faderift | weep little lion man

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weep little lion man

WHO: Cullen and you
WHAT: jumping in head first! (by which I mean generic open log so that I can get all up in your inboxes)
WHEN: WHOLE MONTH OF JUNE - the afternoon of the 11th to the late morning of the 14th, he will be away from Skyhold.
WHERE: predominantly his office and the battlements around it, with a healthy helping of training his soldiers on the grounds, and the potential for a few other places if someone wants a custom starter
NOTE: When you tag, please tell me what day so I can figure out in what order it all happens. If you don't pick a day, I will pick it for you.

IMPORTANT!!! If you have not already left me links here and had me respond, but you plan to keep any past CR with Cullen, please do not tag this. I will be assuming that anyone who tags here and has not already had their past CR hashed out with me wishes to begin with a fresh slate. Don't worry, he will have another open post soon. I just don't want to wait too long to start playing, and since there are plenty of new characters and plenty of characters who've already been to my OOC post, I figure it's a safe bet that I can get some play now.

OFFICE
One thing that remains constant, that has not and probably will not ever change, is the endless stream of paperwork that crosses his desk. Cullen stands, hands braced and shoulders slumped, reading over a stack of intersecting and conflicting messenger's reports and trying desperately to figure out how to spread their forces when they simply do not have the resources to meet all needs as things currently stand. He sighs deeply, and raises one hand to rub at the knot of tension at the base of his skull. It's not going anywhere. The same can be said for the impressive model of the Frostbacks that messengers have created with scrolls and sheaves of paper and leather pouches along the short edge of his desk.

BATTLEMENTS
Some people say that Cullen has no aptitude when it comes to taking care of himself. Those people are, on the balance, entirely correct. He will argue that he pushes himself too far out of necessity, but that doesn't mean he's half as responsible as he should be when it comes to sleeping or feeding himself. It takes its toll. Usually, he can chase the fatigue away with a brisk walk and a little fresh air. A trip along the battlements to clear his head and gather his scattered thoughts is his go to solution. One he employs quite often.

TRAINING
Cullen does not always survey his troops with a mind toward picking apart their performances and needling them to do a better job. Often, but not always. Sometimes, he just watches. He takes note of particular skill, of someone ill at ease with the weight and balance of their weapon, of someone distracted. Their numbers are not so great that they can afford anything less than 100% from each person under him. Of course, the unfortunate extension of that is that their numbers are not so great that he can afford to turn away willing help. Particularly in light of the disturbingly large contingent of people within Skyhold who push back against the structure of authority whose protection they enjoy. It makes his job, this part of it as well as the less hands on ones, infinitely more difficult. At least the training remains direct and straightforward. Here in the courtyard, it is his job to foster the skills and determination of his volunteers to make them all that they are capable of becoming. It is their job to then give all they have in the service of the Inquisition. He knows he asks for more than is fair. He also knows that he has no choice. He is grateful for every person with the compassion and foresight to give it, anyway.

NEW OPTIONS - PUPPY!
PUPPY OFFICE
As of Thursday the 16th, there is a new addition to Cullen's life, in the form of a blue and white mabari puppy, and his daily routine just got a whole lot more interesting. The dog doesn't have a proper name, and is mostly being referred to as Puppy. Whatever Cullen thought dog ownership would be, it wasn't this. He seems to spend half his day in constant frantic motion, and the other half sleeping and eating. During the quiet times, Puppy can be found sleeping underneath the desk, or occasionally in the crook of Cullen's arm. He can also be found chewing on scrap leather or lengths of knotted rope as he tumbles about the office, though he won't wander too far from the desk and/or Cullen.

PUPPY COURTYARD
He also needs to be walked, and socialized, so a few times a day, Cullen finds himself in quieter areas of the courtyard. He brings treats and teaches Puppy simple tricks, sending him running along the wall to tire himself out, assuring anyone who wanders into the area that the dog is loud, but friendly.

PUPPY WALKWAYS/STAIRCASES/WHEREVER
Puppy might be smart and well behaved, but he is still a puppy, and occasionally one might be treated to the sight of the Commander of the Inquisition running along a battlement, trying to catch a tiny blur of fur with a roll of parchment clamped in his mouth. This is his life now. This is what his life has become.

[[OOC note about Puppy! While he will definitely be energetic and boisterous and do things that people might not like, he will not be outright bad. Please don't write about him breaking things, hurting people or other animals, or antagonizing someone who seems afraid of him. He is a Mabari, well trained for his young age, and very smart. He wants to play, and will absolutely steal things from people, tug on their clothing, and bark for attention, but Puppy will not be destructive or violent. Thanks.]]

11th (full)
visiting puppies
meeting Henry
talking with Bethany
leaving for recon/rescue mission

12th (away from Skyhold)
traveling
rescuing Meoni

13th (away from Skyhold)
traveling

14th
Mia brings him tea
Sera brings him dinner

15th
properly meeting Christine
Cassandra comes to clear the air
Gwen brings her latest publication

16th
Adelaide brings Cullen a puppy

20th
Josephine helps catch Puppy

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Christine is not often found on the battlements. She has a routine, and she enjoys sticking to it. And while that makes her predictable, it also makes her easy to find, so even though she's traveled up to the battlements, she doesn't plan to stay away from one of her usual haunts for long.

She has to admit, the view is splendid. Coming to and from Skyhold, she could see the different camps and huts that have been built in the valley below the stronghold, but standing from up here affords more of a sweeping vista of the whole area, including the settlements. People are no more than tiny ants, and their tents aren't much bigger. And yet every person down there has endured much in this war. She sees a group of those refugees that look the size of ants rushing around each other. Children playing tag, she suspects. It's good the Inquisition is here to offer them a place where they can find time and space to play.

It would be too easy to stand here for hours, watching the people below, and she tells herself there is more work to be done. She steps backwards away from the outer wall of the battlements, and straight into the Commander's path.

"Steady," he cautions, more prepared for the collision that Christine, with a hand at her back to keep her from crashing into him or tripping and falling to the stones. His small smile is indulgent. It is a beautiful view, and under better circumstances, he thinks that even he might be able to use it to clear all thought from his mind. The problem, his problem, is that there is just so much thought there. "Are you all right?" He doesn't want to withdraw the support of his hand until he's sure she is. These days, not everyone recovers from being startled as quickly as they used to.

"Maker--" she begins to say, startled, but not practically out of her skin. There is a momentarily leap of her heart, but then she clicks her tongue at herself. She shouldn't have been so lost in thought that she forgot her surroundings.

Turning slightly, she inclines her head just a little, lips pursed for a moment longer until the annoyance passes. Everyone has moments where they get lost in thought and don't pay attention. This was just her turn.

"Quite all right. I apologize if I stepped in your way, Commander." She gestures with a hand out across the valley. "I am afraid the sight distracted me."

"Maker's ass." He'd just wanted to stand on the battlements and see as far as he could, and instead he has to see this sight instead. The rumor mill had put Cullen as on a trip for at least a few days, but this wouldn't be the first time it had been wrong.

Though now he has a choice to make. He could turn around and walk away and spare himself a headache, or he could stand in the vicinity of the Templar who'd twice tried to be a part of murdering whole Circles and still got off blameless.

He's bad at doing the smart thing.

Anders glares at Cullen and steps past to lean against the wall and look off into the distance, braced subtly so a single shove wouldn't, in theory, knock him over. He doesn't trust the man as far as he can throw the Iron Bull.

"Weren't you supposed to be gone for even a short time?"

Cullen's jaw twitches at the comment. He is not a man who will force his faith on others, but that doesn't mean it strikes him as anything but crass and witless to curse that faith. "I'm where I am needed." Short, clipped tones. There is no one person so essential to the functionality of this place that it would not survive without them, but some are more needed than others. The two men on the walkway occupy very different tiers on that list.

Cullen crosses his arms and picks a gap in the stone, as he always does, to stand to the side of and look out past. Anders is positioned so that he can't currently be seen, which suits Cullen just fine, but so that he will enter Cullen's peripheral vision if he attempts to move any closer.

He exhales heavily, something that's just short of snort. Where he's needed. The world needs the Inquisition and it needs people, that can't be denied, but there are some he's not sure are truly benefits to it. Two of them are on this wall despite how he loathes having anything at all in common with Cullen.

"What, picking at flaws in the wall? Will you be reinforcing them next? That would be a sight." Someone Chantry-trained getting their hands dirty with something other than blood would be such a sight indeed.

Cullen raises an eyebrow at the view in front of him. "I see no flaws. It's not new, but it is sturdy. There are other things far more in need of the attention and time." Resources, both physical and monetary, are limited. Making largely cosmetic enhancements to the keep would be a complete waste of both. Getting more space within the walls up to habitable standards, that is the only thing Cullen would currently put his hands to, if he had the time to spare. Which he does not. He barely has time for this breath of fresh air.

"You were just--" He cuts off, shaking his head and folding his arms over his chest. "I don't know that I want to know what you feel is in need of your attention and time, but I'd hardly like to come back up to Skyhold tomorrow to hear you've made some declaration about what should be done with mages yet again. That's the worst sort of surprise."

He's picking at Cullen the way the man had been picking at the wall. It's satisfying. Everyone's anger about mages actually seeking freedom and equality, about any lives lost in this war, is focused on him. He's the easy target. And the man before him makes an equally easy target, so why not pass it on? It's not like any Templar will ever be held responsible for what they've done.

Once he's sure she's fine, he drops his hand from her back. "It is quite a view, isn't it?" He takes a step back, and folds his arms in front of his chest, planting his feet and looking out over the terrain. Beautiful. There is a reason this place calms him, and it has a lot to do with the fact that from here he can see, in one go, a perfect representation of why he keeps on running himself ragged for this. These people, those who can not defend themselves, and those who yearn for the comfort of structure. The Inquisition is worthwhile because of the people who need it.

"I've seen you." He doesn't know her, but he's seen her. Her face is familiar in his mind, but has no name attached. He leaves the introduction for her to make, if she so chooses, or vague enough to ignore. He has not picked up much from watching Josephine, but being vague for the comfort of others is something he thinks he just might have the hang of.

Cullen turns his head just enough that his raised eyebrow can be seen. Just what? Leaning against the merlon? Admiring the view? Walking? Surely the mage can't find fault with the way he moves himself from one place to another. If he has found a way to be offended by that, Cullen could use the laugh. He minutely flexes his still crossed arms. Perhaps it's a shrug?

"Is something going to be done tomorrow by the mages as a whole to warrant handling at my level? If this is a warning, I suppose I should thank you. You don't usually offer one." Cullen is still, very deliberately, not looking at Anders. He is staying rooted to his spot, staring out over the view that is usually so very calming, resisting the overpowering urge to fling the man down into it. He knows, logically, this is a bad idea. Still, after everything Anders has done, it would be immensely satisfying.

"Whereas you've gotten better at making your intentions clear. The first rite of annulment you tried for came suddenly, but at least I'd several years to try to head off the second. Do try to build up to your next attempted slaughter again. Maybe this time someone will be able to stop it altogether rather than make a desperate piecemeal attempt." His voice is bitter. Cullen sounds calm, but Anders has no such ability. He'd been hauled in from his second-to-last escape attempt to hear that the whole Circle had almost been killed, and then found the one responsible lording it over where Karl was held years later. Cullen's denied any responsibility there... and Anders will believe that. What was done to Karl wasn't as bloody as Cullen seems to enjoy matters.

"And don't even think to act like it was all Meredith's doing. She knew you for what you were. That was why you got transferred there. Did you find it pleasant, watching mages have an even more difficult time in Kirkwall than in Kinloch Hold? Knowing what was coming was a certainty until I stepped in?"

"Mmm," she agrees, taking a moment to look back out that way again. Some tents are in groups separated a little from the others, representing different groups such as the Wardens or mercenary companies. But overall, it seems a good community down there. She hardly ever ventures down; only to offer her services as a healer or visit a few people she knows who don't often come up to the fortress.

"Indeed?" she asks, and were she the type to tease those she didn't know well, she would congratulate him on having eyes. But alas, that is reserved for her close acquaintances, so she merely says, "Now was it down at the healers' tents, or the library? Those are the places I frequent."

Continuation of our test drive meme thread.

Some weeks ago Cass had gone and giving her ideas about Cullen's office. Or, more, how much fuzzy-neck liked to have everything in order. Clearly, she had things to do. For morale and all.

But she wasn't totally stupid, no matter what people thought. To do this own her own she'd need some proper scoping first. So she earns some favors with the serving staff and offers to bring Commander Grump-butt his dinner herself this evening. Naturally, she doesn't knock, just breezes in, half of Cullen's dessert already eaten.

"Oi."

[ ooc: no cr outside of canon ]

When Cullen looks up, it's with no small amount of suspicion. Sera, making an attempt to be helpful. Not only helpful, but helpful in a domestic sense. There is something incredibly unnatural about seeing her carrying a tray. "Hello," he offers cautiously, brow furrowed as he lowers his quill and places the cover on his inkwell. Just in case. "Do you need something?"

Henry had been watching the drills from his window like usual. He hadn't gone back down for a few days not since some people found him fooling around with a left over sword. Had he gotten in trouble? Not really. But, he didn't really want to have a repeat and then get completely confined to his quarters.

Today, however, he decides it best to go down while there's actual people training. At least to get a good look. He's not wearing his mage robes today, now he's got a spiffy new set of clothes. Something a bit more practical than mage robes. He stays on the outskirts of what could be the training circle, walking around watching the blades clash together. He's still so enamoured by it all he's not even paying attention to where he's going.

It's then he bumps into the man clearly instructing the soldiers. He backs up rather quickly and somewhat dazed and offers a "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

Right. She could do this. She had faced down Aveline and Fenris, held her own against the vicious whispers that had followed the Wardens until the Western Approach. She knew that she would have to stand strong, here and now, because honestly for as much as Cullen was not a templar and she was not an apostate?

She ... felt ashamed, from keeping this from a man who for years had willfully 'ignored' Marian and herself. Who had stood by Marian when it counted, when it came down to picking a side. Who helped clean up the mess that Anders, her friend, had left behind.

That they had all left behind, if she was honest.

She sucked in a breath, winced a little as her newly knitted up wounds pulled a bit, knocked on the door, and waited for a response before entering.

"Commander Cullen -- I believe you and I were due a conversation?" She said, as she closed the door behind her, giving him a level look.

The site was odd, but the smile should look familiar. Like something hilariously bad was about to happen and only she knew it. The tray gets dropped on the table, leaving Sera free to start looking in the various bookcases and what have yous.

"Tut, that's the hello Commander Fuzzy gives now? No 'hello, Sera. You look like you could use a free bag of arrows' ?"

People wanting to avoid his direct scrutiny - it's a fairly new concept for him, but he's adjusting. He doesn't have to know everything. He wants to, but that's not the same thing. He's working on it.

Healing tents or the library? He considers that for a moment. Neither are places he frequents. "Walking through the Hold, in passing. I would wager it was on the way to the healing tents, if I were forced to guess."

"I am hardly set on pressing the matter," she returns, not exactly giving him a smile, but speaking in a friendly enough tone. A former Templar he may be, but Christine can't shake her wariness on first meetings with them. Or with any average person who isn't a mage, for that matter. There's always the worry that they're one minute away from lighting a torch; maybe rustling up a pitchfork.

"I am one of the Spirit Healers here," she says, deciding to be up front about it. Templars tended to keep tighter reins on Spirit Healers due to their relationships with spirits, but Christine is proud to have taken on the specialization. It's always been her dream.

"Christine Delacroix." She doesn't expect him to remember the name from her request sent to the advisors. Sister Nightingale had been the one to respond to it, and the Commander probably has hundreds of signed letters pass across his desk anyway.

This just keeps on happening to him. At least this time, he has more options for where to grab, and his hand lands heavily on Henry's shoulder to keep him from falling over. It's not that he thinks the boy is particularly clumsy, but a stray rock concealed in grass is a quick way to turn an unsuspecting ankle.

"This is a bad place to be preoccupied. Not all these blades are dull." There is a small ring of land marked off where soldiers are learning to handle the weight of the sword they will be taking out into the field, to move with it and compensate for it until it's like an extension of themselves. Henry isn't too close to it, but this is still a bad place to be wandering around if you're not paying attention to where you're going. "Still, no harm done. Steady?" He's asking if Henry is steady on his feet, if Cullen can let go.

Oh, was that all? She wanted supplies. His shoulders relaxed, though that wasn't necessarily noticeable underneath his armour. He shuffled through a few papers, getting to a leather bound volume with lists of available equipment. Maybe he'd be especially lucky and it would get her out of his office just as quickly. "You need arrows? Anything else?" He began running his finger down the lists, scanning for catchwords. They had arrows. Enough for Sera's needs, certainly, and materials for her to make her own if she'd prefer.

"Gold, lizards, beautiful qunari woman?"

She's just going to go for whatever she can get here. But mostly the last one. She really needs those, Cullen.

"Where Cassandra moved her bedroll to escape my...helping?"

Due a conversation? For a moment, Cullen had no idea what Bethany was talking about. Then he remembered. He'd gone to see her, a little while after Anders had been exposed, been interrupted almost immediately and had to leave. Right. Of course, today would be the day she'd pick to come see him. One day after Anders had used Cullen to take out all his many grievances with the world. Well, at least he'd had a tiny bright spot this morning. He owed Adelaide a proper thank you for that. Later.

He could see a touch of Marian in Bethany's face, around the eyes and nose. Something in her current expression made it even more obvious right now. "Miss Hawke." He should probably look into getting somewhere for visitors to sit. Of course, that would encourage people to linger... so maybe not. Thought for later. He should run it by someone. He made a quick note in the margin of an old report.

Bethany cleared her throat, thinking perhaps she should remind him? However, by his expression she can see that he's caught on even though he's in the midst of at least a half a dozen reports.

She blew out a breath, thought about correcting him on the title, but ... no. Not now. Bringing up the Warden part or the noble part was not going to really help her here.

"I did want to extend my apologies, to you, for not telling you that Anders was in Skyhold. Considering ... well. Everything. And I want to thank you for honoring your word to follow what Marian dictated, all those years ago."

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weep little lion man

battlements { justinian 15th }

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FOR MIA on the 12th

Office

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/BURSTS IN ALA LET IT GO STYLE also know as training on the 11th

Office

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