faderift | Well it's time to celebrate your birthday, it happens every year

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Well it's time to celebrate your birthday, it happens every year

WHO: Anders, Nathaniel, and invitees!
WHAT: Fancy birthday party in Camp Shady
WHEN: Harvestmere 27, evening
WHERE: Camp Shady
NOTES: Will update.

Since many Wardens moved into the Kestrel House, there is plenty of space in the camp for a big top tent. Finding enough candlesticks, tables, and chairs required a lot of time and a number of bribes to pull off. The tables are nicely draped with fabric lent by one of Anders' patients, and each is decorated with flowers. The tent is alight and smells like good food--more donations from grateful patients.

One of the Wardens is known for her fiddling, and she plays lively dances and crooning ballads. In the center table is an ice sculpture of a cat chasing a butterfly (you guessed it--donated by a mage patient). It glitters spectacularly in the candlelight.

On the menu is a slow-roasted pig, spiced hot cider, spectacular salads, jams, cakes, delectably seasoned vegetables, a lamb-flank, and your choice of wine. There is even a hard-won bottle of Antivan brandy Nathaniel had to win several card games to achieve.

Relax, enjoy, greet the birthday boy, and mingle. The nights will be cold soon, but under this tent, life glows.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He's a little startled by how nice she looks, brushing his blue-and-silver warden-inspired robes down as if to make them nicer before suddenly there's a gift in his hands and his cheek's being kissed.

"Ah. Thank you." He means to sound more thankful, but in reality it's a little dazed. Sure, Anders hadn't doubted that she'd care and show up, but this is actually happening, and now he's holding a gift, too. Slowly he starts working at the wrapping, not wanting to tear it with the fine job she's done.

Her smile widens, pleased by the expression and pleased look on his face. The dazed voice is nice, as well, and she beams. "I remember Nathaniel telling me that you liked the finer things in life. I am not sure if this fits but ... "

It's a cloak, one with dark brown silk with a snow fleur lining. "I traded them for a full set of warm knitted things, which you now have."

"It's beautiful," he says with a little awe as it unfurls. "I do, I used to, I would spend all my Warden pay on clothes, back before... everything."

As he talks, he's sweeping it around his shoulders carefully and trying to get it on. This is made a little more challenging by the cat on his left shoulder not entirely inclined to budge, but he starts working it under her slowly. "It's gorgeous, Bethany. This fits and thank you."

And it will be warm, too. He's often cold, and Skyhold is one of the coldest places he's spent a lot of time. This will make the walk between Skyhold and the Kestral House so much more pleasant.

She beamed, lifting up one hand to straighten one side, before she petted the very tip of the cat's nose with one fingertip, to calm her. "I am pleased you like it. When Aleron and I went shopping for his cousin, I found this fabric and thought of you."

Another beaming smile, "And how are you, birthday man?"

Purrelden tries to lick the finger that bopped her nose before licking her nose instead, settling in against the cloak like a proper catloaf.

"I'm..." Anders looks around before looking back at Bethany. "You know it's probably not really my birthday, right?" She likely does, most likely do, but he doesn't want to feel like he's deceiving them.

She laughed at Purreldan, and his properly dignified cat pose, before she looked over at Anders. Her expression softened, before she states quietly, "Does it matter? You have people here, who want to celebrate you.."

Anders shakes his head. "Not in the way that it would change anything, no. You're right. The people here want to be here for me. It was simply that you called me birthday man when I'm not, technically."

"Well, let me put it this way then. Do you want this to be your birthday, or do you want to find out when your actual birthday is, so we can celebrate that?" She asked, moving to stand beside him, to make room for the others.

He looks past the party at that, weighing the choice. It only takes him a few moments to realize it's... not really a choice.

"I don't think there's a way to find out. I don't remember it, I don't recall the Templars caring enough that they would have noted down a birthday, I don't remember the name of my village or of my parents." Anders shrugs, trying to make it seem like this isn't a deal at all. "This is as good a day as any."

She gives him a longer look, as if trying to read his mood from his shrug, before she wraps her arm through his. "Well, just remember. You're loved, no matter what day you were born. And ... maybe, one day, we can go looking for that village."

He leans against her a little, gaze on the crowd. "For a long time I couldn't believe anything of the sort. But I know it now, that I'm loved, whether we look for the village or not in the future."

After taking a breath, he looks back at her. "I'm all right, Bethany. I'm better than I've been in years and years. You and the people here tonight are the reasons for that."

She leans back, giving him support where support was needed, "You are loved, despite your best efforts not to be." A quick little smirk at him, before she looked back out at the crowd. "You know we are all here for you, Anders. Especially Nathaniel. Never forget that."

"So I'm intrinsically difficult to love is what you're saying, but you all can overcome that." There's teasing in his voice and eyes. He knows it's difficult. He doesn't try to make it difficult, but things... happen.

"Though I... I know. It's not the easiest thing to remember, but I'm working on it." It's definitely not the easiest thing to remember. Especially when he's done something stupid again.

"Now you're just being pig-headed." She volleyed back with a laugh. "Besides, it's not like any of us are easy to love. We all have our faults and our follies. That we love each other at all is a miracle from the Maker."

She squeezed his arm again, "Good! Look yourself in a mirror every day and chant it at yourself, if you have to."

"I don't know. You're pretty easy to love. Nate's exceptionally easy. ...To love. He's not easy in the other way. Do you know how much I flirted with him before he ever clued in?"

He has no faith in the Maker and miracles from that direction, but he has faith in the people here which is a massive change from where he was at just a couple of years ago. ...Several months back, even, for that matter.

"I think I'll skip the chanting. I think I'd prefer to avoid any appearance of talking to myself, considering where I was before." Possessed. "But every time someone embraces me, I'm reminded. Every time people seek me out, I'm reminded."

"Really? I honestly thought I was too nice sometimes." Bethany stated simply, her smile dimpling once more, "Oh, I am willing to bet that he took a long time to do so."

A quiet laugh, before she nodded her head, "I think that might be the best. I am going to go ahead and give you another embrace right now."

"Too nice? Is there truly such a thing?" There's too much fake niceness, but Bethany isn't fake about it. She's genuine.

He leans into the hug with a smile. "You and Nate may border on too nice, but you don't cross too far. I don't think. After all, he took months and months to come around. The first time we served together I marked him nearly right away... and he decided I was annoying. He dropped me once, did I ever tell you that? Outright dropped me."

There's still a smile on his lips, and his voice is entirely mock outrage.

"Well, I have heard that my good mood is sometimes ... surprising?" She grinned brightly, before she hugged all the way with a tight hug. Then she paused, then started to laugh.

"He did not! He did not drop you!"

"He did." There's utter sincerity there despite the grin on his face. "I asked him to catch me and he let me fall, just dropped me there on the ground and then, to add insult to injury, stepped over me. As if I was nothing more than a log on the ground."

Bethany let out a laugh, covering her mouth after a moment so she could choke down her giggles. "I can't believe he did that... just how much were you annoying him?"

"That depends on your definition of annoying." He's smug now. He likes making people laugh, and while Bethany is never the most difficult person to get laughing it's still a triumph.

"I may have been making puns the whole trip, and I may have flung my arms around him once while telling him he was my hero after he shot a genlock in the eye." So quite a lot.

"Mmm. Usually my definition has something to do with someone poking at someone's weak spots ... but I suppose we all have different ideas of it." She smiled at him, leaning her head against his shoulder for a moment.

"... Well yes, that would do it."

"It's hardly my fault he's always been gorgeous and fit. And that I had to walk behind him constantly as the healer." He had a lot of time to get acquainted with the way Nate's backside looked in Warden gear.

"And it's most certainly not my fault he decided I couldn't possibly mean the flirting I gave him. He should have taken me up on any of my offers back then, and he definitely shouldn't have dropped me." His voice is all mischief and warmth. He loves Nate, and he teases and jokes about those he loves.

"I'm just glad he's clued in now. Granted, I had to actually kiss him first. Did anyone tell you that bit? Or did you see it?"

"He has always been ruggedly handsome, I suppose. Which fits in with say - his other half as well." She stated simply, giving him a gentle elbow. "Besides, I might have dropped you too."

She dimples. They both know that's a lie. She probably would have gone down with him, but she'd never let Anders actually hurt himself.

"I only heard about it." She glances over at him, curious, "I heard something about a bet?"

"I can't figure out if you're saying handsome balances out my prettiness, or if you're saying at least one of us is attractive," he teases back.

The question gets a half-shrug, half-nod.

"Do you remember the day set aside for challenges, fighting and setting aside grudges? I was bored and didn't exactly want to engage with dozens of people who wanted to attack me and not set aside their grudge after, so I went up to Zevran and challenged him to seduction, his pick of target." There's a fond smile on his lips as he glances over in the direction of the elf.

"He chose Nate. It was a fair challenge, Nate wasn't interested in either of us. Or so we thought. Apparently he was and Zevran noticed first, so he won by seducing Nate for me. Which means I won. Especially considering if Zevran hadn't chosen Nate, I would probably still have no idea he held feelings for me."

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