The Horned Heroes Return

[quietblade]

WHO: Kas, Taashath + Open
WHAT: Kas and Taas return from their mission in Orlais after two months.
WHEN: Today and forward
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Kas and Taas will be under different top comments to avoid playercesting.

Seeing the bridge to Skyhold was such a huge relief that neither qunari had expected, and the accompanying group of scouts seemed just as eager to get back. Mounts were spurred a bit more, hurrying over the last stretch before they all stopped in the courtyard.

Taas slid off his horse and brushed back his brown hair from his face. It was a bit messy and not put up in the usual array of braids - and he had a need of a razor, of the beginning of a scruffy beard was anything to go by. He's wearing his usual leather and armor, although his chest is covered by a shirt for once.

He doesn't look worse for wear, aside from his nose being extra crooked. (He might need to get that fixed later.)

Giving the mount a pat on the neck, he leaves it with a stablehand and takes a look at the state of Skyhold. At least it was in once piece... and hopefully the tavern was as well.

---

Kas isn't as graceful in his dismounting, but the teen does seem a little less horrible at riding than he used to be. Rubbing his butt a bit, he sighs and scratches his head slightly before looking around. The scout uniform is a little ripped in places and the bow he got from Metaari is missing, but he's unharmed and even seems to have gained a bit of weight. It makes him appear a little bit less like a scrawny child and rather the young man he really is, so it's a good look for him.

Maker bless Orlaisian tiny cakes and hard work.

There's even a little smile on his lips as he looks around, eager to see Korrin, friends and maybe even meet new people.

Comments

Taashath

[quietblade]

[gatheringstorm]

"Taas!" The moment he enters the tavern, Korrin perks up and slams her drink on the table, likewise slamming her feet on the floor after having them propped up. If people are annoyed at the noise she's making, well, they don't have the heart to tell her. She strikes over for a firm hug right then and there.

[quietblade]

He can't hear her call but he can definitely feel all that slamming, so Taas grins widely and opens his arms to let her in for that hug. "Hey, kadan. It's nice to see you again."

Understatement of the age, but damn if he had not missed her. Between the fighting and the Orlaisians, Taas was glad to be back 'home'.

[gatheringstorm]

Yeah, she might have forgotten in her excitement that he couldn't hear her, but oh well. That hug is very welcome and returned with enthusiastic strength. She only moves so that he can lip-read. "You, too. I was beginning to wonder what'd became of you."

Lifting up her forearms, she shows off both the honey badger tattoo on the left and the nasty, large bite mark scars on the right. "I've some stories to tell, but I'd better hear yours in return. Let me buy you a round."

[ombranera]

"Nono!" High and bright and, well, not precisely within Taasath's range of hearing, but Lucci's glee at seeing the Vashoth is quite obvious. He squirms in Zevran's arms, little hands reaching up as his father makes his way over. It has been some time since he's last seen Taas- but many tales and sketches have painted quite a portrait for the little elf in his arms. "Uragano."

Suddenly the source of Lucci's endearment is plain.

[quietblade]

The kid is hard to miss and Taas can see the child's mouth making sounds... protesting? No? He's not sure, honestly. Reading baby lips was a bit over his head.

At least Lucci seemed happy, and so did the lovely man holding the child. He smiles warmly, the sight of 'Uragano' on those lips making his chest all warm and almost relieved.

"Nono, is it?" He's not stupid, after all - but he stays put and doesn't hug Zevran, because... well, he's not sure how to deal with the baby. At least the child didn't seem scared, which was a huge plus.

[samahl]

The strong feeling of happiness that Cyril feels when he finds out that Taashath is back is probably a little embarrassing. He's thankful that - as far as he knows - there aren't many mind readers around.

He lets Taas get back inside the castle and reunite with others before finally approaching him though. He's trying to pretend that he's not giddy and silly at seeing the man again, preferring to adopt a causal sort of saunter as he comes up to him.

You're a sight for sore eyes, he signs. He's keep keeping up on his practicing while Taas was gone and it shows in a more fluid motion of his hands. Good to see you in one piece.

[quietblade]

He had not seen Cyril among the people greeting him, and it had needled him a little with worry. Was the elf okay? Was he still in Skyhold? Seeing him finally approach cleared the little twinge in his chest, and he smiles brightly at the sight of pale hair and eyes framed with both vallaslin and kohl.

"Cyril," he says with a great deal of warmth in his voice - and he brightens even more at the signs. You too. I've missed you.

[el_tybs]

He's taking a break when he sees the group of horses enter the courtyard. Even without being on a horse, Taas sticks out from the rest. "Taas," he says out loud to himself, grinning as he heads over. Sam waits to the side to let the horses and others go by before he moves so that he's within Taas' line of sight, signing a small greeting as he does so.

Growing your hair out? he signs slowly, needing to get back into the practice of it.

[quietblade]

Taas raises a hand in greeting as he sees Sam, smiling at the mage. The signing just makes him grin even more, and the warrior walks over to clasp Sam's arm in greeting - letting go quickly again so that the other man could continue signing if he wanted.

"Good to see you," he starts, and then chuckles a little as he smooths down the rather tangled mane. "...it's been busy, and a haircut wasn't high on the list. Or a razor."

There's a bit of a shrug, and he smiles again. "How's it been?"

[justice_is_blond]

The big qunari isn't easy to miss, and Anders smiles when he sees him... though the smile fades a little at the sight of his nose. That had to have hurt.

He comes over with a wave and very carefully works through the signs to ask Taas why he hurt his nose. While he means how, that's not exactly what his fingers are saying.

[quietblade]

Taas gives Anders a little wave as he sees the man, and then watches the signs he makes. "Why I hurt my nose? Oh, I just felt like it." There's a small chuckle from the massive warrior, and then he gently corrects the mistake.

"Chevalier shield to the face. Dazed me a little, but the nose took the worst blow. It's kind of rugged, isn't it?" He gingerly touches the malformed bridge of the nose with a sigh. "Fancy punching me in the face later? I think it has to be rebroken."

[arlathvhen]

Word travels fast around Skyhold, particularly concerning giant qunari showing up. And Beleth, generally, keeps her ear to the ground. So when the news gets out that Taas is back, Beleth is quick to catch on to it, and just as quick to seek him out. He's fairly easy to spot, and she quickly makes sure to pat down her hair, tug the wrinkles out of her clothes, and try to look as presentable as she can before scooting on over to him, smiling.

"Taas! You're back. I'm glad that you're alright. Um--Oh, I mean--You're alright, right?" She paused, looking up (and up, and up) at him, squinting to see if she can spot anything that would suggest otherwise. "But--ah. Well. It's nice to see you!" She pauses, and clears her throat, glancing off to the side. "Hello."

Smooth.

[quietblade]

Beleth isn't easy to miss with that bright green vallaslin, and Taas turns to greet her with a big grin. He missed reading the first of the words on her lips, but it didn't seem to matter as she was repeating herself and skipping to another sentence.

"It's nice to see you too, Beleth. You're looking great." He leans down a little bit so she didn't have to strain her neck. Reaching out a hand, the big warrior offers a hug - she seemed to want the full hello, after all.

"How have things been?"

Kas

[issala]

[gatheringstorm]

Kas, were you expecting unbruised ribs and the ability to breathe? Because Korrin is here to crush those dreams. As soon as she spots him, there are no words. He promptly gets scooped up in a big hug.

[issala]

Kas makes a choked sound as he's hugged, flailing a little bit but giving up quickly and returning the hug. "Hey, Korrin! Feel this!" The teen is beaming, moving her hands to his horn bases so she can feel the slight bump just under the main horns.

"I'm gonna have two pairs!"

Yup, that's the most important news of all.

[el_tybs]

"Hey, look whose back." He had come to see if there were any injured - thankfully no one in serious condition - but as soon as he sees Kas, Sam walks over as the young man hops down from his horse. "Pretty rugged, Kas. Did you wrestle a bear?"

[issala]

"Hey, Sam!" Kas waves a bit before moving over to the man, careful to not get kicked by any of the horses. "Me? Nah, just highwaymen, assassins and assholes. No bears." He chucks his thumb towards Taas. "That's his job."

Another grin, and the teen shakes his head a bit. "Good to see that the place is still in once piece."

we can set this after kas + korrin's thread

[foxsays]

Grudgingly having to admit defeat means that Araceli is hobbling around using a crutch tucked awkwardly under her left arm. Awkward because it's the right leg that's hurt but the left wrist and thumb that also got damaged so progress?

Slow. At least a crutch can take more weight in general than a cane for the moment even if she resents everything, finds all of it monstrously unfair, and the temptation to hurl everything into the fire by the healer's tents tends to grow every night.

(Each and every healer no doubt prays that Araceli Bonaventura never darkens their tents ever again, the feeling is most certainly mutual.)

But anyway, she's on one of her slow walks, eyeing the walls with utmost longing because soon when she spies-- "Kas? Kas, hola!" Forgive her if her smiles are still wobbly around the edges.

o7

[issala]

"Araceli!" He grins and waves at her, even if the joy is a little dulled when he sees how she looks. Damn. Kas was glad the people that caused that were dead.

Walking over, Kas looks over to the wall she was glancing at and shakes his head a with a small smile. "Yeah, no. Korrin told me, no climbing. You look like shit."

[justice_is_blond]

That's a new look. Anders smiles at the tiny qunari, nodding his chin at the outfit.

"Is that a fashion statement? Or were your hoards of admiring fans just that glad to see you?"

[issala]

Kas looks down at his ratty uniform and rolls his eyes a bit. "Try wearing the same thing for two months while crawling in grass and small spaces and you'll look just as shitty." He kind of feels bad that he had messed up his precious scout clothes, but at least he could patch some of it.

[unbrokenoath]

"Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Despite the less-than-complimentary words, Kaisa strolls up to Kas with a friendly smirk on her face, and gives the kid a solid thump on the back in greeting. It's been a while, and while Kaisa wasn't exactly spending her time worrying over Kas, she's still glad to see that he's back, and in one piece, while he's at it.

"You look a little more solid. Now I don't have t' worry about a strong wind blowing you clear t' Rivain."

[issala]

For once he doesn't flinch at the back pat, instead straightening up proudly and crossing his arms so that the somewhat thicker arms could bugle nicely. Kaisa's comment has him rolling his eyes a little bit, and he'll even pat her back.

Just because.

"Told you I'll grow to kick your ass one day." Not that Kaisa hadn't kicked his ass once already. It was in the past, after all.