your faith was strong but you needed proof.

[dirth]

WHO: Solas, Thranduil, Adalia, Anders, Beleth, Rey
WHAT: All New, Faded for Her: Fade Rift edition
WHEN: Early this month after their return from the Sunless Lands
WHERE: Exalted Plains
NOTES: Possible warnings for murder, burning alive and all sorts of nastiness depending on the outcome of the quest! Starters are all in the comments!

ALL NEW, FADED FOR HER "One of Solas's old friends, a spirit, has been summoned against its will and needs his help."

Comments

[laurenande]

"Perhaps it is," she agrees with little additional comment. She is not certain how it is for spirits here, or how the elves in this place understand their own fea, and she will not pry answers from a grieving friend. The sentiment is easily agreed with, any contrary semantics aside, and she squeezes his shoulder again.

He seems calmer now, more akin to how she sees him daily, and while she will not rush him out, she will not keep him on a pretext.

"If it will not weigh upon you, such things interest me as well. I would share them with you if the wound is not too fresh."

[dirth]

What response can he give her? Acknowledging his own pain reminds him only of all the things he has lost; Solas is forced to turn his head away from her as he thinks back to the years of paradise and wonder that used to be the life of the People. He had torn them asunder in his hubris and now... Now he seeks to repair them at the cost of so, so much. He seeks the return of his power and his heart burns because of it.

Even now, in her hand, the shard of the Anchor prickles against his skin. He did this to them and yet... The guilt he feels is only that they might suffer needlessly.

"Gladly. If there is something you think is worth sharing then I will be glad to heed it."

[laurenande]

She is uncertain what motivates her, what makes her shift her hand from his shoulder and lift it, but she does. It is a motion she has done a hundred times, to those closest to her, to those who carry her family name, to even a few here, but she has never done anything like it to Solas. Without preamble, she draws her fingertips across the side of his brow and her palm lights against the side of his face. He is looking away from her and she tilts his head, gently, to look back.

"I will not press you for that which distresses you, Solas, you are dear to me. You need not offer if it pains you."

[dirth]

The tenderness with which she touches him shocks Solas in a way he cannot express; it is rare that anyone reaches out and touches him and all he can do is breathe in, a soft, sharp noise, his eyes turning to look at her. There's a gentleness, something soft and warm, and he knows, knows, that he is entirely unworthy of it. Whatever she thinks she sees in him is a fallacy, a lie, designed to make him appear as a better person than he truly is in his heart.

She is far more than he could be. He cannot. And yet.

"Thank you." The smile that comes is barely there, but it is present all the same. "Your kindness is appreciated."