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

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

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.

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Within the first day that Cade is in there, a visitor comes while he's sleeping, and has a quiet fight with the healers. Apparently, they were worried about the very elf that he smacked last time triggering another attack. But Beleth is persuasive, and eventually convinces them that she won't do anything that will result in her getting smacked.

Hopefully.

She'll be patiently waiting there until Cade wakes up, a sandwich by the stand next to the bed, indicating she's ready to sit there for a while. Luckily, she has a book, and she reads it while she waits next to his bed, humming quiet.

Iskandar had been out for a walk when he'd seen the young man. Since it was someone he didn't know he went with the very obvious conclusion of what he should do. Of course, this was the opposite of what the normal reaction was which would have been to continue walking and minding his own business.

Hence why he now approached him with a big smile like they were old friends. "Good day, my friend! And what is it you are doing here on your own?"

Yep, one would think he knew whoever this was very well.

The red lyrium spikes had to be actually surgically removed from Cade's leg, which was not a quick or pleasant process. It took a long time, several attempts, and even now the healers can't risk magically closing up the gaping wound, in the event that they seal traces of red lyrium inside. It's a mess. It looks and feels horrible, though at least at the moment it is heavily bandaged.

Cade has been blissfully out of it since before this began, at least, and by the grace of herbal painkillers he is still mostly numb. His brain is in that strange limbo between consciousness and sleep, so when he hears humming, some tiny piece of person in the very depths of his brain draws a conclusion.

"Mama?" he mumbles, barely coherent, "can we go home?"

Here comes a large, loud, and aggressively red-haired man, and Cade is instantly terrified upon the moment of being greeted. He has a book open in front of him, which he almost forgets to hide behind his back as soon as he realizes it is visible to other people with eyes.

Rather than answer or stand or smile or greet Iskandar back like a real person would do, Cade stares at him like a frightened rabbit for several long moments, then whispers "hello" in return.

Well that was the most timid reaction he'd ever received in his life. Iskandar blinked in surprise then actually went to sit down in front of the young man. On the ground. He was obviously trying to make himself look smaller to help here even though he knew he was still going to be quite intimidating just by existing.

"What is it you are reading there? Is a book of stories?"

As soon as he starts speaking, Beleth's head jerks up from her reading. A look of worried surprise soon crosses her face, however, when she realizes the mistake. He wanted his mother. Well--he wouldn't get judgement from her, she understood. But--what to do? Ignore it? Correct him?

Looking left and right before slowly scooting the chair up to the side of the bed, Beleth reaches to gently brush her fingers against his hair. She continues it as she speaks, a gesture that she hopes brings him comfort. "Only when you get better. So you have to focus on getting better, okay?" And, after a moment of hesitation, she figures she has nothing to lose.

"I can't stand the thought of you being hurt, you know."

Of course, of course the book. He really needs to get better at hiding it, and before anyone can see that he even has one. Or he should just stop hiding it and incriminating himself before anyone can even look at the cover, but then what if they ask about it?
HIs life is a hellscape.

"No," he says quickly, almost defensively, and clears his throat. He'd stand up, but the whole point of being here is that he's injured, so he couldn't make a quick getaway if he tried.
Instead he just braces himself, looking like a person who's about to undergo something terribly unpleasant that he just has to grin and bear.

Cade has not actually seen his mother for about twenty-five years, but there are still things that call her to mind-- it's been the same amount of time since anyone has pet his hair this way, or spoken softly to him when he isn't feeling well. It checks out.
"Sorry," he murmurs, "I didn't mean to."

The large man tilted his head to the side. "My friend, you act as if you are terrified of the air I breathe as well as like you're ashamed of this book. If all of this is so terrible why be out here?"

Really it was a good question as far as he was concerned. Of course he didn't really give him time to answer because then he was smiling at him again as he leaned forward. "I am Iskandar! King of Conquerors! Who might you be?"

At this, Cade looks a little more anxious-- why?? As if he chooses to be here? His eyes dart to the bandage over his leg, then back up again. He takes a breath as though considering saying something, but then Iskandar introduces himself, and he's silent again.

That's. That's a name, right there.

"Um," he murmurs, "Cade."

"Cade! I like that name. So how were you injured, Cade? It seems it's recent enough for you to not run from social interaction with a stranger but old enough that you can be outside the tents of healing."

People always said Alexander the Great was a genius. Apparently it was pretty accurate.

This is probably...not the Right Thing to do. Beleth's aware of that. It's probably mean, to let him think that someone is here, who isn't. But it feels like it would be more cruel to deny him that small bit of comfort. And...a small part of her has to admit that she likes this. She likes getting to dote on someone. It makes her feel useful, wanted--even if she's not the one he wants.

"It's okay, I know you didn't." She whispers, gentle. "I'd never stay mad at you. I just want you to be more careful, okay? Promise me." This...was not how she expected it to go, and there's a strange twist in Beleth's stomach, an emotion that's hard to place, but seems...forboding. Well, when he's properly awake, she'll yell at him.

"...thank you." Cade isn't necessarily terrified anymore, but he's still eyeing Iskandar as though he's a bear that might attack at the slightest provocation.
"Um. The Winter Palace," he explains in the lowest voice possible to still be heard, "red lyrium." That's probably enough information for the typical asker, and he can't help but hope Iskandar is typical.

To be fair, Cade probably won't remember this later, or at least he won't realize an actual person was involved. For all he knows, he's just dreaming about his mother.
He nods, knitting his brow unhappily at Beleth's request, but complying all the same. "I promise," he more mouths than says.

"Mm. I did hear a lot happened there." Iskandar brought his hand up to stroke his chin in thought. Honestly he wondered what would have happened if he'd been there. Could he have prevented some sort of injury happening to the people who got hurt? Possibly not. Ah well. There was no point in dwelling on what he could have done when he could spend that energy on what could happen in the future.

"At least you are healing well! After all, you are out here reading your book of mystery!"

"Thank you." And she smiles, even though Cade can't see it. "You have such a good heart. And I'm grateful for you." And she just keeps stroking his hair, eventually falling back into quiet humming.

As Cade drifts off, so does she, tired from the worry and stress, from spending her time nervously waiting to see if Cade was alright. In the end, she props her arms up on the edge of his bed, head nestled in her arms as she drifts off.

Her dreams are better than last night's.

At some point during the day there is some noticeable singing that begins near the healing tents. Whomever it is seems to be moving through each tent, continuing to sing familiar Chantry hymns both brightly and happily. This continues until she reaches where Cade has been set up as she pushes the flap aside, a vase full of flowers in a small vase and continuing to sing.

Saoirse assumes he is sleeping as she arranges it on the nearby stand but is quite surprised when she looks over and sees that is not the case.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she says, quietly with a noted Starkhaven accent. "Did I wake you?"

The tents are pretty full after the mess in the Winter Palace, which means Anders isn't entirely certain when the red-lyrium-exposed Cade snuck out of bed. He just knows it happened when he finds the bed empty.

"Maker's breath." Templars can cage mages, but they can't be bothered to stay put when it's in their own best interests. He emerges out of the tent to find the Templar thankfully not too far away, and he shakes his head.

"You're supposed to be resting. You've a hole in your leg, in case you've forgotten."

Do you know what care and responsible ownership of nugs involves? Probably not because most people don't own nugs beyond wanting to eat them or wanting to race them or they're the shame of Orzammar, hidden away because Orzammar is shit. But anyway, he's getting away from himself.

Point is: you need to walk the nugs. For Yngvi this just means you unleash them and then go looking for them which is what he's doing.

Or that's what he's going to say he's doing. Because what he's actually doing is--

"Who needs this much witherstalk? Who has the time to be requiring this much of it? We all know why people need witherstalk. And elfroot. Because we also know what everyone does with elfroot too. Coincidence, I think not." Hi Cade, he is here to brighten your day.

At least the man has backed off some. Cade is pleasantly surprised, though still wary. "..yes," he agrees quietly, but at the mention of the book, his entire face goes red. He looks away, biting the inside of his cheek, hoping the book is never mentioned again.

"Um... yes. Thank you." He's not sure what he's thanking him for, but he hopes it works.

It's a good chunk of hours later when Cade actually wakes up, and though he's groggy, he's alert enough to notice that Beleth is passed out next to him. He stares at her for a moment, slowly putting his thoughts together, then lays his head back down with a sigh, pursing his lips and deliberating on what to do. Should he wake her? That seems mean. Perhaps he'll enjoy the experience of having someone here for him, just for a little bit longer.

"Is this book a journal of sorts? You do become flustered whenever I mentioned." Really he wasn't sure why he wanted to guess to much. Other than the fact that the young man was so closed off that suddenly his curiosity had intensified. Just what was making this man so flustered every time the topic came up?

Probably not the normal way to make friends but there Iskandar was anyway.

It's actually the singing that gets his attention first, and Cade opens his eyes, though it's really no surprise Saoirse didn't see him-- he is very quiet, after all. Watching her place the flowers, he blinks at her in mild confusion, then shakes his head. Perhaps it's just the sleep-inducing herbs, but he seems to be having trouble processing her existence.

Cade's first inclination, when caught, is to apologize. "I'm sorry," he says quickly as he turns, but when he finds himself face to face with that mage, all of his contrition goes straight out the window.
Though he doesn't verbally shoot Anders down, Cade seems to have trouble processing this moment, his expression abruptly torn between fear, outrage, and plain stubbornness. Who is this man to tell him what to do? Anders is the whole reason he's here.

Oh no. It's him.

Cade doesn't remember the dwarf's name, or even how they met, but he remembers him the instant Yngvi appears in his line of sight, and he immediately sighs in a sort of helpless desolation. He's trapped here.

"....dull pain..?" he guesses timidly, for the sake of ensuring Yngvi doesn't think he's ignoring him and push harder. He does not know what Everyone Does With Elfroot.

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

healing tents

Near Tents

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healing tents

Healing Tents

the healing tents

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