faderift | [Open] Time for some enjoyment

WHO: Iskandar and OPEN
WHAT: Iskandar is here to have a good time. Join him?
WHEN: Throughout Drakonis
WHERE: Skyhold and other fun places
NOTES: Probably lots of cute times. Maybe some sad times depending on the threads. But mostly a lot of cute and loud affection. Because Iskandar.

A. It's a new dog!

He'd been wanting one since first seeing the mabari. Now he had one of his own. A fine pup who tended to spend much of his time tripping over his own feet but was ever eager to be with and please the large man. Really he'd been told that an older dog would be recommended but they'd laid eyes on each other and that had been that. After all, once that bond was formed there simply was no going back.

And so one could find him with a puppy in one of the more open areas. They were training and it seemed that the puppy was at least rather intelligent at picking up on things! So long as Iskandar used his native tongue for the commands, something he'd decided to do just to solidify their bond further.

"Heh. What a clever boy you are, my Achilles Alexander!" The pup gave a bark and then happily ate up the piece of meat that he was given. And yes, Iskandar sure had named this dog after himself.

B. Training is important

The best way to perfect how one used their adjusted powers was to, well, use them. So he was around the training grounds to work with the couple of them that he felt could safely be done here. Name the teleportation and invisibility ones. So it was easy enough to spot him standing in one location only to reappear in another. At times he frowned and rubbed his beard as he considered what he'd been doing before trying again.

One could feel free to interrupt him though. He wasn't needing the concentration to do this really.

C. Memories rise to the surface

There were times when even Iskandar needed a moment to reflect, to think on the sadder days. Though he never regretted any of them that hardly meant they didn't weight on his heart. Many had been lost under his command or had given up much to follow him. Then there were times when he remembered Hephaestion and how perhaps he would never see him again. Or that his son would be someone he'd never lay eyes on.

So he was in the gardens with a kitten and a mabari pup curled up together on his lap. Both were sound asleep as if they'd been playing hard until that moment. He smiled down at them fondly, stroked their soft ears as he admired their pure innocence.

"It has been long since I had your purity, little ones."

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"I was. I have many memories and sometimes it is good to simply recall them whether they be wonderful or saddening. That way I can ensure they are never lost and those in them are remembered."

One could say it was his way of honoring the people in them honestly. They had died but he was still keeping their memories alive so that way there would always be one who would know they had existed. That they had lived and laughed and cried with him.

There was very, very little that could surprise the Medicine Seller anymore.

But someone who dealt with death and grief with acceptance rather than repression or anger?

Wow.

"It is unusual to meet one who would think such."

Oddly refreshing as well. Well-adjusted people were kind of in short supply in his line of work.

He gave a soft laugh. He was aware that his views on such things were not exactly typical but it was something he took pride in. Besides, he felt it to be healthier in the long run.

"I suppose it would be. Many are taught to have shame in such feelings. I see no reason to feel that way when it would dishonor those who share the memories with me."

Shifting some when the little ones stretched so he could allow them more comfort, he gave them both a stroke to the head.

"I will mourn just as openly as I share my joy and wonder of the world. Such pain of loss is no weakness in my eyes."

It was a nice sentiment, if it wasn't some manner of bluster. At the very least, it meant Iskander was no easy prey for those that leeched off some insecurity.

And it truly was rare to find an individual who didn't think grief was some kind of weakness.

"Who do you mourn?" He asked.

"A great many this day. There have been many I have loved in my time, many I have cherished. Though I suppose today I mourn the man my son could have been had he lived to see such times. I also mourn a dear friend who has been with me my entire life but who is not here at my side."

But at least were both able to rest in peace now. He could celebrate that. Resting his hand on the tiny kitten, he smiled at him fondly.

"This one is named after this friend actually."

"Such is an unfortunate consequence of longevity, so I've heard," he said, tacking on the last bit to maintain some plausible deniability.

"...Lives as fleeting as the seasons - though they always return in some capacity or another."

He knelt, extending one hand to scratch the kitten under its chin.

"Their names?"

"They are. That is the beauty of them. All that we can accomplish in so small a time. Lives centuries after our own will be changed by one small action in the present."

Like how he'd taken these two. There was no telling what that would mean in times to come.

"The kitten is Hephaestion Alexander. The pup is Achilles Alexander. Hephaestion was the name of my good friend."

"Indeed, to exist in this world is to change it," he agreed. "Even in small ways."

Change was, after all, the nature of life and death, like the echo that sets off an avalanche.

"I have never heard of a cat and dog with a surname, however."

"A surname? No. This is one name. Both share my name and one also has the name of my oldest and dearest friend while the other also has the name of my favorite hero from my favorite story."

He chuckled a bit.

"Surnames are not so common in the time I was born into. However, many names and titles were common for the great heroes and Kings."

"Oh? More of a family name then."

His dull monotone had the slightest hint of teasing to it.

"Will they become great leaders of cats and dogs?"

"Well if that their wish then I would greatly support them in the effort!"

He laughed softly but it was clear he meant it. They might be pets but they might as well be children to him. If those were the attitudes they took on then he would guide them to that.

"You are an unusual man," he remarked, though he was sure Iskander had probably heard it before. A lot.

But getting back to their original topic -

"How long have you lived?"

"Mmmm. It's difficult to say honestly. I was in my early thirties when I first died but I could have been summoned a number of times since then and would not recall it. So I suppose hundreds of years is rather accurate at least."

Iskandar certainly didn't recall anything that might contradict that point anyway.

[Open] Time for some enjoyment

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