[open] got tired of wastin gas livin above the planet

[onlyhymns]

WHO: Ser Cade and yoooouuu
WHAT: Futzing about, trying to suck less, possibly failing
WHEN: Before he leaves for Kinloch Hold and everyone's dreams are broken
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Lemme know if you want a specific starter! Also negative CR is always welcome (read: inevitable), so please don't be afraid to either provoke it or ask me how it could be provoked on my end.

He's here, he's fairly anti-queer, he's not quite as vanished as he always tries to be but considerably moreso than the average person!

Cade can be found in a variety of places for those who care to look or just happen upon him accidentally, for better or worse. One of such locations is

the library, where he can occasionally be found curled up in a chair with a dessert of some kind and a smutty romance novel that he'll pretend is anything but. He'd take them to his room, but that seems a whole lot more sinful so maybe not.

The kitchen is where he acquires the aforementioned sugary snacks, for which he has a particular fondness. One of the cooks likes him, which raises the Likes Cade tally to about four.

Another such place is the Herald's Rest, where he is That Guy In the Corner, but less mysterious and brooding and more awkward and afraid someone's going to demand his lunch money. He averts his eyes from most people, but will talk to them if they approach and have a stronger personality than his own (which isn't hard).

In the courtyard, on his breaks, he can often be found sitting against a wall and fiddling relentlessly with a puzzle box. It can be funny to watch, especially when he gets super frustrated and goes red all the way to his ears. Life's hard.


Lastly, those who have busienss with Seeker Darton or Knight-Commander Norrington will first have to penetrate the receptionist's desk, wherein Cade is at his most dutiful and confident unless someone deliberately tries to make him uncomfortable. Which they never would, that's ridiculous.
(Do not actually penetrate the desk.)

[If none of those make you happy, toss me a PM and we can set up a starter. Or give me a wildcard if you like!]

Comments

BELETH

[onlyhymns]

As instructed, Cade makes his way to the battlements. He's dressed a little more nicely than usual, for reasons that are probably secret, or perhaps he just wants to make a good impression. As he always is when he's about to approach a Dalish unaccompanied, he's clearly nervous, but their rapport has improved over time and he can only hope he's not about to get murdered. Fleetingly, it strikes him that he is dismayed by the prospect of dying. It's a welcome realization.

[arlathvhen]

Beleth is sitting on the battlements, turned to look at Skyhold as she kicks her legs idly. She certainly doesn't appear to be prepared to murder him and toss his body from the ramparts, but who can really tell? Maybe it's just an act to throw him off his guard.

When she sees him approaching, she doesn't attempt to kill him, but instead smiles cheerfully, hopping down from her perch, and turns to face him. "You came." She notes, just in case he hadn't puzzled that one out himself. She looks pretty happy about it--she wasn't sure he would. Maybe he didn't really care that much. Maybe he wanted her to leave him alone. But he'd came to meet her.

"I--Um. I wanted to apologize. In person." She pauses, then presses her hands together, and ducks her head at him. "I'm, um. I'm sorry, Cade. That I upset you. It was really, really dumb."

[onlyhymns]

He doesn't attempt to kill her either, which means they're growing!
He stands there all still and awkward and a bit conufused while Beleth apologizes, as before looking as though he entirely fails to understand why this would be necessary. "It wasn't your fault," he says uncertainly, "...it's... never been your fault." He may be a crazy person, but at the very least, he's learned to own it.

[arlathvhen]

There's a brief look on her face that matches his own, confused and uncertain--he's not responding right, why does he never respond right? Why doesn't he just let her take the guilt? But she deals with it, she's getting more used to his refusal to let her take blame.

"I should have thought about my words more carefully. I--I know that you had, um. Issues in Kirkwall. And I didn't think--" She pauses, and decides that getting into that is the very last thing she wants to do, right under trying to give Baron Plucky a bath. "--I didn't think." She finishes, eyes flicking up at him again.

"...But. Thank you. It's--" She pauses again, trying to find the words. "--Nice. To have someone say it's not my fault. Things are my fault...a lot." Visiting her mother again brought up some Issues, and bad habits, poor trains of thought, that haven't quite been smoothed back over by Skyhold yet.

kitchen

[samahl]

Cyril sometimes comes to the kitchen to flirt with the staff and see if he can get some mint or other form of herbs that are good for soaps and lotions. He knows he can't get a lot of it when they need it to feed the soldiers, but if he's nice they can sometimes spare a bit.

He's surprised when he sees Cade there. "Hello," he says, and then offers him a small smile. "How are you doing today?"

[onlyhymns]

Cade is equally surprised to see Cyril, and pauses with a cinnamon bun half in his mouth, on which he bites down and chews rapidly so the elf won't know that he enjoys things. Or... whatever he's afraid of.

"Um. Hello," he replies, clearing his throat aggressively, "great. Fine. How are you..?" It seems like the thing to ask.

[samahl]

"I'm well. And you don't have to rush out. I came here to see if they had some mint to spare, not to force you out." His voice and face are kind, but he does give Cade space as much as he needs.

[onlyhymns]

Despite his instincts' push for haste, Cade remains where he is, at least long enough to acknowledge Cyril. "You're not-..." he begins, but rolls his eyes and shakes his head, already berating himself for having no idea what to say or how to deal with this. It isn't just the Dalishness that unnerves him about Cyril, but the... well, you know, the relative obviousness of his...
...predilections.
Cade stands there in several moments of agonizing silence, mind racing with a reason to excuse himself without looking as awful as he probably is.

Courtyard

[ancarrow]

Eirlys sees the deep shade of red that Cade's face has turned before she sees the box he's poking at, and stops in her tracks, a little concerned that he may be unwell.

"I beg your pardon, Ser, but are you quite all right?"

[onlyhymns]

At first Cade doesn't seem to understand what she means, and he looks up to stare at the woman with a sudden terror that there's something wrong with him, or he's dressed especially badly or looks especially ridiculous today. Then, after several moments' thought, he realizes he was probably just making an angry face.
The redness remains, but lessens somewhat into a fairly typical blush. "Ah. Yes," he assures her, taking special note (and caution) of the pointed ears peeking out from her hair, "just, ah." He looks down at the puzzle box. "...sort of stupid." He's all right admitting it about himself; he doubts anyone will argue.

[ancarrow]

She isn't at all fazed by the way he glances up at her ears; it's something she's used to, although perhaps somewhat less within the Inquisition. Following his gaze down to the puzzle box, she frowns a little. "Have you lost the key?"

[onlyhymns]

Is there a key? Cade's expression indicates he hadn't considered the possibility. "No, I, um, I don't think so." He looks down at it again. "It's supposed to be hard to open. ...I don't know if there's even anything in it." Which makes this whole endeavor seem a lot sillier. He purses his lips, mourning the brief period of time in which a stranger possibly didn't think he was insane and/or useless.

the desk.

[elegiaque]

It isn't actually often that Gwenaëlle seeks out her cousin; for the most part, she's content to know that Aleron is usually somewhere he could be found if she needed him, and not worry overmuch. It bothers her when for one reason or another the castle empties out of the few people she counts among her own particular allies, but the time that stretches between her seeking any of them out can be more significant even than the time they might spend traveling away from her reach.

Which is to say, she's never really been in here despite feeling quite free with both Darton and Norrington's time when they've a bit to spare. (After that first encounter with Norrington and his mabari for Kieran, it's much more fun to just lay in wait for them in various places to launch sudden pettings than politely come down and ask if the dog can play.) It probably would have looked different, if she'd ever been before -

She doesn't seem as if she's going to try to make Cade uncomfortable. She doesn't seem entirely as if she's present herself, pale and red-eyed and stiff, hands pressed together under her sleeves.

"Is the Seeker here?"

[onlyhymns]

Cade looks up from his writing and is greeted with a red-eyed young woman who looks, in a way he is quite well acquainted, as though she needs a hug or a stiff drink. Maybe both.
Being unable to provide her with either, Cade just sits a little straighter and clears his throat, speaking softly in reply as though that will somehow harshen the blow of his very simple answer.
"No, miss, not at the moment." He pauses, fretting, and adds, "I can take a message for him?"

[elegiaque]

If her face doesn't fall, it's probably because there isn't that far down left to go. Her lips press tightly together and she hasn't the knack that some of her peers do for becoming lovely in distress; it only makes her look pinched and tired.

"Lady," she corrects him, dispassionately, more out of habit than offense and perhaps a little to buy herself some time to muster up an answer that isn't petulant. Of course he isn't here when she does come looking. Obviously. Everything else is going so fucking well, this small thing, too, can inconvenience her.

(It's stupid to be upset. He has lots of things to do. She isn't a small child any more who can just sit down and wail until someone comes to solve her problem, but for just long enough she has to take a breath to think of something else, she badly wants to.)

When she's sure opening her mouth won't involve screaming, she looks more assessingly at Cade. "Are you very busy?"

[onlyhymns]

"Begging your pardon," Cade quickly amends, "my lady. I'm..." He pauses when she looks at him that way, trying not to recoil-- he hates being looked at, especially this intently, and something in her tone doesn't put him entirely at ease.
"Not... very, my lady," he concludes.

library;

[foxsays]

Normally Araceli enters the library not from one of the side doorways, not the main stairwell from the rotunda but up she comes, the tapping of her crutch and soft aggrieved huffing heralding her arrival before she finally stops, leaning forward to catch her breath. She might have overdone it. Possibly. But nothing is bleeding and nothing is pulling too tight, and it took her a stupidly long time so here she is.

Every other book in her shared rooms is something to do with her studies, too much for her mind to really cope with still but she's horribly bored as she starts browsing the shelves, not quite sure where to start as her eyes alight on Cade.

"Any recommendations for light reading?" She asks quietly, easy enough to ignore if he wants as she leans more heavily on her crutch, swinging her weight off her right leg entirely to rest it.

[onlyhymns]

Cade is fully ready to ignore the tapping of the crutch and its owner shuffling past, but when he hears her voice and looks up, he is horrified to see that it's... well, she may not be that bad herself, but he last saw Araceli with That Woman, neither of them in any proper state of dress, both laughing. At him. At least that's how he remembers it.

"...um," he falters, going a beet red as he presses his hand against the lower half of his face, "..no." Please don't take your shirt off.

[foxsays]

Well it's Cade's lucky day for two reasons. Reason one: Araceli still needs help getting her clothes off herself and reason two: she isn't going to be showing off any of her injuries when it means letting the world see how beaten down she was by something else. Although it makes her feel half a child sometimes, needing help with some of her coats when they've got narrow sleeves, or when there are too many buttons on a shirt, or if she wants her laces done up good and tight on her boots.

"No?" She asks, glancing about to make certain no healer is going to tell her off before she sets the crutch down to stretch one leg then the other, wincing though it's not just as bad as it was. More of a stitch in her side from being idle so long compared to the usual. "Not even whatever has you all settled like that?" And even more fortunately for Cade, she's desperate enough for a distraction that she's not in a teasing mood either.

The Herald's Rest

[qunari]

As it turns out, there is a very strong personality who takes up quite a bit of space in the tavern, on most days. Bull tends to stay in his corner, where people can see him and steer clear or approach as they like, but he spies Cade and before long, he's making his way over.

"Hey. How're you doing?"

It's less boisterous than he is generally, actually sounding more like friendly concern than anything else. Hey. He's keeping an eye on the guy for a reason.

[onlyhymns]

At the sound of a voice, Cade looks up uneasily-- and it's not that the unease goes away when he sees who it is, but there's at least a glint of recognition and a small lowering of his guard. The Iron Bull isn't going to punch him through a wall anytime soon, at least as far as he's aware.

"Um. Pretty good," he answers, and, after hesitating a moment, gestures lightly to the other chair at his table. There's stuff to talk about, and he's already starting to fidget.

[qunari]

It's sort of what Cade does, he notices. There's a restlessness to him. Even if he's off-duty as a templar, that energy's gotta go somewhere, eventually. They've spoken at some length about finding a channel for that, though nothing's been offered yet. Just ideas, something for the man to chew on.

Now, it might be time to check in on how that was going.

He lowers himself into the offered seat with a grunt, before motioning for his usual round of drinks. "You want anything?"

The Office

[judgemewhole]

Honestly, Norrington has never been so damned happy in his life that he made Cade his assistant. The man is the perfect proxy for him when he is not there, his messages are meticulous and most importantly ... he's not randomly punching people or getting punched.

That right there is a huge bonus.

So Norrington is, as always, glad to see Cade behind his desk when he inters with Interceptor on his heels - the pup is growing fast and his training is going along splendidly. Master and mabari stop at the desk, as Norrington asks politely, "Hello Cade, have there been any messages while I was meeting with the Quartermaster? Any missives arriving?"

[onlyhymns]

Not getting punched is a relief for Cade too, though strangely not as big of one as not punching anyone. The less he punches people, the better his life tends to be.

He smiles mildly when he sees the dog, and gets to his feet when the Knight-Commander approaches, showing the cursory respect. "No, ser," he answers quickly, "nothing since this morning." Perhaps it's been a slow day.

[judgemewhole]

Interceptor gave Norrington a pleading look with his big blue eyes, making Norrington roll his eyes, "Yes, all right. Go ahead and get your pets, you petting addict."

Interceptor barked happily and went to barrel into Cade's legs, demanding his head scritches in Interceptor-true fashion - quickly and with force. Norrington rolled his eyes good naturedly, as he went to his desk. "I'll be working on letters soon. Come and join me once Interceptor frees you, Cade."