[open] you're like a mirror, reflecting me

[qunari]

WHO: Iron Bull and all comers. That means you. Yes, you.
WHAT: Keeping the fort down at Skyhold.
WHEN: End of Kingsway (August)
WHERE: Sparring Ring, Tavern, and other varied locations around Skyhold.
NOTES: n/a, will add as needed.

He was going to need to find something to fight, soon.

Not that a break wasn't nice and all, but after being laid up months ago with that shit that had happened in the Fade, and sitting out all the bullshit going on in Halamshiral, Bull was getting restless. An itch was building that was hard pressed to find a good outlet for scratching. Next big fight that came rolling around? You weren't going to be able to keep him from going.

Some of the newer recruits could use some breaking in, so Bull would occasionally take a break from the training of his own Chargers to take on anyone who thought they might be able to handle themselves in the ring against him. And of course, any sore feelings would find a balm in quickly being offered a jovial pat on the arm and a drink in the Herald's Rest, where Bull occupied his usual corner.

But that restlessness saw him wandering a little more than he was generally prone to. Taking in the battlements, straying towards the garden in the keep's courtyard, poking his head into the library or the rookery, or stealing into the kitchen for a few midday snacks. And hey, if they needed anything heavy moved around the larder, fair was fair.

Comments

[qunari]

"Right. You just want to help."

Which is still weird, the way he goes about it, but it's clever. Cole thinks in ways other people can't, and sometimes the results are pretty damn impressive. If a little spooky, with his particular level of insight.

"Sometimes hitting someone make you feel better. Sometimes it makes them feel better. Depends on the person."

[colecomfort]

Cole knows... something about that. Not much. Like most things he's not involved with directly, he has no more than flickering glimpses.

It's still enough to make connections.

"The Tamassran uncurls the whip. Thin, soft leather slaps against the stone. Points of pain are portals, letting the dark escape."

A beat, wherein Cole considers:

"You play at pain quite a bit, The Iron Bull." And not only in those particular ways.

[qunari]

"Yeah. Like that. Reminds you you're alive," he grunts in response, though he's eyeing Cole out of the corner of his eye. Never really sure just where the kid's head is at. He'd like it if he wasn't taking a look inside his head at any given moment, thanks very much.

"More common than you'd think. See, pain gives you a little rush. It's your body trying to get you out of harm's way, little energy boost."

One hand waves vaguely.

[colecomfort]

"And the pain is real, but the danger isn't. Like putting your hand in a fire, and feeling the heat, but when it's finished, the skin is still smooth."

He's raised one of his own hands toward his face, and is running the fingers of the opposite hand across it, as if reading his own palm.

[qunari]

"...eh. Something like that." Bull's brow furrows as he tries to follow along with the metaphor. Yeah. Suppose it would something along those lines. Feeling the heat, the thrill, with no real repercussions to follow.

"Don't need to explain to you how complicated people get though, do I? You see plenty of that shit all on your own."

[colecomfort]

"People can be confusing." Bull won't be able to see Cole's forehead wrinkling in turn, but he'll sure be abel to hear it Cole's voice. "Like when they know what they need, but won't let themselves have it."

Which is different from not knowing in the first place. That, he can understand. That he can help with.

[qunari]

"Some people get caught up on what they think they're supposed to have. Usually that's some bullshit that's been drilled into them over time," Bull replies with an off-handed sort of shrug.

As though it weren't something he'd seen far, far too often fighting the Vint slavers.