despite his intentions to not stress over someone else choosing to hate him. He needs a thicker skin. Velanna's said as much, others have implied it, but it's not the easiest thing to learn.

"This way, then. We'll see if your guard wants to fall asleep on the tree or walk up a few steps." There's no doubt they'll be followed, but that's all right. There are places in the dining hall where one can be off to the side and not easily overheard. "They're a nuisance, guards. You'd think people would figure out they don't actually do much when they're following someone around. But they tend to like the show of it."

He leads the way toward the stairs and up to the kitchens.

"It's mostly just to make sure I don't fuck up again," Gavin replies, his ears drooping as he says it. He's very aware of how hard he fucked up last time.

"But I... I'm not planning on doing anything like that ever again, so I... think they get bored."

The guard did follow, but kept his distance as he walked behind them.

"I haven't even tried stealing anything from the kitchens."

The drooping of Gavin's ears hurt, but Anders doesn't know how to fix that, how to heal the lingering wounds. Not yet.

"The good news is we won't have to steal from the kitchens here. Tea's easily requested, as are a few snacks to go with it. Most of the time. When a certain cook or two isn't in there, and they're not right now." The last news is delivered as he peers in. The ones that don't like him in extreme don't tend to be on shift this time of day, and for once his luck holds.

"Eventually they have to decide keeping a guard on you is a waste of time, because it is. Now come, pick a few snacks, and I'll get the tea for the both of us?"

Gavin nodded, and though the cooks usually shooed him away, the one that approached him with cookies seemed to have some pity on her face. The disappointment had come earlier. It was hard to stay mad at a scout who looked so thoroughly dejected. So he took the cookies meekly and with a mumbled 'thank you' before returning to Ander's side.

"A month, they said, at least, and then it will be reviewed. I think they know I didn't - I didn't mean any harm, to anyone, I just--" But he cut off with a miserable look. "... It doesn't matter. I just hope things are back to normal, soon."

"They will be, in a month. You can make it a month, and the cat will help." His voice is certain, even though he isn't. Hopefully someone else will have pissed off Cassandra and Gavin can be forgotten about.

He leads the way for their small parade, himself, sad elf, curious cat, and bored guard, finding a decent table and setting down the pot and cups.

"Have you thought of a name for her yet?"

He had heard news that Gavin had been released, but for some time he had suspected that it had only been rumor since he had not seen hide or hair of the elf. At least until now that is. Despite everything that had happened, Sam is still glad to see Gavin out and about, immediately taking a break from his exercises to come greet him.

"It's good to see you."

When Beleth hears that Gavin's been released, she searches for him immediately. It had been long--too long. Too long for any Dalish, but especially for Gavin. So it's with worry in her heart that she finally locates Gavin. All the warning he gets is his name shouted once, before Beleth runs at him, all but tackling him as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. She stays like that for a few moments, just holding onto him, before she turns to actually look at him.

Scolding words rest on the tip of her tongue, but one look at Gavin's face, and she swallows them. She can nag him over his stupid decisions later, she's pretty sure that he's heard it enough for now. That does not save him from her fussing, however. As soon as she lets go of him, she starts fixing his hair, frowning up at him. "Look at you, you're a mess. Don't you have a comb? Didn't they give you one--"

But even that proved to be too much, and she stops, staring at him with a suspiciously glassy shine to her eyes, before she pulls him into another hug. Face buried in his chest, she mumbles at him. "I was so worried about you."

Gavin's room was a depressing affair, not unlike the one that had been forced upon her, and Galadriel couldn't help but frown at the state of it as she strode through. There wasn't much to stride through and, all too soon, her steps were penned in. She was left with room only to turn and survey it all from the far wall. Had her own rooms been so confining? It hardly seemed larger than her cell.

But, of course, this was also a cell.

It was a punishment, however passive, and she recognized that. But what they wished to accomplish with feats such as this? She couldn't even being to imagine. She had more than enough anger within her that, at a word from him, she would throw down the walls and be done with it...but Gavin was a gentle soul.

She thought on his face, eager and flushed, recalled his urgent expression while she stumbled in the winter cold, the same look he wore as he offered to carry her down the mountain, and all she felt was sorrow.

Her gift could not have been more appropriate and, as she stood alone and without her own guard, she was glad she'd taken the care to keep it secret. She drew the cloak off her shoulders and shook it out as she moved to drape it across his bed. The grey wool fell like a whisper, smooth and perfect as anything she'd ever woven, and somehow it still seemed insufficient.

It was a pity she lacked a clasp for it, but she would not withhold the promise of freedom for so small and vain a thing.

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Jail Bird

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omg my first gavin cr

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