[open] we sit and grow our roots into the floor

[onlyhymns]

WHO: Cade and his many friends and admirers
WHAT: a dumb sulky baby got hurt at the Winter Palace because he was dumb and now he is sulking about it
WHEN: post-Halamshiral, simultaneous with red lyrium plot hell
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Injury stuff, nothing ridiculous



The Healing Tents

For the umpteenth time in the span of two years, Cade is under supervision. But this time it's not because he was violent-- well... it was, but indirectly-- it's because he got a couple spikes of red lyrium through the thigh after flipping out and battling Red Templars completely unarmored in the Winter Palace.
He ingested red lyrium once before, and from what anyone can tell it caused him to smack an elf. This is a lot more of the stuff, and Cade is notoriously unstable, so he's being watched to make sure it doesn't alter his personality.

He's the first to reassure the healers that lyrium doesn't work like that, you have to take it daily and it slowly builds up in you and so forth, but, you know, caution is caution. He respects it. But he hates being fussed over, so periodically he'll sneak off a small ways just to have a bit of solitude.


Near the Healing Tents, Being a Renegade

Usually this means sitting up on the ramparts and watching people, reading, anything that gets him a little peace and quiet. For someone who seems to thrive on being told what to do, no one can tell Cade what to do and he will be stubborn for as long as it takes for him to be deemed Safe again.

This is pointless.


Choose Your Own Adventure

Whatever else! Hit me up if you want a specific scene, or just start one here and I will accede to your whims.

Comments

[arlathvhen]

"Oh, um--good." The smile's returned for a moment, before her head ducks down. Embarrassed, maybe. Or. Something. It's still nice that he remembers the conversation that they had that wasn't about possibly dying. It's not like anything that went on between them after that was particularly moving.

Out of things to say, she lets the silence stretch on for a while. Then, she glances up again. "Is there anything you want? Any, um. Books or anything?"

[onlyhymns]

She speaks just in time for Cade to not get too anxious about the silence and the touching-- the drugging helps-- and, upon considering, he nods lightly. "Um... books would be great," he says with a timid smile, "I keep finishing them."

[arlathvhen]

"I can handle books. What have you already read? I don't want to give you duplicates." She smiles cheerfully, glad to have an easy way to be able to help him. Then she pauses, studies his face, and withdraws her hand, settling it with her other one on her lap. Her head is cocked to the side as she looks thoughtfully at Cade.

"Whenever I see you smile, it's always...almost like you're unsure if you're allowed to. Like you're worried that you might get yelled at for it. Is that just something you do to me...?" Surely no one had actually yelled at him for smiling, at least lately. But then, that sort of thing can stick with you. She would know.

[onlyhymns]

Of course, the moment Beleth mentions his smile, it drops right off his face. Cade clears his throat and looks away, faced with yet another impossible question.

"..no?" he guesses. He's never had a reason to be conscious of his own smiling, and now he is, so he doesn't know what to do with his face. On the whole, he's not afraid he'll get yelled at, he's just afraid to be happy about anything that could go sour at any moment.

[arlathvhen]

A small sigh follows Cade's drooping face, Beleth's head ducking down. Damn. Well--maybe she can try to use this as an opportunity to try to help him...? Sometimes, you had to be awkward and weird to get things done.

Beleth is...pretty sure that's true. Maybe.

"...I'm just asking because I'd like to see you with a smile that's more...relaxed, I guess. You should try it some time. Unless there's something that you're worried about? I can try to fix it, if there is." She's not sure how, but she is sure that she can give it her best shot, whatever it may be. Until then, examining her hands thoughtfully, she recalls a very vital and important lesson her brother taught her, once.

"What do you call a seagull flying over a bay?" A short pause, and then: "A bagel."

Ba dum tss

[onlyhymns]

Oh no. The more she talks, the more aware of his own face Cade becomes, until he is too busy focusing on what he is or isn't doing with his mouth muscles to even continue listening to Beleth. Does he look like an asshole? Or unnatural? How do you look natural? Does he ever look natural, and is he doing it right now?
He doesn't realize until several seconds after her joke that this is happening, and he snaps abruptly to attention. "What?"

[arlathvhen]

He definitely does not look natural right now, because Beleth looks more distressed as he worries over it, pulling back from him and starting to wring her hands.

"Cade, I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't want you to get worried about it. I just--" She shifts, looking more distressed than the situation probably warrants, but. That's not that unusual for her. "--You look fine, Cade. Your face is fine." She reaches over, and pats him on the cheek. Look, you're fine, please stop freaking out because you're making me freak out.

[onlyhymns]

Now she's freaking out and it's freaking him out more. Is she nervous because he's making her nervous? He has that effect on people, he makes them n--
His thoughts screech to a halt when Beleth touches his face, and he stares at her, dumbfounded. It's not that it would be that surprising of a moment for someone who's touched more often, or even who's spent more time around Beleth, but in the confusion of the moment he has no idea what to do.
Processing...
Processing...

[arlathvhen]

Oh, no. She broke him. Again. This is probably a new record for them.

"Cade...?" Hesitantly, she pokes him in the cheek, like there's a switch there that can turn him back to normal. Immediately realizing that's a stupid idea, she elects to withdraw her hand entirely, settling it back on her lap. "...Are you okay?" That's a stupid question, because he obviously isn't, and she's not sure if she's ever known him to be.

"Can you just--tell me how to make you not upset." Because, clearly, she's incompetent on her own.

[onlyhymns]

"I don't know," Cade says quickly, flinching after she pokes his cheek, "I'm fine. I'm fine." If he could tell her how to not make him upset, he would tell everyone, and then either not be upset anymore or be upset always.
"Sorry," he adds.

[arlathvhen]

"Cade--" She wants to press him, tell him he's clearly not fine, and how does he not know what upsets him? How is she supposed to not upset him if he can't even tell her? But Beleth does learn from her mistakes, or she tries to.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I'm not upset at you." She pauses, staring at her lap thoughtfully. "I just don't want to make you upset." She glances back up at him. "Your face is fine, Cade. I like it how it is."