faderift | A bottle of white, a bottle of red

WHO: Open to anyone that wants wine and warmth and a little company.
WHAT: Wine and no whining.
WHEN: After the mage meeting wraps up.
WHERE: Close to the healing tents, specifically the Orlesian section.
NOTES: There will be wine, drinking, unwinding, and nibbles.

The meeting had been stressful for just about everyone involved. Tempers had flared, opinions made known, a few rounds of confetti and arguing before some manner of accord. Whether it would last or however long it might? No one could truly say. In the interest of being quite done with the stress and headaches such debate brought on the Orlesian healing tents clearing out the potions, bandages, and poultices in favor of what cushions and braziers they had on hand for light and for heat. The space was open, warm, and inviting with an odd assortment of tin mugs or clay glasses set around flat side tables propped up with stones to keep them from wobbling and tipping the whole mass onto the ground. There are some dried fruits and hard cheeses, dried meat and hard crusted bread- whatever scraps they could scavenge or spare and a few bottles of wine or brandy. Across the entrance to the tents there was a sign:

Bring a bottle or food to share for entry.

Tacked below was a list of rules:

Everyone is welcome, don't make a fuss
Don't hog the wine
Don't hog the food
Don't fight or argue
If you finish a bottle open a new one, don't recork it for someone else to find
Clean up after yourselves

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Krem offered a soft smile, reaching out and laying a hand at her back near her shoulder. "Could linger over here for a bit. No worries about my asking for your opinion on anything but the wine and maybe the weather."

"The wine is not so bad for being Fereldan, and the weather is cold." But she remained all the same, leaning into him for the comfort of being able to do so. To not be so wound up in her own head to be fearful. "Are you feeling better?"

"Excellent, two things out of the way," Krem replied and raised his bottle again with a content little smirk. His arm ran around her middle to give her a brief squeeze before simply allowing her to lean there against him. He glanced up at the question though, and shrugged a shoulder. "For the most part. I've...spoken to Sam. But it seems to have cost me a friend as well. Romance is hard and I don't recommend it, not one bit."

"Mm. That is unfortunate. Have you attempted speaking with your friend?" She tipped her cheek against his head, eyes half closed as she watched the crowd drink and wander and dance. It was almost like a gathering at the Tower- with fewer sparks. "One way in which I am lucky. LeBlancs do not have to concern ourselves much with Romance, though this is one thing I have been spared. We hit twenty and our mother seeks out matches for us- we do get a choice of the suitors she arranges in a dossier, but the one she bothers to have a small portrait painted of and sent along is clearly her choice and the one we end up marrying. Such was the fate of my cousins and my sisters. As...difficult as it is to do this naturally I think that perhaps it is the more honest course?"

"I wanted to, but she's the sort to try and avoid those discussions until they've become big, nasty issues... I'd rather avoid that, really, but I don't want to force her to sit and talk to me if she doesn't want to."

Krem ran his hand back through his hair with a frustrated little huff, frowning at the ground. It was all terribly complicated, from where he was sitting. He agreed with Adelaide though; who you end up with shouldn't be a matter of who you're assigned to.

"Mother was the same way. Had this wealthy merchant's son all picked out for me, regardless of what I thought on the matter. I told her I'd rather find someone that appreciated all of me, regardless of what they could actually give me in life materially, but she wouldn't hear it. Must marry up, bring us to a higher standard of living." He rolled his eyes some, returning to his drink for a moment. "Glad neither of us had to deal with that."

"Attempt to remain friendly with her, so she knows where she stands? I- I am not the best to offer advice on friendship. I did not have many in the Spire." She had her work and her students. What more did she require? "But I think- you will sort it out, yes? You are kind and you are clever."

Terribly kind and terribly clever. It was a shame that whatever caused it will likely weigh on him but- he would manage.

"...Mimi, with all respect and affection- you would be a terrible wife." Whatever sting might come from that she attempts to sooth with a press of her lips to his temple. "But one day? You will make a fine husband."

Krem couldn't help the chuckle at the comments, his ears turning faintly red over them.

"I'd like to think so, anyway. Once, when I was younger, I thought, what if I could have children of my own? I'd certainly give them better than what I have. Not so sure I'd be able to do that now; mercenary life doesn't exactly allow for settling down."

"I would suggest to think of what may come afterward but..." There did not seem to be much point in thinking of an 'after'. The sky was torn open, the veil screaming in places, demons, the Herald dead. "Enjoy what you have while you have it. I had a mentor that tried to tell me that when I spent too long in research or study. Perhaps I should have listened more attentively."

"I have a lot here as it is. I'm grateful for it, but there's always more that could be fixed or...I dunno. Things worth looking forward to."

"How is it that the Mercenary rather than the healer is optimistic?" She snorts a soft laugh, patting Krem's back. "I suppose there are."

"If I didn't know how to look forward to the times after the battles, I'd be a pretty poor leader," Krem points out with an easy little smirk.

A bottle of white, a bottle of red

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