faderift | [Open] You can take the Captain out of the Gaurd....

WHO: Character(s) Aveline + You!
WHAT: Aveline has been "promoted" to Emissary of Kirkwall.
WHEN: Current
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: It's a PR nightmare for Kirkwall's newest ambassador. Food shortages, cold weather, and people are turning blue.

It had been all of 48 hours since she had been told she would now be an Emissary of Kirkwall instead of Captain of the Guard. To say the news hadn’t been taken well was a understatement. She was well aware that she was probably the worst choice for this sort of thing, but the point was made that she was the only choice. It didn’t do well to inspire confidence, but, there was little left to argue about after that.

They required her to attend etiquette lessons with a pompous ass who delighted in teasing her about her un-femininity so much she ended up socking him in the jaw halfway through. But, she now knew the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork, so she counted it as a success. She was given a frilly new uniform, which immediately refused to wear and a “compromise” was eventually reached after some heated words were exchanged. She would still wear her own armor, but she would also be swathed in a half cloak with the Kirkwall crest on it, to make her easily distinguishable.

This, of course, was before everything had gone to pot. Things were a mess before, but now things had become dire. The people of Kirkwall were desperate for food, for warmth, and especially for a glimmer of hope that things would turn around somehow. The guard were on round the clock posts to try and keep the populus calm, but they could only do so much. She would never ask her guard to do anything she would not do herself, so she had parked herself in the main entrance to lowtown, hoping to calm as many as she could. She had “requisitioned” (strong armed) two carts full of blankets, and several dozen loaves of bread to pass out to the citizens until she could approach the Inquistion for aid.

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She saw he was dead on his feet, which likely was why there was so little arguing before. To be honest she was immensely relieved he was here to help, even more so since now he wasn't possessed by a spirit. But, knowing him he was working non-stop with little thought to his own health.

"Anything you need, I will try to see that you have it. Have you eaten? Slept?"

The offer and the questions take him even further aback. They're genuine. Aveline always is, there's no subterfuge with her, and it's a little overwhelming to have her concerned about him.

"I, um." Anders shakes his head. "I've someone making sure I sleep at night. Do you remember Nate? Nathaniel? We found him in the Deep Roads, and he came and helped fight Meredith at the... end. He's, we're, he makes sure I sleep."

The other question isn't answered. Deliberately. He'd grabbed a piece of fruit this morning and then launched himself into healing and work on finding a cure, and that's absolutely not going to pass muster.

She tried to hid her surprise, but she was never very skilled at it.

"Tall, brown hair, gravelly voice, foolishly loyal. Yes, I remember Nathaniel." She sighed, and let out a ghost of a laugh. "I always thought you had more charm than sense at times, and Nathaniel seemed a dependable sort of man."

Everyone needed someone to lean on. That was painfully apparent to her now that she had no one herself.

"It is good that you have someone. But you didn't answer my question about food. So that probably means you haven't eaten anything substantial. We should fix that. Do you need anything else?"

There's a lot that she's saying, but one thing stands out above all of the rest: Aveline approves of Nathaniel. He'll have to tell his husband later, when Aveline isn't picking up on Anders' weak attempts to not answer things.

The look he gives her as he shifts his cat back to his shoulder is rather wry.

"Certainty that mages will remain free and treated like people? Corypheus dead? Warm weather? More support for my Clinic? There are a few things I could use. But a meal is at least attainable today, so lead on and I'll follow."

There's a short pause as he straightens his robes and finds more words. "And you can tell me how... how you've been?"

He's testing her, and she knows it. She gives him a huff and one of her looks, but it had less malice behind it than normal.

"Well the first three I can do shit all about at the moment. But, I'll get you support for your clinic, and if there are supplies that you need, I can send people to gather them, or see if we have anything stocked."

"As far as a meal goes, there's always the Hanged Man. The food is still just as horrible, but we could go....for old time's sake." She quirked up an eyebrow. "What should I call you anyway? I doubt calling you by your actual name is an option..."

She didn't answer the one serious question, which tells him the answer. As she's always been on the bristly side Anders decides not to follow up. They've made huge progress today, at laest.

"Not like you know my real name," he says with a little amusement. "Garrett is what I go by when people might need to address me in front of non-Inquisition members or non-Wardens."

Anders starts heading in the direction of the Hanged Man before glancing back over to her. "And to answer the next question, I don't even know it anymore. The usual works. Or you can call me Mr. Howe if you feel like being formal. That's... That is an actual name now."

No one will recognize a marriage between two men, or a mage's marriage, but they've traded the vows and that's what matters to Anders.

Her eyes flew up in surprise, but then settled as she shook her head with a chuckle and a sigh as she followed him. Always one for drama, this one. But, deep down in her cold heart lived a long dormant romantic, and she was more than a little intrigued at how the two of them came together.

"I suspect there is a lot I don't know about you... Mr. Howe, your many names included."

They had made their way to the Hanged Man by now. She paused before opening the door, chewing on what to say, worried about how it would be received. "I'm happy for the two of you. Genuinely." She hoped he would take it a face value, even though she knew it came out a little awkwardly.

She opened the door, and moved to their old band's usual table out of habit more than anything else.

He doesn't mean to stop and stare at her, but he does anyway. Happy. For him. Usually he works very hard to keep the walls up when running into someone he doesn't expect to have positive feelings in regard to him, but here she is being happy for him and he doesn't quite know what to do with that.

"I... Thank you." There's no hiding his surprise as he follows her to the old table. Anders pauses again before he takes a seat; while he's returned to the Hanged Man to lurk in the shadowy corners before, he'd not dared to sit here. It takes serious force of will to not look around nervously.

"I didn't see it coming, truth be told." He had a life. After everything he's done and been through, he now has a life. "If there's something you'd like to know I'm a little, mm, more prone to being open. And you should, you should hang out with him. He can certainly do stoic and very serious, and that's your main speed of things." He means it as a compliment, though he's not sure it sounds like one after it's spoken.

[Open] You can take the Captain out of the Gaurd....

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