(no subject)

[blightedson]

WHO: Felix and OPEN
WHAT: Felix returns home after being away doing Warden-related things.
WHEN: After Wintermarch 13th
WHERE: Skyhold proper and warden camp, feel free to place your reply in either as Felix will spend time in both areas.
NOTES: None

Felix had been gone for a bit longer than expected. The mission with the Wardens was supposed to take only a few weeks and had lasted for longer than a month. While away he hadn't complained and had dealt with his duties admirably. He still had some thoughts in his head that he wasn't good enough to be within their ranks, but none of the Wardens he had traveled with had made him feel that way. There had been a bit of teasing for him being the newest Warden among them, but otherwise it had felt like he belonged there. It was almost peculiar to think about.

Either way, he still felt relieved when Skyhold came back into view. There was time spent in the Warden camp, debriefing and discussing, and then Felix wandered back up to the castle itself. He had changed from his Warden uniform and cleaned a bit because he wanted to look decent when he showed his face within the castle's walls.

Comments

Warden Camp

[circleprodigy]

Inessa's wandering outside to let Garahel stretch his legs, knowing how impossible her companion gets if he's cooped up inside for too long. Hoping to eventually wear him down through a game of fetch, she's been out there long enough to consider a tea break. However, Garahel's excited barking disrupts her thought process and her gaze follows the mabari as he streaks over to the camp's new arrival. Approaching as well though not at nearly the frantic pace of her companion, Inessa waves.

[blightedson]

Felix returns the wave with a smile and then bends to offer his hand to the dog to pet it on the head. He's surprised by how much he missed all of the mabari around this place.

"How have things been for the two of you?" he asks as Inessa comes closer.

[circleprodigy]

Hello, Felix! Garahel greets that head-patting with enthusiastic tail-wagging and bumping up against him amiably. As long as Felix doesn't seem overwhelmed, Inessa will just smile and let him be. With the ball currently forgotten, she tucks it away.

"It's good to see you again, Felix. We have more rifters, of course...no new Wardens yet, though. It's been a bit quiet since First Day, but I suspect that won't be the case for much longer. What about you? I hope your journey went well?"

[blightedson]

He nods. "It was... productive." It had shown him that he could do this, which he hadn't been certain about since his Joining. After all, it wasn't as if the Wardens had sought him out, he had been a charity case and to manipulate some of the members of the Inquisition. Not that he had ever minded, they had saved him from death after all.

"It's strange, back home 'productive' probably meant some magister was poisoned or some power play had been successful and here it means many darkspawn were killed and sealed away..."

[circleprodigy]

That gets a small grin from Inessa as she gestures for Garahel to settle down. Felix doesn't need a large muscular dog jumping around or tripping him up. "For me, it used to mean helping children refine their spells or researching some new application for my own. Warden life requires a different sense of normality, doesn't it? Even outside a Blight, the work never truly ends."

There's a wry smile on her lips, but her tone is one of acceptance. She's someone who always needs to be productive, so the neverending task of a Grey Warden suits her just fine. "If you've had enough of the brisk mountain weather, we can retreat inside. I was just about to take a tea break, anyway."

[blightedson]

Felix chuckles a bit. "Yes," he says. "I think I had enough of that on the trek up here." He moves to follow her as they go inside. "Has anything interesting happened while I was away?"

[circleprodigy]

Garahel leads the way, probably hoping that 'tea break' also means food for him. Inessa frowns in thought, her pace automatically matching her human companion's, a long-ingrained habit. "Other than First Day celebrations? Which seemed rather time, at least compared to Satinalia. That aside, I was part of a force sent to Crestwood, to take Caer Bronach back from the bandits. That rift in the lake still needs to be dealt with, but it's a start."

[blightedson]

"I'm glad the Inquisition was able to take another stronghold with the help of the Wardens. We need all of the footing we can get," he says thoughtfully. Once they're inside he moves to put down some of the supplies he's been carrying, just to lighten the load a bit. "Or they do, I suppose. I'm still not sure if we're supposed to talk as if we're members of the Inquisition or not..."

[circleprodigy]

Gesturing for Garahel to leave Felix's things alone, Inessa glances over her shoulder as she waits until he's placed down said supplies before moving on to the kitchen area. It's time to snag the kettle and fill it, ignoring the mabari's whining until it's over the fire. "Neither am I, to be honest. The longer we remain working side-by-side, the odder it seems to say that we aren't members in our own right. We are Grey Wardens for life, but while the Inquisition lasts, our goal in the same. Perhaps there's no harm in saying we're both."

{ skyhold }

[serannas]

The stronghold seems quieter with so many out in Orlais, stationed at various posts or taking time to recover after the events in Halamshiral. Ellana awaits their return here, thankful to have been spared the terrifying experience. She's kept herself busy by organizing her travels to elven ruins into a new journal that maybe Varric with his connections can someday help her get published. She's kept up at the lute, fingers gaining callouses from the strings, but she's learned no new songs since Felix has been away; merely tried perfecting old ones. And she's settled on a final shapeshift form: a big cat to claw and bite at her enemies should there be need.

All in all, life has moved forward well enough. His absence was a good test of their relationship and what she must expect it to be like from now on. Wardens have duties that go above those of the heart, but she thinks she's born the separation well. When he finds her, she's lost in thought, her journal open in her lap and a faraway look on her face. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she looks over, eyes taking in the figure first before they flicker up to the face and she inhales a sharp breath of surprise.

Her journal tumbles from her lap as she jumps to her feet and throws her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight. Her senses are flooded with the familiar and a laugh bubbles up from her throat. Then she pulls back, holding him at arms' length and clearing her throat. She tries to tamp down her smile as she says, "Sorry, who are you again?" but doesn't quite do it.

Re: { skyhold }

[blightedson]

Felix has felt an odd lump in his throat when he first saw her. It almost felt impossible to see someone who looked so beautiful and who made him feel like he had come home.Then she was there in his arms and it was even more impossible that he was holding onto someone so wonderful. He was grateful he had thought to clean up before coming here. He didn't want her to see him all tired and filthy from his trek up the mountain back to the stronghold.

He chuckles softly at the joke. "I'm not entirely certain. I was hoping that you'd help to remind me."

[serannas]

And in return, she has the kindest, most caring man in the world here in her arms once more. The strength of his mind and his heart has always left her in awe and even with distance between them, she knew he was staying true to himself and doing good works for the Wardens. She swears she can feel more bulk on his arms than when last he was here. Probably swinging a sword and doing other physically taxing things. But he's healthy and stronger now, so she doesn't have to worry.

"Hmm," she begins, eyes narrowing in thought. "Hmm, what if I...?" Ellana trails off and moves to press herself against him, lips teasingly grazing against his.

"Is it coming back to you yet?"

[blightedson]

His arms are stronger and his skin is healthier. He'll probably always have some sign of what the Blight did to him, but he seems almost normal now, strong and capable. It's worth the taint to have a moment like this when he can be with her and hold her without feeling weak or in pain. Even though it's been so long since his Joining, he still marvels every day at the life that was given to him.

The kiss is gentle and sweet and he moves to wrap an arm around her fully. "A bit. We might need to try again." This time he leans down to kiss her. It's still more sweet than heated, but his is a bit firmer.

[serannas]

Ellana giggles against his mouth, but moves a hand to cradle the back of his head, joining him in deepening the kiss. Maybe she should be more conscious of where they are, since an elf and human kissing out in the open isn't a sight many probably wish to see, but this moment of reunion has temporarily washed all logical thoughts from her mind. All she can think about is Felix and how comfortable this all is. Nothing is more comforting than the familiar, and Felix knows her better than anybody. He knows all her stories, all her experiences, and she's never hidden a thought or feeling from him. It's like -- she suddenly realizes -- her other half is here again, filling up that reserved spot in her heart.

"Mm," she hums, softly breaking the kiss. "How about now? Getting a sense of who you are?"

[blightedson]

Felix feels as if he came back to life just for this. The work he was doing with the Wardens could be considered important, but it was being with her that had made the Joining worthwhile. He grins when she pulled back.

"Yes," he says softly. "I'm Felix Alexius, a Warden, and madly in love with you." It was cheesy but one thing he knew was that she didn't mind cheesy.

[serannas]

"Ah, good to know," she replies, eyes bright and full of love for him in return. If there's one thing that can be said for Ellana, it's that she's a hopeless romantic, so no, she doesn't mind cheesy, sentimental words like these. In her eyes, they're perfect.

But now that they've established who he is, she turns her attention back to the ground and pulls back enough to retrieve her journal and piece of charcoal.

"We should go somewhere more private to catch up. My room? It's closer than the Warden camp."

[blightedson]

He nods. "I'd like that." He glances around for a moment, looking out for anyone who might be staring. He wasn't embarrassed to be with her, of course, but there was always this concern what people would think of her for being with the son of a disgraced Tevinter magister.

"You have to tell me everything I missed," he adds as he pulls back to taker her hand so that she can lead the way to her room.

Skyhold

[conqueredhearts]

It was perhaps an odd sight to see such a giant warrior sitting on some stone steps with what look like bits of meat on a plate next to him. Well, perhaps that wasn't so strange but the very tiny kitten in his hand that he was feeding might be. Not everyday one would come across a giant, muscular warrior just caring for a tiny creature. Then again, Iskandar was rather unusual in many ways and he liked it that way.

"That's it. Eat up so you can grow strong, my friend." He smiled at the little thing the directed that smile towards Felix when he saw him walk by. "My friend! We've met before, have we not? A delight to see you again!"

Re: Skyhold

[blightedson]

Felix grins at the sight of the tiny kitten in Iskandar's hands. "Hello," he says as he moves closer. "Who is your little friend?"

[conqueredhearts]

"This is Hephaestion Alexander. I adopted him recently when it seems he became quite taken with me." He chuckled then waved a hand for him to come and say hello to the little one. "Come. Meet him. He enjoys scratches."

[blightedson]

Felix happily comes closer to pet the kitten. He's easily charmed by the adorableness. "Hello there Hephaestion Alexander," he comments, having no trouble at all with the name. Honestly, some magisters have names that are more mouthfuls.

[conqueredhearts]

The kitten looked at the man with big eyes that seemed to be trying to understand who this person was interrupting his delicious meal. Iskandar chuckled and poked his head gently which caused a squeaky mew to come out before the kitten looked back up at the stranger. "He is curious about you, I see."

[blightedson]

"Most are," he admits. Something about being Tevinter or the son of Alexius would do that. He pet the kitten gently and then focused on the man instead.

"How did you find them? Was there a litter?"

[conqueredhearts]

"Hermione found this little one. He was alone and hiding in the stables. I helped to bring him out into the open and he found himself drawn to me. So I take care of him now. I have not been able to find others though."

He had tried to look for them so he could bring them under his wing but there was no sign of what could have happened to them along the way. At least he could say he'd been able to help this one.

[blightedson]

"I'm glad you were able to save him, at least," Felix replied to the story. That does bring some concern though, because kittens so rarely appear without litters. "I'll keep my ears open for any mewing in case the little one has any lost brothers and sisters."