faderift | [OPEN] build a bridge or maybe two

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[OPEN] build a bridge or maybe two

WHO: Fern + various starters and OPEN
WHAT: Catch-all for the month of November.
WHEN: Early through mid-November.
WHERE: Kirkwall and the Gallows
NOTES: None yet.

I. AT THE DOCKS (ARACELI AND KORRIN)

The trip from the Gallows to the Kirkwall docks isn't a very long one, but time feels strange to Fern lately, like it travels at a different speed while she's seated at Sina's bedside. Sitting in the boat while the ferryman pilots their way across the channel towards the city, she looks pensively out across the water, then towards her new friend seated beside her. She fiddles with the end of a lock of her hair, chewing at the corner of her mouth.

"Thanks," she says after a pause, "for inviting me to dinner."

II. TRAINING GROUNDS (NELL)

It's startling for Fern to realize that actually, she's quite good at offensive magic.

The training grounds are mostly empty this morning, which gives Fern plenty of time to work through the small selection of spells that Nell has given her to work with, so far. The fire spells are the ones that come most easily to her, she's discovering, whereas her attempts at an ice wall generate something that more accurately approaches a drift of slushy snow. Nell hasn't, strictly speaking, given her any instruction in how to tackle electricity spells yet... though that doesn't stop her from deciding to attempt one.

Realistically, it could have gone much worse than a bit of a shock, and hair that now stands on end as though subjected to too much static electricity.

Fern hisses and shakes out both of her hands, which still smart from the backfired spell, and hastily tries to comb her hair back down into submission before Nell shows up.

III. GWENAELLE'S HOME (GWEN)

While hardly Fern's first visit to Hightown, this is the first time she's ventured anywhere near the Vauquelin estate--and today, she's meant to walk right up to the doors and request to be let inside.

Or, well. To the front gate, as it were.

That's where she hovers now, a bit after the prescribed time that she was meant to arrive for her lessons but nevertheless present, with an effort made to appear washed and tidy. She even took a bit of care tie her hair back from her face with a bit of satin ribbon, and has some of the wonderful writing supplies gifted to her tucked into the satchel slung over her shoulders.

She's as ready to learn as she's going to get. ...Now, if she could just sort out how to get past the front gate.

"Um. ...Hello?" she calls out.

IV. THE LIBRARY (SIMON + OPEN)

(OOC: The thread with Simon is closed, but other characters can pop by at other times!)

Apparently if Gwen and Nell have nothing else in common with each other, they're both proponents of this cruel mode of torture that is apparently called 'home work,' and Fern doesn't like it at all.

She's sequestered herself in a corner of the library where she's fairly sure she won't be bothered by the mean little scholars who gave her such a hard time earlier in the summer--but frankly, the books open in front of her are doing a better job of reminding her of how stupid she feels than anything those other teenagers might have said. She sits with her arms folded over her chest and a black scowl bending her brows into a dark furrow, all of her fancy writing utensils and tools for learning resting, elegant and untouched, on the tabletop.

"This is so stupid," she says to--well, no one, really. Exhaling, she picks up the pen like it's the hardest thing in the world to make herself do, and just fiddles with the end of it, popping the cap on and off again.

V. THE STABLES (MELYS)

It's pissing with rain one night after Fern slinks into her chosen hideaway after a day spent at work in the gardens, at her training with Nell, and working on her letters with Lady Gwen... and, as usual, an hour spent sitting quietly at Sina's bedside. It's like entering a different world, crossing the threshold of the infirmary to keep a vigil by her bed, sometimes with Nari, sometimes alone. (She stays away when Sorrel is there. It seems wrong, otherwise.)

Tonight, a bit sodden to match her dismal mood, she's warming up with a mug of tea and a blanket slung round her shoulders, alternating between feeding bits of dried fruit to Rooster from her palm and stroking his nose affectionately.

VI. THE CHANTRY GARDEN (OPEN + ELLANA)

(OOC: The thread with Ellana is closed, but other characters can pop by at other times!)

Fern promised she would look after the garden for Sina, and so that is what she's going to do. The trouble is, she hasn't quite dealt with <i>this much</i> much before, much less on her own.

She's brought a small kit of gardening tools with her, as well as her sturdy boots and gloves (and a small lyrium potion, just in the event she needs to lend some strength to her creation magic for the task ahead). Now she stands in the middle of the garden, looking around in vulnerable awe at the growth her friend had created. The leaves that remain are a greyish brown, but when she rests a hand against the trunk of a nearby tree, she can feel the pliant, living strength of the wood and bark. It's only sleeping; in spring, it will be whole again.

That's more than can be said for Sina. Fern squeezes her eyes shut, squares her shoulders, and sets to the task of cleaning up the dead twigs and branches from the forest floor.

VII. WILDCARD (OPEN)

(OOC: Surprise me! Or hit me up on plurk if you want a specific starter.)

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Listening to Araceli, Korrin's smile is bittersweet. One reason why it's painful to dwell on Sina's passing is that she has been with them for so long; since the beginning, for Araceli, and almost as long for Korrin herself. The Inquisition won't be the same without her presence. "That reminds me, I think I want to get another tattoo, for her...but I'm not sure what, just yet." And no it won't be vallaslin-related, that would never be appropriate.

As Lux joins them, that smile changes into an actual grin. "Oh, he knows, but he never minds hearing it again and again. What do you think, Lux? Is she a new friend?"

One of the most alarming sounds known to man is unfortunately the sound of an excited fox. Araceli is immune having owned Lux since the age of twelve but it's why getting the door shut was such a priority since it muffles the noise enough to not give the neighbours another reason to hate them as the fox wiggles, headbutting his face against Fern without any sort of grace.

"Lux," she says as she makes her way to the small kitchen area after hanging up her coat, "any chance you've had of playing the suave gentleman are gone. Washed away like so many a sandcastle."

(He's not even listening, he's too happy being lavished with attention after being abandoned, Fern, cruelly and shamefully abandoned by this woman for work of all things!)

With most of dinner set from the evening before, Araceli glances back at Korrin. "Something to do with plants and the garden? Nari would know her favourites, maybe a little halla in amongst them? Nari told me that even the halla loved Sina too. Fern would you like something to drink - chase Lux away, he'll be under that table with his mouth open for food to fall in it, go sit, this won't take long to cook."

Fern tries to herd the squeaking and squealing little fox back into the house as soon as he starts making that terrifying noise--dear Maker, is that what foxes actually sound like?--and then looks quite intrigued by the prospect of a tattoo.

"Sina talked to me a bit about the Creators," she starts, looking between her new friends with a suddenly pensive look on her face. She can't quite bring herself to chase Lux away though, and crouches next to him to keep petting his sleek fur and scratching beneath his pointed chin. "Maybe I could get one, too. Maybe a halla." She grows quiet again, until Araceli asks her if she'd like a drink.

"Tea, if you have it?" she asks, straightens up, and trots over to the table to find herself a seat.

After a couple of years, Korrin is likewise unfazed by Lux's excited sounds and she smirks upon observing all that wiggling and headbutting. "Happy, now? We brought someone back just for you." It's all about him, always. She'll hold back from petting the excitable loaf of fluff for now, letting him get used to Fern.

"I'll ask Nari when she has the time, I haven't wanted to pester her about stuff that can wait. But I have plenty of creatures on me already, a halla would go with the theme." Halla are beautiful, and it would be fitting given Sina's vallaslin, but Korrin still isn't sure, at least for herself. She darts a smile over at Fern, giving Araceli another pair of hands with whatever she needs. "A halla might work better for you, though. Sina would like that, I'm sure. Nari, too."

Tea is easy but slow since it's a proper kettle on a proper stove, a big heavy pan next to it as she pulls out the marinaded fish from the coldest cupboard, vegetables cut from the small hours when she couldn't sleep and needed to fill the time. Thankfully this sort of dinner is a quick if loud and hissing affair once the stove is hot, fresh fish, herbs, spices (not too hot, Fern doesn't strike her as the type to enjoy that) and whatever vegetables were fresh at the market. Enough for Fern to take away with her too because when did Araceli's life ever require knowing how to cook for a few people instead of at least a whole room?

"There were things about the Creators or how the way the Dalish believe that's more like my own," Araceli says, over her shoulder as she works. "Kirkwall's got some good people to get the ink done if you decide that road, a little piece of her going with you on adventures."

I wish you'd met sooner, she's thinking of Sina's wedding day, clattering around for cups keeps her from looking, this is what I wanted for you Sina. "How did the two of you meet?" Her voice is strained, pulled too tight to be asking that but she does. Pushes through it. No one might want to talk about these things after.

For a little while Fern is content to sit at the table and just watch Korrin and Araceli as they cook. They seem as familiar with each other and their household habits as Fern's own parents, which has her momentarily marvelling over the possibility of a life that had never even occurred to her, prior to leaving the rural outskirts of Ansburg.

"How did the two of you meet?" Araceli asks, and the question is simple enough, would be simple enough, under other circumstances. Now it makes her heart ache, bittersweetly.

"In the Chantry forest," she replies and drops her eyes to the tabletop, the corners of her mouth quirking into a sad smile. "I'd fallen asleep on a bit of grass in the sun, and Sina found me. She's the first Dalish I'd ever met." A pause, and she swallows, and tries to go on. "She's--the first that I've--ever..." But she can't quite finish saying the words, and brings up a hand to cover her mouth.

The scents unleashed by the cooking meal is enough to rouse Korrin's appetite or rather help her be reminded that it exists. She savors it with a quiet sigh, then focuses on getting whatever Araceli needs, putting it away as it's no longer needed. They've spent enough time in the kitchen that their movements are coordinated, anticipating how much space is needed and who will go where.

But she doesn't forget their guest, of course. Fern's explanation has her glancing back, especially when she falters. That smile resurfaces and she shakes her head. "It's alright, there's no judgment over here. I can promise you that."

Once the water is boiled, the mismatched cups gathered, Araceli can stop with as much of the rushing. Lux darts out to grab at a list carrot on the floor, crunching noisily as he tiptaps back to plant himself by Fern's feet. There's a moment where she ducks under Korrin's arm; better days maybe it'd be a dance even without the music.

When they'd met in the stables, Araceli hadn't been prepared to feel so grown up. Living with another woman had been the plan one day, always somewhere over her horizon until talking about it as if it weren't. Her smile is reassuring, she hopes. Comforting. Being the big sister again like she's been other places, other times.

"Sometimes I think that forest is her whole heart taken out of herself. Oh that's so romantic," no teasing only sincerity in her voice, warm and open before she has to turn back to the pan. "It's like in a story."

It's hard not to smile, even through misty eyes, at Araceli and Korrin as they move around each other in the kitchen together. Fern uses the edge of her sleeve to blot away a few tears threatening to escape down her cheeks, then reaches a hand down to absently stroke Lux's fur, distracting herself a moment from the intensity of her feelings. It would be nice, she thinks, to just be a fox, and have only a fox's troubles to contend with.

"...do either of you know her, um. Her bondmate?" This question comes softly, more hesitantly, and with no small amount of guilt attached to it. She knows Sina is married, knows it's wrong to have feelings like this for someone who has promised themselves to someone else.

"A beautiful sentiment, kadan. I think that's how she'd want us to see her legacy." Korrin gives Araceli a gentle squeeze before they return focus to ensuring Fern has a nice, home-cooked meal.

"Sorrel? Yeah, a little. Beleth talked about her twin a long time before I actually met the guy. He'll be Keeper of their combined clans one day, or at least that's what his mother has set out for him." She frowns a little as her thoughts shift to that controlling woman, but refrains from ranting. It's not worth getting into, honestly.

"We went to the bonding ceremony," Araceli adds since she might as well if it hasn't already come up that they have. "I spent most of my time talking to Sina there - I did say that she'd done her duty and that there was no one who could fault her for it so she should enjoy herself once she was back in Kirkwall again - but I didn't meet him then. Or since. Slice it whatever way you like, a political marriage is a political marriage." Even as the food hisses away, Araceli's near disdain makes itself quite plain. This is her home, this is where she checks the polite masks at the door at the end of the day and Fern is old enough to hear her talking like this.

You don't have to be wealthy merchants or heir to lands, deeds, titles, thrones or any of it for it to be about the politics, and Deheune had as shrewd an eye from what she saw that day, and from all she'd ever heard about her from Beleth. (Sometimes, just talking to Beleth then getting a real look at the mother is enough to nod, to say 'ah, yes' but Araceli wouldn't ever say anything like that. Let it be that Araceli doesn't approve of marriage as a whole, that her list of things a man has to be before he's found not wanting impossibly high.)

Cooking over, three plates carefully balanced on her arms, cutlery hopefully on the table and they can eat and gossip comfortably. "What do you make of him? You have as much time as you'd like with her, I'd hope." The way she picks up her knife to cut into her fish shouldn't be seen as alarming and yet.

And yet it definitely is.

Way to stick your foot right in that hornet's nest, Fern, well done.

Um. "...the food smells great," she says awkwardly a moment later, smiling sheepishly from Araceli to Korrin and then back again. She looks for all the world like someone who knows they've brought up an incredibly touchy subject, and wishes desperately to smooth things over again. "Thanks again, for having me over. I can't remember the last time I had a nice meal like this. Or, I can, but..." She trails off, frowning, and tugs her glove a little more securely around her shard bearing hand.

Once Araceli and Korrin are seated and they've had some time to tuck into their meal, Fern can't seem to stop herself from asking Araceli the question that has been eating her up from the inside for weeks now. Whatever subject they're discussing, whatever bit of cheery banter they're exchanging, she changes the topic abruptly and blurts out, "Should I tell Sina? That I like her?" A pause, before she looks down. "It's selfish, I know it is, and I know she's married, but I can't bear the thought of her leaving us without knowing."

Korrin can't help but smile at the awkward deflection, not poking fun at it since she doesn't know Fern well enough to do so. And sometimes, those moments are needed before a serious topic can resume, like that. She grabs anything else that needs carrying, not wanting to leave it all up to her kadan. Araceli is undoubtedly the superior cook, but the Korrin always wants to find ways to assist.

Once they're settled and Korrin has swallowed her first mouthful -also slipping just a little bit under the table for a certain furry loaf- she looks thoughtfully at Fern. "We know that Sina doesn't have much time, that she's losing strength every day. It's painful, but on the other hand it means you can tell her with no expectations. When...when she leaves us--" Korrin stares down and draws in a steadying breath, still finding it painful to voice such words aloud. "--she will be surrounded by love. I don't think that revelation will be the burden you think it is, Fern. Sina is a loving and caring person, and she always has been. That hasn't changed, even now."

"We don't go for marriage where I come from, it's nearly always politics when someone does, not passion." Fern deserves the explanation, that this is the nature of the beast at times.

(Follow-up for after: did you write to your parents yet Fern?)

There's no room for false modesty in Araceli's kitchen, the compliment accepted with a smile the same way her hand darts out to finally catch Korrin's when it's making another trip the Lux direction. Her cry of enough is only teasing, the jab with the fork playful.

"Tell her,"Araceli says and her eyes are wet and burning. The fork is put down, the other hand blindly finds Korrin's because she's not doing saying this without her hand. "Please tell her, there are so many things we don't know and don't get to say and that's such a good thing, a happy thing. Korrin is right. To be surrounded by love is how she should go, she should know she had this. Even now." Her throat hurts when she takes a sip of her tea but her hand is steady on Fern's arm at least when she rests it there a moment.

She's a sympathetic crier--not something she necessarily realized, before this very moment, but when Araceli's eyes well up with tears, so do Fern's, and she listens in rapt silence to the pair of them as they speak. When they're finished, she moves her hand to clasp Araceli's on top of her arm, squeezes her eyes shut, and bows her head.

"Okay," she whispers, nods, then sucks in a breath and looks up again. It's difficult to make herself smile, her skin is a bit pale and splotchy from the effort it takes not to cry, but she struggles not to go to pieces at the dinner table. "Okay, I'll--I'll tell her."

Korrin takes the jabbing with a good-natured chuckle, but it's quiet and quickly subsides as she nods in agreement with her kadan's advice. Araceli's searching hand is met with her own larger one, giving it a tender squeeze. Her own eyes suspiciously bright for a moment, she clears her throat.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. It's better than leaving things unsaid and regretting it later, trust me. She'll understand." Korrin's heart aches for the love and affection Sina deserves, yet didn't get to have. It's too late for a life with Fern, but not for the warmth that such an admission might bring.

After the first time crying in front of Sina, Araceli hasn't done it since. What does it do, where does it get either of them but when she's here it all comes out (she's saving a fortune on salt these days and those to come, no one can see her tears when she's cooking.) Fern's so young though, and Araceli doesn't want her to see a person closed off.

Better to stay soft. You don't get hurt that way no matter what people say.

"Sina-" Why does her voice keep giving up on her, why won't it hold out longer, "Sina gave so much to the Inquisition. And I know that she never got what she deserved or needed or wanted from it, not really, not enough."

How terrible to say you've put all the breath in your body into a thing that's failing someone you love, Araceli takes little solace in admitting it but she can.

"And for you, Fern, don't let it eat you. Some things you swallow but that's a lesson for a better day so I'll say this: keep inside a regret and it turns you bitter, you're too good of heart for that." Korrin's poor hand is in a whiteknuckle grip but wouldn't people maybe have said the same sort of thing about them before?

"Okay," Fern whispers back, looking from Araceli to Korrin both with eyes that are misty again, but there's a conviction in the set of her jaw that she hopes will reassure them both.

For a moment longer she stays put in her seat, before she can't anymore. Getting up, she slips around to the other side of the table to put her arms around Araceli's shoulders--and Korrin's, if she'll accept it. Fern squeezes her eyes shut. "Thank you both, for being--for being so kind to me." It's more than she'd ever dreamed to expect from anyone in Kirkwall.

That surprise affection isn't turned away, not from Korrin's end. She smiles despite the heartache to come, reaching up with her free hand to rest it upon Fern's own.

"You're welcome, Fern. It means a lot to know that someone cares for her, even now. And if you'd like to return for more dinners, I definitely won't object. Lux probably won't either." Right, fluffy loaf?

Maybe living two years apart and in another world from the people you love while settling into a new life makes you able to say certain things. That there's a bravery in being able to open your heart, accept a hurt and live with that, to move on with the memory of it; one day looking back at it when it's not so raw. Or maybe that's Korrin's to tell with someone who could disappear same as any other rifter has in the past without any word or sign, something Araceli might not have control over.

Araceli's smile is bright because no matter how terrible a thing she's been there for (and Thedas has brought her worse than home ever did) there's always been kindness, there's always been a hand, a friend, a smile. "Kindness costs so little to the hand that extends it. The offer is always open for dinner and for one of us to get you here, I know it's not the best of places to get to all the time."

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[OPEN] build a bridge or maybe two

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