god damn it

[rathercommon]

WHO: Kitty, Lakshmi, and Myira
WHAT: Going to rescue some people who don't REALLY need a rescue
WHEN: Backdated because I was slow getting this up
WHERE: Tevinter
NOTES: Info here!

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On the road

[rathercommon]

[ Poor Myira, frankly. Kitty is stiff-necked and thin-lipped, furiously avoiding looking at or engaging with Lakshmi. Lakshmi, meanwhile, is doing the same. The anger between them is palpable, and it lasts for a damn long while, through multiple days of travel as they take the road north.

The three of them are traveling with supplies and extra horses, enough to extract the Inquisition's contact and his family from Tevinter lands and bring them to Skyhold. The road has been uneventful so far, which is good - but also bad, because with the silence, it has been boring. ]

Re: On the road

[notacrow]

[ Of the many things you could say that Myira is, an expert in human psychology is definitely not one of them. All the same, she knows enough about how to read a room that the last few days of stony, pointed silence between Kitty and Lakshmi has frayed her already taut nerves. Her thighs hurt--both the muscles from sitting astride a horse in a position she's not used to and from the chafing from sweat (Skies, she hates sweat) combined with the motion of the horse which she also isn't used to. This was going to at least be a bit fun, she'd thought. Spending time with her two favorite(ish) people in the Inquisition. But no. They had to be fighting about something.

Finally, she's had enough. Reaching up she pushes the broad-brimmed hat she's been wearing to keep the sun off a bit further back on her head, then looks between the other two. ]

So are you two gonna open your gabs or do I have to put up with this the whole way?

[shri]

[ She had been doing a marvellous job she thinks, of saying nothing particularly troublesome other than - yes, no, we ought to stop here, the horses will tire in the heat and so will we. Glad she is here, in that grit. Because she knows what it is to be on the road for days like this - ]

I would gladly talk with you.

[ Her eyes are still forward, sitting straight-backed, heels down in the stirrups. Dodging the rest of that question firmly. ]

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty, by contrast, keeps her jaw clenched shut. Go on, you two. Have a conversation. ]

[notacrow]

[ Myira glances towards Kitty, but when she doesn't speak she finds her attention drawn back to Lakshmi. By contrasts, Myira sits on a horse much like a sack of flour. She grumbles, half to herself. ]

Fine be a pair of great idjits why don't you?

[ Why do they both have to do this? ]'

Well talk to me about why you an' Kitty ain't talking then.

[shri]

[ G u h. ]

We had a disagreement about what respect means.

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty's lips thin, but she still says nothing. ]

[notacrow]

[ Myira groans and slumps even lower in her saddle. If it's possible. ]

Well can the two of you make up? It's makin' my tail feathers ache.

[ Grumbled. ]

Or it might be the damn horse...

[shri]

[ that at least, she can sigh over a little more kindly. ]

We ought to rest them soon, so we can take a break. They'll overwork themselves in this heat. I can show you how to stretch your legs out.

[rathercommon]

Where?

[ The question is terse. Yeah, Kitty isn't about to make up any time soon. ]

[shri]

A little further up, I think.

[ Looks up, hand over her eyes, squints at the sun briefly. ]

Half an hour or so, and the side of the road will do fine.

[notacrow]

[ Myira sighs again, but at least it's something. ]

Ayuh. That'd be grand. My thighs feel like they been turned to mince meat...

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty doesn't agree verbally, but - she really does feel miserable. She hurts all over. She hates horse-riding, hates horses - she would give anything for a simple ride in a simple bus. Or not going anywhere at all. Another half hour sounds like torture. ]

And it's really hot.

[shri]

[ Raniji, when can we stop? Baba says that there will be a river and we can - She smothers the laughter, fixes her face. They are neither of them her children, and yet. ]

Only a little further then. Around the next corner.

[notacrow]

Grand. I could use a drink and somethin' to eat...

[ Myira leans back in the saddle and arches her back a little to pop it. ]

Ugh.

[rathercommon]

Here. I've got -

[ Kitty fishes in her bag and holds out a bit of jerky to Myira. ]

It's nasty, but it's something.

[notacrow]

[ Fortunately, Myira isn't exactly picky. She reaches out to take the jerky and begins gnawing on it with obvious relish. ]

Nasty? This is good meat, it is...

[ She speaks around the a mouthful of the tough, dried meat. Who needs table manners when you're on a horse? ]

[shri]

[ DISGUSTED FACE. ]

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty watches as Myira gnaws. Against her will, a little smile plucks at the corner of her mouth. ]

Well, you can have all of mine. I think if I put another piece of that in my mouth, my tongue will leap out of my head in protest.

[notacrow]

If'n you're not gonna eat it, I will.

[ Myira beams, heedless of the disgust her enjoyment seems to spark. ]

Yer all too picky.

[shri]

[ How did this happen, where did she go wrong. ]

I am not... fond of meat. [ Is the stiff response. Awkward. Gathering up the reigns in her off hand. ]

[notacrow]

What? Why not? Meat's good.

[ Myira stares at Lakshmi as if she's just said she doesn't like breathing air. ]

[shri]

[ It's hard not to dig, to flick her eyes over to Kitty, then back to Myira, guiding her horse along. ] I am Hindu. It is a ... religion. Like the Chantry, in this place, even if we believe quite differently, and it forbids the hurting of animals. Not that all of us keep these tenants, and indeed we have rules about how it is to be done, and many still do eat meat and some would argue other verses - but - [ Complicated, is the short of it. But what did it matter here and now? She's quite sure Kitty would roll her eyes at half of it, and the rest would just go over Myira's head and... Lakshmi knew her own stance on the matter, if not a strict scholarly matter. ]

We believe in minimising our hurt to others, and others includes animals. Hurting, mistreating or killing animals is no different to doing that to a man, woman, or child. If it must be done, it is to be done with compassion, and all kindness shown to the animal in question.

[notacrow]

[ Myira blinks as she processes this new information. She'd never thought there'd be a religion to forbid eating meat but... she understands it, now that it's been said. ]

Oh, aye... that makes sense. Can't say as that we have anything like that. The Skies just tell us to live and to fly and respect all things beneath the Skies. Don't do no harm if you don't have to, but if you gotta eat, you gotta eat.