faderift | [ CLOSED ] now I feel like I'm the flower

"Oh, I am not sure we should do that," she says with a solemn shake of her head. "I would hate to embarrass you by besting you so quickly!" And now she can no longer stay serious as a broad smile spreads across her lips. There is little chance of her bringing him to the ground with so little experience under her belt.

"A bear? A shame Asher could not be here to see it." The loss of the man hurts less so many months on from it, but there is still a lingering sadness that tempers her smile into something more dim.

The smile brings one of his own, though a little lopsided in his case, since he was trying not to smirk at Christine's statement. "Oh? Well that certainly sounds like a challenge. Perhaps the next time we're free." He's joking as well, at least a little bit. It would do her some good to get some practice in.

"Hm," he hums lightly in agreement, having thought the same the first time he had turned into a bear and every time since. "I'm sure he would've been more then amused about that. Probably make me wrestle with him."

"I do not doubt it. And he would not be satisfied until he had won and you had given him new scars to boast about." There's a slow, lingering ache in her chest for the man who should have had so much more life to live. Even now, she still blames herself a little, for not finding a way to save him. That plus the loss of her father are things that eat at her and probably will for a long time.

But she must push these sad thoughts away. Today is about catching up with Sam. She gives him a nudge and pulls the cookbook closer to see the ingredients list for the pie crust. Ever the perfectionist, she wants to double check it even though by now she has it memorized.

"You know," she says offhandedly, "Gjurd offered me a place in the hold if I ever wish to live there. I like to think Asher would encourage me to."

At the nudge, Sam blinks, looking away from the bag of flour that had become his focus point while talking about Asher. Seeing Christine pull the cookbook closer - good thing he had gotten it out as well - he smiles lightly and starts to organize the ingredients a bit better.

"Gjurd?" Sam pauses at that moment, eyes furrowed as he tries to place the name. At the mention of the Hold though he starts to grin. "Wait, you're talking about that mage... shaman-" He knew who Christine was talking about now, but couldn't recall what they were called in the Hold. Either way, the person she had given him crap before when he mentioned him a while back. "What kind of place?"

"Augur," she corrects, as if she is now an expert on Avvar culture. She's not, but she knows far more than she once did about them, and she now admires them a great deal. Any group that values mages rises in her eyes.

"A place as one of them; as a member of the hold," she says, a hint of excitement in her voice. "I know life in the mountains is not easy, but I have lived outside the Circle for a year now. I have been on the run, made camp in Haven, and now sleep in a tent here. I know about making do and living without luxuries, and there, with them, they would not look down on me." She pauses to pull a bowl in front of herself, realizing that she wants Sam's support very much.

"What do you think?"

"Augur," he repeats. Right, that's what it was. Guess it was a bit harder for him to remember that since he hadn't gotten to spend much time at all with this Gjurd, and apparently Christine had. Wasn't this the same guy she chastised him about teasing her about not just being into his magic? Sam grins knowingly at that.

The smile softens a bit though, hearing that Christine was looking for something from him. "What do I think?" He hums softly at that, crossing his arms. "Sounds like you went straight past Ferelden and went right to Avvar." A tease he says with a lopsided grin.

"If you really like it there, want to be there... you should give it a try. It's not going to be easy." A pause. "Well you'd probably get a hut to sleep in rather then a tent, so that's a step up." Sam chuckles lightly, shoulders shaking ever so slightly.

You stop it with that grin right now, Sam. How dare. So what if she is interested in more than his magic? Have you seen the man?

"Ohh, I knew you would poke fun," she says, pouting ever so slightly. "Perhaps I skipped past Ferelden because it deserves to be skipped over." It's coupled with her lifting her chin to stick her nose in the air theatrically. She'd be the spitting image of her mother if she was actually being serious.

"And it is merely something I am thinking over for the future. There is still much to do here." She's back to serious now, reaching out to touch Sam's forearm. "But you approve? You really believe I could make it there? I want--" She pauses, head dipping slightly. "I want you to approve. I have told no one else this yet, and I worry if I do, they will think me mad, or too delicate to live there."

No, and that probably had to do with that Christine was getting to see a lot of that man. Course he's going to keep quiet on that.

"Ah huh. Skip right over furs and dogs and straight to war paint and Hold beasts," he says with a snort at the way she sticks her nose up. "You would be disappointed if I didn't say anything."

But all joking aside, the hand on his arm has his smile shifting to one of affection, especially at the way his friend - more then friends really - voices her concerns for doing what she wants. Uncrossing his arms, Sam reaches over and places a hand over Christine's and leans forward a bit to see her face a bit better. It's very touching that she's looking for his acceptance.

"If being there will make you happy... if he might make you happy," obviously it's more then just magic there bringing her in, "then I think it's worth trying. I think if you can deal with all this," a hand wave toward the kitchen, but referring to Skyhold, "then I think you can handle yourself out there."

Christine lifts her gaze and smiles, though she's quick to make one thing very clear.

"It is not a romance, if that is what you are thinking. There is much I can learn about spirits from him. That is what would make me happy." And she's also happy he approves. Now she moves to start forming the pie crust, though she can't help but add: "That said, he is a very charming man without even trying to be. He speaks honestly and kindly. I like him very much. But I like someone here as well. So for the time being, the hold must wait."

Sam puts his hands up when she pointedly says that it isn't a romance. "Oookay. Just looking to get a spiritual experience from him, right?" Sorry, not sorry, Christine.

While she starts on forming the crust, Sam goes ahead and starts to open the bottle of alcohol, knowing they were going to need it in a bit with the direction their conversation was going. That and to add to their filling to give it a bit more kick.

At the mention of liking someone 'here' he stops and looks up at Christine with a raised brow. "Someone I know?"

The only response she can give to Sam's continued teasing is a definite narrowing of her eyes at him. Though she supposes no matter what, she's opened herself up to this kind of thing. If she was a person who never poked at him and his Fereldan-ness, he wouldn't do this in return. It's of her own making.

"Mmm," she answers to the positive, measuring out the flour into the bowl. "It is Church." And she's sure he'll have an opinion about that. Church is not an individual one meets and then forgets. He leaves a lasting impression. But whether that impression is good or bad really depends on his mood and how easily offended others can get.

The narrowed eyes look only gets an 'innocent' smile in return. Honestly there would still be teasing regardless, but yes, the pokes at the Ferelden bit probably did contribute to him throwing them in now.

"Church," he repeats, pauses, then, "... Church?" Honestly he is a little surprised. Course he had figured that something had happened between Christine and the rifter considering how much time they spent together and Church having been brought along to see Christine's mother, but this made it sound a bit more... serious. Especially when she was saying Gjurd was not a romantic interest and the reason being because of Church - kind of.

"Really?" That was a sign he needed to hear more, because honestly he only knew Church as the food loving, 'arm candy', 'don't let him talk to your relatives', joking moaner person.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asks somewhat defensively. As if it's so unbelievable. Yes, Christine has a certain air about her that seems to suggest Church might not be her type, but she's already shown she'll sleep with men like Asher.

At the defensive question Sam makes a noise that's a bit like 'I don't know' which is accompanied by a shrug, along with the nearly open bottle of alcohol in hand. "Hey, my experience with Church is probably drastically different then your experience with Church. I figured you two were close, but I didn't think you two were romantically involved." You were the one to point out 'romance', Christine. If you weren't romantically interested in Gjurd because of Church- This is where his mind went, alright?

"What?" Her head snaps up from what she's doing, flour-covered hands frozen in mid-air. "We are not romantically involved. That would-- Why-- He is a rifter, Sam! He could disappear at any moment. I would never set my heart on someone who could be pulled back through a rift at any moment."

Even as she says it, there's a strange feeling in her stomach, but she ignores it. The idea is impossible. Instead she sighs and refocuses on her bowl of flour.

"I like Church," she explains. "He makes me laugh, and he makes me happy. We are close, but it is not serious." There's a pause, her gaze going unfocused for a moment. When she speaks, her voice is a soft murmur. "Like the way it was with Asher."

At the way Christine snaps, Sam stiffens slightly, half expecting a handful of flour to be tossed in his face. For a long few moments he stays like that, watching her as she tries to busy herself with the baking, and then finds himself deflating a bit as well at Christine's muttered words. It wasn't his intention for the conversation to go there, but it seemed like their conversations always did. Even though it had been some time Asher's death still haunted them, both professionally and personally.

Sighing, Sam finished with opening the bottle and slowly pours some into two glasses. Quietly, like sharing a moment of silence, he eventually places one glass in front of Christine, but far enough to not get in her way of making the dough. Even though he's poured himself a glass all he does is take it in hand and slowly rolls it between his fingers as he leans against the counter.

Absentmindedly his other hand reaches for the opening of his shirt and plays with the necklace hanging there. "You should spend as much time with him then." He hears what Christine is saying, can logically agree with everything she's saying, but... he knows the feeling. He is quite aware of that feeling in his stomach.

Being the way she is, Christine can recognize that this is an awkward silence, but she's also stubborn and stands by her words. So she stubbornly rolls the dough into shape before laying in over a pie pan. Only then does she take up the glass and turn to lean against the corner too.

"I do. Or I try to. We had a... misunderstanding during the Satinalia party and did not speak for some time. But recently we sorted things out." That is all the detail on the matter she'll provide, because the misunderstanding was about the very nature of Church's being and she's the only one who knows about it.

Her gaze shifts towards Sam's fingers. "What is that?" Well, she can see it's some kind of necklace, but she can't see much of it at all.

As curious he is about this 'misunderstanding', Sam knows better then to press the subject. If Christine didn't want to talk about it then pushing the issue would only get her more upset, specifically at him, which he didn't want. If she did... well she knew where he was, but since things were already sorted out, no more needed to be said.

"Hm?" Blinking away from his thoughts, Sam looks to regard Christine then shifts his eyes down at what he is palming. "Oh. This was a gift, from Kirk. Something to remember him by for if and/or when he has to return to his home." He holds it up a bit higher so that she can see, a small charm embedded with a symbol and a series of numbers.

She sets her fingertips behind the charm to hold it up a little more in the light. While she already knew Sam and Jim were roommates, she now realizes she should have guessed at them being something more. Well, here she is; not the only one with a soft spot for a rifter. A slow smile spreads across her face, but she only gives him a knowing look before returning her focus to the necklace.

"What do the numbers mean?"

Well they weren't romantically involved, because that was an impossible idea, right Christine? Course if she did ask just that he would tell her that they weren't, because they weren't saying it was like that. A rift could just open up one day-

Still Sam smiles slightly back in return with an equally knowing smile. He gets it.

"He says they're numbers used to hail the ship he commands."

"Oh?" She has no idea how numbers accomplish that, but whatever. "They must mean much to him." She releases the necklace and takes a sip of her drink.

"I hope you have given him an equally suitable gift in return."

"Apparently they have a system like we have with the crystals, but it signals ships." He gives a small one shoulder shrug - that's how he's understood it anyways. "He's very proud of his ship so they have a lot of significance, but it's mostly in case I find a way to contact him."

Sam huffs lightly in amusement at the change in subject and how Christine is so suddenly interested in his personal life. "I got him a bracelet with blue inlays a while back during our trip to Orlais. I should think of something a bit more personable though."

"Blue to match the color of his eyes?" she asks lightly, in that way that's teasing but in a playful way. She thinks all this is rather sweet. And it's making her think she should get Church something too. After all, he did bring her flowers on her birthday.

"I could help you think of something, if you would like."

Sam touches the tip of his nose to indicate that Christine guessed right, even if she is trying to tease him.

"Oh? Well now I have to hear these ideas since you're offering." He pauses for a moment, considering something, then quickly interjects. "No lace."

"Well, his ship sails the stars, yes? Perhaps something with a celestial motif?" Though she isn't exactly sure what he needs. Living with Sam means he probably has all the essentials. It would need to be something that he doesn't necessarily need, but something extra.

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