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(no subject)

WHO: Cole & Several (includes OPEN THREAD for Rifters)
WHAT: Compassion returns to Skyhold.
WHEN: Early-Mid Haring
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Cole works best with individualized threads rather than completely open ones. Please don't be afraid to contact me (Plurk or PM) if you'd like to set something up! Prompts will be posted in comments.

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She was crying. It hadn't helped, not in the way he'd meant.

He stopped humming.

Carefully, he got up. Slowly, but steadily, he made his way around the tent toward her. He stood some distance away, close enough to speak, but out of arm's reach. He looked up at the sky.

Perhaps that.

"The stars are always in the same places," he noted, "even when we're somewhere else."

He looked from one patch of sky to another. Usually, he didn't pay much attention to the sky. It felt different to really look at it.

"She used to say stories were in the stars. People would plot them out and tell them to the little ones."

Whomever this person was, Sina had never met him before. She looked up, her eyes blurred with tears, at the shape in front of her, backlit by the pre-dawn greyness of the sky.
"She?" she whispered, accepting the rest of his statement. It was true, and no doubt the Dahlasanor lookouts were seeing the same sky she was.

"The Herald. We found something on the Storm Coast — it helped Her see how the stars fit together." He hadn't quite understood, at the time. But there had been a very clear harmony when they'd found the shape.

It was almost impossible to see the stars now. The sky was starting to lighten. "They're still there. Even when the sun comes up."

Sina hesitated, then nodded her understanding. "You knew the Herald," she said softly, using her right hand to press a glow to her chest again, tears of pain dancing in her eyes despite how she now tried to distract herself. "What was she like?"

"She was... hard to see sometimes. Behind the light. But She was strong. She wanted to help people."

He approached at last, settling softly next to her. Looking down at the subtle glow of the shard.

"It always hurts. Pain fades back to an ache, and sometimes it wakes you." He couldn't do anything to fix it. "I'm sorry."

Sina smiled slightly and gave a nod of understanding. When Cole moved to sit by her, she shifted a little, wincing with the movement.

"Pel and Adelaide and I," she said thinly, "will find a way to fix it."

He... didn't know about 'fix.' But neither could he say she was wrong. He only knew what he knew — and he trusted Adelaide.

"I like Adelaide. She's wise." More than that, she had Compassion on her side. "She tries very hard to be kind."

"She is," Sina agreed, looking out onto the quiet courtyard, the sky a lighter grey than before as the sun considered rising.
"I'm lucky to be here."

He smiled a little, mirroring the look on her face.

"People here care about helping. That makes it a good place to be." For him, too.

She wasn't crying anymore. The pain was still there, but... he couldn't soothe it. The most he could do was stay with her a while, so she wouldn't feel lonely.

"I'm Cole." So she would know what to call him.

Sina laughed lightly at his turn of phrase; she'd never heard anything like it before, but somehow it seemed more honest than what most would say.

"I'm Sina," she replied, and smiled at him, grateful for the company.

Sina. He returned the smile before turning away to watch the sky. If she wished to say anything more, she was welcome. Otherwise, he was content to sit in silence, and watch the sun come up with her.

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