Ebasit Ben-Hassrath maraas-toh, tal-eb iss mer-toh ari-van.

[issala]

WHO: Kas, Korrin, Gorse, Taashath + possible eavesdroppers
WHAT: Kas is scared and spreads the fear
WHEN: 4th of Firstfall
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Possibly language, anxiety, 'Bull is an evil spy' hijinks Edit: Unapologetic bandit slaughtering

The teen had tried to keep it a secret for a while, frightened of what would happen if he opened his mouth about it. Even if Krem had tried to calm him by saying the Chargers wouldn't stand for their boss slaughtering the qunari here, Kas knew better. If this 'Iron Bull' got orders, he'd do it, and Krem might not even know about it until they were all dead or missing.

The longer he waited, however, the worse his nightmares were getting, and so where the blackouts where he'd find himself in new areas of the castle with his heart beating painfully in his chest. It had been a while since that had been acting up, so the stress couldn't be good for him at all.

He had to get it off his chest; he had to tell Gorse, and Korrin. Maybe the big Tal-Vashoth guy, too. He couldn't leave them in danger just because he was scared.

...so he finally heads off, grabbing his new daggers and the bow he was still borrowing, and hurries to find them. They had to know. The Ben-Hassrath were here!

Comments

[issala]

"I..." The boy isn't sure what to say. Gorse keeps being kind and gentle, calling him a friend, and something breaks inside the teen.

He takes that hand, and then he's just burying himself into that shoulder like it's the most important thing in the world.

'It's okay to be scared. Everyone gets scared and cries sometimes.'

Well, he better be damn right about that.

[savethecat]

Gorse doesn't say anything he doesn't believe, at least to a certain extent. Everyone cries, has cried, and if they claim they don't or you've never seen it then it's just because they're better at hiding it.

He's seen the tears his parents have shed when they thought he wasn't looking.

Gorse's other arm comes up around Kas's shoulders when the boy presses his face into one of Gorse's broad shoulders. It's as tight a hug he can give while still making sure it's clear that the hold is one Kas can break away from at any moment if he suddenly feels too trapped or too self-conscious.

"Shhh, it's okay Kas, it's gonna be alright. Nothin's gonna happen to you, nothin's gonna happen to any of us. It's gonna be alright." he murmured, letting him hide his tears in Gorse's shirt as long as he needed.

[issala]

Poor Gorse's shirt was getting wet with tears from nights of worry and fear. The Ben-Hassrath were dangerous, efficient... and very good at creating a sleeper agent, frightening the boy thoroughly so his fear would disarm any suspicions.

There were no lies in the upper layer. Every shudder was real, every half-choked sob from his heart.

The arm around Kas' shoulder is tolerated for the sake of the warmth and strange comfort it gave - and when the teen finally pulls back, he's trying to wipe at puffy eyes discretely.. "T-thanks."

[savethecat]

Gorse produced a handkerchief from one of his pockets to hold out to Kas, removing his arm from the boy when he pulled away. It was a success to get even that brief bit of contact but he wished the circumstances had been better.

"Everyone cries, everyone gets scared. Specially after living through the kinda stuff you lived through." Gorse said, gently. "You were able to find and warn us even though you were scared, that's very brave, Kas."

[issala]

He glares a bit at the handkerchief but takes it to wipe tears and snot off his face. It comes off kind of dirty, but he had been doing a lot of work lately. Now he hit the dummy 60% of the time when he did his archery training. Things had been looking up for him, which was why this had crippled his progress. Fear and nightmares was holding him back.

"I dunno if it's brave. I just... I don't want anything to happen to you guys," he says with a sigh. "I haven't been around other qunari for some time and it just... I like it. So it's kinda selfish."

[savethecat]

"I think it's brave." Gorse insisted. Still, if Kas has enough sass in him to glare and argue Gorse is relieved - it means he's calmed at least a little bit from before. Gorse still needed to get to the bottom of this, needed to check on Taas and Korrin as well just for his own peace of mind, but he didn't want to leave Kas on his own when the boy was feeling like he was.

[issala]

Brave, selfish, whatever. Kas sighs again, crossing his arms over his chest and biting his lip just slightly. He doesn't want to leave, but he has training to do, and at least that would take his mind off things for a moment. If he was doing archery practice, he had a chance to shoot down a charging Ben-Hassrath, right?

...but after that. After that, there would be nothing but fear again.

"Um... where do you stay at night? If... um... y'know, if I need to get your or something..." Totally not because he wants to sleep in the same room or anything.

[savethecat]

"Wherever there's free space," Gorse admitted, which meant it moved, sometimes nightly. Still, he thought he had an idea of what Kas might be getting at...

"How about I come find you when it's getting time to bunk down for the night and we stick close, that way if something does happen that's less running around before we gotta find everyone?"

[issala]

Kas does his best to not look dejected at that, shrugging as if it meant nothing. Of course he moved around! It made sense, after all. He was a herbalist, not one of the scouts of soldiers that stayed in the barracks.

Gorse's idea takes some of the tension out of his posturing, though, and the teen nods awkwardly. "That could work, I guess." Please, please work. He didn't want to be alone, even if he had a bedroll with his name on it in with the other scouts. He didn't know them, and they couldn't understand his fear.

Only other qunari could.

[savethecat]

"I think I'd feel better sleeping with someone else around, too." Gorse said. Also, he took up quite a bit of room being as big as he was and space was kind of at a premium... he'd look into the barracks and whatnot when the rest of Skyhold wasn't held together with scaffolding and spit.

"Are you going to be okay for a while? I'm sure you've got a lot to do, I want to check on Korrin and Taas. You can come with me if you'd like, though."

[issala]

Kas didn't care if they so had to sleep in the ramparts, as long as they had eachother's backs. Blight, maybe even round up the others and have a qunari pile. Then again... it would make it easier for someone to take them all out in one big sweep, so maybe not.

"I gotta go to training... but..." The teen pauses, looking at Gorse and setting his jaw in a more stubborn look. "No, I'll be good. There's lotsa people around." He rubs the back of his head and then tries a more confident approach.

"Go talk to them. I'll learn to shoot while you're at it!"

[savethecat]

Gorse smiles as Kas's determination sets in.

"Good, you'll be great at it. Then you can look out for all of us."

Standing, Gorse resisted the urge to ruffle Kas's hair. Already he'd gotten a hug out of the kid, that was quite a bit.

[issala]

The kid gives a stern nod at that, taking it in like a personal goal. Become strong. Protect everyone. He could do that... that hug had helped more than he'd realized, easing a bit of the fright inside him and making way for the stubbornness. Despite his prickly demeanor, Kas was starved for affection.

"Say hi to Korrin from me when you see her, yeah?" The teen calls out as he turns to leave, giving Gorse a slight thumbs up after wiping his face again with his sleeve. He refused to show up at practice all flushed and red-eyed, after all.

[savethecat]

Gorse nodded, waving as Kas ran off. He stayed where he was until the teen was out of sight.

He was concerned, of course, but danger was a strange thing, always just beyond the horizon. He didn't really know how to properly respond to it.

He'd talk to Taas and Korrin and feel better, surely.