Cullen's July catch-all

[lionheartedman]

WHO: Cullen, Puppy, and you
WHAT: working, bathing, walking, playing, traveling, politicing (ugh), wandering around Orlais feeling out of place
WHEN: spanning the month 1-15 in Skyhold, 16-20 traveling, 21-31 in Orlais
WHERE: various locations - the hot springs, Cullen's office, and walking the battlements and courtyards in Skyhold - the Inquisition foothold and anywhere someone convinces him to show his face in Orlais

NOTES: Since this log covers two very different locations, and because there are travel times associated with getting to and from these places, please make sure you tell me what day you want your thread on as well as where.

If none of the options provided work for you, you are free to come up with something on your own. I'm also willing to make custom starters, if asked. Just let me know.

Threadjacking is fine, negative CR is fine. Basically everything is fine.


HOT SPRINGS (Skyhold)
evening
Cullen tends to go bathing at odd hours. It's half practicality and half availability. In the middle of the night, scouts and messengers have stopped arriving, and he doesn't feel as guilty about taking time for himself. He's also less likely to run into anyone else, which is good for him for two reasons now. First, because it is nice to have a little slice of time with no expectations to rise to. Second, now that puppy is in his life, everywhere he goes he has (as Adelaide predicted) a little blue shadow. It seems a kindness to not expose bathers to the insistent demands of a young mabari wanting stimulation. It's also easier to bathe the dog with no one else around, and if Cullen is in the water, Puppy wants in the water.

Setting all that logical and responsible reasoning aside, he finds it easier to sleep after a hot bath. He's not sure why, but the days he doesn't have time to get down to the hot springs, the days his hygiene routine consists of a basin of hot water and a rag (though Puppy still goes splashing when Cullen is finished), there is no relaxation to accompany the fatigue when it settles in.

So it's the twilight hours that find him soaking his old bones, flicking water at Puppy as he runs eagerly around the edge of the pool, venturing into the shallows to bite at little bubbles and let Cullen rub soap into his short fur. The mabari has learned to be quiet, to keep from drawing attention, or disturbing the peace of anyone trying to sleep. That doesn't in any way lessen his desire for play. He paddles around in the warm water, chasing bars of soap and scrubbing stones and leaping from rock to rock playing a game of tag with the reflections cast and anyone who might break the stillness to join them.

daylight hours
Just because Cullen only bathes at night, that doesn't mean Puppy feels so confined. If his master will not pay attention to him, if he is too busy and Puppy feels unneeded, he's not above visiting the hot springs on his own. During the day, it's far noisier, and he doesn't feel the need to keep quiet. He'll find people, during the day, and people mean a chance to make a friend. He'll still chase the soap, and might eat it if it's natural and unscented.


OFFICE (Skyhold and Orlais both)

There are preparations to be seen to. He doesn't leave Skyhold often, and never for any extended length of time. Of course, just because he doesn't do it, doesn't mean he won't have to. Leliana is still ill, can't travel. He feels that Josephine if more than enough on her own in that city. She knows how to play their games, and Cullen does not. Even if he could learn, he would not want to.

Wherever he goes, there he is, and the paperwork follows. It always follows. He doesn't even get the rare pleasure of a bare desktop on his first day in Orlais. It's waiting for him, already piled high. He expects to be hunched over his work long into the night, and he also expects to be interrupted regularly. Life as usual.


TRAINING (Skyhold and Orlais both)

Just because it's a different sort of fight they're heading into, that doesn't mean his troops can shirk their training. Just because he will be away from a portion of them for a time, doesn't mean they get to slack. He will appoint someone he feels comfortable with to act in his stead while he is gone, keeping his troops in top shape, improving them as quickly and fully as possible. Those who travel to Orlais will not have an easier time of it. They are a representation of the Inquisition in a land that would rather not have them turn up and spoil the party. They will have to be themselves, but better. Through it all, daily training is a part of life now. When numbers are so small, they must be clever and skilled.


TRAVELING TO ORLAIS

The traveling is honestly not that bad. He's used to it. It's far nicer with Puppy, he must say. On horseback, the mabari marches along beside him. At times the little dog is puffed up with importance and the recognition that his person is the head person, and so he must be a hound worthy of such an important position. At other times, small distractions catch his attention and he is every inch the young puppy enamored with the entire world and eager to learn about it. When he gets tired, Cullen brings him up onto his horse, letting him curl in the crook of his arm and the tucked and secured cloth of his cape and chase nugs in his sleep.

When they stop to make camp, Puppy makes that time more tolerable, too. He is friendly with everyone in their group, doling out affection and encouragement around the fire, playing fetch and begging belly rubs, but always coming back to Cullen. It's not easy to sleep under the best of circumstances, and even worse on the road.


GENERAL ORLAIS

This is Cullen. He is in Orlais. He hates Orlais. Come make it better/worse for him. Or just watch him wander around hating his life. Your call.


PUPPY (this one works pretty much anywhere, and does not include Cullen)

A young mabari puppy appears! He has decided that the next slice of his life is going to include you. Deal with it.


Solace timeline

Comments

for Leliana

[lionheartedman]

To a casual observer, it probably doesn't make much sense. They rarely get along, would not be considered friends by any but the very loosest definition. Still, Cullen comes to see her when asked, turns up dutifully with a small package under his arm. No, they aren't friends. She doesn't agree with him, he finds her methods occasionally abhorrent, but he recognizes the need for her, as she must no doubt recognize the need for him. He can respect her professionally, be worried for her safety, and appreciate the things she gets done for their cause, without thinking of her as a pal.

He raps his knuckles sharply against the scarred wood of her propped open door to announce his presence. "How are you feeling?"

[fightingale]

Truthfully? She feels absent. Not in her mind but in her body, as though she is not entirely in control of her limbs. She grasps, but her hand does not feel as though it is gripping or holding, as though she is watching the actions of another.

Her form is thin, might on another be called frail even, but there is a vicious vein of determination in her that banishes the word. (Never mind the cane she has been brought, and strictly instructed to use. Poison is not glamorous, has left hollows in her cheeks and grey ropes of scars across her throat that are largely obscured by the high collar of her uniform.

"Cullen." Her voice does not sound as it used to, and may not for some time, if ever. It rasps, the unpleasant scrape of metal against coals. "I am much improved. Thank you."

The pause is-- not quite awkward. "How goes your work? I fear I am less abreast of matters than is proper."

Do let's ignore the near death, and the need to discuss the sentencing, and a good many other things.

PUPPY!

[aceso]

Christine is sitting inside her healer's tent, making notes on her latest patient when she hears the sound of claws scrape against the side of the tent from the outside, nearly startling her out of her skin. She leaps to her feet, wondering what could be doing such a thing and leaves the tent, going around it to find a mabari puppy scratching at the tent with a roll of parchment in his mouth.

Clicking her tongue, Christine then makes a shooing motion with her hands.

"Go on! Get away! Shoo!"

Late Night Bathing - With Wolf Pup.

[the_effect_she_has]

It had been a long day. A long, and muddy, and slightly bloody day, but Katniss had done it. She'd tracked that damned bear that had been terrifying the refugees and she never would have been able to do it without the wolf-pup loping along beside her. He had tracked the damned thing, and she put enough arrows in it to make it a damned pin cushion.

So now she had more bear leather, bear meat for the refugees, a good lesson in tracking for the Wolf Pup ... and they both needed a bath. So off they trudged to the bathhouse. The Pup sniffed at her leg then sneezed, and she gave him a wry look.

"You don't smell like a flower either, fuzzy. We'll bath, then we'll get some grub and fall into a sleeping coma." Maker knew she hadn't given herself anymore time for anything -

And then the wolf pup's ears perked up, and he ran ahead into the hot springs, letting out a yip of excitement, with Katniss staring behind him, slackjawed before she went to run in after him. "Hey! No, don't jump in anywhere! It's a bath, not a lake!"

The wolf pup, however, was far too interested in finding a new furry friend.

[lionheartedman]

He's ignoring it, mostly because she is not well enough to be any part of it, and if she tries to get out of that bed right now, he will have one of his burlier new recruits come in and sit on her. "Work is work. It marches on, and we just try to keep up." He enters the room, pulls a chair up close to her bed, and sits down. He's already decided, they are now this close. Not particularly close, no, but this close. He deposits the small package on her lap. "These are for you." Inside the waxed canvas is a small pile of amber coloured drops, slightly sticky to the touch, and smelling strongly of herbs.

Traveling to Orlais

[circleprodigy]

"I see you've made a new friend, Garahel. Hello, there." Seeing her grown mabari return with a younger pup brings out a soft smile from Inessa, who crouches so she can pet the excitable little thing. She forgets about taking a rest after setting up camp for now, nostalgia hitting her as she remembers when Garahel was this small. She slips a mabari crunch treat from her pack and breaks it in half, giving one to Garahel and one to his smaller friend. The Grey Warden mage will never not have a soft spot for mabari, but then she is Fereldan. Some things will never change.

"Who do you belong to, hm? You're no stray...."

[lionheartedman]

Puppy isn't sure what's happened. He's got the important thing. He's got it and his person needs it and he was even being chased for a bit there. Did he manage to outrun him? He hadn't meant to move quickly enough for that. Now he's well away from that stuffy office, and Cullen is nowhere to be found, and he's feeling lonely again. So he goes scratching at the flap of a tent with an interesting smell, trying to burrow his head underneath the pegged down canvas to see what it is. If he can get the attention of someone inside, maybe they'll call for his human, and he can get him out of the dark and into the fresh air for a while.

[lionheartedman]

Puppy was being quiet, yes, but not silent. He was currently playing tug-of-war with Cullen, a washcloth which was becoming increasingly ratty with each second between them. Quiet little growls were coming from deep in his barrel chest, and his claws scraped softly against the warm stones. He will not be dissuaded from his prize!

Except suddenly there is another animal in the area - not a dog, but close enough. He lets go of the cloth so abruptly that Cullen finds himself splashing back into the water, head knocking against the rock wall behind him, as the little blue fatty makes a straight shot for the wolf pup. "Gentle." It's the only word Cullen can get out, quiet but stern, before the two animals collide. Won't do to have Puppy leaving holes in other peoples' pets. Unless it's wild and violent, which Cullen will be able to tell in a moment, with plenty of time to give Puppy leave to defend himself.

[the_effect_she_has]

The Wolf Pup ran across the stones until he found the chamber with the Puppy and then yipped excitedly, dancing around the Puppy. He was bigger than the Mabari pup, but not by much, and he barked cheerfully as he took to sniffing the Puppy with interest. Coated in dirt, and a little bit of blood, all he seems to really be after is making a friend.

Really, the only danger seems to come from the grumbling female voice as it comes closer, "...going to find you and wring your fuzzy little neck if you've jumped in on someone ... " Katniss came in, just as caked as the Wolf Pup, grey eyes narrowing, "Ah-hah!"

Then she noticed the Puppy, and her aggravation melted into wry amusement, "Ah, so you found yourself a friend - and your friend belongs to .. "

Her gaze moves to the bath, then widens. Considerably. As does her rapid blush. "Oh. Ah. Uhm. Hello?"

[lionheartedman]

"You're back." Cullen smiled, still rubbing the back of his head. It wasn't bleeding, at least. He checked his fingers when he stopped poking at the tender area. Nope, no blood. He'd be fine. He hadn't seen Katniss in an incredibly long time. Long enough that he couldn't actually narrow it down with anything less than a month, give or take.

The two dogs were getting along well enough, growling and snapping and circling each other with enthusiasm. Puppy was looking for an opening to pounce. Cullen knew that look. His dog was going to end up a better tactician than the owner. "You know, I suppose if I want to be entirely honest, I probably belong to him." Cullen waded through the water to the edge closer to Katniss, and folded his arms against the warm stone. "Busy day?"

[the_effect_she_has]

"I'm back. And ... you're back." And mostly naked. Which she is ...absolutely okay with, except for the fact that he's rubbing the back of his head. Concern trumps embarrassment, and she moved closer, "What happened?"

The Wolf Pup, for his part, was dancing around the Puppy. What he lacked in tactical mindset, he tended to make up for in speed. He darted this way and that way at the Puppy, nipping at his nose.

She glanced over her shoulder at the two animals, before one corner of her mouth lifted. "Yes, I can understand that, all too well." She moved closer herself, and dropped down to the floor by the spring itself.

"Bears. Why is it always bears?" Is her wry response, and she eyes the water with a touch of envy. "Is it nice and warm?"

office, skyhold.

[eviscerates]

Ruby has a select number of uses. Amongst her recent achievements lies becoming Adelaide's research assistant, which seems to be a nice kind of gloss to cover any number of things up and make them seem a little less ridiculous - bringer of food, bringer of herbs, filer of papers, all the glamorous stuff. Sometimes, however, it has also involved being an overly cheerful distraction to waylay those that would bother the Commander when he has more important things to be dealing with.

At least Adelaide had been blunt about what it was Ruby was being asked to do. She can't imagine it will have any impact at all on the fact that she's going to see Cullen with a ridiculous idea, however, given that she can hardly imagine Adelaide feeling the need to let Cullen know about every little thing she does.

Inhale; exhale. She knocks on the door frame, standing respectfully outside of it despite the door being open. "Commander Rutherford, I was hoping to steal a moment of your time, if you're not caught up in anything right now."

She's been on a war council, she knows there's never a good time, exactly, so much as slightly less chaotic times.

[aceso]

"No no no!" Christine just does not know how to handle this situation. While she may have no great love of dogs, some are tolerable if they're well behaved, like Seeker Reed's dog. But mabari just seem like intolerable beasts who only listen to their masters, and she doesn't know who this one belongs too. But she's not an evil person, and isn't about to try and hit an animal just for being annoying, so she's left with her shooing hand motions and her voice to try and get it to leave.

"Stop that! Go away!" She frowns at the roll of parchment he's carrying. It wouldn't surprise her one bit if he swiped it from someone's hand and took off. Mabari are nothing but trouble.

[lionheartedman]

She's upset. He can tell she's upset. He has no idea why, though. He's not doing anything bad. He hasn't taken anything from her. She isn't even trying to get the Important Thing away from him. She just wants him to leave. Puppy tilts his head to the side, staring at her, confused. He plants his front legs apart, leans down into them and wags his tail while argumentative rolling howls rumble up from his chest and get muffled through the parchment message and locked jaw.

[lionheartedman]

He hasn't seen her in months. It's not that he forgot about her, but she became a sort of abstract thing in his mind. He wasn't surprised that she was back, but it was nice to see her in person. "Head's fine," he assured her, waving off the concern with a dismissive gesture. A little tender, probably be gone in the morning.

"It's always bears, because bears are the only thing the Frostbacks seem to produce. We have a bear surplus. More annoying than nugs, less annoying than dragons." Contrary to popular opinion, the Commander did not live in his armour. It was currently stacked in a neat pile in his room. Impractical for bathing. If he knew that Katniss was currently hung up on it, he might tease her. As it was, he just let himself drift back again to find one of those conveniently situated underwater rocks to sit on. "Water's great. Even if it wasn't... you're pretty filthy." He chuckled when he said it, not trying to be mean. It wasn't a criticism, it was just... true.

Beyond the pair of them, Puppy managed to anticipate one of the wolf's quick leaps and knock him down mid jump, pinning him to the floor with his jaws clamped loosely around his neck. No force, no broken skin. Puppy was pretty clear that force was only acceptable with permission or as self defense. It didn't curb his instincts to protect and dominate, though.

[the_effect_she_has]

She gave him a pointed look, before she shook her head with a faintly amused smirk, "You'd say that if you got a boulder to the side of the head."

Her expression became more sardonic, "Well, that surplus decided to make off with some of the refugees supplies, and gave a few of the men new scars. Not any more, though." Hung up, probably, but she wasn't going to complain about it, at all. "Yes, going face first into the mud does that to a girl."

One eyebrow raised at him, and then at the water, before she started to pull off her boots. "So should I take that as an invitation to share the water and turn around from being pretty filthy to pretty clean?"

She jerked her head when the Puppy took the Wolf down, pinning him to the ground, making the Pup yelp. She tipped her head thoughtfully, impressed by the mabari puppy's strength, before she gave a low whistle. The Pup stilled for a moment, before twisting around to kick out his paws to break free of the Puppy. Not to hurt, not to scratch, just to knock the Puppy off balance long enough for the Pup to make his retreat.

[lionheartedman]

He did not mention that a boulder to the head was more or less what happened. Moving right along.

Puppy was fine being thwarted. Cullen had seen his successful pin. He'd checked to make sure. That was all he wanted, for his person to notice that he was learning and improving and taking his instruction. He loved his person. Making him happy was all that Puppy needed in his life.

"Was there another reason to come down here? Lie in wait and attack bathers as they exit? Force them back in the water before they start stinking of bear?"

[lionheartedman]

Definitely not a stray. Clearly well fed and clean and slowly becoming well trained. He has surmised that his person is in charge of all these people and animals. Which means they are sort of his, too, and he is endeavouring to learn them all. Beginning with the animals. Beginning, specifically, with the other dogs. He accepts the treat and, in line with his more recent training, sits at attention with it in his mouth, little stump of a wail wagging enthusiastically. He can be patient. See? He can be well behaved and wait until he's allowed to eat. He can totally do it. Though, if she doesn't give that permission soon, he will start whining plaintively. He's only a puppy, after all.

training | orlais

[ichaer]

All things considered, Ciri was not so excited to be back in Orlais after she had rode across the damn country and then back again. Thankfully, it is easier to find needed distraction since their arrival. Plenty of folks are willing to share meals or stories and there is more time to train too. Back at Skyhold, she did not mingle much with the Inquisition soldiers or attended in of their training. She tended to keep to the Warden camp or train alone but now with boredom treating to overtake her, she cannot help but curiously watch their training.

She certainly did not expect to join in but it is hard to ignore a soldier, young and a little unsure, left without a partner after the others had paired off. He stood back, looking like a lost puppy so she cannot help leaping down from her perch and offering to spar with him. He looks surprised at first, looking down to her armor and then stammering out a cautious mutter of how he could not bother her since he was still a novice.

Waving off concerns, she shrugs and draws her sword. She needs practice too, especially formal training and it is not like she wants to hunt down any of the other Wardens currently. Besides, it is not like she's had much in the way of formal training either.

It seems to ease some of his fears, falling in line and raising his shield and sword. She wields a sword herself but the Warden moves more like a rouge, delivering fast strikes meant to exploit the weaknesses of tougher and bigger foes. Despite his worries, the young man holds up well and Ciri finds herself having to chance her normal methods of attack more than once. At one point, he stabs his sword forward and forcing her to parry just as he bashes his shield upwards toward her body. She has to push out of the parry, using the momentum into twisting herself out of danger. Her dodge clearly throws the soldier off and he stumbles forward, falling to ground. It allows Ciri ample room to reach out with her sword and tap his stomach lightly, smiling fondly.

"You lied to me because your footwork isn't as bad as you seem to think. You almost got me with when you distracted me with the sword, I'm sure I would have been a goner if that shield bash had hit me." She says, grinning and offering him a hand. "Keep it up and you'll be doing some real damage in no time."

[circleprodigy]

Expecting the puppy to gobble it immediately, it's somewhat of a surprise to Inessa when he doesn't. Garahel's already inhaled his, of course. She laughs softly, patting his head.

"Go ahead! Eat it, it's your treat. Then you can show us who you chose, hm? I'm sure you have good taste."

[fightingale]

The faintest of smiles flickers at the corner of her mouth. "I am sure you'll have it marching to the tune of your choosing, soon enough."

It is not quite teasing, not quite joking. They've never been close enough for that, and the rift (for lack of a better word) that Galadriel and Anders and other matters had brought between the Advisors had certainly not been conducive to bringing them any closer. She could hardly call it an olive branch, either - it has no such significance when she put the words together. She simply found herself caught only with her thoughts for days. For all that, the words are meant as lightly as she can offer them, in this moment.

Very carefully Leliana accepts the package. Her hands are, unusually, ungloved, and she holds them over the canvas without touching for several moments. It is a strange thing for her to have anything beyond the strictest necessities, and she looks at the parcel with quiet surprise for long moments before looking to Cullen with the slightest knit in her brow. "Thank you. I do not think I am familiar with them."

Admittedly her head is sometimes still a little foggy, but its improving vastly.

office

[amygdalae]

Normally Bruce would be asking a runner to bring these papers up, but normally Bruce also wasn't revealed to be a mage that had been masquerading as a surgeon all this time. Things were settling down now, but it was undeniable that his relationship with others had changed as a result of it - Adelaide, as a prime example, as well as his patients... and even the other soldiers of the Inquisition. Where normally most were willing to help him, now...

Or maybe he was just unlucky. Most other soldiers were pretty okay with mages.

Either way, there was no turning back now; Bruce steels himself at the door, running through a manta in his mind. Just go in, give the papers, and leave before he can say anything. Nothing to it. Commander Rutherford was a just and reasonable man, but he was also a former Templar, and some bad experiences were just hard to shake off entirely.

Still, he had to do this. Sucking in a deep breath, Bruce places a hand against the door and pushes it open. Time to get this over with.

[the_effect_she_has]

The Wolf Pup pranced around again, whining at little at Katniss. She whistled him over and stroked him between his ears, murmuring, "You'll get him next time. Now come here, we're going to start washing this gunk off."

The Wolf Pup yipped again, before leaning over to bump the Puppy with his nose. He did, however, stay seated as Katniss pulled her boots free and then rose to start stripping off her shirt and leather jacket, putting them to one side, along with the towel she brought. She dug into her bag to pull out her special soaps, putting them aside to pull her shirt off.

"Yes, that was my plan. Harrass people into bathing better before they smelled worse. Dead bear is a great incentive to wash behind one's ears." She stated dryly, as she pushed her pants off and stood in her undergarments. She looked over her shoulder at him, as she started to unbraid her hair.

"Are you naked in there?"

[aceso]

"Ugh," she says, dropping her tense shoulders and looking around the area. If Sam's around, he'll surely start laughing at her predicament, that smirk-faced Ferelden idiot. He happens to be her best friend, which shows she isn't so opposed to Ferelden as she appears to be, and the 'idiot' is thought with all due affection. But she doesn't want to deal with his jokes right now unless she can shove this puppy off on him.

"You are so annoying," she mutters to the animal, but her eyes do flicker to the parchment once more. "What is that you carry, hmm?" She points to the ground. "Drop it." Honestly, she doesn't expect the mabari to listen to anyone but his master, but she will at least make the attempt to see what the parchment is.

[lionheartedman]

"Honey. Lemon. Medicinal herbs. One of those sticking memories from childhood. Don't worry, I didn't make these." Perhaps he could have, with enough time and effort, but it's not an insult to Leliana to say that he has better ways to spend his time. Again, it's just fact. Especially with her laid up like this.

He didn't make them, and they are for her, but he still reaches out and plucks one from the pile, popping it into his mouth. They're safe. "Good for the throat. You sound horrible."