Let No Soul Hunger For Justice: Nothing But The Truth

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Adelaide, Alistair, Anders, Bethany, Nathaniel, Varric, Vasran, Velanna
WHAT: The Second Ritual
WHEN: 10th of Bloomingtide (May 10th)
WHERE: half an hour outside of Skyhold
NOTES: Plotting post.

They've kept to the same clearing as the last, because the location's good. Far enough away that no one could stumble upon them by accident, near enough in case something went seriously wrong, it works.

He has scarcely more hope this time than he did the last, but at least there's no singing involved. This can't go as strangely. In theory.

Comments

aftermath!

[byblow]

[ After they realize what's happened, Alistair initially goes to his tent and puts his head and the big, stupid mouth attached to it under a blanket, where it can't hurt anyone. He has only slightly more tact than a badly-trained mabari and doesn't keep a lot of secrets. But the ones he does keep—about the Wardens, from the Wardens—matter quite a lot. The smart thing to do would be to sleep until it's fixed.

But he can't sleep.

And he gets bored.

Soooooooo booooooored.

When he emerges, he lingers at the camp long enough to not look like he's rushing to escape it, poking the fire here and tending to some loose ties on someone else's tent there. Then he does escape it—gracefully, maybe—out and down lower in the valley, where the refugees are beginning to have something resembling a makeshift village, where it's possible to get a (bad) drink and barter with hungry children selling handmade souvenirs for religious pilgrims. If he's lucky, there's no one there he really knows. ]

[serannas]

[ Sorry, Alistair, but Ellana is there, helping to hand out a few supplies here and there. She's been here with Mia before, so she has a good idea of which refugee families aren't going to spit on her, and she gives her offerings from the Inquisition's supply to them.

Spotting Alistair, she ends her conversation with the others and comes over to him. ]

Alistair, hello! How are you doing?

[byblow]

[ —okay, there's something he lies about, daily, to everyone, without always fully realizing it. Good job, Ellana. He opens his mouth to say terrific, and instead: ] Terribly.

[ He hears it. He wasn't expecting it. He makes a face at himself and tries to course correct. ]

I've been worse— [ Good. ] —if I think back ten years or so. [ Damn it. ]

Maker.

[serannas]

[ Her forehead creases with concern. ]

Oh? What's wrong? Is it anything I can help you with?

[byblow]

No, [ he exhales, relieved he can honestly say that much. And there's no magical rule against smiling. ] Not directly. Do you want to walk with me and keep me from talking to anyone else?

[serannas]

[ One eyebrow lifts and then she nods. ]

Let me guess: you're stuck telling the truth, and that means you can't hide behind jokes and deflect like you usually do?

[ She waves a hand for him to follow her. ]

Let's walk down towards the valley and waste an hour or so of daylight for you.

[byblow]

[ Alistair opens his mouth, looking mildly outraged, but there's only silence--because he knows if he tries to say he doesn't hide or deflect, something else will come out, and it will probably be embarrassing. He shuts his mouth again without saying anything and follows obediently. ]

Thank you. [ But speaking of deflecting, he doesn't need to lie to do it. ] How are things with Felix, hm?

[serannas]

[ Well, that's as good as admitting it to her. ]

Sure. This must be tough for you. [ Which she can only imagine, because she's honest like, 99% of the time. ] If I was a snoop, I'd be asking you all sorts of invasive questions right now.

[ Not that part of this is being compelled to answer. She's already spoken with Varric, and has a sense of what this truth-telling thing is all about.

At the question, a smile spreads across her face. ]

Things are really good. I'm happy. I hope it's all right that I come visit the camp as often as I do. I'm not taking even a moment for granted.

[arlathvhen]

[ Beleth watches him attempt to cover his big, stupid mouth with a blanket, raising her eyebrow at him for a few amused moments. When she does speak, it's to deliver some absolutely vital information, that Alistair definitely needs to know. ]

Told you so.

[byblow]

[ Does Thedas have rude gestures? I'm going to assume Thedas has rude gestures. Everywhere has rude gestures. Whatever Thedas' rude gesture is, one finger or two or three (???), Alistair extracts a hand from the blankets to make it in Beleth's general direction. ]

[arlathvhen]

[ Beleth watches in amusement as Alistair makes his rude gesture with an indeterminate number of fingers. Then, because she is a caring and kind soul, not a rude ass, she pats the lump that she is fairly certain is Alistair's head. ]

So. There's actually something I've been dying of curiosity over for a while now.

[ Pause. ]

Do you actually like Gavin's singing? I mean--have you even heard him sing?

[byblow]

[ There's a long pause, during which Alistair lowers his hand and considers his options. ]

It's charming that he tries, [ he says, honestly, muffled beneath the blankets. ]

[arlathvhen]

[ She laughs at that, and shifts, rolling onto her stomach and pulling up an edge of the blanket to peek in. ]

I think that could be said for most of the things that Gavin does. Or tries to do.

I think I'm going to have my bard name be Belladonna. Do you think that sounds alright?

[ Might as well get his opinion on it now. ]

[byblow]

[ Alistair squints at her--squints more than he usually squints just by virtue of being a squinty bastard, partly at the name and partly at the light not invading his safe, quiet darkness. ]

Is it Antivan?

[arlathvhen]

Yes. Well--It's a plant. A flower you make poisons out of. The name is Antivan, though. I thought that it involves a lot of things that apply to me. It's Antivan, which is a nod to Zevran. It sounds kind of like my name. And, like the flower, I look perfectly innocent, but if you cut me up and eat me then you'll probably die.

Or get a bad stomach ache.

[fleurdesel]

[ Before he runs back to his camp of dishonor and exile, Adelaide catches him by the elbow to walk with him a ways from the clearing. ]

There is no reason for the ritual to have done this to us, let alone done it twice. Something is off, I do not know what, it is frustrating, and it is all the more frustrating that I have to ask you if you sensed anything off with your probably not entirely useless Templar skills.

[byblow]

[ Alistair gives Adelaide a look of mild alarm, when she catches him, not because he's particularly protective of his elbow, but because she almost, almost said something complimentary. But only almost. He recovers quickly. ]

Well, [ he says carefully, deliberatively, because there's nothing preventing him from being a ham, ] I noticed that it didn't work.

[fleurdesel]

For once in your adult life, can you take something seriously? He is one of yours and if this pattern continues the next ritual might kill him.

[ And that is distressing for reasons she is not looking at all that closely. ]

Beyond the obvious.

[byblow]

[ He'd like to say that no, he can't, but he takes quite a few things seriously, if anyone scratches a fingernail over the surface. ]

I'm not a Templar, Adelaide. I imagine they save anything more advanced than purging magic and killing abominations for when they know you aren't going to get away. Everything seemed fine on my end--but that's compared to darkspawn magic, and everything about them feels wrong.

[fleurdesel]

And yet I am fairly certain you are aware and competent enough to notice should something have been off in what we did. [ It is exasperating, this truth, but it is one she can spare. ] Then if it is not what we did, if the ritual worked as it should and it still twisted back like this- another variable has gone awry.

omg how could I forget about this

[doneisdone]

[Alistair thinks he's alone when he's on the edge of camp. Perhaps he is about to leave, but first a voice materializes from behind him.]

What are your intentions with Beleth.

[She's been talking to Anders. She knows what's going on. There is no escape.]

HOW COULD YOU

[byblow]

[ Alistair stops, turns, and squints at her. ]

My whats with who?

[ Questions aren't lies. ]

8D

[doneisdone]

[Teren knows this game, and she's not going to play it. She's not angry, or even threatening as she approaches him, but perhaps it would be kinder if she was.]

If you get that girl pregnant, there won't be a darkspawn in the Deep Roads who can kill you as hard as I will.

[Her gaze is level, as previously mentioned, but not cruel, not even aggressive. She's just stating a fact.]

[byblow]

[ Alistair's few seconds of speechlessness are genuine, rather than a refusal to open his mouth and risk saying anything stupid. But then there are an additional two seconds of silence while he does make sure he isn't going to say anything stupid, like one bastard child is plenty for me. ]

We're not having sex. [ Look, no terrible metaphors. No lampposts. A slight blush, because he's still Alistair, but he's a grown-up now. ] And we won't be having sex. There is no sex now or in the foreseeable future. We're friends.

[doneisdone]

[Well! It's honesty day, and that settles it.]

Ah, good. [She looks almost pleasant, patting him on the shoulder before walking away again.]