[OPEN] Be Careful Lest Your Sins Find You Out

[lifeofendurance]

WHO: Aleron Darton and Anyone in the Gallows
WHAT: Someone remembers the Seeker from days gone by. Not happy days.
WHEN: Early Justinian (backdated)
WHERE: Gallows
NOTES: None yet. Al is still a stick-in-the-mud. Although maybe no more than 4-5 tag ins so I don't leave folks hanging? Still open for any previous Kirkwall/Starkhaven mages who want to wtf at him.



It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Ever since receiving the news that the Inquisition was going to set up base in Kirkwall, Aleron has had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that his time in the city prior was going to rear its ugly head. He, of course, doesn't feel he was in any way wrong in his actions. But then making people uncomfortable is part and parcel of being a Seeker. He's used to it, in fact. And thus, the sudden outburst behind his head is not much of a surprise.

"You! What are you doing here?! How could you? How could you have brought us here and left us with that madwoman?"

The source: a woman with a thick Starkhaven accent, face red with rage and barrelling at Aleron as if to tackle him to the ground with her slight frame.

She stops short of tackling him. Barely.

Having his boots spit on? That does prove something of a surprise. And the slap she delivers across his face immediately thereafter.

Comments

[onlyhymns]

Cade doesn't know. He just... doesn't know. It's how he was trained, it's what they do, and he can't for the life of him articulate that. Every time he thinks about trying, it feels like an excuse.

"..I," he stammers, his face coloring from white to red, "I... she attacked you, ser." That's his entire rationale, and there's no more where that came from.

[lifeofendurance]

"Yes she did, and I more than deserved it."

Honestly a slap is nothing in light of the hundreds of people he let down twelve years ago.

"But that is not the salient point at present. Responding to unprovoked aggression is not out of line. Venting your obvious rage, however, is. That you seem to be unaware of your own mental state at that particular moment concerns me deeply. That or you are lying to me directly. Which is it?"

Neither answer is a good answer, but Aleron is attempting to suss out the truth so he and the other Seekers can talk out consequences.

[onlyhymns]

Well that's just confusing. Cade barely has time to tilt his head and wonder what 'I more than deserved it' is supposed to mean when suddenly Aleron is suggesting he'd lie.
"No, ser!" he quickly blurts, reining himself in after, but just barely. He's shaking with anxiety and possibly fear, knowing no way to defend himself.
"I'm sorry, ser," he insists, "I don't know. I don't know." He resists covering his face with his hands. It wouldn't help his case, as much as he wants to vanish.

[lifeofendurance]

There is a background thought that Harimann is his punishment from the Maker for failures prior. Ungenerous but few things manage to exasperate Aleron than Cade's many and varied bursts of bad behavior followed by abject apology. Couple that with tenderhearts who have argued that the Templar is broken, thus preventing him from taking what would otherwise be sensible action, and it's a wonder that the Seeker doesn't snap. As it stands, there's some question over jurisdiction with the break of the Seekers with the Chantry and the very few members who came to the Inquisition. It's a mess.

Although if Aleron thought for one minute that Cade actually was lying, or playing at a deception, this conversation would take a different hue. He has a zero-tolerance policy for lying and it's guaranteed to make him snap and roar. Unraised voices are a good sign he at least believes Harimann is telling the truth.

"If you do not know what prompted your excess of force, then I must conclude you are not of a right mind to serve. Seeker Reed and I will discuss what's to be done with you. Until such time, you are restricted to your quarters."

[onlyhymns]

By the time Aleron is finished speaking, Cade looks to be on the verge of tears. He doesn't succumb, however, taking a deep breath and offering a hesitant, whispered, "yes, ser." The bile has risen in him, his head is swimming. He made a mistake, but doesn't completely understand what it was.
He sits with his shoulders hunched and his hands folded, waiting to be dismissed.