faderift | Vashedan

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Vashedan

WHO: Korrin and Krem (closed)
WHAT: A chat with Krem about Kas' disturbing news.
WHEN: After her talk with Kas.
WHERE: Skyhold (vague for now, will edit as need be)
NOTES: Knowing Korrin, language. Also probably references to Qunari culture, especially the saarebas thing.

After that very disturbing conversation with Kas and then passing on the news to Taashath, Korrin wastes no time in seeking Krem out. It might be wiser to wait until she's less agitated before having that conversation, but one thing Korrin's never possessed much of is patience. She's confused and appalled, and needs answers that can only come from her Charger friend.

Whenever and wherever she encounters him, Korrin begins the conversation the same way, heading over with a grim expression and blunt words. "We need to talk." Somewhere else is implied if there's any chance for an audience.

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That look on Korrin's face accompanied by that tone of voice actually manages to make Krem sit up, his bottle frozen in front of his face. He's staring up at her as if expecting her to lift him off of his chair by the front of his armor.

"I. Um. Yes?" He doesn't know what he did, but he's already very sorry he did it.

Yeah, the tavern's way too populated...and the Iron Bull is nearby, which is not at all ideal. Therefore, she gestures toward the door, expression changing not at all. Impatient to be elsewhere, she doesn't stop to think about how she might be coming across, not yet. Though in her agitated state, that's less of a priority than discussing what Kas told her about Bull.

"Not here. Outside."

She doesn't wait for an answer, not pausing until reaching the bottom of the stairs just past the tavern.

Krem forgets to actually put his bottle down before following after her, jogging to catch up. Important, bad, potentially devastating, he can't really say he's looking forward to knowing what was going on. Still, Korrin is his friend, and he'd at least like to be able to know what to do to put her mind at ease.

"What's going on?" he asks, coming to stand there with her and looking up at her with a soft frown and furrowed brow.

Korrin sighs and heads up the stairs, though slows her pace so that Krem can easily catch up. "Kas came to me earlier, very agitated. He said you told him that the Iron Bull wasn't actually Tal-Vashoth. Is that true? Is he Ben-Hassrath?"

Not that she thinks Kas is lying or mistaken, but Korrin needs to hear it from him...and without the others around to gang up on him and make things worse.

Krem swallows audibly, his hands coming together in front of him. "Ah...that. Yes. But if you'll let me explain..."

Not that he really felt it would help much of anything, but the more she knows, maybe the easier it'll be for her to understand where he's coming from?

"Bull's job is to keep an eye on the Inquisition's activity. The qunari want to know that they don't have to march in and start wrecking everything so that the entire world isn't damned to whatever Corypheus has planned for it. It's all a lot bigger than policing the Vashoth here. But he's...well. Kind of sensitive, when it comes to questioning his title. If Kas were to have called him Tal Vashoth, I can't guarantee that he would have walked away from that in one piece. It's best he knows, just in case. But he didn't exactly give me time to explain the circumstances when I told him that Bull isn't about to kill you all on anyone's orders, and even if he did get those orders, the rest of us wouldn't stand for it. The Chief trusts us enough to countermand his orders if we believe them to be shit. And killing you all would be the epitome of shit orders."

That provokes a faint sound from her that in other circumstances might have been amusement, though she's feeling very far from amused right now. Korrin shakes her head, not sure if that explanation makes it better or worse. At least Krem was straightforward, but still.

"There are some things worse than death, Krem. You should know, we talked about what they do to people like me before." And all the reassurances in the world wouldn't make her anything other than deeply, deeply afraid of that. Bull may not include the Chargers on Ben-Hassrath business, but doesn't mean he couldn't act. "It may not strictly be about me or the others right now, not with Corypheus out there, but you don't think once he's gone that priorities might change? The Qunari want to invade Thedas anyway, Krem. It's going to happen, whether Corypheus is an excuse or not. That...just delays things, but it won't forever."

She gives into pacing, for once ignoring the mountain view. It's not calming her like usual. "I may not have experienced any of the horror stories of the Ben-Hassrath, but I've heard about what they've done. Hell, Kas told me they attacked his kith, killed his mother. He has every right to be upset. And Taashath? I don't know exactly what he's seen, having been part of the Qun before, but I just had to spend time outside Skyhold hunting with him so he wouldn't kill anyone within these walls. You...may still want to keep your distance from him." If Krem values his life, which she hopes he does. That much is evident in her stare of frustrated concern.

Krem cringed some. He hadn't met Tasshath yet, but he'd seen him once or twice, and if there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was provoke someone that big.

"I know," he sighed, rubbing his hand across his forehead, the other hand on his hip. He didn't like this, didn't like making her worry like this, but he couldn't see any alternative. "I never meant to do this. Bull...he's important to me, to all of the Chargers. I'm sorry."

"Why, though? You know what he is, and you don't seem like the type to promote what he stands for, so...I don't get it."

And she needs it to make sense, because Krem's one of the people she likes most in Skyhold, and she can't just yell at and dismiss him as if he were someone else who had made an incomprehensible choice. It's easy to roll her eyes at random mages who insist on Circles and Templars and all that rot, much less so when it comes to someone she's had drinks with and planned silly things and told more about herself than most people have gotten so far.

Krem slumps some against the nearest wall, rubbing his hand down his face. It was easy to explain, but he doubts that Korrin would simply accept it. Still, it is best she knows where he's coming from.

"When we met, we never knew he was anything but what he appears on the outside. Still wouldn't, if he hadn't told us outright. He trusts us with the information, y'see. As for me...he was the one that helped me flee Tevinter in the first place. I'd deserted the army; it was that or face execution. Anyway, I'd stopped at a tavern near the border, and a tribune caught up to me. Tried to catch me, I resisted, and then they decided I was too much trouble. Figured they'd make an example of me, bloody me up and take me home to be sold into slavery, or else just kill me outright.

"Iron Bull, he stepped between them and me. Never met me, never even saw me before, but he saved my life. Then he patched me up, asked if I wanted a job, and I've been with 'im ever since. It's never been about the qun. He's never tried to convert us or explain why it worked for him, unless we outright asked him. Whatever he might have been taught by the Ben Hassrath, d'you really think he'd do all of that, just to start preaching at you all or trying to start a war here?"

He'd spoken very evenly, keeping his voice quiet and low, his hands moving with his words until he fell quiet again. Even if it doesn't change her mind, at least she'll know why Bull had his loyalty.

No, Korrin's not in the mood to simply accept what's said. But she does listen, which is more than what she'd probably give anyone else in this situation. Otherwise, she would have stormed off long ago. Krem's even, quiet way of speaking helps prevent Korrin's temper from getting worse, though she's still far from calm.

Hearing his story does make sense of things somewhat, at least from Krem's perspective. Korrin's expression softens briefly, but she catches herself, not about to let one tale overwhelm what she's been told all her life. "I'm glad you had help when you sorely needed it, Krem. I'd never say otherwise. If it's between having you here or not, you know what I'd pick.

But just because you trust him, doesn't mean I can. And I can't tell the others to do so either, especially those who've suffered under the Ben-Hassrath. Like I said, maybe he has no reason to start anything now but as long as he's one of them, it's common sense for us to keep our guard up. If he ever actually becomes Tal-Vashoth, though, let me know."

Krem's frown deepens, but he nods some. He can see it happening, eventually, but he's never said as much to Bull, for obvious reasons.

"I don't expect you to trust him, just know why I do. And maybe not be as hasty in spreading it to others that would be more inclined to cave in the company's skulls out of misplaced self-defense." He's hurt by all of this, that much is clear. He hadn't intended to put every single Vashoth on edge, and now he was having to explain something so basic to one of his closest friends in the Inquisition. It just didn't feel right.

Korrin sighs and stares at the mountains, her own frown lingering. She can't be apologetic about passing on the news, not when she'd have wanted them to do the same for her. It's natural to want to spread word of any possible danger along, isn't it? But she doesn't want to see Krem hurt, either.

"Taashath deserved to know, Krem. I'm not going to hide something like that from someone who was once part of the Qun and might be on their list of people to snag back or kill, whether or not Bull would do that. That said, if he'd taken the fight to anyone but those bandits, I would have risked a world of hurt to stop him, without hesitation. I think you know me well enough to tell that much, or I'd hope so."

Korrin has no love for the Qun, but nor does she see the Chargers themselves as a danger. They're still her friends and allies, even if her trust in their leader is not what it was.

"I know he did. I would have preferred to tell him, and anyone else, myself. Better to hear it from the one working under the man himself than just letting the rumor spin out. Too late for that now though," he grunts, rubbing his face and finally just turning to face the mountains himself, leaning against the stonework with his arms crossed atop it. "This was my job and I fucked it up."

Well, she can't deny that, but it helps to hear Krem admit it. She leans against the stonework alongside him, silent for a moment. Korrin's hardly in the best mood thanks to all this, though thankfully the extended hunting trip did a lot to settle her temper. "Perhaps, but I wouldn't have wanted him to take it out on you. At least hearing it from me, he knows I have no part in any of that."

There's a ghost of a smile. "I'll admit, there are times when I was tempted to ask about joining. It's hard to be part of a company that's constantly elsewhere." But she can't join a group that has a Ben-Hassrath as a leader. That's simply out of the question, no matter how highly she thinks of Krem.

Krem's lips pressed into a thin line, eyes falling from the mountains to the stone in front of him. "Bull might not have been happy to bring you into the company, but I'd have liked that, myself," he comments, kicking the toe of his boot against the stone underfoot. So much for all of that. This is less than ideal, but at least it's been mostly solved without anyone getting hurt.

"What's your company like?" he asks, looking up at her with the hope that he's managed to distract her from their current dilemma.

It's a welcome distraction, and one badly needed at the moment. Korrin's lips twitch faintly. "Loud and crazy, but competent. I wouldn't be with any group that wasn't. Shokrakar is a damn good leader; she knows when to push us and when to let us loose. As long as we pull our weight, she's easy. Taarlok's the one who deals with contracts, and he's really good at that, has a sharp eye for those trying pull a fast one on us. Kaariss...likes to think himself a poet as well as a warrior, and most of us pretend to be deaf around him, as a result. It's safer that way.

There are a lot of others, some only for a season or so, but there's always a sizeable core group. I'm not the only mage, either. Shokrakar welcomes many that weren't accepted anywhere else. As long as you could fight, she doesn't care."

"Sounds familiar." Krem straightened up some, looking up at Korrin and the look on her face as she spoke of her mercenaries.

"One of these days, I think you should meet my men. They're...well. A lot like yours, from the sound of it. They'd be happy to meet someone new, doesn't matter where you came from. If you'd be up for it, anyway."

Damnit Krem, now you have to make her all nostalgic...though it's certainly a safer mood for her than earlier. She might have to spend the night finally finishing those letters she's started ages ago. At least it's something to focus on other than winding herself

"Of course I'd be up for it. I've been curious about them for a while, you know. I'd love to hear some Charger stories, and share some of my own." And she can contain her issues with Bull, as long as no one pushes that specific subject.

Krem would probably warn them ahead of time not to bring it up. They're good at discretion, and anyone that has his favor, they know it's only appropriate that they have their back too.

At the idea of sharing stories, Krem can't help but chuckle quietly. "There are a lot that we could tell you. Maybe one day we could meet yours and see who kicks more ass. Love to see what Rocky does against a qunari sapper."

"Oh, Maker." Korrin huffs in amusement, already facepalming. "I can picture it now; the property damage, the lack of anyone being upright afterward, either from qunari liquor dares or said ass-kicking. I'm not sure Skyhold could survive that much mercenary enthusiasm. Just thinking about it is making me want to go to the Commander and preemptively apologize for the upcoming headache."

Krem can't help laughing at the idea of Cullen's face when he looked down on the courtyard and saw a lot of mercenaries playing war games. "So we go find a big, open area in the middle of the Hinterlands. Or maybe Orlais. Stage some fun noisemaking out in the middle of some noble's vacation home property."

"Ooh, I like that idea. I'll have to mention that in my next letter; maybe they'll be enough to get their asses back down south. Right now I think they're in...Nevarra? Or they were last."

But that might not be true now, since they move around a lot. If not for her more or less stable address in Skyhold, Korrin would have more issues with actually tracking them down.

"I'm sure no matter where your men have found themselves, Lady Nightingale's crows will be able to find them," Krem assures her, reaching up and giving her arm a companionable little squeeze. Even if the matter hadn't been really settled, at least they'd reached a calm point where they could talk as friends again.

Korrin glances over with a soft smile at that, her temper gone. She'd made her point and she was sticking to it, but that doesn't mean she wants to lose Krem as a friend.

"You're right, of course. And they won't stop sending letters about whatever nonsense they're up to, anyway. Shokrakar mentioned them putting together a 'care package'. That could be...interesting."

"A care package, huh?" With the way she says that, Krem imagines it could only mean liquor, maybe some food or a joke gift, but mostly liquor. "That'll be interesting when it arrives."

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