{ CLOSED } If I just breathe

[aceso]

WHO: Christine and her closest friends
WHAT: A birthday picnic.
WHEN: Bloomingtide 13th
WHERE: the foothills of the Vimmarks, an hour NW of Kirkwall

As with most things, Christine overplans for her picnic. She studies maps and speaks with the locals about the safest areas outside Kirkwall and finds that heading towards the foothills of the mountains around mid-morning is probably her safest bet. She invites those nearest and dearest to her to join her for a birthday celebration, though it's by no means fancy. There will be plenty of food, drink, and activities to be had, but the part she's most excited about is just leaving Kirkwall. To breathe fresh air and see some greenery again. The brief respite she had for Aleron and Bethany's wedding made her crave this outing all the more.

On the day, they load up their mounts with the supplies and head out. The trip only takes around an hour and the path is well kept, so when she spots the large maple tree and stream cutting through that a local told her about, she knows they've reached the picnic spot. It's a wide, mostly flat field that starts to rise towards the north. To the east at the end of the field, it rises more sharply, the hills dotted with heavy stones. To the west is the path they've veered off, the large tree, and the stream that keeps going west under a short wooden bridge. And to the south is the view. Green hills descend before them, and while there's a hint of Kirkwall's Hightown within sight, what they can see beyond is the shimmer of sunlight on the Waking Sea. Now it's time to set out the blankets, let the mounts graze and lap water from the stream, and relax. Oh, and release the hounds, cats, and fox. Some of them brought their pets.

Comments

[aceso]

Dogs seem to enjoy sticking out their paw to Ponce, so this is no different. It's just that Ponce isn't sure what this thing is. Well, time to investigate the canine way. Circling around, Ponce tries to give Lux's rear end a good sniff. That will tell him all he needs to know about where Lux hangs out and the company he keeps.

Breaking the seal, Christine opens the bottle and takes a sniff. Odds are this will burn on the way down, so she'd best take the tiniest of sips. Lifting the bottle, she puts it to her lips and parts them just a fraction to let some of the liquid in. And even that feels strong. She quickly lowers the bottle and swallows, eyes widening and a hand splaying across her chest. But to her credit, she doesn't cough. She's tried plenty of types of alcohol, even if few become winners in her book.

"Well! I will have to mix this with something, but I think I will enjoy it very much then. Merci." She's sure with Araceli's exposure to Orlais that she knows that much. Christine knows nothing about Araceli's broader studies or bard work.

[foxsays]

An affront to his dignity. Here he is. Behaving. Being a gentleman and this ruffian comes along-- Lux stares at Araceli, both ears further forward as he springs up to his feet with all his fur puffed out. With a murmur of apology to Christine, she kneels, soothes his fragile dignity with a few words until he doesn't seem as offended; on her feet, close enough to Christine that she can whisper in an undertone, "He misses his fennec courtiers in the mountains, he has less fondness for finding so many rats where I have him following me about lately."

Ready to catch Christine, Araceli still doesn't bother hiding her laughter because it's always funny to her, the drink she got brought up with in the cradle and the way it can catch so many folk off-guard even with a warning. Rum and brandy win over wine in her book. Wine can work for a dinner if she's cooking since she knows just enough to not overwhelm or clash with a meal and she can swallow near anything without pulling a face - practice makes perfect for parties but rum is life, rum is good and warm and fire in your belly.

"You can water it pretty heavily and not lose all the taste, it's not like wine, it's what sailors drink everywhere. The rum ration. I don't know if you'll get some of the things here you could do with it...Kirkwall is a port, I wonder if there's anywhere that gets coconuts."

[aceso]

Christine's eyebrows lift and she looks to the offended Lux, nodding at what Araceli says. "Ponce is young, and very rambunctious." Which is a nice word for "obnoxious." She knows it. She's lived it everyday since taking him in. He's lucky he's cute.

"I will be sure to do that." And then she takes a moment to try and recall if she knows what a coconut is. Coming up empty, she gives her head a mild shake. "I have not heard of them before, but perhaps. The local food merchants should be able to tell you."

[foxsays]

"You know, he was much the same when he was very small? A selective memory. Like most men." Lux turns, sniffs Ponce and very very gently sets a paw on his head to test the waters of what the small dog will allow. Araceli's to blame for all the spoiling with Lux but palace life didn't do him any good either with a queen and five noble ladies to start adding to the pool of 'people willing to spoil the fox who can play a crowd'.

"If places have them it'll be somewhere hot, maybe Rivain? In summer we'd cut holes in them and pour in some rum, plug the hole with your finger then drink it. You can drink the coconut milk alone but it's fun with the rum in it out on the beach." Hot summer nights staying out until the sun turns the sky pink, everyone stretched out on the sand and creeping up as the waves try to catch them. "You'd like them, I think, and you've more than earned them, especially since we've come to Kirkwall. This is the first time I've seen you more than passing in a street or a hall."

[aceso]

The little dog supposes that this means Lux wants to play. And so he does the same thing he does with his mabari friend: he flattens the front of his body down to the ground and swishes his tail in the air. He gives a few playful growls, then leaps over Lux's back and butts him in the back of the head. This is how you make new friends, right?

"Most men of most species, I suppose, yes?" Christine smiles at Ponce's attempts at play fighting. He's much less snobbish than he once was, but he's still a little bit, because he is Orlesian and you cannot expect such a creature to be so very common, can you?

"Ah, yes. I am afraid I have been cooped up in the Gallows for my work. It has not been very good for me. That is why I am so happy to be out here." Under the blue sky, sitting on a blanket on the rich, green grass. Opposing colors to Araceli's beach with it's pink sky and golden sand, but still quite beautiful.

"But I am sure you have been busy exploring the rooftops, yes? I remember you wanting such places to climb when you were without at Skyhold."

[foxsays]

Being bigger than Ponce but still a fox, Lux springs up in the way only foxes can: all four feet off the ground all at once and Araceli's heart catches because this isn't Skyhold with snow or home with soft sands but he doesn't come clattering down on his head. He can't growl but he can make strange chuffing noises, wagging his tail to spin around and prod Ponce with his snout as he does. The chase is on little dog.

"There are a few exceptions, I recommend you accuse Church though, he displays like a swordtail." Araceli smiles knowingly then winks because maybe that's her other birthday present: preening Church as Lux remembers he used to run around the docks quite the thing. Always the contrary little shit.

Getting away is good though Araceli's taken to Kirkwall far quicker than she ever did to Skyhold. City girl from a city by the sea likes the port city, terrible reputation and sordid history be damned. "Your work is appreciated, do not doubt that though I don't imagine it's much of a balm when there's that history but the future? It will be better. We will make it better." Araceli believes that and it's easier to sell the line sitting out here as they are. Nodding, she leans back and tips her head up, trying to decide if she attempts to look innocent before deciding against it. "At night mostly, when Kirkwall is-- not as loud as it is in the day, which is better than Skyhold. I love the noise of a city, and being up high by the docks where I can hear the ships when I'm running and smell the salt air? I threw myself in, gave an old dwarf pretending to be a merchant a fright when I swam out but it was worth it." Christine. Behold that terrifying smile. Now imagine the speed she launched herself right off that roof and into the water at. Totally healer sanctioned y/n?

[aceso]

Whoa! Can you teach Ponce that move? He totally wants to use it on rats. (Not that Christine will ever let him get close to one of those disease-ridden creatures, but a pup can dream.) But this is fun! They're playing! New friend! Ponce jumps back on the blanket, stomps his little paws down and growls before taking off, wanting Lux to chase him.

"A... swordtail?" she asks with a confused smile. Is that like a chevalier? For all that Araceli has done to adapt to this world, there is plenty she references that goes completely over Christine's head. It's the same way with Church, really. Every conversation is filled with her asking him what half the words he's just said mean.

It's always thrilling (and a little worrying) to hear of Araceli's exploits. They sound like something out of a novel that Christine would read while cozy by the fire, wrapped up in her bear slanket. That life of adventure just isn't for her. Call her a bore, but she prefers safety and security; not leaping from great heights and hoping a plan forms before you hit bottom. Her lips twist into a slightly disapproving look, because she will always worry about someone's health above all else.

"Threw yourself into the harbor in the dark? What if you had hit a rock, or were tangled in a fisher's net and were drowned?" Seriously, is Christine the only one who things of these things?

[foxsays]

Come, young protege, let him teach you the ways of the death-defying since the fennecs are gone and lived only to bask in his magnificence and dream that they too one day might be so bushy of tail, so long of leg, so possessed of such a fine and oddly coloured pelt. Lux ends up tripping over himself since he's a big fox and he understands playing, trying not to get ahead of the little dog, weaving around in tighter circles to try to catch him, geckering.

Araceli closes her eyes, inhales deeply at the geckering and presses a hand to her mouth. "My son," she mutters. Really. But Christine has asked her a question and she's glad of the distraction.

"It's a thing we call certain men, the kind who go swaggering about attracting a lot of attention to themselves. Often younger men, the way younger men do but men are never not prone to it. Typically they compare themselves to another young man in the process. It's after a little fish we have by the same name and the male fish have a long part on one fin called the sword," Araceli explains it carefully with a smile and a hitch to her voice that threatens to turn to a giggle, sketching the fish in the air until she wiggles one pinkie like the 'sword'. "Now the female fish, as our scholars who have studied them say, they prefer long swords."

And now she'll take a sip of her drink. And attempt to swallow around the giggles that threaten. Then actually start giggling because it's funny to her, it's always funny to say it to someone that doesn't know when she can point to a lot of people in Thedas and pin the name to them at least on certain occasions.

"I am very skilled at what I do. I have asked around for where the place is deep or shallow, watched the tides, and I have knives for nets though if it is my time and the sea takes me, it is where I came from and where I will return to. It will be my time." There's a quiet peace to Araceli's voice because she believes it in the marrow of her bones, sure that if someone cracked them open to inspect it that there would be something of the sea in there, something calling her back. She will return to it, to give life to what gave her life, to feed the things that will feed others. Besides she's not twenty-two, who truly thinks deeply of their mortality at that age?

[aceso]

Oh, Araceli. It's good to see you make jokes and giggle like the young woman you are. Christine joins her in her laughs, lifting a hand to her chest as she does so. It seems these fish have some things in common with people too.

"In that case, I can see Church as one of these swordtails. He does so enjoy trying to be charming." He'll give her this smile that makes her stomach do flip flops and heat rush through her, and the whole thing is just unfair, really. How dare he.

Her smile tempers down into something smaller and more thoughtful. She's seen enough death lately to not want anyone to simply accept it, and she can't fathom Araceli's connection to the sea. It's salty water that churns and houses fish and other creatures. Nothing about it speaks to her soul or makes her feel drawn to it. And in a way, that's sad, because she doesn't think she has anywhere that feels like that to her.

"Well, I do not wish to hear of your time coming, even if you will accept it. You are far too valuable to lose to--" But the rest of her sentence is drowned out by the sound of Ponce barreling through a stack of dirty plates, spreading their leftovers over the blanket before he continues on across the grass, food in his fur.

"Ponce!" she shouts in disbelief. "You get back here!" Grabbing a hand towel, she hurries to her feet to chase him down, wanting to clean him.

[foxsays]

Fortunately, Araceli's clothes tend to be cut to allow her to move easily so when she starts flexing her muscles (slim and toned, not really anything to actually see and there's a lot more in her legs than her arms) they don't pinch or pull too tight. Not so much the more tailored corseted part. "Hurts," she wheezes through giggles, fanning her face and wiping her face. "Breathing. Always breathing."

Swimmer's lungs and bard drills rescue her.

"He has to duel to truly be one," Araceli continues once she's recovered enough for real speech. "Don't tell me you aren't intrigued by the prospect of such a display of passion, of prowess?"

(Nothing is hotter than someone getting in a duel for you, she's been reliably informed on the subject. Now just to get Korrin involved in something that requires she defend Araceli's honour.) Smiling at Christine as she fishes out a small cloth to dab at her face, Araceli finds herself touched again at having someone who cares for her, who does worry. Christine was one of the first to greet her and to show her kindness in Thedas, something she's done time and time again.

"I am not about to let all your hard work on me go to-" What is this now? When the ladies lunch the boys will have a cheeky clatter?

"Ladrón!" Lux turns an inch at one of his nicknames but scarfs a whole sandwich before racing after his new friend. "That little shit, he's going to be a very real stole when I'm done with him." The rest devolves into Castilean insults as Araceli races to try and cut the pair off.

[aceso]

Christine rolls her eyes, stopping in her pursuit of Ponce for just a moment as she imagines Church of all people in a duel. First off, why would he even be engaging in such a thing, and secondly, could she ever get over her worry to actually find it alluring?

"I cannot even picture it! I would fear he would be stabbed to death." Araceli, why is the prospect of injury or death enough to get you all hot and bothered? Christine will never understand you.

But thankfully she doesn't need Araceli to continue painting her a picture of this scenario, because the animals are getting into all kinds of mischief. It's gratifying to see it's not just Ponce for once who is making a mess, and she lets out a merry laugh as she follows after her friend, waving her towel in the air.

"Let me clean you, Ponce! Here, boy!"

The dog, naturally, does not listen and runs as fast as his little legs will carry him. New friends are the best!