[Closed] Some things you do just to see how bad they'll make you feel

[overharrowed]

WHO: Julius, Marisol, Nell, Vandelin
WHAT: Negotiation coffee breaks
WHEN: Scenes from the relatively early stages of phylactery negotiations
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Starter threads below, warnings to be added if necessary

Comments

[overharrowed]

He glances at her with a smile. "Julius, please. Under the circumstances. And why not, if you don't mind sharing." They've butted heads in private, a few times, but in front of the other parties they've worked well enough together; he doesn't see why they shouldn't be cordial in their leisure time.

"It's quite a view," he adds, "we may as well make the most of it while we're here."

[champions]

"Not at all." She pours another glass, because of course she had extra glasses to hand. That's just how she do, and she holds it out in offer. "Do you smoke?"

She smiles. "If I were feeling more whimsical, I might decide to say that I am the view, but I think the negotiations are taking their toll."

[overharrowed]

"I used to," as he takes the glass. "But I wouldn't object to revisiting the habit. Smoking and semi-illicit day drinking, it's adolescence in Kinloch Hold all over again," he adds, light. "I think we've earned a few indulgences, under the circumstances. Though I suppose for you, this hardly counts as indulgent."

It's good-natured enough, if lightly probing. He's not sure the extent to which it's a subject she'll allow herself to be teased.

[champions]

An amused sounding hum, as she sets down her glass, and produces a golden cigarillo case, flipping the lid open easily. The same hand also holds her current cigarillo between two fingers; obviously its an offer, though not held out as the wine was. He'll need to come to her, after that comment, even if she is good-humoured.

"I lived in the Circles, just as you did. I appreciate the luxuries I have."

[overharrowed]

Not far, then, for all her mood seems undented. He moves to take the offered cigarillo all the same. "I didn't mean to imply you can't appreciate them," he says, his tone a peace offering. "Thank you for sharing."

He resists defending his original point by pointing out that on what the Inquisition is paying, he could hardly afford a golden cigarillo case if he wanted one; that's no way forward, and he's fairly certain she knows what he meant.

At least he's getting paid at all. (Was. They'll see how the negotiations go.)

"Have you been to Skyhold before?"

[champions]

Maker, Julius, if you wanted a golden cigarillo case, maybe you should just have more money.

"No. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to come. As much as I relish the cold... I am a creature of comfort." Making fun of herself, a little. "But it is wondrous. There very severity of it, and the falls..."

She interrupts that possible-maybe reverie, and grins. "Have you?"

[overharrowed]

"Only very briefly," he says, leaning against the rampart idly. "I arrived to volunteer, and was promptly placed on the first wagon for Kirkwall. If I'd known, I could have just gone there directly, it would have been a shorter trip that way."

[champions]

"Oh no," and she can't help laughing a little bit as she exhales some smoke. "At least the wagon was a rest for your feet. Where did you travel from?"

[overharrowed]

"I was, in fact, in Antiva when I decided to let nobility get the better of my good sense." If he really thought so, he likely wouldn't say it that way, but... he doesn't not think so entirely. "I quite got a taste for the food before leaving."

[champions]

"Truly?"

She's delighted, and leans against the balcony, railing, apparently unconcerned by the height. Her gaze has not been uninterested or cold, but something in it warms all the same. "Have you spent any time in Antiva City or Rialto? I think it's especially impressive for nobility to get to you when you're in Antiva."

She likes to play at being a scoundrel.

[overharrowed]

"It does seem a bit ironic. I was mostly in Antiva City, though I moved around. I was largely doing scribe work -- copying, that sort of thing, so there was more call to be in cities." He smiles, crooked and absently charming more out of habit than a desire to charm her specifically in the moment. "I doubt I saw the best it had to offer, but it was farther out of Ferelden than I ever expected to get."

[champions]

"Mm, I never considered—" A little tilt of her head, before she sips more wine. "To be trapped in a Circle would be one thing, but to be trapped in a Circle in Ferelden?"

Oof. Her smile, however, is conspiratorial. "I've surprised you didn't get all the way to Rivain."

[overharrowed]

"I would protest there are parts of Ferelden that are quite lovely, but I suppose I should accurately use the singular and the past tense." Lightly.

"And," of Rivain, "who says I didn't?"

[champions]

Another sip of wine, during which she makes a quiet sound of acknowledge. "Yes, of course. The parts that lead out of Ferelden are lovely."

A grin, and she sets down the glass. "How far north did you get?"

[overharrowed]

He's long been canny about exactly where he was, in the years before he joined the Inquisition. But here and now, in the midst of negotiating with templars face-to-face, he has to think it doesn't really matter anymore.

"Llomerryn. Not so far, I suppose, but it left an impression."