get ready everybody 'cause here we go

[dashing]

WHO: Saoirse, Herian & open.
WHAT: a combined birthday hangout.
WHEN: 30th Haring.
WHERE: The Hanged Man.
NOTES: Drink up now and turn up hungover to the Firstday feast. Open invitation over here, no need to reply to the network post or even have prior cr in order to attend. Please add any warnings to subject lines if they come up.

"Party" would be an extreme word for it; the more accurate word would be "casual gathering of people with liquor readily available." It is The Hanged Man, though, so who knows what shenanigans could unfold.

They've taken over a corner of the inn, and though there isn't much in the way of decorations - making sure the place could be easily accessed after all that snow was work enough - there are a couple of strings of bunting.

Don't get too wild; it'd be unfortunate if Herian had to interrupt her own (shared) birthday celebration in the sake of preserving the Inquisition's reputation. (Or do get wild, and simply shrug it off as The Hanged Man's influence. Whatever.)

Be sure of one thing, though - at least one round is one Herian. Maybe. If you're a close friend, or look particularly glum.

Comments

[foxsays]

"One is for you, Herian, you deserve something after this year.". Herian hadn't shared where she'd been but it can't have been pleasant, not when it was time from the Inquisition. "The year ahead doesn't promise to be any easier for us all, a little kindness waiting? That never goes amiss."

Tucked away in some corner waiting for a terrible day or even just a particularly long one, a trying one. Same as the new flask, the hair ribbons, the chance to ride out of Kirkwall or to disappear beneath the water without the need to surface. Moments free of troubles.

"We spoke briefly," which means no, sending crystal chats don't count if they're public. Not if you put on a mask. "I'd love to meet her, I hear she's a talented musician?"

[dashing]

It isn't sheepishly that she looks back down at the gifts, but she does look back down at the gifts before nodding her understanding. Gifts are a strange thing to find herself with, truthfully, but it's not disagreeable at all. Simply... strange. "Thank you. We all of us... benefit from kindness, in such times."

Hardly a revelation, of course, but she's trying to articulate her gratitude.

And so: she sets the gifts somewhere safe, then returns her attention to Araceli. "I think she is dancing at the present moment, but I will make sure to introduce you." A moment, and she gestures to the bar, "would you like some wine?"

[foxsays]

How do you show you care? You give. You give without thought of receiving anything in return or that's how Araceli was brought up, even if she didn't have so very much (yes, far more comfortable than so many, someone who never wanted for things but certainly not a rich girl, not even middle class by anyone's standards.) "You're very hard on yourself; it's good to know that you have times when you have nice things or a smile. I've always liked you."

Even if she's still too polite to say Herian's first name until there's some sign, behold the two of them doomed to speak in forms of address until the end of time.

"Gracias, and yes - I've never had wine at the Hanged Man before. I don't think I've really been here at all - what's good?" In the tone of someone who doesn't really know wine beyond what won't ruin the meal she's serving but also really doesn't know wine please help her.

[dashing]

And, not for the first time this evening (or even in this conversation) Herian is speechless. Herian blinks a couple of times, looks away, as her mouth works soundlessly for a moment. "From necessity alone, I assure you. I am... I think it's important to hold ourselves accountable. I cannot... claim to be honourable unless I interrogate myself."

A little more quietly, that, but after a moment of hesitation she rests her hand on Araceli's forearm. "I have always thought well of you, as well."

They are very different, hold different views in much, but Araceli has always been kind to her without hesitation, and kindness is a greatly admirable trait, especially in those who have endured so much.

"I... am not well informed when it comes to wine," Herian admits, and exhales as she realises she is underqualified for this. "Do you prefer ale? Or... whiskey? I've an uncle who'd be greatly disappointed in my lack of expertise to offer you," she admits, exhaling a very quiet huff of laughter.

[foxsays]

Honour is a curious thing at times. The thing someone challenges you on that you have to fight for sometimes because you can live and die by it. "We have our good names in the end, duels are all about it and the code for that? I think they teach you the hardest lesson about it first for a reason for the very same as you do what you do." First offence requires the first apology? Teach that to a teenage girl sure of herself to watch her work her jaw as if the trigger got jammed but eventually she gets it. She gets it, lives with it, breathes it.

So an easy thing, to set her hand (the right one, there's a time and place to make statements with the left) on Herian's to squeeze. "I've always been glad to call you friend, never be afraid to call on me or drop by for anything Herian." After all, Herian knows where to find her in and out of work, if she's not in one, she'll always be in the other since she's not breaking curfew.

"Honestly?" And since this is somewhere that she doesn't know quite so well even if it's serving such a mixed crowd tonight, she leans closer to Herian with a conspiratorial smile. "I didn't even know the Hanged Man served wine. I was raised on sailor's rations but I can go for an ale, that's closer than wine, the part of my education some might tell me to catch up on." But they're not in Orlais anymore so she doesn't need to pretend to care about overpriced wines or vineyards to that sort of nobility who care far too much when here they at least get enough variety to turn to other things Araceli knows comfortably when the conversation moves too fast around her.

[dashing]

"Ale it is," she agrees, a little relieved, and nods to the barkeep. Two ales are ordered.

Herian sits in silence for a few moments, as she tries to figure out a response for the rest. "And you in turn, Araceli."

Look at them, using first names. So wild and informal, wow. The ale is delivered, and it would be a relief if she took a swig instead of being quiet, but she does not immediately do so. She is so caught up in wrestling her thoughts that allowing herself the reprieve does not really occur to her.

"Which do you think more important? Acting in accordance with necessity, to better ensure the safety of all in the long term, or acting with kindness that may appease people in the short term, but could ensure drawn out suffering in time?"

[foxsays]

It's been several years and instances of nudity, it's time for names. Proper names. Araceli drinks, making an interested but not horrified noise at the ale because honestly Thedas has given her far worse in her life or her poker face is just that good. That and it was a very little sip. Enough to wet the lips really. After getting more than a little carried away lately she's reeled herself back in, watered the rum back down again.

The question might be surprising coming from someone else without having touched their drink. A few drinks in, when it's getting late, then this line of questioning might start to come in but this is Herian who holds herself to such high standards after all that Araceli gives it her full consideration.

"Necessity. I'd prefer to avoid the suffering but there are things that have to be done that hurt or cause some sort of upset to allow for something that has to come. Stitching a wound isn't pleasant but neither is trying to let it heal without if it's severe enough for the stitch," her tone is mild given the subject but it weighs on her, that these are always the choices they're faced with, that no action stands alone, that everything is stone dropped in the water, and no one knows how far the ripples reach. "Appeasement is appeasement, it doesn't change things. They'll be fed for how long? Warm for how long? They'll be hungry again. Cold again. Angry that it's come to that again. Hurt that it's come to that again. And they'll be right to feel that way when that day comes."

[dashing]

"The Knight's Code dictates acting with kindness, not causing wanton offense. It demands that we act with honour, and to be what is right honour demands a... a meeting of justice and compassion. Honour cannot exist if either are absent, nor if duty is neglected." She sips the ale, and though her cheeks pinch inward slightly, it's taste isn't the worst it could be. Maybe it's just that she doesn't drink that much ale, and this wasn't the finest choice.

"To ensure the safety of Thedas we must ensure the Inquisition's success. Doing what is necessary... does not feel that it can aways be honourable. It will not always allow us to be just and compassionate, and yet it would surely be dishonourable to act in a way that will jeopardise long term survival and success and instead condemn all those around us."

[foxsays]

"Is it a kindness to patch cracks in a wall when the foundation is rotted through? To repair holes in the ceiling when the whole thing will cave in on someone's head? Do you know the half of why I stole before the Inquisition? Half of it was excitement but there would have been other ways but the people in my building had a choice: pay the rent or buy food. My thefts paid for food enough so they didn't need to make the choice." Araceli taps out a popular enough tune on her tankard without thinking about it, considering it carefully.

Some choices are painful. Araceli is no knight with a code to live by but the codo duello, the rules of pirates, of the guards have governed her for varying degrees.

Nothing is easy here, not anymore. She blows out a sigh. "Sometimes you have to decide what you can live with and know that you're part of a bigger thing than just your body doing your part. That's…not easy. Here. Justice isn't the same thing to all people, compassion takes many forms. Do they have to meet at the same time? I don't know the rules of knights here, if they must then they must but you can be angry about a thing. Work to stop it repeating. To minimise the hurt that has to come."