Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

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WHO: Nathaniel, Norrington, Anders, and Cade
WHAT: Minor investigation regarding a spat at the healing tents.
WHEN: After Cade's last open post
WHERE: Skyhold/Camp Shady
NOTES: Probably aspirin abuse from the superior officers who have to do this. Also, Cade and Anders are just walking trigger warnings.

[actual video of Nathaniel]

Comments

Cade - Courtyard

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After drills are over and Cade is ready, Nathaniel is sitting by James and waiting for him, reading a book which he has to hold a good way away. When he sees Cade approach, he closes the book and sets it down on the bench. He stands and offers his hand to shake.

"Ser Cade. It's a pleasure. I am Senior Warden Nathaniel Howe."

[onlyhymns]

Cade has been nervous about this all day, and it's been obvious during his drills: he's distracted, worried, and can't get his head out of the clouds.
When the fateful moment finally arrives, he comes over to the pair, very mindfully not slinking, since he knows they hate that. So he stands straight, and though he still can't bring himself to make eye contact, he does take Nate's hand to shake it.

"Warden Howe," he timidly replies.

[judgemewhole]

James was standing at an angle, so he could observe drills as they finished, and focus on the conversation at hand. When Cade arrived, he was happy to note the man didn't slump ... but he did avoid eye-contact. "Ser Harrimann, Senior Warden Howe has some questions to ask you. Please answer him as truthfully as you would answer to me."

He wasn't about to have this turn into a 'he is HIDING SOMETHING' interrogation. Just the facts, if you please.

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Nathaniel sits, which indicates that Cade is free to do so as well.

"I understand you were in the healing tents recently," he says gently. "Are you feeling better?"

[onlyhymns]

Cade does so automatically, glancing to Norrington with that same air of worry. He folds his hands in his lap to keep them still.

"Yes," he says quietly, "thank you." He's going to be thrown in the dungeon or killed or maybe both.

[judgemewhole]

Norrington shakes his head a little, before tipping his chin up encouragingly for the other man to go on. They just want to know what happened.

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They want to know what happened, yes. But Cade is not in trouble yet, and people give themselves more freely if you are polite and they feel at ease and respected. Nathaniel has spent years practicing on Velanna.

"Can you tell me what happened between you and Anders? Starting with walking away from your tent."

[onlyhymns]

Cade looks at his hands. "I um. I got restless, so... I... went a little ways away. From the healers. To be alone." He had been in the general vicinity of the healing tents, but, to Anders' credit, not where he was supposed to be.
"He came over and told me to go back. And um." At this Cade goes red, knowing he's pretty obviously int he wrong here. "...I wouldn't. Because he's..." He clamps his mouth shut and rubs the back of his neck, glancing furtively between Norrington and Howe. Neither of them was in Kirkwall, neither understands the exact thought process of being told what to do by the person who was, at least superficially, responsible for what has turned into years of intrinsic terror.

"I... think I... started to go back?" he continues, his voice lowering; he had panicked, which often means he blanks out, and this time is no exception. "...but I fell, and..." He winces. Everything after this is jumbled shouting and blind fear, anger, something in between.
"Someone-- that chantry brother-- arrived and gave me his crutch. And then I went back." His shoulders hunch slightly. As usual, Cade hardly comes out looking like the innocent party. But if there's one hill he'll die on, it's having nothing to do with That Mage.

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The lad is going to fall apart any day now, Nathaniel predicts with an internal wince of sympathy.

"Anders said you threatened to kill him. Is that true?"

Anders - Camp Shady Fucker

[judgemewhole]

After the interview with Cade, James followed Nathaniel down to the Warden camp. To be honest, James had never gone to this camp. He had his own separate issues with Grey Wardens, and it seemed best to just ... let them do their rather Shady things.

Yet, here he was. And there was Anders.

"All right, Anders. I'm here to take your statement on everything that happened with Cade." He nodded at Nathaniel. "Your Senior Warden has agreed to stand witness for you."

[justice_is_blond]

Agreed to stand witness for him as he's questioned by a Templar. It's not Rolan, but it doesn't feel too far off. All the same, Anders keeps his expression neutral. Showing weakness in front of a Templar, nerves, anything, is something he avoids as much as possible.

"I was the spirit healer on duty. One of my patients had a hole in his leg that he was making worse by being outside and using it. That was my concern, as it was resisting healing thanks to the influence of red lyrium. I told him he was supposed to be resting, he glared at me. I told him to go inside, he glared further. I told him to choose bed or glyph so that I could make certain he wasn't making the wound worse. He didn't choose. I told him I'd count to three. I was aware of who he was, but if a patient is intent on hurting themselves I'm going to attempt to stop them. Especially when they've been known to hurt others when influenced by red lyrium previously."

Anders shrugs, feeling entirely uncomfortable. Is he fairly certain he was right? Yes. But people get very touchy around magic use, and define how it serves based on their own views. He's not sure what Norrington will say. ...And he's not sure what Nate's position here is.

"I cast, he dispelled, moved to walk away, and his leg gave out as I'd expected. Injury, not exhaustion. I was there a moment later, doing what little I could and then offering an arm to help him up. He told me not to touch him. There was no one else around, so I pointed out that it would be my hand or crawling, and then he called me a murderer and told me if I touched him he would kill me. I gave him physical room, pointed out it was rich for a Kirkwall Templar to call someone else a murderer, he threw a fit, and Brother Jeannot arrived to loan his cane to Cade."

He realizes then that he knows how this is going to go after all. Just as Jeannot rescued Cade, the decision would favor the Templar. All of them did, even when a usual mage was involved but he wasn't that. He was Anders, distilled down to one action and one choice. His expression changes slowly to tiredness as he wonders what exactly happens now.

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Nathaniel resists putting his arm around Anders' waist while acting as his senior. Opposite to Anders, he is actually feeling reassured by this testimony--Anders gave Cade warning after warning, and Cade was free to dispel whatever Anders cast. A rotten situation, but absolutely no worse than two soldiers getting into a fist fight. He cannot resist a small smile, but when he sees Anders's weary look, he meets his eyes and gives an affirming nod.

"Are you satisfied, Knight-Commander?"

[judgemewhole]

James nodded his head slowly as it was all explained - and he could see precisely how it went from start to finish. He glanced over at Nathaniel, giving a faint nod, before he spoke, "Yes, I think I can see what happened clearly enough. Cade was being a stubborn idiot -- and so were you. You were both pig-headed at one another until Brother Jehan was wise and cool enough to step in. I am glad it didn't come to anything more serious than a dispelling and Cade hurting himself."

His tone was slightly dry, as he turned back to Nathaniel, "So, what we simply have here is two hotheads getting hot at one another. No abuse of magic, no abuse of Templar powers. Wouldn't you agree, Senior Warden Howe?"

[justice_is_blond]

Though he feels some relief when Norrington says there wasn't an abuse of magic, Anders' eyes have narrowed.

"Stubborn idiot? I've been respectful, referred to him as my patient, and you're going to call me names? Did you call him names to his face? Because I'd wager the answer to that is no." He shakes his head. "If I'd done nothing and he'd injured his leg further, imagine the outcry. Anders ignores injured Templar, makes wounds worse. I was being stubborn for both of our sakes, there was nothing idiotic about it."

Is it truly so much to ask that he not be called names to his face? No wonder Cade thinks he can get away with death threats.

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"More flies with honey than with vinegar, Knight-Commander," Nathaniel says in chill agreement. "But I concur that they need to apologize to each other like gentlemen. We won't even make them shake hands."

[judgemewhole]

Do not roll your eyes, Norrington. Do not do it. Think of the delicious bottle of red wine that awaits you in the tavern after this.

"May I state then, with less tangent words, if Anders had just let him go about his business and collapse on the ground, Cade might have swallowed his own idiocy and asked for help?" He responded, leveling a gaze at both Wardens. "Templars are never going to learn to accept mages like Anders if they don't learn it on their own - if they don't fall on their faces because of their pride and prejudice. Forcing them is just going to make it that much harder."

Now, he exhaled, and this time he was as weary as Anders, "We have a thousand years of behavior to retrain -- on both sides of this line. We can start with Cade apologizing."

[justice_is_blond]

Norrington has a point. Being there for everything is only going to make the Templars continue to expect it. He doesn't think Cade would have asked for help, but he understands what's being said. ...And he much prefers Norrington's offered solution over Nate's. One, at least, wants to start with the Templar making an overture. The look Anders gives Nate is searching. He'd expected to have someone a little on his side in the room for once.

"We can start there." If Cade apologizes, Anders will as well.

Both

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The four of them have come together. As far as the superiors can tell, this is fair. Nathaniel doesn't like this part--he feels too much like he is treating the love of his life like a misbehaving child. From now on, maybe Alistair should handle disciplinary incidents involving Anders.

Re: Both

[judgemewhole]

For his part, Norrington doesn't like making Cade apologize to Anders of all people, but Cade rode on thin ice every single time he went off on his own to do things. He did not want the Seekers to come down and kill the young man for panicking when Anders came at him.

Yet here they were. And everyone looked ... grouchy. Which was fine, because Norrington felt grouchy himself.

Red wine, he told himself. Red wine.

[onlyhymns]

Cade is used to being treated like a misbehaving child, and to boot often feels like one, and this incident is no different. He stands just behind Norrington, his arms folded and his bearing guarded. He will endure this, because he has to, but no longer than necessary.

Guess who forgot to track this.

[justice_is_blond]

He's not in the best of moods, between having his husband help pass judgment on him and dealing further with someone who thought making death threats was fine because it was him. Despite this, his expression is mostly flat as he stands beside Nate and waits. The decision he'd heard had been Cade apologizing first, and that's something he'd prefer anyway.

[onlyhymns]

Presumably Cade has been informed of how this is meant to go, but he's no happier about it. He steps forward stiffly, regarding Anders with an expression fraught with loathing. "Sorry," he mutters, and doesn't sound like he means it at all.

And now that gif is James.

[judgemewhole]

It was only by the Maker's own grace that James did not slap his hand against his forehead in frustration. Only that. Instead he sucked in a breath, before saying calmly, "Ser Harrimann, Andraste would not have been so abrupt. Do you shrink so far from Her favor that you would offer such a petty apology? You are a better man than this."

So act like it. is the unspoken comment.

[justice_is_blond]

The not-apology is what he'd expected, and he takes a moment to deal with the annoyance. In that moment, he's surprised. This might be a first, a Templar getting after another Templar for being a jerk to a mage, or at least he's pretty sure it's the first time he's experienced it.

The surprise shows on his face, a brief flicker, as Anders looks from Norrington to Cade and then waits again to see what happens here.

[onlyhymns]

Of all the appeals James could have made to Cade's better judgment, this is... probably not the one he should have gone with. Although Cade goes a deep red, clearly embarrassed by the admonishment, it only compels him to dig his heels in further.

"Ser, Andraste was burned at the stake for her convictions," he grudgingly points out, keeping his voice and head low, "and She did not condone lying." Cade can be manipulated in myriad ways, but his faith, for the most part, isn't one of them.
He might have done it if it were on Meredith's urging, but then, Meredith wouldn't be making him reconcile with Anders.